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More On Cursive

November 16, 2016 Frontpage Comments Off on More On Cursive

By JAMES K. FITZPATRICK In the October 6 edition of First Teachers, we featured a discussion of the growing movement away from the teaching of cursive writing in our schools. A professor from a large university has forwarded to us some additional information in defense of the teaching of cursive. It comes from a study in the journal Psychological Science by Pam A. Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel M. Oppenheimer of the University of California, Los Angeles. Mueller and Oppenheimer write, “As laptops become smaller and more ubiquitous, and with the advent of tablets, the idea of taking notes by hand just seems old-fashioned to many students today. Typing your notes is faster — which comes in handy when…Continue Reading

By Word Of Mouth Or Pen And Ink

November 15, 2016 Frontpage Comments Off on By Word Of Mouth Or Pen And Ink

By PHILIP TROWER I don’t think anyone would deny that among the outstanding achievements of Western civilization is its historical scholarship. Before the present “global age,” it had managed to recover in detail not only its own past but, insofar as it was possible, that of nearly every other nation on Earth. The point was made in a remarkable book published in the early 1950s called The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian. The author, Nirad Chaudhuri, was a gifted Bengali who had steeped himself in European historical and linguistic scholarship, and in the process had developed a deep love and admiration for it. But why, he asks himself, had it happened in Europe not India? Europeans and Indians were both…Continue Reading

San Diego Bishop . . . Adds To Confusion About Intrinsic Evils Issues

November 14, 2016 Frontpage Comments Off on San Diego Bishop . . . Adds To Confusion About Intrinsic Evils Issues

By DEXTER DUGGAN Members of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy took differing approaches to the issue of intrinsic evils like abortion advocated by some politicians during the recent campaign season. Some prelates forthrightly condemned these evils in their guidance to Catholics. Others in the hierarchy, generally thought to be liberals, deemphasized them in a laundry list or fudged. In an October 24 letter to the people of his Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., Bishop William Murphy stated the gravity of these issues plainly, and why voting for a politician who supports them is inadmissible for Catholics. “Many issues are very important in our society today. But none of them can eclipse the centrality of human life, especially innocent human life in…Continue Reading

The Day We Saved America

November 13, 2016 Frontpage Comments Off on The Day We Saved America

By REY FLORES While the only true savior we have is Jesus Christ, this Election Day in America we witnessed a nation save itself from what seemed to be its own demise. Our country is still on a trajectory of evil. Marriage and families were being redefined by our corrupt government and people were actually being persecuted if they defied these dictatorial mandates that infringed on our faith and on our religious freedom. In our public schools and at some major retailers, genders were being redefined as well. Our species went from what God created, male and female, to what man invented — almost 60 new gender identities to suit any deranged mind’s fancy. Facebook is a problem for many…Continue Reading

Trump’s Surprising Victory . . . Shows Political Pros, Democrat Exploiters Need To Learn Lessons

November 12, 2016 Frontpage Comments Off on Trump’s Surprising Victory . . . Shows Political Pros, Democrat Exploiters Need To Learn Lessons

By DEXTER DUGGAN Triumphant Donald Trump was subjected to savage ink but still stood. Will his continuing fierce opponents now portray themselves as his solicitous well-wishers? Pray for him. Conquered Hillary Clinton possibly spent a savage night of rage at her rejection, the likely consequence of her known arrogance and anger. Pray for her. Storming to surprising presidential victory after the November 8 national election, the non-ideological Trump may be showing the way for a winning conservatism that actually works for ordinary people, not the losing abstractionism of conservative theorists who come up lacking in legislative results even if winning elections. An elite of professional “Never Trump” conservatives abandoned or backstabbed Trump during the campaign while warning he would destroy…Continue Reading

Trump’s Triumph

November 11, 2016 Frontpage Comments Off on Trump’s Triumph

By PEGGY MOEN Watching Trump’s wins mount up was like watching a newsreel of Patton’s Third Army tearing through Europe. I was at the MN GOP victory party at the Radisson Blu, Bloomington, Minn. Two huge screens showed Fox News’ coverage of the November 8 election. At the party’s opening, at 8 p.m., the electoral vote total was Clinton 97 to Trump 139 — I was amazed to see Trump ahead. The crowd was light then, milling around the party room. If great generals can feel a battlefield, so can political activists sense whether a victory party foretells the candidate’s win. Trump’s totals began to grow — so did the crowd. When a candidate appears to be losing, the crowds…Continue Reading

What Hath Trump Wrought?

November 10, 2016 Frontpage Comments Off on What Hath Trump Wrought?

By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN (Editor’s Note: Pat Buchanan’s column was released the morning of November 8, before the election results were known.) + + + “If I don’t win, this will be the greatest waste of time, money, and energy in my lifetime,” said Donald Trump. Herewith, a dissent. Whatever happens November 8, Trump has made history and has forever changed American politics. Though a novice in politics, he captured the Party of Lincoln with the largest turnout of primary voters ever, and he has inflicted wounds on the nation’s ruling class from which it may not soon recover. Bush I and II, Mitt Romney, the neocons, and the GOP commentariat all denounced Trump as morally and temperamentally unfit. Yet,…Continue Reading

The Fate Of Our Catholic Schools

November 9, 2016 Frontpage Comments Off on The Fate Of Our Catholic Schools

By JAMES K. FITZPATRICK Charles Zech, the director of Villanova University’s Center for Church Management and Business Ethics, has written an article titled “Reinventing Catholic Schools” in the August 29 issue of America magazine that is well worth the time of anyone concerned with the fate of parish schools in the United States. He touches all the bases, providing us with a clear-headed and objective analysis of the decisions that face us. Zech is on our side. He attended Catholic schools from grammar school through graduate school. He wants Catholic education to be a vibrant presence in American life, but also wants us to face what will be necessary to make that happen. “Simply put,” he writes, “the economics of…Continue Reading

Rush On The Environmentalists: Q.E.D.

November 8, 2016 Frontpage Comments Off on Rush On The Environmentalists: Q.E.D.

By JAMES K. FITZPATRICK I have been a big fan of Rush Limbaugh’s program since it first hit the airwaves in New York City in 1988. I listen to at least a half-hour, almost every day. Do I agree with everything Rush says? Of course not. Nonetheless, my first impulse, when a substitute host takes his place, is to turn off the radio and go about my business, even when the guest host is informed and articulate. No one matches Rush’s ability to both inform and entertain. What is unique about Rush is that he gives the impression that he knows something of consequence about conservative writers such as Edmund Burke, Ludwig von Mises, Russell Kirk, and James Burnham; that…Continue Reading

Regardless Of 2016 Election Result . . . Most Significant Performer Could Be Citizen Journalists

November 7, 2016 Frontpage Comments Off on Regardless Of 2016 Election Result . . . Most Significant Performer Could Be Citizen Journalists

By DEXTER DUGGAN The most significant performer in the U.S. election campaign of 2016 probably isn’t defiant Donald Trump or outrageous Hillary Clinton. Instead, inquisitive citizen journalists dug up defining stories that shoved their way into the headlines when the dominant media would have preferred to keep them buried. Recent months in the campaign would have looked, and been, drastically different if a secrets-spilling outsider like WikiLeaks hadn’t been doing its remarkable work exposing the high and mighty busily engaged in their routine down and dirty tasks that covertly but powerfully shape the way we live, even against our will. “Citizen journalism” in this electronic age is done by restless people not content with the narrow, biased news budget produced…Continue Reading