Musings on Imperfect Christmases

  So, without sharing graphic details, let’s just say that the recently celebrated Christmas season did not unfold in my family circle like a Hallmark movie. This, despite not only my prayers but my rather beside-the-point “practical” attempts to incarnate in our midst the...
Read More →

Enter the Dragon

  2024 is the year of the dragon. It was barely half-a-day old when the dragon lashed out in anger. On the afternoon of New Year’s Day in Japan our cell phones started bleating in unison, high-pitched whooping interspersed with an urgent robotic voice repeating: “Jishin...
Read More →

Who’s Minding the Store?

  The current Supreme Court is pilloried for being Right Wing simply because a majority of justices are originalists who believe the Constitution should be interpreted strictly according to how it would have been understood by the framers. Labeling such a proclivity as Right...
Read More →

A Reason to Give Thanks

  Looking for something to feel thankful for in this traditional season of joy? The whole world seems to be abrew with grievance, vengeance, and crazy racial baiting; the “never again” regarding our Jewish brothers and sisters has been cast aside along with the “Hate Has No...
Read More →

A Modest Proposal for 2024

  Once upon a time, in a prosperous country, many women decided that nurturing the next generation should not necessarily be their primary vocation. They offered a variety of serious reasons. They wanted to be appreciated as individuals. They had gifts and skills that should...
Read More →

Hostage Politics

  Some earlier historians of China tell us that Qin Shihuangdi, the first Chinese emperor, was a thunderous tyrant. His word was law, and his mood was survival or extermination for those under his sway. A tale often told about Qin Shihuangdi is that he ordered the...
Read More →

Chris Slattery RIP

  Not exactly the John Wayne of the pro-life movement, but something akin to it, Chris Slattery was always easy to spot. A big man sporting a cowboy hat and boots, he was a familiar presence at pro-life events and gatherings, an indisputable movement leader, though at times...
Read More →

As the World Turned Over: JFK and the ’60s

  We savvy New York City first graders knew something was up. Sister Elaine, the fun nun, looked worried, and her mouth, usually wide in smile, was taut. We sensed a big, sore secret inside that she couldn’t let out, as much as she wanted to tell us. It was well after lunch,...
Read More →

Scarecrow and Tin Man

  After the successful overturn of the national abortion mandate known as Roe v. Wade, the next battle for prolifers is “winning hearts and minds.” The problem is when it comes to hearts and minds someone else got there first.  Or something. The unhinged behavior coming from...
Read More →

Requiem for Two Hypocrisies

  “Never again,” the world long repeated. The immolation of Jewry in the Shoah shall never again darken the name of humanity, we proclaimed . . . for decades. The word “genocide” was coined after the Holocaust to name the attempt to eradicate an entire group of human beings....
Read More →