Pacifist Colman McCarthy And The National Catholic Reporter

 

Dear F,

Thanks for reminding me of Colman McCarthy - an exemplary Catholic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colman_McCarthy

He writes regularly for The National Catholic Reporter where pacifist friend Patrick O'Neill - who is about to go to prison for his Plowshares' nuclear submarine protest - also writes. https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/10/sister-ardeth-platte-exemplary-human.html

I know I've mentioned NCR before, but name recognition generally requires 7 repetitions.

Anyhow, NCR is superb -- not only for the quality of its writing, but for the topics and issues NCR contributors write about.

National Catholic Reporter's free webpage is also excellent. https://www.ncronline.org/

Here is McCarthy's archive, starting with a recent article titled, "Why I Don't Vote": https://www.ncronline.org/authors/colman-mccarthy

On this topic, I take exception with McCarthy:

My Criticism Of People Who Argue That It's Better To Vote For A Third Party Candidate, Or For No One At All

https://newsfrombarbaria.blogspot.com/2020/09/my-criticism-of-people-who-argue-that.html

Love

A

PS I believe Danny's Godfather, Steve Dear (who trained as a journalist at the University of Richmond... after attending an upscale Jesuit High School with Brett Kavanaugh... the same school also attended by Neil Gorsuch) has written for the National Catholic Reporter (not to be confused with the right-wing National Catholic Register to which John Lawson's good friend... and my friend... Carol Baumer subscribes.)

On Sun, Nov 29, 2020 at 11:26 AM FV wrote:

Krauthammer's description of y k w is so perfect .

Was introduced to a very interesting 82 y .o . educator, pacifist this a.m. on Sunday Morning.

Colman McCarthy.

Do you know him?

I think you'd like him.

On Sun, Nov 29, 2020, 12:17 AM Alan Archibald <alanarchibaldo@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Fred,

Thanks for your email reflection and for today's delightful phone call.

I have not developed your taste for The National Review even though Bill Kristol is one of American Conservatism's more intelligent and dogged never-Trumpers.

However, I do share your interest in Charles Krauthammer, and draw your attention to the opening meme in the following post: http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2018/06/charles-krauthammer-conservative.html

Just now, I postponed my reflection on Frank Stasio's last WUNC NPR broadcast (this past Wednesday) in order to write this reply to your email. 

My promised info-packet will reach your in-box no later than tomorrow. 

BTW... My Spanish Zoom class takes place on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:30 til 8:00 p.m. Please keep in mind that my students (and newcomers) know they are welcome to arrive late and leave early. None of us "regulars" have any objection to sudden apparitions or equally abrupt disappearances.

Pax et amor

Alan 

PS The deeper I immerse myself in Netflix' "Longmire," the more enthusiastic I become. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1836037/

On Sat, Nov 28, 2020 at 8:29 PM Fred Owens <froghospital911@gmail.com> wrote:

Today is Saturday. It's been a fine weekend for Laurie and me. I could say that we have enjoyed the peace and quiet, except the Angel of Death is out there, breathing quietly, lurking, choosing victims. The pandemic gives us images of innocent persons choking and fighting for air in nearby hospital beds. But not images, facts. Thousands dying. The number is too large to comprehend.

Yet we are commanded to stay alive, and to stay alive we must enjoy our lives in big and small ways, and be grateful that our children and grandchildren are doing well. The vaccine is coming, and better treatments are coming. Better outcomes too. This Thanksgiving has been memorable. Traditions will change. New traditions will become established. Next year we will once more gather around backyard fires, in the fresh air, in small groups. We are not going back to the way it was.

My son Eugene bought me a copy of Barack Obama's memoir, A Promised Land.  Almost 750 pages. Sentences with semi-colons. Obama is such a brainiac. And he's not showing off either. He just really is that smart. Obama writes clearly. He is not clumsy or over-complicated in his style. I have read 300 pages so far. I am not promising to read it all, but I might.

Then, at one of those little roadside free book libraries, I picked up a paperback copy of Charles Krauthammer's Things That Matter. He was an outstanding conservative columnist for the Washington Post. Obama and Krauthammer make a balanced pair. I don't think balance is important. It's not my method. But Krauthammer is awfully smart too. Their writing is a testimony to the value of powerful intellects tempered by education and experience. If you read either of these two books, you will realize how really bad Trump is, and soon to be was.

So much for politics. Happy Thanksgiving.