New Year's Resolutions, and a Remembrance From East of Eden
. . . So my resolution for the New Year in 2012 is to let the mourning of loss become the triumph of the Spirit. It's a tough sell to a world that measures success in the most material of terms. It's an even tougher sell within me, however, having to witness the world of grace from within prison walls, at least for now. Hence, the resolution. . . .
These Stone Walls at Year's End: My Hits and Misses for 2011
. . . A "cup o'kindness" in the Scotish tradition is usually something with the words "single malt" imprinted on the label. That, too, is not possible in prison. But I have some Starbucks coffee I've been saving, and I plan to brew it on New Year's Eve. I'll have a cup o'that in honor of you, the friends I have met on this long and winding road. These Stone Walls is such a strange and unlikely place, yet it exists, and from it every week you let me reach into your hearts in friendship, and with a shared vision of grace at work in our world. . . .
Cable News or Cable Nuisance? Gloom and Doom in America's Newsroom
. . . Greg Erlandson, publisher of Our Sunday Visitor, knows the difference, too, and it prompted him to add cable news to his list of things to avoid in 2011 (OSV, "New Years Resolutions," January 2). He clearly considered at least some of what passes for news on 24-hour cable news channels to be more akin to nuisance when he wrote: "The talking heads seem engaged in an anger and anxiety arms race, playing on ignorance and fears to get the best ratings."Greg Erlandson resolved to find "more rational and less incendiary ways" to be informed of the news. A couple of OSV readers reacted in letters to the editor. Dave Maxwell of Adrian, Michigan wrote that for him, "FOX News and The Wall Street Journal are the only reliable and balanced sources for the daily news." It seems that a lot of people agree. I'm not writing an advertisement for Fox News or The WSJ, but both news outlets are pulling in the highest ratings these days. I suspect there's a good reason for that, but it may also cause other news outlets to compete for ratings, sometimes by appealing to our basest nature. . . .
