Book Review: The Tigers of Lents

Author Mark Pomeroy does a fine job of capturing the saga of a family living in Lents, Oregon. These are real people grappling with real problems in a world where everything has been stacked against them. The family members belong to an invisible economic class—the working poor.


The Return of a Demagogic Populist President after 200 Years

This year, our nation experienced the mobilization of the lowest economic class against the establishment controlled by the elites for the second time. It’s not a Marxist revolution or a fascist coup; it’s a significant portion of American voters uprising to overthrow the established order. This bare majority may not endure, but a visible eruption has abandoned the liberal normality of prioritizing rational and humane behavior. But it is not a foreign-inspired movement. It is a domestic insurrection born from our political culture dating back to the 1800s.

 


November 2024 Magazine

Brody Hale cannot see, but he relates to the world in ways that many of us could only imagine. He is known throughout the United States as an expert in canon law. He works to save Catholic Churches that have been threatened with closure.  This month, Barbara Lloyd McMichael writes a book review about “Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop’s Battle for America’s Soul,” by Michael Fanone and John Shiffman. Annie Searle offers us sage advice to roll up our sleeves to make the world a better place. During this month of Thanksgiving, Reverend Anne Saunders shares her insight: learn how to pray or learn how to become better at praying. Lord knows, we need all of the help we can get! Happy Thanksgiving!!  –Patricia Vaccarino


Learning to Pray

Our September 2024 story The Hymn in Her Heart featured Reverend Anne Saunders, who was called to be a minister in the early 1980s. Her journey as a teacher, a wife, a mother, a caretaker to her parents, and as a minister is one of profound faith. During these tumultuous times, comfort can be found by praying. Not all of us know how to pray. To learn how to pray or to learn to become better at praying, we sought wisdom from Reverend Anne Saunders.


Book review Hold the Line – Michael Fanone and John Shiffman

On the first Tuesday of this month, Michael Fanone sat in his mountaintop cabin, watching the presidential election results roll in on TV. Back on January 6, 2021, Fanone was one of the 850 D.C. Metropolitan cops who had risked life and limb by self-deploying to the United States Capitol to assist the Capitol police force in protecting the seat of American democracy from a violent takeover attempt.


Brody Hale Touches the World

Brody Hale cannot see, but he relates to the world in ways that many of us could only imagine. Blind since birth due to Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), Brody Hale practices law: estate planning, social entrepreneurship, and real estate, along with handling other small client matters. These practice areas are common for a solo practitioner living in a small town, but Brody Hale is no small town lawyer. He is known throughout the United States as an expert in canon law. He works to save Catholic Churches that have been threatened with closure.  


Carpe Diem -- Seize the Day

We’re six days past the election of former President Trump as our next president.  Both the press and social media are devoting inches if not pages of copy to try to analyze why Vice President Harris lost to Trump. The fact of the matter is that there are many reasons, and to focus on the loss itself does not leave much room to make plans that anticipate the new administration’s first days in office.  


Tsunami of Disinformation

There is something very wrong in the American culture and I am struggling to identify all of the pieces. People’s dependence on their phones, coupled with the Tsunami of Disinformation, is creating enormous ignorance. Algorithms are pushing memes, false news items, and disinformation, that specifically target users by profiling them.