Lori Falce stories, Page 3
Lori Falce: Confession is good for the soul — unless you are a politician
As a kid, I was always cautioned that admitting my faults was the easier path. When you go to Catholic school, that is reinforced when you go to confession. The exit ramp from the road to hell was an earnest admission, a genuine apology and a few Hail Marys. Have...
Lori Falce: False promises of learning from Social Security mistakes
I am not old enough to retire. That doesn’t mean I am unfamiliar with the Social Security Administration. My father-in-law lived with us for several years after he suffered a heart attack. My husband received disability because of a constellation of health issues. I am a woman and I got...
Lori Falce: Calling everything ‘fraud’ doesn’t make it so
My favorite part of “The Princess Bride” is when Vizzini, a sly criminal mastermind who is not that sly nor much of a mastermind, responds over and over to events with a shout of “Inconceivable!” The swordsman Inigo Montoya — brilliantly played by Mandy Patinkin — eventually looks at his...
Lori Falce: America was built with a dollar and a dream, not $5 million gold cards
My mother’s grandmother Karolina was born in Austria in 1899. She came to Philadelphia in 1906 with her mother, an unmarried woman who had a romantic story about Karolina’s unnamed father but who rewrote her life in America claiming to be a widow. Karolina was not wealthy. Neither was her...
Lori Falce: Congress should take 2 aspirin and defend its trademark authority in the morning
In 1900, German drug company Bayer filed a patent in the U.S. for a tiny white pill that would be the foundation of future success: Aspirin. The company also filed a trademark for the name. It held, for a while. There were complications. As a German company, Bayer faced challenges...
Lori Falce: Marc Fogel, Saquon Barkley, Donald Trump and rooting for all the right reasons
The Super Bowl is one of the highlights of my year. Even when the Steelers aren’t participating, I revel in the rush. Sometimes not having your team in play can make you appreciate the game more than the score. I have been up front about my absolute loathing of the...
Sourdough is worth the work
Is there anything better than a good, crusty loaf of sourdough bread? It’s the perfect pairing for a bowl of homemade soup, whether it be tomato, potato, beef stew or another variety. The better the soup, the better the marriage. It’s a hearty option that adds weight to a sandwich....
Make a big-ticket Super Bowl spread on a small budget
A Super Bowl party can be the Cadillac of sporting event festivities. It has all the bells and whistles — and comes complete with sticker shock. The big game may mean thousands of dollars for tickets and travel to see it in person, but even watching at home can be...
Lori Falce: Are you a DEI hire?
I am not a DEI hire. But I could be. I am a woman, which is probably the easiest way into the club. Women, after all, make up 47% of the workforce, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. I am over 50, which means I’m not quite in...
Think outside the carton with no-egg breakfasts
Breakfast and eggs go together like bacon and, well, eggs. Why? Because historically when we got our eggs from the birds in the backyard instead of the carton in the grocery store, eggs were collected first thing in the morning. That made them a handy food to fix to start...
Lori Falce: When is it too soon for criticism?
On Wednesday night, a tragedy happened. In the skies over Washington, D.C., an American Airlines commercial plane out of Kansas was approaching Reagan Washington National Airport. A Black Hawk military helicopter was on a training exercise. The two aircraft collided and crashed into the Potomac River. Rescue efforts quickly turned...
Lori Falce: A message from the pulpit transcends politics
When I was a kid, my favorite part about going to church was the homily. While the rest of Mass was a patchwork of Bible stories, songs and the kneeling, standing and sitting calisthenics of a Catholic Sunday morning, the homily was always new. It was different. It had a...
Lori Falce: Rubio did what few have done for Marc Fogel
On Wednesday, during the confirmation hearing for Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to become secretary of state, something remarkable happened. Yes, it was political. Everything in Washington is political, whether it should be or not. Yes, it was partisan. In a narrowly divided chamber like the U.S. Senate, everything is partisan....
Lori Falce: Meta is wrong about abandoning fact-checking
What is the value in checking a fact? According to Meta, there isn’t one. The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads announced Tuesday the company will discontinue its third-party fact-checking program and replace it with “community notes.” ”We’ve seen this approach work on X — where they empower...
Lori Falce: The time I met Jimmy Carter
After almost two years in hospice care, former President Jimmy Carter died Sunday at the age of 100. I was born when Richard Nixon was in the White House. My first vote was a choice between George H.W. Bush or Bill Clinton. The first time I really paid attention to...
Lori Falce: It’s time to talk about aging and politics
It is hard to have conversations about aging. We can talk about how to deal with illness because most people are stubbornly optimistic. We can talk about disabilities because we think those are things that happen to other people. We can place limits on children because we have been 16...
Lori Falce: Is Trump captain of his ship or is Musk?
The prow of a ship is often decorated with a carved object. It may represent the name of the vessel. It may be something important to the owner or the nation whose flag flies on the mast. Over the years, these have been depictions of deities. They have been mythological...
Hanukkah sweets are treats for any holiday table
Hanukkah, like Christmas, is just around the corner. This year, the Jewish and Christian holidays both fall on Dec. 25. Hanukkah’s eight days of celebration will cover Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. That’s a lot of festivity. And, as with most holidays, it also means a...
Lori Falce: Pardon me, do you have any clemency?
I beg your pardon. It is a phrase you might hear as someone slips by you in an aisle at the store — unless you are in Minnesota, where it would be “Ope! Just gonna scoot past ya!” An “uff da” or “you betcha” might be thrown in for good...
Lori Falce: The bitter pill of an insurance CEO’s murder
On Wednesday, a man died — and a lot of people just didn’t care. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, was gunned down on a sidewalk as he approached the Hilton Midtown Manhattan hotel for an investors meeting, right between Rockefeller Center and Carnegie Hall. It was an early-morning ambush, and...
Lori Falce: Black Friday in the time of tariffs
The Meta Quest 3S virtual headset is prominently featured on the front of the Target Black Friday flyer. At Walmart, kids may be clamoring for the Hot Wheels hot deal. Kohl’s is cutting the price on Beats by Dr. Dre headphones in half and kicking in some Kohl’s Cash to...
Lori Falce: NomineeMania Smackdown 2025!
“Holy s—-! I didn’t see that coming!” That was the reaction of U.S. Sen. John Fetterman to Matt Gaetz withdrawing his name from consideration to become U.S Attorney General. It was also the reaction of many people when President-elect Donald Trump nominated Gaetz — who resigned from the House of...
Bite-size potato bars are perfect for party season
It’s party time. From November to January, we jump through a lot of entertaining hoops. There’s Thanksgiving, of course. But maybe you also indulge in a Friendsgiving where you gather around a less traditional table. Do you have people over for tree trimming or St. Nicholas Day? Have your ladies’...
Turkey Day? Why not Side Dish Day?
Thanksgiving is a holiday defined by its signature food in a way that is different from really any other American celebration. We might eat cookies at Christmas but we don’t call it Cookie Day. We might indulge in an Easter ham and dye eggs, but we don’t celebrate Ham and...
Lori Falce: The sweet justice of The Onion buying Infowars
Sometimes justice isn’t something that can be delivered by the courts. A guilty verdict, for example, does not bring back a loved one. It doesn’t restore a reputation or rebuild a home. What it does is get as close to justice as the law can do after the fact. In...
