Interview On the Radio Today at 5pm Eastern
I will be interviewed on the radio today at 5pm (Eastern) on the In His Sign Network radio station. They are a lay Catholic radio apostolate located in Rosemont, PA. They broadcast daily live from 5 to 6pm (Eastern) WTMR-800 AM and on the Internet at www.inhissign.com.
The interview will be about The American Catholic and the other Catholic websites that I operate as well as my work on the National Catholic Register.
This is my first interview and it is an already humbling experience. Pray for me that I won’t make a fool of myself!
TAC Links Up and Running
Dear TAC readers,
Last night we moved all of our databases over to a bigger server in order to prevent delays or crashes from occurring. We have done this due to the increase of visitors to The American Catholic that have stretched the limits of our servers.
When we moved over to these bigger servers we were successful in this endeavor. These changes, though, come with unforeseen problem(s).
The problem we experienced, as soon as it was identified, was quickly fixed and resolved. In laymen terms, some links didn’t work properly so many (or some) of you were unable to navigate to certain links or pages without encountering a “server error” message.
Again, this problem has been resolved.
If anyone experiences any such errors still or some other issues, please leave a comment so we can address them promptly.
We here at The American Catholic thank you for your loyal patronage!
In Jesus, Mary, & Joseph,
The Editors
TAC Now On Mobile Devices
We have set up a simple mobile plugin which allows TAC to be accessed on any mobile device, ie, iPhone, Blackberry, etc.
In the future, Summer 2011, we will upgrade to a sophisticated mobile plugin.
Unless of course a loyal reader would like to donate a monetary gift, this could be moved up significantly.
In the meantime, please leave comments on any issues, problems, etc, that you may be experiencing viewing TAC on your mobile device.
Links Restored to TAC
We have finished transferring all the links over to the upgraded TAC.
We’ve added a few more categories to make it easier to find your favorite links.
If you feel that there are worthy Catholic blogsites or websites that we should carry, please leave a comment and we will add them. Of course, please only recommend blogsites/websites that are loyal to the Magisterium, ie, that walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
TAC Upgrade Complete, Website Back Up
Dear loyal readers,
We, TAC, have completed our upgrade.
We were down for roughly 24 hours and now we’re back up!
You’ll notice a few changes, but more changes are coming, but not anything that will disrupt service.
So enjoy our posts, comment to your hearts delight, and pray for our evangelization efforts.
In Jesus, Mary, & Joseph,
The TAC Editors
TAC Down Until Sunday Evening, November 14
Dear TAC readers,
The American Catholic is going through an upgrade this next week in order to better serve our readers and engage the world.
This means we will be down for roughly a 24 hour period and will return tomorrow evening, November 14 around 6pm Central time.
Thank you for your patience!
TAC Editors
Sad Little Man
I’ve heard it said that imitation is a form of flattery, but I think it is equally true that uncharitable and unfunny satire is flattery in its own right. The American Catholic (as well as a couple of other blogs associated with frequent com-boxers here) has now been parodied/attacked with a faux-blog called “The Catholic Fascist.” I think we all know who is behind this rather bizarre and childish waste of time.
Ideological Diversity
This will be short and bitter-sweet (yes, 500 words is short for me).
Evidently we at TAC have had the dubious honor of being recognized by the National Catholic Reporter, or one of its contributors at any rate, as “a little kookie.” That’s alright by me, since I’d rather be greatly kooky [is it kooky or kookie?] than to be even a little boring or unimaginative.
What is smugly dismissed as “kookiness” in this case, however, is the diversity of opinion we have here, as opposed to perhaps the rigid ideological uniformity of some other websites and blogs that I won’t name.
I’m not interested in defending or rejecting the positions that were criticized in the NCR, but I would like to defend the ideological diversity we have sought to foster here. We have our Reagan conservatives, our rather moderate conservatives, and a few left-of-centers. And there’s our resident Distributiarian (a rather disparaging term someone coined for my distributist-libertarian ideology that I choose to wear as a badge of honor).
Last Weeks Top-Ten Catholic Posts
Here are this past weeks Top-10 most visited Catholic posts from The American Catholic for June 20-26:
1. Parish Shopping by Michael Denton
2. McChrystal Should Be Fired by Donald R. McClarey
3. Sharia in Dearborn? by Donald R. McClarey
4. G.K. Chesterton on Lincoln by Donald R. McClarey
5. Healthcare Reform & the Magisterium by Chris Burgwald
6. Real Sex vs. the Contraceptive Mentality (Part 2) by Darwin
7. Toy Story 3 by Michael Denton
8. Planned Parenthood, What Happened to the Money? by D.R.M.
9. Under the Roman Sky by Donald R. McClarey
10. I Am Shocked, Shocked! by D.R. McClarey
Top 25 Catholic Blogs by Technorati Authority by John Henry
Failure: Vox Nova Takes on Conservatism
I wasn’t going to do this, but now I am. A contributor (Morning’s Minion) to a certain blog (Vox Nova), whose views on gun control I previously challenged, took it upon himself to let it all out about “conservatism” – partially, I believe, in response to our exchange. The same themes are there at least, though he does go on (and on) about slavish right-wing support for Israel, an issue on which I am not so enthusiastic. I’ve also made my opposition to America’s interventionist foreign policy known. In doing so I respectfully digress from many of my co-bloggers at The American Catholic.
But there are a number of very broad points made by Morning Minions that are more or less directed at me, and my co-bloggers, and of course conservatives and libertarians in general, and I will answer them here.
Shameless Plug
My latest article for Inside Catholic is a condensed version of a number of posts I wrote here at TAC regarding Catholicism and American history.
I mention my membership in TAC as part of the reason why I came to change my views on America’s past; Don, Paul Z. and others have made a number of enlightening historical posts/comments over the months that prompted me to investigate further.
Here’s hoping that my plug gets us a few more readers, and that IC and TAC continue to keep one another in mind.
USA Today Reports on Catholic Blogosphere
Last Friday on October 30 the mainstream media here in America reported inaccurately that the Vatican was warning parents that Halloween is ‘anti-Christian’. Of course no such thing occurred. The Vatican did not say that Halloween is ‘anti-Christian’, in fact they didn’t say anything at all.
On that same day, Jack Smith of The Catholic Key Blog debunked the story with yeoman’s work finding the source of the “alleged” Vatican Halloween Warning to a priest of the Spanish Bishop’s Conference by the name of Fr. Joan Maria Canals, CMF, a liturgy expert. I followed up with a posting on this website early the next day supplementing Jack Smith’s findings with common mistakes made in reporting what is and isn’t official.
I then submitted my article to several news organizations, including the Drudge Report and the USA Today. Additionally I left comments and sent emails explaining why their reporting was inaccurate. To their credit, both the Drudge Report and the USA Today, rectified the situation some extent.
The Drudge Report removed the link to the Daily Mail late Saturday morning. Then early Monday afternoon on November 2, Doug Stanglin, who wrote the piece that inaccurately attributed the Vatican warning parents of the anti-Christian nature of Halloween, followed up with our side of the story.
The American Catholics Top-10 Most Visited Articles
Well we are approaching the end of our first anniversary here at The American Catholic website. Many of us have provided our favorites and most thoughtful articles that caught our attention. Now its the readers of The American Catholic’s turn.
The following articles are the most visited by our readers on The American Catholic. They may not necessarily be the most popular, maybe they may be the most provocative that captured our readers attention.
So here are the Top-10 most visited articles these past 12 months:
1. Excessive Health Care Profits by DarwinCatholic on August 3, 2009 A.D.
2. Pro-life Ending for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show by Tim Shipe on May 30, 2009 A.D.
3. Russian Professor Predicts Breakup of US in 2010 by DarwinCatholic on December 29, 2008 A.D.
Year In Review Of The American Catholic
We here at the American Catholic are celebrating our one year anniversary by reflecting on our favorite posts of the last 12 months.
Today it is my turn to contribute my favorite postings.
Enjoy!
What Is An American Catholic – Zach
The Scary Thing Is: We Really Mean It – DarwinCatholic
Fr. Emery of the 10th Tennessee Regiment – Donald McClarey
Being Reasonable Doesn’t Always Work – Chris Burgwald
Moloch: A Call for a More Sensitive Reappraisal – David Curp
American Catholic: One Year Retrospective
As Donald noted yesterday, it’s been a year since we started here at The American Catholic. I know we’ve all been pleased both at the quality of the writing from the team as a whole, and also from the interest from our readers.
Looking back over the last year, we put together a list of some of the our favorite posts.
A Can of Worms: In Praise of the Latin Mass Joe Hargrave
Apologia Pro Libertarianism Sua Blackadder
Are Pro-Lifers Stuck with the Republican Party? John Henry
Becoming A Father, A Polical Manifesto Tim Shipe
Catholic Chaplains Series Donald McClarey
Catholic Teachings on Economic Life Eric Brown
Catholics Teaching, Homosexuality and American Life Eric Brown
Cocaine, Cardinal Ocampo, and the Drug Wars Tito Edwards
Delayed Adulthood, Preliminary Thoughts Joe Hargrave
Don’t Adulterate the Adultery Ryan Harkins
Fides Quaerens Intellectum Eric Brown
Generations & American Catholicism John Henry
Moral Simpletons Joe Hargrave
Nationalism and the Problems of the Middle East DarwinCatholic
Partisanship and Empty Rhetoric Ryan Harkins
Pro-Life Movement: Democrats Need Not Apply Tim Shipe
Redistribution of Wealth: A Catholic Perspective Joe Hargrave
Send Me Your Poor DarwinCatholic
Should Catholics Own Guns? Ryan Harkins
Socialism, Catholicism and the Common Good John Henry
Staying Rooted in Parish Life DarwinCatholic
The Old School Date Tim Shipe
The Poor You Will Always Have With You Ryan Harkins
The Vatican’s Rifles DarwinCatholic
Uncomfortable Thoughts on the Declaration Blackadder
Were the Apostles Socialists? Blackadder
Women Priests in the Catholic Church Eric Brown
One Year Already?
I find it hard to believe, but The American Catholic is celebrating its one year birthday today. I’ve enjoyed writing for the blog over the past year immensely, and I hope our readers and commenters have also had some fun. Contributors will be linking to some of their favorite posts. Here are two of mine:
1. report-to-the-emperor-first-draft-I posted this on Good Friday and I think I will make this a blog tradition of doing so each year.
2. triumph-of-the-king-This I posted on Palm Sunday.
My friend and colleague Christopher Blosser is having some computer trouble. Two of his posts that I greatly admire are:
1. mitsuo-fuchida-from-pearl-harbor-to-calvary.
2. catholic-campaign-for-human-development-tainted-by-acorn-or-still-rotten-itself.
In regard to Chris this list would be quite lengthy if I included all the posts he has written which I wish I had written! Writer envy, it is a terrible thing!
I am sure the next year will be as crowded with events as the last one was. The American Catholic will be here to comment on the passing scene, as Americans and Catholics, with, I trust, a leavening of humor and at least a dash of common sense.
The Personality Type of a Blog
Per Typealyzer, The American Catholic blog has the personality type of an INTP according to the Myer’s Briggs indicator. Here is the description:
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YqM_zH1K7Uw/TOK1hLlt3BI/AAAAAAAAA1o/HCzoksN1-ME/s1600/email+icon+32x32.png")
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