Actually at the time of this posting I am still in the old year. But the ball has dropped in New York so there you go. I am Catholic and big into ritual/symbolism and for me the New Year starts in Time Square New York. I suppose it is all part of our American Civic Religion.
As usual I am spending this New Years Eve at home. I never got the Lets go out and party like a Rock star on New Years Eve DNA. This might have been aided greatly since when I was old enough to go out even the most redneck dives of a bar will suddenly charge 20 to 30 bucks just to get in!!! Who wants that.
I think I was about 20 when I realized going out on New Years was just too much of a hassle.
Oh I love to party but most of my best New Years Eve memories have been small parties with family and friends. Been that way since college. For some reason going out the night of Thanksgiving and Christmas Day "night" have been the times I recall and cherish better than going out on New Years Eve. The only exception was one New Years Night night at a bar called Centenary Oyster House that I was too young to really get into.
I seemed to click with every girl in the place and especially those exotic mysterious , at that time of my life , women 30 to 40 years old. Great stuff when you are 19 and you are a hick from a small town and with our Southern version of the cool and jet set. The music was perfect the women were beautiful and somehow I could say nothing wrong that would have the women "have to check in own their friend".
But I love New Years Eve. I never can understand people that go to bed early on this night. People who REALLY go out of their way to tell you they went to bed about 10 pm on New Year's Eve seem to have amazing correlation with being the most annoying on Earth as to other issues.
Seeing the NEW YEAR come in is important to me.
Anyway thanks for the readership. I hope to make this a better blog in the New Year. More attention to detail and such.
I will say this. Before I die I am getting to Times Square for the big event.. I am going to do that one day.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Happy 2010 Opinionated Catholic Viewers!!!
Democrats For Segregated Schools!!!
I am still waiting for that Speech Obama gave at Notre Dame to produce something. ANYTHING!!! Did not Obama say at one time he was for this? I thought so at least.
However this not a shocker as to President Obama. It seems he pretty much is not going to use political capital on a lot of issues in the House and Senate. Depressing.
More on the depressing news out of D.C. here at Democrats resegregate DC school system. and
Democrats Officially Kill Successful DC Voucher Program
Social Justice blah blah blah. Whatever.
Will the Catholic Church Have to Rebaptize Episcopal Converts
Well at the very least now certain questions are going to have be asked. Perhaps it is not safe to assume anymore. Usually this issue comes up with Pentecostal groups or other that just baptize in the name of Jesus.
It appears times are a changing in the Episcopal Church in some places. This Mississippi Episcopal Priest blogger has Episcopal Parish Revises Baptismal Liturgy to be Interfaith Inclusive. This goes on more than people realize and in the Catholic Church we have had to be on our guard for this.
It appears the actual words of the Baptism were valid and were not touched but it is just a short leap to those monkeyshines. A very uncomfortable small step as many of us Catholics have seen when this is attempted.
Again I have strong suspicions that in a number of Anglican Parishes the very Trinity formula is not being used.
Former Charismatic Episcopal Church Priest Becoming Catholic Priest in Arkansas
Another fruit of the Pastoral Provision. The Deacon Bench has the story and link at Something cool in Hot Springs: a convert moves to the priesthood
Another interesting story coming from the dynamic Diocese of Little Rock which includes all of Arkansas. It is interesting he is a charismatic which will be useful for rising Hispanic population in Arkansas that tend to lean a tad in that direction.
Whenever this happens we see the usual SEE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (The Roman Rite) needs to have married Priests.
It is always odd to me that not too many people do not take note that the issue of married Priests are not a big issue for Catholic converts that come from other Christian communities. Unlike some cradle Catholics that see Married Priests as the "magic bullet" that will solve numerous problems many of us Catholic Converts do not. We have seen the other side.
When I hear things like "WELL WHY SHOULD I GOT TO A CELIBATE PRIEST FOR MARRIAGE COUNSELING" Now this argument is many ways is nonsense. First I am sure Priest is not devoid of all insight and actually because of calling might have insight married people do not. Further the Church has married Deacons and programs from a to z for married folks. But one huge thing gets overlooked. If married Clergy is so great as to this one issue then why out of these communities did we see the first weakening of the teaching on Divorce and remarriage. If these people provide such great counseling that it demands the Catholic Church change its whole discipline to this then why are divorce rates just as high in Christian communities with married Clergy?
Again it is not the magic bullet many people imagine.
Some Liberals Upset President Obama Plays Golf
Oh goodness.
What world does this woman lives in. Althouse has Michelle Cottle is really getting on Barack Obama's case about playing golf.
I will leave it up to the liberal golf fans to take her to task :)
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Will Blue State Governors Kill The Health Care Bill?
The huge elephant in the room. What will be key in this if important local State legislators get on the phone and put it bluntly they will not hang along come budget time.
Newspaper Editorial : Obama is Greater Than Jesus!!!
Please remind me why we should be concerned what Europe thinks.
I think this paper is just trying to beat the New Year with the most ABSURD WASTE OF NEWS PRINT IN HISTORY.
CMR has Something Rotten In Denmark
Scary Headline For Dec 30 2009 (Russians to Try to Save Earth)
This is not the most assuring thing to read when you pops up yahoo. Russia targets asteroid headed for Earth
By the way are the Russians consulting someone on this? It seems that even those opposed to International Bodies with power (like the UN) might be concerned. I mean what if they hit it and it make its more likely to hit Earth when all things or said and done
Everyone is a Calvinists- Even Liberal Secular Democrats
American Catholic has a nice post here that is interesting . See A Tale of Two Calvinisms. I checked out that blog he mentions and links , that is unqualified reservations, and read a lot of his entries last night. FUN stuff.
LSU Coach Ben Chavis Says He Is Staying At LSU
Well it appears this rumor is thankfully being deflated. From the Advocate:
Chavis ‘not going anywhere’
For several weeks there have been rumblings that Georgia coach Mark Richt was trying to lure LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis.
WBRZ Sports Director Michael Cauble reported Monday that junior linebacker Kelvin Sheppard said Chavis pulled him to the side during practice and told the Tigers’ leading tackler, “You knew if I was going anywhere, you’d be the first person I’d tell. I’m here with you all, I love it here, I’m not going anywhere.”
Neither Chavis nor Miles were available Monday. Chavis did not respond to text messages Sunday or Monday.
Richt fired defensive coordinator Willie Martinez after a regular season when the Bulldogs allowed 26.4 points and 328.4 yards a game.
Chavis is in his first season at LSU after a 20-year stint at Tennessee, the last 14 as the defensive coordinator.
Amusing Catholic Post of the Day
Vox Nova has an post on abortion and party politics. I disagree with a good bit of it though I am a huge advocate of a pro-life movement in both parties. But this sort of made me chuckle
The choice is between a Party too beholden to pro-choice groups (the Democrats) and a Party whose glaring hypocrisy on war, torture, opposition to anything meant to lift up workers or help the poor, and so forth, seriously undermines their “pro-life” case (the Republicans). The pro-life movement throwing in their lot with the Republican Party was a serious strategic error, in my judgment. In exchange for “supporting” pro-lifers, the Republicans have bought the relative silence of pro-life Catholics on other issues (the previously-mentioned torture and war, plus tilting the flow of economic benefits toward the rich, and much else) where truly pro-life Catholics would otherwise oppose them, and in strenuous terms.
There is much more with uses of words such as "hearts and minds" and "Mission Accomplished" that is sort of mocking and the EWTN CROWD whatever that is and other snarkiness
I am not taking this too personal. Yeah I suspect we would disagree on what is just war and what is and what is not torture. Of course his accusation that the GOP cares nothing for the poor and the workers is way over broad. But heck he is behind a computer screen and I guilty of this too. I suspect if we met for a drink or a coffee he would be hesitant to throw out the "glaring hypocrisy" charge to my face until he got to know me. You know at least till we conversed for a hour or so if I should turn in my "truly Catholic" secret decoder ring.
But I got a chuckle when he ended his piece on how we convert people to the pro-life cause
I firmly believe that any truly effective pro-life movement must be grounded in love – deep, agape love. Not demonization of our opponent, but lovingly appealing to his or her conscience.
Is there a disconnect here? My gosh I get the feeling he thinks of my Republican Catholic little self as akin to Attila the Hun and then we are talking about AGAPE, LOVE, Appealing to Conscience, and not demonizing.
Charity starts at home as they say and perhaps among pro-lifers themselves.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Mike Leach Trapped Craig James' Son in a Closet Vid
Ok I am still saying something stinks in all this. I think ESPN better realize they might have a perception problem.
The whole tone of last nights reporting was like I was watching the Extra Sensitive Parenting Network.
Maybe Leach was in the wrong but I am wondering what is up.
Still lets have some FUN. LSUFREEK has struck again. If you followed Coach Leach and the sagas this year you get it the "fat girlfriend" stuff. VId Here
So What Responsibility Do American Christians Have for Iraq Christians
I supported and still support our efforts in Iraq. I supported and still like President Bush. Still the National Review has a ringing indictment of past failures here and yeah that Indictment includes all us Christians in the USA that are doing nothing. We can and in fact some obligation to reverse this.
See Iraq's Holy Innocents.
When Love of LSU and Football Causes Business To Leave
Ugh what a depressing article from the Baton Rouge Business Report at The cost of losing IEM
Besides losing IEM we learn this depressing fact:
Cut through the rhetoric and IEM is leaving because 1] our present workforce doesn’t meet the company’s needs, 2] our universities, and especially LSU, are pathetic at partnering with the private sector, 3] our education system, from K-college, does a crappy job, and 4] our quality of life isn’t good enough to attract and retain the highly educated people IEM is desperate to employ.
It’s a story we’ve been hearing since a canvass trip to Austin six-plus years ago when George Friedman, CEO of the now internationally renowned StratFor, stunned those in attendance with his tale of how LSU officials essentially forced him to take his brilliant idea of providing information about world affairs to business and government clients and move to the Lone Star State. Why? Because Freidman wanted to partner with equally smart people at Tulane, a notion LSU shot down because 1] it wanted to control the money from commercialization, and 2] the Tigers played the Green Wave in football, and it was wrong to partner with the enemy.
Now, you will hear administrators at LSU and officials from the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Louisiana Economic Development and Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office proclaim that the times they are a-changing. But, to be blunt, they’re not changing fast enough, and many of the people that stand in the way of progress and new ideas remain in power—can you say Ray Lamonica?
Everyone Is Upset Obama is In Hawaii
Yes I stand up for our President at times. . It seems to irk some folks that I read that Obama is inHawaii during this crisis. . Including the mostly rational Ann Althouse.
Most of the time instead of Hawaii we see things like "tropical Isle" and" tropical paradise". Almost like the President is doing bar shots while watching the bikini girls at some resort in Jamaica. Hey sorry I can't pay attention to these terrorist because I got to do Beer Pong at 3 p.m. Bingo at 5 p.m., and Water Vollyball at 6p.m.
Well the fact is the President is not in Jamaica he is in Hawaii which besides being very pretty is a one 50 states of the United States. I expect some Hawaii folks are getting a tad offended they are thought nothing more than some resort like Sandals or Hedonism.
Further my Gosh you got Pearll Harbor there. You got the Pacific Fleet and all that Naval Intelligence operation there (Think old episodes of Magnum P.I.). It is not like he in the middle of no where Montana fishing by some stream cut off from the Intelligence and Military assets of the United States.
So why I am critic of Obama I am not going to critcize him for being in Hawaii.
No Christmas Church For the Obama Family
Deacon Bench touches on this at The Obamas' church-less Christmas
I have to admit I am a tad sadden by it too. Thought the Obamas are Protestant and a good many Protestants don't have Christmas services. I have no idea what the United Church of Christ tradition is on this.
Still I always loved the symbolism of it. I like when the President goes across the street to St Johns (The Church of Presidents). I think it is important. It would have been nice if the President had gone to Pearl Harbor or some military base for instance on Christmas Eve or Christmas day for services. I think would have been nice.
Still I realize the Obama's are not Methodist/Episcopalian like Bush so no skin off my nose. Still Symbols are important especially when we are at war.
Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei Makes Plans to Haul Butt to Russia
Well this is is a interesting memo. CMR has it at Will Iran Fall?
Libertarians Being Purged Out Of Tea Party Movement
Inside Catholic has a interesting post at Driving libertarians out of the Tea Party movement
They have to moderate comments over there so mine is awaiting it's time in line I suppose. Here is a somewhat edited version of that comment with more thoughts.
I am a Republican and proud of it so I will put my cards on the table with that.
I am not associated with the Tea Party movement mainly because of it's libertarian bent. I predicted these factions would emerge in the movement. We conservatives are often at each other throats in our different factions and the tea party movement will have to deal with that too.
On the flip side some of my conservative friends that don't hate the GOP are treated sometimes lets not say in a friendly fashion there. It goes both ways.
Also I am taking some of what he is saying with a grain of salt. Do you really think there are a lot of people that never heard of RON PAUL. Were they living under a rock. I doubt it.
That being said Tea Party folks are too quick to use the term CO OPT. I highlight and agree with some of their concerns and because I am a Republican I am accused of trying to "co-opt" the Tea party movement.
The Tea Party movement invites Republican officials to their events to speak and after they leave they yell they are Co-opting. It gets annoying fast.
Still all this is predictable. While there is a "Libertarian bent" to it it is not like all of ground floor of this movement are that.
Purity and purges work both ways. If they can't get along with each other and start calling each other TPINOs( Tea Party In Name Only) then they will not get very far either.
Also as to the Libertarian bent there are factions in that. Lets say I was a traditional Libertarian that had a more traditional view toward immigration, free trade, and yes immigration reform. Would I be welcome in the Tea party movement. There are factions even in that faction. If I agree with parts of the Patriot Act am I out? The GOP is the least of their concern. The first concern for them is if they can live with each other.
Americans Hear Russian Ghosts See Weird Lights in Afghanistan
Spooky story
“This place really sucks,” said Lance Corporal Austin Hoyt, 20, putting his pack on to return to the main base. “The Afghans say it’s haunted. Stick a shovel in anywhere and you’ll find bones and bits of pottery. This place should be in National Geographic — in the front there are weird-looking windows for shooting arrows. You know, they say the Russians up here were executed by the Mujahidin.”
He looked meaningfully at his successors and prepared to leave.
Yikes. Read the whole thing at Eerie outpost unnerves US Marines with strange lights and whispers in the night
A little sidenote. It is apparent that the Marines have Id'ed Russian remains. Would not the Russians like to come and bring then back home
The Road to the Super Bowl Goes Throught New Orleans!!
What wonderful words to hear last night as Chicago upsets Minnesota in Monday Night Football. Which mean the Saints clinch home field advantage till (we pray) they get to the Superbowl.
Something Smells About The Texas Tech's Mike Leach Situation
IT' S COACH MIKE LEACH AND BOY HE IS IN A BIND NOW
Hmm I hope ESPN's Craig James is not really running for Texas Senate because he surely is going to lose a lot of votes in Lubbock. The more I read about this the more I suspect Leach (who yes is crazy) is not the main real problem here.
Hint to ESPN. At least look to be a tad more objective in this since you know you can be accused of bias. The first day was not great.
Monday, December 28, 2009
The John F Kennedy and Girls Nudie Photo is Likely A Fake
Yes I got that in like 5 emails so I know yall saw the link :)
Details here
The Louisiana Angle of Disney's “The Princess and the Frog”
I really want to see this. Live the Trinity has some nice observations at REVIEW - “The Princess and the Frog”
Update- What about the Catholicism?
Rod Dreher has thoughts on that here Disney's curious aversion to Catholicism
The Old Conservatives and Republicans Are Racist Argument Again
It appears for some reason this tired argument makes an appearance every few months. Usually when things are going bad for the left. I am pretty much convinced throwing out charges of racism every 5 seconds has been one of the most destructive things to happen in this country the last two decades.
Today's offender is Matthew Yglesias who attacks Victor Hanson. Hanson responds here.
Of course it is one thing when hacks and pundits like Dowd and Yglesias do this but another when a United States Senators does it. Think just a few weeks ago and what the esteemed Senator of Rhode Island said in in the Senate Chambers.
On that note there is a good article on this also at the Weekly Standard. See Secondhand Hate. A pretty stinging indictment.
Here is just a part:
For years now, those on the left have conflated resistance to any item of their agenda--high taxes, extravagant spending, laxity on crime, what have you--with motives of a dark nature: racism, nativism, fear of "the other," and various species of "hate." Ronald Reagan's election in 1980, a reaction to overregulation, stagflation, and the foreign policy failures and weakness of one James Earl Carter, was described as the bigots' revenge for the civil rights era. The midterm elections of 1994, a reaction against Hillarycare and the Clintons' malfeasance, were seen as a Confederate renaissance. After Bill Clinton was impeached for lies under
oath (and terminal tackiness), his allies. floated the theory that some of the votes against him came from Southern conservatives, because he was friendly to blacks. (As the "first black president"--vide Toni Morrison--Clinton was fond of this sort of rhetorical legerdemain until 2008, when his wife ran against a real black for president, and these tactics were turned against him.)
But it was the appearance in 2009 of the real first black president that lifted this theme to a whole new level: The left, which invented first "hate speech" (opinions they didn't like) and then "hate crimes" (crimes judged less on the criminal's actions than on what he was presumed to be thinking), has now gone on to its epiphany, which is "hate" defined not by your words or deeds but by what other people have decided you really think. "Hate" is no longer what you do or say, but what a liberal says that you think and projects on to you. You are punished for what someone else claims you were thinking. It hardly makes sense, but it does serve a political purpose. You could call it Secondhand Hate....
Read the whole thing. It is a tough call to see what is done more b the left to try to shut down hearing opinions they don't like. That is the racism charge or yell separation of Church and State. Still it is destructive and makes finding and calling out the real racist much harder.
More Guns Less Crime. Is there a Link?
A good article here at More guns equal more crime? Not in 2009, FBI crime report shows.
Encouraging for supporters of the second amendment. I do agree it is too early to call these a slam dunk for supporters of the second amendment at this point. The fact that Crime is going down in unfriendly gun rights areas is significant. Still it sort of blows a hole in Mayor Bloomberg theory and his wanting to sue gun makes because gun in VA end up in New York.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
LSU Defensive Coach Chavis Leaving LSU? (Updated)
Wow. I am not sure I like that. It is message board rumor but a reliable person on there that is very very very close to the powers that be says its likely.
Update
It appears Georgia is the likely place he is going or so "They" are saying. So far not a hint in the media though there indications in some Georgia radio media a week ago he was being looked at.
UPDATED TIMES TWO-
LSU Coach Ben Chavis Says He Is Staying At LSU
I Got the Who Dat Blues -Saints Lose to Tampa Bay
God is testing us for some reason. I still have Faith!!!
Science Labs and Racism- Stupidity in Berkeley
Sadly this is not the Onion.
Berkeley High School is considering a controversial proposal to eliminate science labs and the five science teachers who teach them to free up more resources to help struggling students.
The proposal to put the science-lab cuts on the table was approved recently by Berkeley High's School Governance Council, a body of teachers, parents, and students who oversee a plan to change the structure of the high school to address Berkeley's dismal racial achievement gap, where white students are doing far better than the state average while black and Latino students are doing worse.
Paul Gibson, an alternate parent representative on the School Governance Council, said that information presented at council meetings suggests that the science labs were largely classes for white students. He said the decision to consider cutting the labs in order to redirect resources to underperforming students was virtually unanimous.
Science teachers were understandably horrified by the proposal. "The majority of the science department believes that this major policy decision affecting the entire student body, the faculty, and the community has been made without any notification, without a hearing," said Mardi Sicular-Mertens, the senior member of Berkeley High School's science department, at last week's school board meeting.
Sincular-Mertens, who has taught science at BHS for 24 years, said the possible cuts will impact her black students as well. She says there are twelve African-American males in her AP classes and that her four environmental science classes are 17.5 percent African American and 13.9 percent Latino. "As teachers, we are greatly saddened at the thought of losing the opportunity to help all of our students master the skills they need to find satisfaction and success in their education," she told the board.
The full plan to close the racial achievement gap by altering the structure of the high school is known as the High School Redesign. It will come before the Berkeley School Board as an information item at its January 13 meeting. Generally, such agenda items are passed without debate, but if the school board chooses to play a more direct role in the High School Redesign, it could bring the item back as an action item at a future meeting.
School district spokesman Mark Coplan directed inquiries about the redesign to Richard Ng, the principal's assistant at Berkeley High and member of the School Governance Council. Ng did not return repeated calls for comment.
How Conservatives Survived Obama's First Year
I think this Contentions piece hits it right on.
..............In short, the Obama team didn’t succeed to the degree many of us anticipated and feared it would in refashioning domestic policy and achieving its free-market-killing initiatives. Card check is off the table. Cap-and-trade has been postponed. The stimulus bill did not endear the country to the wonders of big government. The health-care bill is not yet law, but is grossly unpopular. It is worth asking: why? Why did the most heralded politician to assume the White House in a generation, in the midst of a collapse of the private sector, and with huge Democratic majorities in the House and Senate not do any better (or do more damage, depending on your perspective)?
The answers are three-fold, I think. First, this president showed no inclination or talent to engage in the nitty-gritty business of lawmaking. He did not set forth his own specific proposals on key agenda items, set a deadline, or whip Congress into line. He preferred endless speeches, innumerable TV talk-show appearances, and campaign-style events, none of which solved the hard questions as to what it is that key legislation should contain. And then Congress did what it does best — squabble, debate, reach gridlock, churn out pork-a-thon legislation in lieu of serious policy prescriptions, and show themselves to be obsessed with shielding their own constituents from measures they would willingly foist on others. The result was low output and an absence of thoughtful or innovative policy. And most glaringly, on his most important agenda item, Obama did not make substantive arguments nor focus on a coherent legislative health-care scheme that was designed to fulfill his objectives.
Second, the Obami ran Left, even beyond the tolerance of their own party. Democratic senators have held up cap-and-trade, not the Republicans. The Democrats can’t find 60 votes in the Senate to take away the right to secret ballot in union elections. Again, the liberal aspirations of special interest groups don’t match the political composition of those in office, even after an election that delivered across-the-board Democratic victories.
And finally, Obama himself did not inspire or persuade the public in the way his followers imagined he would. His campaign rhetoric wore thin, never rising above the level of platitudes. And when that rhetoric didn’t persuade, the president diminished himself and the power of the bully pulpit by inveighing against opponents, picking fights with talk-show hosts and news networks, and condescending the public (e.g., red pill/blue bill health-care hooey, Gatesgate’s “teachable moment,” etc.). In short, he didn’t lead.
This year ends with a sigh of relief from conservatives on the domestic front. Their work in opposing liberal Democratic policies is not, however, over. The health-care bill looms on the horizon and the Democrats will take a second pass at a number of their policy proposals. But there is a certain exhilaration in surviving the initial (and certainly the strongest barrage) of one’s political enemies. And for conservatives, finding that the American people are increasingly rallying to their side in the political debate is particularly gratifying
Saturday, December 26, 2009
LSU Fans Say God Bless You Urban Meyer
I love LSU but I respect URBAN a lot. I am shocked. I heard this breaking on ESPN radio coming out of Mass. It appears to be a health problem.
The SEC and College Football is worse off. I am praying for his health. God Bless you Urban.
Just Horrific for us. Maybe the best thing for his family.
Things I Bought With My Barnes and Noble Gift Cards
I got for Christmas. Finally just got the order placed.
City of God by St Augustine (somehow I lost my other copy)
Spirit of the Liturgy by the now Pope Benedict. I wanted to read something by Pope Benedict and I had heard this was one of his good ones. They are all pretty good but I keep hearing good thngs about this one.
Not by Faith Alone: A Biblical Study of the Catholic Doctrine of Justification by Robert A. Sungenis. This is another book I had bought years ago loaned out at some time or lost somehow in my moves. Yeah I know he is kind of nutty now but I recall this book was very very very good and handy.
The Dialectics of Secularization On Reason and Religion . This was series of insightful essays by the then Cardinal Ratzinger and an German Athiest by the name of Jürgen Habermas. Here is a slight burb. Pretty excited about this one. Short but good.
Coming Soon: Unlocking the Book of Revelation and Applying Its Lessons Today by Michael Barber is the Professor of Theology, Scripture and Catholic Thought at John Paul the Great Catholic University in San Diego
Hopefully I will get some more ( we are the type of Family where Christmas family gift giving) is sort of spread out over two weeks as we visit other branches of the family. If so there are some historical books I want.
Don't Kill the Kudzu and Poison Ivy - IT HAS RIGHTS AND FEELINGS
No doubt this be also be coming to an area WACKo Catholic Retreat house near you too in some form.
Secondhand Smoke has Anti-Humanism: Now Plants are the Most Ethical Life Form?
The Truth About Palin and the Death Panels(File This Away)
Polifact has pretty much made Palin the Liar of year according to them. All that means to me is I don't trust Polifact anymore.
The Weekly Standard has a good short post of what Palin and others were saying at the time. See Sarah Palin and Death Panels: A Brief History
It was clear to me at the time that Palin was talking about two aspect of Death Panel. Including this scary unelected Medicare cutting panel. Something that has concerned me from the start.
I am still at a loss why Progressives themselves don't understand the danger of this creature. I don't understand why people involved in Catholic Social Justice can't see the danger either.
More Liberal Fall Out On Heath Care Bill (Buyers Remorse)
MCJ has a good post at BUYER’S REMORSE? Lots of good quotes from the left. Where are just two
Rob Sirota reminds some House liberals of a letter they signed a few months back. “Unacceptable” is a pretty concrete word. When applied to legislation as it is in this letter, it means, um, “not acceptable,” which means not supportable, which means a “no” vote. Sure, lawmakers often vote “yes” on things they deem “not perfect,” “only mediocre” or even “somewhat unacceptable” - but they don’t vote for things they unequivocally call “unacceptable.” To do that is to “flip-flop, “contradict oneself” and/or “lie” - take your pick. Were we all just expected to somehow know that these 60+ House Democrats were lying when they made this declaration to only deem “acceptable” a bill with a public option? As I noted in a recent newspaper column, I know the Church of the Savvy has been gaining new members among some rank-and-file progressives who simply absolve all lying - as long as the lying comes from Democrats. But it seems to me this would be one helluva whopper to simply swallow. And the fact that the press hasn’t even bothered to ask these House members about this is sickening. Talk about the media doing its part via omission to help create ideological outcomes.
Another one here
Democrats in Congress, under the leadership of Barack Obama, have now turned that principal on its head and made health care neither a right, nor a privilege, but an obligation for individual citizens and a government-mandated profit center for private corporations. For the first time in American history, Democrats are about to pass a bill that uses the coercive power of the federal government to force every American — simply by virtue of being an American — to purchase the products of a private company. At heart, the Democrats’ solution to 48 million uninsured is to force the them to buy inadequate private insurance — with potentially high deductibles and co-pays and no price controls — or be fined by the federal government.
Friday, December 25, 2009
What Catholics Experinced After the Pope Was Attacked
This seems to be a common theme from people that were there
....................By now, nearly every reader of the Mirror of Justice is aware that the Holy Father was knocked down by a mentally unstable woman as he proceeded up the aisle at the beginning of the Mass. The incident took place only about ten yards away from where we were sitting, although none of us were able to see what had occurred other than my daughter, Katie, who could see security gathering around and then a man being carried out of the basilica (who turned out to be Cardinal Roger Etchegaray who suffered a broken hip when knocked to the marble floor with the Pope.) I'm glad that I didn't see the security guards with their hands on their guns moving down the aisle, as that would have made me more apprehensive about what might be unfolding.
What may not have been fully conveyed by the news media is the remarkable reaction and response of the congregation as this episode unfolded, as well as the beauty and serenity of the rest of the Mass, despite the unsettling beginning. As the young woman vaulted over the rail and lunged at the Pope, those in the immediate area naturally gasped in surprise. But then complete silence fell over the entire basilica. We all remarked afterward how the reaction was so different than one usually experiences when something occurs in a crowd, typically a loud buzzing moving through the crowd as people describe what they had seen and discuss what it means and what may happen next. Instead, other than some whispering, everyone was prayerful and quiet, waiting for what seemed like a considerable time but instead proved to be only a couple of minutes. Cheers then rang out when he resumed his entrance.
When the Pope continued up the aisle, passing by our row, he did not look to be greatly shaken and returned to nodding and smiling at the worshipers gathered. The rest of the service was so beautiful and meaningful that we had nearly forgotten the interruption at the beginning by the time the Mass ended. The Holy Father recessed down the aisle, stopping to greet children in the congregation, before proceeding to the manger scene for the placement of the baby Jesus. While the eight of us will always remember that we happened to be there for the unfortunate incident, the focus of our conversation and attention afterward was on the Mass and the meaning of Christmas.
If there is a silver lining to the small cloud that overshadowed the beginning of the Mass, it may be that the news media has given more attention as well than usual to Pope Benedict's Christmas message, a call to turn away from selfishness and self-absorption and find spiritual fulfillment in God.
Were there Huge Crowds At All Your Christmas Services (Protestant and Catholic)
What was the crowd like. I had to do family stuff in Bossier Citry Louisiana so I went to the Diocese of Shreveport Catherdral for 11 am Christmas Day Mass. THE PLACE WAS FULL.
A few years ago not so much. Every one went to Midnight Mass or the ones at 4 or 6 pm. The Priest said they had record crowds at all Anticipation Masses the evening before. So it could be things are just fire at the Catherdral and they do have a good priest and I have to admit our new Bishop has got things moving .
Or is it we are starting to see a new spirtuality accoss the board Catholic ,Protestant .etc
Or are people reaaly unsettled about what is going on around them and they are going back their faith.
I keep hearing about huge crowds the last couple of days at several places How was at it your Crurch rather it be Catholic or Protestant. I am including Carol services and the traditional Candlelight Communion services that Methodist have etc etc etc
Alot Depends On Pope Benedict Staying Around A While
Damon Thompson at the UK Telgraph comments in the aftermath of the attack on the Pope by the woman at the Vatican
See The assault on Pope Benedict reminds us how much we need this brave man
Lady Attacking the Pope Gets Penalized 15 yards for an Illegal Frontal Horse Collar (Youtube)
What is she rated on Rivals?
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Full Text of Pope Benedicts Christmas Eve Homily 2009
Located here.
Merry Christmas and thank the Lord the Pope appears unharmed after tonights incident.
For American Viewers A Voice Will Be Missed At Vatican Midnight Mass
Well actually the Mass is 10 pm rome time this year but you get the point.
Whispers has A Cardinal's Christmas Gift: Coming Home
Chicago Sends Warning to Chicago D.C. Branch
Oh dear even the Daleys are in their own way are starting to distance themselves from this mess. American Catholic has more at A Daley Sees Disaster Looming For the Democrats
So The Senate Has Passed the Health Care Bill-Bah Humbug
Sad I suppose to be talking so much politics on Christmas Eve but well they had the vote today so what can you do.
This whole Health Care bill shows in many ways how the media has fallen down on the job. It also shows I think the danger of even progressive and even SOME Catholic Social Justice groups from being so D.C. based!!!
There has been a lot of outrage among Governors and not just far right GOP ones. We see an example of this today.
The bill is so bad it renders Sen. Chuck Schumer mute: “Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Paterson both slammed the Senate bill Monday, charging it would cost the city more than $500 million and rip a $1 billion-a-year hole in the state budget. Schumer, a veteran streetfighter for federal cash, has been suddenly recast as a defender of Washington—and a deal he helped cut that shafts New York. ’He’s being uncharacteristically quiet in part because the numbers don’t look that good,’ said Baruch College political scientist Doug Muzzio. . . [Schumer] bristled at criticism that he stood by as other states won sweetheart deals.” Well, how come Nebraska got more than New York then?.
Elsewhere at Contentions this observation.
A central feature of this bill is the $500B cuts in Medicare funding, including slashing the popular Medicare Advantage plan and the imposition of a newly beefed-up Medicare Advisory Board, which will be empowered to devise new ways of cutting payments to doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, and other health-care providers. In the absence of any real reform measures, the only feasible way to control costs is limiting care—i.e., rationing. Medicare already denies medical claims at double the rate of many large private insurers. And with $500B or so less to work with, many more Medicare claims will be denied.
This is what the Cornhusker Kickback and the rest of the bribe-a-thon are enabling. The Senate bill spared voters in a few states the harshest impact of the new care-depriving regime so that the same regime could be foisted on the entire country. Connecticut voters get $600 million in additional Medicaid benefits, Vermont voters get $10B in health-care centers, and hospitals in North Dakota and Iowa get richer Medicare reimbursement rates. Those deals made possible reduced rates of reimbursement and Medicare funding for the rest of the country, rates so paltry and unacceptable to a few key senators that they had to use all their pull to spare their own states. If it is unacceptable for them, why must the rest of the country live with it?
Exactly!!!! However this has not been really explained by the "intelligent" folks in the media. I was not really on the Bash MARY LANDRIEU bandwagon for the so called Louisiana purchase. What people fail to realize that was money for a one time problem dealing with the hurricane and how the rules did not forsee a consequence of that . However that one time fix does nothing to shelter my State from what is coming next if this passes in it's current form. Perhaps Mary Landrieu can give us some insight what we can cut fro the State Budget.
What progrms will have to be cut in these States. We are looking at a lot of cuts at already stretched budgets that have just had to go through a series of painful cuts. For those that are concerned about Social Justice have they considered a lot of these cuts will affect the poor the most . Perhaps Michael Sean Winters over at the Catholic America magazine that supports all this can come down to Louisiana and elsewhere and tell us where to cut with the budget knife .
Shall we cut higher and secondary education to the core and how much shall we cut programs that help the poor and old folks so we can pay for this perhaps no so fabulous Health Care.
Thankfully there is still the House. I expect Governors and a lot of State Reps from legislators are going to being giving House members a earful. Plus a message that they will not go down alone for having to make the unpopular choices in their states because of deal made in D.C.
Rep Stupak Gives Christmas Eve Thoughts On Health Care Bill
I think this Congressman that 95 percent of Americans never of heard of last year is going to be enjoying this moment of his in the SUN.
More problems for the Big O and perhaps shows why the White House is now looking at February at the earliest for a vote.
Stupak: ‘You Don’t Buy Me Off’ [Robert Costa]
After watching the Senate’s health-care debate, Rep. Bart Stupak (D., Mich.) tells NRO that he has one message for President Obama and House speaker Nancy Pelosi: “You don’t buy me off.” Stupak tells us that he’s disappointed that Democratic leaders have offered him legislative favors in exchange for supporting Obamacare. “This shouldn’t be a bill where you use hush money,” says Stupak.
“This isn’t an appropriations bill where you try to get the best projects for your state.” “In the House, we need to bring equity back into the process,” says Stupak. “We need to cut out those sweetheart deals.” If the deals in question are not removed, Stupak will vote against the bill. In the meantime, he says, “my reservations are growing.” “I’ve spoken with a half-dozen members in the last 48 hours, and they’re all really concerned with the Senate bill,” says Stupak. “We all agree: We’ve lost our objective with health care. Where you live should have nothing to do with the quality or cost of your coverage.”
On abortion, Stupak says that the language of the health-care bill must be crystal clear. “There cannot be, in any way, public funding for abortion,” says Stupak. “What the Nelson compromise does is recognize abortion for the first time as a benefit in a federal health plan. It mandates that at least one plan has abortion coverage. Those are drastic changes to the current law.”
“President Obama needs to keep current law in place, as he said he would,” says Stupak. “The polls show that the public doesn’t want public funding for abortion. If the president really wants to work with us, he has to recognize this.” And remember, Stupak adds, that the probable Christmas Eve passage of the Senate bill doesn’t mean much. “The House is a whole different ball game.” 12/23 05:12 PMShare
The Treason of the First Christmas
Michael J. Iafrate at Vox Nova poswt an thought provoking excerpt here at The “high treason” of the first Christians
Why Mickey Kaus Might Have The Best New Year Ever!!!
I like Democrat pundit Mickey Kaus at Slate. Even though we have been on opposite sides at times on many issues. He speaks truth to power as it were including the media.
Kaus supports the Health Care Bill and it is a big deal to him. Please note he is honest and does not buy all this deficit reducing spin. See his latest Health Care: The CBO's Alternate Universe.
However Mickey hates other things a lot of democrats like. Such as unions and immigration reform (which he calls Amnesty).
Kaus might get the best of all worlds. Obama and the democrats if successful will have expounded a ton of poilitical capital( also the case if they lose on this bill) on the health care bill. That makes something like card check more unlikely to pass. Also it makes it unlikely that the Obama adminsitration will do any serious effort this year to really pass immigration reform. 2010 comes and we have a "correction" in the House and Senate with more GOP seats. Thus making these two events even harder to happen.
WIN WIN for KAUS. No wonder is urging full steam ahead!! He might get his heath bill and pretty much doom these other things all at the same time.
I wonder at what point Latino leaders and others that supported immigration reform realized they got snookered. If we had President McCain he would have likely moved already somewhat on this path.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
It Appears Health Care Bill Far From Done Deal
The significance of the White House talking about moving the Health Care Vote to February is now starting to sink in.
It appears this time they can count and the House is in trouble. Lots of good analysis here at WH putting health-care off until … February?
Unfortunately for Democrats in Congress, that move tosses them under a very big bus. They wanted to close this debate as early as possible in order to allow anger over the unpopular measure to ebb in time for their re-election campaigns. Under the new timing, Congress would have to consider ObamaCare and cap-and-trade in rapid succession, just in time for the summer and fundraising time. Unlike last year, Democrats won’t be able to avoid appearing in public and being surrounded by Tea Party protests, and those two agenda items will provoke them to even more fury than last year.
The other term for “hard pivot” is “dithering.” The more Obama dithers, the less likely ObamaCare becomes
So perhaps some of the conservative pundits that for reason in their deep depression kept yelling IT'S OVER yesterday might did to rest up over Christmas and quit panicking.
Contentions has more here at More Time to Change Minds
They say in part:
It seems there is an opportunity then. The details of the shady deals, the abortion funding, the Medicare slashing, and the attempt to insulate the death panels . . . er Medicare Advisory Board . . . from potential repeal by a subsequent Congress are only now coming to light. If the next month or so is spent explaining to the public what is in the bill and that it, even by its sponsors’ own terms, fails to meet the goals of deficit reduction and improved access, then perhaps some wary lawmakers’ minds may be changed.
Harry Reid’s effort to jam this through without public scrutiny may fail spectacularly. Senators emboldened by the late-night sessions and the cloak of opaqueness have wheeled and dealed without a second thought. Now the public can tell the lawmakers what they think, and put to the fire the feet of those supposedly “responsible” Democrats who were going to protect taxpayers (but not those with incomes less than $200,000) and the elderly (except for sucking $500B out of an already shaky Medicare system). Time has never been on the side of the Democrats and news that there will be a significant delay, if accurate, comes as a welcomed holiday gift to ObamaCare opponents.
Democrat U.S. Senator Patty Murray Thinks Alabama Folks Are Idiots
She said, according to NPR: "I have stood on the line in Everett, Wash., where we have thousands of workers who go to work every day to build these planes. I would challenge anybody to tell me that they've stood on a line in Alabama and seen anybody building anything."
Oh boy . Much more here.
That Old Time American Religion in Pictures
When American Soliders Looked Like Movies Stars
I was struck by this picture and post They All Looked Like Movie Stars, Part III.
I look at my grandfather and his brother's WWII photos and they all have that look.
Maybe it is the type of film they used that make them all look so dashing and brough out features. They all seemed to take some time too in striking the right pose.
The Evil Jesuit Trained Joe Paterno and the LSU Game
We LSU fans better watch out for devious play by the Jesuit trained Coach of Penn State in the upcoming bowl game. :)
I am going to highlight in the next couple of post some cool stuff at McNamara's Blog . See
Joe Paterno and the Jesuits
I also like this article because it shows what Catholic education used to be like. Compare it too today. Sigh. No wonder we are in the mess we are in as a Nation.
Meetings Between The Society of Pius X and Vatican to Be Recorded and Filmed
In All Things has a interesting tidbit in this piece Vatican-SSPX discussions: an update
The "conversations" follow a systematic method. First, the topic. Then, the SSPX sends a paper laying out its doubts. The Vatican representatives answer in writing. Then both sides meet to discuss the exchanges.
The meetings will be filmed and recorded by both sides, which may indicate a healthy mutual scepticism but will make for fascinating material for future historians. The conclusions of each discussion are then taken to the Pope and the Superior General of the SSPX.
I must say that seems a tad unusual but at this stage a good thing perhaps. However it does show that a final result is a long ways off.
Doug Kmiec Is Speaking Again!!! Merry Christmas
I must say I thought he would follow protocal and shut up while he was there.
Undiplomatic Kmiec [Ed Whelan]
I had imagined that an incidental benefit of Doug Kmiec’s appointment as attorney general of Wales — oops, I mean as U.S. ambassador to Malta — was that he would no longer be publicly offering his, er, insights on matters not related to the thorny issues of U.S.-Malta relations. It turns out that I was wrong. Kmiec is among the “more than three dozen [self-described] pro-life Christian pastors, leaders and theologians” who released a statement last Friday “applaud[ing] Sen. Robert Casey’ [sic] proposed alternative language on abortion” in the Senate health-care bill.
One very experienced former U.S. ambassador tells me that he “doesn’t know of any political or career ambassador who has ever signed a statement like Kmiec’s.”
12/23 11:04 AMShare
The South Still The Most Religious (Mississippi Leads)
Hey and Louisiana is right up there. See Southerners lead U.S. in religious devotion
Kentucky was also mentioned which is interesting because of recent Catholic News. See O, Wensboro: For West Kentucky, an Advent Medley
At the helm of the rural, tight-knit Western Kentucky diocese -- its 58% Sunday turnout 2.5 times the national average, and long the country's highest -- the 57 year-old appointee succeeds the beloved Bishop John McRaith, whose resignation for "general health reasons" was accepted last 5 January, a year ahead of his 75th birthday. Head of the 52,000-member church since 1982, McRaith's earthy spirit has defined the diocese for over a generation -- having sold his predecessor's deluxe digs, the episcopal "mansion" remains half a humble duplex off the see-city's beaten path, and on his 20th anniversary in office, the diocese gave the quiet, pipe-smoking prelate a John Deere tractor.
I have to say Kentucky is for whatever reason is one of those states I don't think about much. Except when LSU plays them or the Kentucky Derby rolls around. After that not so much. Don't know why. Kentucky is not Deep South either. Why is Kentucky so religious?
Why Doesn't Our Moon Have A Name
MCJ has a interesting point I have thought about on occasion. See NAMING RIGHTS
Update- It does have an name I found out- Luna, the Roman incarnation of Selene, the goddess of the moon in Greek mythology .
From now I will refer it solely as LUNA :)
Catholic Bishops Still Say Health Care Bill Is “deficient”
Changes must be made. Father Z has USCCB: Senate health care bill “deficient”
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
30 Minutes to Wapner -The Real Rain Man Has Died
RIP
I had no idea in real life he was physically disabled. Ann Althouse has the story at
"I have so many things in me that you can't even guess them all." — Kim Peek.
Democrats Not Concerned About Blacks and Hispanics In Nursing Homes? More Health Care Bill Monkeyshines?
HOPE AND CHANGE!!!! What a Catholic Social Justice Friendly bill this is.
How come I have a idea this was put in to protect certain folks that might own certain nursing homes from liability.
Serious Racial Discrimination in Obamacare [Peter Kirsanow] As Hans von Spakovsky notes, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has raised a number of concerns with President Obama and Congress about racially discriminatory provisions in both the House and Senate health care bills.
One provision in the Senate health-care bill not cited by Hans is Section 2046 (b)(3) that creates separate and unequal operating standards for long-term care facilities that serve racial and ethnic minorities. Section 2046 (b)(3) grants the secretary of HHS the discretion to waive substantial penalties (i.e., fines of up to $300,000 and debarment from federal programs) for failing to report elder abuse and other crimes committed against residents of long-term care facilities that serve racial and ethnic minorities. Obviously, this could increase the probability that residents of such facilities won't receive the same level of protection as residents of nursing homes that serve non-minority populations.
Now, it's unlikely the Senate meant to give minority nursing homes license to beat Granny, but thus far, the Commission's concerns remain unaddressed. Where are the members of the Congressional Black Caucus? The Congressional Hispanic Caucus? 12/22 02:43 PMShare
What about Jews and Jewish retirement homes in like Florida. Are they now excluded? DO they fit the ethnic minority thinge. Not sure. SOUNDS VERY FISHY TO ME
I have to admit I have never seen a "black" or a minority retirement home but I guess they exist. Who owns these things?
Update
Someone gives me explanation
There are low tier nursing homes for people that get only Medicaid, and these are often filled with mainly blacks or minorities, depending on the demographics of the area. They have less to operate with than the better homes. Perhaps it is to protect the big bad corporations, but the fact is if you put the poorer facilities out of business the old people have no where else to go or Medicaid would have to raise the payment to get them into better places. Or the poor could keep their parents home instead of warehousing them and have access to their Social Security checks. So the government is in a tight spot, if they shut down the worst homes.
I guess the demographics is the key. In my area that is pretty mixed it seems these homes are pretty integrated. These really needs to be investigated
Congressman Parker Griffith That Became Republican is A LSU Grad Plus
Can Liberal Catholics Who The Support Health Care Bill Do Two Things!!
Please Pretty Please. First say no to abortion in the health care bill. Your progressive pro-choice friends will cave on this at the end. Do you actually think they will not!! After coming this close? Plus the public supports that.
Second can we please get rid of the freakin Death Panels. Yes I said Death Panels AKA as the horrible Medicare Advisory Board with base committee closure like powers. I KNOW I KNOW you have declared us all scare mongers that are concerned about this but it is a problem
Are Catholic supporters of the Health Care Bill really for this:
A case in point is the apparent effort by Senate Democrats to prevent future Congresses from pulling the plug on the noxious death panels … er … the Medicare Advisory Board, without a super-duper majority vote. Sen. Jim DeMint has pointed out that through a mere rule change, the Senate Democrats are trying to impose a 67-vote requirement, which will be nearly impossible to achieve, of course, to knock out the panels in a future Congress. So if for example the controversial mammogram guideline is enacted by the Medicare Advisory Board along with other “effectiveness” measures, there will be little a future Congress can do about it.
A Republican Senate adviser says: “The bill changes some Senate rules to say we can’t vote in a future Congress to repeal the IMAB (death panels). A Senate rules change would require 67 votes for cloture on the bill, but [Senate] parliamentarian decided its a “procedural change” not a “rules change” so they only need 60. … [It makes] no sense.” He says it is still possible to “find a way to kill the death panels even though the bill changes the rules to say we can’t (maybe deny them funding would work, we could change the Senate rule it creates in a later Congress with a 67 senator vote), but it’s clear the health bill changes Senate rules and needs 67 votes for cloture.” We are apparently in a Brave New World of making up Senate rules. The adviser remarks that Senate parliamentarian Alan S. Frumin “seems to be in Reid’s back pocket and is making stuff up to save the bill.”
In a brief survey of other Senate offices and some legal gurus, the initial reaction was the same: “One Congress can’t bind another.” It is at the very least dubious constitutionally and unseemly in the extreme. This is legislative bullying at its worst — rushed, nontransparent, with an anything-will-fly attitude. Once the public gets a whiff of this and the other shenanigans, one can imagine that their already negative reaction to the bill (the latest poll shows that the public disapproves by a 56 to 36 percent margin, and 72 percent don’t want any public money going to subsidize abortions) may turn to rage.
Of course how this is legal I have no idea. I WILL LOVE THE SUPREME COURT ARGUMENT ON THAT!! However this is just bad bad bad. Why in the all that is holy can this be squared with Catholic Social Justice I have no idea.
So its a good idea that now the people I elect can not make needed changes without having some SUPERDUPER majority. I can't comprehend how people don't see how this will bite them back.
I mean what if the GOP (it appears some have a view that the GOP will be out of power forever) gets some mean old evil Republicans on this panel and there is a GOP President and they have the majority. I can hear the screaming now!!! That is is so unfair I want to change that. Sorry too late!!! Bad Bad Bad idea.
When Did the White House Tour Become Awful
Wheat and Weeds has a interesting post here at Tourist's Guide To Washington . He makes this note on the White House Tour:
When did the White House tour get so awful? It's no longer even a tour. You pass through several layers of security, they hand you a brochure, a sign you might very well miss announces the tour's self-guided, and you walk through in all of five minutes. Docents in each room will answer questions if you have them, but they don't look as if they really want you to. (You official Washingtonians: if you've been on the White House Christmas tour during the Bush years, it's exactly like that, except no festive mood and no special booklet to explain what you're seeing.) The official tour used to be more welcoming, longer, and was directed so you could know what paintings you were looking at or which interesting events took place in those rooms. Now the feel is: "Oh, just great. Citizens again. Fine. Here are some rooms: green, red, yellow, blue. Off you go now, pip-pip."
How sad. I did the White House tour before the 9/11 days and it was much better than the above. It also sounds like a bad politics too. I wonder if Bush and Obama were and are aware of this.
D.C. is a great place to take a vacation!! No admission prices!!! I had shock when after I went to D.C. and went to Williams burg and just the cost to tour stuff. YIKES.
My favorite place to go is at the foot of Robert E Lee's old House at Arlington Cemetery. The view is just breathtaking and makes you very proud to be an American.
Dogs Are Bad For the Environment They Say
At some point this gets really silly. Wheat and Weeds has Your Dog Is Killing The Environment
Will Bart Stupak Stand Firm On Abortion and the Health Care Bill
I am optimistic like this person. First Things has Bart Stupak, Pro-Life Warrior
Pope Benedict Gives His State of the Church Address (Text and Pics)
You can find a early translation with pics on this page here. Once there is a link to just the online translation I will update with that link.
Governor Crist of Florida has a Cuban Problem
Well this is interesting
Surprise in Florida [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
An unexpected Christmas gift for the Rubio campaign:
Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart have pulled their endorsement of Gov. Charlie Crist for the U.S. Senate.
Lincoln offered few details as to why, just that Crist had "left us no alternative and he knows why."
He said the withdrawal has nothing to do with Crist's slumping poll numbers, and in fact, the decision was made weeks ago. But their names were only recently pulled off Crist's webpage. He said the two Miami Republicans are unlikely to endorse anyone else in the race.
12/22 12:04 PMShare
Why I Respect the Democrats On the Health Care Bill
There is a lot of anger out there. Politicians being called crooks, corrupt, and looking at for themselves etc etc.
The problem is that a lot of these Individual Democrats are supporting something that will likely cause them defeat. While its popular to say "throw them out" and "all they care about is getting reelected" is it really true in this case?
When from a GOP viewpoint does just buying into a cliche and repeating a millions times becomes well counterproductive because we are not seeing the big picture.
Andy McCarthy makes a similar point:
Mark's Dems Strategic / GOP Tactical Theory [Andy McCarthy]
The best thing about Mark Steyn's guest-host stint on Hannity last night — other than Jonah's joining him on the panel — was that Mark asked some pointed questions of two brilliant political strategists, Dick Morris and Karl Rove, that seemed rooted in Mark's theory that, on health care and all it entails, "The Dems are thinking strategically; the Republicans are all tactics." For my money, I think the theory is being borne out: Democrats have their eyes on a different end-game than our guys do: namely, the establishment of permanent, European-style socialism in the U.S. Our guys are focused on converting Obama radicalism into big-time electoral success in the next election cycle.
The Dems have already factored in that likelihood and are betting — over the long haul — that even if the GOP cuts deeply into Dem majorities or takes over Congress (and even takes over the White House in 2012), Republicans will lack the commitment (and perhaps the numbers) to roll back what the Left is accomplishing now.
That is, our guys are focused myopically on a battle the Democrats have already figured they can afford to lose. The real battle is: What do you do when you get back in power? Do you have a plan for how to undo what is being done? Do you frame the coming elections in a way that converts victory into a mandate not only to stop what Obama is doing but to undo what he has done?
I'm hearing a lot from our side about making big gains in the upcoming elections. That's not strategy or victory. You have to have a plan for what those gains would translate into. Democrats, by contrast, have a real plan for how what they're doing today will sustain Big Government, and themselves, over the long term, regardless of occasional electoral losses.
12/22 11:14 AMShare
So give it to them. While this gambit might produce Democrat victories in the future it is hard to see how it will benefit them when they are in the nursong home.
George Weigel Talks Health Care Reform
George Weigel is talking about Health Care Reform from a "Conservative" Catholic Social Justice view it appears.
Aggie Catholics has it at Another Approach to Health Care Reform . I agree with a lot of that except his small pitch for TORT Reform. Conservatives and Republicans seem to take it as gospel that this make much of a difference. In my State we have tort Reform and in fact some major limitations on medical malpractice.
Where are the promised savings that are are always promised to materilize? I have not seen then yet.
It is a popular talking point (KILL ALL THE LAWYERS AND SUCH) but in reality if people think this is going to save a lot of money I think they are misleading themselves. Still nice short article.
Is It Ok To Steal From Wal Mart If You Have Too?
A British Anglican Priest has caused a stir:
Poor people who are desperate for cash have been advised to go forth and shoplift from major stores - by an Anglican priest.
The Rev Tim Jones said in his Sunday sermon that stealing from successful shops was preferable to burglary, robbery or prostitution.
He told parishioners it would not break the eighth commandment 'thou shalt not steal' because it 'is permissible for those who are in desperate situations to take food that they might not starve'.
But his advice was roundly condemned by police and the local Tory MP. Father Jones, 42, was discussing Mary and the birth of Jesus when he went on to the subject of how poor and vulnerable people cope in the run-up to Christmas.
'My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift,' he told his stunned congregation at St Lawrence and St Hilda in York.
'I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither.
'I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices.
'I would ask them not to take any more than they need. I offer the advice with a heavy heart. Let my words not be misrepresented as a simplistic call for people to shoplift. ........
Much more at the link. As usual one suspects there is a lot more to this sermon (for good or for bad) if we could just read it.
Still is he right in some sense about it beong ok to steal in some situations because maybe it is not stealing. Well he mighbt be. It seems even as Southern Baptist in the old days I had heard talk of this scenario.
Then we have St Thomas Aquinas himself:
“Article 6. Whether theft is a mortal sin?Objection 1. It would seem that theft is not a mortal sin. For it is written (Proverbs 6:30): “The fault is not so great when a man hath stolen.” But every mortal sin is a great fault. Therefore theft is not a mortal sin.
…Reply to Objection 1. The statement that theft is not a great fault is in view of two cases. First, when a person is led to thieve through necessity. This necessity diminishes or entirely removes sin, as we shall show further on (Question 66, Article 7). Hence the text continues: “For he stealeth to fill his hungry soul.” Secondly, theft is stated not to be a great fault in comparison with the guilt of adultery, which is punished with death. Hence the text goes on to say of the thief that “if he be taken, he shall restore sevenfold . . . but he that is an adulterer . . . shall destroy his own soul.”
and
St. Thomas says, quoting St. Ambrose :
“I answer that, Things which are of human right cannot derogate from natural right or Divine right. Now according to the natural order established by Divine Providence, inferior things are ordained for the purpose of succoring man’s needs by their means. Wherefore the division and appropriation of things which are based on human law, do not preclude the fact that man’s needs have to be remedied by means of these very things. Hence whatever certain people have in superabundance is due, by natural law, to the purpose of succoring the poor. For this reason Ambrose [Loc. cit., 2, Objection 3] says, and his words are embodied in the Decretals (Dist. xlvii, can. Sicut ii): “It is the hungry man’s bread that you withhold, the naked man’s cloak that you store away, the money that you bury in the earth is the price of the poor man’s ransom and freedom.”
That being said I could be wrong on all this. Thoughts?
More here at First Things . See Anglican Priest Aids God By Adding Footnote To Eighth Commandment (Look at the comments)
Update I-
I might disagree with how the Priest is getting to this conclusion. In fact there are hints of perhaps some bad aspects of Liberation Theology here and not so much St Thomas Aquinas. Further I think in the modern UK in reality with its vast social safety net and other charities that a thief would have to exhaust those options avaiable to him before robbing the bad ole big chain.
Monday, December 21, 2009
When Will Catholics And Protestants Stand Up for the Orthodox In Turkey
A great Sixty Minutes piece last night on this horrible situation. Get Religion has a good piece with some additional commentary along with the vid. See ‘60 Minutes’ visits a persecuted patriarch
The fact as Christians we have allowed this to go on is incredible. I agree with this comment:
It is unconsciencenable that we Roman Catholics, and those of us in the West who have benefited from Western History and tradition, do not demand that Turkey, and Muslims in general, remove all restrictions on our Orthodox ........
It is indeed a Scandal that American Catholics and Protestants in the United States have not made our leaders move on this matter.
Not all Christian oppression is occurring in China and India.
Jesus Era Home Found In Nazareth Israel
This is pretty cool. The Reading Room has First Jesus-Era House Found in Nazareth, Israel
Protestants have a Lot of Different Santas
Ok Humor Break!!! This too funny . See Denominational Santa? .
Tip of the hat to Standing On My Head
Now Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-SD) Is In Trouble
These are incredible bad numbers. I am a tad shocked how lopsided this is.
Incumbent Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan may have a serious problem on his hands if Republicans recruit Governor John Hoeven to run for the U.S. Senate in North Dakota next year. The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 telephone survey of likely voters in North Dakota finds the popular Republican governor leading Dorgan by 22 points – 58% to 36%. Just six percent (6%) are undecided in that senatorial contest. Part of the challenge for Dorgan is the health care legislation working its way through Congress. Dorgan, along with every Democrat in the Senate, has voted to move the legislation forward and is expected to vote for final approval of the reform later this week. That’s not likely to be well received in North Dakota where just 30% favor the proposed health care reform plan and 64% are opposed.
Opossums and Crime Saved the World wide Banking System
Three cheers for Opossums and the Godfather.
On a side note we have a lot Opossums around here. Is there really a business to deworm these animals. Do people have pet Oposums?
First Thoughts has How Cocaine and Opossum Medicine Helped Save the Global Banking Crisis
The Senate Vote on Health Care and South Carolina Secession
Democrats were on a Mission from God it appears One hundred forty nine years ago too.
The irony that this occurred on practically the same date. I have a feeling this vote will go down into the really bad category too.
This part struck me
The delegates] were the cream of their world. Ninety percent of them owned at least one slave; over 60 percent owned at least twenty; over 40 percent owned fifty or more; and 16 percent owned a hundred or more. No other southern secession convention would approach this mass of wealth, unknowingly stepping toward class suicide.
So needless to say smart folks can make missteps.
Interesting article though about the religious undertones of the South Carolina Convention
The South Carolina Secession Convention
Democrat Senator Declares Opponents of Health Care Bill Are Dangerous Racist Wack Jobs
This is from instapundit. I very much like the comment his reader sent.
NUANCE: Sen. Whitehouse: foes of health care bill are birthers, right-wing militias, aryan groups. He’d better worry, then, because they’ve got him outnumbered: “For the first time in our polling, more Americans said they’d rather stick with the status quo on health care than pass the Democrats’ bill.”
UPDATE: Latest from Rasmussen: 41% favor, 55% oppose. Who knew the militia movement had become so powerful?
ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Rob Crawford writes:
One of the things that bugs the living shit out of me about this type of rhetoric is that it is, on the margin, a self-fulfilling prophecy. People with good-faith objections find themselves lumped in with nut jobs, cranks, and thugs, and after a few decades, the “as well hung for a lion as a lamb” attitude. If objecting to government running your healthcare, controlling access to your medical records, confiscating another 30%+ of your labor and effectively drafting the medical industry means you’re an Aryan, right-wing militia, “birther” type, well, maybe you should give those groups another look…
I’m not going to claim the Republicans are innocent of this type of rhetoric, but, well, at least when they pointed out that the primary organizer of “anti-war” marches was the Communist group ANSWER, they had evidence to back them up.
Well, when Sen. Whitehouse gets tarred and feathered by a gang of gay Firedoglake commenters, I promise not to laugh. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I’ll laugh.
Why Do We Have Christmas on December 25th (It's not Just Paganism)
Well this is interesting. A good thing to read and keep.
Tip of the Hat to the Deacon Bench
Well I Guess We Throw Out the Promise of a New Bipartisan Era
Contentions has So Much for New Politics.
The article points out something about President Obama. It is like the worst of both worlds
Well, yes they have. How did we get to this point? Well, for starters, Obama, who ran on his determination to transcend partisan divisions, remained a passive and aloof figure when it came to the drafting and the details, allowing partisan passions to run wild. His sole concern was winning, not building a broad-based coalition for revolutionary legislation. Indeed, he contributed to partisan furies by labeling opponents as confused and misinformed and by repeating a series of partisan and baseless accusations against Republicans (the principal one — that they had “no alternative” — was easily disproved by the plethora of conservative plans and proposals). Obama had a reason for proceeding in this way — he wanted to rely on the muscle of large Democratic majorities to obtain the most liberal bill he could get. On Sunday John McCain explained:
There’s been a change. It’s more partisan. It’s more bitterly divided than it’s been. I have never been asked to engage in a single serious negotiation on any issue, nor has any other Republican. Now they’ve brought single Republicans down to try to pick off one or two Republicans so you can call it, quote, bipartisan. There’s never been serious across-the-table negotiations on any serious issue that I have engaged in with — I and others have engaged in with other administrations, both Republican and Democrat