I was stunned by the weekend news: “Pope’s butler in Vatican jail,” say Italian journalists.
Wha? The pope has a butler? The Vatican has a jail? Italy has journalists? Just when I thought I had a handle on this zombie-riddled vale of tears, they pull the oh-so-plush scarlet rug out from...
In what I can only imagine was a gross misunderstanding of the etymology of the term “slap happy,” a Baptist preacher in North Carolina is advising parents to slap the gay right out of their children. He seems to define “gay” as playing dress-up, suffering from wrist palsy, or...
The dynamic Castro duo has a little treat for Pope Benedict XVI’s Easter basket this year: Good Friday will be celebrated as a national holiday in Cuba for the first time since the revolution in 1959. According to CNN, this raises the total number of religious holidays in that island nation to...
A few years ago I had a chance to tour the Emerald Isle with the AOH (Ancient Order of Hibernians or, as my sister and I called them, the Order of Ancient Hibernians). We joined the Bloody Sunday March in Derry, toured Kilmainham Gaol, walked among the graves at Glasnevin. We were supplied with expert guides...
Though we’re still 8 years shy of the centenary of women’s right to vote, a lot has changed. No candidate, male or female, Republican or Democrat, can hope to win elected office without winning over a few women. While women have historically sided with the Democrats (like the rest of the poor),...
