The Narthex
A Lie Mutates
The use of suicide threat as political blackmail spreads to pro-abortion rhetoric
By Barbara Rose | January 18th 2023 7:29 PMThe well-used tactic of transgender activists -- to threaten that confused people will kill themselves if society doesn't indulge their whims -- has mutated and jumped into the rhetorical arsenal of pro-abortion activists. Last month JAMA Psychiatry online (Dec. 28) released a study claiming abortion restrictions probably cause suicide. Thomas…
READ FULL BLOG POSTPeace, They Rarely Say
The advent of high-tech weaponry makes diplomacy all the more important
By Barbara Rose | December 22nd 2022 6:58 PMEsteemed statesman Henry Kissinger makes an important point in his essay "How to avoid another world war" (The Spectator, Dec. 17). He describes how Europe's leaders "sleepwalked" into the first world war. With hindsight we see the effect of the "new" technology of the early 20th century, but men of…
READ FULL BLOG POSTHope in Ratzinger's Prophecy
He foresaw a smaller but more spiritualized and simplified Church
By Barbara Rose | November 9th 2022 5:13 PMDisappointing election results may prompt Catholics to retreat to the Church for reminders that the world hasn't gone completely mad. But, then again, certain worldly attempts to solve spiritual problems within the Church -- the global Synod, for example -- give the impression that the world's worst excesses have invaded…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWe'll Rue This War Too
Recent history offers a wake-up call for U.S. foreign policy
By Barbara Rose | October 20th 2022 8:41 PMOne retired colonel who does not march in lockstep with the bipartisan warmongers in D.C. is Douglas Macgregor. Macgregor's recent article, "War and Regrets in Ukraine," at The American Conservative website (Oct. 19) offers a sober view of the Russia-Ukraine war as Europe heads into winter. He suggests that Americans…
READ FULL BLOG POSTHastening Our Fall
U.S. involvement in Ukraine is generating serious unintended consequences
By Barbara Rose | August 25th 2022 8:40 PMAn excellent article on U.S. involvement in Ukraine -- one that provides more background and analysis than a hundred mainstream pieces -- is offered by Christopher Caldwell at the Claremont Review website. A link to "Why Are We in Ukraine?" (Summer 2022) can be found below. To sample Caldwell's valuable…
READ FULL BLOG POSTSchool Choice in Arizona
A new state law gives parents $7,000 per child per year to spend at their school of choice
By Barbara Rose | August 16th 2022 8:48 PMToday Arizona governor Doug Ducey is signing a universal school-choice law that gives parents $7,000 per child per year to spend at any educational institution of their choice, including private schools and religious schools. Catholic schools in Arizona will be among the many beneficiaries of this innovation. In City Journal…
READ FULL BLOG POST'Expert' Advice 2.0
The City of New York's new 'Nuclear Preparedness' PSA has aroused scorn and derision
By Barbara Rose | August 6th 2022 3:08 PMThe City of New York recently released a 90-second public service announcement (PSA) on "Nuclear Preparedness." The Emergency Management department's video is so odd, it's hard to know whether to laugh or cry at the thought that people may put their trust in it. Imagine, the video's narrator says, that…
READ FULL BLOG POSTHats Off to Harbaugh
The famed Michigan coach isn't afraid to speak of his beliefs in front of cameras
By Barbara Rose | July 27th 2022 3:55 PMMichigan football coach Jim Harbaugh recently spoke at a local pro-life fundraising event, and afterward he was criticized in the usual quarters. But instead of retreating from the subject of abortion, he decided to elaborate on his stance in an interview with ESPN. In the interview he says he tells…
READ FULL BLOG POSTTime to De-Escalate
Western leaders scarcely push for diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine war
By Barbara Rose | July 19th 2022 4:40 PMAmong global leaders, only the Pope has repeatedly called for de-escalation in Ukraine. A quick scan of the front pages of major American news websites -- Fox News, CNN, MSNBC -- today shows almost no mention at all of the ongoing conflict (only CNN has a link to "live updates"…
READ FULL BLOG POSTNow It's Dutch Farmers
As with Canada's truckers, technocrats in the EU have pushed too far
By Barbara Rose | July 12th 2022 7:15 PMThe latest group to protest faceless and heartless technocratic control is Dutch farmers. According to Joe Barnes at The Age (July 10), huge protests are sweeping the Netherlands "triggered by the introduction of laws designed to cut nitrogen and ammonia emissions by up to 95 percent" in the agricultural sector.…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThirteen and Counting
Many U.S. states have already banned or widely restricted abortion since Dobbs
By Barbara Rose | June 28th 2022 7:24 PMAs of today, thirteen U.S. states have banned or widely restricted abortion after the Supreme Court's ruling on Dobbs. Tennessee, the thirteenth, has a six-week "heartbeat" ban and next month may see a trigger-law ban go into effect that protects the unborn starting at conception. LifeNews.com's Steven Ertelt offers a…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA New-Old School
A new Catholic boys' boarding school boasts a healthy educational vision
By Barbara Rose | June 21st 2022 6:21 PMEven the so-called best of our modern schools offer suboptimal conditions for boys. Warren Farrell and John Gray's The Boy Crisis (2019) substantially treats the topic, as does the older War Against Boys by Christina Hoff Sommers (2015). We all experience manifestations of the boy crisis in our daily lives…
READ FULL BLOG POSTChristians, Stay Away
Faithful families can plan on fewer activities at public pools, libraries, and summer camps
By Barbara Rose | May 23rd 2022 4:39 PMOver at The Federalist, author Joy Pullmann's article "The Left Has Effectively Banned Christian Kids From Public Pools, Libraries, And Summer Camps" paints a picture of what beleaguered Christian parents have to look forward to this summer (May 23). Pullmann's description of interactions with formerly benign groups like 4-H leaves…
READ FULL BLOG POSTGood News in Yemen
A serious cease-fire after six years and 400,000 dead
By Barbara Rose | April 20th 2022 7:38 PMThe first serious truce between warring parties in Yemen took effect earlier this month. The Yemen conflict has continued for six years and killed 400,000 people, has led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis, and involved the U.S., but American media gave it scant coverage compared to the invasion of…
READ FULL BLOG POSTBig Money for Abortion
There is a dark side to Warren Buffett's money
By Barbara Rose | January 18th 2022 3:16 PMBillionaire investor Warren Buffett is admired by Americans for his ability to make money. But there's a dark side to all that cash. Hayden Ludwig's "The Big Money Behind Abortion Activism," in The American Conservative (Jan. 18), tells of Buffett's "charitable" foundation, which since 2000 has given $4.7 billion --…
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