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Random Comments

1. I’ve revised my analysis of MAD MEN for the season. 2. So someone wrote me that SOCIALIST MONARCHIST is the same as RED TORY. And that puts the PORCHERS at the greatest possible distance from the LIBERTARIAN POPULIST members of the TEA PARTY. 3. But we have to add: The Tea Partiers are . . . . Continue Reading »

Caesar’s Thumb Now Available

Nicholas Windsor’s Caesar’s Thumb from the December issue is now available online. Subtitled “Europeans should not forget their most pressing moral issue: abortion,” it begins with a survey of the moral and other accomplishments of Western civilization, but continues: Is it . . . . Continue Reading »

Remaining Light-Focused

Today in “On the Square,” Elizabeth Scalia defends Christmas and finds a way to make even shopping a way of expressing something of Christ. In The Christmas Light in the Shopping Madness , she writes Praying Vespers of the Liturgy of the Hours each day is a productive way to remain . . . . Continue Reading »

Ambiguity, Inception and Interpretation

In an interview with Wired about his movie Inception, director Christopher Nolan is questioned about an ambiguous scene in the film:So, there’s no one right answer.Oh no, I’ve got an answer.You do?!Yeah. I’ve always believed that if you make a film with ambiguity, it needs to be . . . . Continue Reading »

A Memorial for Father Richard John Neuhaus

A Memorial Mass to honor the second anniversary of the death of  Father Richard John Neuhaus will be held on Saturday, January 8, 2011, at the Church of Our Saviour (38th Street and Park Avenue). It will begin at  12:15 p.m. The celebrant and homilist will be Father George . . . . Continue Reading »

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

The holiday classic Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas as sung by Judy Garland may be the closest thing to refuting words with musical performance ever heard. You don’t have to know anything about Garland’s sad life to hear the pain in her voice.She may promise we will muddle through . . . . Continue Reading »

Our Lives Are Worth Living

Last month, to the surprise of all, a bill to legalize euthanasia in South Australia was voted down by the upper house of the SA parliament. In the weeks leading up to the vote, proponents of the bill argued that it would secure the rights of the terminally ill to end their lives at a time and in . . . . Continue Reading »

Afternoon Links — 12.20.10

A cheering story: Roald Dahl’s daughter enters a convent . Parents and pro-life activists in New Zealand have protested the government’s support for pre-natal screening , which in effect if not intent encourages the abortion of children with Down Syndrome. A theorist for . . . . Continue Reading »

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