Just in case you were wondering whether you should throw a welcome-home party for the Poncho-Lady from Waukesha who recently excommunicated herself near Pittsburgh, my advice is DON'T!
Although the Milwaukee Chancery's position on this is not too clear, (they told Ms Vandenberg to take a "time-out" in the corner to think about her proposed action), and the Milwaukee Chancery has not published the implications for Ms. Vandenberg's Catholic friends, it is clear that the Pittsburgh Chancery has thought about it.
With Mike having done all the legal research, here's the easy-to-read version, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Chancery:
This unfortunate ceremony will take place outside the Church and undermines the unity of the Church. Those attempting to confer Holy Orders have, by their own actions, removed themselves from the Church, as have those who present themselves for such an invalid ritual.
Additionally, those who by their presence give witness and encouragement to this fundamental break with the unity of the People of God place themselves outside the Church.
This separation is not a discipline, judgment or mandate of the Church. Nor is it the result of opinion or advocacy of a theological view by those involved. Rather, by conducting and taking part in such a ceremony, it is the choice of the participants to place themselves outside the community of believers.
They also sin who only stand and applaud...
Of course, this interesting little disciplinary note MAY also apply to the Catholic "friends" of the ex-RC priest (now Episcopal) , Fr. Leannah, who married a Liturgeist/Religious Ed-type from a local parish recently in a Northwest side Episcopal church this past Saturday.
Monday, July 31, 2006
...and She Got Attractive 'Round Closing Time
McCain's just like all the boys:
Two summers ago, on a Congressional trip to Estonia, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton astonished her traveling companions by suggesting that the group do what one does in the Baltics: hold a vodka-drinking contest.
Delighted, the leader of the delegation, Senator John McCain, quickly agreed. The after-dinner drinks went so well — memories are a bit hazy on who drank how much — that Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, later told people how unexpectedly engaging he found Mrs. Clinton to be. “One of the guys” was the way he described Mrs. Clinton, a New York Democrat, to some Republican colleagues.
Musta been some powerful stuff....
Two summers ago, on a Congressional trip to Estonia, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton astonished her traveling companions by suggesting that the group do what one does in the Baltics: hold a vodka-drinking contest.
Delighted, the leader of the delegation, Senator John McCain, quickly agreed. The after-dinner drinks went so well — memories are a bit hazy on who drank how much — that Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, later told people how unexpectedly engaging he found Mrs. Clinton to be. “One of the guys” was the way he described Mrs. Clinton, a New York Democrat, to some Republican colleagues.
Musta been some powerful stuff....
Keep Your Finger OFF the Trigger Until You Acquire the Target
That's one of the Four Commandments of gun safety, evidently not learned by this schmoe:
The 38-year-old was driving a car on the Mornington-Tyabb Road, opposite the Tyabb Airfield on the Mornington Peninsula yesterday, when it is thought he accidentally shot himself in the groin.
Senior Constable Bradi Owens from Victoria Police today said it was thought the man died from the gunshot before he ran off the road into a power pole.
His body was found in the wreckage by a passer-by about 8am (AEST) yesterday but ambulance officers believe the man had been dead for several hours before he was discovered.
"Investigations reveal the firearm has accidentally discharged hitting the man in the groin area before the collision occurred," a police spokeswoman said.
The guy was a fugitive, wanted for a stabbing. He shoulda stuck with knives.
The 38-year-old was driving a car on the Mornington-Tyabb Road, opposite the Tyabb Airfield on the Mornington Peninsula yesterday, when it is thought he accidentally shot himself in the groin.
Senior Constable Bradi Owens from Victoria Police today said it was thought the man died from the gunshot before he ran off the road into a power pole.
His body was found in the wreckage by a passer-by about 8am (AEST) yesterday but ambulance officers believe the man had been dead for several hours before he was discovered.
"Investigations reveal the firearm has accidentally discharged hitting the man in the groin area before the collision occurred," a police spokeswoman said.
The guy was a fugitive, wanted for a stabbing. He shoulda stuck with knives.
Inaccurate to the Point of Asinine--the AP
Here's an excerpt of the AP story on the women's "ordination"/Poncho-Lady scheduled for today outside of Pittsburgh:
Liberal Catholics say the ongoing clergy shortage and the dramatic rise in female lay leaders in American churches will eventually create pressure to ordain women. More lay people than priests are working full-time in American parishes and a significant number of the lay leaders are women.
But conservatives believe only males can be priests, as evidenced by Jesus' choice of men to be his apostles and the church's long tradition of only allowing men to serve.
The AP writer, Ms Jennifer Yates, establishes a false dichotomy. A Church teaching which is based on the explicit statements, actions, (or inactions) of Christ is irreformable. The Church has no power to change this teaching, any more than it has the power to change the law of gravity.
The monicker "conservative" placed apposite "liberal" would lead most people to think that there is a "moderate" position.
Sorry--no such position is available if one wishes to remain within the Church, and these sadly misled women will, by their action of today, be out of the Church--excommunicated.
We should pray for them, and for accurate reporting by the AP.
Ms. Yates should try again
Liberal Catholics say the ongoing clergy shortage and the dramatic rise in female lay leaders in American churches will eventually create pressure to ordain women. More lay people than priests are working full-time in American parishes and a significant number of the lay leaders are women.
But conservatives believe only males can be priests, as evidenced by Jesus' choice of men to be his apostles and the church's long tradition of only allowing men to serve.
The AP writer, Ms Jennifer Yates, establishes a false dichotomy. A Church teaching which is based on the explicit statements, actions, (or inactions) of Christ is irreformable. The Church has no power to change this teaching, any more than it has the power to change the law of gravity.
The monicker "conservative" placed apposite "liberal" would lead most people to think that there is a "moderate" position.
Sorry--no such position is available if one wishes to remain within the Church, and these sadly misled women will, by their action of today, be out of the Church--excommunicated.
We should pray for them, and for accurate reporting by the AP.
Ms. Yates should try again
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Quick Wits--Days of Yore
An email reminded me of the quick wits which USED to occupy the Hollywood Squares.
All this repartee was unscripted and *SNAP* returned...
Q. Do female frogs croak?
A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough.
Q. If you're going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be?
A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.
Q. You've been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman?
A Don Knotts: That's what's been keeping me awake.
Q. In Hawaiian, does it take more than three words to say "I Love You"?
A. Vincent Price: No, you can say it with a pineapple and a twenty.
Q. Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather?
A. Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.
Q. Charley, you've just decided to grow strawberries. Are you going to get any during the first year?
A. Charley Weaver: Of course not, I'm too busy growing strawberries
Q. It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps. One is politics, what is the other?
A. Paul Lynde: Tape measures.
Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?
A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark
Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people?
A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army.
Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do?
A George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.
Q. Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your elephant?
A. Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?
Q. Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?
A. Charley Weaver: His feet.
All this repartee was unscripted and *SNAP* returned...
Q. Do female frogs croak?
A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough.
Q. If you're going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be?
A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.
Q. You've been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman?
A Don Knotts: That's what's been keeping me awake.
Q. In Hawaiian, does it take more than three words to say "I Love You"?
A. Vincent Price: No, you can say it with a pineapple and a twenty.
Q. Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather?
A. Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.
Q. Charley, you've just decided to grow strawberries. Are you going to get any during the first year?
A. Charley Weaver: Of course not, I'm too busy growing strawberries
Q. It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps. One is politics, what is the other?
A. Paul Lynde: Tape measures.
Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?
A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark
Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people?
A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army.
Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do?
A George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.
Q. Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your elephant?
A. Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?
Q. Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?
A. Charley Weaver: His feet.
Brady Street Festival--Joel McNally, Call Home
The Brady Street Festival was held today.
Having been a dissolute yout' when Brady Street was the epitome of Milwaukee Dissolutism, I can tell you that things have changed, a bit.
First of all, somebody actually put some money into a few of the buildings. Not many, but a few. Secondly, a number of the businesses are no longer Italian owned and/or operated. Sadly, a number of good restaurants are gone; others have materialized in their place.
And, of course, there is the Fashion, which was a centerpiece of this year's Festival.
Back in the REAL Brady Street day, young'uns, there was "fashion" for societal outliers of the WASP sort--the emphasis was largely on Cheap and Durable--you know, stuff you could snarf from Goodwill or St Vincent dePaul, or buy over at Irv's Footwear. That's because cashflow (such as it was) was largely devoted to purchasing incense, candles, and maryjane. (Not necessarily in that order.)
THESE days, Fashion costs Money. So they actually had a This-Costs-Money FASHION show on Brady Street. Runway, curtains, mirrors, and audience-in-CHAIRS!!
Friggin' corrupt capitalist pigs took over, I tell you. Where's McNally when you need him?
And, of course, people showed up. There were distinct groups:
GAWKERS/WANNABEES: really, two groups here--middle-class sorts who were voyeuring their way into 'the culture' but rather gingerly, pushing Expensive Strollers and wearing their Door County souvenir tees--and then the 16-year-olds who were considering this as a place to be.
OLD HANDS: The folks who obviously had over-revved their engines for quite a while. In some, the results were obvious: cracked blocks, blown engines; in others, less evident--just excessive ring-wear.
STREET REGULARS: They live here because their parents don't want them to, or because that's where they think they can still find action (even at 40++ years of age, heh...) or because they are really working on becoming Poncho Ladies (see below) or whatever the masculine variant of that species is...
THE PROFESSARIAT: You know who I mean. They teach at UW-M, Madison, and Lawrence College and can run lines of BS past those impressionable young, delicious, (place an 'X' after your choice:) male female mix neither
Noticeably absent: Wigderson, Owen, and McBride. Sykes COULDA been there, as could have Asian Badger and the Shark.
Noticeably present: Anti-Bush stickers, tees, and pins.
Having been a dissolute yout' when Brady Street was the epitome of Milwaukee Dissolutism, I can tell you that things have changed, a bit.
First of all, somebody actually put some money into a few of the buildings. Not many, but a few. Secondly, a number of the businesses are no longer Italian owned and/or operated. Sadly, a number of good restaurants are gone; others have materialized in their place.
And, of course, there is the Fashion, which was a centerpiece of this year's Festival.
Back in the REAL Brady Street day, young'uns, there was "fashion" for societal outliers of the WASP sort--the emphasis was largely on Cheap and Durable--you know, stuff you could snarf from Goodwill or St Vincent dePaul, or buy over at Irv's Footwear. That's because cashflow (such as it was) was largely devoted to purchasing incense, candles, and maryjane. (Not necessarily in that order.)
THESE days, Fashion costs Money. So they actually had a This-Costs-Money FASHION show on Brady Street. Runway, curtains, mirrors, and audience-in-CHAIRS!!
Friggin' corrupt capitalist pigs took over, I tell you. Where's McNally when you need him?
And, of course, people showed up. There were distinct groups:
GAWKERS/WANNABEES: really, two groups here--middle-class sorts who were voyeuring their way into 'the culture' but rather gingerly, pushing Expensive Strollers and wearing their Door County souvenir tees--and then the 16-year-olds who were considering this as a place to be.
OLD HANDS: The folks who obviously had over-revved their engines for quite a while. In some, the results were obvious: cracked blocks, blown engines; in others, less evident--just excessive ring-wear.
STREET REGULARS: They live here because their parents don't want them to, or because that's where they think they can still find action (even at 40++ years of age, heh...) or because they are really working on becoming Poncho Ladies (see below) or whatever the masculine variant of that species is...
THE PROFESSARIAT: You know who I mean. They teach at UW-M, Madison, and Lawrence College and can run lines of BS past those impressionable young, delicious, (place an 'X' after your choice:) male female mix neither
Noticeably absent: Wigderson, Owen, and McBride. Sykes COULDA been there, as could have Asian Badger and the Shark.
Noticeably present: Anti-Bush stickers, tees, and pins.
Our Very Own Poncho Lady*
Sure enough, Terrence Berres catches another big one:
Kathy Sullivan Vandenberg, 64, a member of St. Mary Parish in Waukesha, is one of eight Roman Catholic women who expect to be ordained as priests Monday in an unofficial ceremony the Vatican considers invalid.
Unhhh...the Vatican does not "consider" it to be invalid. It IS invalid, period. No consideration is necessary, and none is given.
Two of them - who claim that they were later ordained bishops by unnamed male Roman Catholic bishops - will preside Monday with a third woman "bishop."
And wouldn't we all like to know who those heresiarch-Bishops are?
I have met with Archbishop Dolan. He invited me to come in. We had a very cordial meeting last September. I'm not excommunicated. I'm a full member of the Roman Catholic Church at this time. He was very gracious and we talked about the situation.
Q: And after Monday?
A: We didn't talk about that. (An archdiocesan spokeswoman told the Journal Sentinel on Friday that Vandenberg has had a "time of discernment" and that her case will be forwarded to the Vatican if she goes through with Monday's ordination and does not recant.)
In the Church, that's called latae sententiae excommunication. Doesn't require a Bishop's signature, or anything.
Being an expert in ecclesiastical Latin, I will translate latae sententiae for you:
"You're OUTTA HEEEERE"
Actually, her "ordination" as a "deacon" may have already served as her very own Poncho-Lady latae sententiae excommunication. It's surprising that she hasn't mentioned it to the interviewer, eh?
Q: You say you have a master's of divinity degree from St. Francis Seminary,
Shocked. I say, SHOCKED!! That Seminary closed for a reason, and Ms. Vandenberg is IT!!
I've felt called for about 30 years. I believe that discrimination against women is wrong and has to stop. I've decided not to leave the church because I feel it is important that good people stay so that we can change the church from within.
I think "without" is the operative term. This poor Poncho-Lady (tm) seems to think that the "theology" of LBJ and the ACLU are applicable to Divine Order. Wrong.
Q: Will you hold home liturgies?
A: Yes. I've been involved in small prayer groups, and that will continue. One group in Milwaukee, 15 to 20 women, has asked me to be their pastor. I also plan on going to church at St. Mary's, because that's my parish.
That will present a little problem for the Pastor at StMary's/Waukesha, no?
However, our Very Own Poncho-Lady did NOT state that she 'had respect for' her pastor, Fr. Volkert--that is reserved for Abp. Dolan.
Of course, "respect" doesn't mean obedience, or anything major like that, eh?
*"PonchoLady" tm reserved to Christus Vincit
DomBett also has a few pertinent remarks.
Kathy Sullivan Vandenberg, 64, a member of St. Mary Parish in Waukesha, is one of eight Roman Catholic women who expect to be ordained as priests Monday in an unofficial ceremony the Vatican considers invalid.
Unhhh...the Vatican does not "consider" it to be invalid. It IS invalid, period. No consideration is necessary, and none is given.
Two of them - who claim that they were later ordained bishops by unnamed male Roman Catholic bishops - will preside Monday with a third woman "bishop."
And wouldn't we all like to know who those heresiarch-Bishops are?
I have met with Archbishop Dolan. He invited me to come in. We had a very cordial meeting last September. I'm not excommunicated. I'm a full member of the Roman Catholic Church at this time. He was very gracious and we talked about the situation.
Q: And after Monday?
A: We didn't talk about that. (An archdiocesan spokeswoman told the Journal Sentinel on Friday that Vandenberg has had a "time of discernment" and that her case will be forwarded to the Vatican if she goes through with Monday's ordination and does not recant.)
In the Church, that's called latae sententiae excommunication. Doesn't require a Bishop's signature, or anything.
Being an expert in ecclesiastical Latin, I will translate latae sententiae for you:
"You're OUTTA HEEEERE"
Actually, her "ordination" as a "deacon" may have already served as her very own Poncho-Lady latae sententiae excommunication. It's surprising that she hasn't mentioned it to the interviewer, eh?
Q: You say you have a master's of divinity degree from St. Francis Seminary,
Shocked. I say, SHOCKED!! That Seminary closed for a reason, and Ms. Vandenberg is IT!!
I've felt called for about 30 years. I believe that discrimination against women is wrong and has to stop. I've decided not to leave the church because I feel it is important that good people stay so that we can change the church from within.
I think "without" is the operative term. This poor Poncho-Lady (tm) seems to think that the "theology" of LBJ and the ACLU are applicable to Divine Order. Wrong.
Q: Will you hold home liturgies?
A: Yes. I've been involved in small prayer groups, and that will continue. One group in Milwaukee, 15 to 20 women, has asked me to be their pastor. I also plan on going to church at St. Mary's, because that's my parish.
That will present a little problem for the Pastor at StMary's/Waukesha, no?
However, our Very Own Poncho-Lady did NOT state that she 'had respect for' her pastor, Fr. Volkert--that is reserved for Abp. Dolan.
Of course, "respect" doesn't mean obedience, or anything major like that, eh?
*"PonchoLady" tm reserved to Christus Vincit
DomBett also has a few pertinent remarks.
Another Pending Defeat for Gay "Marriage"?
This one in Maryland.
The battle over same-sex “marriage” will go before Maryland’s highest court this fall, as the state’s Court of Appeals takes over a case challenging a state law that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
Nineteen homosexual and lesbian couples have sued the state for discrimination, claiming the state’s refusal to legally recognize same-sex “marriages” is unconstitutional.
Baltimore Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock ruled in favour of the group last January, in a decision opponents said was out of step with state judicial consensus on the issue.
“I don’t think the same opinion would have been rendered in 90 percent of the other circuits in the state of Maryland,” said Maryland Senate President Thomas Miller, a Democrat, who opposed the ruling.
Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. immediately filed an appeal with the Court of Special Appeals, but on Thursday the state’s highest court took over the case, the Baltimore Sun reported today.
Given Washington State and New York State rulings, it's entirely possible that Massachusetts will be mighty lonely out there--and the Mass Legislature has not yet implemented the ruling of Mad Margaret's SCOMA ruling on the issue.
On the other hand, Maryland, despite its original status as a Roman Catholic colony, is decidedly wacky on social issues.
The battle over same-sex “marriage” will go before Maryland’s highest court this fall, as the state’s Court of Appeals takes over a case challenging a state law that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
Nineteen homosexual and lesbian couples have sued the state for discrimination, claiming the state’s refusal to legally recognize same-sex “marriages” is unconstitutional.
Baltimore Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock ruled in favour of the group last January, in a decision opponents said was out of step with state judicial consensus on the issue.
“I don’t think the same opinion would have been rendered in 90 percent of the other circuits in the state of Maryland,” said Maryland Senate President Thomas Miller, a Democrat, who opposed the ruling.
Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. immediately filed an appeal with the Court of Special Appeals, but on Thursday the state’s highest court took over the case, the Baltimore Sun reported today.
Given Washington State and New York State rulings, it's entirely possible that Massachusetts will be mighty lonely out there--and the Mass Legislature has not yet implemented the ruling of Mad Margaret's SCOMA ruling on the issue.
On the other hand, Maryland, despite its original status as a Roman Catholic colony, is decidedly wacky on social issues.
Another Bacharach/Haugen Day
Local parish this week featured the return of the yout' musik gang.
Talented kid whose education in music avoided anything having to do with Catholic music for worship, but evidently DID include Burt Bacharach and the omnipresent HaugenHaas. Therefore we were treated to two styles of music; the insipid and VERY dated Bacharach-lite prelude (why? cui bono? ) and the monomelodic H-H stuff, which turned into a full aural assault after Communion, apparently driven by the thesis that quiet reflection must be herded out, by force if necessary.
Or perhaps the musician wants the congregation to gain empathy with the inhabitants of the Southern part of Lebanon.
Singing was slavishly fixed on the "drag-an-entrance-note method" made popular by modern-blues/pop types who are pitch-deprived and/or who must create "emotion" by grinding their voice toward an actual note on the scale. American Idol contestants are fascinated by this particularly annoying trick. Makes them seem...so.....human, ...so...burdened, I guess.
I thought this method was drug- or alcohol-induced, originally.
The talented yout' brings his own heavy-handed (to be kind) rhythm-guitar player, enhancing the bop-a-doodle effect of the piano, thus ensuring that the song binds forever to Earth what should in theory rise to heaven, (or at least to a point north of the hips of the congregation.)
Ah, well.
Priest/celebrant forgot his chasuble, too.
Musta been the weather.
Talented kid whose education in music avoided anything having to do with Catholic music for worship, but evidently DID include Burt Bacharach and the omnipresent HaugenHaas. Therefore we were treated to two styles of music; the insipid and VERY dated Bacharach-lite prelude (why? cui bono? ) and the monomelodic H-H stuff, which turned into a full aural assault after Communion, apparently driven by the thesis that quiet reflection must be herded out, by force if necessary.
Or perhaps the musician wants the congregation to gain empathy with the inhabitants of the Southern part of Lebanon.
Singing was slavishly fixed on the "drag-an-entrance-note method" made popular by modern-blues/pop types who are pitch-deprived and/or who must create "emotion" by grinding their voice toward an actual note on the scale. American Idol contestants are fascinated by this particularly annoying trick. Makes them seem...so.....human, ...so...burdened, I guess.
I thought this method was drug- or alcohol-induced, originally.
The talented yout' brings his own heavy-handed (to be kind) rhythm-guitar player, enhancing the bop-a-doodle effect of the piano, thus ensuring that the song binds forever to Earth what should in theory rise to heaven, (or at least to a point north of the hips of the congregation.)
Ah, well.
Priest/celebrant forgot his chasuble, too.
Musta been the weather.
The Longest Debate on Blog OR FreeRepublic
Evidently a member of the Blogosphere has decided it may be time to purchase a self/home-defense firearm. This is related to some recent blog-o-scuffles which may or may not be serious; that's not the point.
If you think you've seen long commentary/post/re-post/ri-poste on such topics as Gay Marriage, Court nominations, or Healthy Snacks--you have not seen commentary.
Go here for an example of REALLY long commentary.
Or take the short course: buy a .38/357 revolver and a good flashlight. Shotguns make a mess of wallboard (or plaster.) Semi-autos can confuse women-folk.
And my daughters are friggin' DEADLY with the .357, in less than 20 rounds' practice.
If you think you've seen long commentary/post/re-post/ri-poste on such topics as Gay Marriage, Court nominations, or Healthy Snacks--you have not seen commentary.
Go here for an example of REALLY long commentary.
Or take the short course: buy a .38/357 revolver and a good flashlight. Shotguns make a mess of wallboard (or plaster.) Semi-autos can confuse women-folk.
And my daughters are friggin' DEADLY with the .357, in less than 20 rounds' practice.
Actual Catholicism in a Parish Bulletin
A west-suburban Milwaukee parish managed to rid itself of a Liturgeist-pestilence and now offers the following thoughts on the month of August:
The days of summer have provided a welcome change of pace. However, while vacations afford us the time to relax and refresh, the change of habits and routines can also have a negative impact on our spiritual lives.
As if to re-ignite us, the Church offers us in the plethora of August feasts vivid examples of the virtue of perseverance: six martyrs — two who are named in Canon I of the Mass and two who were martyred during World War II; seven founders of religious congregations, as well as three popes and two kings; the apostle, St. Bartholomew; the great Doctor of the Church, St. Augustine and St. Monica, his mother; the humble patron saint of parish priests, St. John Vianney, and the patron of deacons, St. Lawrence, who joked with his executioners while being roasted alive.
It is never too late to begin — as the life of the reformed sinner, St. Augustine teaches us— nor too difficult to begin again, as demonstrated by the conversion of the martyr, St.Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein). We present-day members of the Mystical Body are certain of the reward to which we are called, for Christ’s Transfigured body (August 6) is a preview of that glory. Moreover, in the Assumption of his Mother (August 15), Our Lord has demonstrated his fidelity to his promise. Her privilege is “the highest fruit of theRedemption” and “our consoling assurance of the coming of our final hope — the glorifi-cation which is Christ’s” (Enchiridion on Indulgences).
Now THERE'S a plateful which surpasses your basic summer barbeque menu. I'll take bets that the former Liturgeist could not even SPELL "Enchiridion"--much less having actually seen (or read) it.
Wait for it: the ADL will be writing protest letters about the description of Edith Stein.
Some parishes have all the luck.
The days of summer have provided a welcome change of pace. However, while vacations afford us the time to relax and refresh, the change of habits and routines can also have a negative impact on our spiritual lives.
As if to re-ignite us, the Church offers us in the plethora of August feasts vivid examples of the virtue of perseverance: six martyrs — two who are named in Canon I of the Mass and two who were martyred during World War II; seven founders of religious congregations, as well as three popes and two kings; the apostle, St. Bartholomew; the great Doctor of the Church, St. Augustine and St. Monica, his mother; the humble patron saint of parish priests, St. John Vianney, and the patron of deacons, St. Lawrence, who joked with his executioners while being roasted alive.
It is never too late to begin — as the life of the reformed sinner, St. Augustine teaches us— nor too difficult to begin again, as demonstrated by the conversion of the martyr, St.Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein). We present-day members of the Mystical Body are certain of the reward to which we are called, for Christ’s Transfigured body (August 6) is a preview of that glory. Moreover, in the Assumption of his Mother (August 15), Our Lord has demonstrated his fidelity to his promise. Her privilege is “the highest fruit of theRedemption” and “our consoling assurance of the coming of our final hope — the glorifi-cation which is Christ’s” (Enchiridion on Indulgences).
Now THERE'S a plateful which surpasses your basic summer barbeque menu. I'll take bets that the former Liturgeist could not even SPELL "Enchiridion"--much less having actually seen (or read) it.
Wait for it: the ADL will be writing protest letters about the description of Edith Stein.
Some parishes have all the luck.
Jessica Makes a Point
Every once in a while, it's good to be reminded of some things.
Just because you've got a tough case that might not be won in front of a jury, doesn't mean you shouldn't make the best case you can and bring it to a jury, even if you will be personally crucified because of it. This is especially true when a public figure is involved. Sometimes just making the case - a determined prosecutor issuing charges and saying I am going to toss everything I've got at holding you accountable - is enough to draw a societal line. It certainly would make the public figure in question think twice about engaging in similar behavior again. It certainly would make others inclined to such behavior think twice. The Milwaukee DA's office always sends the opposite message: That the community will draw no line.
In this instance, Jessica is making a larger point without stating it; the lesson applies to parenting, being the school principal, or to those who are passers-by, and it's been said before.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil in America is for good men to do nothing."
Edmund Burke.
Just because you've got a tough case that might not be won in front of a jury, doesn't mean you shouldn't make the best case you can and bring it to a jury, even if you will be personally crucified because of it. This is especially true when a public figure is involved. Sometimes just making the case - a determined prosecutor issuing charges and saying I am going to toss everything I've got at holding you accountable - is enough to draw a societal line. It certainly would make the public figure in question think twice about engaging in similar behavior again. It certainly would make others inclined to such behavior think twice. The Milwaukee DA's office always sends the opposite message: That the community will draw no line.
In this instance, Jessica is making a larger point without stating it; the lesson applies to parenting, being the school principal, or to those who are passers-by, and it's been said before.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil in America is for good men to do nothing."
Edmund Burke.
Scare 'Em with Lies
A reminder:
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
—H. L. Mencken
I posted that a few days ago to remind the young naifs who read this blog (there are 5) of the second law of practical politics--the first, of course, is GET THE MONEY.
Now here's how it plays out in one State issue:
Although there's not much dispute that the proposed constitutional amendment on marriage in Wisconsin would bar same-sex unions, there is deep disagreement about what the wording might mean for civil unions and domestic-partner benefits.
But the second sentence is less [clear], and it has ignited concern from opponents that it would reach beyond the issue of same-sex marriage to affect senior citizens and health care arrangements.
(O MY GOD!!! Granny's going to be on the street, penniless. A Bag Lady!)
...the amendment could jeopardize legal arrangements that unmarried older couples might have in place, such as a health care power of attorney or property transfers.
Let's not even comment on the somewhat sketchy predicate there. "Unmarried older couples"?
[The author of The Amendment said that] the amendment would allow the Legislature at some point to create a civil union that includes a limited number of benefits, as long as it wasn't "substantially similar" to what's granted to a married couple [and that] the amendment shouldn't affect what kind of benefits employers might choose to offer their workers.
...assuming, of course, that the judges in question are not as demented as Schreechin'Shirley and her slim majority of wackos currently occupying the SCOWI.
But hey! Truth is not a consideration in Queer Politics.
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
—H. L. Mencken
I posted that a few days ago to remind the young naifs who read this blog (there are 5) of the second law of practical politics--the first, of course, is GET THE MONEY.
Now here's how it plays out in one State issue:
Although there's not much dispute that the proposed constitutional amendment on marriage in Wisconsin would bar same-sex unions, there is deep disagreement about what the wording might mean for civil unions and domestic-partner benefits.
But the second sentence is less [clear], and it has ignited concern from opponents that it would reach beyond the issue of same-sex marriage to affect senior citizens and health care arrangements.
(O MY GOD!!! Granny's going to be on the street, penniless. A Bag Lady!)
...the amendment could jeopardize legal arrangements that unmarried older couples might have in place, such as a health care power of attorney or property transfers.
Let's not even comment on the somewhat sketchy predicate there. "Unmarried older couples"?
[The author of The Amendment said that] the amendment would allow the Legislature at some point to create a civil union that includes a limited number of benefits, as long as it wasn't "substantially similar" to what's granted to a married couple [and that] the amendment shouldn't affect what kind of benefits employers might choose to offer their workers.
...assuming, of course, that the judges in question are not as demented as Schreechin'Shirley and her slim majority of wackos currently occupying the SCOWI.
But hey! Truth is not a consideration in Queer Politics.
Perspective on Exxon
Yah, Exxon makes a lot of money, pre-tax. Of course, as pointed out by people who can read TWO sentences consecutively (Gross sales were X, profits were .10X) it's simply a decent showing.
But here's another way to look at it which is scary:
Here’s the real figure that bothers me: the US Government spends money [PDF] at the rate of:
$81,431 per second
$4,885,844 per minute
$293 million per hour
$7 billion per day
In other words, if we took all of ExxonMobil’s worldwide 2nd quarter profits and gave that money to the US government, the US would burn through that $10.36 billion in a bit under 36 hours.
Put another way: those profits wouldn’t support the US government through a complete weekend.
HT: AnkleBitingPundits
But here's another way to look at it which is scary:
Here’s the real figure that bothers me: the US Government spends money [PDF] at the rate of:
$81,431 per second
$4,885,844 per minute
$293 million per hour
$7 billion per day
In other words, if we took all of ExxonMobil’s worldwide 2nd quarter profits and gave that money to the US government, the US would burn through that $10.36 billion in a bit under 36 hours.
Put another way: those profits wouldn’t support the US government through a complete weekend.
HT: AnkleBitingPundits
Threatened Judiciary
Naaah--they're not an endangered species, for good or ill...
However, there's a spin out there. The usual slander: it's the eeeeeeeevilll Limbaugh/Coulter/Sykes/Belling/Boortz (et al) cabal which is causing this.
Threats against federal judges are on a record-setting pace this year, nearly 18 months after the family of a federal judge was killed in Chicago.
U.S. Marshals, who protect the nation's 2,200 federal judges, believe they averted another potential tragedy in the Midwest last year when they helped block the release of a prison inmate who told a judge in a series of sexually charged letters that he was going to take her away.
Threats and inappropriate communications have quadrupled over 10 years ago. There were 201 reported such incidents in the 1996 government spending year and 943 in the year that ended Sept. 30, the Marshals Service said.
This year alone, the Marshals Service has had 822 reports of inappropriate communications and threats, a pace that would top 1,000 for the year.
The US Marshals Service also happens to understand the REAL causes:
Marshals say a portion of the increase can be attributed to a heightened focus by judges and their staffs since the February 2005 incident in which unemployed electrician Bart Ross broke into the home of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow and shot to death her husband and mother.
In other words, judges are paying attention to the moonbat letters.
The rise in civil lawsuits, especially those filed by people who do not have lawyers, and a change in criminal cases in federal courts helps explain the rise, Marshals say.
Donald Donovan, chief deputy marshal in Baltimore, said people who file and lose multiple lawsuits account for the largest percentage of threats. "They don't agree with the outcome of cases. They are repeat filers. Many of them are a bit unstable," Donovan said.
Dealing with inappropriate comments sometimes means "assisting someone with getting back on their medication," said Donald Horton, chief inspector in the protective security division.
Doesn't look like a vast right-wing conspiracy so far...
Federal courts now handle many more violent crime prosecutions, the sorts of cases that were the province of state and local courts as recently as 10 years ago.
"There is rarely a trial now that does not have defendants eligible for the death penalty," Donovan said
STILL no conspiracy. Damn!!
Well, then, we'll just make one up!!! All the marks of the Xoff-Doyle advertising campaign, with the same credibility.
However, there's a spin out there. The usual slander: it's the eeeeeeeevilll Limbaugh/Coulter/Sykes/Belling/Boortz (et al) cabal which is causing this.
Threats against federal judges are on a record-setting pace this year, nearly 18 months after the family of a federal judge was killed in Chicago.
U.S. Marshals, who protect the nation's 2,200 federal judges, believe they averted another potential tragedy in the Midwest last year when they helped block the release of a prison inmate who told a judge in a series of sexually charged letters that he was going to take her away.
Threats and inappropriate communications have quadrupled over 10 years ago. There were 201 reported such incidents in the 1996 government spending year and 943 in the year that ended Sept. 30, the Marshals Service said.
This year alone, the Marshals Service has had 822 reports of inappropriate communications and threats, a pace that would top 1,000 for the year.
The US Marshals Service also happens to understand the REAL causes:
Marshals say a portion of the increase can be attributed to a heightened focus by judges and their staffs since the February 2005 incident in which unemployed electrician Bart Ross broke into the home of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow and shot to death her husband and mother.
In other words, judges are paying attention to the moonbat letters.
The rise in civil lawsuits, especially those filed by people who do not have lawyers, and a change in criminal cases in federal courts helps explain the rise, Marshals say.
Donald Donovan, chief deputy marshal in Baltimore, said people who file and lose multiple lawsuits account for the largest percentage of threats. "They don't agree with the outcome of cases. They are repeat filers. Many of them are a bit unstable," Donovan said.
Dealing with inappropriate comments sometimes means "assisting someone with getting back on their medication," said Donald Horton, chief inspector in the protective security division.
Doesn't look like a vast right-wing conspiracy so far...
Federal courts now handle many more violent crime prosecutions, the sorts of cases that were the province of state and local courts as recently as 10 years ago.
"There is rarely a trial now that does not have defendants eligible for the death penalty," Donovan said
STILL no conspiracy. Damn!!
Well, then, we'll just make one up!!! All the marks of the Xoff-Doyle advertising campaign, with the same credibility.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Home Sales Slowing...No Surprise
From the Dismal Scientist:
Sales of new homes are slowing even more quickly than anticipated. According to Census, new home sales are down to 1.13 million annualized units in June, a m/m decline of 3% and an 11% drop y/y. Moreover, Census revised downward the April and May readings. Nonetheless, second quarter home sales are up compared to the first quarter.
This stat is supported, anecdotally, with conversations I've had with local folks who state that home sales (new AND not-new) are noticeably slower.
Demographics? Interest Rates?
Sales of new homes are slowing even more quickly than anticipated. According to Census, new home sales are down to 1.13 million annualized units in June, a m/m decline of 3% and an 11% drop y/y. Moreover, Census revised downward the April and May readings. Nonetheless, second quarter home sales are up compared to the first quarter.
This stat is supported, anecdotally, with conversations I've had with local folks who state that home sales (new AND not-new) are noticeably slower.
Demographics? Interest Rates?
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Blogroll-Buster
Stevegg accuses me of breaking Jessica's blogroll.
Not true.
I merely have a premier/reserved spot, unlike more established and better-skilled bloggers.
But then, I don't get listed in triplicate.
Win some, lose some.
Not true.
I merely have a premier/reserved spot, unlike more established and better-skilled bloggers.
But then, I don't get listed in triplicate.
Win some, lose some.
Three Wild and Crazy Church Musicians
You'll note we added Christus Vincit to the blogroll--for a reason.
The authors are Catholic church musicians who actually understand the term "Catholic"--and more important, the term "MUSIC."
Most of their stuff concerns exactly that, with occasional forays into other areas--but they've never sunk so low as to get into politics.
We'll try to fix that...
The authors are Catholic church musicians who actually understand the term "Catholic"--and more important, the term "MUSIC."
Most of their stuff concerns exactly that, with occasional forays into other areas--but they've never sunk so low as to get into politics.
We'll try to fix that...
Weigel on Christianity's Gifts to the West
Found in the Eastern Oklahoma Catholic newspaper, an essay which says a great deal about the most important conditions:
Professor Burleigh proposes that Christianity gave the
West cosmopolitanism and egalitarianism, for it recognized
“neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free” as relevant
social categories – and thus blazed a path beyond tribalism
and toward the end of slavery, that ubiquitous human
institution.
Modern feminism notwithstanding, Christianity also gave
the world ... feminism, for St. Paul completed his instruction
on Christian egalitarianism by reminding the Galatians that,
in Christ Jesus, neither “male nor female” had a superior
dignity – which, in that context and in much of the world
today, means that Christianity is the great liberator of
women.
Christianity, as Pope Benedict reminded us recently, gave
the West the idea of charity as a personal and social
obligation; think of the world of cruelty graphically
captured in “Gladiator,” and you’ll see the point.
Christianity also gave the world a politically viable
concept of peace, the peace that St. Augustine first defined
in the fifth century as the “tranquility of order.”
Christianity taught that rulers were responsible, not to
themselves alone (as so many rulers liked to think, then and
now), but to transcendent moral norms. Would the concepts
of the rule of law, and of rulers responsible to the law, have
evolved in the West if, as Professor Burleigh reminds us, “the
redoubtable Ambrose, archbishop of Milan ... [had not]
tamed the Emperor Theodosius?”
Or, to cite the more familiar example, if Gregory VII had
not confronted Henry II and forced him to recognize the
freedom of the Church – a freedom that implies limits on
state power? It seems unlikely, not least because these ideas
didn’t gain currency in the rest of the world until they were
brought to the rest of the world by Christians.
Why was this insistence on the Church’s liberty so
socially, and ultimately politically, important? Because the
freedom of the Church meant that the state (or some other
form of concentrated political power) would not occupy
every available social space – that there would be room in
society for other institutions and other loyalties. And that, in
turn, made both civil society and the limited, constitutional
state possible.
There are implications, of course. First off, a proper understanding of Western society is based on the "moral order" (supplemented by positive law) which the Church brought into play. A proper understanding of peace is not "absence of conflict," but "tranquility of order," which is akin to "rule of law."
Obviously, the "rule of law" is dependent on a moral order--which just happens to be identical with the Natural Law.
And as the Soviet Union found to its dismay (and dissolution,) pretending that there IS no Natural Law behind the moral order and underpinning Natural Law has its consequences. The Pope did not send one of his "divisions" into the USSR for it to come apart...although Ron Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were quite helpful, it was Lech Walensa, armed only with a compelling moral order, who pulled the pin.
Professor Burleigh proposes that Christianity gave the
West cosmopolitanism and egalitarianism, for it recognized
“neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free” as relevant
social categories – and thus blazed a path beyond tribalism
and toward the end of slavery, that ubiquitous human
institution.
Modern feminism notwithstanding, Christianity also gave
the world ... feminism, for St. Paul completed his instruction
on Christian egalitarianism by reminding the Galatians that,
in Christ Jesus, neither “male nor female” had a superior
dignity – which, in that context and in much of the world
today, means that Christianity is the great liberator of
women.
Christianity, as Pope Benedict reminded us recently, gave
the West the idea of charity as a personal and social
obligation; think of the world of cruelty graphically
captured in “Gladiator,” and you’ll see the point.
Christianity also gave the world a politically viable
concept of peace, the peace that St. Augustine first defined
in the fifth century as the “tranquility of order.”
Christianity taught that rulers were responsible, not to
themselves alone (as so many rulers liked to think, then and
now), but to transcendent moral norms. Would the concepts
of the rule of law, and of rulers responsible to the law, have
evolved in the West if, as Professor Burleigh reminds us, “the
redoubtable Ambrose, archbishop of Milan ... [had not]
tamed the Emperor Theodosius?”
Or, to cite the more familiar example, if Gregory VII had
not confronted Henry II and forced him to recognize the
freedom of the Church – a freedom that implies limits on
state power? It seems unlikely, not least because these ideas
didn’t gain currency in the rest of the world until they were
brought to the rest of the world by Christians.
Why was this insistence on the Church’s liberty so
socially, and ultimately politically, important? Because the
freedom of the Church meant that the state (or some other
form of concentrated political power) would not occupy
every available social space – that there would be room in
society for other institutions and other loyalties. And that, in
turn, made both civil society and the limited, constitutional
state possible.
There are implications, of course. First off, a proper understanding of Western society is based on the "moral order" (supplemented by positive law) which the Church brought into play. A proper understanding of peace is not "absence of conflict," but "tranquility of order," which is akin to "rule of law."
Obviously, the "rule of law" is dependent on a moral order--which just happens to be identical with the Natural Law.
And as the Soviet Union found to its dismay (and dissolution,) pretending that there IS no Natural Law behind the moral order and underpinning Natural Law has its consequences. The Pope did not send one of his "divisions" into the USSR for it to come apart...although Ron Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were quite helpful, it was Lech Walensa, armed only with a compelling moral order, who pulled the pin.
Chesterton and Mencken Speak to Politicians
Stolen from Patriot Post:
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
—H. L. Mencken
S'pose he met "WWIII Newt"?
"We are perpetually being told that what is wanted is a strong man who will do things. What is really wanted is a strong man who will undo things; and that will be the real test of strength."
—G.K. Chesterton
Calling all "Republicans"!!!
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
—H. L. Mencken
S'pose he met "WWIII Newt"?
"We are perpetually being told that what is wanted is a strong man who will do things. What is really wanted is a strong man who will undo things; and that will be the real test of strength."
—G.K. Chesterton
Calling all "Republicans"!!!
Law Enforcement Quotas
Feel like you're being written up for no particularly good reason?
You are.
1) TSA apparently has a written policy that each Air Marshal must report at least one Surveillance Detection Report (a fancy term for a suspicious person report) per month. Of course, being the subject of SDR can lead to being put on a watch list. But failure to make the quota is taken as proof that the Marshal isn't being alert. (HT: Of Arms and the Man)
2) One of the children tells me that the recent spate of silliness on Wisconsin highways was merely a method of collecting Federal moneys. Lots of motorists were pulled over for "5-over-the-limit" violations (huh???), only to get a warning for the speed--but a TICKET for not wearing a seatbelt. (I was among them, of course.)
The seatbelt violation was the Federal-money rider. Seems the more tix written for seatbelt violations, the more grant munnies were given to the coppers.
You are.
1) TSA apparently has a written policy that each Air Marshal must report at least one Surveillance Detection Report (a fancy term for a suspicious person report) per month. Of course, being the subject of SDR can lead to being put on a watch list. But failure to make the quota is taken as proof that the Marshal isn't being alert. (HT: Of Arms and the Man)
2) One of the children tells me that the recent spate of silliness on Wisconsin highways was merely a method of collecting Federal moneys. Lots of motorists were pulled over for "5-over-the-limit" violations (huh???), only to get a warning for the speed--but a TICKET for not wearing a seatbelt. (I was among them, of course.)
The seatbelt violation was the Federal-money rider. Seems the more tix written for seatbelt violations, the more grant munnies were given to the coppers.
Moonbat Barrett: Subsidized Housing, Too?
The CapSlimes does a hagiography of Kevin "Moonbat" Barrett which includes the following very interesting line:
He calls the cabin his zawiya, or Islamic spiritual retreat. There's a lot of peace to be found here, an escape from the academic and political rigors of Madison, where Barrett, his wife and their two boys, 12 and 9, live in University of Wisconsin staff housing.
Some have stated that Barrett's compensation (reportedly around $8K/year) is not significant.
What is "Staff Housing?" What is the rent? And does Instructor Moonbat have State benefits?
And for those of you who are Churchill fans (the plagiarist from Colorado, not the Brit snubbed by HSTruman)--Barrett's parents were BOTH professors at UW-Whitewater...
HT: Moonbattery
He calls the cabin his zawiya, or Islamic spiritual retreat. There's a lot of peace to be found here, an escape from the academic and political rigors of Madison, where Barrett, his wife and their two boys, 12 and 9, live in University of Wisconsin staff housing.
Some have stated that Barrett's compensation (reportedly around $8K/year) is not significant.
What is "Staff Housing?" What is the rent? And does Instructor Moonbat have State benefits?
And for those of you who are Churchill fans (the plagiarist from Colorado, not the Brit snubbed by HSTruman)--Barrett's parents were BOTH professors at UW-Whitewater...
HT: Moonbattery
Best News of the Year: SDI/THAAD Works!!
Great catch at Lakeshore:
Dodgen hailed a recent successful test of a missile-shield component built by Lockheed Martin Corp. to shoot down a ballistic missile in the last minute or so of its flight.
The so-called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense weapon system, or THAAD, “exceeded its objectives” in the long-planned test at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, Lockheed said in a statement earlier this month.
Dodgen agreed, saying the THAAD missiles would “pay for themselves many times over.”
Screw you, Ted Kennedy (D-RumRunners)
Dodgen hailed a recent successful test of a missile-shield component built by Lockheed Martin Corp. to shoot down a ballistic missile in the last minute or so of its flight.
The so-called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense weapon system, or THAAD, “exceeded its objectives” in the long-planned test at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, Lockheed said in a statement earlier this month.
Dodgen agreed, saying the THAAD missiles would “pay for themselves many times over.”
Screw you, Ted Kennedy (D-RumRunners)
USAToday: All the Fiction That's Fit...
Clayton Cramer has a nice catch:
[I blogged] about how encouraging it was that national news media covered the story of how a witness retrieved a 9mm pistol from his vehicle in the parking lot, and used it to force a guy on a knifing rampage to stop.
USA Today has gone one better. They didn't just "leave out" the use of the gun--they appear to have invented new details to explain what happened:
[USAToday version:] The suspect was tackled by a witness as he tried to run from the building and was held until officers arrived, Higgins said.
[Original AP version:] Ingram, chasing one victim into the store's parking lot, was subdued by Chris Cope, manager of a financial services office in the same small shopping center, Memphis Police Sgt. Vince Higgins said.
Cope said he grabbed a 9mm semiautomatic pistol from his pickup truck when he saw the attacker chasing the victim "like something in a serial killer movie.""When he turned around and saw my pistol, he threw the knife away, put his hands up and got on the ground," Cope told The Associated Press. "He saw my gun and that was pretty much it."
Tackle? Block? Punt? Lie? Fabricate?
[I blogged] about how encouraging it was that national news media covered the story of how a witness retrieved a 9mm pistol from his vehicle in the parking lot, and used it to force a guy on a knifing rampage to stop.
USA Today has gone one better. They didn't just "leave out" the use of the gun--they appear to have invented new details to explain what happened:
[USAToday version:] The suspect was tackled by a witness as he tried to run from the building and was held until officers arrived, Higgins said.
[Original AP version:] Ingram, chasing one victim into the store's parking lot, was subdued by Chris Cope, manager of a financial services office in the same small shopping center, Memphis Police Sgt. Vince Higgins said.
Cope said he grabbed a 9mm semiautomatic pistol from his pickup truck when he saw the attacker chasing the victim "like something in a serial killer movie.""When he turned around and saw my pistol, he threw the knife away, put his hands up and got on the ground," Cope told The Associated Press. "He saw my gun and that was pretty much it."
Tackle? Block? Punt? Lie? Fabricate?
Feingold Consistently Anti-Life
At least Feingold (D-Death) is consistent. He voted with 33 other Senators to preserve the "rights" of ANYBODY to drive a pregnant girl across State lines to procure an abortion.
Not even Kohl could vote that way.
Not even Kohl could vote that way.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Pinkerton on Gingrich
I've always enjoyed Jim Pinkerton on the Fox News channel. There's a reason; he, too, sees the Newt Gingrich "World War III" line as somewhat mysterious:
In Gingrich's mind, the deadly attacks -- "on an almost daily basis in Baghdad, and previous attacks in New York, Washington, London, Madrid, Bali, Beslan, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Sharm-el-Sheikh, New Delhi, Amman and many other cities" -- make the reality of world war unmistakable.
...
But let's back up a bit. We might ask: Are we really in World War Three? Have we gone past the point of no peaceful return?
Well, maybe Gingrich is a few years too late:
After 9-11, pundits and others started groping around for a new phrase to describe the world situation. Just two days after the attacks, The New York Times' Thomas Friedman asked, "Does my country really understand that this is World War III?" In 2002, Commentary's Norman Podhoretz skipped ahead of Friedman, declaring that "the great struggle into which the United States was plunged by 9/11 can only be understood if we think of it as World War IV." (In Podhoretz's reckoning, the Cold War rates as World War III.) And just this month, Sean Hannity ventured that we are now in "World War Five."
Maybe Hannity counts the Peloponnesian Wars as the First Big One, eh?
It should be noted here that Gingrich, the fiery rhetorician, is also Gingrich, the ambitious politician. It is widely believed that he is running for president. And so perhaps, some suggest, he is heating up his rhetoric in order to heat up Republican primary voters in 2008. Some might further argue that Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria, and Iran, obnoxious as they are, don't exactly rate as superpowers. So it's hard, by this reckoning, to imagine fighting a full-fledged World War against third-rate players. Some might also venture that neoconservative hawks who supported the Iraq war, including Gingrich, might find it preferable to go "double or nothing" in the overall Middle East rather than to try to sort out the mess that's specific to Iraq. That is, on the theory that the best defense is a good offense, someone in Gingrich's shoes might prefer going on the military offensive, carrying the war to new fronts -- Beirut, Damascus, Tehran, Pyongyang -- rather than getting thrown on the political defensive, trying to explain what went wrong in Baghdad.
Moreover, in terms of Gingrich's political positioning, it's often wise for a hawk to play what might be called "The Churchill Card." What's that? Playing the Churchill Card means steadily issuing dire warnings about external threats. Churchill was proven right, of course, but worst-case scenario-izers are not always proven right. However, even when they are wrong, the issuers of dark tidings can always say, "I was right to point out the danger, indeed, my actions helped forestall the danger; I should at least get credit for thinking seriously about serious problems." And so it is with Gingrich in '08: Now, nobody can accuse him of not grappling with weighty matters.
To be Churchill, Gingrich would have to 1) Grow a voice; and 2) Learn how to smoke cigars.
No cigar, Newt.
Pinkerton's column in full has a good deal more worth reading.
In Gingrich's mind, the deadly attacks -- "on an almost daily basis in Baghdad, and previous attacks in New York, Washington, London, Madrid, Bali, Beslan, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Sharm-el-Sheikh, New Delhi, Amman and many other cities" -- make the reality of world war unmistakable.
...
But let's back up a bit. We might ask: Are we really in World War Three? Have we gone past the point of no peaceful return?
Well, maybe Gingrich is a few years too late:
After 9-11, pundits and others started groping around for a new phrase to describe the world situation. Just two days after the attacks, The New York Times' Thomas Friedman asked, "Does my country really understand that this is World War III?" In 2002, Commentary's Norman Podhoretz skipped ahead of Friedman, declaring that "the great struggle into which the United States was plunged by 9/11 can only be understood if we think of it as World War IV." (In Podhoretz's reckoning, the Cold War rates as World War III.) And just this month, Sean Hannity ventured that we are now in "World War Five."
Maybe Hannity counts the Peloponnesian Wars as the First Big One, eh?
It should be noted here that Gingrich, the fiery rhetorician, is also Gingrich, the ambitious politician. It is widely believed that he is running for president. And so perhaps, some suggest, he is heating up his rhetoric in order to heat up Republican primary voters in 2008. Some might further argue that Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria, and Iran, obnoxious as they are, don't exactly rate as superpowers. So it's hard, by this reckoning, to imagine fighting a full-fledged World War against third-rate players. Some might also venture that neoconservative hawks who supported the Iraq war, including Gingrich, might find it preferable to go "double or nothing" in the overall Middle East rather than to try to sort out the mess that's specific to Iraq. That is, on the theory that the best defense is a good offense, someone in Gingrich's shoes might prefer going on the military offensive, carrying the war to new fronts -- Beirut, Damascus, Tehran, Pyongyang -- rather than getting thrown on the political defensive, trying to explain what went wrong in Baghdad.
Moreover, in terms of Gingrich's political positioning, it's often wise for a hawk to play what might be called "The Churchill Card." What's that? Playing the Churchill Card means steadily issuing dire warnings about external threats. Churchill was proven right, of course, but worst-case scenario-izers are not always proven right. However, even when they are wrong, the issuers of dark tidings can always say, "I was right to point out the danger, indeed, my actions helped forestall the danger; I should at least get credit for thinking seriously about serious problems." And so it is with Gingrich in '08: Now, nobody can accuse him of not grappling with weighty matters.
To be Churchill, Gingrich would have to 1) Grow a voice; and 2) Learn how to smoke cigars.
No cigar, Newt.
Pinkerton's column in full has a good deal more worth reading.
NEW Credit Card Scam
...and it works very well, indeed.
You may get a call from "Visa" and a polite young person will identify him/herself, including a badge number. He will tell you that they are investigating a purchase which did not fall within your 'normal pattern.'
He/she will verify your name, address, and that you did NOT make the purchase he/she describes.
Then--here's the payoff--they will ask you to verify you are in possession of the card, by asking you to read to them the security code on the back of the card. At this point, you should politely decline and call the Security folks at "Visa" yourself to report the phone call.
Evidently this little scam works quite well.
You may get a call from "Visa" and a polite young person will identify him/herself, including a badge number. He will tell you that they are investigating a purchase which did not fall within your 'normal pattern.'
He/she will verify your name, address, and that you did NOT make the purchase he/she describes.
Then--here's the payoff--they will ask you to verify you are in possession of the card, by asking you to read to them the security code on the back of the card. At this point, you should politely decline and call the Security folks at "Visa" yourself to report the phone call.
Evidently this little scam works quite well.
William O. Douglas: A Jackass AND A Jerk
Judge Richard Posner on a leading "light" of the Warren Court and Roe:
I met justice William Douglas, the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court, when I was clerking for Justice William Brennan. Douglas struck me as cold and brusque but charismatic--the most charismatic judge (well, the only charismatic judge) on the Court. Little did I know that this elderly gentleman (he was sixty-four when I was a law clerk) was having sex with his soon-to-be third wife in his Supreme Court office, that he was being stalked by his justifiably suspicious soon-to-be ex-wife, and that on one occasion he had to hide the wife-to-be in his closet in order to prevent the current wife from discovering her.
...
Apart from being a flagrant liar, Douglas was a compulsive womanizer, a heavy drinker, a terrible husband to each of his four wives, a terrible father to his two children, and a bored, distracted, uncollegial, irresponsible, and at times unethical Supreme Court justice who regularly left the Court for his summer vacation weeks before the term ended. Rude, ice-cold, hot-tempered, ungrateful, foul-mouthed, self-absorbed, and devoured by ambition, he was also financially reckless--at once a big spender, a tightwad, and a sponge--who, while he was serving as a justice, received a substantial salary from a foundation established and controlled by a shady Las Vegas businessman.
So what the Hell are a few dead babies?
HT: Of Arms and the Law
I met justice William Douglas, the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court, when I was clerking for Justice William Brennan. Douglas struck me as cold and brusque but charismatic--the most charismatic judge (well, the only charismatic judge) on the Court. Little did I know that this elderly gentleman (he was sixty-four when I was a law clerk) was having sex with his soon-to-be third wife in his Supreme Court office, that he was being stalked by his justifiably suspicious soon-to-be ex-wife, and that on one occasion he had to hide the wife-to-be in his closet in order to prevent the current wife from discovering her.
...
Apart from being a flagrant liar, Douglas was a compulsive womanizer, a heavy drinker, a terrible husband to each of his four wives, a terrible father to his two children, and a bored, distracted, uncollegial, irresponsible, and at times unethical Supreme Court justice who regularly left the Court for his summer vacation weeks before the term ended. Rude, ice-cold, hot-tempered, ungrateful, foul-mouthed, self-absorbed, and devoured by ambition, he was also financially reckless--at once a big spender, a tightwad, and a sponge--who, while he was serving as a justice, received a substantial salary from a foundation established and controlled by a shady Las Vegas businessman.
So what the Hell are a few dead babies?
HT: Of Arms and the Law
BagMan Jim Doyle: A Loser in Europe, Too
Via JunkYardBlog we learn that the EU has ALSO banned embryonic stem-cell research, which tells us that Jim Doyle is now pitted against virtually all of Western civilization:
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union agreed on Monday to permit limited use of EU funds for research involving human embryonic stem cells provided it does not entail destroying embryos, preserving the status quo.
...
EU president Finland said the compromise would ban allocating EU cash for research that involves destroying human embryos, including for the procurement of stem cells.
Extracting the human embryonic stem cells entails destroying the embryo, a step churches and some ethics campaigners say is tantamount to murder.
But ministers agreed after hours of haggling that the EU could fund research into "subsequent steps" involving human embryonic stem cells discarded by fertility clinics.
Oh well, Jim. There's always Communist China.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union agreed on Monday to permit limited use of EU funds for research involving human embryonic stem cells provided it does not entail destroying embryos, preserving the status quo.
...
EU president Finland said the compromise would ban allocating EU cash for research that involves destroying human embryos, including for the procurement of stem cells.
Extracting the human embryonic stem cells entails destroying the embryo, a step churches and some ethics campaigners say is tantamount to murder.
But ministers agreed after hours of haggling that the EU could fund research into "subsequent steps" involving human embryonic stem cells discarded by fertility clinics.
Oh well, Jim. There's always Communist China.
Herb Kohl: Disconnected
Maybe Herb Kohl has more money than FEMA, but other important things seem to be missing.
Back in 1998, Nobody's Senator voted to continue a filibuster directed against Missile Defense (called "Star Wars" by the luddites.) The issue was simple: do we continue the policy of Mutual Assured Destruction, or do we act to PREVENT Mutual Assured Destruction?
Human Events interviewed a number of Senators who had voted to (in effect) continue the policy which would potentially turn Moscow (or Peking) and New York into glass-encrusted deserts.
Among them was Herb Kohl. This is the transcript. You can't make this stuff up...
Q) There was a filibuster in 1998 against the Missile Defense Act and you voted in favor of the filibuster, and now, in light of recent events in North Korea, would you still have cast that vote? Or do you regret it?
A) Sen. Herb Kohl (D.-Wis.): That’s a long time ago. Who are you writing for?
Q) Human Events.
A) Kohl: I mean, I really can’t answer that. I appreciate your question, but what was that 1997?
Q) 1998.
A) Kohl: Were you born at that time?
Q) Yeah. I was born in ’82. It wasn’t that long ago in the context of things. Do you think you would be more open to it now?
A) Kohl: Open to what?
Q) A missile defense program.
A) Kohl: Oh, for us you mean?
Q) Yes. Not them!
A) Kohl: Well, I’ve got to think about that.
He'll be elected by default, unless the Wigderson Write-In Campaign pulls a shocker.
Back in 1998, Nobody's Senator voted to continue a filibuster directed against Missile Defense (called "Star Wars" by the luddites.) The issue was simple: do we continue the policy of Mutual Assured Destruction, or do we act to PREVENT Mutual Assured Destruction?
Human Events interviewed a number of Senators who had voted to (in effect) continue the policy which would potentially turn Moscow (or Peking) and New York into glass-encrusted deserts.
Among them was Herb Kohl. This is the transcript. You can't make this stuff up...
Q) There was a filibuster in 1998 against the Missile Defense Act and you voted in favor of the filibuster, and now, in light of recent events in North Korea, would you still have cast that vote? Or do you regret it?
A) Sen. Herb Kohl (D.-Wis.): That’s a long time ago. Who are you writing for?
Q) Human Events.
A) Kohl: I mean, I really can’t answer that. I appreciate your question, but what was that 1997?
Q) 1998.
A) Kohl: Were you born at that time?
Q) Yeah. I was born in ’82. It wasn’t that long ago in the context of things. Do you think you would be more open to it now?
A) Kohl: Open to what?
Q) A missile defense program.
A) Kohl: Oh, for us you mean?
Q) Yes. Not them!
A) Kohl: Well, I’ve got to think about that.
He'll be elected by default, unless the Wigderson Write-In Campaign pulls a shocker.
Benedict XVI's WHOLE Statement
Since the MSM's recap of this statement is usually incomplete, here's what the Pope has said:
In particular, the Supreme Pontiff hopes that prayers will be raised to the Lord for an immediate cease-fire between the sides, for humanitarian corridors to be opened in order to bring help to the suffering peoples, and for reasonable and responsible negotiations to begin to put an end to objective situations of injustice that exist in that region, as already indicated by Pope Benedict XVI at the Angelus last Sunday, July 16.
In reality, the Lebanese have the right to see the integrity and sovereignty of their country respected, the Israelis, the right to live in peace in their state, and the Palestinians have the right to have their own free and sovereign homeland.
At this sorrowful moment, His Holiness also makes an appeal to charitable organizations to help all the people struck by this pitiless conflict.
Notice the phrase about the Palestinians? That they "have the right to have their own free and sovereign homeland"?
The question of a Palestinian homeland generally gets one response: "They don't HAVE one, and they NEVER had one." So much for the Palestinians. In fact, that group has been kicked around by both the Arabs and the Israelis for well over 50 years, and were used by a Nazi-admiring Yasser Arafat as a money-tree. He pretended to "lead" them and the West pretended that he was their "leader," sending bundles of cash which wound up in his Swiss bank accounts.
Meantime, the Palestinians remained stateless; as a result, they are unable to build an economy; thus, the young and bright ones (particularly the Catholics and Christians) are leaving. To some degree, the same thing is happening in Lebanon--there is a noticeable exodus of Catholics and Christians.
Now you know why the Pope keeps mentioning a Palestinian "homeland."
For further, see this Israeli journalist's take on Gaza.
In particular, the Supreme Pontiff hopes that prayers will be raised to the Lord for an immediate cease-fire between the sides, for humanitarian corridors to be opened in order to bring help to the suffering peoples, and for reasonable and responsible negotiations to begin to put an end to objective situations of injustice that exist in that region, as already indicated by Pope Benedict XVI at the Angelus last Sunday, July 16.
In reality, the Lebanese have the right to see the integrity and sovereignty of their country respected, the Israelis, the right to live in peace in their state, and the Palestinians have the right to have their own free and sovereign homeland.
At this sorrowful moment, His Holiness also makes an appeal to charitable organizations to help all the people struck by this pitiless conflict.
Notice the phrase about the Palestinians? That they "have the right to have their own free and sovereign homeland"?
The question of a Palestinian homeland generally gets one response: "They don't HAVE one, and they NEVER had one." So much for the Palestinians. In fact, that group has been kicked around by both the Arabs and the Israelis for well over 50 years, and were used by a Nazi-admiring Yasser Arafat as a money-tree. He pretended to "lead" them and the West pretended that he was their "leader," sending bundles of cash which wound up in his Swiss bank accounts.
Meantime, the Palestinians remained stateless; as a result, they are unable to build an economy; thus, the young and bright ones (particularly the Catholics and Christians) are leaving. To some degree, the same thing is happening in Lebanon--there is a noticeable exodus of Catholics and Christians.
Now you know why the Pope keeps mentioning a Palestinian "homeland."
For further, see this Israeli journalist's take on Gaza.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Industrial Inflation
Most of you are aware of the increase in various commodity prices.
You'll be even more (painfully) aware of them in the future.
The JOC-ECRI Industrial Price Index is the brainchild of Geoffrey Moore. Originally created in 1986, the current Index has been in use since 2000. It is designed to give an early "heads-up" to inflationary pressures.
Although textiles (-4.28%) and "miscellaneous" (-3.33%) are down, the rise of petroleum (+31.46%) and metals (+27.51%) in the last year brings the Industrial inflation rate to a heart-stopping 10.58% y/y this month.
Forget cars, appliances, plastic doodads and new computers. Buy more clothes.
The other stuff will just cost you a LOT more...
You'll be even more (painfully) aware of them in the future.
The JOC-ECRI Industrial Price Index is the brainchild of Geoffrey Moore. Originally created in 1986, the current Index has been in use since 2000. It is designed to give an early "heads-up" to inflationary pressures.
Although textiles (-4.28%) and "miscellaneous" (-3.33%) are down, the rise of petroleum (+31.46%) and metals (+27.51%) in the last year brings the Industrial inflation rate to a heart-stopping 10.58% y/y this month.
Forget cars, appliances, plastic doodads and new computers. Buy more clothes.
The other stuff will just cost you a LOT more...
Eliot: Food for Thought
"...you will never attract the young by making Christianity easy; but a good many can be attracted by finding it difficult: difficult both to the disorderly mind and to the unruly passions."
- T.S. Eliot
HT: Blosser
- T.S. Eliot
HT: Blosser
Mac Misses the Mark
McIlheran, fresh from toll-evasions in Illinois, proposes to back Soucie in the "one-fast-lane-costs-money" camp.
Wigderson points out one flaw: yes, indeed, we DID pay for the roadbuilding and maintenance--but the money's been stolen.
Beyond that, it seems to me that at least in Wisconsin, the highways have always been, in effect, "public goods." Not semi-public goods...
If Soucie wants to do so, let him find the capital, purchase the land (etc.,) and build his own private toll-highway.
Wigderson points out one flaw: yes, indeed, we DID pay for the roadbuilding and maintenance--but the money's been stolen.
Beyond that, it seems to me that at least in Wisconsin, the highways have always been, in effect, "public goods." Not semi-public goods...
If Soucie wants to do so, let him find the capital, purchase the land (etc.,) and build his own private toll-highway.
Power Outage in NYC and Nobody Knows WHY??
About 25 years ago, the Bay View area took a 3+ day power outage. It was localized, but it took WEPCo quite a while to figure out what actually was the problem; seems that the "first fix" didn't fix it.
This one is even more interesting. It's affected 25,000 (or more) customers for a WEEK:
Utility officials and others said this power failure was perplexing, unlike previous blackouts that darkened large swaths of the city and were corrected in a day or two. This time, new problems have cropped up day after day: dozens of manhole fires, transformer fires and, most seriously, electrical cables’ burning out and needing replacement.
“This is a very strange phenomenon,” said Joe Flaherty, a consultant to Local 1-2 of the Utility Workers Union of America.
Chris Olert, a Con Edison spokesman, said, “We’ll take those cables that were damaged and analyze them, but until then, we won’t know what happened.”
The blackout has exposed an apparently serious weakness at the utility: its inability to measure the size of a problem.
Malkin thinks that Con Ed should get together with the FBI's terrorist detail...
This one is even more interesting. It's affected 25,000 (or more) customers for a WEEK:
Utility officials and others said this power failure was perplexing, unlike previous blackouts that darkened large swaths of the city and were corrected in a day or two. This time, new problems have cropped up day after day: dozens of manhole fires, transformer fires and, most seriously, electrical cables’ burning out and needing replacement.
“This is a very strange phenomenon,” said Joe Flaherty, a consultant to Local 1-2 of the Utility Workers Union of America.
Chris Olert, a Con Edison spokesman, said, “We’ll take those cables that were damaged and analyze them, but until then, we won’t know what happened.”
The blackout has exposed an apparently serious weakness at the utility: its inability to measure the size of a problem.
Malkin thinks that Con Ed should get together with the FBI's terrorist detail...
Speech Postponed Due to Arrrest
Some folks aren't too bright:
Tensions ran high on the second day of the Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) conference, as the FBI made a surprise visit to arrest one of the scheduled panelists.
Steve Rambam, a noted private investigator who runs Pallorium, Inc., an online investigative service, was set to lead a panel discussion titled "Privacy is Dead... Get Over It." According to other members of the privacy panel, four men in blue coats appeared shortly before the panel and led Rambam away in handcuffs.
Ramban was unable to hack his way back to the conference....
Tensions ran high on the second day of the Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) conference, as the FBI made a surprise visit to arrest one of the scheduled panelists.
Steve Rambam, a noted private investigator who runs Pallorium, Inc., an online investigative service, was set to lead a panel discussion titled "Privacy is Dead... Get Over It." According to other members of the privacy panel, four men in blue coats appeared shortly before the panel and led Rambam away in handcuffs.
Ramban was unable to hack his way back to the conference....
Bug Alert!! Protect This Bug!!
Since the Feds' protection of seagulls has worked out so well, they've found another critter to help:
The federal government is expected to release a plan this week that would declare more than 8,500 acres in Ozaukee and Door counties as protected areas or critical habitats for the endangered Hine's emerald dragonfly.
In Wisconsin, the plans call for declaring as protected 6,230 acres in Door County and 2,312 acres around Cedarburg Swamp west of Saukville in Ozaukee County
Cathy Carnes, endangered species coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Wisconsin, said it is illegal to cause the death of the Hine's emerald dragonfly
That bug's doing just fine in Western Brookfield.
The federal government is expected to release a plan this week that would declare more than 8,500 acres in Ozaukee and Door counties as protected areas or critical habitats for the endangered Hine's emerald dragonfly.
In Wisconsin, the plans call for declaring as protected 6,230 acres in Door County and 2,312 acres around Cedarburg Swamp west of Saukville in Ozaukee County
Cathy Carnes, endangered species coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Wisconsin, said it is illegal to cause the death of the Hine's emerald dragonfly
That bug's doing just fine in Western Brookfield.
La-La-Land Lawn Care
It's the eeeeeeevvvillllllllll CHEMICALS!!!
The [anti-chemical] group has worked with the local school district to eliminate the use of lawn chemicals and persuaded Whitefish Bay village officials in 2003 to stop spraying two small parks - Buckley and School House - and the boulevard on N. Santa Monica Blvd. between E. Silver Spring Drive and E. Montclaire Ave.
That small strip of grass in the middle of Santa Monica has plunged Joyce and her group into a turf war that is being played out in other communities across the state, the nation and in Canada.
The battle: whether to use chemicals to get rid of those dandelions immediately or to naturally groom lawns with organic material and wait a few years for results.
Some object to the "wait a few years" part--because dandelions are notably proficient at creating and spreading, ah, dandelions.
Not to worry: Ms. Joyce has a solution: she recently rounded up a brigade of weed pullers to work on the boulevard.
The sanguine comment:
"There are a lot of people out there who are activists and love the environment who have no scientific background..."
The Joyce-ites take for granted that Chevron and Monsanto, major players in the lawn chemical market, employ mad scientists who aren't real fussy about the formulations.
Right.
Joyce and others promoting the cause cite studies correlating lawn chemicals with cancer, Parkinson's disease and asthma.
Maybe, but offhand, I doubt it. I'll grant that the allergy/asthma incidence seems to be on the upswing, but my personal and totally unfounded guess is ethanol. Since the ethanol craze began in Wisconsin, there have been more reports of asthma on the weather reports. QED.
The [anti-chemical] group has worked with the local school district to eliminate the use of lawn chemicals and persuaded Whitefish Bay village officials in 2003 to stop spraying two small parks - Buckley and School House - and the boulevard on N. Santa Monica Blvd. between E. Silver Spring Drive and E. Montclaire Ave.
That small strip of grass in the middle of Santa Monica has plunged Joyce and her group into a turf war that is being played out in other communities across the state, the nation and in Canada.
The battle: whether to use chemicals to get rid of those dandelions immediately or to naturally groom lawns with organic material and wait a few years for results.
Some object to the "wait a few years" part--because dandelions are notably proficient at creating and spreading, ah, dandelions.
Not to worry: Ms. Joyce has a solution: she recently rounded up a brigade of weed pullers to work on the boulevard.
The sanguine comment:
"There are a lot of people out there who are activists and love the environment who have no scientific background..."
The Joyce-ites take for granted that Chevron and Monsanto, major players in the lawn chemical market, employ mad scientists who aren't real fussy about the formulations.
Right.
Joyce and others promoting the cause cite studies correlating lawn chemicals with cancer, Parkinson's disease and asthma.
Maybe, but offhand, I doubt it. I'll grant that the allergy/asthma incidence seems to be on the upswing, but my personal and totally unfounded guess is ethanol. Since the ethanol craze began in Wisconsin, there have been more reports of asthma on the weather reports. QED.
Buckley Bails on Bush
It's not too surprising to read this; Buckley's been distancing himself for a while...
Buckley finds himself parting ways with President Bush, whom he praises as a decisive leader but admonishes for having strayed from true conservative principles in his foreign policy.
In particular, Buckley views the three-and-a-half-year Iraq War as a failure. "If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we've experienced it would be expected that he would retire or resign," Buckley says.
Asked if the Bush administration has been distracted by Iraq, Buckley says "I think it has been engulfed by Iraq, by which I mean no other subject interests anybody other than Iraq... The continued tumult in Iraq has overwhelmed what perspectives one might otherwise have entertained with respect to, well, other parts of the Middle East with respect to Iran in particular."
"I think Mr. Bush faces a singular problem best defined, I think, as the absence of effective conservative ideology — with the result that he ended up being very extravagant in domestic spending, extremely tolerant of excesses by Congress," Buckley says. "And in respect of foreign policy, incapable of bringing together such forces as apparently were necessary to conclude the Iraq challenge."
Asked what President Bush's foreign policy legacy will be to his successor, Buckley says "There will be no legacy for Mr. Bush. I don't believe his successor would re-enunciate the words he used in his second inaugural address because they were too ambitious. So therefore I think his legacy is indecipherable"
In this statement, Buckley 'pulled the trigger' and stated, in effect, that the Iraq situation is perhaps intractable. The "indecipherable" remark is directed at Bush's warmed-over Wilsonianisms--such claptrap as 'democratizing the world' is unsupportable.
Buckley finds himself parting ways with President Bush, whom he praises as a decisive leader but admonishes for having strayed from true conservative principles in his foreign policy.
In particular, Buckley views the three-and-a-half-year Iraq War as a failure. "If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we've experienced it would be expected that he would retire or resign," Buckley says.
Asked if the Bush administration has been distracted by Iraq, Buckley says "I think it has been engulfed by Iraq, by which I mean no other subject interests anybody other than Iraq... The continued tumult in Iraq has overwhelmed what perspectives one might otherwise have entertained with respect to, well, other parts of the Middle East with respect to Iran in particular."
"I think Mr. Bush faces a singular problem best defined, I think, as the absence of effective conservative ideology — with the result that he ended up being very extravagant in domestic spending, extremely tolerant of excesses by Congress," Buckley says. "And in respect of foreign policy, incapable of bringing together such forces as apparently were necessary to conclude the Iraq challenge."
Asked what President Bush's foreign policy legacy will be to his successor, Buckley says "There will be no legacy for Mr. Bush. I don't believe his successor would re-enunciate the words he used in his second inaugural address because they were too ambitious. So therefore I think his legacy is indecipherable"
In this statement, Buckley 'pulled the trigger' and stated, in effect, that the Iraq situation is perhaps intractable. The "indecipherable" remark is directed at Bush's warmed-over Wilsonianisms--such claptrap as 'democratizing the world' is unsupportable.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Refreshing Change: Spoken Mass
Attended Mass today at the local parish.
For whatever reason, the usual guitar-and-bass-viol bunch was not present; so Father celebrant, filled with Common Sense, decided that reciting the Introit (yeah, there IS one), and not even attempting to lead a single solitary hymn or sung response would be the most prudent course. He also recited the communion versicle.
He was right, of course. Everyone in the nave responded where they were supposed to, and none seemed to be excluded by lack of singing.
Imagine that! Everyone "participated" without singing. In fact, I'd be willing to bet decent cash that there were MORE participants; no one could be embarassed by their 'lack of singing voice,' or unwillingness to attempt singing along with the leaders.
Prior to the beginning of Mass, a CD of a Gregorian Mass (perhaps Mass II or V) was piped into the church. Although it's not kosher to utilize pre-recorded music in a church, a well-chanted Latin Gregorian ordinary is certainly a good choice...
For whatever reason, the usual guitar-and-bass-viol bunch was not present; so Father celebrant, filled with Common Sense, decided that reciting the Introit (yeah, there IS one), and not even attempting to lead a single solitary hymn or sung response would be the most prudent course. He also recited the communion versicle.
He was right, of course. Everyone in the nave responded where they were supposed to, and none seemed to be excluded by lack of singing.
Imagine that! Everyone "participated" without singing. In fact, I'd be willing to bet decent cash that there were MORE participants; no one could be embarassed by their 'lack of singing voice,' or unwillingness to attempt singing along with the leaders.
Prior to the beginning of Mass, a CD of a Gregorian Mass (perhaps Mass II or V) was piped into the church. Although it's not kosher to utilize pre-recorded music in a church, a well-chanted Latin Gregorian ordinary is certainly a good choice...
Thou Shalt Not Pee in Church Parking Lots!
Things which make your mom REALLY proud to have raised you:
A 17-year-old Waukesha girl was given a ticket alleging disorderly conduct and underage drinking at Elmbrook Church, 777 S. Barker Road, at 12:28 a.m. June 30. Police witnessed her urinating in the parking lot after getting off of a Summerfest shuttle.
THAT must have been interesting.
A 21-year-old Columbus, Ohio, man and a 22-year-old Brookfield man were given tickets alleging disorderly conduct at Elmbrook Church, 777 S. Barker Road, at 1:09 a.m. June 30. Police witnessed them urinating in the parking lot after leaving a Summerfest shuttle.
A 27-year-old Menomonee Falls man was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct at Elmbrook Church, 777 S. Barker Road, at 12:14 a.m. July 1. Police found him lying in a ditch after attempting unsuccessfully to walk home. He then threatened to assault an officer.
A 21-year-old Brookfield man and a 22-year-old Union Grove man were given a ticket alleging disorderly conduct at Elmbrook Church, 777 S. Barker Road, at 12:21 a.m. July 1. Police witnessed them urinating in the parking lot after exiting a Summerfest shuttle.
A 30-year-old Chaska, Minn., man was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct at Elmbrook Church, 777 S. Barker Road, at 11:35 p.m. July 1. Police witnessed him urinating in the parking lot after leaving a Summerfest shuttle.
A 24-year-old Waukesha man and a 25-year-old Eagle man were arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct at Elmbrook Church, 777 S. Barker Road, at 12:50 a.m. July 2. Police witnessed them urinating in the parking lot after leaving a Summerfest shuttle.
And those busses were full of yellow liquid, too.
A 17-year-old Waukesha girl was given a ticket alleging disorderly conduct and underage drinking at Elmbrook Church, 777 S. Barker Road, at 12:28 a.m. June 30. Police witnessed her urinating in the parking lot after getting off of a Summerfest shuttle.
THAT must have been interesting.
A 21-year-old Columbus, Ohio, man and a 22-year-old Brookfield man were given tickets alleging disorderly conduct at Elmbrook Church, 777 S. Barker Road, at 1:09 a.m. June 30. Police witnessed them urinating in the parking lot after leaving a Summerfest shuttle.
A 27-year-old Menomonee Falls man was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct at Elmbrook Church, 777 S. Barker Road, at 12:14 a.m. July 1. Police found him lying in a ditch after attempting unsuccessfully to walk home. He then threatened to assault an officer.
A 21-year-old Brookfield man and a 22-year-old Union Grove man were given a ticket alleging disorderly conduct at Elmbrook Church, 777 S. Barker Road, at 12:21 a.m. July 1. Police witnessed them urinating in the parking lot after exiting a Summerfest shuttle.
A 30-year-old Chaska, Minn., man was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct at Elmbrook Church, 777 S. Barker Road, at 11:35 p.m. July 1. Police witnessed him urinating in the parking lot after leaving a Summerfest shuttle.
A 24-year-old Waukesha man and a 25-year-old Eagle man were arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct at Elmbrook Church, 777 S. Barker Road, at 12:50 a.m. July 2. Police witnessed them urinating in the parking lot after leaving a Summerfest shuttle.
And those busses were full of yellow liquid, too.
UW-Mad Successful at Rejecting Wisconsin Students
It's not that long ago, because I remember this policy:
Flash back 25 years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and you'd find admissions standards that are sure to shock aspiring Badgers of today.
The university guaranteed admission to all high school graduates in the top half of their class. It accepted more than 80% of applicants.
Now students are discouraged from applying without a grade-point average from 3.5 to 3.9, an ACT score of at least 26 and a class rank in the 85th to 96th percentiles. The acceptance rate for Wisconsin residents is 65%. No student is guaranteed a spot in the freshman class, no matter how good his or her grades are.
...In 1986, the Legislative Audit Bureau slammed the entire UW System for haphazard enrollment. While some of the state's four-year universities were accepting more students than they could accommodate, others had too few undergraduates.
"System Administration has not managed enrollment effectively," the audit said.
The system's response was to slash nearly 7,000 seats from crowded campuses over the next decade, with UW-Madison absorbing most of the cuts.
... From 1989 to 2005, the acceptance rate for Wisconsin residents dropped from 84% to 65%. The acceptance rate for Minnesota residents, who have a reciprocal agreement to pay tuition that is comparable to in-state students', dropped from 75% to 60%.
SURPRISE!!!:
Don Mash, the current executive senior vice president for administration, foresees little changing unless the state Legislature increases support for the UW System.
"If we don't get reinvestment, there will continue to be limited growth," he said. "And that will be a problem for Wisconsin."
Well, I should think it would be a problem for UW administration. But it's a lot easier to blame it on the Legislature, I suppose.
Remember, part of the "cost" of running UW is hiring bozos like TinFoil Hat Barrett.
Flash back 25 years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and you'd find admissions standards that are sure to shock aspiring Badgers of today.
The university guaranteed admission to all high school graduates in the top half of their class. It accepted more than 80% of applicants.
Now students are discouraged from applying without a grade-point average from 3.5 to 3.9, an ACT score of at least 26 and a class rank in the 85th to 96th percentiles. The acceptance rate for Wisconsin residents is 65%. No student is guaranteed a spot in the freshman class, no matter how good his or her grades are.
...In 1986, the Legislative Audit Bureau slammed the entire UW System for haphazard enrollment. While some of the state's four-year universities were accepting more students than they could accommodate, others had too few undergraduates.
"System Administration has not managed enrollment effectively," the audit said.
The system's response was to slash nearly 7,000 seats from crowded campuses over the next decade, with UW-Madison absorbing most of the cuts.
... From 1989 to 2005, the acceptance rate for Wisconsin residents dropped from 84% to 65%. The acceptance rate for Minnesota residents, who have a reciprocal agreement to pay tuition that is comparable to in-state students', dropped from 75% to 60%.
SURPRISE!!!:
Don Mash, the current executive senior vice president for administration, foresees little changing unless the state Legislature increases support for the UW System.
"If we don't get reinvestment, there will continue to be limited growth," he said. "And that will be a problem for Wisconsin."
Well, I should think it would be a problem for UW administration. But it's a lot easier to blame it on the Legislature, I suppose.
Remember, part of the "cost" of running UW is hiring bozos like TinFoil Hat Barrett.
Bucher Goes All Hissy on Van Hollen
Well, the spittin' and scratchin' began:
"There is no record there," said R.J. Johnson, the no-holds-barred strategist running Bucher's campaign, even going so far as to compare Van Hollen to Al Gore for exaggerating his success as a prosecutor.
To make his point, Johnson cited federal records that show Van Hollen's office tied for 84th out of 94 U.S. attorneys in the country in the number of criminal cases filed in fiscal year 2004. Among the jurisdictions with fewer criminal cases were Rhode Island, Alaska, Delaware, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and Oklahoma's eastern district.
What was not clear, however, is how Van Hollen's numbers compare to districts of comparable size and population.
Johnson dismissed this point.
Van Hollen's team pointed to records that showed a 53% increase in the number of prosecutions during his tenure. In 2002, his office filed 140 criminal complaints, rising to 151 the next year and 186 in 2004.
During Lautenschlager's final year as U.S. attorney in 2001, the office bought criminal charges 121 times. Only five other jurisdictions had fewer new criminal cases that year.
I don't think Bucher is doing himself any favors with this crap; but then, maybe he thinks that's the way to win.
"There is no record there," said R.J. Johnson, the no-holds-barred strategist running Bucher's campaign, even going so far as to compare Van Hollen to Al Gore for exaggerating his success as a prosecutor.
To make his point, Johnson cited federal records that show Van Hollen's office tied for 84th out of 94 U.S. attorneys in the country in the number of criminal cases filed in fiscal year 2004. Among the jurisdictions with fewer criminal cases were Rhode Island, Alaska, Delaware, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and Oklahoma's eastern district.
What was not clear, however, is how Van Hollen's numbers compare to districts of comparable size and population.
Johnson dismissed this point.
Van Hollen's team pointed to records that showed a 53% increase in the number of prosecutions during his tenure. In 2002, his office filed 140 criminal complaints, rising to 151 the next year and 186 in 2004.
During Lautenschlager's final year as U.S. attorney in 2001, the office bought criminal charges 121 times. Only five other jurisdictions had fewer new criminal cases that year.
I don't think Bucher is doing himself any favors with this crap; but then, maybe he thinks that's the way to win.
"Scotty" Specter--Beamed to Another Planet
One can only speculate about Arlen Specter. He thinks highly of "Scottish Law," is notorious for his opposition to many of GWB's policies, and now makes it clear that he's an ignorant bozo as well.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., made a false accusation against the Catholic Church during debate on the Senate floor over federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, according to Catholic News Service.
Arguing President Bush's opposition to the federal funding on moral grounds could seriously set back scientific discovery, Specter said: "Pope Boniface VII (sic) banned the practice of cadaver dissection in the 1200s. This stopped the practice for over 300 years and greatly slowed the accumulation of education regarding human anatomy."
... Specter not only misidentified the pope, the Catholic news site asserts, but most historical sources indicate no pontiff in history was responsible for the type of ban cited by Specter.
The Catholic Encyclopedia says the "only possible explanation of the misunderstanding that the bull forbade dissection is that someone read only the first part of the title and considered that ... one of the methods of preparing bodies for study in anatomy was by boiling them in order to be able to remove the flesh from them easily, (and) that this decree forbade such practices thereafter."
I imagine that Specter would be in high dudgeon if a Catholic were to quote "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" on the Senate floor while opposing US aid to Israel.
Stupidity, Arlen, is not excused under "Scottish Law."
Beam yourself back, "Scotty," and apologize.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., made a false accusation against the Catholic Church during debate on the Senate floor over federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, according to Catholic News Service.
Arguing President Bush's opposition to the federal funding on moral grounds could seriously set back scientific discovery, Specter said: "Pope Boniface VII (sic) banned the practice of cadaver dissection in the 1200s. This stopped the practice for over 300 years and greatly slowed the accumulation of education regarding human anatomy."
... Specter not only misidentified the pope, the Catholic news site asserts, but most historical sources indicate no pontiff in history was responsible for the type of ban cited by Specter.
The Catholic Encyclopedia says the "only possible explanation of the misunderstanding that the bull forbade dissection is that someone read only the first part of the title and considered that ... one of the methods of preparing bodies for study in anatomy was by boiling them in order to be able to remove the flesh from them easily, (and) that this decree forbade such practices thereafter."
I imagine that Specter would be in high dudgeon if a Catholic were to quote "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" on the Senate floor while opposing US aid to Israel.
Stupidity, Arlen, is not excused under "Scottish Law."
Beam yourself back, "Scotty," and apologize.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
McMiller Today
The kids love it--going to McMiller to put holes in paper--so we try to get out there at least once a year when the weather's decent.
Today, we'll have 2 daughters and a son who will spend quality time with a pellet rifle, a few pistols, and the .30-06.
It will be my 12-year-old's first experience with the "big boomer." She's a bit small for her age, but a tough kid--won't admit it if her shoulder is sore--so I expect she'll try 3 rounds, anyway.
For the daughters who could NOT make today's trip, we were at Fletcher's during the week. Used the .357 Dan Wesson (iron sights) and a Ruger 'slabside' SS 6" barrel .22LR (red-dot sights.)
They did quite well with the weapons at 10 yards, and they brought home the silhouette targets to prove it. Should be hanging on their walls as a gentle reminder...
Today, we'll have 2 daughters and a son who will spend quality time with a pellet rifle, a few pistols, and the .30-06.
It will be my 12-year-old's first experience with the "big boomer." She's a bit small for her age, but a tough kid--won't admit it if her shoulder is sore--so I expect she'll try 3 rounds, anyway.
For the daughters who could NOT make today's trip, we were at Fletcher's during the week. Used the .357 Dan Wesson (iron sights) and a Ruger 'slabside' SS 6" barrel .22LR (red-dot sights.)
They did quite well with the weapons at 10 yards, and they brought home the silhouette targets to prove it. Should be hanging on their walls as a gentle reminder...
Milwaukee DA: No Charges in Pizza Delivery Shooting
The Milwaukee County DA's office has decided not to file charges:
A 35-year-old pizza delivery man who shot a 14-year-old boy he said was trying to rob him won't face criminal charges.
Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Irene Parthum, who reviewed the July 14 incident, said Andres Vegas of Cudahy was acting in self-defense when he shot the boy, who himself was wielding a BB gun pistol. Police said at the time that the 14-year-old suffered non-life-threatening wounds to the shoulder, hand and buttock.
Parthum also said Vegas, who had been delivering a pizza in the 2400 block of N. 34th St. at the time of the shooting, won't be charged for carrying a concealed firearm because he had been robbed during a delivery last year and, under state weapons law, had a reasonable belief he needed to protect himself.
The 14-year-old and a 13-year-old who may have been his accomplice could be charged next week in Children's Court, prosecutors there said.
The decision follows the guidelines of the recent WI Supremes' decision, which remains controversial because of its "Mommy, May I?" tone and content.
A 35-year-old pizza delivery man who shot a 14-year-old boy he said was trying to rob him won't face criminal charges.
Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Irene Parthum, who reviewed the July 14 incident, said Andres Vegas of Cudahy was acting in self-defense when he shot the boy, who himself was wielding a BB gun pistol. Police said at the time that the 14-year-old suffered non-life-threatening wounds to the shoulder, hand and buttock.
Parthum also said Vegas, who had been delivering a pizza in the 2400 block of N. 34th St. at the time of the shooting, won't be charged for carrying a concealed firearm because he had been robbed during a delivery last year and, under state weapons law, had a reasonable belief he needed to protect himself.
The 14-year-old and a 13-year-old who may have been his accomplice could be charged next week in Children's Court, prosecutors there said.
The decision follows the guidelines of the recent WI Supremes' decision, which remains controversial because of its "Mommy, May I?" tone and content.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Bp. Gumbleton Descends To New Lows
For a guy who has been sustained by the sweat and blood of Catholics for most of his life, Bp. Gumbleton has, ah, chutzpah when he makes this statement:
"I think of World War II as an example where our church failed in the face of a tyranny and an evil that was unbelievably evil -- the Nazi tyranny. The church in Germany failed to speak a prophetic word to that tyranny. Why? Because they had entered into an agreement with the Nazi dictatorship in 1933. Hitler would allow the church to have its schools if the bishops of the church would agree they would not allow their priests to preach any so-called political message. And so the Church became virtually silent during those years. There were a few exceptions -- a peasant in Austria, Franz Jägerstätter, and a few others like him said, “No! I won’t serve in Hitler’s army,” and he was executed. A whole group of young people connected with the universities called the White Rose group -- the same thing -- they spoke the truth; most of them were executed. The church refused to listen. It was more concerned about its institutional structures than about God’s Word. So we failed.
Other than the fact that this is COMPLETELY false, there's no problem. Mit Brennender Sorge, a papal encyclical written in German, condemning the Nazi racism, was read in ALL German Catholic churches by order of the Pope (Pius XII.)
The 1933 'agreement' was merely an accomodation-note. By no means did the Church "agree" with the Nazi philosophy.
HT: Cafeteria is Closed
"I think of World War II as an example where our church failed in the face of a tyranny and an evil that was unbelievably evil -- the Nazi tyranny. The church in Germany failed to speak a prophetic word to that tyranny. Why? Because they had entered into an agreement with the Nazi dictatorship in 1933. Hitler would allow the church to have its schools if the bishops of the church would agree they would not allow their priests to preach any so-called political message. And so the Church became virtually silent during those years. There were a few exceptions -- a peasant in Austria, Franz Jägerstätter, and a few others like him said, “No! I won’t serve in Hitler’s army,” and he was executed. A whole group of young people connected with the universities called the White Rose group -- the same thing -- they spoke the truth; most of them were executed. The church refused to listen. It was more concerned about its institutional structures than about God’s Word. So we failed.
Other than the fact that this is COMPLETELY false, there's no problem. Mit Brennender Sorge, a papal encyclical written in German, condemning the Nazi racism, was read in ALL German Catholic churches by order of the Pope (Pius XII.)
The 1933 'agreement' was merely an accomodation-note. By no means did the Church "agree" with the Nazi philosophy.
HT: Cafeteria is Closed
Mgr Bartolucci on Music & the Liturgy
Those who pay attention to Romanita understood that when Benedict XVI attended a concert conducted by Mgr Bartolucci, and also spoke on the occasion, that it was quite significant. After all, Bartolucci had been unceremoniously dumped from his position as conductor of the Sistine Chapel choir by Mgr. Marini only a few years back.
Now Mgr Marini's head is on the chopping block. What a difference an election makes, eh?
Chiesa's Magister interviewed Mgr. Bartolucci. A candid, forthright fellow he is, indeed!
Referring to Benedict XVI: “I am an optimist by nature, but I judge the current situation realistically, and I believe that a Napoleon without generals can do little.”
Q: Maestro Bartolucci, no fewer than six popes have attended your concerts. In which of them did you see the most musical expertise?
A: In the most recent one, Benedict XVI. He plays the piano, has a profound understanding of Mozart, loves the Church’s liturgy, and in consequence he places great emphasis on music. Pius XII also greatly loved music, and played the violin frequently. The Sistine Chapel owes a great deal to John XXIII. In 1959 he gave me permission to restore the Sistine...Then came Paul VI, but he was tone deaf, and I don’t know how much of an appreciation he had for music.
AHA! Now we know how the Bugnini/Weakland cabal worked its will...
Q: Was Perosi in some sense the harbinger of the current vulgarization of sacred music?
A: Not exactly. Today the fashion in the churches is for pop-inspired songs and the strumming of guitars, but the fault lies above all with the pseudo-intellectuals who have engineered this degeneration of the liturgy, and thus of music, overthrowing and despising the heritage of the past with the idea of obtaining who knows what advantage for the people. If the art of music does not return to its greatness, rather than representing an accommodation or a byproduct, there is no sense in asking about its function in the Church. I am against guitars, but I am also against the superficiality of the Cecilian movement in music – it’s more or less the same thing. Our motto must be: let us return to Gregorian chant and to polyphony in the tradition of Palestrina, and let us continue down this road!
Q: What are the initiatives that Benedict XVI should take to realize this plan in a world of discotheques and iPods?
A: The great repertoire of sacred music that has been handed down to us from the past is made up of Masses, offertories, responsories: formerly there was no such thing as a liturgy without music. Today there is no place for this repertoire in the new liturgy, which is a discordant commotion – and it’s useless to pretend that it’s not. It is as if Michelangelo had been asked to paint the general judgment on a postage stamp!
Q: Do you think that the assembly of the faithful should participate in singing the Gregorian chant during liturgical celebrations?
A: We must make distinctions in the performance of Gregorian chant. Part of the repertoire, for example the Introits or the Offertories, requires an extremely refined level of artistry and can be interpreted properly only by real artists. Then there is a part of the repertoire that is sung by the people: I think of the Mass “of the Angels,” the processional music, the hymns...And furthermore, Gregorian chant has been distorted by the rhythmic and aesthetic theories of the Benedictines of Solesmes. Gregorian chant was born in violent times, and it should be manly and strong, and not like the sweet and comforting adaptations of our own day.
A very interesting observation, likely to be controversial even among musicians who are otherwise of the same mind as Bartolucci. A relatively good music-guy (Roger Wagner) once told me that "Chant should be sung as though it were music!" Pace Bartolucci, I think it is preposterous to sing Chant in either a "feminine" or "masculine" way.
Q: But is it possible, today, to compose in the Gregorian style?
A: For one thing, we would need to recover that spirit of solidity. But the Church has done the opposite, favoring simplistic, pop-inspired melodies that are easy on the ears. It thought this would make people happy, and this is the road it took. But that’s not art. Great art is density.
Q: Don’t you say any composers today who are capable of reviving such a tradition?
A: It’s not a question of aptitude; the atmosphere just isn’t there. The fault is not that of the musicians, but of what is asked of them.
Q: But there are authoritative composers who have put the faith at center stage, like Pärt or Penderecki...
A: They don’t have a sense of the liturgy. Mozart was also great, but I doubt that his sacred music is very much at its ease in a cathedral. But Gregorian chant and Palestrina match seamlessly with the liturgy.
That Mozart comment is interesting, and perhaps Mozart really wrote for his patrons, rather than zu Gott...
Q: Bruckner was also very inspired...
A: He has the defect of being longwinded. His Mass for wind instruments, the one in E minor, is rather tedious.
Tedious? Really?
Q: In what sense can Palestrina, Lasso, or Victoria be considered relevant?
A: For their musical density. Palestrina... intuited the necessity for contrapuntal composition linked to the text, unlike the complexity and the rules of Flemish composition.
Q: For the philosopher Schopenhauer, music is the summit of all the arts, the immediate objectification of the Will. For Catholics, can it be defined as the direct expression of God, as the Word?
A: Music is Art with a capital “A.” Sculpture has marble, and architecture has the edifice. You see music only with the eyes of the spirit; it enters within you. And the Church has the merit of having cultivated it in its cantories, of having given it its grammar and syntax. Music is the soul of the word that becomes art. It most definitely disposes you to discovering and welcoming the beauty of God. For this reason, now more than ever the Church must learn to recover it.
It might be obvious why Bartolucci was not loved by the more political animals around the Vatican; he has an opinion on everything, and is not afraid to state it, clearly. At the same time, the bold-red above is almost identical to the thoughts of Ratzinger/B-16.
Food for thought.
Now Mgr Marini's head is on the chopping block. What a difference an election makes, eh?
Chiesa's Magister interviewed Mgr. Bartolucci. A candid, forthright fellow he is, indeed!
Referring to Benedict XVI: “I am an optimist by nature, but I judge the current situation realistically, and I believe that a Napoleon without generals can do little.”
Q: Maestro Bartolucci, no fewer than six popes have attended your concerts. In which of them did you see the most musical expertise?
A: In the most recent one, Benedict XVI. He plays the piano, has a profound understanding of Mozart, loves the Church’s liturgy, and in consequence he places great emphasis on music. Pius XII also greatly loved music, and played the violin frequently. The Sistine Chapel owes a great deal to John XXIII. In 1959 he gave me permission to restore the Sistine...Then came Paul VI, but he was tone deaf, and I don’t know how much of an appreciation he had for music.
AHA! Now we know how the Bugnini/Weakland cabal worked its will...
Q: Was Perosi in some sense the harbinger of the current vulgarization of sacred music?
A: Not exactly. Today the fashion in the churches is for pop-inspired songs and the strumming of guitars, but the fault lies above all with the pseudo-intellectuals who have engineered this degeneration of the liturgy, and thus of music, overthrowing and despising the heritage of the past with the idea of obtaining who knows what advantage for the people. If the art of music does not return to its greatness, rather than representing an accommodation or a byproduct, there is no sense in asking about its function in the Church. I am against guitars, but I am also against the superficiality of the Cecilian movement in music – it’s more or less the same thing. Our motto must be: let us return to Gregorian chant and to polyphony in the tradition of Palestrina, and let us continue down this road!
Q: What are the initiatives that Benedict XVI should take to realize this plan in a world of discotheques and iPods?
A: The great repertoire of sacred music that has been handed down to us from the past is made up of Masses, offertories, responsories: formerly there was no such thing as a liturgy without music. Today there is no place for this repertoire in the new liturgy, which is a discordant commotion – and it’s useless to pretend that it’s not. It is as if Michelangelo had been asked to paint the general judgment on a postage stamp!
Q: Do you think that the assembly of the faithful should participate in singing the Gregorian chant during liturgical celebrations?
A: We must make distinctions in the performance of Gregorian chant. Part of the repertoire, for example the Introits or the Offertories, requires an extremely refined level of artistry and can be interpreted properly only by real artists. Then there is a part of the repertoire that is sung by the people: I think of the Mass “of the Angels,” the processional music, the hymns...And furthermore, Gregorian chant has been distorted by the rhythmic and aesthetic theories of the Benedictines of Solesmes. Gregorian chant was born in violent times, and it should be manly and strong, and not like the sweet and comforting adaptations of our own day.
A very interesting observation, likely to be controversial even among musicians who are otherwise of the same mind as Bartolucci. A relatively good music-guy (Roger Wagner) once told me that "Chant should be sung as though it were music!" Pace Bartolucci, I think it is preposterous to sing Chant in either a "feminine" or "masculine" way.
Q: But is it possible, today, to compose in the Gregorian style?
A: For one thing, we would need to recover that spirit of solidity. But the Church has done the opposite, favoring simplistic, pop-inspired melodies that are easy on the ears. It thought this would make people happy, and this is the road it took. But that’s not art. Great art is density.
Q: Don’t you say any composers today who are capable of reviving such a tradition?
A: It’s not a question of aptitude; the atmosphere just isn’t there. The fault is not that of the musicians, but of what is asked of them.
Q: But there are authoritative composers who have put the faith at center stage, like Pärt or Penderecki...
A: They don’t have a sense of the liturgy. Mozart was also great, but I doubt that his sacred music is very much at its ease in a cathedral. But Gregorian chant and Palestrina match seamlessly with the liturgy.
That Mozart comment is interesting, and perhaps Mozart really wrote for his patrons, rather than zu Gott...
Q: Bruckner was also very inspired...
A: He has the defect of being longwinded. His Mass for wind instruments, the one in E minor, is rather tedious.
Tedious? Really?
Q: In what sense can Palestrina, Lasso, or Victoria be considered relevant?
A: For their musical density. Palestrina... intuited the necessity for contrapuntal composition linked to the text, unlike the complexity and the rules of Flemish composition.
Q: For the philosopher Schopenhauer, music is the summit of all the arts, the immediate objectification of the Will. For Catholics, can it be defined as the direct expression of God, as the Word?
A: Music is Art with a capital “A.” Sculpture has marble, and architecture has the edifice. You see music only with the eyes of the spirit; it enters within you. And the Church has the merit of having cultivated it in its cantories, of having given it its grammar and syntax. Music is the soul of the word that becomes art. It most definitely disposes you to discovering and welcoming the beauty of God. For this reason, now more than ever the Church must learn to recover it.
It might be obvious why Bartolucci was not loved by the more political animals around the Vatican; he has an opinion on everything, and is not afraid to state it, clearly. At the same time, the bold-red above is almost identical to the thoughts of Ratzinger/B-16.
Food for thought.
Westbound I-94 on 7/24? Not So Fast!
If you're planning a trip westbound on I-94 Monday the 24th from the Milwaukee area, pay attention.
State DOT reports that a 200' x 16' flatbed-trailer will be hauling an industrial dryer from West Allis to the state line, beginning 0700 Monday. It will enter I-94 at the Hy. 18 ramp.
Due to its weight, it will slow to 5MPH at overpasses.
That should pretty well screw up WB traffic on the I-road.
Might even be worth taking the kids and a picnic-lunch to watch, eh, Jezebel?
State DOT reports that a 200' x 16' flatbed-trailer will be hauling an industrial dryer from West Allis to the state line, beginning 0700 Monday. It will enter I-94 at the Hy. 18 ramp.
Due to its weight, it will slow to 5MPH at overpasses.
That should pretty well screw up WB traffic on the I-road.
Might even be worth taking the kids and a picnic-lunch to watch, eh, Jezebel?
IDF Has a Problem
CounterterrorismBlog reports:
The Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbollah have fought pitched battles over the past two days in the region around Avivim. Ynet News reports nine Israeli soldiers were wounded during the fighting, and two were killed in the nearby town of Maroun al-Ras. "Attempts to rescue some of the injured were carried out under relentless fire," according to the Ynet News report. Six Hezbollah cells were engaged during the attack. Israeli forces have withdrawn from the area.
...the fact that the claim on Al Manar must be considered is disquieting. An irregular force such as Hezbollah should not be fighting a professional military to a standstill.
The successful Hezbollah raid on the Israeli outpost that started the conflict, followed by the firing of rockets into Haifa and beyond, anti-ship cruise missiles which disabled an Israeli warship and sunk a civilian freighter, and the construction and presence of a fortified bunker network along the border have caught the Israeli intelligence community (Aman and Mossad) flat footed.
On the other hand, it's ALSO been reported that the Hamas leadership is dis-associating themselves from Hizbollah. Olmert will be meeting with Hamas-types to discuss resolving their conflict.
The Israeli Defense Forces and Hezbollah have fought pitched battles over the past two days in the region around Avivim. Ynet News reports nine Israeli soldiers were wounded during the fighting, and two were killed in the nearby town of Maroun al-Ras. "Attempts to rescue some of the injured were carried out under relentless fire," according to the Ynet News report. Six Hezbollah cells were engaged during the attack. Israeli forces have withdrawn from the area.
...the fact that the claim on Al Manar must be considered is disquieting. An irregular force such as Hezbollah should not be fighting a professional military to a standstill.
The successful Hezbollah raid on the Israeli outpost that started the conflict, followed by the firing of rockets into Haifa and beyond, anti-ship cruise missiles which disabled an Israeli warship and sunk a civilian freighter, and the construction and presence of a fortified bunker network along the border have caught the Israeli intelligence community (Aman and Mossad) flat footed.
On the other hand, it's ALSO been reported that the Hamas leadership is dis-associating themselves from Hizbollah. Olmert will be meeting with Hamas-types to discuss resolving their conflict.
Vrakas: Chapter Two
From the outward appearances, Waukesha County Exec Dan Vrakas is making the right move on taxes:
County Executive Dan Vrakas has directed the sheriff and other department heads to develop spending plans for 2007 that would limit property tax increases to less than 3% in some instances.
...Vrakas said he wants to stay within the limits of a state legislative plan that would have capped tax levy increases at the rate of new construction in Waukesha County - less than 3% in recent years.
Not all county departments are being asked to tighten their belts dramatically next year. Richard Tuma, director of emergency preparedness, said he has been advised that his department will get new funding to improve the widely criticized countywide emergency dispatching center.
Dan Trawicki, the Sheriff, is not particularly happy; nor is the UW-Extension coordinator in Waukesha County.
County Executive Dan Vrakas has directed the sheriff and other department heads to develop spending plans for 2007 that would limit property tax increases to less than 3% in some instances.
...Vrakas said he wants to stay within the limits of a state legislative plan that would have capped tax levy increases at the rate of new construction in Waukesha County - less than 3% in recent years.
Not all county departments are being asked to tighten their belts dramatically next year. Richard Tuma, director of emergency preparedness, said he has been advised that his department will get new funding to improve the widely criticized countywide emergency dispatching center.
Dan Trawicki, the Sheriff, is not particularly happy; nor is the UW-Extension coordinator in Waukesha County.
MORE "Jobs Americans Won't Do?"
See that extremely large truck in your mirror?
Think that the driver knows how to read English?
Think again.
An American company is recruiting long-haul truck drivers from India with the goal of placing them with U.S. trucking firms.
Teamsters Union spokesman Galen Munroe told WND the plan "is yet another example of corporations exploiting a visa program to replace highly trained, hard-working Americans with cheap labor from overseas."
"We are recruiting Indian truck drivers," Gagan confirmed to WND. "We are very demanding on our requirements to get into the school. The requirements are that you have to have five years of heavy driving experience on tractor-trailer trucks, you have to be HIV-negative, have a clean police record, verifiable references that the government in India can verify."
Somebody had the presence of mind to ask Gagan about English ability:
"The Indian truck drivers have to be able to read and understand English," Gagan explained. "We like them to speak English. They all speak pigeon-English, mostly what they learned in schools."
And, of course, the Standard Refrain:
"There's a massive shortage of long-haul truck drivers in the U.S.," Gagan said. "Long-haul truck drivers get home four days a month. There just aren't enough Americans who want to do that kind of work."
Gagan's website indicates that US drivers earn between $50K and $90K/year.
Think that the driver knows how to read English?
Think again.
An American company is recruiting long-haul truck drivers from India with the goal of placing them with U.S. trucking firms.
Teamsters Union spokesman Galen Munroe told WND the plan "is yet another example of corporations exploiting a visa program to replace highly trained, hard-working Americans with cheap labor from overseas."
"We are recruiting Indian truck drivers," Gagan confirmed to WND. "We are very demanding on our requirements to get into the school. The requirements are that you have to have five years of heavy driving experience on tractor-trailer trucks, you have to be HIV-negative, have a clean police record, verifiable references that the government in India can verify."
Somebody had the presence of mind to ask Gagan about English ability:
"The Indian truck drivers have to be able to read and understand English," Gagan explained. "We like them to speak English. They all speak pigeon-English, mostly what they learned in schools."
And, of course, the Standard Refrain:
"There's a massive shortage of long-haul truck drivers in the U.S.," Gagan said. "Long-haul truck drivers get home four days a month. There just aren't enough Americans who want to do that kind of work."
Gagan's website indicates that US drivers earn between $50K and $90K/year.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Mixed Hobbies
A blogger pal has two hobbies: gardening and gunning.
So, of course, he demonstrates the parallels between them, in pix!
So, of course, he demonstrates the parallels between them, in pix!
The Pill: Ending the Fish Population, Too!!
Gee, who woulda thunk:
Roughly one-third of the male fish in British rivers are developing female characteristics, in a frightening trend that could severely upset the ecological balance of the waterways. What's more, the trend could affect humans, with a devastating effect on fertility
And the problem is caused by chemicals that sewage-treatment plants cannot remove. But those chemicals aren't used by farmers as pesticides. The culprits are estrogens, used by millions of women in birth-control pills.
Tests showed the males developed female sex organs and were producing eggs. Such fish also produce less sperm and the sperm that is produced is of low quality. Females may also be affected, producing abnormal eggs.
Previous studies have that cod, trout and flounders are all being feminised.
Well, at least sharks, bass, and catfish are OK--for the time being.
HT: CWN
Roughly one-third of the male fish in British rivers are developing female characteristics, in a frightening trend that could severely upset the ecological balance of the waterways. What's more, the trend could affect humans, with a devastating effect on fertility
And the problem is caused by chemicals that sewage-treatment plants cannot remove. But those chemicals aren't used by farmers as pesticides. The culprits are estrogens, used by millions of women in birth-control pills.
Tests showed the males developed female sex organs and were producing eggs. Such fish also produce less sperm and the sperm that is produced is of low quality. Females may also be affected, producing abnormal eggs.
Previous studies have that cod, trout and flounders are all being feminised.
Well, at least sharks, bass, and catfish are OK--for the time being.
HT: CWN
Drink the Water, Eat the Fish. EPA is Wrong Again
Twenty years and several bazillion dollars after EPA declares that 'dioxin' is cancer-causing:
Although dubbed "the most dangerous chemical known to man," incredibly this was based entirely on the acute toxicity (poisoning) to a single species of animal -- guinea pigs. In humans incredibly massive doses have never been shown to cause any long-term damage besides severe acne, as was the case with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in 2004.
...That's because while it's long been accepted that for acute toxicity that "the dose makes the poison" the EPA uses as a rule for all potential carcinogens that if exposure to a rat of something at a level of, say, a quart a day for 30 years is cancer-causing then exposure of a hundredth of a gram a day for one week must also be carcinogenic to humans.
It was this EPA assumption that the National Research Council directly challenged, concluding the "EPA's decision to rely solely on a default linear model lacked adequate scientific support." It said compelling new animal data from the National Toxicology Program -- released after EPA completed its reassessment -- when combined with substantial evidence that dioxin does not damage DNA, is now adequate to justify the use of nonlinear methods for estimating cancer risk at relatively low levels of exposure.
In other words, the EPA can't just choose a formula because it's convenient and serves its political ends. It can't ignore the results of myriad animal and human studies and the determination of how a certain chemical affects human cells in favor of simple mathematics. Nor can it apply that formula because it favors environmentalist groups who make a living by terrifying us into believing that a single molecule of this or that threatens the existence of "peoplekind."
The National Academy of Sciences dropped that little bomb into EPA's beautiful DC offices.
EPA's gross and utter stupidity is documented elsewhere--DDT, anyone?
Let's hope that this pushes a few courageous conservatives to act.
Although dubbed "the most dangerous chemical known to man," incredibly this was based entirely on the acute toxicity (poisoning) to a single species of animal -- guinea pigs. In humans incredibly massive doses have never been shown to cause any long-term damage besides severe acne, as was the case with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in 2004.
...That's because while it's long been accepted that for acute toxicity that "the dose makes the poison" the EPA uses as a rule for all potential carcinogens that if exposure to a rat of something at a level of, say, a quart a day for 30 years is cancer-causing then exposure of a hundredth of a gram a day for one week must also be carcinogenic to humans.
It was this EPA assumption that the National Research Council directly challenged, concluding the "EPA's decision to rely solely on a default linear model lacked adequate scientific support." It said compelling new animal data from the National Toxicology Program -- released after EPA completed its reassessment -- when combined with substantial evidence that dioxin does not damage DNA, is now adequate to justify the use of nonlinear methods for estimating cancer risk at relatively low levels of exposure.
In other words, the EPA can't just choose a formula because it's convenient and serves its political ends. It can't ignore the results of myriad animal and human studies and the determination of how a certain chemical affects human cells in favor of simple mathematics. Nor can it apply that formula because it favors environmentalist groups who make a living by terrifying us into believing that a single molecule of this or that threatens the existence of "peoplekind."
The National Academy of Sciences dropped that little bomb into EPA's beautiful DC offices.
EPA's gross and utter stupidity is documented elsewhere--DDT, anyone?
Let's hope that this pushes a few courageous conservatives to act.
MORE State Spending
Frank Lassee is unhappy:
...We finished business for the year by approving four state employee contracts. I voted against two of them and here’s why.
For several years, many government employee unions have pushed for pay parity (read as, they want more money). In their minds, public employees are underpaid in comparison to their private sector counterparts and therefore deserve a raise.
Unfortunately, the Legislature played along. Many state employee contracts (including the two I voted against last week) now include salary increases higher than those being offered in the private sector.
...According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, by the end of the 1990’s average state and local employees were collecting nearly 50% more in total compensation (salary and benefits) than the average private sector employee. Local governments were paying 128% more than private businesses to fund health care benefits and 162% more on retirement accounts.
Wisconsin should look at our entire pay and benefits package. It should all be taken into account. We should pay competitively with the private sector, benefits should be included when we decide what we compensate government workers.
...but since there is NO deficit, according to BagManJim, what's to worry?
...We finished business for the year by approving four state employee contracts. I voted against two of them and here’s why.
For several years, many government employee unions have pushed for pay parity (read as, they want more money). In their minds, public employees are underpaid in comparison to their private sector counterparts and therefore deserve a raise.
Unfortunately, the Legislature played along. Many state employee contracts (including the two I voted against last week) now include salary increases higher than those being offered in the private sector.
...According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, by the end of the 1990’s average state and local employees were collecting nearly 50% more in total compensation (salary and benefits) than the average private sector employee. Local governments were paying 128% more than private businesses to fund health care benefits and 162% more on retirement accounts.
Wisconsin should look at our entire pay and benefits package. It should all be taken into account. We should pay competitively with the private sector, benefits should be included when we decide what we compensate government workers.
...but since there is NO deficit, according to BagManJim, what's to worry?
Some History on Immigration
....of the legal sort, that is:
Hampering today’s immigration debate are our misconceptions about the so-called first great migration some 100 years ago, with which today’s immigration is often compared. We envision that first great migration as a time when multitudes of Emma Lazarus’s “tired,” “poor,” and “wretched refuse” of Europe’s shores made their way from destitution to American opportunity
But that... distorts the realities of the first great migration. Though fleeing persecution or economic stagnation in their homelands, that era’s immigrants—Jewish tailors and seamstresses who helped create New York’s garment industry, Italian stonemasons and bricklayers who helped build some of our greatest buildings, German merchants, shopkeepers, and artisans—all brought important skills with them that fit easily into the American economy. Those waves of immigrants—many of them urban dwellers who crossed a continent and an ocean to get here—helped supercharge the workforce at a time when the country was going through a transformative economic expansion that craved new workers, especially in its cities. A 1998 National Research Council report noted “that the newly arriving immigrant nonagricultural work force . . . was (slightly) more skilled than the resident American labor force”: 27 percent of them were skilled laborers, compared with only 17 percent of that era’s native-born workforce.
In other words, these folks came to do jobs that Americans COULD NOT do...
The flood of immigrants, both legal and illegal, from countries with poor, ill-educated populations, has yielded a mismatch between today’s immigrants and the American economy and has left many workers poorly positioned to succeed for the long term. Unlike the immigrants of 100 years ago, whose skills reflected or surpassed those of the native workforce at the time, many of today’s arrivals, particularly the more than half who now come from Central and South America, are farmworkers in their home countries who come here with little education or even basic training in blue-collar occupations like carpentry or machinery.
The difference is clear.
Although open-borders advocates say that these workers are simply taking jobs Americans don’t want, studies show that the immigrants drive down wages of native-born workers and squeeze them out of certain industries. Harvard economists George Borjas and Lawrence Katz, for instance, estimate that low-wage immigration cuts the wages for the average native-born high school dropout by some 8 percent, or more than $1,200 a year.
As to "$3.00 Tomatoes!! $6.00 Carrots!!!" yappaflappa from the ag industry:
Agricultural economists Wallace Huffman and Alan McCunn of Iowa State University have estimated that without illegal workers, the retail cost of fresh produce would increase only about 3 percent in the summer-fall season and less than 2 percent in the winter-spring season, because labor represents only a tiny percent of the retail price of produce ...
There is a LOT more in the linked article.
HT: Jessica
Hampering today’s immigration debate are our misconceptions about the so-called first great migration some 100 years ago, with which today’s immigration is often compared. We envision that first great migration as a time when multitudes of Emma Lazarus’s “tired,” “poor,” and “wretched refuse” of Europe’s shores made their way from destitution to American opportunity
But that... distorts the realities of the first great migration. Though fleeing persecution or economic stagnation in their homelands, that era’s immigrants—Jewish tailors and seamstresses who helped create New York’s garment industry, Italian stonemasons and bricklayers who helped build some of our greatest buildings, German merchants, shopkeepers, and artisans—all brought important skills with them that fit easily into the American economy. Those waves of immigrants—many of them urban dwellers who crossed a continent and an ocean to get here—helped supercharge the workforce at a time when the country was going through a transformative economic expansion that craved new workers, especially in its cities. A 1998 National Research Council report noted “that the newly arriving immigrant nonagricultural work force . . . was (slightly) more skilled than the resident American labor force”: 27 percent of them were skilled laborers, compared with only 17 percent of that era’s native-born workforce.
In other words, these folks came to do jobs that Americans COULD NOT do...
The flood of immigrants, both legal and illegal, from countries with poor, ill-educated populations, has yielded a mismatch between today’s immigrants and the American economy and has left many workers poorly positioned to succeed for the long term. Unlike the immigrants of 100 years ago, whose skills reflected or surpassed those of the native workforce at the time, many of today’s arrivals, particularly the more than half who now come from Central and South America, are farmworkers in their home countries who come here with little education or even basic training in blue-collar occupations like carpentry or machinery.
The difference is clear.
Although open-borders advocates say that these workers are simply taking jobs Americans don’t want, studies show that the immigrants drive down wages of native-born workers and squeeze them out of certain industries. Harvard economists George Borjas and Lawrence Katz, for instance, estimate that low-wage immigration cuts the wages for the average native-born high school dropout by some 8 percent, or more than $1,200 a year.
As to "$3.00 Tomatoes!! $6.00 Carrots!!!" yappaflappa from the ag industry:
Agricultural economists Wallace Huffman and Alan McCunn of Iowa State University have estimated that without illegal workers, the retail cost of fresh produce would increase only about 3 percent in the summer-fall season and less than 2 percent in the winter-spring season, because labor represents only a tiny percent of the retail price of produce ...
There is a LOT more in the linked article.
HT: Jessica
GWB's First Veto
He did the Right Thing.
As to the effects, we turn to the brilliant "Blame Bush!!" blog:
When harvested from a human embryo, stem cells can be a miracle cure for a wide variety of debilitating afflictions, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, diabetes, paralysis, rhuematoid arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, sickle-cell anemia, migraine headaches, erectile dysfunction, Attention Deficit Disorder, excessive body hair, male pattern baldness, problem flatulence, dizziness, numbness, tough, hard-to-remove stains, Helsinki Syndrome, toe jam, indigestion, dyslexia, insomnia, narcolepsy, vertigo, hepatitis, tonsillitis, gingivitis, Vitus Geralitis, chancre sores, the 7-Year Itch, gridlock, and the bizarre mental illness that makes religious conservatives so averse to treating human embryos like crops to be “harvested”. But today, a senate bill that would lift the cruel ban on stem cell research was struck down by the veto-happy dictator, rendering the human embryo completely useless.
As to the effects, we turn to the brilliant "Blame Bush!!" blog:
When harvested from a human embryo, stem cells can be a miracle cure for a wide variety of debilitating afflictions, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, diabetes, paralysis, rhuematoid arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, sickle-cell anemia, migraine headaches, erectile dysfunction, Attention Deficit Disorder, excessive body hair, male pattern baldness, problem flatulence, dizziness, numbness, tough, hard-to-remove stains, Helsinki Syndrome, toe jam, indigestion, dyslexia, insomnia, narcolepsy, vertigo, hepatitis, tonsillitis, gingivitis, Vitus Geralitis, chancre sores, the 7-Year Itch, gridlock, and the bizarre mental illness that makes religious conservatives so averse to treating human embryos like crops to be “harvested”. But today, a senate bill that would lift the cruel ban on stem cell research was struck down by the veto-happy dictator, rendering the human embryo completely useless.
Prioritize!
All I know is what I read in the newspapers:
Softball players who said they witnessed a man shoot a handgun five to seven times into the air in Frontier Park finished the inning and then called police, according to a police report.
In Butler, baseball is important!
Softball players who said they witnessed a man shoot a handgun five to seven times into the air in Frontier Park finished the inning and then called police, according to a police report.
In Butler, baseball is important!
House Strips Courts of Some Authority
The House of Representatives has voted to deny Federal Courts any authority over the question of using the Pledge of Allegiance in schools.
The legislation ...passed 260 to 167. There is a companion Senate bill, but it is unclear whether the Senate will take it up in the current session.
Republicans Mark Green, Tom Petri, Paul Ryan and Jim Sensenbrenner voted for it, while Democrats Tammy Baldwin, Ron Kind, Gwen Moore and Dave Obey voted against it.
Opponents said the legislation, which would bar federal courts from ruling on the constitutional validity of the pledge, would undercut judicial independence and would deny access to federal courts to religious minorities seeking to defend their rights.
"We are making an all-out assault on the Constitution of the United States which, thank God, will fail," said Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Pelosi and those of like mind might do well to READ the Constitution--it specifically authorizes Congress to strip the Courts of authority if Congress deems it appropriate. Instead, she demonstrates that the Left, unable to openly legislate their agenda, prefers to 'stealth-bomb,' using the Courts as a shield and foil.
The legislation ...passed 260 to 167. There is a companion Senate bill, but it is unclear whether the Senate will take it up in the current session.
Republicans Mark Green, Tom Petri, Paul Ryan and Jim Sensenbrenner voted for it, while Democrats Tammy Baldwin, Ron Kind, Gwen Moore and Dave Obey voted against it.
Opponents said the legislation, which would bar federal courts from ruling on the constitutional validity of the pledge, would undercut judicial independence and would deny access to federal courts to religious minorities seeking to defend their rights.
"We are making an all-out assault on the Constitution of the United States which, thank God, will fail," said Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Pelosi and those of like mind might do well to READ the Constitution--it specifically authorizes Congress to strip the Courts of authority if Congress deems it appropriate. Instead, she demonstrates that the Left, unable to openly legislate their agenda, prefers to 'stealth-bomb,' using the Courts as a shield and foil.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Survey Says!!: Sykes, Xoff and Dad29 Not Bloggers
Oh well...it was nice faking it:
Bloggers are a predominantly young group of Internet users
The people they are reading on the online blogs are a young, ethnically diverse group. They are mostly newcomers to writing — often writing about their own experiences. More than half of bloggers are under age 30.
...and politics is NOT the #1 topic--rather, it's their own lives.
So apparently Sykes, Xoff, McMahon, Dad29, and Blosser the Elder (inter alia) are a distinct minority.
Youth was fleeting, eh?
Bloggers are a predominantly young group of Internet users
The people they are reading on the online blogs are a young, ethnically diverse group. They are mostly newcomers to writing — often writing about their own experiences. More than half of bloggers are under age 30.
...and politics is NOT the #1 topic--rather, it's their own lives.
So apparently Sykes, Xoff, McMahon, Dad29, and Blosser the Elder (inter alia) are a distinct minority.
Youth was fleeting, eh?
On Freedom
Blosser quotes Pannenberg:
"The prevailing idea of freedom in our societies today, of course, is the idea that each person has the right to do as he pleases. Freedom is not connected to any notion of the good as constitutive of freedom itself. Because of the incompleteness of human existence in history, any idea of freedom involves the risk of abuse. But it does make a very big difference whether the distinction between the use and abuse of freedom is observed. When it is observed, it is possible to challenge the equation of freedom with license. The ambiguity built into the modern idea of freedom helps us understand secular culture's ambivalence when it comes to values in general, and our cultural nervousness about affirming the contents and standards by which the culture itself is defined. With respect to values and cultural traditions, as with truth claims, a consumerist attitude prevails. Each chooses according to his preferences or perceived needs. The disengagement of the idea of freedom from an idea of the true and the good is the great weakness of secularist societies."
"The prevailing idea of freedom in our societies today, of course, is the idea that each person has the right to do as he pleases. Freedom is not connected to any notion of the good as constitutive of freedom itself. Because of the incompleteness of human existence in history, any idea of freedom involves the risk of abuse. But it does make a very big difference whether the distinction between the use and abuse of freedom is observed. When it is observed, it is possible to challenge the equation of freedom with license. The ambiguity built into the modern idea of freedom helps us understand secular culture's ambivalence when it comes to values in general, and our cultural nervousness about affirming the contents and standards by which the culture itself is defined. With respect to values and cultural traditions, as with truth claims, a consumerist attitude prevails. Each chooses according to his preferences or perceived needs. The disengagement of the idea of freedom from an idea of the true and the good is the great weakness of secularist societies."
There's a great deal more on that post--surveying from Aristotle through Locke.
Who IS the "Militia"?
While we're on the topic of self-defense, the NRA, and the 2nd Amendment (see below post,) another acute observation was made by the NRA's President Sandy Froman, a lovely lady lawyer from San Francisco, in her column in this month's Rifleman.
The very definition of "unorganized militia" (see the Second Amendment) was personified by the group of US citizens headed by Todd Beamer, who gave their lives in defense of the United States on Flight 93.
This "militia" (organized or not) is, as Ms. Froman points out, the entire body of citizens of this country.
Think about that as you ruminate on "gun control."
The very definition of "unorganized militia" (see the Second Amendment) was personified by the group of US citizens headed by Todd Beamer, who gave their lives in defense of the United States on Flight 93.
This "militia" (organized or not) is, as Ms. Froman points out, the entire body of citizens of this country.
Think about that as you ruminate on "gun control."
Eddie Eagle and Your Wife
Was able to spend a pleasant evening listening to a speaker who is very passionate about the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. He's a former (32-year) police officer, and a nationally-recognized armed self-defense trainer.
The attendees' single most interesting common characteristic was that they all appeared to be 'regular' folks. No airs, no haute couture, no diamond-dripping neckwear. The crowd at Summerfest would have been indistinguishable from these people.
Not surprisingly, Green and VanHollen were represented; Bucher showed up in person for the cocktail hour. Kramer, a candidate for the (R)/97th primary, also was there.
So to the headline:
The NRA has long sponsored the Eddie Eagle program. Eddie visits grade-schools and teaches the children what to do if they see an unattended weapon: in brief, 1) STOP! 2) DON'T TOUCH!! 3) LEAVE THE AREA!! and 4) TELL AN ADULT!!!
Sensible, easy to remember, and drilled into the kids' heads.
The very droll speaker, Massad Ayoob, observed that those instructions would be the very same ones your wife would give you if you observed an unattended Delicious Young Thing...
Final takeaway: Dump Doyle!!
The attendees' single most interesting common characteristic was that they all appeared to be 'regular' folks. No airs, no haute couture, no diamond-dripping neckwear. The crowd at Summerfest would have been indistinguishable from these people.
Not surprisingly, Green and VanHollen were represented; Bucher showed up in person for the cocktail hour. Kramer, a candidate for the (R)/97th primary, also was there.
So to the headline:
The NRA has long sponsored the Eddie Eagle program. Eddie visits grade-schools and teaches the children what to do if they see an unattended weapon: in brief, 1) STOP! 2) DON'T TOUCH!! 3) LEAVE THE AREA!! and 4) TELL AN ADULT!!!
Sensible, easy to remember, and drilled into the kids' heads.
The very droll speaker, Massad Ayoob, observed that those instructions would be the very same ones your wife would give you if you observed an unattended Delicious Young Thing...
Final takeaway: Dump Doyle!!
WI Supremes: The Cause of Corruption?
When the WI Supremes, led by Screechin'Shirley, abrogated a Wisconsin constitutional amendment and reversed themselves on the Indian gaming issue, they (in effect) opened a door which leads straight to influence-peddling of the worst sort. They gave sole authority over Indian gaming to one person: the Governor of Wisconsin.
Foolish, stupid, and wrong.
While that particular ruling benefits BagManJim Doyle at this time, (as K Carpenter points out), what is to prevent this massive money-machine from influencing a Republican in the future?
A few million here, a few million there--pretty soon it adds up to real money.
Foolish, stupid, and wrong.
While that particular ruling benefits BagManJim Doyle at this time, (as K Carpenter points out), what is to prevent this massive money-machine from influencing a Republican in the future?
A few million here, a few million there--pretty soon it adds up to real money.
IRS to Whack Churches
Some think this is a good thing.
The Internal Revenue Service has been warning churches and nonprofit organizations that improper campaigning in the upcoming political season could endanger their tax-exempt status.
In notices to more than 15,000 tax-exempt organizations, numerous church denominations and tax preparers, the agency has detailed its new enforcement program, called the Political Activity Compliance Initiative, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
Hmmmmmnnn.
Another way to look at it is this: IRS to Muzzle Churches Which Teach Moral Applications.
Under the regs which IRS intends to apply (largely rammed through by LBJ and his Democratic Congress) some IRS folks will be determining whether a church is "too political." That's not a situation which should be acceptable to a Conservative.
This is not a question of Left/Right. This is a First Amendment question--the operative phrase is "Free Exercise."
The Internal Revenue Service has been warning churches and nonprofit organizations that improper campaigning in the upcoming political season could endanger their tax-exempt status.
In notices to more than 15,000 tax-exempt organizations, numerous church denominations and tax preparers, the agency has detailed its new enforcement program, called the Political Activity Compliance Initiative, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
Hmmmmmnnn.
Another way to look at it is this: IRS to Muzzle Churches Which Teach Moral Applications.
Under the regs which IRS intends to apply (largely rammed through by LBJ and his Democratic Congress) some IRS folks will be determining whether a church is "too political." That's not a situation which should be acceptable to a Conservative.
This is not a question of Left/Right. This is a First Amendment question--the operative phrase is "Free Exercise."
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Gasoline Pricing
NEXT month, note the price of gasoline in Wisconsin at the pump...say after August 15th.
Barrel prices of oil are back down to $73.90, with August-delivery gasoline (regular) at $2.27.
Of course, adding ethanol AND Fed/State taxes will make the price a lot higher than $2.27.
Barrel prices of oil are back down to $73.90, with August-delivery gasoline (regular) at $2.27.
Of course, adding ethanol AND Fed/State taxes will make the price a lot higher than $2.27.
The Vatican, Israel, and Just War
Malkin (quoting Ariana Fellaci) and Morrissey have launched verbal missiles at the Vatican because a Church official reminded Israel of the principles of Just War.
Umnnnnnhhh...the Vatican's reminder is astute and timely, and deserves a bit more respect than it's been given:
The principles:
the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
there must be serious prospects of success;
the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modem means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.
Bainbridge (who practiced international law) has a thought on the application of the fourth part of the principles:
The US Catholic Council of Bishops has specifically argued that "the targeting of civilian infrastructure, which afflicts ordinary citizens long after hostilities have ceased, can amount to making war on noncombatants rather than against opposing armies." It isn't just ivory tower academicians or left-leaning churchmen who take this view. In a 2001 issue of the US my War College's Parameters journal, for example, Brigadier General Ronald S. Mangum raised doubts about whether NATO complied with just war doctrines in deliberately targeting Serbia's civilian infrastructure during the 1999 bombing campaign.
... Proportionality holds that the response to aggression should not be disproportionate to the original aggression. Was the deliberate firebombing of Dresden or Hamburg, say, proportional to the Blitz?
In fact, however, Israel clearly is targeting not just Hezbollah, but also Lebanon's official military, and, most important for our purposes, Lebanon's basic civilian infrastructure. The Beirut airport has been closed by Israeli attacks. Bridges, ports, roads, and power stations are all being targeted.
It is fair to allow for errors, especially given the tactics of Hizbollah--to hide behind civilians. There are also some interesting questions about "state-less" combatants (as GWB knows) which are not easily resolved.
But the Vatican's statement was NOT unreasonable, nor should the Vatican be criticized for doing what Churchmen are supposed to do.
Umnnnnnhhh...the Vatican's reminder is astute and timely, and deserves a bit more respect than it's been given:
The principles:
the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
there must be serious prospects of success;
the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modem means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.
Bainbridge (who practiced international law) has a thought on the application of the fourth part of the principles:
The US Catholic Council of Bishops has specifically argued that "the targeting of civilian infrastructure, which afflicts ordinary citizens long after hostilities have ceased, can amount to making war on noncombatants rather than against opposing armies." It isn't just ivory tower academicians or left-leaning churchmen who take this view. In a 2001 issue of the US my War College's Parameters journal, for example, Brigadier General Ronald S. Mangum raised doubts about whether NATO complied with just war doctrines in deliberately targeting Serbia's civilian infrastructure during the 1999 bombing campaign.
... Proportionality holds that the response to aggression should not be disproportionate to the original aggression. Was the deliberate firebombing of Dresden or Hamburg, say, proportional to the Blitz?
In fact, however, Israel clearly is targeting not just Hezbollah, but also Lebanon's official military, and, most important for our purposes, Lebanon's basic civilian infrastructure. The Beirut airport has been closed by Israeli attacks. Bridges, ports, roads, and power stations are all being targeted.
It is fair to allow for errors, especially given the tactics of Hizbollah--to hide behind civilians. There are also some interesting questions about "state-less" combatants (as GWB knows) which are not easily resolved.
But the Vatican's statement was NOT unreasonable, nor should the Vatican be criticized for doing what Churchmen are supposed to do.
The "End of the World" Scenarios Multiply
As we approach November, the frequency and variety of "TEOTWAWKI" (The End of the World As We Know It) scrivenings become almost oppressive. It's like Hitchcock's "Birds"--more and more of them, closer and closer, louder and louder....
Amazing what could happen with a non-Republican majority in Congress, eh? Oh, I don't like the possibilities; and there certainly will be some odious legislative "accomplishments" were the (D) cabal to become a majority...
Perhaps the most intriguing one is Newt Gingrich's obliquely-presented "World War III Is Here" election campaign strategy. Newt, a pointy-headed glamor-hound who has never shown an interest in anything but electing Republicans, now suggests that the Republicans would do well if they simply define the WOT (and the problems with NK and Iran, inter alia) as "WWIII."
After all, Republicans are better at managing wars successfully than Democrats!
In exquisite irony, Newtie includes 'troubles with Red China/Taiwan' in his laundry list of Things-Which-Make-Up-WWIII. Obviously, he hopes that we are stupid enough to forget that Newt and X42 empowered Red China by ramming MFN/PNTR status for Red China through Congress.
In other words, Newt was responsible for giving PRC the money to become a threat--the threat which he now warns us against. NOW he turns around and tells us that only the Republicans can save us from this threat!
Most of the 4 readers of this blog understand that I cannot support the Democrat agenda, whatever it may be. Fine.
But enough, already, of scaring grannies, women, and children with End-Times hooey.
Amazing what could happen with a non-Republican majority in Congress, eh? Oh, I don't like the possibilities; and there certainly will be some odious legislative "accomplishments" were the (D) cabal to become a majority...
Perhaps the most intriguing one is Newt Gingrich's obliquely-presented "World War III Is Here" election campaign strategy. Newt, a pointy-headed glamor-hound who has never shown an interest in anything but electing Republicans, now suggests that the Republicans would do well if they simply define the WOT (and the problems with NK and Iran, inter alia) as "WWIII."
After all, Republicans are better at managing wars successfully than Democrats!
In exquisite irony, Newtie includes 'troubles with Red China/Taiwan' in his laundry list of Things-Which-Make-Up-WWIII. Obviously, he hopes that we are stupid enough to forget that Newt and X42 empowered Red China by ramming MFN/PNTR status for Red China through Congress.
In other words, Newt was responsible for giving PRC the money to become a threat--the threat which he now warns us against. NOW he turns around and tells us that only the Republicans can save us from this threat!
Most of the 4 readers of this blog understand that I cannot support the Democrat agenda, whatever it may be. Fine.
But enough, already, of scaring grannies, women, and children with End-Times hooey.
Did the Conquistadores Bring Disease to the Aztecs?
Well, they brought smallpox, which was a killer--but not the Big One:
The fevers were contagious, burning, and continuous, all of them pestilential, in most part lethal. The tongue was dry and black. Enormous thirst. Urine of the colors of sea-green, vegetal green, and black, sometimes passing from the greenish color to the pale. Pulse was frequent, fast, small, and weak—sometimes even null. The eyes and the whole body were yellow. This stage was followed by delirium and seizures. Then, hard and painful nodules appeared behind one or both ears along with heartache, chest pain, abdominal pain, tremor, great anxiety, and dysentery. The blood that flowed when cutting a vein had a green color or was very pale, dry, and without serosity. . . . Blood flowed from the ears and in many cases blood truly gushed from the nose. . . . This epidemic attacked mainly young people and seldom the elder ones.
"This was certainly not smallpox," Acuña-Soto says. "If they described something real, then it appeared to be a hemorrhagic fever."
...All types of hemorrhagic viruses share traits. They are extremely simple, composed only of RNA enveloped in a fatty membrane, and they all must develop first in an animal host—often rodents or bats—and are spread by insects such as ticks or mosquitoes. A bite, direct exposure to rodent feces or urine, or indirect exposure through windblown particles can pass the virus to humans. If cocolitzli had been caused by a hemorrhagic virus, Acuña-Soto realized, the Spanish could not have brought it with them. Such diseases do not readily pass from one person to another, so the virus must have been native.
The hemorrhagic fevers occurred in 1545 and 1576--during a rainy year following lengthy droughts, exactly the pattern one would expect.
How long before the La Raza gang revises their "white devils" history to reflect this?
HT: Grim's Hall
The fevers were contagious, burning, and continuous, all of them pestilential, in most part lethal. The tongue was dry and black. Enormous thirst. Urine of the colors of sea-green, vegetal green, and black, sometimes passing from the greenish color to the pale. Pulse was frequent, fast, small, and weak—sometimes even null. The eyes and the whole body were yellow. This stage was followed by delirium and seizures. Then, hard and painful nodules appeared behind one or both ears along with heartache, chest pain, abdominal pain, tremor, great anxiety, and dysentery. The blood that flowed when cutting a vein had a green color or was very pale, dry, and without serosity. . . . Blood flowed from the ears and in many cases blood truly gushed from the nose. . . . This epidemic attacked mainly young people and seldom the elder ones.
"This was certainly not smallpox," Acuña-Soto says. "If they described something real, then it appeared to be a hemorrhagic fever."
...All types of hemorrhagic viruses share traits. They are extremely simple, composed only of RNA enveloped in a fatty membrane, and they all must develop first in an animal host—often rodents or bats—and are spread by insects such as ticks or mosquitoes. A bite, direct exposure to rodent feces or urine, or indirect exposure through windblown particles can pass the virus to humans. If cocolitzli had been caused by a hemorrhagic virus, Acuña-Soto realized, the Spanish could not have brought it with them. Such diseases do not readily pass from one person to another, so the virus must have been native.
The hemorrhagic fevers occurred in 1545 and 1576--during a rainy year following lengthy droughts, exactly the pattern one would expect.
How long before the La Raza gang revises their "white devils" history to reflect this?
HT: Grim's Hall
Monday, July 17, 2006
Terrorism, in Kafka's World
Earlier we posted a few items about "Whopper" Dan Maguire, a traitor to Catholicism and a cancer on the name of Marquette University, to put it politely. Dan is a close friend of Planned Parenthood.
"So What?" you say.
Here's Planned Parenthood's list of Terrorist and Extremist organizations:
American Life League (ALL)
Americans United for Life (AUL)
Christian Coalition
Concerned Women for America (CWA)
Eagle Forum
Family Research Council (FRC)
Feminists for Life of America (FFL)
Focus on the Family
Human Life International (HLI)
Life Dynamics Incorporated (LDI)
Missionaries to the Preborn
National Right to Life Committee (NRLC)
Operation Save America (formerly known as Operation Rescue)
Pro-Life Action League (PLAL)
STOPP International, aka STOPP Planned Parenthood
These organizations can always use contributions!
HT: The Curt Jester
"So What?" you say.
Here's Planned Parenthood's list of Terrorist and Extremist organizations:
American Life League (ALL)
Americans United for Life (AUL)
Christian Coalition
Concerned Women for America (CWA)
Eagle Forum
Family Research Council (FRC)
Feminists for Life of America (FFL)
Focus on the Family
Human Life International (HLI)
Life Dynamics Incorporated (LDI)
Missionaries to the Preborn
National Right to Life Committee (NRLC)
Operation Save America (formerly known as Operation Rescue)
Pro-Life Action League (PLAL)
STOPP International, aka STOPP Planned Parenthood
These organizations can always use contributions!
HT: The Curt Jester
What (Clean) Term Applies to This Whopper?
Here's the quote:
The Israelis know that if the Iraqi or the Iranian army came across the Jordan River, I would personally grab a rifle, get in a ditch, and fight and die."
-- Former US President Bill Clinton, July 31, 2002
Somehow, I don't believe the statement.
HT: Blosser
The Israelis know that if the Iraqi or the Iranian army came across the Jordan River, I would personally grab a rifle, get in a ditch, and fight and die."
-- Former US President Bill Clinton, July 31, 2002
Somehow, I don't believe the statement.
HT: Blosser
The Mythology of Immigration
Heather Mac Donald's City Journal essays are invaluable resources--particularly for those who understand that "common knowledge" may not be fact-based "knowledge."
She offers a number of myth-busters regarding the Immigration Debate which are worthwhile:
On "human rights" of illegal immigrants:
Less than a week before the Library of Congress conference, illegal aliens on the streets of Southern California were making the identical demands: “We just want some respect and human rights,” a Santa Ana protester told the Los Angeles Times. “We’re fighting to give [immigrants] equal rights,” explained a marcher in Riverside, California, holding a “Legalize, Not Terrorize” sign.
This call for “human rights” is a clever one, for it hides its radical status in a rhetorical safe harbor. What, exactly, are the “human rights” that the U.S. is denying illegal aliens? They have unfettered access to free medical care, free education, welfare for their children, free representation in court when they commit crimes, every due-process protection during criminal prosecution that the Constitution guarantees citizens and legal immigrants, the shelter of labor laws, and the miracles of modern industrial society like clean water, the control of infectious diseases (including the ones that they bring with them), and plumbing. The only putative “right” that they lack—and that, of course, is the “human right” to which they and their ambassadors refer—is the right to legal status regardless of illegal entry.
On whether enforcement actually works:
Elite wisdom for decades held that the police cannot affect crime. The social forces pushing criminals to break the law—poverty, racism, addiction—were too powerful; policing could at best try to solve crimes after they happened. New York’s Mayor Giuliani and his first police chief, William Bratton, rejected that fatalism. They empowered the New York Police Department to enforce aggressively laws that had long lain moribund. The targets of the new public-order push complained bitterly that it was unfair to arrest them for marijuana sales and other crimes after years of de facto decriminalization. The NYPD continued its enforcement drive anyway and brought crime down 70 percent in a decade. It turns out that the well-founded fear of getting caught changes behavior.
And as applied to border incursions:
Federal agencies have designated a stretch of the Texas border a zero-tolerance zone for border trespassing since December 6, 2005. Rather than releasing illegal entrants upon capture, the feds jail them for their border crime, then deport them. One Border Patrol agent told the Washington Post that the 51 percent drop in apprehensions since the operation began are “the most dynamic results” he had seen in 19 years on the force.
What about the "family values" of Hispanics? Don't we want more?
If someone proposed a program to boost the number of Americans who lack a high school diploma, have children out of wedlock, sell drugs, steal, or use welfare, he’d be deemed mad. Yet liberalized immigration rules would do just that. The illegitimacy rate among Hispanics is high and rising faster than that of other ethnic groups; their dropout rate is the highest in the country; Hispanic children are joining gangs at younger and younger ages. Academic achievement is abysmal.
Illegitimacy concerns: Without doubt, many Latinos are upwardly mobile. But a significant portion of their children are getting sucked into street life...
Half of all children born to Hispanic Americans in 2002 were illegitimate, twice the rate for American whites and 42 percent higher than the overall American rate.
Literacy Concerns: Nationwide, 53 percent of Hispanics graduate from high school, according to the Manhattan Institute’s Jay Greene—the lowest rate among all ethnic groups
Crime: Open-borders conservatives point to the relatively low crime rate among immigrants to deny any connection between high immigration and crime. But unless we can prevent immigrants from having children, a high level of immigration translates to increased levels of crime. Between the foreign-born generation and their American children, the incarceration rate of Mexican-Americans jumps more than eightfold, resulting in an incarceration rate that is 3.45 times higher than that of whites, according to an analysis of 2000 census data by the pro-immigrant Migration Policy Institute.
Assimilation into US culture: Multicultural cheerleaders argue that assimilation is proceeding apace by pointing to the fact that virtually all third-generation Hispanics can speak English. Even so, linguistic and cultural segregation among Hispanics is increasing. The percentage of Hispanics living in Hispanic enclaves rose from 39 percent in 1990 to 43 percent in 2000, reports Robert Samuelson, and as more and more aliens from Mexico and Central America enter, the size of Spanish-speaking-only areas expands.
As most business-types know, understanding the problem is critical to formulating a solution. Ms. Mac Donald's research SHOULD go a long way toward shaping a Congressional response which utilizes enforcement AND recognizes the national interest--growth, but not a disproportionate increase in crime, illiteracy, and illegitimate children.
She offers a number of myth-busters regarding the Immigration Debate which are worthwhile:
On "human rights" of illegal immigrants:
Less than a week before the Library of Congress conference, illegal aliens on the streets of Southern California were making the identical demands: “We just want some respect and human rights,” a Santa Ana protester told the Los Angeles Times. “We’re fighting to give [immigrants] equal rights,” explained a marcher in Riverside, California, holding a “Legalize, Not Terrorize” sign.
This call for “human rights” is a clever one, for it hides its radical status in a rhetorical safe harbor. What, exactly, are the “human rights” that the U.S. is denying illegal aliens? They have unfettered access to free medical care, free education, welfare for their children, free representation in court when they commit crimes, every due-process protection during criminal prosecution that the Constitution guarantees citizens and legal immigrants, the shelter of labor laws, and the miracles of modern industrial society like clean water, the control of infectious diseases (including the ones that they bring with them), and plumbing. The only putative “right” that they lack—and that, of course, is the “human right” to which they and their ambassadors refer—is the right to legal status regardless of illegal entry.
On whether enforcement actually works:
Elite wisdom for decades held that the police cannot affect crime. The social forces pushing criminals to break the law—poverty, racism, addiction—were too powerful; policing could at best try to solve crimes after they happened. New York’s Mayor Giuliani and his first police chief, William Bratton, rejected that fatalism. They empowered the New York Police Department to enforce aggressively laws that had long lain moribund. The targets of the new public-order push complained bitterly that it was unfair to arrest them for marijuana sales and other crimes after years of de facto decriminalization. The NYPD continued its enforcement drive anyway and brought crime down 70 percent in a decade. It turns out that the well-founded fear of getting caught changes behavior.
And as applied to border incursions:
Federal agencies have designated a stretch of the Texas border a zero-tolerance zone for border trespassing since December 6, 2005. Rather than releasing illegal entrants upon capture, the feds jail them for their border crime, then deport them. One Border Patrol agent told the Washington Post that the 51 percent drop in apprehensions since the operation began are “the most dynamic results” he had seen in 19 years on the force.
What about the "family values" of Hispanics? Don't we want more?
If someone proposed a program to boost the number of Americans who lack a high school diploma, have children out of wedlock, sell drugs, steal, or use welfare, he’d be deemed mad. Yet liberalized immigration rules would do just that. The illegitimacy rate among Hispanics is high and rising faster than that of other ethnic groups; their dropout rate is the highest in the country; Hispanic children are joining gangs at younger and younger ages. Academic achievement is abysmal.
Illegitimacy concerns: Without doubt, many Latinos are upwardly mobile. But a significant portion of their children are getting sucked into street life...
Half of all children born to Hispanic Americans in 2002 were illegitimate, twice the rate for American whites and 42 percent higher than the overall American rate.
Literacy Concerns: Nationwide, 53 percent of Hispanics graduate from high school, according to the Manhattan Institute’s Jay Greene—the lowest rate among all ethnic groups
Crime: Open-borders conservatives point to the relatively low crime rate among immigrants to deny any connection between high immigration and crime. But unless we can prevent immigrants from having children, a high level of immigration translates to increased levels of crime. Between the foreign-born generation and their American children, the incarceration rate of Mexican-Americans jumps more than eightfold, resulting in an incarceration rate that is 3.45 times higher than that of whites, according to an analysis of 2000 census data by the pro-immigrant Migration Policy Institute.
Assimilation into US culture: Multicultural cheerleaders argue that assimilation is proceeding apace by pointing to the fact that virtually all third-generation Hispanics can speak English. Even so, linguistic and cultural segregation among Hispanics is increasing. The percentage of Hispanics living in Hispanic enclaves rose from 39 percent in 1990 to 43 percent in 2000, reports Robert Samuelson, and as more and more aliens from Mexico and Central America enter, the size of Spanish-speaking-only areas expands.
As most business-types know, understanding the problem is critical to formulating a solution. Ms. Mac Donald's research SHOULD go a long way toward shaping a Congressional response which utilizes enforcement AND recognizes the national interest--growth, but not a disproportionate increase in crime, illiteracy, and illegitimate children.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
A Sniper? Really?
This pic is from a NYSlimes series which lionizes the jihadists in Iraq. (Surprise!!)
But I noticed something about the picture which tells me that this guy was either posing or is ineffably stupid. You rifle-shooters out there should pick up on it easily, as well.
Hint: His accuracy WILL vary...
HT: PowerLine
But I noticed something about the picture which tells me that this guy was either posing or is ineffably stupid. You rifle-shooters out there should pick up on it easily, as well.
Hint: His accuracy WILL vary...
HT: PowerLine
Parents: Send YOUR Kid to UW-Madison!
Hell, when UW-Mad employs instructors who think like this, it's obviously a top-flight education:
Barrett on the US Armed Forces: Our troops are “Christian terrorists” occupying Iraq who played “Christian heavy metal death rock” (played what?) prior to the invasion to get their bad terrorist selves pumped up.
Also, he claimed that the Mossad had been caught setting up al-Qaeda cells in “Palestine,” but shortly after that cited a BBC program to support his assertion that al-Qaeda doesn’t really exist.
Daniel Pearle was killed by our own CIA . . . he was getting too close to the truth of 9/11
Videos of captives supposedly being killed by terrorists have actually been faked by a psychological warfare unit linked to Mossad and Western intelligence.
The U.S. government was behind the Oklahoma City bombing
Vice President Cheney “who is the most likely 9/11 suspect is very likely to find himself hanged for treason within the next year”
All of this bolsters the "academic reputation" of UW-Madison how?
HT: The (Very Happy) MARQUETTE Warrior
PS: If I were the admissions officer for ANY OTHER Big 10 school, I'd have The Sayings of UW's Kevin Barrett printed up as part of a mass-mailing to high-school kids.
Barrett on the US Armed Forces: Our troops are “Christian terrorists” occupying Iraq who played “Christian heavy metal death rock” (played what?) prior to the invasion to get their bad terrorist selves pumped up.
Also, he claimed that the Mossad had been caught setting up al-Qaeda cells in “Palestine,” but shortly after that cited a BBC program to support his assertion that al-Qaeda doesn’t really exist.
Daniel Pearle was killed by our own CIA . . . he was getting too close to the truth of 9/11
Videos of captives supposedly being killed by terrorists have actually been faked by a psychological warfare unit linked to Mossad and Western intelligence.
The U.S. government was behind the Oklahoma City bombing
Vice President Cheney “who is the most likely 9/11 suspect is very likely to find himself hanged for treason within the next year”
All of this bolsters the "academic reputation" of UW-Madison how?
HT: The (Very Happy) MARQUETTE Warrior
PS: If I were the admissions officer for ANY OTHER Big 10 school, I'd have The Sayings of UW's Kevin Barrett printed up as part of a mass-mailing to high-school kids.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Republicans Voted FOR it Before Voting AGAINST It
Taking a page from the John Kerry manual, the Senate Republicans, after voting FOR building a fence along the southern border, have largely voted AGAINST funding the damn thing.
"We do a lot of talking. We do a lot of legislating," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Alabama Republican whose amendment to fund the fence was killed on a 71-29 vote. "The things we do often sound very good, but we never quite get there."
Mr. Sessions offered his amendment to authorize $1.8 billion to pay for the fencing that the Senate voted 83-16 to build along high-traffic areas of the border with Mexico. In the same vote on May 17, the Senate also directed 500 miles of vehicle barriers to be built along the border.
But the May vote simply authorized the fencing and vehicle barriers, which on Capitol Hill is a different matter from approving the federal expenditures needed to build it.
...Virtually all Democrats were joined by the chamber's lone independent and 28 Republicans in opposing Mr. Session's amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Act. Only two Democrats -- Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Thomas R. Carper of Delaware -- supported funding the fence.
All told, 34 senators -- including most of the Republican leadership -- voted in May to build the fence but yesterday opposed funding it.
So if you STILL send money to the "Republican Senate" Campaign Committee--you've been told in advance how stupid you really are.
"We do a lot of talking. We do a lot of legislating," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Alabama Republican whose amendment to fund the fence was killed on a 71-29 vote. "The things we do often sound very good, but we never quite get there."
Mr. Sessions offered his amendment to authorize $1.8 billion to pay for the fencing that the Senate voted 83-16 to build along high-traffic areas of the border with Mexico. In the same vote on May 17, the Senate also directed 500 miles of vehicle barriers to be built along the border.
But the May vote simply authorized the fencing and vehicle barriers, which on Capitol Hill is a different matter from approving the federal expenditures needed to build it.
...Virtually all Democrats were joined by the chamber's lone independent and 28 Republicans in opposing Mr. Session's amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Act. Only two Democrats -- Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Thomas R. Carper of Delaware -- supported funding the fence.
All told, 34 senators -- including most of the Republican leadership -- voted in May to build the fence but yesterday opposed funding it.
So if you STILL send money to the "Republican Senate" Campaign Committee--you've been told in advance how stupid you really are.
Gun-Siezure Prohibition Passed Senate
Y'll recall N'awleans' little trouble with a big wind and lots of water.
During the aftermath, the "law enforcement" types literally ripped a revolver from the hands of a little old lady who had the weapon for self-defense (and defense of her property) because she had remained in the area.
The U S Senate passed an amendment to a bill which would PROHIBIT such siezures during "emergencies."
Here are the Senators who prefer dis-arming little old ladies, your wives and daughters, and you, by force, whenever an "emergency" is declared:
Akaka (D-HI), Boxer (D-CA), Clinton (D-NY), Dodd (D-CT), Durbin (D-IL), Feinstein (D-CA),
Harkin (D-IA), Inouye (D-HI), Kennedy (D-MA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Levin (D-MI), Menendez (D-NJ), Mikulski (D-MD), Reed (D-RI), Sarbanes (D-MD), Schumer (D-NY).
Even Kohl and Feingold could not support dis-arming by force...
HT: John Lott
During the aftermath, the "law enforcement" types literally ripped a revolver from the hands of a little old lady who had the weapon for self-defense (and defense of her property) because she had remained in the area.
The U S Senate passed an amendment to a bill which would PROHIBIT such siezures during "emergencies."
Here are the Senators who prefer dis-arming little old ladies, your wives and daughters, and you, by force, whenever an "emergency" is declared:
Akaka (D-HI), Boxer (D-CA), Clinton (D-NY), Dodd (D-CT), Durbin (D-IL), Feinstein (D-CA),
Harkin (D-IA), Inouye (D-HI), Kennedy (D-MA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Levin (D-MI), Menendez (D-NJ), Mikulski (D-MD), Reed (D-RI), Sarbanes (D-MD), Schumer (D-NY).
Even Kohl and Feingold could not support dis-arming by force...
HT: John Lott
Homosex "Marriage" Stomped by 8th Circuit
The State of Nebraska's voters passed a State constitutional amendment to prohibit Homosex "Marriage," by a 70/30 margin. (This is a typical result when such "marriage" is put to voters.)
A dipwad Fed judge voided the vote.
Now a 3-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dipwad's ruling:
For those of you normal people who were smart enough not to become lawyers, any claim that a law violates the Equal Protection Clause can be subject to various levels of scrutiny. The highest is "strict scrutiny" (used when the law affects those in a "suspect class", which includes race and gender), and the lowest standard the government has to overcome to win an Equal Protection claim is the one used here - "Rational Basis."
This is important because the court declined to place sexual orientation in the same category of race or gender. More importantly, the court did not find that marriage is a "fundamental right."
A dipwad Fed judge voided the vote.
Now a 3-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dipwad's ruling:
For those of you normal people who were smart enough not to become lawyers, any claim that a law violates the Equal Protection Clause can be subject to various levels of scrutiny. The highest is "strict scrutiny" (used when the law affects those in a "suspect class", which includes race and gender), and the lowest standard the government has to overcome to win an Equal Protection claim is the one used here - "Rational Basis."
This is important because the court declined to place sexual orientation in the same category of race or gender. More importantly, the court did not find that marriage is a "fundamental right."
Hastert & Sensenbrenner: Duets in RINO Key
As mentioned a couple of days ago, Hastert's RINO stripes show clearly when he strongarms the real Conservatives in the House. Sensenbrenner has joined with Hastert a couple of times recently in such efforts: first, the Sanctimonious Yelping-and-Screeching Campaign in defense of a mythological "sacred space" of Congressional offices (the Jefferson mess;) and now, ramming a ridiculous "voting rights" act down the throats of several Southern states.
This "voting rights" act stinks:
For one thing, the bill tries to effectively make an end-run against the Georgia v Ashcroft decision that helped put limits on the enforced racial segregation of voting districts.
What the House bill does is re-establish a form of electoral apartheid, and tries to guarantee election outcomes by assuming that all minority voters have readily identifiable "preferred candidates of choice." The "right" to elect said candidates is then assumed to be sacrosanct.
The great conservative lawyer Ted Olson has criticized this new provision, and Rep. Tom Price of Georgia rightly complained that the provision would try to guarantee "the outcome of elections" rather than "the right of individuals to vote."
In short, the bill in many, many ways is utterly pernicious, and itself makes utterly racist assumptions about how the color of somebody's skin automatically determines their voting preferences.
And remember, the Georgia v. Ashcroft decision that this bill tries to vitiate is a decision that was SUPPORTED by the black, Democratic attorney general of Georgia. As if Denny Hastert from his wrestling coach's bench in Illinois knows more about the needs and rights and concerns of black voters than does the black, Democratic attorney general of Georgia, Thurbert Baker.
Jim Sensenbrenner's term as Chair/Judiciary expires early next year. One might infer that Jim's recent lovey-dovey kootchie-koo act with Hastert, who acts more RINO every year, is in anticipation of some other plum Chairmanship.
Let's hope that when THAT is settled in January, that Sensenbrenner returns to Conservatism.
This "voting rights" act stinks:
For one thing, the bill tries to effectively make an end-run against the Georgia v Ashcroft decision that helped put limits on the enforced racial segregation of voting districts.
What the House bill does is re-establish a form of electoral apartheid, and tries to guarantee election outcomes by assuming that all minority voters have readily identifiable "preferred candidates of choice." The "right" to elect said candidates is then assumed to be sacrosanct.
The great conservative lawyer Ted Olson has criticized this new provision, and Rep. Tom Price of Georgia rightly complained that the provision would try to guarantee "the outcome of elections" rather than "the right of individuals to vote."
In short, the bill in many, many ways is utterly pernicious, and itself makes utterly racist assumptions about how the color of somebody's skin automatically determines their voting preferences.
And remember, the Georgia v. Ashcroft decision that this bill tries to vitiate is a decision that was SUPPORTED by the black, Democratic attorney general of Georgia. As if Denny Hastert from his wrestling coach's bench in Illinois knows more about the needs and rights and concerns of black voters than does the black, Democratic attorney general of Georgia, Thurbert Baker.
Jim Sensenbrenner's term as Chair/Judiciary expires early next year. One might infer that Jim's recent lovey-dovey kootchie-koo act with Hastert, who acts more RINO every year, is in anticipation of some other plum Chairmanship.
Let's hope that when THAT is settled in January, that Sensenbrenner returns to Conservatism.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Charlie Posts A Good One-Liner
Naaah. Not about Screechin'Shirley's continuing Arrogaton-of-Powers March, which now resembles Sherman's walk toward Atlanta. There are no good one-liners about her or her pocket-puppet pals on the Left side of the Wisconsin Supremes.
It's about Prosti-tots--the 12-year-old skank wannabees.
If it’s not for sale, why are you advertising it?
Some of you may actually see an obtuse connection between the Governor's new powers and the prosti-tot line....but you are vicious, cynical, (and correct) observers of BagManJim.
But I'll pick a bone with Charlie, anyway. Here's more of his post:
Simply put: letting a 12 year old dress like a 21 year old puts her in harm’s way, especially since few girls that young really understand what teenage boys are really like.
Why, Charlie, may a 21-year-old dress like a skank? Does the term "virtue" no longer apply due to some clock-based divide? Should 21-year-old women be targets of lust? Why?
Or maybe we should ask if 21-year-olds ARE 'for sale.'
Just sayin'
It's about Prosti-tots--the 12-year-old skank wannabees.
If it’s not for sale, why are you advertising it?
Some of you may actually see an obtuse connection between the Governor's new powers and the prosti-tot line....but you are vicious, cynical, (and correct) observers of BagManJim.
But I'll pick a bone with Charlie, anyway. Here's more of his post:
Simply put: letting a 12 year old dress like a 21 year old puts her in harm’s way, especially since few girls that young really understand what teenage boys are really like.
Why, Charlie, may a 21-year-old dress like a skank? Does the term "virtue" no longer apply due to some clock-based divide? Should 21-year-old women be targets of lust? Why?
Or maybe we should ask if 21-year-olds ARE 'for sale.'
Just sayin'
Completing Jessica's Picture
Jessica's post on the City of Milwaukee's newest venture into the Land of Oz is incomplete.
More accurately, the picture she shows is misleading in the extreme.
See YOUR City fathers have decided to spend $800K to build a steam-heated plaza which will support a bamboo plantation. Perhaps there will be a plaque yapping about Global Warming, or maybe about nostalgia for South Vietnam, or maybe a review of Buck's The Good Earth...who knows?
But one thing we DO know: steam-heated areas in the City attract a form of life NOT depicted in Jessica's picture.
We thought we'd give you a hint:
More accurately, the picture she shows is misleading in the extreme.
See YOUR City fathers have decided to spend $800K to build a steam-heated plaza which will support a bamboo plantation. Perhaps there will be a plaque yapping about Global Warming, or maybe about nostalgia for South Vietnam, or maybe a review of Buck's The Good Earth...who knows?
But one thing we DO know: steam-heated areas in the City attract a form of life NOT depicted in Jessica's picture.
We thought we'd give you a hint:
The Definitive Essay on Anne Coulter's "Plagiarism"
Fortunately, some Web-blogger has summarized the story on Coulter's alleged plagiarism for us:
Determined to find something to attack Coulter for besides her looks, a nonpartisan and incredibly hissy amatuer investigator ran everything she’s ever said or scribbled down since grade school through a state-of-the-art pattern recognition program. What he learned threatened to sour the proudly objective researcher against conservative pundits forever.
According to John Barrie, a Professym of Indigenous Norwegian Prophylactic Juggling at the University of Berkeley, most of the words Coulter uses in her books and columns have been used before, by other writers, and occasionally in the same sequences. In many cases, these sequences are hardly coincidental. As Barrie discovered, Coulter would often take someone else’s words, replace them with her own, shuffle them around, and sometimes go so far as to change the entire sentence structure around to conceal her crime. That’s plagiarism, folks, and leave it up to conservatives to turn it into something dirty.
The same blogger sums up Anne's output as follows:
You don’t have to read any of Ann Coulter's columns or books to know what a hate-fueled orgy of lies, half-truths, and lies they are. I can’t even begin to describe every single lie that she has put to pen in her entire career. Her lies are more abundant than the stars, more plentiful than zits at a Daily Kos convention. Let’s face it: She’s a lying liar who lies.
Actually, precisely that train of "thought" has been used by a Milwaukee blogger to describe Coulter's work on Joseph McCarthy, the most significant patriot EVER to go to the Senate from Wisconsin.
Determined to find something to attack Coulter for besides her looks, a nonpartisan and incredibly hissy amatuer investigator ran everything she’s ever said or scribbled down since grade school through a state-of-the-art pattern recognition program. What he learned threatened to sour the proudly objective researcher against conservative pundits forever.
According to John Barrie, a Professym of Indigenous Norwegian Prophylactic Juggling at the University of Berkeley, most of the words Coulter uses in her books and columns have been used before, by other writers, and occasionally in the same sequences. In many cases, these sequences are hardly coincidental. As Barrie discovered, Coulter would often take someone else’s words, replace them with her own, shuffle them around, and sometimes go so far as to change the entire sentence structure around to conceal her crime. That’s plagiarism, folks, and leave it up to conservatives to turn it into something dirty.
The same blogger sums up Anne's output as follows:
You don’t have to read any of Ann Coulter's columns or books to know what a hate-fueled orgy of lies, half-truths, and lies they are. I can’t even begin to describe every single lie that she has put to pen in her entire career. Her lies are more abundant than the stars, more plentiful than zits at a Daily Kos convention. Let’s face it: She’s a lying liar who lies.
Actually, precisely that train of "thought" has been used by a Milwaukee blogger to describe Coulter's work on Joseph McCarthy, the most significant patriot EVER to go to the Senate from Wisconsin.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Omnipotence
The modern Project of Omnipotence has a great deal to do with 'positivism,' --which should sound familiar to those who have read this brief critique of "positive law" regarding the Homosex "Marriage" amendment.
The manipulation of life through Embryonic Stem-Cell Research is another expression of positivism:
Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, raised the alarm in face of a technology that regards man as a being who can be easily manipulated.
Bishop Crepaldi had the opportunity to explain -- from the point of view of the social teaching of the Church -- the role of humanity in relation to the "technical nakedness," out of which nihilism expresses itself.
The prelate referred to the temptation to manipulate embryos, warning that the main danger for society and culture is the "'technification' of spheres of life that, so considered, instead of being governed by man elude him to the point that his power is transformed into impotence."
That's a very circuitous and elegant way to say "Don't Screw with Mother Nature...or she may bite you in the ass."
According to the dicastery's secretary, "the dream of Prometheus or, to be closer in time, of Francis Bacon, wanting to place in man's hands the secret of omnipotence, in fact, leaves those hands bare, handing man over to technology which becomes the anonymous nakedness of mere action."
Taking up what Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote in his work "Introduction to Christianity," the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace recalled that positivism, according to which "what one knows how to do can also be done" results in the "dictatorship of technology."
On the contrary, the proper approach:
...Recalling John Paul II's words in the Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace, "nature understood as creation is a vocation." Bishop Crepaldi added that "things are not just things, but also the meanings that link them among themselves."
"For man this order becomes normative in the moral sense. On one hand, nature is a 'gift' and on the other it is a 'design' which has been entrusted to man so that he will collaborate in its realization."
In other words, taking the 'esse' as a given helps us understand. One cannot manipulate esse without consequences. This particular theme was best demonstrated in the Frankenstein story; it is not necessarily mythological in the sense that it may be prophetic.
(Source: Zenit "New Dictatorship")
The manipulation of life through Embryonic Stem-Cell Research is another expression of positivism:
Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, raised the alarm in face of a technology that regards man as a being who can be easily manipulated.
Bishop Crepaldi had the opportunity to explain -- from the point of view of the social teaching of the Church -- the role of humanity in relation to the "technical nakedness," out of which nihilism expresses itself.
The prelate referred to the temptation to manipulate embryos, warning that the main danger for society and culture is the "'technification' of spheres of life that, so considered, instead of being governed by man elude him to the point that his power is transformed into impotence."
That's a very circuitous and elegant way to say "Don't Screw with Mother Nature...or she may bite you in the ass."
According to the dicastery's secretary, "the dream of Prometheus or, to be closer in time, of Francis Bacon, wanting to place in man's hands the secret of omnipotence, in fact, leaves those hands bare, handing man over to technology which becomes the anonymous nakedness of mere action."
Taking up what Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote in his work "Introduction to Christianity," the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace recalled that positivism, according to which "what one knows how to do can also be done" results in the "dictatorship of technology."
On the contrary, the proper approach:
...Recalling John Paul II's words in the Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace, "nature understood as creation is a vocation." Bishop Crepaldi added that "things are not just things, but also the meanings that link them among themselves."
"For man this order becomes normative in the moral sense. On one hand, nature is a 'gift' and on the other it is a 'design' which has been entrusted to man so that he will collaborate in its realization."
In other words, taking the 'esse' as a given helps us understand. One cannot manipulate esse without consequences. This particular theme was best demonstrated in the Frankenstein story; it is not necessarily mythological in the sense that it may be prophetic.
(Source: Zenit "New Dictatorship")
"Free Trade" Re-Examined
Stephen Roach is MorganStanley's global economist. The following is excerpted from his paper published at the MorganStanley economic forum. This is a slightly long read, but Roach proposes a carefully-balanced solution to a very significant problem--which is being ignored like The Man Behind the Tree by Congress.
While military success might be necessary to guarantee political freedom, cross-border economic battles are complicated by the co-dependencies of international trade and capital flows. One party’s defensive action can easily be viewed as an offensive threat by another - triggering a sequence of responses and counter-responses that can lead to trade wars and protectionism. Such is the case today, with the mounting tensions of globalization pushing the world uncomfortably close to the slippery slope of protectionism. What can be done to arrest this dangerous trend?
...In my opinion, this question can best be addressed through the lens of an increasingly precarious US-China trade relationship - quite possibly the most important bilateral economic relationship in the world. In essence, it boils down to today’s global hegemon versus what could well be the hegemon of the future.
...This simple contrast between supply- and demand-directed growth unlocks many of the important implications that have been key in driving a wedge between these two powerful economies.
That’s especially the case with respect to saving disparities. Lacking in support from self-sustaining internal demand - especially private consumption - China has the highest saving rate of any major economy in the world. Lacking in support from domestic income generation, America’s consumption binge has been accompanied by the lowest saving rate in the world. In 2005, China’s gross national saving rate was close to 50% - about four times the 13% rate in the US.
And, of course, the comparisons are even more worrisome when calculated in net terms - after stripping out the depreciation of worn-out capacity. On that basis, the US net national saving rate effectively fell to “zero” in the second half of 2005. Without any net saving, America has no choice other than to import surplus saving from abroad - and run massive current account and trade deficits to attract that capital.
What then is the mechanism by which macro tensions between China and the US are transmitted into the political arena? In my view, that’s where the global labor arbitrage comes into play. By our calculations, in 2004, average hourly compensation in Chinese manufacturing stood at only 3% of comparable pay rates in the US. And that’s after allowing for double-digit manufacturing wage inflation in China of about 12% per annum since 1999.
...It’s not just that a saving-short America is sourcing an increasing portion of demand from a low-wage Chinese economy. It’s that US real wages have been nearly stagnant for nearly a decade - rising at slightly less than a 1% average annual rate since 1995. Near-stagnation in real wages is an especially bitter pill to swallow in that it has occurred in the context of around 3% productivity growth over the same period. Consequently, the global labor arbitrage appears to be operating mainly through the price channel (real wages) rather than through quantities (hiring) - an outcome that tempers concerns over job security but heightens the angst over income insecurity.
(This also happens to be the principal source of angst over increases in health costs, gasoline prices, AND tax-burden in the United States.)
I’ve simplified the story a lot to get to the punch line - that the “win-win” theories of globalization are in real trouble. The basic conclusion of Ricardian comparative advantage that all economists are taught to worship from birth holds that trade liberalization not only brings poor workers from the developing world into the global economic equation (win #1), but workers in the developed world then benefit by buying low-cost, high-quality goods from the developing world (win #2).
The theory breaks down because of a new disruptive technology - in this case, the Internet - that dramatically accelerates both the speed and scope of worker displacement in the developed world.
...I had the honor of sharing the podium with two of the giants of modern trade theory - Paul Samuelson of MIT, who basically developed the modern-day version of the theory of comparative advantage, and William Baumol of NYU and Princeton, who led the way in exploring the ramifications of nontradable services.
Both of these gentlemen cautioned strongly against dismissing the plight of today’s generation of trade-displaced workers in the developed world. Samuelson stressed that in an earlier era of globalization, from 1880 to 1914, a comparable burst of innovation - in this case, the advent of the factory assembly line - lowered the standard of living for many workers in the US. “I am not here to be an optimist or a pessimist,” Samuelson stated matter-of-factly, “but a realist.” He concluded that it’s pretty clear a theory is in trouble when it fails the simplest of reality tests. “Displaced workers who have lost their jobs forever - be they blue or white-collar - draw no consolation from the theoretical conjecture of the win-win trap of the globalization advocates.”
In the spirit of a “Samuelson realist,” I would offer three basic guidelines to get the US-China relationship - and the globalization debate - back on track.
One, admit there is a problem - that courtesy of IT-enabled globalization, worker displacement and wage compression in the developed world is in uncharted territory. The rich industrialized economies need to respond by investing in human capital, educational reform, and basic research.
Two, the developing world needs to be engaged, not disenfranchised. Completion of the Doha round of trade liberalization is essential, as is compliance with new and rigorous standards of intellectual property protection - the residue of comparative advantage in the developed world.
Three, macro policies need to be realigned. The US must adopt a pro-saving policy - (it's time to look VERY hard at Paul Ryan's Social Security reform, --or reducing the "mortgage interest" deduction) facing up to structural budget deficits and the pro-consumption biases of the tax code and a bubble-prone central bank; such an approach would tilt national saving to the upside - reducing the risk of increasingly contentious current-account and trade deficits. China, for its part, must deliver on the pro-consumption intent of its newly enacted 11th Five-Year Plan; that approach would reduce its excess saving and temper the destabilizing impacts of its trade and current account surpluses.
...US-China trade tensions are a microcosm of what’s wrong with globalization. Neither side is facing up to the global ramifications of its economic aspirations. America’s excess consumption is placing an enormous burden on the rest of the world. China’s excess production is doing precisely the same. Painfully, history tells us that bilateral fixes cannot be imposed on a multilateral world. Economies that defend themselves on a bilateral basis ignore the darkest lessons of history at great peril.
The "peril" was likened to setting up a village at the foot of an active volcano, or in the path of an impending landslide.
While military success might be necessary to guarantee political freedom, cross-border economic battles are complicated by the co-dependencies of international trade and capital flows. One party’s defensive action can easily be viewed as an offensive threat by another - triggering a sequence of responses and counter-responses that can lead to trade wars and protectionism. Such is the case today, with the mounting tensions of globalization pushing the world uncomfortably close to the slippery slope of protectionism. What can be done to arrest this dangerous trend?
...In my opinion, this question can best be addressed through the lens of an increasingly precarious US-China trade relationship - quite possibly the most important bilateral economic relationship in the world. In essence, it boils down to today’s global hegemon versus what could well be the hegemon of the future.
...This simple contrast between supply- and demand-directed growth unlocks many of the important implications that have been key in driving a wedge between these two powerful economies.
That’s especially the case with respect to saving disparities. Lacking in support from self-sustaining internal demand - especially private consumption - China has the highest saving rate of any major economy in the world. Lacking in support from domestic income generation, America’s consumption binge has been accompanied by the lowest saving rate in the world. In 2005, China’s gross national saving rate was close to 50% - about four times the 13% rate in the US.
And, of course, the comparisons are even more worrisome when calculated in net terms - after stripping out the depreciation of worn-out capacity. On that basis, the US net national saving rate effectively fell to “zero” in the second half of 2005. Without any net saving, America has no choice other than to import surplus saving from abroad - and run massive current account and trade deficits to attract that capital.
What then is the mechanism by which macro tensions between China and the US are transmitted into the political arena? In my view, that’s where the global labor arbitrage comes into play. By our calculations, in 2004, average hourly compensation in Chinese manufacturing stood at only 3% of comparable pay rates in the US. And that’s after allowing for double-digit manufacturing wage inflation in China of about 12% per annum since 1999.
...It’s not just that a saving-short America is sourcing an increasing portion of demand from a low-wage Chinese economy. It’s that US real wages have been nearly stagnant for nearly a decade - rising at slightly less than a 1% average annual rate since 1995. Near-stagnation in real wages is an especially bitter pill to swallow in that it has occurred in the context of around 3% productivity growth over the same period. Consequently, the global labor arbitrage appears to be operating mainly through the price channel (real wages) rather than through quantities (hiring) - an outcome that tempers concerns over job security but heightens the angst over income insecurity.
(This also happens to be the principal source of angst over increases in health costs, gasoline prices, AND tax-burden in the United States.)
I’ve simplified the story a lot to get to the punch line - that the “win-win” theories of globalization are in real trouble. The basic conclusion of Ricardian comparative advantage that all economists are taught to worship from birth holds that trade liberalization not only brings poor workers from the developing world into the global economic equation (win #1), but workers in the developed world then benefit by buying low-cost, high-quality goods from the developing world (win #2).
The theory breaks down because of a new disruptive technology - in this case, the Internet - that dramatically accelerates both the speed and scope of worker displacement in the developed world.
...I had the honor of sharing the podium with two of the giants of modern trade theory - Paul Samuelson of MIT, who basically developed the modern-day version of the theory of comparative advantage, and William Baumol of NYU and Princeton, who led the way in exploring the ramifications of nontradable services.
Both of these gentlemen cautioned strongly against dismissing the plight of today’s generation of trade-displaced workers in the developed world. Samuelson stressed that in an earlier era of globalization, from 1880 to 1914, a comparable burst of innovation - in this case, the advent of the factory assembly line - lowered the standard of living for many workers in the US. “I am not here to be an optimist or a pessimist,” Samuelson stated matter-of-factly, “but a realist.” He concluded that it’s pretty clear a theory is in trouble when it fails the simplest of reality tests. “Displaced workers who have lost their jobs forever - be they blue or white-collar - draw no consolation from the theoretical conjecture of the win-win trap of the globalization advocates.”
In the spirit of a “Samuelson realist,” I would offer three basic guidelines to get the US-China relationship - and the globalization debate - back on track.
One, admit there is a problem - that courtesy of IT-enabled globalization, worker displacement and wage compression in the developed world is in uncharted territory. The rich industrialized economies need to respond by investing in human capital, educational reform, and basic research.
Two, the developing world needs to be engaged, not disenfranchised. Completion of the Doha round of trade liberalization is essential, as is compliance with new and rigorous standards of intellectual property protection - the residue of comparative advantage in the developed world.
Three, macro policies need to be realigned. The US must adopt a pro-saving policy - (it's time to look VERY hard at Paul Ryan's Social Security reform, --or reducing the "mortgage interest" deduction) facing up to structural budget deficits and the pro-consumption biases of the tax code and a bubble-prone central bank; such an approach would tilt national saving to the upside - reducing the risk of increasingly contentious current-account and trade deficits. China, for its part, must deliver on the pro-consumption intent of its newly enacted 11th Five-Year Plan; that approach would reduce its excess saving and temper the destabilizing impacts of its trade and current account surpluses.
...US-China trade tensions are a microcosm of what’s wrong with globalization. Neither side is facing up to the global ramifications of its economic aspirations. America’s excess consumption is placing an enormous burden on the rest of the world. China’s excess production is doing precisely the same. Painfully, history tells us that bilateral fixes cannot be imposed on a multilateral world. Economies that defend themselves on a bilateral basis ignore the darkest lessons of history at great peril.
The "peril" was likened to setting up a village at the foot of an active volcano, or in the path of an impending landslide.
New Lyrics for Summertime Harvest
Most of you know the tune. Here are some seasonally-adjusted lyrics, of particular use for zucchini-growers:
Amazing Squash! How huge the yield
That must be canned by me!
I made some bread, some mashed, some soup,
But more squash now I see
'Twas squash that taught my heart to fear,
How many can I cook?
I was peeved!
How precious did that sweet bread appear,
The hour I first believed!
Through many squash borers, droughts, and blight,
I have already come;
'Tis squash that has brought me safe thus far,
And squash lead me home.
When I've been picking 10,000 years
In the Bright shining sun
I've no more ways to share God's squash
Than When I'd first begun.
HT: The Ironic Catholic
Amazing Squash! How huge the yield
That must be canned by me!
I made some bread, some mashed, some soup,
But more squash now I see
'Twas squash that taught my heart to fear,
How many can I cook?
I was peeved!
How precious did that sweet bread appear,
The hour I first believed!
Through many squash borers, droughts, and blight,
I have already come;
'Tis squash that has brought me safe thus far,
And squash lead me home.
When I've been picking 10,000 years
In the Bright shining sun
I've no more ways to share God's squash
Than When I'd first begun.
HT: The Ironic Catholic
The Regularization of SSPX Is At Hand
Of course, SSPX must accept the offer from Rome.
All is ready for the agreement between the Holy See and the Fraternity Saint Pius X, founded by the "rebel" Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. The Vatican forwarded several weeks ago precise propositions to reach peace [a peaceful solution] and the reentrance of the Lefbvrists into full communion with Rome.
The negotiations, begun in 2000, have, as is well known, accelerated after the election of Benedict XVI, who, last August received the superior of the Traditionalists, Bishop Bernard Fellay, at Castelgandolfo.
However, from Menzingen, where the head of the Lefebvrists resides, no affirmative signal has so far arrived. Exactly two days ago, the same bishop Fellay was reconfirmed at the helm of the Fraternity, by the General Chapter, for the next twelve years. He had guided it since 1994.
As his "first and second assistants" Father Niklaus Pfluger and Father Marco Nely were elected. The first belongs to the harder line, while the second belongs to the more moderate wing.
It is possible that, in the past period, with the knowledge that his term was nearing its end, Fellay would have hesitated. Now, however, precise signals are expected in the Vatican. The terms of agreement include the acceptance of the theological agreement already agreed in 1988 by Archbishop Lefebvre and the then Cardinal Ratzinger, the lift of the excommunications decreed by the Holy See after the illegitimate ordination of four bishops by the same Lefebvre, and a canonical structure, similar to that of the military ordinariat, which allows the Fraternity Saint Pius X to preserve its seminaries and to incardinate [its own] priests.
Simultaneously to the agreement, the Holy See will announce a kind of liberalization of the pre-Conciliar Missal of Saint Pius V -- a measure very much expected also by Traditionalists in communion with Rome.
This will be a significant "plus"--if it comes about. It will also call for a great deal of attitudinal change on the part of the hard-line Lefebvrists, as well as hard-line Lefties in the Church.
Oremus.
All is ready for the agreement between the Holy See and the Fraternity Saint Pius X, founded by the "rebel" Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. The Vatican forwarded several weeks ago precise propositions to reach peace [a peaceful solution] and the reentrance of the Lefbvrists into full communion with Rome.
The negotiations, begun in 2000, have, as is well known, accelerated after the election of Benedict XVI, who, last August received the superior of the Traditionalists, Bishop Bernard Fellay, at Castelgandolfo.
However, from Menzingen, where the head of the Lefebvrists resides, no affirmative signal has so far arrived. Exactly two days ago, the same bishop Fellay was reconfirmed at the helm of the Fraternity, by the General Chapter, for the next twelve years. He had guided it since 1994.
As his "first and second assistants" Father Niklaus Pfluger and Father Marco Nely were elected. The first belongs to the harder line, while the second belongs to the more moderate wing.
It is possible that, in the past period, with the knowledge that his term was nearing its end, Fellay would have hesitated. Now, however, precise signals are expected in the Vatican. The terms of agreement include the acceptance of the theological agreement already agreed in 1988 by Archbishop Lefebvre and the then Cardinal Ratzinger, the lift of the excommunications decreed by the Holy See after the illegitimate ordination of four bishops by the same Lefebvre, and a canonical structure, similar to that of the military ordinariat, which allows the Fraternity Saint Pius X to preserve its seminaries and to incardinate [its own] priests.
Simultaneously to the agreement, the Holy See will announce a kind of liberalization of the pre-Conciliar Missal of Saint Pius V -- a measure very much expected also by Traditionalists in communion with Rome.
This will be a significant "plus"--if it comes about. It will also call for a great deal of attitudinal change on the part of the hard-line Lefebvrists, as well as hard-line Lefties in the Church.
Oremus.
To Tolerate? Or Not To Tolerate? It IS the Question
From an esssay on the topic of "Tolerance" by Fr. Thomas Williams, LC:
If tolerance is a virtue, it is a decidedly modern one. It appears in none of the classical treatments of the virtues: not in Plato, not in Seneca, not even in Aristotle’s extensive list of the virtues of the good citizen in his Nichomachean Ethics. Indulgence of evil, in the absence of an overriding reason for doing so, has never been considered virtuous. Even today, indiscriminate tolerance would not be allowed. A public official tolerant of child abuse or tax evasion would hardly be considered a virtuous official.
The closer one examines tolerance and tries to apply it across the board, the more obvious it becomes that it’s simply insufficient as a principle to govern society. Even if it were possible to achieve total tolerance, it would be exceedingly undesirable and counterproductive to do so. In his play Saint Joan, George Bernard Shaw wrote, “We may prate of toleration as we will; but society must always draw a line somewhere between allowable conduct and insanity or crime.”
Moreover, as a virtue, tolerance seems to have distanced itself so far from its etymological roots as to have become another word altogether. Thus the virtue of “tolerance” no longer implies the act of “toleration,” but rather a general attitude of permissiveness and openness to diversity. A tolerant person will not tolerate all things, but only those things considered tolerable by the reigning cultural milieu. Tolerance therefore now has two radically incompatible meanings that create space for serious misunderstandings and abuse.
....and we all know WHO makes up the "reigning cultural milieu," eh?
Tolerance and intolerance have no objective referent, but rather can be applied arbitrarily. Thus the accusation of intolerance has become a weapon against those whose standards for tolerance differ from one’s own, and our criteria for tolerance depend on our subjective convictions or prejudices. Thus Voltaire was able to defend the actions of the Roman Empire in persecuting Christians and blamed the Christians themselves for their martyrdom because they failed to keep their religion to themselves. He avers that the death of Christians was a consequence of their own intolerance toward Rome, and not the other way around. Such sophistry is part and parcel of many of today’s debates on tolerance, and flows from the ambivalence of the term.
HT: Insight Scoop
If tolerance is a virtue, it is a decidedly modern one. It appears in none of the classical treatments of the virtues: not in Plato, not in Seneca, not even in Aristotle’s extensive list of the virtues of the good citizen in his Nichomachean Ethics. Indulgence of evil, in the absence of an overriding reason for doing so, has never been considered virtuous. Even today, indiscriminate tolerance would not be allowed. A public official tolerant of child abuse or tax evasion would hardly be considered a virtuous official.
The closer one examines tolerance and tries to apply it across the board, the more obvious it becomes that it’s simply insufficient as a principle to govern society. Even if it were possible to achieve total tolerance, it would be exceedingly undesirable and counterproductive to do so. In his play Saint Joan, George Bernard Shaw wrote, “We may prate of toleration as we will; but society must always draw a line somewhere between allowable conduct and insanity or crime.”
Moreover, as a virtue, tolerance seems to have distanced itself so far from its etymological roots as to have become another word altogether. Thus the virtue of “tolerance” no longer implies the act of “toleration,” but rather a general attitude of permissiveness and openness to diversity. A tolerant person will not tolerate all things, but only those things considered tolerable by the reigning cultural milieu. Tolerance therefore now has two radically incompatible meanings that create space for serious misunderstandings and abuse.
....and we all know WHO makes up the "reigning cultural milieu," eh?
Tolerance and intolerance have no objective referent, but rather can be applied arbitrarily. Thus the accusation of intolerance has become a weapon against those whose standards for tolerance differ from one’s own, and our criteria for tolerance depend on our subjective convictions or prejudices. Thus Voltaire was able to defend the actions of the Roman Empire in persecuting Christians and blamed the Christians themselves for their martyrdom because they failed to keep their religion to themselves. He avers that the death of Christians was a consequence of their own intolerance toward Rome, and not the other way around. Such sophistry is part and parcel of many of today’s debates on tolerance, and flows from the ambivalence of the term.
HT: Insight Scoop
The Holmes Folks are Right-On Parents!!
Some parents know how to parent:
The buzz is that Tom Cruise will marry the mother of his daughter Suri in late July or early August in a Scientology ceremony to be performed by church leader David Miscavige.
What’s more, Holmes’ parents, devout Catholics Martin and Kathleen, intend to skip the actual ceremony, a “friend” of Cruise reportedly told Life & Style Weekly.
A spokesman for the couple denies the story, but the mag quotes a “family friend” as saying, that Martin and Kathleen Holmes are “not happy” with their daughter’s “choice of where to marry.” Martin Holmes allegedly told the friend, “Katie can have a proper Catholic wedding her whole family will gladly be a part of.”
Katie Holmes initially wanted a Catholic wedding, but “realized she’d never win the argument about having a Catholic wedding,” a Holmes family friend reportedly told the mag. “She knows that if she had rejected Scientology, her relationship with Tom could’ve ended.”
Too bad, Katie, but you made your bed. Nighty-night.
The buzz is that Tom Cruise will marry the mother of his daughter Suri in late July or early August in a Scientology ceremony to be performed by church leader David Miscavige.
What’s more, Holmes’ parents, devout Catholics Martin and Kathleen, intend to skip the actual ceremony, a “friend” of Cruise reportedly told Life & Style Weekly.
A spokesman for the couple denies the story, but the mag quotes a “family friend” as saying, that Martin and Kathleen Holmes are “not happy” with their daughter’s “choice of where to marry.” Martin Holmes allegedly told the friend, “Katie can have a proper Catholic wedding her whole family will gladly be a part of.”
Katie Holmes initially wanted a Catholic wedding, but “realized she’d never win the argument about having a Catholic wedding,” a Holmes family friend reportedly told the mag. “She knows that if she had rejected Scientology, her relationship with Tom could’ve ended.”
Too bad, Katie, but you made your bed. Nighty-night.
US Department of Labor: Jobs You CANNOT Do
One wonders who the United States' DoL thinks is paying their salaries:
Most of us in the computer industry are aware that discrimination againstU.S. workers is widespread. There are many companies that simply do not hire U.S. workers in favor of foreign guestworkers.
In the past this practice of discrimination has taken place under cover. We knew who these companies were and did not bother applying. They knew that if they received a resume from a U.S. worker that it was probably a test.
The practice of "H-1B only" hiring has become so established that employers now feel free to engage in it openly. Over the past few weeks I have found over 1,500 "H-1B only" ads from over 350 employers.
...Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, discrimination based upon immigration status is illegal. ...
...we allege that H-1B dependent employers are not recruiting U.S. workers in "Good Faith". So far we have not had much success with complaints to the Department of Labor. For our first attempt we sent copies of 130 advertisements from a single employer. The Department of Labor responded that this was not sufficient evidence to investigate.
If 130 ads stating the company prefers H-1B holders or that only H-1Bholders can apply is not sufficient evidence to even investigate, what is?
Cute, eh?
Evidently Ms. Chao at DoL has a new category in the making: "Jobs Americans Will Not Be ALLOWED to Do"--conveniently enforced by the US Department of Labor.
(Source: ZaZona.com newsletter)
Most of us in the computer industry are aware that discrimination againstU.S. workers is widespread. There are many companies that simply do not hire U.S. workers in favor of foreign guestworkers.
In the past this practice of discrimination has taken place under cover. We knew who these companies were and did not bother applying. They knew that if they received a resume from a U.S. worker that it was probably a test.
The practice of "H-1B only" hiring has become so established that employers now feel free to engage in it openly. Over the past few weeks I have found over 1,500 "H-1B only" ads from over 350 employers.
...Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, discrimination based upon immigration status is illegal. ...
...we allege that H-1B dependent employers are not recruiting U.S. workers in "Good Faith". So far we have not had much success with complaints to the Department of Labor. For our first attempt we sent copies of 130 advertisements from a single employer. The Department of Labor responded that this was not sufficient evidence to investigate.
If 130 ads stating the company prefers H-1B holders or that only H-1Bholders can apply is not sufficient evidence to even investigate, what is?
Cute, eh?
Evidently Ms. Chao at DoL has a new category in the making: "Jobs Americans Will Not Be ALLOWED to Do"--conveniently enforced by the US Department of Labor.
(Source: ZaZona.com newsletter)
D.C. Crime
Today, class, we will discuss criminal activity in D.C. conducted OUTSIDE of Congressional offices:
While Florida crime rates are dropping, the District of Columbia has declared a crime emergency "Alan Senitt, was attacked in the Georgetown area on Sunday, his throat was slit and police say the attackers attempted to rape his companion. It was the 13th homicide in the city this month. Robberies are up 14 percent, and armed assaults have jumped 18 percent in the past 30 days."
D.C., like Wisconsin, bans concealed-carry.
Of course, there's no connection between increasing criminal assaults, robberies, and rapes and the fact that law-abiding citizens are defenseless...
None.
While Florida crime rates are dropping, the District of Columbia has declared a crime emergency "Alan Senitt, was attacked in the Georgetown area on Sunday, his throat was slit and police say the attackers attempted to rape his companion. It was the 13th homicide in the city this month. Robberies are up 14 percent, and armed assaults have jumped 18 percent in the past 30 days."
D.C., like Wisconsin, bans concealed-carry.
Of course, there's no connection between increasing criminal assaults, robberies, and rapes and the fact that law-abiding citizens are defenseless...
None.
Blogger Secret Code
In a generally hilarious rip of some lawyer's attempt at insightful 'humor,' Jib answers a question:
44. What's the maximum amount of time you'd want to spend alone with Dick Cheney?
Jib: Depends on when my wife expects me home for "The Taxpayer."
"The Taxpayer" is NOT a movie, nor a TV show.
And stodgy Lutherans don't really DO that sort of thing, do they, Jib?
44. What's the maximum amount of time you'd want to spend alone with Dick Cheney?
Jib: Depends on when my wife expects me home for "The Taxpayer."
"The Taxpayer" is NOT a movie, nor a TV show.
And stodgy Lutherans don't really DO that sort of thing, do they, Jib?
Restless Base, GWB??
You'll see this cartoon on a number of blogs. This one is not as gentle as most.
We note that GWB did not bring up Illegal Immigration while in Wisconsin. Maybe he's learned his lesson after getting a big fat ZERO at the fund-raiser in D.C. a couple of weeks ago.
We note that GWB did not bring up Illegal Immigration while in Wisconsin. Maybe he's learned his lesson after getting a big fat ZERO at the fund-raiser in D.C. a couple of weeks ago.
CDC: Docs WILL Screen Everyone for AIDS
"Would you like an AIDS test with that?"
...the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to release... guidelines this summer that would expand HIV screening to all adults in the United States.
If this happens, it means that just about anybody over the age of 13 could be asked by their doctor, "Would you like an HIV test?"
At least 25 percent of Americans infected with HIV are unaware of their status, according to the CDC.
...the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to release... guidelines this summer that would expand HIV screening to all adults in the United States.
If this happens, it means that just about anybody over the age of 13 could be asked by their doctor, "Would you like an HIV test?"
At least 25 percent of Americans infected with HIV are unaware of their status, according to the CDC.
Morning Sickness? Cut Out the Booze
See, it's just a matter of taking care of baby:
...morning sickness is positively correlated with intake of sugars and sweeteners, stimulants such as caffeine, vegetables, meats, milk and eggs, and negatively related to cereals and pulses.
Morning sickness is usually accompanied by food aversions, most commonly to meats, fish, poultry and eggs - the foods that were more likely to carry harmful microorganisms and parasites before modern refrigeration and food-handling processes. Caffeine drinks and alcohol are also disliked by many pregnant women.
...morning sickness is positively correlated with intake of sugars and sweeteners, stimulants such as caffeine, vegetables, meats, milk and eggs, and negatively related to cereals and pulses.
Morning sickness is usually accompanied by food aversions, most commonly to meats, fish, poultry and eggs - the foods that were more likely to carry harmful microorganisms and parasites before modern refrigeration and food-handling processes. Caffeine drinks and alcohol are also disliked by many pregnant women.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Starts Good, Gets Bad
Here's the headline from the subscriber email:
IRS Headquarters Will Remain Closed for Months;
Then comes the bad news:
Tax Administration Operations Continue As Employees Relocate
And then, the REST of the story:
The Internal Revenue Service and General Services Administration announced today initial findings from GSAs flood damage report on the IRSs Headquarters Building at 1111 Constitution Ave. NW. According to the GSA assessment, complete building restoration wont be complete until about the first of the year due to extensive damage the buildings infrastructure sustained during last months heavy rainfall.
The IRS and GSA are also developing plans for a possible phased-in return of employees to the building over the course of the fall.
The lengthy delay reflects the heavy damage sustained during the record rainfall. Critical parts of the buildings electrical system and heating and air conditioning systems were destroyed or heavily damaged during the record rainfall. The equipment is located in the buildings subbasement, which was submerged in more than 20 feet of water.
And just to quash your hopes:
A review is currently underway to determine what steps need to be taken to ensure this type of damage would not occur again in a comparable storm.
No matter the message from the heavens, IRS will continue.
I knew that, but...
IRS Headquarters Will Remain Closed for Months;
Then comes the bad news:
Tax Administration Operations Continue As Employees Relocate
And then, the REST of the story:
The Internal Revenue Service and General Services Administration announced today initial findings from GSAs flood damage report on the IRSs Headquarters Building at 1111 Constitution Ave. NW. According to the GSA assessment, complete building restoration wont be complete until about the first of the year due to extensive damage the buildings infrastructure sustained during last months heavy rainfall.
The IRS and GSA are also developing plans for a possible phased-in return of employees to the building over the course of the fall.
The lengthy delay reflects the heavy damage sustained during the record rainfall. Critical parts of the buildings electrical system and heating and air conditioning systems were destroyed or heavily damaged during the record rainfall. The equipment is located in the buildings subbasement, which was submerged in more than 20 feet of water.
And just to quash your hopes:
A review is currently underway to determine what steps need to be taken to ensure this type of damage would not occur again in a comparable storm.
No matter the message from the heavens, IRS will continue.
I knew that, but...
Dorothy Sayers and The Inferno
Thoughts which make one say "Hmmmm"
"That the Inferno is a picture of human society in a state of sin and corruption, everybody will readily agree. And since we are today fairly well convinced that society is in a bad way and not necessarily evolving in the direction of perfectibility, we find it easy enough to recognise the various stages by which the deep of corruption is reached.
Futility; lack of a living faith; the drift into loose morality, greedy consumption, financial irresponsibility, and uncontrolled bad temper; a self-opinionated and obstinate individualism; violence, sterility, and lack of reverence for life and property including one's own; the exploitation of sex, the debasing of language by advertisement and propaganda, the commercialising of religion, the pandering to superstition and the conditioning of people's minds by mass-hysteria and 'spell-binding' of all kinds, venality and string-pulling in public affairs, hypocrisy, dishonesty in material things, intellectual dishonesty, the fomenting of discord (class against class, nation against nation) for what one can get out of it, the falsification and destruction of all the means of communication; the exploitation of the lowest and stupidest mass-emotions; treachery even to the fundamentals of kinship, country, the chosen friend, and the sworn allegiance: these are the all-too-recognisable stages that lead to the cold death of society and the extinguishing of all civilised relations."
Schumacher, A Guide for the Perplexed, quoting Dorothy Sayers).
I suppose one should re-read Dante.
HT: The Truth of Things, a Green Bay blogger.
"That the Inferno is a picture of human society in a state of sin and corruption, everybody will readily agree. And since we are today fairly well convinced that society is in a bad way and not necessarily evolving in the direction of perfectibility, we find it easy enough to recognise the various stages by which the deep of corruption is reached.
Futility; lack of a living faith; the drift into loose morality, greedy consumption, financial irresponsibility, and uncontrolled bad temper; a self-opinionated and obstinate individualism; violence, sterility, and lack of reverence for life and property including one's own; the exploitation of sex, the debasing of language by advertisement and propaganda, the commercialising of religion, the pandering to superstition and the conditioning of people's minds by mass-hysteria and 'spell-binding' of all kinds, venality and string-pulling in public affairs, hypocrisy, dishonesty in material things, intellectual dishonesty, the fomenting of discord (class against class, nation against nation) for what one can get out of it, the falsification and destruction of all the means of communication; the exploitation of the lowest and stupidest mass-emotions; treachery even to the fundamentals of kinship, country, the chosen friend, and the sworn allegiance: these are the all-too-recognisable stages that lead to the cold death of society and the extinguishing of all civilised relations."
Schumacher, A Guide for the Perplexed, quoting Dorothy Sayers).
I suppose one should re-read Dante.
HT: The Truth of Things, a Green Bay blogger.
Flying Nuns
The Sisters of St. Joseph certainly get around.
Yesterday, convening in Milwaukee, they were protesting GWBush--NOT because GWBush is sorta squishy on abortion; but because GWBush is NOT squishy on terrorists and their sponsors (e.g. Saddam Hussein.)
About 150 protesters gathered outside the hotel, many criticizing Bush for the war in Iraq. About 100 nuns from the Sisters of St. Joseph picketed and sang for peace outside the hotel before Bush arrived.
"We hope people who see this will understand we need a country that's more compassionate," said Sister Virginia Webb of St. Paul, Minn
But in addition, the Sisters of St. Joseph were also represented at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, MN--on Pentecost--
Brigid McDonald, a Sister of St. Joseph for 53 years, was shocked when she, along with others wearing rainbow-colored sashes in solidarity with Dignity Twin Cities, Catholic Rainbow Parents, the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities, and Rainbow Sash Alliance, were denied Communion.
The JSOnline reports that only about 150 of these nuns managed to gather "for compassion."
Yesterday, convening in Milwaukee, they were protesting GWBush--NOT because GWBush is sorta squishy on abortion; but because GWBush is NOT squishy on terrorists and their sponsors (e.g. Saddam Hussein.)
About 150 protesters gathered outside the hotel, many criticizing Bush for the war in Iraq. About 100 nuns from the Sisters of St. Joseph picketed and sang for peace outside the hotel before Bush arrived.
"We hope people who see this will understand we need a country that's more compassionate," said Sister Virginia Webb of St. Paul, Minn
But in addition, the Sisters of St. Joseph were also represented at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, MN--on Pentecost--
Brigid McDonald, a Sister of St. Joseph for 53 years, was shocked when she, along with others wearing rainbow-colored sashes in solidarity with Dignity Twin Cities, Catholic Rainbow Parents, the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities, and Rainbow Sash Alliance, were denied Communion.
The JSOnline reports that only about 150 of these nuns managed to gather "for compassion."
Want Peace? Carry a Gun
Certainly is the case in Florida. CCW and "castle doctrine" laws have had an impact on the crime rate:
Well, the Palm Beach Post reports that Florida's crime rates have fallen to the lowest level since 1971. "A telephone message left for comment after hours with the The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington, D.C. was not immediately returned."
You can get the report, in pdf format, here. It shows that, even though the state's population is growing, total homicides fell by 6.9%, and firearm homicides by 6.1%.
It may be a while before Brady Center is able to spin THOSE numbers.
HT: Of Arms and the Law
Well, the Palm Beach Post reports that Florida's crime rates have fallen to the lowest level since 1971. "A telephone message left for comment after hours with the The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington, D.C. was not immediately returned."
You can get the report, in pdf format, here. It shows that, even though the state's population is growing, total homicides fell by 6.9%, and firearm homicides by 6.1%.
It may be a while before Brady Center is able to spin THOSE numbers.
HT: Of Arms and the Law
Immigration Control: Stage Two
Once the southern border is sealed properly, there's another small problem to solve:
A special visa program that allows churches to bring thousands of foreign religious workers into the country each year is riddled with fraud, an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security investigation has found.
The probe found numerous instances in which groups in the United States falsely claimed to be churches, and visa applicants lied about their religious vocations in order to get into the country .
More than a third of the visas examined by investigators were based on fraudulent information.
A report on the investigation, obtained by the Globe, said that instances of fraud were particularly high among applicants from predominantly Muslim countries, and the report raised concerns about potential terrorism risks.
I think we can afford to cancel the "special" program for, say, 20 years or so...
HT: Malkin
A special visa program that allows churches to bring thousands of foreign religious workers into the country each year is riddled with fraud, an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security investigation has found.
The probe found numerous instances in which groups in the United States falsely claimed to be churches, and visa applicants lied about their religious vocations in order to get into the country .
More than a third of the visas examined by investigators were based on fraudulent information.
A report on the investigation, obtained by the Globe, said that instances of fraud were particularly high among applicants from predominantly Muslim countries, and the report raised concerns about potential terrorism risks.
I think we can afford to cancel the "special" program for, say, 20 years or so...
HT: Malkin
Hacker-War Games?
Nothing to see here. Move along. China is our friend.
The State Department is recovering from large-scale computer break-ins worldwide over the past several weeks that appeared to target its headquarters and offices dealing with China and North Korea, The Associated Press has learned.
Investigators believe hackers stole sensitive U.S. information and passwords and implanted backdoors in unclassified government computers to allow them to return at will, said U.S. officials familiar with the hacking.
Tracing the origin of such break-ins is difficult. But employees told AP the hackers appeared to hit computers especially hard at headquarters and inside the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, which coordinates diplomacy in countries including China, the Koreas and Japan. In the tense weeks preceding North Korea's missile tests, that bureau lost its Internet connectivity for several days.
China's government was considered by experts a chief suspect in computer break-ins at the Defense Department and other U.S. agencies disclosed last summer. But China also is home to a large number of insecure computers and networks that hackers in other countries could use to disguise their locations and launch attacks.
The Pentagon warned earlier this year that China's army is emphasizing hacking as an offensive weapon.
State also took out SSL.
The State Department is recovering from large-scale computer break-ins worldwide over the past several weeks that appeared to target its headquarters and offices dealing with China and North Korea, The Associated Press has learned.
Investigators believe hackers stole sensitive U.S. information and passwords and implanted backdoors in unclassified government computers to allow them to return at will, said U.S. officials familiar with the hacking.
Tracing the origin of such break-ins is difficult. But employees told AP the hackers appeared to hit computers especially hard at headquarters and inside the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, which coordinates diplomacy in countries including China, the Koreas and Japan. In the tense weeks preceding North Korea's missile tests, that bureau lost its Internet connectivity for several days.
China's government was considered by experts a chief suspect in computer break-ins at the Defense Department and other U.S. agencies disclosed last summer. But China also is home to a large number of insecure computers and networks that hackers in other countries could use to disguise their locations and launch attacks.
The Pentagon warned earlier this year that China's army is emphasizing hacking as an offensive weapon.
State also took out SSL.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Abp. Dolan Sneaks One In for the Good Guys
It's widely reported that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee was sending its Catholic Herald newspaper to every registered Catholic family in the Archdiocese to announce the impending financial problems expected following resolution of a lawsuit for pedophile-damages in California.
Sure enough, mine arrived yesterday. Nice to notice that the Herald's format is now just like that of Human Events...imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, you know.
What was NOT reported was the other major content of the special edition:
1) A strong and unequivocal argument for amending the Wisconsin Constitution to BAN GAY MARRIAGE; and
2) A strong argument to BAN the DEATH PENALTY, also through Constitional amendment.
See, it's not really all about sex.
Sure enough, mine arrived yesterday. Nice to notice that the Herald's format is now just like that of Human Events...imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, you know.
What was NOT reported was the other major content of the special edition:
1) A strong and unequivocal argument for amending the Wisconsin Constitution to BAN GAY MARRIAGE; and
2) A strong argument to BAN the DEATH PENALTY, also through Constitional amendment.
See, it's not really all about sex.
Jess McBride: The Tinfoil Hat is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
Jessica demonstrates that she practices what she teaches, and asks a few questions.
If you pay Wisconsin income taxes, you will NOT like the answers.
The Tinfoil Barrett speech on Saturday, July 7th, was sponsored by the UW-Madison Sociology Department's Havens Center. This center gets $100,000+/year in State tax support. The event, formerly known as "RadFest" is paid for largely through registrations and some donations.
As you might infer from the moniker "RadFest" this little confab's themes are not exactly in line with Middle America's values. You just PAY for it, shut up and go away.
Discussions, workshops, and lectures:
...ways to fight the domination of the right wing on the air waves; the current political and legal climate regarding reproductive rights, focusing on rebuilding an effective movement through grassroots victories and access-based local initiatives; ...[t]his majority has not found the means, yet, to wrest control of the federal government from reactionary neo-conservative political forces. This session will focus on the strategy and tactics needed to overcome this problem; various counter-military recruiting strategies, including youth organizing, tabling in schools and the community, school board policy and non-violent civil disobedience; Voting for Peace, Banning Wal-Mart, and More; the political context of the anti-immigrant movement as a backlash against the gains of the Civil Rights Movement.
Yah, hey! ILLEGAL immigration is a Civil Rights affair.
"Clueless" Walsh, President of the Regents, UW-System, has yet to comment.
If you pay Wisconsin income taxes, you will NOT like the answers.
The Tinfoil Barrett speech on Saturday, July 7th, was sponsored by the UW-Madison Sociology Department's Havens Center. This center gets $100,000+/year in State tax support. The event, formerly known as "RadFest" is paid for largely through registrations and some donations.
As you might infer from the moniker "RadFest" this little confab's themes are not exactly in line with Middle America's values. You just PAY for it, shut up and go away.
Discussions, workshops, and lectures:
...ways to fight the domination of the right wing on the air waves; the current political and legal climate regarding reproductive rights, focusing on rebuilding an effective movement through grassroots victories and access-based local initiatives; ...[t]his majority has not found the means, yet, to wrest control of the federal government from reactionary neo-conservative political forces. This session will focus on the strategy and tactics needed to overcome this problem; various counter-military recruiting strategies, including youth organizing, tabling in schools and the community, school board policy and non-violent civil disobedience; Voting for Peace, Banning Wal-Mart, and More; the political context of the anti-immigrant movement as a backlash against the gains of the Civil Rights Movement.
Yah, hey! ILLEGAL immigration is a Civil Rights affair.
"Clueless" Walsh, President of the Regents, UW-System, has yet to comment.
Hastert's, Sensenbrenner's Argument Invalid
In the case of William Jefferson, (D) LA., a Federal judge has ruled that Congressional slime are NOT exempt from typical criminal evidentiary process:
A federal judge on Monday upheld the FBI's unprecedented raid of a congressional office, saying that barring searches of lawmakers' offices would turn Capitol Hill into "a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime."
One is tempted to comment on the last phrase of that paragraph...
Why in blazes Jim Sensenbrenner jumped into that stinking mess to defend the "sacred space" of a Congressional office in this case is beyond me. Hastert doesn't strike me as a particularly bright guy--he's more a Daley-Democrat-methods character, except for his (R) tag.
But Jim--WHAT were you THINKING?
A federal judge on Monday upheld the FBI's unprecedented raid of a congressional office, saying that barring searches of lawmakers' offices would turn Capitol Hill into "a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime."
One is tempted to comment on the last phrase of that paragraph...
Why in blazes Jim Sensenbrenner jumped into that stinking mess to defend the "sacred space" of a Congressional office in this case is beyond me. Hastert doesn't strike me as a particularly bright guy--he's more a Daley-Democrat-methods character, except for his (R) tag.
But Jim--WHAT were you THINKING?
Hillary and Bill's Pay-for-Play, Part 3,568
Captain's Quarters summarizes it nicely:
Yesterday, I wrote about the obvious quid pro quo between Bill Clinton's presidential pardon of Edgar and Vonna Jo Gregory and the loans given to Hillary Clinton's brother, Anthony Rodham, starting two months later
United Shows [the Gregorys' firm] started issuing a series of loans to Rodham that eventually totalled $107,000, loans for which they never demanded payment and which Rodham never paid on his own. It was not until United Shows went into receivership that the loans came to light
...Rodham was not the only recipient of the Gregorys' largesse. In fact, a search at Open Secrets shows that the Gregorys had sent $10,000 to Hillary's Senate campaign, about half of which came before the pardon
At least with the Clintons, pay-to-play schemes don't hit the press within 60 days. BagManJim's campaign people ought to emulate the X42/Hildebeeste playbook.
Yesterday, I wrote about the obvious quid pro quo between Bill Clinton's presidential pardon of Edgar and Vonna Jo Gregory and the loans given to Hillary Clinton's brother, Anthony Rodham, starting two months later
United Shows [the Gregorys' firm] started issuing a series of loans to Rodham that eventually totalled $107,000, loans for which they never demanded payment and which Rodham never paid on his own. It was not until United Shows went into receivership that the loans came to light
...Rodham was not the only recipient of the Gregorys' largesse. In fact, a search at Open Secrets shows that the Gregorys had sent $10,000 to Hillary's Senate campaign, about half of which came before the pardon
At least with the Clintons, pay-to-play schemes don't hit the press within 60 days. BagManJim's campaign people ought to emulate the X42/Hildebeeste playbook.
Porn and Polymorphous Pervert...Horse and Carriage
Yah.
One of the Great Unmentioneds midst conservatives is the fact that porn has deleterious effects. Affirming that fact generally leads to contentious debates, because some vocal and influential conservatives seem to value "free expression" very highly. On top of that, those same conservatives are not willing to concede that viewing porn leads to problematic acting out in many cases.
Tell it to Tony Balistreri's victims:
In sometimes graphic detail, an 18-year-old man testified Monday about how former Pewaukee Ald. Anthony C. Balistreri introduced him to pornography when he was 11 or 12, plied him with alcohol to ease his inhibitions and ultimately sexually assaulted him.
He testified that Balistreri performed oral sex on him at a motel in Portage where they were staying during a hunting trip. He said Balistreri sodomized him ...
But Tony was an equal-opportunity porn addict:
Balistreri, now of Burlington, was charged in March with taking nude photos of the girl in 2002, encouraging the child to have sex with boys her age during the same period and with having sex with the now-17-year-old girl in February while free on bail on earlier charges and awaiting trial.
And Tony didn't seem to discriminate by age, either:
In another criminal complaint, Balistreri is charged with 10 counts of possessing child pornography.
Thinking conservatives ought to re-shape their "harmless diversion" theory, and do so quickly.
One of the Great Unmentioneds midst conservatives is the fact that porn has deleterious effects. Affirming that fact generally leads to contentious debates, because some vocal and influential conservatives seem to value "free expression" very highly. On top of that, those same conservatives are not willing to concede that viewing porn leads to problematic acting out in many cases.
Tell it to Tony Balistreri's victims:
In sometimes graphic detail, an 18-year-old man testified Monday about how former Pewaukee Ald. Anthony C. Balistreri introduced him to pornography when he was 11 or 12, plied him with alcohol to ease his inhibitions and ultimately sexually assaulted him.
He testified that Balistreri performed oral sex on him at a motel in Portage where they were staying during a hunting trip. He said Balistreri sodomized him ...
But Tony was an equal-opportunity porn addict:
Balistreri, now of Burlington, was charged in March with taking nude photos of the girl in 2002, encouraging the child to have sex with boys her age during the same period and with having sex with the now-17-year-old girl in February while free on bail on earlier charges and awaiting trial.
And Tony didn't seem to discriminate by age, either:
In another criminal complaint, Balistreri is charged with 10 counts of possessing child pornography.
Thinking conservatives ought to re-shape their "harmless diversion" theory, and do so quickly.
UW: Wear Your Tinfoil Hat Here, With Pride!
The UW-Madison folks will not bend to Fascist, McCarthy-ite, Hitlerian pressures exercised by Neanderthal hicks such as BagManJim Doyle (D), Steve Nass (R), or Charlie Sykes.
Nosirreee!!
...after conducting a 10-day review of Barrett's past teaching and his plans for a fall class on Islam, Provost Patrick Farrell determined that Barrett was fit to teach and that the alternative theory on 9-11 had a place in the classroom when taught along with other viewpoints.
Farrell said academic freedom demanded the decision and that it would have been a mistake for the university to succumb to outside pressure.
For his part, [Kevin] Barrett said he was "very pleased" by the decision. He said students in his fall course, "Islam: Religion and Culture," would spend one week studying a variety of viewpoints on the 9-11 attacks, including the theory that "9-11 was probably an American operation to launch a war on Islam countries."
Board of Regents President ["Clueless Dave"] David Walsh, who has defended Barrett, agreed. He complimented Farrell for "balancing the issues regarding academic freedom with the assurance that there will be open dialogue" in the classroom.
Barrett's "theories" were analyzed by The Warrior--and it is clear that Tinfoil Barrett's position is factually-challenged, to say the least.
The UW is attempting to attract more out-of-state students. Evidently David Walsh and his subordinates think that this is accomplished by retaining faculty which is out of its mind. Think about that as you examine your State income-tax payment column next April.
..and The Badger is REALLY unhappy. His pique will be costly to UW, as he is a major supporter. Of course, they'll make it up in tax dollars if they feel like it...
Nosirreee!!
...after conducting a 10-day review of Barrett's past teaching and his plans for a fall class on Islam, Provost Patrick Farrell determined that Barrett was fit to teach and that the alternative theory on 9-11 had a place in the classroom when taught along with other viewpoints.
Farrell said academic freedom demanded the decision and that it would have been a mistake for the university to succumb to outside pressure.
For his part, [Kevin] Barrett said he was "very pleased" by the decision. He said students in his fall course, "Islam: Religion and Culture," would spend one week studying a variety of viewpoints on the 9-11 attacks, including the theory that "9-11 was probably an American operation to launch a war on Islam countries."
Board of Regents President ["Clueless Dave"] David Walsh, who has defended Barrett, agreed. He complimented Farrell for "balancing the issues regarding academic freedom with the assurance that there will be open dialogue" in the classroom.
Barrett's "theories" were analyzed by The Warrior--and it is clear that Tinfoil Barrett's position is factually-challenged, to say the least.
The UW is attempting to attract more out-of-state students. Evidently David Walsh and his subordinates think that this is accomplished by retaining faculty which is out of its mind. Think about that as you examine your State income-tax payment column next April.
..and The Badger is REALLY unhappy. His pique will be costly to UW, as he is a major supporter. Of course, they'll make it up in tax dollars if they feel like it...
Monday, July 10, 2006
Abp Dolan: No Change in Confirmation Age
Abp Dolan sent an email to parish priests and administrative staffers to announce "No Change" in the policy to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to youth at about the age of 16.
Of course, this IS a Big Change in itself--the typical age for Confirmation, until Rembert Weakland, OSB, got to town, was 6th/7th grade.
About a year ago several hundred Catholics in the area sent a letter to Abp Dolan requesting a change back to the 'middle-school' Confirmation policy. The Archbishop dispatched the request to a Committee (the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council), who inter alia held a couple of "listening sessions" before telling the Archbishop what to decide.
The Archbishop's letter did NOT reference Canon 891 of the Church:
"The sacrament of confirmation is to be conferred on the faithful at about the age of discretion unless the conference of bishops has determined another age, or there is danger of death, or in the judgment of the minister a grave cause suggests otherwise."
Nor did the letter reference the "ordinary policy" of the Church, which was outlined thus by another sitting American Bishop:
It is the ordinary policy of the Church to initiate all persons over the age of discretion with the
original order of the sacraments: first Baptism, then Confirmation, and finally Eucharist.
...In this order, Eucharist is seen as the sacrament which completes our initiation, and it is the only one of the three that is celebrated more than once.
Nor did Abp Dolan cite the history (curious, as Abp Dolan's academic background is in Church History):
For the first five centuries of the Church's history, the three Sacraments of Initiation, Baptism,
Confirmation, and Eucharist, were celebrated together as part of one initiation rite. This was
true for adults and children. During the 5th through the 13th centuries infant baptism became
the norm. At that time Church leaders separated Confirmation and Eucharist from Baptism.
For the most part, Confirmation was celebrated at the age of discretion (7 years of age), and
First Communion took place in pre-adolescence. Although separated from Baptism, the order
of the Sacraments remained the same. It was not until the twentieth century, in 1910, that the
age for Eucharist was lowered to the age of discretion. At that point, the norm became to
celebrate Eucharist around the age of 7 or 8, and Confirmation sometime between 8 and 18.
The change moving First Communion to the age of 7 or 8 was made at the request of Pope St. Pius X. Note that Confirmation preceded First Communion until the early 1900's. The Canon Law cited above clearly does not disturb this ordering.
Well, that's that. Parents who made the argument that Confirmation's graces may be very useful during the early teenage years have been out-argued by "theologians, catechists, and [other] children" according to Abp Dolan's letter.
That settles that, eh?
Of course, this IS a Big Change in itself--the typical age for Confirmation, until Rembert Weakland, OSB, got to town, was 6th/7th grade.
About a year ago several hundred Catholics in the area sent a letter to Abp Dolan requesting a change back to the 'middle-school' Confirmation policy. The Archbishop dispatched the request to a Committee (the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council), who inter alia held a couple of "listening sessions" before telling the Archbishop what to decide.
The Archbishop's letter did NOT reference Canon 891 of the Church:
"The sacrament of confirmation is to be conferred on the faithful at about the age of discretion unless the conference of bishops has determined another age, or there is danger of death, or in the judgment of the minister a grave cause suggests otherwise."
Nor did the letter reference the "ordinary policy" of the Church, which was outlined thus by another sitting American Bishop:
It is the ordinary policy of the Church to initiate all persons over the age of discretion with the
original order of the sacraments: first Baptism, then Confirmation, and finally Eucharist.
...In this order, Eucharist is seen as the sacrament which completes our initiation, and it is the only one of the three that is celebrated more than once.
Nor did Abp Dolan cite the history (curious, as Abp Dolan's academic background is in Church History):
For the first five centuries of the Church's history, the three Sacraments of Initiation, Baptism,
Confirmation, and Eucharist, were celebrated together as part of one initiation rite. This was
true for adults and children. During the 5th through the 13th centuries infant baptism became
the norm. At that time Church leaders separated Confirmation and Eucharist from Baptism.
For the most part, Confirmation was celebrated at the age of discretion (7 years of age), and
First Communion took place in pre-adolescence. Although separated from Baptism, the order
of the Sacraments remained the same. It was not until the twentieth century, in 1910, that the
age for Eucharist was lowered to the age of discretion. At that point, the norm became to
celebrate Eucharist around the age of 7 or 8, and Confirmation sometime between 8 and 18.
The change moving First Communion to the age of 7 or 8 was made at the request of Pope St. Pius X. Note that Confirmation preceded First Communion until the early 1900's. The Canon Law cited above clearly does not disturb this ordering.
Well, that's that. Parents who made the argument that Confirmation's graces may be very useful during the early teenage years have been out-argued by "theologians, catechists, and [other] children" according to Abp Dolan's letter.
That settles that, eh?
Half-Wet, Half-Dry
How were your friends and relative affected by last night's storm in Milwaukee?
Kinda depends on where they live in relation to I-94. If south of the interstate, they got a LOT of rain in 2-3 hours. If north, they got almost nothing.
The MMSD keeps track of such things, and you can see the contrast:
http://www.mmsd.com/news/storm_update.cfm
Kinda depends on where they live in relation to I-94. If south of the interstate, they got a LOT of rain in 2-3 hours. If north, they got almost nothing.
The MMSD keeps track of such things, and you can see the contrast:
http://www.mmsd.com/news/storm_update.cfm
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Random 10 on Mexican vs. Wisconsin Elections
Random 10 not only identified Kevin Barrett as a nut-whacky a FULL YEAR AGO--he also compares Mexico's election laws with Wisconsin's--and shows us that BagManJim Doyle's preferred method is spurned by Mexico:
Undocumented workers were denied absentee ballot applications at consulates and embassies and more than a million eligible voters were barred from casting a ballot because their voter registration cards were not up to date and the IFE refused to update them outside of Mexico. Untold numbers of undocumented workers who could not risk returning to Mexico for a minimum 25 days to renew their credential were denied the franchise the IFE was sworn to defend. The PRD insists that the majority of undocumented Mexicans in the U.S. would have cast a ballot for Lopez Obrador.
Take heart, BagMan. Voces de la Frontera will attempt to register them here in Wisconsin--they can vote for you instead of Obrador.
Undocumented workers were denied absentee ballot applications at consulates and embassies and more than a million eligible voters were barred from casting a ballot because their voter registration cards were not up to date and the IFE refused to update them outside of Mexico. Untold numbers of undocumented workers who could not risk returning to Mexico for a minimum 25 days to renew their credential were denied the franchise the IFE was sworn to defend. The PRD insists that the majority of undocumented Mexicans in the U.S. would have cast a ballot for Lopez Obrador.
Take heart, BagMan. Voces de la Frontera will attempt to register them here in Wisconsin--they can vote for you instead of Obrador.
Even KOS Can't Buy Coulter as "Plagiarist"
Contra The American "Mind," who has had it in for Anne Coulter ever since she turned Sean down for a date back at the CPAC conference, even Daily Kos will not buy the story that Anne is a plagiarist:
To me personally, some of the examples/accusations seem strained -- simply similar statements of the same basic facts. And sometimes there are only so many ways to describe one set of facts. In other cases the similarities of the wording strike me as hard to see as a coincidence. Especially when there seem to be multiple instances of similarities in the same column coming from the same source.
Sean's been peddling this "plagiarism" stuff for a while. We note that he won't even run a picture of Anne as a "Summerfest Babe of the Day."
To me personally, some of the examples/accusations seem strained -- simply similar statements of the same basic facts. And sometimes there are only so many ways to describe one set of facts. In other cases the similarities of the wording strike me as hard to see as a coincidence. Especially when there seem to be multiple instances of similarities in the same column coming from the same source.
Sean's been peddling this "plagiarism" stuff for a while. We note that he won't even run a picture of Anne as a "Summerfest Babe of the Day."
Things NOT Taught in BCT
Some methods of firing a light weapon are simply, ...well, ....ludicrous.
Via Grim's Hall, we have pictures.
Caution: Do NOT Try this at home. Closed course, professional imitators used.
Knowledge gained: the precise definition of "Glock foh-TAY." Everything else you see in these pix will most assuredly be harmful to health.
Via Grim's Hall, we have pictures.
Caution: Do NOT Try this at home. Closed course, professional imitators used.
Knowledge gained: the precise definition of "Glock foh-TAY." Everything else you see in these pix will most assuredly be harmful to health.
Taking the Wrong Approach at Catholic Charities
There's a lot to the immigration debate, and there are varying opinions on some major elements of Immigration Reform. However, some of the actions of Waukesha's Catholic Charities office are simply misguided, at best.
Croal, an outreach worker with Catholic Charities in Waukesha, works with members of the Hispanic community - some of whom are illegal immigrants - helping connect them with employers, make sense of paperwork and even fill out employment forms.
This activity is simply wrong. It is no different from providing keys to someone else's car. In facilitating illegal employment, Catholic Charities is essentially becoming part of the underworld, breaking US law.
Villarreal [of La Casa Esperanza, NOT a Catholic agency] said he understands concerns about security, but said politicians shouldn't just focus on the Mexican border.
"It's important not to get confused. Terrorists are not going to be walking through the desert. They're going to be flying first-class. We learned that from 9-11," Villarreal said. "We definitely have to secure our borders, and we need to know who is here. I think that's very important."
Well, Mr. Villareal, that is simply wrong. Here's what David Aguilar, Chief of the Border Patrol, had to say about that:
The United States continues to experience a rising influx of nationals other than Mexicans (OTMs) illegally entering the country. OTM apprehensions totaled 165,175 for FY05, whereas FY 04’s number of OTM apprehensions was 75,389.
Aguilar's statement referred to Mexican border-crossings, by the way.
The rest of the JS article is your standard "heart-strings" stuff--the illegals are here, they have anchor babies, "What CAN we DO?" type of angst.
Well, from this Catholic, a suggestion: stop facilitating illegal work. Firmly and politely tell illegals to go home.
To do otherwise is immoral--and that's not "Catholic."
Croal, an outreach worker with Catholic Charities in Waukesha, works with members of the Hispanic community - some of whom are illegal immigrants - helping connect them with employers, make sense of paperwork and even fill out employment forms.
This activity is simply wrong. It is no different from providing keys to someone else's car. In facilitating illegal employment, Catholic Charities is essentially becoming part of the underworld, breaking US law.
Villarreal [of La Casa Esperanza, NOT a Catholic agency] said he understands concerns about security, but said politicians shouldn't just focus on the Mexican border.
"It's important not to get confused. Terrorists are not going to be walking through the desert. They're going to be flying first-class. We learned that from 9-11," Villarreal said. "We definitely have to secure our borders, and we need to know who is here. I think that's very important."
Well, Mr. Villareal, that is simply wrong. Here's what David Aguilar, Chief of the Border Patrol, had to say about that:
The United States continues to experience a rising influx of nationals other than Mexicans (OTMs) illegally entering the country. OTM apprehensions totaled 165,175 for FY05, whereas FY 04’s number of OTM apprehensions was 75,389.
Aguilar's statement referred to Mexican border-crossings, by the way.
The rest of the JS article is your standard "heart-strings" stuff--the illegals are here, they have anchor babies, "What CAN we DO?" type of angst.
Well, from this Catholic, a suggestion: stop facilitating illegal work. Firmly and politely tell illegals to go home.
To do otherwise is immoral--and that's not "Catholic."
WI Split on Homosex "Marriage?"
The JSOnline runs a story which sounds like "whistling past the graveyard." The story tells us that a Poll Was Conducted, and Wisconsin residents are about evenly split on the question of homosex "marriage."
Fortunately, you don't have to get to the very last 'graf to find the interesting stuff--it's right up there in the beginning:
Wisconsin residents are evenly split over a proposal to ban gay marriage and Vermont-style civil unions, according to a poll released today by WisPolitics.com.
The statewide poll - the latest non-partisan glimpse of where Wisconsin residents stand on gay marriage - canvassed 600 randomly selected Wisconsin adults.
Recall Rush Limbaugh's firm belief that polls are by and large accurate--but that results which are strange (as these are) usually derive from the questions or the method.
Here, it's the method. "600 Randomly Selected Adults" doesn't cut it; a poll with realistic ambitions would survey likely voters, and would reflect voting patterns--(R), (D), (Other) in the last few Statewide elections which actually drew a crowd.
Fortunately, you don't have to get to the very last 'graf to find the interesting stuff--it's right up there in the beginning:
Wisconsin residents are evenly split over a proposal to ban gay marriage and Vermont-style civil unions, according to a poll released today by WisPolitics.com.
The statewide poll - the latest non-partisan glimpse of where Wisconsin residents stand on gay marriage - canvassed 600 randomly selected Wisconsin adults.
Recall Rush Limbaugh's firm belief that polls are by and large accurate--but that results which are strange (as these are) usually derive from the questions or the method.
Here, it's the method. "600 Randomly Selected Adults" doesn't cut it; a poll with realistic ambitions would survey likely voters, and would reflect voting patterns--(R), (D), (Other) in the last few Statewide elections which actually drew a crowd.
Xoff a "Relationship-Builder?"
In commenting on the "new attitude" of the BagManJim campaign--you know, attacking the press, sending lawyer-letters to anybody and everybody, and generally acting like it needs a couple 2x4's across the head--the SpiceBoyzzz found someone longing for the 'good old days' of Mr Sweetness Acerbic himself.
A second politico, with experience running a campaign, agreed.
This official said he believes that the Doyle team feels it doesn't get the respect it deserves, so it has begun browbeating the media, local officials and trade groups.
"It is an attitude that is very elitist - that we're going to send these heavies in. I just don't get it," the politico said. "It shows the influence of someone like Bill Christofferson (Doyle's 2002 strategist) is missing from this campaign. These are people who don't understand that you build relationships, not enemies."
Christofferson is well-known for his acerbic tongue, but the politico said the semi-retired Democratic strategist was more likely to say something openly and to offer alternative facts to make his point.
It should be clear from the Boyzzz' column that they would MUCH prefer Jimbo and his thugs-with-law-licenses to be nice folks. There's a reason: the Boyzzz and the rest of the MSM want Jimbo to prevail in November. After all, nothing could be worse than the retrogression to Times Neanderthal which will undoubtedly be forced upon the State by such as Mark Green and a majority-(R) Legislature, right?
Well--something COULD be worse.
How about having Jimbo frog-walked out of the Governor's Mansion?
A second politico, with experience running a campaign, agreed.
This official said he believes that the Doyle team feels it doesn't get the respect it deserves, so it has begun browbeating the media, local officials and trade groups.
"It is an attitude that is very elitist - that we're going to send these heavies in. I just don't get it," the politico said. "It shows the influence of someone like Bill Christofferson (Doyle's 2002 strategist) is missing from this campaign. These are people who don't understand that you build relationships, not enemies."
Christofferson is well-known for his acerbic tongue, but the politico said the semi-retired Democratic strategist was more likely to say something openly and to offer alternative facts to make his point.
It should be clear from the Boyzzz' column that they would MUCH prefer Jimbo and his thugs-with-law-licenses to be nice folks. There's a reason: the Boyzzz and the rest of the MSM want Jimbo to prevail in November. After all, nothing could be worse than the retrogression to Times Neanderthal which will undoubtedly be forced upon the State by such as Mark Green and a majority-(R) Legislature, right?
Well--something COULD be worse.
How about having Jimbo frog-walked out of the Governor's Mansion?
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Andrea Mitchell: Bloggers and Radio Guys "Hate-Filled"
Stamping her feet and pouting, Andrea Mitchell blames it all on Rush, the Radio Guys, and Bloggers:
“the kind of hateful speech that we have seen...in a lot of the blogosphere...goes back, in my own experience, to 1989 when the talk radio shows went crazy about the congressional pay raise.” She then reasoned: “The anti-Washington, anti-bureaucrat bias that was built into that debate was then taken up by cable talk hosts as well and that became the kind of really combative conversation that displaced reasoned discussions about controversial issues."
"Reasoned discussions" is defined as MSM 'analysis.' Take your choice: Left, Far-Left, and Moonbat Wacko.
Other opinions are "combative conversation," and "anti-bureaucrat bias."
Frankly, if it weren't for Newsbusters, I wouldn't have the foggiest idea what Andrea Mitchell actually does for a living--and I rather like it that way.
“the kind of hateful speech that we have seen...in a lot of the blogosphere...goes back, in my own experience, to 1989 when the talk radio shows went crazy about the congressional pay raise.” She then reasoned: “The anti-Washington, anti-bureaucrat bias that was built into that debate was then taken up by cable talk hosts as well and that became the kind of really combative conversation that displaced reasoned discussions about controversial issues."
"Reasoned discussions" is defined as MSM 'analysis.' Take your choice: Left, Far-Left, and Moonbat Wacko.
Other opinions are "combative conversation," and "anti-bureaucrat bias."
Frankly, if it weren't for Newsbusters, I wouldn't have the foggiest idea what Andrea Mitchell actually does for a living--and I rather like it that way.
The State's Schools: Not a Place for Children
Via Moonbattery, a Mona Charen revelation, making it clear that State school officials are absolutely incapable of good hiring decisions:
A parent from Plymouth, N.Y., has sent along another example of liberals gone wild. Fishing through her son's backpack (he's a ninth grader), she found a crumpled up handout from the health teacher. The title caught her attention: "Dysfunctional 'Family Rules.'" The handout is reproduced below with punctuation, grammar and capitalization as in original:
"Here is a list of some of the unworkable rules found in dysfunctional families
"Boys shouldn't cry. (they should be like diminutive adult males, independent, self contained, and tough. they should bear pain and hurt with a kind of stoicism and emotional flatness exemplified by rugged males in cigarette commercials and by romantic depictions of fighters and the wild, wild west.)
"Girls should always be nice. (Talk nice talk. Never say anything negative. Do nice things. Never do anything that would make someone look askance at you. Nice girls DON'T.)
"Elders always deserve respect and come first. (No matter how the elder behaves, the elder must be treated gingerly, for and elder has power -- even if it used capriciously and irrationally.)
"There is only one way to do things. (That is, there's only one RIGHT way to do things. There's only one right way to handle a spouse, to deal with the kids, to have a birthday party, to dance . . .)
"Don't talk, think or feel about sex, money, and feelings. (Talk . . . well, talk stirs things up, gets people upset, well it just causes more trouble. When it comes to sex, money and feelings, silence takes on a precious eloquence. Silence is not only golden, it's high grade platinum.)
"Work first, play later. (Much later . . .)
"The older child must always set an example for the younger children. (Good example that is.)
"Children should always obey their parents. (And it's the parents job to see that their children make the RIGHT decisions -- the decisions the parents want. Then when the child reaches the magic age of emancipation -- 18 or 21 -- the Good Decision Fairy will plink the child on the skull with a charmed wand and make the child a full-fledged adult who always makes Good Decisions.)
"Don't talk about your family to anyone outside the family. (Outsiders will just spread malicious gossip. So always pretend that everything's OK at home, even if it isn't. there's nothing worse than being disloyal to your family.)"
Let's assume that this diatribe is the work of only one irritable teacher and not schoolwide, or, God forbid, countywide, instruction. Still, it represents something. This health teacher obviously believes that delicate matters of family dynamics, as well as highly intimate subjects like sex, obedience, money and family privacy are within the purview of her course.
While one doubts that Folkbum would endorse this screed, there are a couple of teachers in Port Washington who are copying this right now...
A parent from Plymouth, N.Y., has sent along another example of liberals gone wild. Fishing through her son's backpack (he's a ninth grader), she found a crumpled up handout from the health teacher. The title caught her attention: "Dysfunctional 'Family Rules.'" The handout is reproduced below with punctuation, grammar and capitalization as in original:
"Here is a list of some of the unworkable rules found in dysfunctional families
"Boys shouldn't cry. (they should be like diminutive adult males, independent, self contained, and tough. they should bear pain and hurt with a kind of stoicism and emotional flatness exemplified by rugged males in cigarette commercials and by romantic depictions of fighters and the wild, wild west.)
"Girls should always be nice. (Talk nice talk. Never say anything negative. Do nice things. Never do anything that would make someone look askance at you. Nice girls DON'T.)
"Elders always deserve respect and come first. (No matter how the elder behaves, the elder must be treated gingerly, for and elder has power -- even if it used capriciously and irrationally.)
"There is only one way to do things. (That is, there's only one RIGHT way to do things. There's only one right way to handle a spouse, to deal with the kids, to have a birthday party, to dance . . .)
"Don't talk, think or feel about sex, money, and feelings. (Talk . . . well, talk stirs things up, gets people upset, well it just causes more trouble. When it comes to sex, money and feelings, silence takes on a precious eloquence. Silence is not only golden, it's high grade platinum.)
"Work first, play later. (Much later . . .)
"The older child must always set an example for the younger children. (Good example that is.)
"Children should always obey their parents. (And it's the parents job to see that their children make the RIGHT decisions -- the decisions the parents want. Then when the child reaches the magic age of emancipation -- 18 or 21 -- the Good Decision Fairy will plink the child on the skull with a charmed wand and make the child a full-fledged adult who always makes Good Decisions.)
"Don't talk about your family to anyone outside the family. (Outsiders will just spread malicious gossip. So always pretend that everything's OK at home, even if it isn't. there's nothing worse than being disloyal to your family.)"
Let's assume that this diatribe is the work of only one irritable teacher and not schoolwide, or, God forbid, countywide, instruction. Still, it represents something. This health teacher obviously believes that delicate matters of family dynamics, as well as highly intimate subjects like sex, obedience, money and family privacy are within the purview of her course.
While one doubts that Folkbum would endorse this screed, there are a couple of teachers in Port Washington who are copying this right now...
UN Small Arms Conference a Failure. GOOD!!
The UN's inability to do anything has a few benefits. One of them is this:
A U.N. meeting meant to expand a five-year-old crackdown on the illicit global trade in small arms ended in chaos on Friday as delegates ran out of time without reaching agreement on a plan for future action.
Rebecca Peters of the London-based International Action Network on Small Arms accused governments of letting a few states "hold them all hostage and to derail any plans which might have brought any improvements in this global crisis."
...The conference was called to update a 2001 action plan against illegal small arms, which as defined by the United Nations range from pistols and rifles to grenades, mortars and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles.
But two weeks of negotiations and speeches came to naught
There's some irony to the fact that major opponents of UN action included Red China, which derives a great deal of its income from selling light arms (think Norinco.)
The US position was sensible: Washington was willing to endorse a set of global principles aimed at keeping small arms out of the hands of groups intent on human rights abuse, genocide or breaking U.N. arms embargoes
Of course, since "groups intent on human rights abuse" include a LOT of Governments, Washington's position was unpopular...
A U.N. meeting meant to expand a five-year-old crackdown on the illicit global trade in small arms ended in chaos on Friday as delegates ran out of time without reaching agreement on a plan for future action.
Rebecca Peters of the London-based International Action Network on Small Arms accused governments of letting a few states "hold them all hostage and to derail any plans which might have brought any improvements in this global crisis."
...The conference was called to update a 2001 action plan against illegal small arms, which as defined by the United Nations range from pistols and rifles to grenades, mortars and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles.
But two weeks of negotiations and speeches came to naught
There's some irony to the fact that major opponents of UN action included Red China, which derives a great deal of its income from selling light arms (think Norinco.)
The US position was sensible: Washington was willing to endorse a set of global principles aimed at keeping small arms out of the hands of groups intent on human rights abuse, genocide or breaking U.N. arms embargoes
Of course, since "groups intent on human rights abuse" include a LOT of Governments, Washington's position was unpopular...
Tunnel Bombers--More Info of Interest
Counterterrorism Blog always has interesting stuff typically unreported by the MSM.
Here are a couple of tidbits regarding the leader of the NY-tunnel-bombing bunch:
4. If you read this sentence from the Lebanese security report well you’d draw very important conclusions: “It was requested from him not to show any religious tendencies during his stay in Lebanon and to give the picture of a frivolous and uncommitted youth.” First start with the “it”: Who requested this guideline from him? Obviously a higher level of command, and a sophisticated one. In Jihadi tactics, Taqiya is just about that: You have the right to play another personality until you perform your mission. Unfortunately many among us are still unaware of it. Often media reactions to arrests start with “well, he didn’t look like he was a fundamentalist.” Well, now you have your answer. The misinformation is not restrained to the public, but is also present in the judicial world facing off with Terrorism. At the Detroit Terror case where I testified as an expert in 2003, I wasn’t even able to give a real example of Taqiya from an article published in a national daily.
5. When you read this sentence from the report, you raise even more questions: “He was intending to travel to Pakistan in the near future to undertake a training course to last for four months”. So inside Pakistan, there are “training spaces” for Jihadists, including al Qaida. If you link most cases in the West from London, Toronto, and many groups in the US, you’d conclude that “going to Pakistan, or into Afghanistan,” is a common trait. Which should begin to draw some analytical conclusions, not just that there is “something central” in Pakistan, but that all the Jihadi groups (or most), including the so-called “homegrown” in different countries are linked or wish to be linked.
Stuff to bear in mind as you read the MSM/NYSlimes versions of the story--and future stories, as they emerge.
Here are a couple of tidbits regarding the leader of the NY-tunnel-bombing bunch:
4. If you read this sentence from the Lebanese security report well you’d draw very important conclusions: “It was requested from him not to show any religious tendencies during his stay in Lebanon and to give the picture of a frivolous and uncommitted youth.” First start with the “it”: Who requested this guideline from him? Obviously a higher level of command, and a sophisticated one. In Jihadi tactics, Taqiya is just about that: You have the right to play another personality until you perform your mission. Unfortunately many among us are still unaware of it. Often media reactions to arrests start with “well, he didn’t look like he was a fundamentalist.” Well, now you have your answer. The misinformation is not restrained to the public, but is also present in the judicial world facing off with Terrorism. At the Detroit Terror case where I testified as an expert in 2003, I wasn’t even able to give a real example of Taqiya from an article published in a national daily.
5. When you read this sentence from the report, you raise even more questions: “He was intending to travel to Pakistan in the near future to undertake a training course to last for four months”. So inside Pakistan, there are “training spaces” for Jihadists, including al Qaida. If you link most cases in the West from London, Toronto, and many groups in the US, you’d conclude that “going to Pakistan, or into Afghanistan,” is a common trait. Which should begin to draw some analytical conclusions, not just that there is “something central” in Pakistan, but that all the Jihadi groups (or most), including the so-called “homegrown” in different countries are linked or wish to be linked.
Stuff to bear in mind as you read the MSM/NYSlimes versions of the story--and future stories, as they emerge.
Hans Blix--Liar or Just REALLY Forgetful?
As Saddam's own Government documents are reviewed, we find that Iraq was working like little beavers on WMD's--including ricin.
From CMPC-2003-003766-HT.pdf
Ricin toxin is found in the bean of the castor plant. UNMOVIC inspections since December 2002 have verified that the bombed caster oil extraction plant at Fallujah III has been reconstructed on a larger scale.
Undeclared BW agents, there are a number of microorganisms and toxins that have been developed as BW agents by several countries, including Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), Clostridium bottalinum toxin, Yersinia pestis (plague), Francisella tularensis (tularemia), Brucella species (Brucellosis) Coxiella burnetti (Q fever) and Variola major (smallpox). Drying of BW Agents, BW agents are produced by a process that usually results in a liquid product, for example bacteria in an aqueous suspension, or toxins in an aquesous or organic solution.
Note the portion in red above. Then note THIS:
Hans Blix never mentioned ricin or castor beans in his UN presentation on March 7, 2003. In fact, it never even mentions the word "violation" once.
Next time you hear that supercilious bloated gasbag Blix yapping about "no violations," and how he is on the side of the angels and ...and...and...it's all a Bushitler/Cheney conspiracy, throw something at the jackass.
HT: Captain'sQuarters
By the way, it seems that the CIA's observations of "trailers" dedicated to WMD production were also accurate, as mentioned in the linked post from CQ.
From CMPC-2003-003766-HT.pdf
Ricin toxin is found in the bean of the castor plant. UNMOVIC inspections since December 2002 have verified that the bombed caster oil extraction plant at Fallujah III has been reconstructed on a larger scale.
Undeclared BW agents, there are a number of microorganisms and toxins that have been developed as BW agents by several countries, including Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), Clostridium bottalinum toxin, Yersinia pestis (plague), Francisella tularensis (tularemia), Brucella species (Brucellosis) Coxiella burnetti (Q fever) and Variola major (smallpox). Drying of BW Agents, BW agents are produced by a process that usually results in a liquid product, for example bacteria in an aqueous suspension, or toxins in an aquesous or organic solution.
Note the portion in red above. Then note THIS:
Hans Blix never mentioned ricin or castor beans in his UN presentation on March 7, 2003. In fact, it never even mentions the word "violation" once.
Next time you hear that supercilious bloated gasbag Blix yapping about "no violations," and how he is on the side of the angels and ...and...and...it's all a Bushitler/Cheney conspiracy, throw something at the jackass.
HT: Captain'sQuarters
By the way, it seems that the CIA's observations of "trailers" dedicated to WMD production were also accurate, as mentioned in the linked post from CQ.
Marotta: "Nothing to See Here. Move Along"
This will be fun to watch.
Former Administration Secretary Marc Marotta met last year in his state office with a Philadelphia-area attorney who gave Gov. Jim Doyle $10,000 on the same day, state records show.
"Just happened to be in town, and thought I'd drop off 10 grand. Saves the postage, you know."
Katie Boyce, Doyle's fund- raiser, helped arrange the meeting, said Anson Kaye, a spokesman for Doyle's campaign. Marotta's calendar lists Boyce as an attendee to the meeting, but Kaye said she was included on the calendar in error.
"Meeting? No. Not me. I didn't do it. Nobody saw me do it. You can't prove anything!!"
The donation and meeting were in no way linked, Dilweg [Marotta's aide] and Kaye said.
Pure co-incidence. Pure as the driven snow.
Former Administration Secretary Marc Marotta met last year in his state office with a Philadelphia-area attorney who gave Gov. Jim Doyle $10,000 on the same day, state records show.
"Just happened to be in town, and thought I'd drop off 10 grand. Saves the postage, you know."
Katie Boyce, Doyle's fund- raiser, helped arrange the meeting, said Anson Kaye, a spokesman for Doyle's campaign. Marotta's calendar lists Boyce as an attendee to the meeting, but Kaye said she was included on the calendar in error.
"Meeting? No. Not me. I didn't do it. Nobody saw me do it. You can't prove anything!!"
The donation and meeting were in no way linked, Dilweg [Marotta's aide] and Kaye said.
Pure co-incidence. Pure as the driven snow.
Illegally Working? Social Security Admin Won't Tell
Idiots.
The Social Security Administration knows of 100,000 immigrants who are working illegally in the US--but won't tell anyone for fear of 'privacy concerns.' In addition, the LARGEST employers of non-authorized workers are GOVERNMENTS!
Privacy concerns prevent the Social Security Administration from notifying an employer that a hired foreign national is not authorized to work in this country, including someone who may be a potential national security risk, says a government audit.
The audit released last month as immigration-reform debate heated up on Capitol Hill says 109,064 foreign nationals used their non-working Social Security numbers to report earnings at 100 companies reviewed between 2001 to 2002. It said hundreds of thousands more also are using their Social Security cards illegally.
The report said employers that posted the largest number of illegal wage earners were government, retail and universities, and the largest number of noncitizens with earnings under a non-working Social Security number were from Mexico, India and the Philippines.
The report said the average wage item ranged from $7,700 in the staffing industry to $102,000 in the technology industry, and technology and government accounted for $4 billion, or 64 percent, of the wages posted to non-working Social Security numbers by the 100 targeted employers.
The Social Security Administration knows of 100,000 immigrants who are working illegally in the US--but won't tell anyone for fear of 'privacy concerns.' In addition, the LARGEST employers of non-authorized workers are GOVERNMENTS!
Privacy concerns prevent the Social Security Administration from notifying an employer that a hired foreign national is not authorized to work in this country, including someone who may be a potential national security risk, says a government audit.
The audit released last month as immigration-reform debate heated up on Capitol Hill says 109,064 foreign nationals used their non-working Social Security numbers to report earnings at 100 companies reviewed between 2001 to 2002. It said hundreds of thousands more also are using their Social Security cards illegally.
The report said employers that posted the largest number of illegal wage earners were government, retail and universities, and the largest number of noncitizens with earnings under a non-working Social Security number were from Mexico, India and the Philippines.
The report said the average wage item ranged from $7,700 in the staffing industry to $102,000 in the technology industry, and technology and government accounted for $4 billion, or 64 percent, of the wages posted to non-working Social Security numbers by the 100 targeted employers.
Friday, July 07, 2006
"China Is Our Friend" Part 265 Where's GWB??
We've mentioned, often, that Red China flagrantly violates human rights. It continues to disappoint us that the Bush Administration (and its predecessor) simply refuse to revoke MFN/PNTR and penalize Red China with the trade restrictions and impairments which will follow such a move.
Here's another example:
Beijing - Police detained an elderly bishop from the underground Roman Catholic Church shortly after he underwent surgery in northern China\'s Hebei province, a US-based Catholic group said on Friday.
Police from China's religious affairs bureau took bishop Jia Zhiguo away from a hospital in Hebei's Jinzhou city on June 25, while he was 'still very sick with his catheter in place' following unspecified surgery in early June, the Cardinal Kung Foundation said in a statement.
Officials told hospital staff that Jia, 72, would be sent home but later told members of his congregation that he was sent for 'education,' the statement said.
"Re-education" eh?
...among other sources of foreign capital, PRChina provides replacement body-organs to order by simply executing the right blood-type "prisoner." PRChina continues to enforce its "one-child" policy, most often through butchering the second baby either pre- or post-birth.
But Red China is "our friend."
Here's another example:
Beijing - Police detained an elderly bishop from the underground Roman Catholic Church shortly after he underwent surgery in northern China\'s Hebei province, a US-based Catholic group said on Friday.
Police from China's religious affairs bureau took bishop Jia Zhiguo away from a hospital in Hebei's Jinzhou city on June 25, while he was 'still very sick with his catheter in place' following unspecified surgery in early June, the Cardinal Kung Foundation said in a statement.
Officials told hospital staff that Jia, 72, would be sent home but later told members of his congregation that he was sent for 'education,' the statement said.
"Re-education" eh?
...among other sources of foreign capital, PRChina provides replacement body-organs to order by simply executing the right blood-type "prisoner." PRChina continues to enforce its "one-child" policy, most often through butchering the second baby either pre- or post-birth.
But Red China is "our friend."
"Reformers" Running Commercials
The shadowy and deceptive "Greater Wisconsin Committee" bunch runs ads which are meant to drag Cong. Green down to the level of BagManJim Doyle.
Good luck in that effort...not likely ANYONE can be dragged to Doyle's now-subterranean level.
But it is ironic that one of the themes the ads sound has to do with campaign contributions.
Ain't it fun?
GWC does NOT disclose who sends them the money for their ads--nor for Bill Christofferson's salary and/or fees.
One of the REAL reforms which should occur in electoral politics is to require that ALL contributors to ALL campaigns, 527's, and other interest groups who place ads in any media, or who contribute to any candidate, be listed on-line, within one week of the donation's arrival. No exceptions. A print copy of the list, updated weekly, should be made available at all State office buildings, as well--for those who do not have 'net access.
Who could possibly object to this?
Well, OK. Xoff will object, I suppose.
Good luck in that effort...not likely ANYONE can be dragged to Doyle's now-subterranean level.
But it is ironic that one of the themes the ads sound has to do with campaign contributions.
Ain't it fun?
GWC does NOT disclose who sends them the money for their ads--nor for Bill Christofferson's salary and/or fees.
One of the REAL reforms which should occur in electoral politics is to require that ALL contributors to ALL campaigns, 527's, and other interest groups who place ads in any media, or who contribute to any candidate, be listed on-line, within one week of the donation's arrival. No exceptions. A print copy of the list, updated weekly, should be made available at all State office buildings, as well--for those who do not have 'net access.
Who could possibly object to this?
Well, OK. Xoff will object, I suppose.
Cousins Center to Go--BK Option In Play
The Milwaukee JSOnline reports that the Cousins Center will be sold and that the Archdiocese is considering bankruptcy; Terry Berres has published Abp. Dolan's email on the topic.
The archdiocese's Finance Council has recommended hiring a professional broker to sell the Cousins Center, and the process of selecting one will soon begin, Topczewski added.
"The issue of going into bankruptcy would be extremely painful and would only come after extensive consultation with the advisory groups of the archdiocese, and as a last resort," Jerry Topczewski, Dolan's chief of staff, said Thursday in an interview.
This comes as no surprise whatsoever, and along with the 'virtual closing' of St Francis Major Seminary, is the strong medicine administered to this Archdiocese for the errors and omissions of a few of its former key personnel.
The errors and omissions? Admitting and ordaining men who were homosexuals--then, after these men attacked boys, Archdiocesan management played "hide-the-perp" rather than moving to defrock them or seeking prosecution and incarceration, or both.
Lies and manipulations emanated from the Chancery and its agents. In addition, there was some cooperation (also called "enablement") from police and prosecutors.
Oh, well.
A number of my acquaintances tried to make it clear to Archdiocesan officials that the problem was serious, but "expert" psychologists and shrinks pooh-poohed the concerns.
In 1961, the Vatican published a document specifically prohibiting the Ordination of homosexuals--also ignored.
Oh, well.
The archdiocese's Finance Council has recommended hiring a professional broker to sell the Cousins Center, and the process of selecting one will soon begin, Topczewski added.
"The issue of going into bankruptcy would be extremely painful and would only come after extensive consultation with the advisory groups of the archdiocese, and as a last resort," Jerry Topczewski, Dolan's chief of staff, said Thursday in an interview.
This comes as no surprise whatsoever, and along with the 'virtual closing' of St Francis Major Seminary, is the strong medicine administered to this Archdiocese for the errors and omissions of a few of its former key personnel.
The errors and omissions? Admitting and ordaining men who were homosexuals--then, after these men attacked boys, Archdiocesan management played "hide-the-perp" rather than moving to defrock them or seeking prosecution and incarceration, or both.
Lies and manipulations emanated from the Chancery and its agents. In addition, there was some cooperation (also called "enablement") from police and prosecutors.
Oh, well.
A number of my acquaintances tried to make it clear to Archdiocesan officials that the problem was serious, but "expert" psychologists and shrinks pooh-poohed the concerns.
In 1961, the Vatican published a document specifically prohibiting the Ordination of homosexuals--also ignored.
Oh, well.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
New York Supremes Send A Message
Yah.
A very civilized and enjoyable interlocutor of mine was almost going to bet on the NY decision. Good thing he didn't, or he'd be buying a LOT of good meals in the near future:
The highest courts in New York and Georgia dealt setbacks to supporters of same-sex marriage on Thursday, reigniting a national debate likely to continue through the November congressional election campaign.
The New York Court of Appeals upheld a state law that bans same-sex marriage and said the Legislature should decide whether to allow gays to marry.
Meanwhile, Georgia's Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that found the state's 2004 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. The higher court thus upholds a law recognizing marriage as only the union of a man and a woman.
Now as to Charlie Sykes--Charlie, you don't REALLY want to be more 'liberal' than the Supremes of NYState, do you?
A very civilized and enjoyable interlocutor of mine was almost going to bet on the NY decision. Good thing he didn't, or he'd be buying a LOT of good meals in the near future:
The highest courts in New York and Georgia dealt setbacks to supporters of same-sex marriage on Thursday, reigniting a national debate likely to continue through the November congressional election campaign.
The New York Court of Appeals upheld a state law that bans same-sex marriage and said the Legislature should decide whether to allow gays to marry.
Meanwhile, Georgia's Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that found the state's 2004 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. The higher court thus upholds a law recognizing marriage as only the union of a man and a woman.
Now as to Charlie Sykes--Charlie, you don't REALLY want to be more 'liberal' than the Supremes of NYState, do you?
UW: From Frying Pan to Fire?
The UW system announced that it will formally declare $26 MILLION "flushed down the toilet" and scrap its Lawson software-based payroll project.
THEN they announced that they were going to Oracle's Peoplesoft solution.
But maybe it is not a solution:
The 11-campus North Dakota University System (NDUS) continues to work on a troubled rollout of PeopleSoft ERP and academic software that critics said has exceeded budget and missed deadlines.
The Web-based system, based on Oracle Corp.'s PeopleSoft Enterprise 8 software, is known as ConnectND and handles academic tasks such as grant and contracts management as well as payroll and human resources functions.
The effort to date was described as "a train wreck" by Gerald Groenewold, director of the University of North Dakota's Energy and Environmental Research Center, which develops energy-efficient and environmental technologies. The nonprofit group, based on the Grand Forks campus, relies on ConnectND for its operations.
"The old systems had Band-Aids, but they worked," he said. "Just give me something that works. [ConnectND] has cost our organization a phenomenal amount of money to try and implement."
The financials software is at times unable to quickly provide account balances to customers -- a task that once took minutes now can take weeks, said Groenewold. So far, the installation has cost his organization about $500,000 and still costs about $15,000 a month. "To say I'm frustrated would be a significant understatement," he said.
As we all know, however, Oracle IS a solution--for BagManJim.
THEN they announced that they were going to Oracle's Peoplesoft solution.
But maybe it is not a solution:
The 11-campus North Dakota University System (NDUS) continues to work on a troubled rollout of PeopleSoft ERP and academic software that critics said has exceeded budget and missed deadlines.
The Web-based system, based on Oracle Corp.'s PeopleSoft Enterprise 8 software, is known as ConnectND and handles academic tasks such as grant and contracts management as well as payroll and human resources functions.
The effort to date was described as "a train wreck" by Gerald Groenewold, director of the University of North Dakota's Energy and Environmental Research Center, which develops energy-efficient and environmental technologies. The nonprofit group, based on the Grand Forks campus, relies on ConnectND for its operations.
"The old systems had Band-Aids, but they worked," he said. "Just give me something that works. [ConnectND] has cost our organization a phenomenal amount of money to try and implement."
The financials software is at times unable to quickly provide account balances to customers -- a task that once took minutes now can take weeks, said Groenewold. So far, the installation has cost his organization about $500,000 and still costs about $15,000 a month. "To say I'm frustrated would be a significant understatement," he said.
As we all know, however, Oracle IS a solution--for BagManJim.
WI Court Denigrates Marriage--Implications
As Sykes observed today, Wisconsin's 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals is re-writing Wisconsin statutes. This time, somebody named Brown determined that in HIS reading, marriage between husband and wife is "not privileged."
Brown is, to put it politely, nuts--and an arrogant Black-Robed Imperialista, to boot.
A state law that calls marriage "the foundation of the family and of society" does not elevate marriage over other relationships, an appeals court said Wednesday.
"We do not read the Legislature's recognition that marriage is an important and vital societal institution worthy of preservation and protection as a policy judgment that other intimate relationships are of lesser value or legitimacy," Judge Richard Brown wrote for the 2nd District Court of Appeals. "It does not attempt to privilege marriage over other intimate relationships."
We can hear Screechin'Shirley applauding vigorously in the background; not only because Brown fits her mold as a "reformer" (see GKC quote below) but because the decision, which will be affirmed by the Wisconsin Supremes, comports precisely with her weltanschuung.
Unfortunately, the decision also contradicts, directly, the plain English of the statute:
Marriage is the institution that is the foundation of the family and of society. Its stability is basic to morality and civilization, and of vital interest to society and the state. ...Under the laws of this state, marriage is a legal relationship between 2 equal persons, a husband and wife, who owe to each other mutual responsibility and support. 765.001(2)
The implications are clear; Brown, a Judge-Imperial, is laying the groundwork for the demolition of the Legislature's clear intent regarding marriage. That means that homosex "marriage" will be made licit by some other Wisconsin court.
The Amendment was written with this eventuality in mind. It is obvious that the Wisconsin judiciary (like that of Massachusetts) will rule in any way they see fit. Only a Constitutional amendment will restrain them.
And that's only at the State level.
Brown is, to put it politely, nuts--and an arrogant Black-Robed Imperialista, to boot.
A state law that calls marriage "the foundation of the family and of society" does not elevate marriage over other relationships, an appeals court said Wednesday.
"We do not read the Legislature's recognition that marriage is an important and vital societal institution worthy of preservation and protection as a policy judgment that other intimate relationships are of lesser value or legitimacy," Judge Richard Brown wrote for the 2nd District Court of Appeals. "It does not attempt to privilege marriage over other intimate relationships."
We can hear Screechin'Shirley applauding vigorously in the background; not only because Brown fits her mold as a "reformer" (see GKC quote below) but because the decision, which will be affirmed by the Wisconsin Supremes, comports precisely with her weltanschuung.
Unfortunately, the decision also contradicts, directly, the plain English of the statute:
Marriage is the institution that is the foundation of the family and of society. Its stability is basic to morality and civilization, and of vital interest to society and the state. ...Under the laws of this state, marriage is a legal relationship between 2 equal persons, a husband and wife, who owe to each other mutual responsibility and support. 765.001(2)
The implications are clear; Brown, a Judge-Imperial, is laying the groundwork for the demolition of the Legislature's clear intent regarding marriage. That means that homosex "marriage" will be made licit by some other Wisconsin court.
The Amendment was written with this eventuality in mind. It is obvious that the Wisconsin judiciary (like that of Massachusetts) will rule in any way they see fit. Only a Constitutional amendment will restrain them.
And that's only at the State level.
GKChesterton on Social Reform
Written in 1914, and unchanging:
The great mark of modern social reformers is that they always desire to drive in a certain direction rather than to a certain goal. They wish to advertise their cause even more than they wish to advance it.
The other great mark of the modern social reform is that it is never defended on its merits.
Senate Democrats, anyone?
The great mark of modern social reformers is that they always desire to drive in a certain direction rather than to a certain goal. They wish to advertise their cause even more than they wish to advance it.
The other great mark of the modern social reform is that it is never defended on its merits.
Senate Democrats, anyone?
GKChesterton Prophesies on Responsibility
When you realize that this was written in 1908, it's even more forceful:
Thinkers of this type always reply that we must not think of the fault of the individual..., but of what they call "the fault of the system." I believe the system to be the darkest and dreariest hole in which oppressors hid themselves from human anger. ...We are to refrain from bringing the responsibility home to anybody until some day it simultaneously comes home to everybody.
Because it is not easy for any competitive pork butcher at present to be exactly like St. Francis of Assisi, therefore we must ask to dinner and elect to Parliament the pork-butcher who is exactly like Nero; the one particular pork-butcher who butchers men like pork.
...let us realize that there is also the abominably bad case in which the system needs to be protected from the man; in which he is actually making it more devilish than the Devil intended it to be. Let us attack him by name. ...as long as we go on cursing the system, the system will be perfectly safe.
I can think of a few applications for the excerpt above.
Thinkers of this type always reply that we must not think of the fault of the individual..., but of what they call "the fault of the system." I believe the system to be the darkest and dreariest hole in which oppressors hid themselves from human anger. ...We are to refrain from bringing the responsibility home to anybody until some day it simultaneously comes home to everybody.
Because it is not easy for any competitive pork butcher at present to be exactly like St. Francis of Assisi, therefore we must ask to dinner and elect to Parliament the pork-butcher who is exactly like Nero; the one particular pork-butcher who butchers men like pork.
...let us realize that there is also the abominably bad case in which the system needs to be protected from the man; in which he is actually making it more devilish than the Devil intended it to be. Let us attack him by name. ...as long as we go on cursing the system, the system will be perfectly safe.
I can think of a few applications for the excerpt above.
Peace Activist Cold-Cocks Rock Singer
From Newsbusters, who got it from Drudge:
“A New Zealand peace activist is facing serious assault charges after he allegedly punched a rock singer in London, leaving the man in a coma.”
Evidently "peace" activism stops at the borders of Iraq, or something...
“A New Zealand peace activist is facing serious assault charges after he allegedly punched a rock singer in London, leaving the man in a coma.”
Evidently "peace" activism stops at the borders of Iraq, or something...
Triumvirate's Excellent Question
BagManJim Doyle, temporarily inhabiting the Governor's mansion, pushes a Wisconsin version of the "Healthy New York" plan to remedy health-care-cost woes.
The Triumvirate examines the plan in question and finds that certain "mandated benefits" which other health plans must cover are NOT covered by the State plan. So here's the question:
If these mandated benefits are unessential enough that the state can relieve the mandate for some people to save them money, why can’t the state relieve all people from the mandate so our businesses can slow the hemorrage of money into their skyrocketing health care premiums?
Separately, Fraley asks about the deductibility of HSA's--another excellent question.
The Triumvirate examines the plan in question and finds that certain "mandated benefits" which other health plans must cover are NOT covered by the State plan. So here's the question:
If these mandated benefits are unessential enough that the state can relieve the mandate for some people to save them money, why can’t the state relieve all people from the mandate so our businesses can slow the hemorrage of money into their skyrocketing health care premiums?
Separately, Fraley asks about the deductibility of HSA's--another excellent question.