Site Map

Site Feeds

Pages

Categories

Monthly Archives

Tags

All Articles

Rebuilding the Church in Haiti

Rebuilding the Church in Haiti

Feb 25 11 • 0 comments

A Haitian bishop has spoken about his plans to rebuild both his earthquake-shattered cathedral and the broken lives of the people in his diocese. Speaking during a visit to the international headquarters of Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Launay Saturné of Jacmel described his calling to bring the love of […]

<em>Burst</em> by Kevin Wells -- A Beautifully Written Catholic Memoir

Burst by Kevin Wells — A Beautifully Written Catholic Memoir

Feb 24 11 • 0 comments

Burst: A Story of God’s Grace When Life Falls Apart  is the Catholic memoir to read when you want a well-written, inspirational story that won’t take weeks to complete.  It’s a small book with a big message and one-of-a-kind stories I met Kevin Wells through our editor.  We both went through the same publishing house, Servant […]

Revolutionary Chickens

Revolutionary Chickens

When I look out my kitchen window, I see seven girls dressed in plain black and white with just a touch of red on their bonnets. They chatter all day long and love to sunbathe. They pick at each other, they eat non-stop and don’t gain weight.  These girls are industrious if querulous farmhands. They […]

CL31b - hbratton notxt

My Story of Becoming a Mom, Part Three: Having It All

Feb 24 11 • 0 comments

I feel that for the most part it is a myth that women can have it all — at least at the same time. I have been the primary breadwinner in my household since my marriage 5+ years ago, working as an RN Case Manager at a health insurance company. My earning potential is more […]

CL17 - hbratton notxt

Rooms in My Father’s House

Feb 24 11 • 2 comments

In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. ~ John 14:2a When I was a young parent (well not so young but let’s say a new parent) I scoured books searching for parenting tips and techniques. I can remember once reading something to the effect that “by now you should recognize your baby’s cry” and […]

Benedict Receives Medvedev: Russia and Her Mission, Part Two

Benedict Receives Medvedev: Russia and Her Mission, Part Two

Pope Benedict XVI and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met for 35 minutes on Thursday, February 17, in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican. This meeting was rather long — sometimes such meetings with national leaders only last 20 or 25 minutes. You can watch the public parts of the visit on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7z6kK3XfdU  The two […]

Just the Facts. Not!

Just the Facts. Not!

Feb 24 11 • 1 comment

It was a slow Saturday afternoon in the newsroom of the Washington Daily News. This was the fall of 1956, and the News, a Scripps Howard tabloid, published six days a week but not Sunday. When the last Saturday edition was off our hands, the rest of the day could be mighty quiet. A sub-editor […]

Mainstreaming Radical Islam

Mainstreaming Radical Islam

Feb 24 11 • 1 comment

The term “useful idiot” is believed to have been coined by Vladimir Lenin. It originally described liberal Communist sympathizers in Western nations who, as the Soviet leader explained, would “sell us (Soviet Russia) the rope with which we will hang them (the West).”   Today’s useful idiots are a swath from that same politically correct cloth. […]

Teaching Teens the Truth about Sin

Teaching Teens the Truth about Sin

Feb 24 11 • 4 comments

I never cease to be amazed by what can be included in a high school “health” curriculum these days. I was recently looking at a health course for ninth graders, which included such topics as “contraception,” “decision-making” skills, “sexual orientations,” as well as “what to know about health care facilities, costs and sources of payment.” […]

Scandalous Air Tanker Decision: Despite Corruption, EADS Favored Over U.S.-Based Boeing

Scandalous Air Tanker Decision: Despite Corruption, EADS Favored Over U.S.-Based Boeing

Within days, the Obama Pentagon is expected to decide which supplier to rely upon for what is, arguably, the cornerstone of America’s ability to project power for the next forty years: the next generation aerial refueling tanker known as the KC-X.  The choice for this role – which is worth conservatively $40 billion – would […]

Dearborn, MI Officials Sued to End Their Imposition of Sharia Law

Dearborn, MI Officials Sued to End Their Imposition of Sharia Law

The Thomas More Law Center announced today that the City of Dearborn, its Mayor, John B. O’Reilly, its Chief of Police, Ronald Haddad, 17 City police officers, and two executives of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce were named as defendants in a ninety-six page federal civil rights lawsuit filed in the Federal District Court […]

Wisconsin Unions vs. Governor Walker: A Battle for the Soul of America

Wisconsin Unions vs. Governor Walker: A Battle for the Soul of America

It is hard to overstate what is at stake in the dramatic showdown between Wisconsin’s teachers and their Republican governor and legislature. The political and economic course of our country hinges on how the issue of public-sector unions is resolved, in Wisconsin and elsewhere. For the sake of our country’s political and economic future, Gov. […]

Migrants, in a spiritual sense

Migrants, in a spiritual sense

The town of Princeville, where I was proud to serve for 10 years, has had migrant workers from Texas since the 1930’s, mostly to harvest and process pumpkins.  I quickly learned, upon arrival, that these good people and their children were often neglected when they returned home for Winter.  I would make the point, at […]

Did You Just Turn Your Website Into A Video Commercial?

Did You Just Turn Your Website Into A Video Commercial?

Feb 23 11 • 0 comments

“Video requires your visitor to switch from an active mode to a passive mode, which may not be the best thing to get a lead or sale.” I’ve noticed a recent trend with respect to video being used on websites. Often I will visit a home page and almost as soon as the page opens, […]

The Fuller Brush Man

The Fuller Brush Man

Feb 22 11 • 2 comments

I admit there were times growing up when us kids rolled our eyes at the strange ways of Mom and Dad.  The Old Coots (as they are sometimes known) could just be so out-of-step with the times.  Granted, this was partly due to circumstances.  My folks raised eight kids in the seventies, which were decidedly […]

Satan’s Attack On The Church – What You Can Do!

Satan’s Attack On The Church – What You Can Do!

Feb 22 11 • 8 comments

“The Catholic Church —  and I am a life-long member — has disgraced itself beyond belief. If evidence should be revealed that a Cardinal was implicit in this cover-up, he should be indicted. I’m having trepidation as I prepare to attend Mass this morning. I’m afraid that if my pastor reads The Cardinal’s BS letter, […]

Cut Deeply

Cut Deeply

Feb 22 11 • 1 comment

I cut our dog this past weekend. I mean, I literally cut her! I was grooming her and intended to cut her hair but caught her skin instead, making a painful gash in her back leg. She yelped and jumped, whirling her head around and looking back at me in complete bewilderment. The tears came […]

"A Fourth Rome There Will Not Be" -- Russia and Her Mission, Part One

“A Fourth Rome There Will Not Be” — Russia and Her Mission, Part One

“Two Romes have fallen, but the third stands, and a fourth there will not be.” —The Russian Monk Philotheus, c. 1520, referring to Rome, Constantinople (“New Rome”) and Moscow “In the afternoon Tatiana stayed indoors and read from the prophets Amos and Obadiah… “Commandant Yurovsky got up from his chair, went out on to the […]

Welcome Baby Seven Billion!

Welcome Baby Seven Billion!

Feb 22 11 • 1 comment

Sometime late this year a baby will emerge from the womb of its mother, draw its first breath, and announce its arrival into the world with a tiny cry. Thus will Baby Seven Billion be born. Everyone agrees that Baby Seven Billion’s birthday—the day that our planet becomes home to seven billion human beings—marks an […]

CL31b - hbratton notxt

My Story of Becoming a Mom, Part Two: Adoption, a Second Choice, not Second Best

Feb 22 11 • 0 comments

For birthparents, adoptive parents and adoptees, adoption is almost never first choice. The choice of most birthparents would obviously be to avoid an unplanned/unwanted pregnancy. The first choice of most adoptive parents would be to achieve parenthood through the more traditional route, rather than to become parents after a long journey of scrutiny, paperwork, financial […]

Dear Editor, (Boss-Man, Big Cheese, Favorite Boss Ever)

Dear Editor, (Boss-Man, Big Cheese, Favorite Boss Ever)

Feb 22 11 • 2 comments

Dear editor, I’m so sorry, but I didn’t  write a column today. This must come as a shock to you as you are, on a weekly basis without fail, so accustomed to my promptness and professionalism—always amazing you with yet another award-winning piece delivered days before deadline. And believe me, I woke up today with […]

An Ethical Defense of Conscience Clauses

An Ethical Defense of Conscience Clauses

Last week, the Obama administration revised controversial government regulations intended to protect the conscience rights of medical professionals. Put into place by the Bush administration, these conscience rules had allowed health care workers to opt out of performing medical interventions that they believe are morally objectionable. The new rules limit the medical procedures what medical […]

CL31c - hbratton notxt

Re-Defining the Abortion Debate

Feb 21 11 • 0 comments

Public opinion about abortion in America can best be described as ambivalent: uncomfortable with unrestricted abortion, yet unwilling to ban it totally. Another word for public opinion on abortion is “stalemate.” It has not moved much over the years since Roe vs. Wade. One time it did move was when partial-birth abortion was being debated […]

Bloated Budgets Endanger Freedom

Bloated Budgets Endanger Freedom

Feb 21 11 • 0 comments

Inside the beltway, discussion of President Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 has provoked the “Sturm und Drang” that we have come to expect in the polarized partisan atmosphere that predominates in Washington. The President maintains that his $3.7 trillion proposal – which would produce a $1.6 trillion deficit this year (the largest since […]