The Narthex
Christians, 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 --…
READ FULL BLOG POSTAsia in 2022
China will continue to consolidate power in the coming year
By Barbara Rose | January 4th 2022 4:12 PMPontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) missionaries run a news website called AsiaNews, which provides news briefs from Asia and around the world. A recent article called "Asia in 2022" (Jan. 1) offers a round-up of important events on the horizon for the enormous continent and its dominant player, China.…
READ FULL BLOG POST'Imprecise Targeting'
Civilian casualties from U.S. air-strikes are not rare occurrences
By Barbara Rose | December 20th 2021 10:03 PMReporters at The New York Times have made public hundreds of confidential reports by the Pentagon on civilian casualties from U.S. air-strikes in Iraq and Syria, covering September 2014 through January 2018. The journalists describe the air-strikes as "marked by deeply flawed intelligence, rushed and often imprecise targeting, and the…
READ FULL BLOG POSTGood Green News
A remedy for climate alarmism's disastrous impact on impressionable souls
By Barbara Rose | December 15th 2021 8:47 PMMisguided "opinion leaders" have induced such panic in our youth that one in five British children reported having nightmares about climate change (Reuters, March 2, 2020). Certain "green" spokesmen and non-profit groups have admitted to their overheated rhetoric but justify it on grounds that only a widespread sense of panic…
READ FULL BLOG POSTBack to the States
If Roe falls, then trigger laws, pre-Roe bans, & heartbeat laws will stop abortions
By Barbara Rose | December 6th 2021 4:44 PMLast week the U.S. Supreme Court heard the Mississippi case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which many hope will overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling of 1973. Such an outcome does not mean that abortion would automatically become illegal across the United States; rather, the power to make laws on abortion…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDecide for Yourself
New report reveals high risk of miscarriage in early pregnancy after use of COVID mRNA vaccine
By Barbara Rose | November 11th 2021 9:31 PMA new article by Aleisha R. Brock and Simon Thornley, published at Science, Public Health Policy, & the Law (at publichealthpolicyjournal.com), re-analyzes data used in a CDC report and finds a high risk of miscarriage (also called spontaneous abortion) in early pregnancy after use of a COVID mRNA vaccine. A…
READ FULL BLOG POST'Real Talk'
When the common person hears the word ‘synod’ or ‘synodal,’ what comes to mind?
By Barbara Rose | November 3rd 2021 6:45 PMThe first phase of the synod on synodality aims to collect input from the Church's peripheries. It's hard to imagine what kind of feedback Church leaders expect from a global-scale project like this. If bishops and cardinals want perspectives from pew-sitters and Catholics on the margins, then perhaps they should…
READ FULL BLOG POSTDads on Duty
Forty fathers are using their presence to combat violence at the local high school
By Barbara Rose | October 27th 2021 8:54 PMAbout 40 fathers at a high school in Shreveport, Louisiana, have done something simple, effective, and mostly untried at school: They are using their presence to combat violence that recently led to 23 students arrested in three days. "Dads on Duty" group founder Michael LaFitte says, "“We decided the best…
READ FULL BLOG POSTThose Left Behind
A photojournalist shines a light on the people ignored by globalist technocrats
By Barbara Rose | October 12th 2021 7:27 PMChris Arnade is a photographer and writer whose bestseller Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America (2019) shone a light on the people left behind by globalist technocrats, on the people "who lack the credentials and advantages of the so-called meritocratic upper class." Back Row Americans…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Novel Challenge
An archbishop warns on transgender students 'unknowingly' admitted to Catholic seminaries
By Barbara Rose | September 30th 2021 5:42 PMCheck out this headline: "Transgender students 'unknowingly' admitted to Catholic seminaries, archbishop warns" (Catholic News Agency, Sept. 29). CNA reports on a recent memo sent from chairman of the USCCB’s canonical affairs committee, Milwaukee archbishop Jerome Listecki, to members of the full USCCB. A link to the full story is…
READ FULL BLOG POSTWar's Accomplices
By and large, American news media have become handmaidens of war
By Barbara Rose | September 14th 2021 2:35 PMHave you noticed how the liberal mainstream media has become awfully pro-war? This is a change from a generation ago. The Quincy Institute's Responsible Statecraft website now features "Day of reckoning for the media handmaidens of war" by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos. In it she recaps the change in the American…
READ FULL BLOG POSTA Profile in Courage
A New Orleans archbishop used his authority to confront the evil of his time
By Barbara Rose | September 6th 2021 9:10 PMArchbishop Cordileone of San Francisco continues his bold leadership on issues of national importance with a Sunday op-ed in the Washington Post (September 5). In "Our duty to challenge Catholic politicians who support abortion rights," Cordileone says bishops must call out the "self-professed" Catholic politicians who are "on the wrong…
READ FULL BLOG POSTBlood and Treasure
Twenty years of war in Afghanistan cost over 241,000 lives and $2.26 trillion
By Barbara Rose | August 24th 2021 5:40 PMThe Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, at Brown University, has a "Costs of War" website which presents "U.S. Costs to Date for the War in Afghanistan, in $ Billions, 2001-2021" (published in April 2021). The cost in blood and treasure is immense. A link to the web page…
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