On Tuesday, I posted a recent report about road fatalities due to texting and talking on cell phones while driving. Yesterday, there was a short piece in the Cleveland Leader about some research conducted by the Highway Loss Data Institute that shows crash rates may actually increase when bans against texting are put in place … Read more
Well this is interesting: First Lady Michelle Obama said last month that her husband “always carries a picture of Mary Help of Christians in his wallet.” She made her remarks while visiting a house of the Salesian community in Ronda, Spain. Under the title of Help of Christians, Our Lady is the patroness of the … Read more
It had to happen eventually. This president is too thin-skinned to take the high road for very long. Yesterday, at a labor rally in Milwaukee, Obama went off his prepared remarks (a big mistake for him!): [O]ver the last two years, that’s meant taking on some powerful interests — some powerful interests who had been … Read more
A press release from Human Life International: The board of directors of Human Life International (HLI) has announced that after nearly 10 years of meritorious service to HLI as president, Reverend Thomas J Euteneuer has stepped down from his position after being asked by his Bishop to return to his Diocese in West Palm Beach, … Read more
Economist Mark Perry points out one of the unintended consequences brought about by the president’s new healthcare program: White Castle has been offering health insurance to its workers [since] 1924, but Obamacare “will make it hard for the company to maintain its 421 restaurants, let alone create new jobs,” says company spokesman Jamie Richardson in … Read more
More than a few eyebrows were raised when the new president of The Catholic University of America was named: John H. Garvey, Dean of the Boston College School of Law. Most people know Boston College, in recent years, has become the epicenter of Catholic dissent. And although Garvey is was not a name familiar to … Read more
More than a few eyebrows were raised when the new president of The Catholic University of America was named: John H. Garvey, Dean of the Boston College School of Law. Most people know Boston College, in recent years, has become the epicenter of Catholic dissent. And although Garvey is was not a name familiar to … Read more
The United States is in the midst of a realignment as the private sector gives way to the government as the nation’s primary employer. We’re not there yet, but the direction is clear. Of the 431,000 new jobs the Labor Department just announced, a full 390,000 of them are with the government (primarily, short term … Read more
Lots of buzz today about President Obama’s pick to replace Justice Stevens on the Supreme Court — Elena Kagan. Conservatives are understandably nervous about her record on abortion; Steve Ertelt at Life News quotes Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony list, saying: “In the past Kagan has been a strong supporter of the … Read more
When Daniel Coit Gilman became the founding president of Johns Hopkins University in 1875, he called for a policy of intellectual freedom based on the principle of “open academic discourse” liberated from “ecclesiastical and political control.” He wasn’t opposed to religiously affiliated universities per se, but he criticized abuses of academic freedom and unwarrantedrestrictions on … Read more
Bart Stupak (D-MI) was becoming a hero to pro-lifers all around the nation with his steadfast refusal to bend under the pressure of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House. Instead, Stupak has become a hero to the other side — an hour ago, he announced his decision to vote FOR the Senate version of … Read more
Bart Stupak (D-MI) was becoming a hero to pro-lifers all around the nation with his steadfast refusal to bend under the pressure of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House. Instead, Stupak has become a hero to the other side — an hour ago, he announced his decision to vote FOR the Senate version of … Read more
Contrary to the letter released yesterday by NETWORK that claims the backing of all 59,000 American women religious in support of the health-care bill, the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious today released their own letter disputing that figure. The president of CMSWR, Mother Mary Quentin Sheridan, writes: In a March 15th statement, Cardinal … Read more
This is wild. The Catholic University of America has unveiled a Rembrandt etching in a new exhibit that went up this week at the school — but the real story is how they acquired it: “I went into the restroom in Nugent Hall and opened a cabinet there,” [CUA president Father O’Connell] notes. “I found … Read more
The answer to this question may, at first glance, seem simple, but it requires its own discernment. We’re not wrestling here with a simple polarity of Sloth versus Diligence. If that were true, then questions of how much energy to put into pursuing natural and spiritual goods would end with the simple answer: “More is … Read more
With 2009 in the books, we asked the staff and friends of InsideCatholic to offer their predictions for the new year. Here’s what they told us… ♦♦♦ Congress will take another stab at comprehensive immigration reform and will pass a less-than-perfect bill before May and the run-up to the midterm … Read more
Last Thursday was Human Rights Day and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, held a hearing to highlight abuses in China, Cuba, Sudan, Vietnam and various other countries. Vietnam, for example, has gone “from bad to worse”: “Hanoi has unleashed a torrent of repression upon courageous citizens fighting for basic rights. … Read more
At least since the lavish dinners of the decadent Roman Republic, rulers and those who aspired to rule have frequently made a point of conspicuous consumption. Now, this isn’t always despicable; we expect those who represent legitimate authority on earth to express the dignity of their office. Even in the vigorous early days of … Read more
When public school began earlier this month, some parents were wary of the idea of President Barack Obama’s likeness appearing on Orwellian viewscreens in their children’s classrooms. While the presidential address might have captured the banality of Big Brother’s compulsory public health announcements, the speech itself contained little that was politically alarming. Â Of greater … Read more
The confirmation of nominee Sonia Sotomayor as a Supreme Court justice is almost a certainty. She’s a woman, a Hispanic, and the pick of a popular president who leads the party that controls the Senate. Democratic leadership in the Senate is determined to complete hearings before the Judiciary Committee and get a confirmation vote before … Read more