The Narthex
A Hard Look at 'Uncle Joe'
Biden has left a long trail of stances on war and organized violence
By Barbara Rose | April 28th 2021 3:44 PMThe mainstream media are overwhelmingly liberal; this is well known. Their all-out effort to portray Joe Biden as simply a good-natured older man -- the nation's Uncle Joe -- is obvious and predictable. Still, there are corners of the liberal media where one can find solid reporting that rejects simple…
READ FULL BLOG POSTShot Clots vs. Pill Clots
An attempt to make the J&J vaccine risk look better makes the birth-control Pill look worse!
By Barbara Rose | April 21st 2021 6:24 PMWhen the FDA recently paused rollout of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine, several articles in the mainstream press compared the risk of blood clots from the J&J shot to the clot risk from taking birth-control pills. The comparison was driven by the fact that all six vaccine clotting cases,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTCrossing the Generation Gap
A brief encounter between strangers reveals the generation gap
By Richard DellOrfano | April 20th 2021 6:48 PMOn my usual walk around the neighborhood park I saw two young guys sitting and chatting on the grass. It was mid-day, sun shining, the first warm day we’ve had in a while. At night I would have shied away, but I headed straight for them. As I passed by,…
READ FULL BLOG POSTVaccines & Abortion
Can we do more to challenge the worst evils of these harrowing times?
By James Hanink | February 15th 2021 5:06 PMPope Francis calls for the wide use and distribution of the new anti-COVID vaccines, as do our bishops. They do so in the name of the common good. But they do not teach that everyone has an obligation to use the vaccines. Much less do they argue against ongoing reflection…
READ FULL BLOG POSTCOVID & Straw Men
National media are not meeting their obligation to inform the public about grave matters
By David Daintree | February 11th 2021 9:26 PMOn February 9th Australia’s SBS TV News ran a short segment that purported to allay some people’s concerns about the COVID vaccine. I cannot find a recording of the broadcast, but an SBS News article called "The most common myths about the coronavirus vaccine - and why they aren’t true"…
READ FULL BLOG POSTMy Pandemic Prayer
A life or death decision is made more difficult because fake news prevails
By Richard DellOrfano | January 27th 2021 6:58 PMA COVID vaccine soon will be available to me, as I’m nearly 79. My married brother and I recently discussed this. He is 77, has grandkids, and must business travel on commercial airplanes, so he would have to get the shot. I live like a hermit, and the only traveling…
READ FULL BLOG POSTMaking Abortion Unthinkable in Japan
The Japanese cultural outlook may hold the key to rethinking the fight for life
By Jason Morgan | January 4th 2021 3:57 PMIn December, a U.S. abortion clinic employee tweeted a photo of his Christmas tree, topped not with a Christmas star but with a pair of forceps used to extract dismembered babies from the womb during abortion procedures. A week or so later, The Satanic Temple revealed its billboards in Texas…
READ FULL BLOG POSTOf Plowshares & Red Roses
Certain movements serve as 'prophetic shock-minorities'
By James Hanink | December 1st 2020 3:04 PMSr. Ardeth Platte, OP, was my first, and best, academic boss. I was teaching part-time at St. Joseph Elementary School in Saginaw, Michigan. (Have you heard the song about Saginaw?) My wife Elizabeth and I were living Saginaw’s public housing project, across from a railroad switching yard. As a conscientious…
READ FULL BLOG POSTEscape Hatch from the Culture of Death
Dr. Hasuda Taiji introduced the life-saving 'baby box' to Japan
By Jason Morgan | November 17th 2020 4:27 PMA great man has died. Dr. Hasuda Taiji (1936-2020) passed away in late October, leaving behind many iterations around the world of the thing for which he will always be remembered: a hole in the wall. Dr. Hasuda was an ob-gyn at the Jikei Byōin (“Mercy Hospital”) in Kumamoto, Japan.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTSweden Check-up
An update on the nation that may prove other Western governments wrong
By Barbara Rose | September 8th 2020 5:15 PMThe Swedish government's approach to coronavirus has been criticized all along by the media of other Western nations hell-bent on justifying their own economy- and job-killing overreactions. Although we need to wait and see what winter brings in the northern hemisphere, we can at least give an update on Sweden's…
READ FULL BLOG POSTJokers Are Wild
Every chief executive, including Trump, should have a staff jester
By Richard DellOrfano | August 27th 2020 7:42 PMIn medieval times, jokers -- also called court fools or jesters -- had the dangerous role of counseling a monarch, with the tacit understanding that the joker’s life was sacrosanct and would not be forfeited for honestly doing his job. He could say anything to belittle the king, who believed…
READ FULL BLOG POSTSwing-Vote Catholics
Abortion is not just one issue among many
By Barbara Rose | August 21st 2020 4:10 PMDo you have friends who claim to be against abortion but vote for pro-abortion politicians because abortion is “just one issue among many”? Perhaps solid teaching from our shepherds can help convince them otherwise. John Gerard Lewis, author of Catholic Voting and Mortal Sin: How You Vote Can Endanger Your…
READ FULL BLOG POSTIrony of COVID
In the dominant narrative, wealthy lives are preferred
By David Daintree | August 1st 2020 2:00 PMThese are frightening times. Sizable numbers of our population, including apparently most of our political leaders, are clearly terrified of COVID. This is becoming increasingly obvious in public places, where the mood is subtly changing: people are afraid of each other and show their fear not only by their avoidance of contact…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDisease from Hell
After age 65, the risk of getting dementia doubles every five years
By Richard DellOrfano | June 22nd 2020 12:49 AMJoyce was seven when she experienced the Battle of Britain. After WWII ended, she won two swimming championships, then night-schooled for 140 words/min in shorthand. She quit working at sweatshop textile mills after she got a better paying job as a secretary in the Manchester police department. She had a…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDeaths of Despair
Nursing home residents face twin foes of isolation and virus risk
By Barbara Rose | June 5th 2020 6:23 PMVarious analyses suggest that around 40% of U.S. COVID-19 deaths have taken place at nursing homes. While the data will be refined over time, it’s clear that nursing home residents are an extremely vulnerable population in a pandemic. An article at The American Conservative (June 5) called “Continued Isolation Will…
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