extreme Catholic

2012-01-22T18:12:00.003-05:00

‘God’-awful OWS mob steals sacred item from church: New York Post

At West Park, Rev. Brashear walked into the church for a morning service to find the 18-inch-diameter bronze basin and lid missing from the baptismal font’s 800-pound base. Holy water — straight from the River Jordan — had been poured from the missing basin insert into the base’s bowl.

This Presbyterian Church had been hosting 60 Occupy Wall Street protesters each night.

2012-01-21T22:16:00.003-05:00

Biblical blunder at White House briefing: AP

"I believe the phrase from the Bible is, `The Lord helps those who help themselves,'" [Jay] Carney [White House spokesman] said.

Attention must be paid to ignorance at this level.

2012-01-10T17:48:00.004-05:00

Michelle Obama 'Distressed' About Power Held in IL by 'White Irish Catholic' Families: Chicago Sun-Times

When Michelle Obama worked in Mayor Daley's City Hall in the early 1990s, she was "distressed" by how a small group of "white Irish Catholic" families -- the Daleys, the Hynes and the Madigans -- "locked up" power in Illinois.

She must have forgotten Harold Washington, the African-American mayor of Chicago from 1983 to 1987. He died at the start of his second term.

I will see if other how Catholic blogs cover this as I contemplate restarting this blog.

2011-10-27T22:44:00.001-04:00

Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of Global Public Authority by Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Mario Toso

You can google "Caesaropapism" or "Catholic monarchists" and see the deep roots of this: a theme throughout Christian is to put faith in princes [Ps 146:3] who have the power of the sword, and not in the appeal of the Gospel to people sitting in pews through the power of the word for voluntary offering. There's nothing in Mt 28:19, the commission given by Christ to the Church about banking.

2011-04-02T23:33:00.003-04:00

Disarm the Aggressor: Libya Edition

I could have sworn when the denunciation of the foreign military intervention in Libya began it fit the template of the demand by Pope John Paul II for foreign military intervention in Bosia, Somalia, Rwanda, (and those are locales I can recall).

New York Times: Pope Seeks a Disarming Of 'Aggressor' in Bosnia January 13, 1994.

So I will be reading news reports to see what's different about the circumstances in Libya.

2010-09-29T23:22:00.003-04:00

Small motor assisted bicycles

A hundred feet from my front door a rider of one of these was struck by a car and I saw the police and EMS response. Later I saw a few more of these bicycles. They don't have license plates. At this point I don't know if they are required. However, I saw that the riders in the street simply aren't aware of the cars around them and how slow they are travelling relative to the other traffic. I prayed for the person on the ambulance gurney. Maybe I haven't been paying attention but they just seemed to have appeared in September in Queens.

2010-08-11T21:53:00.004-04:00

Is Jesus just Savior, or is He Lord and Savior?

This is a point I have overlooked. I have internalized it. I have a debt to Rev. Mark D. Roberts on the Hugh Hewitt Show. Roberts remarked on Anne Rice who recently announced her apostasy (or it is a schism?) from Christianity. He suggested that Rice could accept Jesus as Savior but not as Lord. That struck me as a profound observation: We are told to take up the cross and follow Jesus. It is in two parts: carry the cross, and follow Jesus. We are not only the grateful receivers of unmerited salvation and grace, but also his followers.

2010-08-07T22:24:00.004-04:00

Since when is the fourth time something has happened "historic"? Anyway few are noticing this a "New Yorkers" court: Kagan, Sotomayor, Ginsburg, and Scalia.

2010-08-03T20:51:00.004-04:00

Mexican bishops denounce Arizona immigration law: Catholic World News

The bishops of Mexico have released a press statement denouncing the controversial Arizona immigration law. The statement was signed by Bishop Víctor René Rodríguez Gómez of Texcoco, secretary general of the Mexican bishops’ conference.
“With deep sadness, we have received the news that the immigration law SB1070 has entered into force,” the statement begins. Expressing solidarity with Latinos residing in the United States, the bishops “ask with insistence that the Lord of life and all the earth move the hearts of all people who do not know the Father of all and have not been able to discover brotherhood, tolerance, and mercy.”
“We value and we are thankful to the noble and generous people of the United States of America, who for years have offered a warm welcome and support to Mexico and so many countries in need on the continent and in the world,” the statement continues. “We are disappointed to see, and we firmly condemn, the selfish and irresponsible attitude of certain powerful groups which aim to separate countless families, leaving them to drown in deepest misery and poverty after having made enormous sacrifices and risked their lives in the search for a better life and a future of wellbeing and justice for their children.”
“We join our voices with those of all men and women of goodwill calling on Mexican authorities, and Mexican families and parishes, to warmly welcome with specific pastoral care our brothers and sisters forced to retrace their steps.”
“We intend to continue our activity to render our people of Mexico ‘A Home and a School of Communion,’ enabling them to be present in faith and prayer. We give them our blessing as Bishops and we commend them to the Heart of God, to His Son Jesus Christ, and to Holy Mary of Guadalupe.”

The bishops of Mexico with deep sadness should acknowledge their country -- its politics, its culture, and the how the Catholic faith is acted out in the temporal order -- have failed Mexicans and the United States has been successful in creating opportunity, wealth, and hope for millions of Mexicans. I call upon the bishops of Mexico to convert the selfish, irresponsible, and powerful elites who keep so many of Mexico in poverty and misery to create a future for Mexico that doesn't depopulate itself. God bless Mexico and God bless the United States of America.

2010-07-18T15:18:00.004-04:00

What a Catholic who is a capitalist believes

Capitalism is a economic system. It is not an ideology, not a political system, not a social system, not a religion, by itself, it does not define a culture.

Economic systems are about scarcity. What's perpetually scarce is intelligence, labor, and raw materials. As a Catholic, I believe that these are gifts from God and therefore subject to God's plan for how we use them. That's important because this is an area in which we are not autonomous from God. What is scarce will always engage moral questions of who owns it, who gets to use or consume it?

In Capitalism ownership of the means of production is held privately. The owners of capital make decisions on supply, demand, and allocation in free markets. That's the outline definition.

I am a capitalist who thinks that addressing poverty is important to giving capitalism a moral foundation. This puts in me in opposition to Ayn Rand and her followers who minimized if not deprecated charity as a virtue.

If I were to look at what the critical question today worth talking about is whether the poor have a claim to the wealth of others by the fact they don't have it. Is wealth inequality in itself contrary to God's justice? My own opinion is that poverty entails suffering from deprivation: not enough food, not enough shelter, not enough health care - the critical needs for life are not being met among people without an ability to earn it in a capitalist economy.

2010-07-16T23:33:00.004-04:00

Blasphemy Watch: Double Feature: Lindsay Lohan Licks Gun, Dresses as Nun for 'Machete' (Popeater:AOL)

Lindsay Lohan's 'Machete' promo poster is hidden deep on the movie's website, but it sure is causing a stir! Lohan -- who will begin her 90-day prison sentence on July 20 -- is dressed in a nun's habit and licking a gun. In the film, Lohan plays a gun-toting avenger called "The Sister."

So the poster speaks for itself. You are supposed to be shocked by it. I think among people of Lohan's age, the image doesn't register as reality, except perhaps from a Halloween costume character: nun, pirate, princess, goth, etc.

I think I heard this from Fr. Benedict Groschel, CFR, "if virtue is mocked, a culture will self-destruct." (Virtue-driven Life)

2010-07-16T23:10:00.003-04:00

Blasphemy Watch: Dutch bishop gives priest red card for orange Mass (BBC)

A Catholic priest in the Netherlands who held an orange-themed Mass in support of the national football team has been suspended.
The Reverend Paul Vlaar wore an orange robe and decked out his church in orange before Sunday's World Cup final.
During the service he even acted as a goalkeeper as a parishioner kicked a football down the aisle.
But the Bishop of Haarlem said he had not paid sufficient respect to the sacred nature of the Eucharist.
Maybe we allowed ourselves to be swept along a little too much in the 'Oranje' euphoria
said Win Bijman Obdam parish vice-chairman.
Footage of the service in the village of Obdam north of Amsterdam made it on to YouTube and was broadcast around the world.
However, it failed to impress Bishop Jozef Punt.
In a statement, he said the service had "caused outrage" in the Netherlands and overseas. He ordered Mr Vlaar to enter "a period of reflection" and suspended him from his duties.

Another case of "the spirit of Vatican II". A Mass that doesn't call the popular culture to conversion, but allows the popular culture to corrupt the worship of God. This would have been unnoticed if the involvement of the priest was merely to show enthusiasm for the team in a secular setting, but to infiltrate it into the Mass reveals a disturbing lack of insight into what the Mass is:

The Eucharist is the very sacrifice of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus which he instituted to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until his return in glory. Thus he entrusted to his Church this memorial of his death and Resurrection. It is a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet, in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us. (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 271)

2010-07-07T22:35:00.003-04:00

Why did the scandal of sexual abuse by priests get covered up by bishops?

The instincts of many of the bishops was to see the accused priest as a brother (if close in age) or as a son (if not). These predator priests were in their "family" and as isolated as the bishops are from ordinary life, they viewed the victims as selfish whiners, exaggerators, or worse, liars, who threatened the reputation of the Church. They were unfortunate collateral damage. This was my answer in a comment box over in Catholic Culture: News

2010-06-30T22:04:00.002-04:00

Another amazon.com list

Listmania: The West originated in Christianity and the Catholic Church
http://amzn.to/abkYet

2010-06-10T19:54:00.002-04:00

Sale of the convent of St Margaret Mary (Staten Island) via Atlas Shrugged

Iran and the Saudis have more than enough money to come in and buy America's vacant Catholic convents, schools, rectories, seminaries, and churches. To the Catholics, it is cash, and cash is necessary to pay for the sexual abuse settlements. To Muslims, this is more than real estate, it is a monument to the triumph of Islam and the retreat of Christianity. Photographs and videos fuel a propaganda campaign demonstrating that it's only a matter of time before the West is dead, enslaved, or converted to Islam. This not the loss of the Hagia Sophia, but in principle, the same.

2010-05-30T12:23:00.002-04:00

Catholic Health Association and the future of Catholic unity : Catholic Advocate

Political hands have a term for this: "muddying the waters". Unfortunately, no genuinely pro-life spokesman with a title that confers authority in this area appeared to challenge her. There's only one CHA, and there are over a 100 bishops and no single bishop speaks for them all. Looking to the future, it is a fantasy for the CHA to think this is good for their hospitals. They won't have "their" hospitals much longer. New York City recently lost Cabrini, St. John's, Mary Immaculate, and St. Vincents. Catholic heath-care is extinct in New York City and it is because the government at all levels would not fund the indigent care which was mandated by the licenses of these hospitals. The government will standby as all the CHA hospitals fail in like manner and Catholic health care will be extinct in this country.

2010-05-28T20:53:00.001-04:00

Stories we didn't finish: Italian Dept.

Cardinal laments Italy’s ‘demographic suicide’ and on Zenit

Rome 2049: As the last woman born in Italy in the last century, turns 50 this week , Maria regrets none of her four former husbands and her ever decided to have a child. This regret of the over-50's is shared among both men and women who were childless by choice. Not all, however, call this the death of Italy. The Institute of European Ethnology reports that Italy is not empty of people, only empty of what were historically "Italians" Today's Italians are likely to have grandparents who were...

2010-05-05T22:29:00.003-04:00

How can one story get so many points?

'Do your job, you b#&*h!' slap at cop, New York Post

According to the press accounts, from his car, Wayne Mahlkeshouted at a police office "Do your job you fat bitch".

Here is how I score it:

The story only is a story because the b-word was used. 1 pt.
The utter pointlessness of it all. 1 pt.
Non-lethal confrontation with a police officer. 1 pt.
One person white, one person black. 1 pt.
Fat person calling person fat. 1 pt.
Very familiar location: Bridge Plaza North at the Queensboro Br. 1 pt.
False claims to work for Bloomberg, Brown. 1 pt.
A gay angle which I don't understand. 1 pt.
The arrogance of being a former staffer for a New York State senator (or two). 1 pt.
Producing two phony parking placards. 1 pt.
Not producing a valid driver's license. 1 pt.
"Don't you know who I am?" 1 pt.
The officer, Denise McDonald, refusing comment to the media. 2 pts.
The great understatement that "this former public servant should have known better" 2 pts.
The revealing insight into how the politically powerful regard themselves and how they regard the police: arrogance. 3 pts.

Elsewhere, some comment boxers who have looked at the story that "reasonable suspicion" does not proceed from merely yelling an insult at a cop, so everything that followed the cop's approach to Mahlke's Honda Civic is going to be thrown out, since the stop wasn't constitutional.

I wonder how much time elapsed between his arrest and when he was released on his own recognizance. It might have been a hour. It might have been 24 hours.

2010-04-24T23:23:00.002-04:00

Pro-choice guest blogger: Overheard in New York

Girl on date: My mother had an abortion when I was 11.
Boy on date: That must be because your parents realized they could never produce anything as beautiful as you again.

2010-04-02T22:25:00.003-04:00

Good Friday

I have returned from my parish's Stations of the Cross. I'm listening to the news on FOX 5 NY and hear a voice saying "no beverage tax on Jews." It turns out I'm not the only one to have heard (misheard) it. Google Search The controversy seems to be whether it was intentional or not. From context, it would appear the word is "juice". Woody Allen in one of his movies suggested that calling a menu item "Roast Beef au jus" was antisemitic.

I look forward to celebrations of Passover and Easter, where ethnic and religious slurs are so remote in history that it doesn't enter the popular culture each year.

2010-04-01T10:29:00.004-04:00

Why does the media hate the Catholic Church: Catholic Advocate

To unpack this question, the "media" represents three groups: reality, diversion, and advocacy. "Hate" means more the opposition at an intellectual level, but delight in and working actively for the destruction of the object of hatred. "Reality" spans everything from a news blog to an encyclopedia where the media consumer expects either an absence of advocacy or balanced presentation of the several sides of controversy. But reality is so boring, it gets blurred into diversion and advocacy.

The "reality" of reality is that unless it is taxpayer-funded there needs to be advertisers in the picture to make it "mass communication" to attract an audience. You attract an audience by being entertaining, or attracting the like-minded in advocacy, or even better in both modes.

Not every person who is an abortion advocate is also a gay marriage advocate or even a advocate of requiring the Catholic Church to ordain women. But there's a uniform code of political opinion maintained in news and editorial offices and it's enforced by looking at the trail the internet leaves behind in their blogs and social media as people attempt to enter the media club. You will find the least diversity of opinion in places where the left wants to wear a mask of objectivity.

They don't formally carry an anti-Catholic label, they don't need to, it just worked out that way. The edge of political, social, and cultural change in the United States always seems to be pointed in the opposite direction of where the Catholic Church is pointing. So it's not enough for Catholics to go into a bunker but to push back. How dare we do so. The first people we have to persuade are fellow Catholics who are even now unaware of the target painted on the side of their Church.

2010-03-22T09:04:00.004-04:00

The Two Best Arguments against Repeal

(1) Universal health care is inevitable in social progress. Things are moving forward -- the end of child labor, a 40 hour work week, social security, health care for elderly, health care for the poor, and now health care reform for everyone. This is the inevitable progression of history.

(2) Republicans are nothing but hypocrites -- every socially progressive change they oppose politically and years later, when it is woven into the fabric of America, they dare not oppose it. Health care will be the next to be as beloved by Americans as Social Security. It's inconceivable that Social Security or Medicare could be repealed.

I'm going to be emailing this to my favorite conservative talk-show hosts.

2010-03-21T20:57:00.001-04:00

Reaction to the imposition of a socialist healthcare scheme

(1) Tomorrow, March 22, 2010 will be one of the most important days in the history of the conservative movement. It will be a critical day to start to reverse the course that Obama has put this country on. (2) National politics from now until repeal will be dominated by health care, it will displace discussion of national security, taxation, the economy, etc. It will be not merely topic 1 but topics 1 through 10.

2010-01-30T16:38:00.004-05:00

Scott Roeder found guilty of murder

This is the only verdict that was possible. The defense of "necessity" was correctly excluded by the judge prior to the trial.

There's a lot of misinformed comment on the web now -- such as here Bruce Maiman "Populist" blog where he asks if Roeder should be executed.

Roeder cannot be executed

Roeder cannot be sentenced to the death penalty, even though Kansas has a law providing for lethal injection. The murder of Tiller was not committed in the special circumstances. However, there are seven on Kansas' death row.

Pro-life groups did not support a verdict of not guilty

Another problem with discussion of the verdict on the web is the unsupported claim that pro-life groups desired a verdict of non-guilty. Catholic groups did not. Operation Rescue did not. Even Randall Terry doesn't condemn the verdict only the rhetoric from pro-life groups which he feels undermine the pro-life cause.

2010-01-25T19:06:00.005-05:00

Barack Obama: blasphemer

I thought that when the occasion would come for mentioning the Holy Name of Jesus Christ, my Savior, and if we are to take Obama at his word, his Savior as well, he would do so with the same respect he has shown for the faith of Islam. He is careful to say add to the mention of the Prophet Mohamed "Peace be upon him". His pronunciation of the Holy Q'ran (Koran) is with a clipped "k=" and not a "ko-" as in "coconut". He is correctly respectful to Islam. What about his own faith, Christianity?

At an appearance at Georgetown University, a nominally Catholic university, his advance team demanded that sacred images be covered up. The greater scandal here was that the Jesuit administration of Georgetown complied.

But when it came to Obama mentioning the Holy Name with the same respect he has shown for the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and the name of The Prophet, Peace Be Upon Him, he has failed, in fact he has blasphemed.

"And then you've got ads that are scaring the bejeezus out of everybody."

There are "mock oaths" -- a legacy of film and television codes of decency. Perry White had "Great Caesar's Ghost" and Yosemite Sam had "Jumping Jehosphat". We can only hope that this only a lame attempt at humor.

I have been looking for a sincere and respected invocation of the name of Jesus by the President and have yet to find it. I will keep looking.

2010-01-23T11:47:00.003-05:00

Experimental Economics and donations

I try to follow what goes on in experimental economics although I am not an economist. So I had some ideas which are related to voluntary alms vs. taxes which become transfers from one income group to another (a sort of involuntary alms).

If there were million dollars it was promised to be paid it out as follows: You can only participate once. You can choose (1) to take $10 for yourself or (2) take $5 for yourself and $10 will be donated to relief in Haiti. To modify it a little bit, imagine that this was done in a situation where you would be observed by people in your community, or that your name would be associated with your choice on the Internet.

Another. Let's say that there's a video feed established between the U.S. Would you contribute more if there was a earthquake victim with a bottle of water and food rations thanking you by name? What part does personal visible gratitude have in alms-giving?

2010-01-18T19:19:00.004-05:00

Where are those Anarchists now?

I would have expected that just as the anarchists show up to confront the G-8 meetings, they would make beeline to Haiti to experience some real anarchy.

Catholic parishes are collecting for Haiti. I gave some money there. A few years back I brought attention to a fraud committed by employees or clients of Food For the Poor. They are worthy of your contributions. I contributed to them as well.

2010-01-16T22:18:00.005-05:00

Separated at Birth: the Osama Edition

With the FBI recently releasing photographs of an "aged" Osama bin Laden. I saw this recently and thought it would be helpful to illustrate:

The image on the left is that of King Herod who ordered John the Baptist beheaded.

From Head of John the Baptist on a Charger Mark 6:24-29, 1886-1896, James Tissot, Brookyln Museum.

2009-11-26T21:58:00.003-05:00

Cheers for the home team: New York Post
Judge blasts bad bank, erases 525G debt: New York Post
Judge Blasts Bank's Foreclosure Conduct and Cancels Mortgage: law.com
Hero of the day: Jeffrey Spinner: Reuters
Happy Thanksgiving: Judge Erases Long Island Family’s Mortgage

The judge just increased the risk and therefore the costs borrowing for everyone.
Rather than just own the house free and clear and raise the cash for "health care" and "the online business" from actual earnings -- they gambled -- it looks to me like a $250,000 "cash-out" -- the excess of loan principal over the amount required to own the house free and clear.

Regardless of the value of the house increasing or decreasing, they should have anticipated what the monthly payments would be and have earnings to cover it, or sell the house on their own terms and move to a rental.

My problems with the story:

"...10.375 percent, which soared to 12.375..." Soared? Was that meant in a sarcastic sense?
They have owned and occupied the house for 15 years and have zero (or negative) equity in it? Tell me if that is due to "bank bullying".

2009-11-25T19:49:00.002-05:00

This fat lip thing reminds me of Patton's slap

Navy Seals Face Court Martial for Alleged Terrorist Bloody Lip?, CBS News

General George S. Patton was reprimanded and nearly was taken out of the war for slapping two soldiers whom he thought were malingerers. The great movie '''Patton''' blends the two incidents into one.

The Seals deny that they had injured their target. They are not claiming that one of them hit Ahmed Hashim Abed and it was justified.

Patton justified his slapping of these two soldiers as a way to restore their self-confidence. One soldier last admitted that it did. It was wrong then, and today, it is inconceivable that a general would slap a soldier not showing a visible wound.

Violence in the Catholic faith, is limited to self-defense, and in the larger context, internal order (i.e. police) and external threat (i.e. military).

I can't prejudge this case, but I will be paying careful attention.

2009-11-23T20:46:00.003-05:00

Chris Matthews on the attack. Bishop Tobin is the tonight's victim. Youtube

It starts with Matthew's absurd spin on the JFK 1960 quote. Matthews is immediately talking over the bishop's first answer. It's a cheap tactic to heat up the "guest". Also, around 4:30 into the interview, MSNBC seems to turn the volume up on Matthews microphone, and lower it on Bishop Tobin. After about 4:45, listen carefully and Matthews interrupts every 3 or 4 seconds. After 4:29, the longest uninterrupted interval where the bishop speaks is about 5 seconds -- In all I think that after Matthews launched on the criminalization of abortion -- the bishop got about 10 seconds in all to speak -- once the Matthews rant started. I'd love to head an edited tape of the interview which included only Bishop Tobin's voice -- it would run about 18 seconds out of the 9 mins 24.

2009-11-22T22:15:00.002-05:00

Reverse

I contributed to ReverseTheVote.org, but I think we need daily updates on what to do to influence the vote. There's a element of despair setting in that (a) this can't be fixed until the 2010 election, (b) this can't be fixed until the 2012 election, or (c) if you think socialized medicine can be stopped at this point, you probably also think that Social Security and Medicare can be "stopped" as well. Was this all baked into the nation's fabric on November 28, 1932?

2009-11-10T23:44:00.004-05:00

The traditional marriage debate is not rational

Society and Marriage: Quid pro Quo : Dr Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture

...it makes no sense to provide the benefits of marriage to same-sex couples, a very simple and pragmatic reason: Society will gain no benefit from doing so. Heterosexual marriage generates families which constitute the fundamental unit of the social order. This is a great benefit to society as a whole. Indeed, it is the sine qua non of society, and it is a benefit provided at considerable sacrifice on the part of the married couple. In return for this benefit, all societies foster, encourage and protect marriage in various ways, including laws which make it financially easier for married couples to maintain their families. This arrangement is based on a quid pro quo which cannot be duplicated by same-sex couples.

By de-criminalizing contraception, society proceeded down a slippery slope which leads to the call for "marriage equality." Heterosexual marriages can remain as sterile as homosexual marriages. If you think children are "a great benefit to society as a whole", look at their treatment in the tax code which is how "society" can put its money where its mouth is. No, I don't think we can turn back the clock to pre-Griswald, but we can't pretend this is a rational debate either.

2009-11-10T23:03:00.003-05:00

The Bishops support HR 3962 with Stupak-Pitts

US bishops laud Stupak amendment’s passage; no comment on Pelosi plan

Divide and conquer. The bill lacks:

effective conscience clauses

protection against rationing

provisions for immigrants

It included:

death panels

in-vitro fertilization

human cloning

embryonic stem cell research

While the bishops are not libertarians but statists, but this bill has no recognition of subsidiarity.

The pro-abortion people are not sweating, they are certain Stupak will be killed in "reconciliation" process.

2009-11-10T22:29:00.003-05:00

The Coming victory of the socialists

Barack Obama's America: High Unemployment to Last for "Years" : Rush Limbaugh November 10, 2009

Rush writes "It is to create so much transference of wealth. It is to create so much dependence on the middle class on government that Democrats will never lose power. That's the objective here, to make so many of you dependent on your very existence for government subsidies, handouts, and checks that you think only the Democrat Party will provide those for you; that everybody knows, "The Republicans, if they ever get in power, are going to cut that back." So this is the long-term goal."

What I can add here is that this an entanglement, a confusion, an economic fog around checks I'm writing (or not, thanks to the withholding), and the checks I'm getting in transfer payments or services.

What I fear is that there will never be credible political movement to take an axe and strike at the root. The last chance for that vanished with the failure of will on the part of Hastert, Frist, and Bush to provide an "exit strategy" for those under 40 from Social Security and Medicare. No, we're stuck with that.

We will wake up in a world, where not only the employees of the federal government will look to Washington with anxious anticipation of what impact nameless faceless bureaucrats will have, but every citizen on the grid as well. Over time, we'll feel like we're federal government employees.

2009-11-08T19:11:00.003-05:00

Odd Things about the Fort Hood Shooting (2) This is just a personal observation as I've not been methodical about writing down the sources, but it seems to me that the response to demonstrate this was a not a terrorist act, and indeed not even a criminal act, comes a little too fast and too well-packaged to be completely a spontaneous reaction to the events of Thursday.

There's a therapeutic interpretation (stress drove Major Hasan to insanity). This one is popular with the liberals and undoubtedly with the lawyers who will be handling the still-living Major Hasan. Members of Hasan's family rushed to any reporters to paint the suspect as a model officer and model citizen, incapable of anger or rage, and moderate in all his views.

There's the jihadi interpretation -- this was a ''shahid'' or martyrdom attack. This brings a sort of fame and glory, which I presume is automatic if one shouts Allahu Akbar ("God is Great") as one kills others in the name of Islam. This would be popular with radical Islamists and those in sympathy with them.

2009-11-08T18:53:00.004-05:00

Odd things about the Fort Hood shooting (1)

President's Obama's shout out before his comments on the Fort Hood shootings: YouTube

I was waiting for, and millions of people were waiting for something that would be consoling and reassuring to the American people on Thursday afternoon from the President. It was bizarre. He seems to make some effort in his remarks to dwell on the mundane bureaucratic meeting which has just concluded and I'm wondering, doesn't he realize the gravity of what has just happened? When he remarks come he focuses on what we don't know and then cautions us not to jump to conclusions with little resolve to determine its cause and punish those responsible.

This reporter expresses what I felt:

Obama's Frightening Insensitivity Following Shooting. A bad week for Democrats compounded by an awful moment for Barack Obama. : Robert A. George

2009-11-08T15:07:00.004-05:00

Did the FBI immediately deny the Fort Hood Shooting was terrorist?

These blogs seem to have thought so.
North Star National. Mark Wilson
North Start National, Andy Hefty
Examiner, Larry Amon

The only official comment I was able to find was that the question of it being a terrorist attack or motivated by terrorism is not yet known. Mark Steyn remarked that if one applies the FBI's narrow definition of terrorism, it only applies to those carrying a Al Queda membership card.

2009-11-01T18:43:00.001-05:00

Bishops reverse course on HR 3962: Catholic Online

Psalm 146:3 "put not your faith in princes." The USCCB reaps what it sowed in Faithful Citizenship: "As Catholics, we are not single issue voters." After riding the "single payer" federal government controlled health care bandwagon for years as if it were a mandate of the Gospel, it is now very muddy waters we have to contend with to fight what was once supported. The idea that the invisible authors of HR 3962 would maintain Hyde restrictions was ludicrous from the start.

2009-10-30T18:23:00.003-04:00

Are you shocked? Octomom Nadya Suleman's Pregnant Nun Halloween Costume: AOL

There's no consensus among various sources on the Internet and no first person interviews in which she states her religion. However, none of them suggest that she is Roman Catholic. What's remarkable is how these stories and interviews avoid the question of her religion, if any.

There's a crude term to apply to people without talent or ability who keep doing outrageous things in order to extend their 15 minutes of fame as long as they can. I won't use the term, but Suleman is one.

The online media I think would have avoided this story but for the Catholic ridicule aspect of this. I wonder if Suleman has actually met a religious sister or her encounter with the religious habit has been only in the companionship of the other blasphemers. Certainly with Halloween coming, we can expect to see the usual mockery of Christianity, but woe to them who would blaspheme against Islam.

I will pray a Rosary tonight for reparation for all the Halloween-enabled mockery of Christ, the Catholic Church, and all that is Catholic and Christian.

2009-10-05T22:04:00.002-04:00

David Letterman

To Catholics who see some selective forgiveness here, it looks like we have a rush to call Letterman innocent, without him confessing to be anything more than being embarrassed, and a alleged victim of blackmail.

I haven't read this elsewhere, but let me call out three groups who were victimized by Letterman: first, the women he did sleep with. Of course he describes it as consensual but he's the boss -- he has influence over hiring and firing and assignments. When you're asked by the boss to sleep with him, is it because you are attracted to him as a sexual partner or because he's a celebrity or because he has power over you. There have been many scandal among them, the United States Navy "tailhook" scandal.

What about the women who said "no". They are victims too as they might believe there were passed over for promotions, key assignments, etc. and they ought to suspect rewards begin given out to women at work have more to do with their intimate relationship with the boss than with merit.

And the men. What sort of competition can take place when the boss is grazing through the woman like some dark ages overlord who doesn't respect the integrity of marriage.

It will be interesting to see where this goes. I don't watch late night television. I'm only looking at this for the celebrity double standard and hypocrisy aspects of it.

2009-10-03T21:35:00.003-04:00

Pauline Books and Media moved

I first found them on 43rd Street, then 20 or so years ago they moved to 52nd Street, and their new location is 64 West 38th Street which is near Sixth Ave.

They are the excellent Catholic books and media store in Manhattan.

2009-10-03T20:57:00.002-04:00

Phrases never heard outside of Manhattan Dept.

It's a 5-story walk-up. Dreadful.

2009-09-24T23:32:00.000-04:00

2009-09-13T20:49:00.002-04:00

Thou Shalt Not Take the Name of The Lord, Thy God In Vain.

I swear to God, I'm fucking taking this ball and I'm shoving it down your fucking throat.

New York Times

2009-09-11T22:27:00.003-04:00

A gem of writing in a film review

"Whiteout" New York Post: Kyle Smith

Hey, screenwriters — all four of you: Did you skip the first day of writing class, the one where they write on the blackboard, “Show, don’t tell”? If I’d wanted weather on the ones, I would have stayed home and watched Pat Kiernan.

It's called exposition, and you've got to get it right.

2009-09-11T20:34:00.002-04:00

Stone altar crushes man in Austrian parish: Catholic Culture

An Austrian man who prayed for deliverance when he was trapped in an elevator, and then went to a Viennese parish to thank God after his prayer was answered, was crushed to death when a stone altar fell on him. “He seems to have embraced a stone pillar on which the stone altar was perched and it fell on him, killing him instantly,” said a police spokesman.

God had second thoughts.

It's real but it reads like a rejected Twilight Zone script.

2009-09-11T20:02:00.003-04:00

Observing the President as a former high-school orator

Obama 9/11 speeches today seemed passionless and bland. He used none, zero, of his rhetorical skills in his first of 4 (or 8) anniversaries of the terrorist attacks on lower Manhattan and the United States.

2009-09-11T19:55:00.002-04:00

A very strange debate, indeed

In 40 years of paying attention to politics (I'm 55 by the way), I've never seen this obsession with the debaters and the meta-debate, as opposed to just talking about the issues:

Is there actually an Obama health care plan?

What are the motives of the people opposed to the current plan (HR 3200)?

Who's lying?

Are abortions covered?

Are illegals covered?

What is the number of the uninsured 20? 40? 60 million?

How many of the uninsured have single or joint income exceeding 75,000?

Is Medicare broke or going broke? My bottom line, the promoters of Obamacare won't be candid, honest, transparent, truthful, etc. The most obvious indicator was the haste they tried and will try to get this passed.

2009-08-28T07:50:00.004-04:00

The war over the "Good Catholic" label

It started with the rush to the keyboards and microphones: "Attention everyone: Kennedy was a good Catholic as well as being a good Liberal"

Here's an incomplete list of what I am talking about:

Complex legacy of a Catholic Abortion rights stance drew criticism, but work embodied teachings: Boston Globe, Michael Paulson

He made me proud to be a Catholic: National Catholic Reporter, Maureen Fiedler

I think the yardstick being used here is that Kennedy was successful in exploiting his Catholic identity to achieve his liberal political agenda. There's a certain tone of admiration and triumph that he wasn't officially criticized by the Church and never denied the platform when he sought it to speak as a Catholic.

What would I believe a good Catholic politician would do? It isn't a matter of taking orders from a bishop but letting the teachings of the Church permeate how you think and act. Why? Because Catholics believe that the Church speaks for Christ, and especially so when it declares an intersection between important universal moral teaching and public policy.

The "Kennedy is a good Catholic" advocates either ignore this or respond -- "look at the whole man".

This could be your standard or mine, but it not God's. Cardinal O'Connor made the point to several New York politicians, that sanctions from the Church were secondary to the peril that you risk ones own salvation by advancing, even in a remote way, the murder of the unborn. I would be moved by that.

The "Good Catholic" label given by pro-choice liberals may be permanently retired. Born in 1932, Kennedy may have been the last politician who sought and who had a distinct appeal to Catholics. The Catholic voting bloc doesn't exist in 2009. As political creatures, we are all assimilated now into the American voter. Partly because of demographics and partly because what might be called an "Catholic agenda" can't be identified apart from the "Democratic Party agenda" apart from the right to life issues. The threat of losing its tax exempt status is the muzzle stifling the Church's voice.

Many questions come up and when the Church has a clear teaching on a serious moral matter, I withhold the "good Catholic" label from the politician who opposes and undermines it. It's no longer about Ted Kennedy now. He exists in eternity now without rank, money, or privilege but in God's mercy. It is about us and whether we can, as Catholics, pull the voting levers for Catholics who promote a disregard for the culture of life, and can justify that choice as we appear before the same merciful God who has judged the late Senator.

2009-08-27T22:26:00.005-04:00

Senator Kennedy came to my parish

It was the year he was serious about running for President of the United States -- 1980 -- President Carter was running for reelection but he first needed the nomination of the Democratic Party. (details on the Wikipedia). Kennedy (then 48) was known for being a Senator (appointed in 1962 at the Constitutional minimum age of 30), for Chappaquiddick in which Mary Jo Kopechne died in mysterious circumstances, and for a Roger Mudd interview where he fumbled the question "Why do you want to be President?"

All of the early primaries were won by Carter but as 1980 progressed, people thought he was not handling the economy and Iran hostage crisis well. There was high unemployment, high interest rates, and all over the globe, the power and influence of the Soviet Union was growing.

Kennedy confidently came to New York, to Queens, to Woodside, to the SE corner of 58th Street and Roosevelt Ave. to Sunday Mass at St. Sebastian. I was 26, and married a year, and I shook the Senator's hand, along with many other Woodsiders on the week of the New York primary. He won New York, but that was Kennedy's peak, and by the time of the convention Carter had a surge. Kennedy never again sought the Presidency.

This undated photo of Mother Teresa and Senator Kennedy was taken in India.

2009-08-27T16:33:00.000-04:00

Kennedy Apologetics

Taking a step back, the liberal Catholic love for Kennedy is no surprise. The surprise is burying his pro-abortion record in pieces targeted towards Catholics. The related surprise is the intensity of the attacks on pro-life Catholics who point out the plain fact that Kennedy was pro-abortion.

Patrick Madrid's Response to Sr. Maureen Fiedler

2009-08-27T09:03:00.001-04:00

My Response to Sr. Maureen Fiedler Shared via AddThis

Pat Madrid has written what I feel. I will have more to say about the late Senator later.

2009-08-25T20:26:00.003-04:00

A right to health care

Where did the idea of "positive rights" enforceable by law become popular with the Catholic Church?

It takes some capital and labor to provide health care, education, clothing, food, shelter. These are essential for all, and the purpose of alms is to make a provision for people unable to purchase from their own wealth to obtain them.

I can understand committed socialists like Obama to advocate nationalization of health care as consistent with federal control of the economic life and liberty on the installment plan -- but why has the Church been so enthusiastic to embrace a federal bureaucracy -- one committed to promoting abortion, euthanasia, cloning, and rationing of health care.

I know ACORN is funded by the Campaign for Human Development which in turn is funded by donations collected at Mass from Church-going Catholics, but that's not even a significant part of the Church. Yet it seems all of the agencies of the Church with involvement in health care and the alleviation of poverty are on board with Obamacare and "positive rights".

2009-08-19T20:37:00.002-04:00

Google Earth doesn't have this view

but it should.

2009-08-16T15:44:00.004-04:00

District 9 Review:

"District 9" is a rare thing. A Sci-Fi thriller that all some all-around appeal. It is original and the closest we've come to an alien mass population arriving on earth that doesn't end in extinction is "Alien Nation"(1988). I love a little misdirection in the exposition and this has a great deal, while not holding back who the aliens are. The setup draws you in, it doesn't have a big Hollywood star to reveal the cards held by the director, so the main character takes a while to emerge. Within its own world, everything that happens seems plausible, the character's motivations seem to make sense and the acting is sincere, all of which draws you into caring what happens to the aliens. It has the messianic plot structure of the Matrix but has a clear resolution. The special effects are great. The whole thing is not shot in the documentary style so there are no continuity issues. Like I said at the start: tech, plot, and character you care about. I will want to go to "District 10."

Update: Slate has a take on the anti-corporate theme in District 9. (Shades of Alien, Iron Man, etc.)

2009-08-15T18:22:00.004-04:00

Mom wants twin fetuses recognized as children: Boston Herald

A Vermont woman whose 6-month-old twin fetuses died after a car crashed into the family van wants them to be legally recognized as children, which is not the case under current state law.

Think of laws which hold harmless the death of an unborn child in circumstances which otherwise would be homicide if the child were born as a protective moat outside of fortress abortion which must be crossed eventually.

Such laws are rightly feared by pro-aborts because it causes people who haven't been paying attention to look up and see the slippery slope that has been descended.

2009-08-12T21:20:00.004-04:00

Catholic America: A closer look at Church, Culture and Change: Washington Post
By Anthony Stevens-Arroyo
Is It a Sin to Listen to Rush?

At this point of the 21st Century, Rush Limbaugh occupies a unique place. Locating him on the radio dial, however, is easier than identifying whether he is head of the Republican Party, news broadcaster, or entertainer. That ambiguity raises the question: Is it a sin to listen to Rush?

The column could be called Alinsky's America:

5. Ridicule is man's most potent weapon.

12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.

His evidence of Rush's racism, sexism, etc. is nonsense. Anthony isn't informing us about any aspect of Rush's bio we didn't already know. The blogger is only demonstrating his own hypocrisy. Rush's real crime is fidelity to conservative principles and outstanding success as a broadcaster. God bless you, Rush.

2009-08-10T21:03:00.003-04:00

I am attempting to find the orgin of this image, but enjoy it in the present moment.

2009-08-07T21:12:00.002-04:00

From the Medieval Piety Dept.

Christian Today: and Medieval News: Performance Art

The post also uses the correct word "celebrate" for this Mass.

Also: University of York

It's not religion -- connecting man to God -- it's archeology -- connecting man to the physical artifacts of his past.

PhD student Eleanor McCullough pieced together the Mass used in York churches in the 14th Century based on manuscripts from the period held by York Minster and the Bodleian Library.
This may well be the first time that a York Lady Mass has been reconstructed and performed from the medieval manuscripts here in York since the Reformation.
It will be used in a special ceremony on Saturday 18 July at All Saints Church North Street, in York, to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of North Street.

2009-08-04T21:27:00.003-04:00

A takedown of Peggy Noonan

I'm sorry I have not been combing the Internet for articles like this -- so you may have read it already. It is a no mercy critique of Peggy Noonan's whole attitude about conservatives in general and Sarah Palin in particular.

Peggy Noonan is Sarah Palin jealous

via proecclesia blog

2009-08-03T08:18:00.004-04:00

Cash for Clunkers

Since this is a program for people to choose destroy what is still a useful car, years ahead of its time. I wonder if this is soften us for the destruction of human life when the government wants to reduce the burden they impose on the "economy".

2009-07-28T19:32:00.005-04:00

I am not a "birther" but...

This story recently picked up new life. Barack Obama either can't or won't take the steps to kill the story. He could do so by doing this:

Declare where he was born (city and hospital), and who the doctor was who assisted in or signed the birth certificate.

Produce a copy of the long-form of his birth certificate which was prepared contemporaneously showing the details of the circumstances of his birth and can be authenticated to 1961.

Unconditionally waive any privacy rights he has under law or custom to confirm the above

1961 is only 47 years ago. Hawaii became a state in 1959. I cannot believe that vital paper records from that time were destroyed without being microfilmed or scanned. ancestry.com claims to have 200 years of records for the United States.

I doesn't pass the smell test for me. The only evidence that might be authenticated to 1961 is a birth announcement published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Sunday, Aug. 13, 1961. This announcement discovered in July 2008, to use the cliche, raises more questions that it answers. The Obama File

Upddate:I agree with commenter Kevin. I think BOH may have left this one hang on the vine as bait for its ability to distract and divide his opposition.

2009-07-27T11:33:00.003-04:00

Conservatives need to seize the day

Hugh Hewitt laid down a specific agenda for conservatives to apply to the Republican Party leadership. This is my summary of it:

1. Where allowed by law, make all open primaries closed.

2. Make the states where the Republican candidate won by the smallest margin and the state where the Republican candidate lost by the smallest margin the first two states to have a Republican presidential primary.

3. Ignore Democratically-controlled dinosaur media, and use to the greatest extent talk radio, Fox, and the internet.

4. Do not let candidates compromise conservative principles to pick off moderates and undecideds. That is the path that only losing candidates have taken.

5. A positive campaign emphasizing personal liberty and limited government is a win.

If we have a repeat of 2008 and a "reach across the aisle" candidate, we repeat the loss.

2009-07-21T19:17:00.003-04:00

Harvard Professor Gates Arrested: Boston Globe

Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in. The incident raised concerns among some Harvard faculty that Gates was a victim of racial profiling.

This is what happens when the arrogance of power, and the expectation of deference that comes with holding authority over others collide in two people. Pride is often not pretty. This is "Don't you know who I am?" meets "I have a badge, a gun, and more credibility in front of a judge and jury than you do." Like many of the replies here I fault both, but in the end I have to take Gates' side. The police officer is supposed to be the professional, the one who is paid to confront both the innocent and the guilty, and the one who is supposed to be able to walk away when there's no crime, no emergency, and no role for the police.

2009-07-19T23:06:00.002-04:00

Frank McCourt, rest in peace

Frank McCourt dead at 78

I learned of Ireland from my mother (Monaghan) and father (Sligo), and read the histories of Ireland. I never really understood what the experience of all those 20th century immigrants from Ireland to the U.S. was until I read Frank McCourt, and later his brother Malachy McCourt. From what they wrote it began to make sense in my head: God's providence had given the English, and later the Americans, an empire. God has loved the Irish in a different way and given them the sense of humor to appreciate that.

2009-07-06T21:50:00.004-04:00

Voice of America balances the MJ coverage

The Voice of America wants us to know that Tom Jones is still alive. I add that at one point in his life, he was not ashamed to show the cross.

2009-07-02T20:36:00.002-04:00

Apologetics

Advocates of the various forms of atheism can make some appealing arguments based upon reason to overwhelm the human instinct to believe in some higher power.

Christian apologetics has the appealing counter-arguments which can answer the arguments made by atheists -- as well as offer compelling reasons to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Not everyone comes to believe in God or God's son through reason. Few, I believe actually do. However, none believe specifically because it is "unreasonable". Reason supports faith but it is not the origin or destination of faith.

2009-06-25T22:33:00.003-04:00

McMahon, Fawcett, and Jackson

It's confirmed again, that celebrities die in threes. Who could have imagined that these three are forever linked by the date of their death as Mother Teresa and Princess Di are.

Let 's take a moment to remember them as children of God and pray for their souls.

On local television news tonight, it's all about Michael Jackson. So far no one mentioned that he converted to the Muslim faith, or that he leaves behind three children.

Both Ed Mahon and Farah Fawcett were Catholics and received the sacraments prior to their deaths.

2009-06-03T00:18:00.005-04:00

"We have a Vatican II president," John O'Malley informs us in a revealing America magazine article: Catholic Culture. Diogenes

It seems that just as Bill Clinton was a "black president," even though he was white, so too Barack Obama is a "Catholic president" even though he is Protestant.
To understand the political translation, you must first understand the-- wait for it!-- spirit of Vatican II. You see, the "spirit of Vatican II' transformed human nature-- or at least our way of understanding human nature. (from Barack Obama and Vatican II: America)
The council hoped that this new style of being, which brings with it a new way of proceeding, would lead to cooperation among all persons of good will—Catholics and non-Catholics, Christians and non-Christians, believers and non-believers—on the new, massive, and sometimes terrifying problems that face humanity today.

Obama makes no distinction between the culture and ethnography of the United States which is, of course, Christian, and its government which is neither Christian nor non-Christian. Since taking the oath ("...so help me God") Obama has only used the word "Christian" to deny that the country is Christian. In O'Malley's worldview, a Christian who denies Christ is a better Christian than one who affirms Christ. Affirmed Catholic identity is incompatible with "good will".

2009-05-31T18:50:00.003-04:00

The killing of George Tiller

Like Fr. Frank Pavone, and other Catholic pro-life leaders, I am saddened by the murder of George Tiller (AP News).

The assistance this gives pro-abortion advocates and the damage this does to pro-life advocates is incalculable.

The mainstream media will seek out the fringe of the pro-life movement to attempt to link this unknown killer to the movement should any intemperate comments be made. My prayer is that they come up empty-handed.

We don't know the identity of the killer or his motives. As I am writing this, officials have announced they have a suspect in custody. It was a violation of the principles of non-violence to kill Tiller. Killing Tiller was an evil act. I state that without equivocation or qualification.

2009-05-28T23:53:00.004-04:00

"...a Roman Catholic priestess" (I am not making this up)

Kicking & Screaming: Journo Dragged From Near AF1: NBC News Los Angeles

A reporter for a small newspaper was forcibly removed from a press area near Air Force One shortly before President Barack Obama arrived at Los Angeles International Airport to depart California early Thursday. ...
"I said, 'I'll take my chances if (the president) comes by here,'" said [Brenda] Lee, who identified herself as a Roman Catholic priestess who lives in Anaheim, Calif. "He became annoyed that I wouldn't give him the letter."
Lee, who was wearing what she described as a cassock, said she protested when she was asked to leave.

Cardinal Mahony, call your office.

2009-05-22T22:39:00.003-04:00

Options? I was granted options.

I was granted options about 20 years ago. That company was Digital Equipment Corporation It was 100 options to buy the stock at $153. In 1989, the stock had crashed to below $100 from its eternal peak of $199 prior to the 1987 crash.

While other stocks would recover, DEC would not be one of them. From the moment the options were granted the stock price declined, and rather than rewrite them to say... $20, the company just wanted everyone to cash them in for $3 a share, which everyone did. It was an accounting thing -- to get it off the books. The repurchase happened in 1993, also the year I was terminated after 18 years there. DEC was bought by Compaq in 1998, and Compaq by HP in 2002. I moved on to Lehman Brothers in 1993. That's another story for another time.

2009-05-21T14:24:00.001-04:00

Laura Ingraham radio home in New York

Laura was reduced to 1 hour on WABC in New York and then canceled to make room for Curtis Sliwa.

What will be her new New York home and will she be tape delayed. The big other talkers are WOR (710) and the newer WNYM (970)?

WOR runs 2 hours of the Glen Beck show 9-11am (his show is live 9-Noon like Laura) and the night slots (8-11pm) are Michael Smerconish and "The Dr. Joy Browne Show"

WNYM has a full slate of Salem Radio hosts: Mike Gallagher (9-11am) Dennis Miller (11-Noon) and the night slots are repeats of Miller, Gallagher, and Prager.

It's really going to be interesting to see what works out here. WOR looks a lot more aligned with the Talk Radio Network hosts (like Michael Savage) and Laura has not had a good history with Salem.

2009-05-20T20:32:00.003-04:00

Powell wants to "emerge": Washington Post

In a speech in Boston, Powell hit back against the two GOP heavyweights for questioning his loyalty to the Republican party.
"Rush Limbaugh says, 'Get out of the Republican Party.' Dick Cheney says, 'He's already out.' I may be out of their version of the Republican Party, but there's another version of the Republican Party waiting to emerge once again," Powell told the crowd, according to the Boston Globe.

Just what we need -- more Democrats telling Republicans how Republicans can win.

Just what we need -- more Republicans who voted for Obama in 2008 (and will vote to reelect Obama in 2012) to tell Republicans how to win.

With all the people who want the Republicans to self-destruct -- if they believe Rush Limbaugh will destroy the Republican party -- then let Rush do his thing.

2009-05-19T19:50:00.004-04:00

Lemur Monkey is the Missing Link: Sky News

Between other mammals and primates...

So before May 20, 2009, there had been NO "proof" of a link between mammals and primates, but we were told that evolution had already been "proven" as a scientific fact.

And after May 20, 2009, there needs to be no further "proof" -- so shut up all you evolution skeptics. Shut up!

That's shove it down you throat bare knuckles science for you. Stop demanding evidence! But if we find it, you better damn well accept it. (Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff)

2009-05-17T17:30:00.005-04:00

Just when I thought it was safe to donate to "Food For the Poor"

Like many people who stopped donating to FFP after their scandal in 2000. They never stopped asking for money. Persistent. Now there's another scandal:

Radio Jamaica: The Fraud Squad has made a breakthrough in a case involving major fraud at Food for the Poor.
Two persons have been arrested and charged with defrauding Food for the Poor of more than $700,000.
However, the police say nearly five million dollars has been stolen from the agency which assists Jamaicans in need. (24 April 2009)

With a total budget in excess of $1 billion, perhaps $5 million (0.5%) is an expected loss.

2009-05-14T20:10:00.003-04:00

Pope condemns anti-Semitism, backs two-state solution: Catholic World News

Jerusalem, May. 11, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Israel on Monday, May 11, and immediately set the tone for his visit with an introductory statement in which he forcefully condemned anti-Semitism and mourned the victims of the Holocaust, while also clearly calling for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Holy Father landed at Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv on Monday morning after having spent the weekend in Jordan. He was greeted there by Israel's President Shimon Peres, who will escort the Pontiff during his stay, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who left soon after the Pope's arrival for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Since he took office in March at the head of a new right-wing governing coalition, Netanyahu has shown no enthusiasm for the creation of a Palestinian state, and little interest in negotiations with Palestinian leaders. The Pope wasted no time re-affirming the Vatican's longstanding support for a two-state solution. In his introductory remarks at the airport ceremony he said that he-- along with "people of good will everywhere"-- wished for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, "so that both peoples may live in peace in a homeland of their own, within secure and internationally recognized borders." The political point of the Pope's message was unmistakably clear. But a spokesman for the Netanyahu government neatly dodged an incipient controversy by observing mildly that the Pope was visiting Israel as a religious pilgrim rather than a political leader-- a point that Benedict XVI has made repeatedly himself.
The Holy Father made that point again in his first public remarks. "I take my place in a long line of Christian pilgrims to these shores," he said; "a line that stretches back to the earliest centuries of the Church's history and which, I am sure, will continue long into the future." He said that he had come primarily to pray at the shrines of the Holy Land. (Pope Benedict will begin visiting those shrines on Tuesday, May 11, when he tours the Old City of Jerusalem and meets with the Catholic bishops of the region in the Cenacle: the room where Jesus and the apostles celebrated the Last Supper.)
The status of Jerusalem's shrines has sometimes been a point of contention in talks between the Vatican and Israel, and Pope Benedict made a point of underlining the Church's insistence that these shrines should be open to the believers of all three great monotheistic religions, so that the faithful can visit them "freely and without restraint," arrange their own worship services, and ensure their proper maintenance." To further that objective, the Holy See has consistently pushed for international control over Jerusalem, to prevent political conflicts over control of the holy places.
Recognizing the unique status of the city, the Pope reflected: "Even though the name Jerusalem means 'city of peace', it is all too evident that, for decades, peace has tragically eluded the inhabitants of this holy land." In that context he made his plea for a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "The eyes of the world are upon the peoples of this region," he said, challenging them to reinvigorate the peace process.
While he prodded Israeli leaders on the peace process and on access to the shrines, Pope Benedict also expressed his support for the Jewish state in its clear recognition of the importance of faith. He suggested that their shared insistence on religious identity makes Israel and the Holy See natural allies against a trend toward secularization of public life. "When the religious dimension of the human person is denied or marginalized," the Pontiff said, "the very foundation for a proper understanding of inalienable human rights is placed in jeopardy."
The Pope noted, too, that the Jewish people have suffered more than any others as a result of 20th-century ideologies that ignored fundamental human rights. Moreover, he said: "Sadly, anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head in many parts of the world." He insisted that this bigotry must be eliminated through education and inter-religious cooperation.
Upon his arrival in Israel the Pope observed that it was fitting for him to visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial near Jerusalem. When he arrived there later in the day, the Holy Father delivered a short speech that was clearly designed to reassure Jewish people of his sympathy, after tensions had been raised by the controversy earlier this year revolving around Bishop Richard Williamson and his public questioning the extent of the Holocaust.
Pope Benedict's remarks centered on the 6 million names of Holocaust victims inscribed at Yad Vashem. "May the names of these victims never perish," he said, in a clear rebuke to Holocaust-deniers. "May their suffering never be denied, belittled, or forgotten!"
The Pope said that although the Nazi genocide claimed these millions of victims, it could not claim their memories:
They lost their lives, but they will never lose their names: these are indelibly etched in the hearts of their loved ones, their surviving fellow prisoners, and all those determined never to allow such an atrocity to disgrace mankind again. Most of all, their names are forever fixed in the memory of Almighty God.
Each one of these victims was precious to God, the Pope said, and beloved by their families. "I can only imagine the joyful expectation of their parents as they anxiously awaited the birth of their children." Their possessions, their freedom, and ultimately their lives were taken from them by a violently unjust regime. "Yet, try as one might, one can never take away the name of a fellow human being," the Pope observed.

Comment

Posted by: jere3812 - Today 11:51 AM ET USA This is a problem without an acceptable solution. The Palestinians deserve a homeland. Israel deserves its own nation. Palestinians under control of radical Islamists will not let Israel live in peace. Further, the more Israel is surrounded by its enemies, the more vulnerable it becomes. All the world can do is watch and pray. I do not think this matter will be resolved until hearts are turned to God. That's because God is interested in people, not nations.

My comment

"Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us" Golda Meir said that 52 years ago. They still hate Jews. jere3818, Palestinians who cheered when my co-workers died on 9/11, today fervently place themselves "under control of radical Islamists" placing their faith in the eventual destruction of Israel and not peace with Israel.

2009-05-10T17:12:00.005-04:00

My favorite Star Trek story

Star Trek (the original series 1966-69) was very influential in my life, it helped to focus my mind on math and science when I was 12 to 15.

When I went to college, WPIX 11 began showing the reruns. I attended State University of New York at Stony Brook and the signal from the Empire State Building was weak. So I brought out a television set and several extension cords, a table and a chair and watched Star Trek on a hill (here LAT 40.909854° LONG -73.129519°)

Apparently, this geeky sort of fandom from a Trekkie, Trekker, Trektard, etc. was new to the world and it got written up in the newspaper. Someone devoted to a canceled science fiction series? Who Knew? Maybe I was the "patient zero" of the movement to bring back "Star Trek".

2009-05-08T22:22:00.004-04:00

Pope's Swiss Guard may allow women after 500-year ban: Reuters

After more than five centuries protecting popes, the Swiss Guard may consider opening the ranks of the world's smallest army to women, its commander said Tuesday.
"I can imagine them for one role or another. Certainly we can think about this," Daniel Anrig, who took over the post late last year, told Italian television program "Studio Aperto."

"One role or another"? What is he talking about? The role of the Swiss Guard is to be a mercenary, a military guard for the Pope. If a Swiss Catholic woman meeting the other requirements wants to be a guard, I don't see what disqualifies them.

2009-04-25T19:22:00.002-04:00

Let's end this bickering, just agree with me for unity

Jimmy Carter implores Baptists to unite : Associated Press

Former President Jimmy Carter implored fellow Baptists on Saturday to look beyond a range of doctrinal disputes that have split the denomination, and urged them to focus on reconciling under a common cause.

That's the way to do it, Jimmy. Just call that disagreeable stuff "doctrine", and make your agenda the "common cause".

2009-04-18T23:59:00.003-04:00

Tampering in God's Domain Dept.

Extracting semen from a cadaver.

Woman Allowed to Have Dead Lover's Child: Associated Press

A New York judge has given a woman permission to harvest her dead lover's sperm so she can still have his baby.
Johnny Quintana was only 31 when he died Thursday of an apparent heart attack.
He had wanted to have a second child with his fiancee, Gisela Marrero, but the only way to make it happen was to quickly collect his sperm, which stays fresh for only 36 hours after death.
A court order was needed because Quintana and Marrero were not yet married.
The Bronx judge said "yes" Friday with only four hours left until the deadline.
Sperm bank staffers then rushed to Jacobi Medical Center, where Quintana's body lay.
Marrero already has a 2-year-old son with Quintana.

This is wrong on so many levels. It is basically an injustice to the child who may be born in this process to have be deprived of a father. This assumes a likely scenario where Gisela Marrero will continue to choose not to be married.

Can me skeptical but I doubt that he made an explicit desire to become a posthumous father.

There's a disturbing aspect to this about a girlfriend having marital rights in some areas but not others. The state and city denied survivors pensions to all the girlfriends/boyfriends of the police and fire employees killed in the terrorist attacks on 9/11 for example.

It's like judge-supervised lottery.

2009-04-18T18:46:00.005-04:00

Why isn't self-defense a right in international waters?

I need to research this. On cable news, they have been saying very casually -- like you'd be a fool not to know why -- ships cannot arm themselves beyond bats and firehoses.

2009-04-17T23:11:00.005-04:00

Georgetown University Hid Religious Symbols at White House Request: FoxNews

The Reuters caption for the photo:

April 14: President Obama speaks about the economy at Georgetown University's Gaston Hall. The school covered up religious symbols bearing the name of Jesus during Obama's remarks at the behest of the White House.

Catholic League: On Georgetown's cowardice

The Catholic League summarizes it well. I think we are making regress here: First it was separation of Church and State, then it was separation of religion from public life, and then we have arrived at separation of Catholic imagery from Catholic institutions -- of course on a voluntary basis. Just remember, this is the time of the green wood.

[Luke 23:27] A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, 'Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.' At that time people will say to the mountains, 'Fall upon us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!' for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?"

2009-04-17T22:28:00.004-04:00

Blasphemy Dept.

The Local: Germany's News in English. Klinsmann suing daily over crucifixion cover

Bayern Munich coach Jürgen Klinsmann is taking legal action against a German daily after it printed an image of him being crucified on the front page of its Easter edition, the paper said on Tuesday.

It's a post-Christian world over there.

The only time you see Christian imagery is when it is being mocked.

2009-04-14T23:14:00.003-04:00

Fr. Stanley Jaki OSB: New York Times Obituary

It's a tragedy that many of his best books are out-of-print. My favorite is Bible and Science. The Times did a better than expected job on the obituary.

2009-04-13T22:45:00.002-04:00

Cardinal Egan: A tough tenure full of triumphs

George Marlin, New York Post

IN MAY 2000, when Pope John Paul II had to decide on a successor to the late John Cardinal O'Connor, the pontiff rejected Vatican recommendations and plucked from the ranks a man who had served him well as a canon lawyer in Rome and who had proven himself an able shepherd in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., the Most Rev. Edward M. Egan, D.D., J.C.D.

I wanted to say something positive about Cardinal Egan. I think George Marlin's summary is excellent and far better than I could express it.

2009-04-13T22:29:00.005-04:00

Tampering in God's Domain Dept.

Girl born a record 22 years after father's sperm is frozen: Times UK

Doctors selected the best of the remaining [sperm] cells and injected them into ten eggs harvested from Mrs Biblis, of which seven fertilized successfully in the laboratory. Two of the embryos were implanted, though only one survived, and five remain in storage, allowing the couple the option of having more children.

This is one of the hard cases. Our sympathy rushes to the Chris Biblis who at 16 was rendered incapable of fathering children because of the treatment for his leukemia. The language of the article is coarse -- never giving human dignity to human embryos, or having ethical second thoughts about the collateral damage

Brave New World Dept.

I had no concern about working with old sperm – bovine and equine sperm has been frozen for long periods and has resulted in successful gestations.

Hey! It's science and the scientists are in charge. Stella may eventually learn of her sibling in the womb and her frozen siblings. Perhaps when she is an adult, the consciences of the world may just accept this as a routine way of being born.

2009-04-11T23:40:00.003-04:00

How to catch a pirate: New York Times

The strange thing about this roundup of solutions is that the authors who claim to know the real deal when pirates are concerned are fully of certainty only about what is not going to work. None of the know-it-alls has a solution other than wait and see what happens.

2009-04-11T13:58:00.003-04:00

I made a pro-life connection when I first saw this image

Is or isn't this baby connected to his/her mother's body?

Are you satisfied you are looking at two people?

In any event, this is product for sale so let me plug the vendor Peekathru at mom4life.com and HT to urlesque.com

2009-04-10T22:05:00.005-04:00

Vale, Edward Cardinal Egan

I wish Cardinal Egan well in whatever assignment he receives from the Pope. It is ironic that he is getting the greatest amount of local television coverage now at his exit. This wasn't true with his three predecessors during my life. Cardinal Egan was the master of his ecclesial domain and confronting the culture of death was a secondary concern for him. It will take the perspective of history to judge if he left the Church in New York in better condition than he found it.

As I blogged earlier the Cardinal made himself a prisoner of precedent and invited candidate Obama to the Al Smith dinner on the basis that while he was pro-abortion, he wasn't Catholic, and therefore not subject to the Church's "discipline".

Best wishes as well for Archbishop Timothy Dolan.

2009-04-07T20:17:00.009-04:00

I see a pattern emerging (and I will explain the pirate picture)

In the aftermath of the sexual abuse scandal it seems that legions of anonymous cowards have stepped forward to verbally defecate over every news item or blog posting that mentions "priest" to make a crude reference to child molestation. Before I give an example of this, so you too can recognize it, let me give you two core truths about the scandal of sexual abuse:

The scandal was to a very large extent (perhaps as high as 80%), about homosexual relationships between priests and sexually mature males -- many under 18 and many over 18. Another segment was heterosexual relationships between priests and unmarried women over 18 (immoral but not illegal), and women who were married (which would be both immoral and legally actionable) and the smallest segment: sexually immature (i.e. prepubescent) boys and girls - illegal and morally depraved.

Sexual abuse of children respects no occupational boundaries: it occurs more frequently among public school teachers and doctors. There are child sexual abusers among police officers and fire fighters, politicians and Wall Street executives, show business types and Internet technologists, venture capitalists and bloggers. It is in no sense specially prevalent in the Catholic priesthood. Many people hate the Catholic Church. It is just a sad fact of post-Enlightenment post-modern and post-Christian United States. The task at hand is to call them out. Answer them with charity or answer them with sarcasm -- whatever fits the circumstances and audience and your blogging skills. I've been doing this for 25 years starting with USENET and Compuserve, and I am not alone. To the particular case of the Pirate and the Priest: One has to feel sorry for Father Commolly. Whether or not he said what was attributed to him, his goose has been cooked by the narrative given by Paul and Peggy Kanigoski. We should all give Father tactical support. The statue in full is soft-porn like a Victoria Secrets ad. It is objectifying the image of women. However, this is not high on my list of priorities. Women walk around with less on top during the summer in New York or any major city in the US. Sex sells. I think it more important to tell people that images like this subtract from human dignity rather that letting the Kanigoski's claim a cheap Larry Flynt-like martyrdom, and open door to the the sneers of the stupid comment boxers.

Here are the links:

I have decided to post a modest picture of the statue. You can use your imagination or click on one of the above links.

Let me also mention that Curt Jester blogged on this earlier in the day.

2009-04-06T22:14:00.004-04:00

Going Wobbly Dept.

Maybe Notre's Dame's invitation could be good for the unborn

Archbishop Quinn in America blogged on googlinggod

The bigger question though which Bishop Quinn addressed in the first few paragraphs of the article is a doozy: How do unborn get served in the end by either withdrawing the invitation or by allowing President Obama to speak? Which ends up serving their needs best?

My comment:

Yet another pathetic "call to dialog" with the killers of the unborn. The foolish Catholics and Catholic institutions have been doing this since before Roe. It is easy to answer the question of "how does it help the unborn" -- because it can deny Obama (or his surrogates) an updated clone of the infamous Cuomo political cover "...as I said in my September 13, 1984 speech at Notre Dame..." which every pro-abortion Catholic pol uses today as their position slip to defy God and his Church.

This dialog has only served to confuse, confound, and contradict clear Catholic teaching on the right to life of the unborn.

2009-04-05T20:07:00.007-04:00

Catholicism and Economics

At the Nassau Community College, Center for Catholic Studies

The speakers were

Charles Clark, the Democratic Socialist, St John's University

Michael Novak, the Democratic Capitalist, American Enterprise Institute

Thomas Storck, for the Distributists, The Distributist Society

It was not capitalism's day to shine. It's wasn't a classic debate along the lines of "Resolved: The United States should abandon capitalism for socialism." or "Resolved: The United States should abandon capitalism for distributism" it was more like put the texts of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations through Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse into a pinata and beat it around.

Really, there were so many lies and half-truths said about the "c" word, there would be scarcely any time to offer up criticism on socialism and distributism.

Michael Novak, I think, fell into several traps, citing government interventions into political matters as favorable evidence for capitalism. I thought citing the provision for patents and copyrights in the Constitution as a very odd way of defending capitalism -- an example of how the government grants a limited monopoly. Rather, it demonstrates that government often intervenes into markets.

Rather than convincing me to stop being a capitalist, I heard many familiar complaints which I could have answered like "capitalism necessarily increases income inequality", but I also heard a few that made me think about things: how different the country would be if it were not so easy to create limited liability corporations.

The lasting impact on me was a resolution to reread Rerum Novarum (1891) and its sequels through Centesimus Annus (1991) to get a better sense of how they connect to Catholic social justice.

Finally, if they do this again, it should include someone who can argue for more capitalism -- that the Louisiana Purchase was unconstitutional because it was not an enumerated power, and that "commerce clause" cases all the way back to Gibbons v. Ogden were decided in contravention of the principles of capitalism. Don't stop with unwinding creeping socialism in FDR's new deal, let's unwind all the way back to George Washington.

2009-04-02T19:24:00.003-04:00

Mob Rule Dept.

Village mob thwarts Google Street View car: Times of London (UK)

Angry villagers formed a human chain to thwart the progress of a Google Street View car that was in the process of taking photographs of their homes.

The end does not justify the means. When a mob wins, it only encourages them to do it again.

I am not sure that the end in this case is a good thing: How can you make one rule for any photographer and another rule Google's photographer?

2009-03-28T21:52:00.002-04:00

Attention Catholics: Here Comes Newt!

This was unexpected. Newt Gingrich to become Catholic. This appeared in the New York Times in a profile on Newt that I only skimmed.

Newt Again. New York Times March 1, 2009

I have admired Newt and realized that his three marriages make it easy for his political opponents to take shots at him for personal immorality.

Here's is Google search for newt gingrich hypocrisy

The Catholic left is sure to slap him around for his support of the death penalty. The same complaint is made about Rudy.

2009-03-28T19:46:00.003-04:00

There's an anti-Catholic spin in any story if you look hard enough

There was a tragic plane crash in Montana on March 22. This is a typical contemporaneous report:

Montana Plane Crash Kills 17: AP

Today, looking for reaction to the Texas school board decision, I found this follow-up to the crash: A heartless faith

The atheist author is outraged, first mocking the idea that a Catholic cemetery includes a memorial to unborn children in scare quotes, then embedding his own irony in his criticism of this article on Christian Newswire which is a complete inclusion from Gingi Edmunds blog

If you are not inclined to click on everything, this is the source of PZ Meyer's outrage:

I don't want to turn this tragic event into some creepy spiritual "I told you so" moment, but I think of the time spent outside of Feldkamp's - Pam Feldkamp laughing at the fetal development signs, Bud Feldkamp trying not to make eye contact as he got into his car with a small child in tow - and I think of the haunting words, "Think of your children." I wonder if those words were haunting Feldkamp as well as he stood in the snow among the remains of loved ones, just feet from the 'Tomb of the Unborn'?

I think this is creepy, like a Twilight Zone episode. That crew and passengers did not deserve to die. The unborn children killed in abortion do not deserve to die. Gingi Edmunds should realize that people like PZ Meyers are out there stalking our side and looking for every opportunity to point the accusatory finger at us of hate and hypocrisy. Write carefully and ask yourself, "Can the enemy spin this to their advantage?"

2009-03-28T15:54:00.002-04:00

Vince of the Shamwow Commericals as you have never seen him before

I would think that if he had all that money from television, he would be able to afford a better relationship that this.

ShamWow Guy Bitten by Prostitute: 620 WTMJ

The Smoking Gun has the pictures

In our celebrity culture, I wonder if this help Vince Shlomi and Sasha Harris achieve some great fame.

2009-03-28T11:59:00.003-04:00

Notre Dame betrays its Catholic Identity

Norte Dame which claims to have a Catholic identity has betrayed it. President Obama voted three times against a bill that would have made it clear that a child born alive in induced labor abortion procedure would have the right to life under Illinois law.

The greatest moral evil in the United States is abortion and it is opposed by the bishops of the Catholic Church and millions of Catholics and therefore by inviting President Obama, Norte Dame brings dishonor upon itself in honoring, as a Catholic university, President Obama.

Sign the petition http://www.notredamescandal.com/

Read about it http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/03/24/critics-blast-obamas-notre-dame-commencement-address/

Background on Obama's votes against a born-alive state law on RealClear politics

2009-03-25T16:38:00.002-04:00

Five Very Dangerous Words

failure of the free market

This is tough to discuss with someone who believes this -- precisely because one has to confront the defective worldview that makes it possible to utter such a phrase.

Now, I want to concede that if there was a place on earth with free markets, the rule of law, government by consent, individual rights, and generally speaking people who believe in right and wrong -- and if there's an inability there to obtain the necessities of life by ones effort -- I'd want to reexamine the following assertion -- when someone says free markets have failed, then we have an error in defining "free markets" or "failure".