Random stuff I find interesting and you may not.
The ancient rot at the heart of anti-Israel activism. . . . The surge of anti-Jewish hostility is particularly concerning in light of what sparked it: meticulously planned pogroms in Southern Israel on October 7, 2023, followed by the abduction of hundreds of innocents. The hostages were condemned to terrorist captivity, where they endured physical … Read more
The portion that Americans spend on food has fallen steeply over the last century. Let’s set aside the controversy over what Walmart’s shrinkflation of its annual Thanksgiving feast bundle might suggest for the recent trajectory of grocery prices. The good news for which we can be thankful is that the share of their incomes that … Read more
… you rarely (if ever) hear the following phrases. “Party like it’s A.D. 1570!” “We should sing more plainchant at this parish.” “I’d like to thank the choir for their sublime rendition of the Mass For Five Voices by William Byrd.” “I just love the way the four torchbearers process in with such dignity.” “People … Read more
If only they had been illegal aliens in Mexico. Pope Leo has no problem speaking forthrightly when it’s an issue that he really cares about, like global warming or illegal aliens. “We must pray for the conversion of many people, inside and outside of the church, who still do not recognize the urgency of caring … Read more
There I was last week, standing on the rooftop of the AISH Institute for Women’s Education, flour dusting my blue apron, watching dozens of young women with their hands kneading dough. The Jerusalem skyline stretched out behind us like God’s own backdrop for our first-ever challah bake at the new seminary in the heart of … Read more
For many Americans, the issue of greatest salience has nothing to do with the Middle East, the groyper menace, or Jeffrey Epstein. Rather, it has to do with the reasonable concern that they soon won’t be able to afford the life they’re currently living. The University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment is at its … Read more
A gold bar and a Rolex—where have I heard that story before? Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey accepted bribes in the form of gold bars and received photos of watches he might fancy from his benefactors: “How about one of those?” one message read. Subtle! Rolex watches are a particularly popular currency of bribery: … Read more
The much-discussed Tucker Carlson interview of the Holocaust-denying, Hitler-admiring, white-nationalist, anti-liberal MAGA influencer Nick Fuentes has brought some of the online cesspool into mainstream discussion, exposing a potential fault line in the project to build the political right’s post-Trump future. For the right, the only way out of the awful ugliness in some of its … Read more
Giving to a charity can be a rewarding experience for all involved. But before you open your wallet, you need to do your due diligence on the charity you plan to support. One thing the best charities all have in common is that they make it easy for you to see where your contributions are … Read more
After years of extensive research, designers were finally able to come up with a way to make vehicle headlights so bright that they would cause permanent, radioactive damage to the eyes of oncoming drivers. “These babies will blast you right straight in your retinas,” spokesperson Dale McMillan said. “You’ll be seeing them when you blink … Read more
Money expert Clark Howard believes in protecting consumers, educating people on practical financial matters and repeating himself to make key points memorable. If you listen to his podcast, you’ve heard him rail against Zelle. You may have heard him discuss why he generally doesn’t like payment apps. Some apps do a better job of protecting … Read more
Steubenville, Ohio — In this industrial, Rust Belt city in northeastern Ohio, just across the Ohio River from West Virginia and mere miles from the Pennsylvania border, something special is happening. No, it isn’t the idyllic Nutcracker Village displays that adorn downtown at Christmastime. Nor is it the latest tribute to the town’s most famous … Read more
Americans need to go cold turkey from Uncle Sugar. That the “government shutdown” is disruptive is an indictment of just how far we’ve let the federal Leviathan intrude into areas it doesn’t belong. Of course, it’s not really a shutdown; it’s a temporary suspension of nonessential activities while lawmakers posture over budget issues for the … Read more
The conventional career track of high school, to the glorified credentialing programs we now call colleges, to a narrow sector of the workforce that one has ostensibly been prepared for has never seemed like a good one for all people. It raises a barrier to entry for many jobs, forces life-altering choices on people without … Read more
Six months ago, I wrote a speculative column that the pandemic had a lot to do with killing the power of taboos in our society, including the taboo against antisemitism. The pandemic drove conversation online, and it saw one authority after another discredit itself. It was a period of time when people were “canceled” or … Read more
Donald Trump is a man with a short attention span, a toddler’s sense of entitlement, a high-school mean girl’s thin skin, and the approximate IQ of today’s lunch special at Joe’s Stone Crab, none of which leaves him very well suited to the kind of long-term administrative and management work that effective policy development requires. … Read more
Every day millions of parents put their children under the care of public school teachers, administrators, and support staff. Their trust, however, is frequently broken by predators in authority in what appears to be the largest ongoing sexual abuse scandal in our nation’s history. Given the roughly 50 million students in U.S. K-12 schools each … Read more
Trump’s presidency may have amplified executive power, but unless lawmakers roll back those powers—and the bloated government behind them—the next administration will do the same. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D–Ore.) took to the Senate floor on Tuesday around 6:30 p.m. to “ring the alarm” on what he described as President Donald Trump’s “tightening authoritarian grip on … Read more
Government interference in health care should be reduced, not expanded. The federal government’s not-really-a-shutdown lingers on, largely driven by Democrats’ insistence on extending pandemic-era subsidies that conceal the real cost of health coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—better known as Obamacare. It’s not enough that the spending bill under consideration is already bloated with … Read more
COMMENTARY: Reconciliation must never sacrifice the timeless truths of the Church, but sadly that appears to be the case in China. Cardinal Stephen Chow, the bishop of Hong Kong, defended the state of religious freedom in Hong Kong in a public dialogue in Parramatta, Australia, on Sept. 15. If what he said were true — … Read more
When I studied at university in Durham, there was a visiting Dominican friar finishing his PhD. The more traditionally inclined among the Catholics who studied in that ancient cathedral city had a habit of turning to him for counsel on manifold matters. One such piece of mentorship this affable, stolid, clear-thinking and orthodox priest gave … Read more
When I tell people I go to Christendom College, the reaction is almost always the same: a raised eyebrow, a polite smile, and then, “Wait, that super strict Catholic school?” Yep. That’s the one. To be honest, I kind of thought the same thing before I enrolled. I wasn’t raised Catholic. I’m a convert who … Read more
“Memory fades quickly,” says photojournalist Chen Schimmel when asked why she chose to publish her book. For Schimmel, that fading isn’t just a risk, it’s a form of loss in itself. “In a world where everything moves so fast,” she says, “the danger is that even the most painful truths can disappear into the noise. … Read more
Israeli hostages who returned from Gaza on Monday began giving structured accounts of their captivity that described torture, starvation, prolonged isolation, confinement in underground cages, and efforts by their Hamas captors to convert them to Islam. Several freed hostages said they were kept alone for months at a time with little food or light. Avinatan … Read more
Chicago is at 338 murders so far this year and over 1,500 shot. Why? It’s a mystery. Mayor Brandon Johnson recently claimed that “jails and incarceration and law enforcement is a sickness that has not led to safe communities.” He praised Joanne Chesimard aka Assata Shakur, a racist terrorist who murdered a police officer and … Read more