From the LawDog, who keeps track of such things (professionally, of course):
The Mustang Ranch is back in private hands and open for business once again.
For those Gentle Readers who may be less-worldly than others, the Mustang Ranch was, at one time, the largest brothel in Nevada as well as being the first licensed bordello in that State.
However, while interesting, this is not the part of it's history that is really fascinating. What we're interested in is this little tid-bit buried way down in the article: after several years of tax shenanigans by the owner, the Mustang Ranch became the first (Official. Licensed.) brothel run by the United States Federal Government.
They lost money.
Let us allow that simple, yet profound, truth sink into our synapses, shall we?
The Federal Government of the United States can not run a bordello and make money.
Let's not have any smart-cracks about the cost of keeping Congress, please.
And let's think again about the capacity of "16 Wise-Men Gummint Appointees" to run healthcare.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Wesbury, Kasriel, and P-Mac
P-Mac was kind enough to link to yesterday's post which pointed out the statistical sleight-of-hand utilized by Brian Wesbury.
Today, Paul Kasriel of Northern Trust weighs in. And he's not enamored of Wesbury's 'sunshine' either.
To argue that the economy is not in danger of slipping into a recession, as the lay public believes, because the consensus forecast of economists does not call for one is to ignore history. How many times has the consensus forecast of economists called for a recession? Although the lay public might have predicted eight out of the past four recessions, to paraphrase Samuelson, at least it has predicted some recessions. I am not aware of the consensus of economists’ forecasts ever predicting a recession. To Wesbury’s credit, he was one of only a handful of economists who predicted the last recession. (See, I’m fair and balanced.) The consensus did not.
...
Let me suggest another model that has a better track record in forecasting recessions than either the gaggle of professional economists, including Wesbury, or the lay public. It is the combination of the behavior of a yield spread and the CPI-adjusted monetary base. The yield-spread variable is the difference between the yield on the Treasury 10-year security and the federal funds rate. The monetary base consists of the reserves created by the Federal Reserve for the banking system and the currency held by the public. As the chart below shows, since 1970, whenever the four-quarter moving average of the yield spread has turned negative and, at the same time, the year-over-year change in the quarterly average of the CPI-adjusted monetary base has turned negative, a recession has occurred. Guess what? In each of the first two quarters of 2007, this combination of a negative yield spread and contracting real monetary base has obtained.
Less exotic, but portentious: housing and Mortgage-Equity-Withdrawal numbers........
Today, Paul Kasriel of Northern Trust weighs in. And he's not enamored of Wesbury's 'sunshine' either.
To argue that the economy is not in danger of slipping into a recession, as the lay public believes, because the consensus forecast of economists does not call for one is to ignore history. How many times has the consensus forecast of economists called for a recession? Although the lay public might have predicted eight out of the past four recessions, to paraphrase Samuelson, at least it has predicted some recessions. I am not aware of the consensus of economists’ forecasts ever predicting a recession. To Wesbury’s credit, he was one of only a handful of economists who predicted the last recession. (See, I’m fair and balanced.) The consensus did not.
...
Let me suggest another model that has a better track record in forecasting recessions than either the gaggle of professional economists, including Wesbury, or the lay public. It is the combination of the behavior of a yield spread and the CPI-adjusted monetary base. The yield-spread variable is the difference between the yield on the Treasury 10-year security and the federal funds rate. The monetary base consists of the reserves created by the Federal Reserve for the banking system and the currency held by the public. As the chart below shows, since 1970, whenever the four-quarter moving average of the yield spread has turned negative and, at the same time, the year-over-year change in the quarterly average of the CPI-adjusted monetary base has turned negative, a recession has occurred. Guess what? In each of the first two quarters of 2007, this combination of a negative yield spread and contracting real monetary base has obtained.
Less exotic, but portentious: housing and Mortgage-Equity-Withdrawal numbers........
"But It's Cheap!! You MUST Like It!!!" PRC Strikes Again
Over the years, we've become accustomed to hearing the "choice is good" line. But it's not only from Planned Parenthood; it's also preached by the Globaloney Crowd, the ones who insist that PRC's Sun-Tzu economic war on the USA is 'good for everyone.'
After all, PRC makes the same stuff, but a lot cheaper, so what's the problem?
We've argued that "cheap" labor and "cheap" engineering has a cost. The slave-labor which PRC utilizes, the total absence of worker-safety & health regulations in PRC's manufacturing environment, and PRC's offhanded disregard of such minor infrastructure items as air and water quality, are portentous. PRC also has developed a culture of theft in intellectual property which is deleterious to both US patent-holders and to purchasers of knockoff products. In addition, PRC has overtly subsidized exports through cash-grants AND currency manipulation.
It's easy to be the low-cost producer, given those conditions.
But since human rights are subordinate to Economic Grasping (and the profits of certain well-entrenched people both in PRC and the US), the Globaloney Crowd has held sway.
(It is NOT a coincidence that Planned Parenthood and PRC are leading Worldwide Merchants of Death, by the way.)
Now PRC's notorious lack of respect for human life is becoming obvious, and it is not only PRC citizen/slaves who are at risk. Pet food, tires, cellphone batteries, seafood, and pharmaceuticals coming from PRC are dangerous, or lethal.
Next: the Chery, which shocked Jim Sensenbrenner. He noticed that the car was a very close copy of a GM/Chevrolet Division auto.
Recently, AvtoRevu, a Russian "Car and Driver" if you will, funded independent crash test research on Chery's top selling sedan in Russia, the Amulet (pictured below). The crash test was a 64km (approximately 40mph) off-set front crash test. On a scale of 0 to 16, the car earned a 1.7. Only one vehicle in the lab's 39 year existence fared poorer, a Russian built model that earned a 0 in 2001. According to the reveiw in AvtoRevu, the Amulet's front door sills "crumpled like newspaper" and "We have never seen such terrible deformation of a car's body." WSJ reports that AvtoRevu stated "...the test dummy became so entwined with the wreckage of the car that it had to be removed piece by piece."
Makes the Corvair look like an Abrams in comparison....
Chery didn't like the results, and said that the Russkis manipulated them.
So Chery hired the commercial arm of the U.K. government's Vehicle Certification Agency to test the car at Chery's headquarters in Shanghai. The test was full frontal, not partial, ran at 56km, not 64km, the vehicle was equipped with an airbag and the crash barrier was less rigid. It passed. Shock!
It was a "reverse-NBC-saddle-tank-test."
This is a piece of baloney which turned green long ago. Wonder how WallyWorld will merchandise it...
HT: Disgruntled Car Salesman
After all, PRC makes the same stuff, but a lot cheaper, so what's the problem?
We've argued that "cheap" labor and "cheap" engineering has a cost. The slave-labor which PRC utilizes, the total absence of worker-safety & health regulations in PRC's manufacturing environment, and PRC's offhanded disregard of such minor infrastructure items as air and water quality, are portentous. PRC also has developed a culture of theft in intellectual property which is deleterious to both US patent-holders and to purchasers of knockoff products. In addition, PRC has overtly subsidized exports through cash-grants AND currency manipulation.
It's easy to be the low-cost producer, given those conditions.
But since human rights are subordinate to Economic Grasping (and the profits of certain well-entrenched people both in PRC and the US), the Globaloney Crowd has held sway.
(It is NOT a coincidence that Planned Parenthood and PRC are leading Worldwide Merchants of Death, by the way.)
Now PRC's notorious lack of respect for human life is becoming obvious, and it is not only PRC citizen/slaves who are at risk. Pet food, tires, cellphone batteries, seafood, and pharmaceuticals coming from PRC are dangerous, or lethal.
Next: the Chery, which shocked Jim Sensenbrenner. He noticed that the car was a very close copy of a GM/Chevrolet Division auto.
Recently, AvtoRevu, a Russian "Car and Driver" if you will, funded independent crash test research on Chery's top selling sedan in Russia, the Amulet (pictured below). The crash test was a 64km (approximately 40mph) off-set front crash test. On a scale of 0 to 16, the car earned a 1.7. Only one vehicle in the lab's 39 year existence fared poorer, a Russian built model that earned a 0 in 2001. According to the reveiw in AvtoRevu, the Amulet's front door sills "crumpled like newspaper" and "We have never seen such terrible deformation of a car's body." WSJ reports that AvtoRevu stated "...the test dummy became so entwined with the wreckage of the car that it had to be removed piece by piece."
Makes the Corvair look like an Abrams in comparison....
Chery didn't like the results, and said that the Russkis manipulated them.
So Chery hired the commercial arm of the U.K. government's Vehicle Certification Agency to test the car at Chery's headquarters in Shanghai. The test was full frontal, not partial, ran at 56km, not 64km, the vehicle was equipped with an airbag and the crash barrier was less rigid. It passed. Shock!
It was a "reverse-NBC-saddle-tank-test."
This is a piece of baloney which turned green long ago. Wonder how WallyWorld will merchandise it...
HT: Disgruntled Car Salesman
Christmas List: Books
Recognizing that some of us don't buy everything 'just because it's worth buying,' but instead, assemble a strategic Christmas list (thus spreading the cost of maintaining our lifestyle among our children/husbands/wives, etc.), here's an excellent place to start.
Charlie's book will be a lot of fun to read!
Charlie's book will be a lot of fun to read!
No Greater Love: Pete Hausmann
You'll hear about this guy and wonder whether you could emulate him:
Peter Hausmann, a father of four from Rosemount, survived the collapse and escaped from his van into the murky, turbulent waters, according to a source involved with the investigation. In the resulting chaos, he apparently swam toward victims in another vehicle in an attempt to render assistance, the source said. ...
Hausmann died while attempting to save some others in the water.
Hausmann spent about three years doing missionary work in Kenya and maintained ties to Africa, working on AIDS projects and building a church. If he was trying to rescue someone, it would be typical of Hausmann's selflessness, his friends and co-workers said. "Pete is the type of guy who would do anything to help someone," said Jeff Olejnik, Hausmann's boss at Assurity River Group in St. Paul.
Another friend echoed that sentiment. "That would be Pete," said Gerry Fisher, a friend and former co-worker of Hausmann. "If there was a last act of Pete on this Earth, that certainly would be consistent [with who he was]."
"No greater love than this...that you lay down your life for your friends...."
HT: Captain's Quarters
Peter Hausmann, a father of four from Rosemount, survived the collapse and escaped from his van into the murky, turbulent waters, according to a source involved with the investigation. In the resulting chaos, he apparently swam toward victims in another vehicle in an attempt to render assistance, the source said. ...
Hausmann died while attempting to save some others in the water.
Hausmann spent about three years doing missionary work in Kenya and maintained ties to Africa, working on AIDS projects and building a church. If he was trying to rescue someone, it would be typical of Hausmann's selflessness, his friends and co-workers said. "Pete is the type of guy who would do anything to help someone," said Jeff Olejnik, Hausmann's boss at Assurity River Group in St. Paul.
Another friend echoed that sentiment. "That would be Pete," said Gerry Fisher, a friend and former co-worker of Hausmann. "If there was a last act of Pete on this Earth, that certainly would be consistent [with who he was]."
"No greater love than this...that you lay down your life for your friends...."
HT: Captain's Quarters
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Think YOU'VE Got It Tough? See What Europe's Facing
Yah, well, it should be interesting in about 40 years or so. Dreher finds a nugget:
Current social attitudes and demographic trends in the West suggest that there will be a continuation of low reproduction rates among Western peoples and therefore a severe decline in their populations. Conversely, there will be a continuation of high immigration of non-Western peoples into the Western nations and of higher reproduction rates among the non-Western communities in the West than among the Western people themselves. This will have major consequences not only for the military strategies of the Western nations but for their national security -- and even identity.
The most dramatic consequences are likely to occur in Europe, where most of the non-Western populations will be Muslim. These communities already perform functions essential to the economic system, and within the next decade, they are poised to become an important part of the political system. Many European countries will become two nations, and Europe as a whole will become two civilizations. The first will be a Western civilization or, more accurately, given Europeans' rejection of many Western traditions, a post-Western civilization comprised of people of European descent. It will be secular, even pagan, rich, old, and feeble. The second will be the non-Western civilization, descended from non-European peoples. It will be religious, even Islamic, poor, young, and vigorous. ...The two civilizations will regard each other with mutual contempt. In the new civilization, there will be a growing rage, and in the old civilization, there will be a growing fear. These will be the perfect conditions for endemic Islamic terrorism, urban riots, and mob violence: an Islamist insurgency within Europe itself.
So how's THAT going to work?
All Hail!!! Planned Parenthood and their philosophical forebear, A. Hitler. The only problem was that they never noticed that the gun was pointed in the wrong direction...
Current social attitudes and demographic trends in the West suggest that there will be a continuation of low reproduction rates among Western peoples and therefore a severe decline in their populations. Conversely, there will be a continuation of high immigration of non-Western peoples into the Western nations and of higher reproduction rates among the non-Western communities in the West than among the Western people themselves. This will have major consequences not only for the military strategies of the Western nations but for their national security -- and even identity.
The most dramatic consequences are likely to occur in Europe, where most of the non-Western populations will be Muslim. These communities already perform functions essential to the economic system, and within the next decade, they are poised to become an important part of the political system. Many European countries will become two nations, and Europe as a whole will become two civilizations. The first will be a Western civilization or, more accurately, given Europeans' rejection of many Western traditions, a post-Western civilization comprised of people of European descent. It will be secular, even pagan, rich, old, and feeble. The second will be the non-Western civilization, descended from non-European peoples. It will be religious, even Islamic, poor, young, and vigorous. ...The two civilizations will regard each other with mutual contempt. In the new civilization, there will be a growing rage, and in the old civilization, there will be a growing fear. These will be the perfect conditions for endemic Islamic terrorism, urban riots, and mob violence: an Islamist insurgency within Europe itself.
So how's THAT going to work?
All Hail!!! Planned Parenthood and their philosophical forebear, A. Hitler. The only problem was that they never noticed that the gun was pointed in the wrong direction...
Do Economist "Bulls" Dissemble? You Bet!
Go long on dissembling. You'll make money.
This morning, we're treated to a WSJ opinion piece by Brian Wesbury, a 'credentialed' economist. He advises that economists are smarter than regular people. The money-quote:
In short, over the past five years, forecasting economists from academia, consulting shops, financial services and industry have a perfect 5-0 record against a random sample of American citizens.
Of course, the above is true. It's what Wesbury does NOT address which makes his piece an artful dissembling. Notes The Big Picture:
My issue is with the phrase "the past five years." That time period was no doubt chosen because it omits the last recession.
Why? There is a specific reason for omitting that time period: Economists, as a group, failed to forecast the 2001 recession. In fact, even when we were smack dab in the middle of it, the group failed to notice it.
AS A GROUP, ECONOMISTS HAVE NEVER CORRECTLY FORECAST A U.S. RECESSION. EVER.
For sure, certain Individuals may have gotten it right, but the collective group has a perfect record of missing the major turns.
In other words, Wesbury is practicing "proof-texting" with time periods.
This morning, we're treated to a WSJ opinion piece by Brian Wesbury, a 'credentialed' economist. He advises that economists are smarter than regular people. The money-quote:
In short, over the past five years, forecasting economists from academia, consulting shops, financial services and industry have a perfect 5-0 record against a random sample of American citizens.
Of course, the above is true. It's what Wesbury does NOT address which makes his piece an artful dissembling. Notes The Big Picture:
My issue is with the phrase "the past five years." That time period was no doubt chosen because it omits the last recession.
Why? There is a specific reason for omitting that time period: Economists, as a group, failed to forecast the 2001 recession. In fact, even when we were smack dab in the middle of it, the group failed to notice it.
AS A GROUP, ECONOMISTS HAVE NEVER CORRECTLY FORECAST A U.S. RECESSION. EVER.
For sure, certain Individuals may have gotten it right, but the collective group has a perfect record of missing the major turns.
In other words, Wesbury is practicing "proof-texting" with time periods.
Winter Soldiers: Kerry and Beauchamp
Both John Kerry and Scott Beauchamp have now earned recognition as liars.
But a more interesting theory is now being advanced, called the "Winter Soldier Syndrome." And it has a most intriguing support, direct from the Soviet Union's upper-level propaganda masters:
During the Vietnam War we spread vitriolic stories around the world, pretending that America's presidents sent Genghis Khan-style barbarian soldiers to Vietnam who raped at random, taped electrical wires to human genitals, cut off limbs, blew up bodies and razed entire villages. Those weren't facts. They were our tales, but some seven million Americans ended up being convinced their own president, not communism, was the enemy. As Yuri Andropov, who conceived this dezinformatsiya war against the U.S., used to tell me, people are more willing to believe smut than holiness.
Kerry and Beauchamp: dupes.
Of maybe, in Beauchamp's case, not.
Hmmmmm?
HT: PowerLine, Malkin
But a more interesting theory is now being advanced, called the "Winter Soldier Syndrome." And it has a most intriguing support, direct from the Soviet Union's upper-level propaganda masters:
During the Vietnam War we spread vitriolic stories around the world, pretending that America's presidents sent Genghis Khan-style barbarian soldiers to Vietnam who raped at random, taped electrical wires to human genitals, cut off limbs, blew up bodies and razed entire villages. Those weren't facts. They were our tales, but some seven million Americans ended up being convinced their own president, not communism, was the enemy. As Yuri Andropov, who conceived this dezinformatsiya war against the U.S., used to tell me, people are more willing to believe smut than holiness.
Kerry and Beauchamp: dupes.
Of maybe, in Beauchamp's case, not.
Hmmmmm?
HT: PowerLine, Malkin
Doh! "..over-Designed and Too Big"
This didn't take long--and it should come as no surprise.
Elmbrook voters soundly defeated a school-administration proposal to spend $100+ million.
The post-mortem examination is taking place, and the committee folks discovered a few problems:
The team discussed how the costs rose from decisions to add air conditioning to all of both high schools (they have limited air conditioned areas now), to replace all existing mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems with new ones and to size classrooms at an average of 825 square feet vs. 725 or 750 square feet, among other issues.
The District had "dirty pictures" of mechanical rooms available for the press and the public. Why "dirty"?
Because the District had deferred maintenance of the mechanicals, figuring that the voters would recoil in horror and give them whatever they wanted.
ALL air-conditioned.
ALL major systems ripped out and replaced.
ADD 75 to 100 square feet/room.
Doh.
Elmbrook voters soundly defeated a school-administration proposal to spend $100+ million.
The post-mortem examination is taking place, and the committee folks discovered a few problems:
The team discussed how the costs rose from decisions to add air conditioning to all of both high schools (they have limited air conditioned areas now), to replace all existing mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems with new ones and to size classrooms at an average of 825 square feet vs. 725 or 750 square feet, among other issues.
The District had "dirty pictures" of mechanical rooms available for the press and the public. Why "dirty"?
Because the District had deferred maintenance of the mechanicals, figuring that the voters would recoil in horror and give them whatever they wanted.
ALL air-conditioned.
ALL major systems ripped out and replaced.
ADD 75 to 100 square feet/room.
Doh.
Barrett and Hargarten: The Gang That Can't Shoot Straight
Mayor Tommy and his faithful companion Doctor Stevie just cannot do it.
They cannot pin the tail on the donkeys--and yes, there are a couple of donkeys available.
A convicted felon has a gun. Said convicted felon becomes a "room-mate" of a woman who (shall we say politely) lacks judgment in picking "room-mates."
The felon places his illegally-possessed firearm behind a stove, at damn near eye-level for toddlers. Said illegally-possessed firearm is loaded, with a round chambered, and with the safety off. The word "donkey" is far too polite for this slimebucket, but it should be apparent that he is a central figure in the game.
Mommy, who picked the room-mate, leaves a 6-year-old to supervise and play with a 3-year-old, while she wanders down the block with her infant to chit-chat at 10:00 PM. This confirms that the mom has less mental horsepower than God gave a field-mouse.
The 3-year-old, supervised by the 6-year-old, finds the eyeball-level, loaded gun and promptly shoots the 6-year-old. No motive was disclosed for the shooting.
Quoth Mayor Tommy: "How did they have access to a gun, an illegal gun?"
Actually, Mayor, the gun is legal. It is OWNED by a criminal, which means that the criminal/stud-muffin/donkey broke the law. The gun did NOT break the law; it wasn't even a conspirator, according to the police.
Pinning the tail firmly into the fireplace, Dr. Hargarten rants: Such shootings could be reduced if guns were designed to prevent young children or other unauthorized people from using them, said Stephen Hargarten, chairman of the department of emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
It's the EEEEeeeeevillll Gun Manufacturers!!
Damn good thing these two college graduates, Barrett and Hargarten, don't point guns. Based on their track record, it's likely that Ann E Schwartz would be the next victim.
They cannot pin the tail on the donkeys--and yes, there are a couple of donkeys available.
A convicted felon has a gun. Said convicted felon becomes a "room-mate" of a woman who (shall we say politely) lacks judgment in picking "room-mates."
The felon places his illegally-possessed firearm behind a stove, at damn near eye-level for toddlers. Said illegally-possessed firearm is loaded, with a round chambered, and with the safety off. The word "donkey" is far too polite for this slimebucket, but it should be apparent that he is a central figure in the game.
Mommy, who picked the room-mate, leaves a 6-year-old to supervise and play with a 3-year-old, while she wanders down the block with her infant to chit-chat at 10:00 PM. This confirms that the mom has less mental horsepower than God gave a field-mouse.
The 3-year-old, supervised by the 6-year-old, finds the eyeball-level, loaded gun and promptly shoots the 6-year-old. No motive was disclosed for the shooting.
Quoth Mayor Tommy: "How did they have access to a gun, an illegal gun?"
Actually, Mayor, the gun is legal. It is OWNED by a criminal, which means that the criminal/stud-muffin/donkey broke the law. The gun did NOT break the law; it wasn't even a conspirator, according to the police.
Pinning the tail firmly into the fireplace, Dr. Hargarten rants: Such shootings could be reduced if guns were designed to prevent young children or other unauthorized people from using them, said Stephen Hargarten, chairman of the department of emergency medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
It's the EEEEeeeeevillll Gun Manufacturers!!
Damn good thing these two college graduates, Barrett and Hargarten, don't point guns. Based on their track record, it's likely that Ann E Schwartz would be the next victim.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Ave Maria U: The Pizza King's Barony/Fiefdom
More and more it becomes apparent that Mr. Monaghan thinks he is at least a Baron; perhaps he's also been consecrated Bishop(?)
Here's the latest Decree from His Highness's faithful servant/chaplain:
We give thanks to Almighty God, as we accustom ourselves to the excellent facilities of our permanent Campus. At this time, the Administration of the University have given this directive on our liturgical practice. It is hoped that all our efforts will enable us to continue to have beautiful and dignified liturgies, always fully in accord with the mind and the liturgical law of the Church.
...The practice of celebrating Mass ad orientem is accepted at the first Mass of the morning for a priest or priests having a personal preference for this practice. However, ad orientem is not considered the ordinary or obligatory practice at Ave Maria University. At all other Masses the priest or priests are directed to celebrate Mass facing the congregation.
It may happen that a priest wishes to celebrate the extraordinary form of the Mass of the Roman Rite, a Mass in accordance with the Roman Missal of 1962, commonly called a “Tridentine Mass.” This may be out of personal preference or in response to requests from the faithful. In accord with the provisions of “Summorum Pontificum,” the Holy Father’s apostolic letter given “motu proprio” (“on his own impulse”), arrangements will be made beforehand through the Chaplain’s Office to celebrate properly the Tridentine Mass in the Ark Chapel or in the Library Chapel. At the present time, the Tridentine Mass will not be available in the “Ballroom.”
The University’s opening Mass on August 27 will be in English, with the priest facing the people.
Neither the University chaplain, nor Baron/Bishop Monaghan, has the authority to dictate orientation nor selection of the Rite.
HT: Fr. Z.
Here's the latest Decree from His Highness's faithful servant/chaplain:
We give thanks to Almighty God, as we accustom ourselves to the excellent facilities of our permanent Campus. At this time, the Administration of the University have given this directive on our liturgical practice. It is hoped that all our efforts will enable us to continue to have beautiful and dignified liturgies, always fully in accord with the mind and the liturgical law of the Church.
...The practice of celebrating Mass ad orientem is accepted at the first Mass of the morning for a priest or priests having a personal preference for this practice. However, ad orientem is not considered the ordinary or obligatory practice at Ave Maria University. At all other Masses the priest or priests are directed to celebrate Mass facing the congregation.
It may happen that a priest wishes to celebrate the extraordinary form of the Mass of the Roman Rite, a Mass in accordance with the Roman Missal of 1962, commonly called a “Tridentine Mass.” This may be out of personal preference or in response to requests from the faithful. In accord with the provisions of “Summorum Pontificum,” the Holy Father’s apostolic letter given “motu proprio” (“on his own impulse”), arrangements will be made beforehand through the Chaplain’s Office to celebrate properly the Tridentine Mass in the Ark Chapel or in the Library Chapel. At the present time, the Tridentine Mass will not be available in the “Ballroom.”
The University’s opening Mass on August 27 will be in English, with the priest facing the people.
Neither the University chaplain, nor Baron/Bishop Monaghan, has the authority to dictate orientation nor selection of the Rite.
HT: Fr. Z.
Don't Get Hegel?
Schopenhauer explains why Hegel's a ...ah...challenge:
But the greatest effrontery in serving up sheer nonsense, in scribbling together senseless and maddening webs of words, such as had previously been heard only in madhouses, finally appeared in Hegel. It became the instrument of the most ponderous and general mystification that has ever existed, with a result that will seem incredible to posterity, and be a lasting monument to German stupidity.
I guess he didn't get it, either.
HT: First Things
But the greatest effrontery in serving up sheer nonsense, in scribbling together senseless and maddening webs of words, such as had previously been heard only in madhouses, finally appeared in Hegel. It became the instrument of the most ponderous and general mystification that has ever existed, with a result that will seem incredible to posterity, and be a lasting monument to German stupidity.
I guess he didn't get it, either.
HT: First Things
Lamentabile--the Tempo and Thoughts of the Church Organist
Heh.
Here's an Aussie who has seen it all.
...after Mass[, s]he asked me if I had been the organist. I admitted that I had been. During the Mass, I’d played various works by Bach, Mendelssohn, César Franck, and other reputable composers. Unfortunately I seem to have irked her by so doing. And she told me, “I wish you’d play something beautiful.”
And to demonstrate that 'thus it has ever been,' he gives a vignette from the life of Saint-Saens:
He had a job at the time, playing the organ in a fashionable part of Paris, and one day the priest complained to him about all this austere music that Saint-Saëns was performing. The priest urged him, as we’d now say, to “lighten up”. He told Saint-Saëns: “Monsieur Saint-Saëns, our congregation doesn’t want all that heavy music you keep performing. They’re upper middle class business types. They like to be entertained. In the evening they enjoy going to the music halls.” To which Saint-Saëns replied, with some asperity: “Monsieur le Curé, when, and only when, you include jokes from the music halls in your sermons, then, and only then, will I include music from the music halls in my organ-playing.”
Umnnnhhh, yeah. I recall a conversation with an erstwhile burgher-resident of Elm Grove in which he castigated the (at-that-time) organist for playing "dark stuff" in the local Parish. The organist in question had more education in the discipline than anyone before or after at that parish...but not enough schmalz, not enough My Fair Lady, for the burgher...
He slips the knife in, where it belongs:
Priests very frequently have a lot of arcane musical knowledge. (This knowledge they invariably lose when they become bishops.)
And a reality-check:
...this seems an appropriate moment to formulate Stove’s Three Laws of Church Choirs:
1.Small is better than big.
2.Young is better than old.
3.Simple is better than complicated.
As to the tendency of choir directors to become Symphony Chorus-leaders in churches:
Yet another problem with numerous choirs is their habit of trying to tackle music which is really too difficult for them. I cannot for the life of me understand their reasons for doing this. One of the most popular Mass settings in the repertoire – no doubt for the simple reason that it’s been in print for years – is also one of the hardest to sing. It’s the O Quam Gloriosum Mass setting by Tomás Luis de Victoria, the sixteenth-century Spanish composer. Scores of church choirs in the English-speaking world feel obliged to have a crack at it, and I wish I could comprehend why they do. The tenor part is so excruciatingly high that it soars up into the stratosphere. You can’t very well transpose the whole piece down, in order to make the tenors’ job easier, because that pushes the already very low alto part through the floorboards. The result is usually chaos.
Now while this Aussie proposes a Stupid Idea (putting the choir on the side of the church, rather than at the rear where God intended them to be), he does have interesting observations:
Put ’em at the back, and there’s no limit to what troublemaking choristers can achieve. I have been present when a tenor has simply walked out of the choir in the middle of Mass, apparently because he was afraid that if he stood near the sopranos and altos, he would get Girl Germs. I have even been present when a politically extremist goon infiltrated a choir.
He made the fatal assumption here--that 'putting them IN view' of the congregation will actually improve behavior. He will lose that bet, in the long run.
He has more to say here.
Here's an Aussie who has seen it all.
...after Mass[, s]he asked me if I had been the organist. I admitted that I had been. During the Mass, I’d played various works by Bach, Mendelssohn, César Franck, and other reputable composers. Unfortunately I seem to have irked her by so doing. And she told me, “I wish you’d play something beautiful.”
And to demonstrate that 'thus it has ever been,' he gives a vignette from the life of Saint-Saens:
He had a job at the time, playing the organ in a fashionable part of Paris, and one day the priest complained to him about all this austere music that Saint-Saëns was performing. The priest urged him, as we’d now say, to “lighten up”. He told Saint-Saëns: “Monsieur Saint-Saëns, our congregation doesn’t want all that heavy music you keep performing. They’re upper middle class business types. They like to be entertained. In the evening they enjoy going to the music halls.” To which Saint-Saëns replied, with some asperity: “Monsieur le Curé, when, and only when, you include jokes from the music halls in your sermons, then, and only then, will I include music from the music halls in my organ-playing.”
Umnnnhhh, yeah. I recall a conversation with an erstwhile burgher-resident of Elm Grove in which he castigated the (at-that-time) organist for playing "dark stuff" in the local Parish. The organist in question had more education in the discipline than anyone before or after at that parish...but not enough schmalz, not enough My Fair Lady, for the burgher...
He slips the knife in, where it belongs:
Priests very frequently have a lot of arcane musical knowledge. (This knowledge they invariably lose when they become bishops.)
And a reality-check:
...this seems an appropriate moment to formulate Stove’s Three Laws of Church Choirs:
1.Small is better than big.
2.Young is better than old.
3.Simple is better than complicated.
As to the tendency of choir directors to become Symphony Chorus-leaders in churches:
Yet another problem with numerous choirs is their habit of trying to tackle music which is really too difficult for them. I cannot for the life of me understand their reasons for doing this. One of the most popular Mass settings in the repertoire – no doubt for the simple reason that it’s been in print for years – is also one of the hardest to sing. It’s the O Quam Gloriosum Mass setting by Tomás Luis de Victoria, the sixteenth-century Spanish composer. Scores of church choirs in the English-speaking world feel obliged to have a crack at it, and I wish I could comprehend why they do. The tenor part is so excruciatingly high that it soars up into the stratosphere. You can’t very well transpose the whole piece down, in order to make the tenors’ job easier, because that pushes the already very low alto part through the floorboards. The result is usually chaos.
Now while this Aussie proposes a Stupid Idea (putting the choir on the side of the church, rather than at the rear where God intended them to be), he does have interesting observations:
Put ’em at the back, and there’s no limit to what troublemaking choristers can achieve. I have been present when a tenor has simply walked out of the choir in the middle of Mass, apparently because he was afraid that if he stood near the sopranos and altos, he would get Girl Germs. I have even been present when a politically extremist goon infiltrated a choir.
He made the fatal assumption here--that 'putting them IN view' of the congregation will actually improve behavior. He will lose that bet, in the long run.
He has more to say here.
Jib's Right
Jib and I are on the same page:
Politicians and road builders will want you to believe that we need to pour hundreds of billions of new money into this problem right now. Don't believe it. This is a problem with priorities, not a problem with funding
Replacing "structurally deficient" bridges is a priority.
Replacing "functionally obsolete" bridges is NOT a priority.
Creating new roads is NOT a priority, except to the usual rent-seekers who incessantly yammer about 'the Free Market'--which to them means Freely Picking Your Pocket with Government Help.
Politicians and road builders will want you to believe that we need to pour hundreds of billions of new money into this problem right now. Don't believe it. This is a problem with priorities, not a problem with funding
Replacing "structurally deficient" bridges is a priority.
Replacing "functionally obsolete" bridges is NOT a priority.
Creating new roads is NOT a priority, except to the usual rent-seekers who incessantly yammer about 'the Free Market'--which to them means Freely Picking Your Pocket with Government Help.
The Bridge's Problems
Captain's Quarters keeps us informed:
Inspection reports on the St. Anthony Bridge show one of the pier supports had shifted in 1996, and made numerous observations of cracks and fatigue in the approach spans in the years since. MnDOT repaired most of these, but the bridge continued to show more significant problems in the years approaching its devastating collapse:
State bridge inspectors warned for nearly a decade before its collapse that the Interstate 35W bridge had "severe" and "extensive" corrosion of its beams and trusses, "widespread cracking" in spans and missing or broken bolts.
Not only was the superstructure in poor condition, but certain components were "beyond tolerable limits," and one of the bridge's piers had "tilted to the north," they reported.
By 2000, the inspectors wrote that "eventual replacement of the entire structure would be preferable" to redecking the bridge. They added: "If bridge replacement is significantly delayed, the bridge should be re-decked."
That recommendation was repeated in every report afterward, but it never happened.
Apparently the Mn DOT never brought these reports to the attention of the Governor, whether Pawlenty or Ventura...
Seems to me that when a bridge-pier starts "tilting" that you have pretty serious stuff.
Inspection reports on the St. Anthony Bridge show one of the pier supports had shifted in 1996, and made numerous observations of cracks and fatigue in the approach spans in the years since. MnDOT repaired most of these, but the bridge continued to show more significant problems in the years approaching its devastating collapse:
State bridge inspectors warned for nearly a decade before its collapse that the Interstate 35W bridge had "severe" and "extensive" corrosion of its beams and trusses, "widespread cracking" in spans and missing or broken bolts.
Not only was the superstructure in poor condition, but certain components were "beyond tolerable limits," and one of the bridge's piers had "tilted to the north," they reported.
By 2000, the inspectors wrote that "eventual replacement of the entire structure would be preferable" to redecking the bridge. They added: "If bridge replacement is significantly delayed, the bridge should be re-decked."
That recommendation was repeated in every report afterward, but it never happened.
Apparently the Mn DOT never brought these reports to the attention of the Governor, whether Pawlenty or Ventura...
Seems to me that when a bridge-pier starts "tilting" that you have pretty serious stuff.
The SubPrime Mess and Silly Senators
Let's face it, folks.
Subprime mortgage loans were granted by institutions who made money by making those loans. Then these questionable loans were 'packaged' and sent to another bunch of bandits who ALSO made money by re-mixing the packages and selling the neatly boxed-and-ribboned sewage to investors. (See Bear, Stearns as the prototype.) (AND see another take below.)
In between these transactions was a third group of banks who made money on the deals by 'warehousing' the sewage until somebody could build a pretty box and tie it with ribbons.
The people who borrowed the money either shouldn't have done so, or figured that 'hey, housing values go only one direction--up,' and they could always refi the damn thing. Yah, many of them were stupid, and many of them are still paying the notes, to their credit. But some are NOT paying (about 25% of them in some places,) and that's what made the balloons go 'boom.'
This is what's called The Free Market.
Of course, the prospect of losing money is now being managed, which brings us to this:
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, yesterday called on the companies' regulator to consider raising the caps placed last year on the amount of mortgages and related securities Fannie and Freddie can hold, as a way of ensuring that plenty of money is available to fund mortgage loans.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) also called for higher caps. Both Fannie and Freddie are pushing for the same move. A spokeswoman for their regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, or Ofheo, said the agency will respond to the senators shortly.
At present, Fannie, Freddie, and FHA will accept loans to a maximum of $417,000 into their (taxpayer-guaranteed) portfolios. Dodd and Schumer want that maximum raised to (say) around $550,000. That would have two effects: 1) it would put more cash into the hands of the 'warehouse' banks, and 2) it would allow Fannie, Freddie, and FHA to purchase LARGER lousy credits, taking those LARGER lousy credits out of the hands of the originators, the warehouses, and the final-packagers.
Note well: each of those effects will be good for the warehouse banks and/or the originators, not to mention the purchasers of the aggregated sewage (the bond-holders). And each of those may place more risk on the taxpayers. But the biggest beneficiaries will be the bond-houses which 'packaged' the stuff, because their liabilities will decrease.
That's NOT the 'Free Market.'
While current regs prevent Fannie, Freddie, and FHA from purchasing nuclear-waste mortgages, you can be sure that Dodd, Schumer, & Co., are also going to push them to purchase that stuff--or move to create an "Emergency Loans" entity which will do just that.
Don't say you were not warned.
Another Take, from the WSJ:
Lou Barnes, co-owner of a small Colorado mortgage bank called Boulder West Inc., has been in the mortgage business since the late 1970s. For most of that time, a borrower had to fully document his income. Lenders offered the first no-documentation loans in the mid-1990s, but for no more than 70% of the value of the house being purchased. A few years back, he says, that began to change as Wall Street investment banks and wholesalers demanded ever more mortgages from even the least creditworthy -- or "subprime" -- customers.
"All of us felt the suction from Wall Street. One day you would get an email saying, 'We will buy no-doc loans at 95% loan-to-value,' and an old-timer like me had never seen one," says Mr. Barnes. "It wasn't long before the no-doc emails said 100%."
HT: Calculated Risk.
Subprime mortgage loans were granted by institutions who made money by making those loans. Then these questionable loans were 'packaged' and sent to another bunch of bandits who ALSO made money by re-mixing the packages and selling the neatly boxed-and-ribboned sewage to investors. (See Bear, Stearns as the prototype.) (AND see another take below.)
In between these transactions was a third group of banks who made money on the deals by 'warehousing' the sewage until somebody could build a pretty box and tie it with ribbons.
The people who borrowed the money either shouldn't have done so, or figured that 'hey, housing values go only one direction--up,' and they could always refi the damn thing. Yah, many of them were stupid, and many of them are still paying the notes, to their credit. But some are NOT paying (about 25% of them in some places,) and that's what made the balloons go 'boom.'
This is what's called The Free Market.
Of course, the prospect of losing money is now being managed, which brings us to this:
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, yesterday called on the companies' regulator to consider raising the caps placed last year on the amount of mortgages and related securities Fannie and Freddie can hold, as a way of ensuring that plenty of money is available to fund mortgage loans.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) also called for higher caps. Both Fannie and Freddie are pushing for the same move. A spokeswoman for their regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, or Ofheo, said the agency will respond to the senators shortly.
At present, Fannie, Freddie, and FHA will accept loans to a maximum of $417,000 into their (taxpayer-guaranteed) portfolios. Dodd and Schumer want that maximum raised to (say) around $550,000. That would have two effects: 1) it would put more cash into the hands of the 'warehouse' banks, and 2) it would allow Fannie, Freddie, and FHA to purchase LARGER lousy credits, taking those LARGER lousy credits out of the hands of the originators, the warehouses, and the final-packagers.
Note well: each of those effects will be good for the warehouse banks and/or the originators, not to mention the purchasers of the aggregated sewage (the bond-holders). And each of those may place more risk on the taxpayers. But the biggest beneficiaries will be the bond-houses which 'packaged' the stuff, because their liabilities will decrease.
That's NOT the 'Free Market.'
While current regs prevent Fannie, Freddie, and FHA from purchasing nuclear-waste mortgages, you can be sure that Dodd, Schumer, & Co., are also going to push them to purchase that stuff--or move to create an "Emergency Loans" entity which will do just that.
Don't say you were not warned.
Another Take, from the WSJ:
Lou Barnes, co-owner of a small Colorado mortgage bank called Boulder West Inc., has been in the mortgage business since the late 1970s. For most of that time, a borrower had to fully document his income. Lenders offered the first no-documentation loans in the mid-1990s, but for no more than 70% of the value of the house being purchased. A few years back, he says, that began to change as Wall Street investment banks and wholesalers demanded ever more mortgages from even the least creditworthy -- or "subprime" -- customers.
"All of us felt the suction from Wall Street. One day you would get an email saying, 'We will buy no-doc loans at 95% loan-to-value,' and an old-timer like me had never seen one," says Mr. Barnes. "It wasn't long before the no-doc emails said 100%."
Mr. Barnes focuses the attention on the Packagers of Wall Street. Justifiably, according to the Street's article:
...banks are no longer the dominant lenders. After the S&L crisis in the 1980s and early 1990s, regulators insisted banks and thrifts hold more capital against risky loans. This tipped the playing field in favor of unregulated lenders. They financed themselves not by deposits but by Wall Street credit lines and by "securitization" of their loans -- in effect, the sale of the loans to investors.
HT: Calculated Risk.
What's Wrong with Washington County?
Somebody in the Court system up there needs remedial attention.
Carlos Couturier, 40, was charged in January in Washington County with 11 felonies and one misdemeanor stemming from the assault allegations. In one instance, Couturier assaulted the 18-year-old woman on Jan. 13 at his apartment. The woman's school records show she has an IQ of 57 and is "borderline mentally retarded," a criminal complaint says.
Couturier, a Mexican national, was arrested on Jan. 20 in that incident and was released from the Washington County Jail on Jan. 25 after posting $2,500 bail, court records show.
ELEVEN FELONIES for $2,500.00 bail?
What's the remand-trigger in Washington County? 30 felonies? 50 felonies?
And what's the term-of-art "Mexican national" here actually mean?
Carlos Couturier, 40, was charged in January in Washington County with 11 felonies and one misdemeanor stemming from the assault allegations. In one instance, Couturier assaulted the 18-year-old woman on Jan. 13 at his apartment. The woman's school records show she has an IQ of 57 and is "borderline mentally retarded," a criminal complaint says.
Couturier, a Mexican national, was arrested on Jan. 20 in that incident and was released from the Washington County Jail on Jan. 25 after posting $2,500 bail, court records show.
ELEVEN FELONIES for $2,500.00 bail?
What's the remand-trigger in Washington County? 30 felonies? 50 felonies?
And what's the term-of-art "Mexican national" here actually mean?
Crowe Chizek Is Right
Various Waukesha County functionaries are unhappy with what they call "security" problems in the Waukesha County Courthouse. They've proposed remedies which, frankly, cost a lot of money.
So the County hired a consultant, Crowe Chizek, to review the situation.
Crowe offered a few suggestions, which do not make the functionaries happy. But the consultant also made an observation which is pertinent:
"Any cost to modify, mitigate or completely segregate the prisoner movement process from the public and staff may not support an undetermined benefit to enhancing actual or perceived safety and security," the report states.
In other words, when chasing a mirage, you've wasted your energy. What is "perceived" safety?
The "spend money" crowd is represented by this remark:
"When something goes wrong - and it will - everybody's going to ask, 'Why didn't you do something?' " he said. ["He" is District Court Administrator Michael Neimon], who pointed to one--repeat, ONE--incident which was significant, back in 1978.
Let me help you, Mike.
See, at some point in time, anyplace on Earth, "something" will go wrong. You don't have to be an actuary to figure this out, Mike. It's likely that your own children understand this.
All you need is common sense. See the Crowe Chizek quote above.
So the County hired a consultant, Crowe Chizek, to review the situation.
Crowe offered a few suggestions, which do not make the functionaries happy. But the consultant also made an observation which is pertinent:
"Any cost to modify, mitigate or completely segregate the prisoner movement process from the public and staff may not support an undetermined benefit to enhancing actual or perceived safety and security," the report states.
In other words, when chasing a mirage, you've wasted your energy. What is "perceived" safety?
The "spend money" crowd is represented by this remark:
"When something goes wrong - and it will - everybody's going to ask, 'Why didn't you do something?' " he said. ["He" is District Court Administrator Michael Neimon], who pointed to one--repeat, ONE--incident which was significant, back in 1978.
Let me help you, Mike.
See, at some point in time, anyplace on Earth, "something" will go wrong. You don't have to be an actuary to figure this out, Mike. It's likely that your own children understand this.
All you need is common sense. See the Crowe Chizek quote above.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
What About Those "Parish Life Coordinators"?
While HE Bp. Sklba of Milwaukee ruminates* about how to fit the foot into the shoe, some thoughts on 'consequences' from a Dominican priest in Texas:
1) Without a priest in charge of the parish, young men won't have a model of priesthood to aspire to; no fault accrues to Sister for this, of course, but we know young men need male leadership in order to be properly challenged to sacrifice secular enticements. Sister's appointment is one more example of the feminization of the Church and another nail in the coffin of priestly vocations.
While this is a problem, it's not necessarily insuperable.
2) Once Sister and other PLC's (no doubt there will be huge pressure to appoint women in most of these positions) are appointed, it will take an Act of God to move them out when priests become available. Make no mistake: the PLC is not a temporary canonical solution to a temporary vocational problem. This is a move (sideways and under the guise of an "emergent crisis") to undermine presbyteral authority in the parish by emptying the role of pastor of its orders. IOW, this is a move to make it possible to be appointed Pastor (even if not in name) w/o being an ordained priest. Priests will simply become traveling Sacrament Machines. The office of Priest Director will fade as demand for priests grows. Interesting side note: priests now are starting to look a whole like bishops in the Patristic period!
Personally, I think that this is the most significant difficulty with the concept. And there is no question that women are being "primed" for these roles--Milwaukee's Seminary has a number of degree-programs which are populated with women, specifically recruited to those programs...
3). This is the first step in a long series of steps leading us to the "inevitability" of women being ordained priests. (Maybe. Times have changed in the last, oh, 2 years.) Think: altar girls and the arguments used post facto to defend against attempts to suppress the practice: "But we've been using altar girls for years!" Some predictions:
a). even with the availability of newly ordained priests, PLC's will continue to "pastor" their parishes with Fr. Newbie hanging around for "mentoring." He will be graduated to a staff position and made a "member of the team."
b). Within five years (but before the Fr. Newbies arrive) PLC's will demand the right to preach at Mass since Fr. Sacramental Minister isn't in residence and doesn't know the parish. How can he possibly preach to us when he doesn't know us?
In a lot of cases, they are not "demanding" a thing. Rather, they arrogate the function without asking...
c). Look for a new book of ceremonies to appear from The Liturgical Press, Liturgies for Pastoral Life Coordinators quite soon. It will be argued that since PLC's play a special role in the life of the parish, the church needs liturgies designed to celebrate their unique ministry. Translation: we need liturgical validation for the invention of the PLC so that the concept of the PLC is more easily tolerated over time. Liturgies bestow legitimacy and normalize innovation.
Entirely likely, as the Liturgeist Establishment harbors the largest population of lefties and non-orthodox "RC's" in the structure of the Church in the US.
d). Parishes administered by female PLC's will produce far fewer priestly vocations than parishes run by priest-pastors. This NOT b/c women intentionally deter vocations or somehow jinx boys into believing that the priesthood is bad--how many priests today trace their vocations back to a religious sister? My point is that w/o active, visible, and regular priestly leadership in a parish, a boy or young man cannot "see" the priesthood in action.
See my first comment above. As Father indicates below, it remains to be seen. And of course, the work of the Holy Spirit is ongoing...
I desperately want to be wrong about these predictions. Especially the last one. And here's a promise: if it can be proven over time that parishes with PLC's (lay men, women, or female religious) produce equivalent or more vocations to the ordained priesthood than parishes lead by priests, I will be the first to volunteer myself as a sacramental minister to work on a team under the leadership of a PLC. My objections to PLC's here are not about the loss of priestly power...
*Since Bp. Sklba's foot-fitting ruminations are not available online, see Diogenes' column remarking on the Bishop's thoughts here.
1) Without a priest in charge of the parish, young men won't have a model of priesthood to aspire to; no fault accrues to Sister for this, of course, but we know young men need male leadership in order to be properly challenged to sacrifice secular enticements. Sister's appointment is one more example of the feminization of the Church and another nail in the coffin of priestly vocations.
While this is a problem, it's not necessarily insuperable.
2) Once Sister and other PLC's (no doubt there will be huge pressure to appoint women in most of these positions) are appointed, it will take an Act of God to move them out when priests become available. Make no mistake: the PLC is not a temporary canonical solution to a temporary vocational problem. This is a move (sideways and under the guise of an "emergent crisis") to undermine presbyteral authority in the parish by emptying the role of pastor of its orders. IOW, this is a move to make it possible to be appointed Pastor (even if not in name) w/o being an ordained priest. Priests will simply become traveling Sacrament Machines. The office of Priest Director will fade as demand for priests grows. Interesting side note: priests now are starting to look a whole like bishops in the Patristic period!
Personally, I think that this is the most significant difficulty with the concept. And there is no question that women are being "primed" for these roles--Milwaukee's Seminary has a number of degree-programs which are populated with women, specifically recruited to those programs...
3). This is the first step in a long series of steps leading us to the "inevitability" of women being ordained priests. (Maybe. Times have changed in the last, oh, 2 years.) Think: altar girls and the arguments used post facto to defend against attempts to suppress the practice: "But we've been using altar girls for years!" Some predictions:
a). even with the availability of newly ordained priests, PLC's will continue to "pastor" their parishes with Fr. Newbie hanging around for "mentoring." He will be graduated to a staff position and made a "member of the team."
b). Within five years (but before the Fr. Newbies arrive) PLC's will demand the right to preach at Mass since Fr. Sacramental Minister isn't in residence and doesn't know the parish. How can he possibly preach to us when he doesn't know us?
In a lot of cases, they are not "demanding" a thing. Rather, they arrogate the function without asking...
c). Look for a new book of ceremonies to appear from The Liturgical Press, Liturgies for Pastoral Life Coordinators quite soon. It will be argued that since PLC's play a special role in the life of the parish, the church needs liturgies designed to celebrate their unique ministry. Translation: we need liturgical validation for the invention of the PLC so that the concept of the PLC is more easily tolerated over time. Liturgies bestow legitimacy and normalize innovation.
Entirely likely, as the Liturgeist Establishment harbors the largest population of lefties and non-orthodox "RC's" in the structure of the Church in the US.
d). Parishes administered by female PLC's will produce far fewer priestly vocations than parishes run by priest-pastors. This NOT b/c women intentionally deter vocations or somehow jinx boys into believing that the priesthood is bad--how many priests today trace their vocations back to a religious sister? My point is that w/o active, visible, and regular priestly leadership in a parish, a boy or young man cannot "see" the priesthood in action.
See my first comment above. As Father indicates below, it remains to be seen. And of course, the work of the Holy Spirit is ongoing...
I desperately want to be wrong about these predictions. Especially the last one. And here's a promise: if it can be proven over time that parishes with PLC's (lay men, women, or female religious) produce equivalent or more vocations to the ordained priesthood than parishes lead by priests, I will be the first to volunteer myself as a sacramental minister to work on a team under the leadership of a PLC. My objections to PLC's here are not about the loss of priestly power...
*Since Bp. Sklba's foot-fitting ruminations are not available online, see Diogenes' column remarking on the Bishop's thoughts here.
For Tax Purposes...
Christian Schneider writes an essay which is humorous, if you like dark and foreboding humor.
After the birth of our children, my wife was itching to get back to work. In order to accommodate our new schedules, we decided to hire a UW-Madison student to babysit our kids for 10 hours a week.
...Yet when it came time to hire our own babysitter, it quickly became evident there was more to it than just paying out of pocket. For tax purposes, my wife and I had to register and get both state and federal business identification numbers.
From there, we had to pay income taxes, social security taxes, and unemployment taxes on our babysitter (as well as some back taxes, as it took a few months to figure this all out). We had to register with the Department of Workforce development to set up quarterly unemployment insurance payments – despite the fact that if our babysitter were to quit working, she wouldn’t be collecting unemployment. We had to file all the W-2 and W-3 forms with federal and state government to report her income. If you decide to pay the babysitter’s portion of the income tax, naturally that gets taxed too, since it is considered income to the sitter. Despite my wife and I both having master’s degrees (although, admittedly, mine came with the purchase of my 20th case of Miller Lite), we had to hire a professional tax preparer to sort the whole mess out. And this was for someone watching our kids for 10 hours a week.
Of course, the important phrase is "for tax purposes." Had the Schneiders not wanted the deduction, nobody would have cared. Or--maybe more focused--had the Gummints simply believed that they were paying (say) $100./week to Suzy Q to watch the kids, instead of demanding documentation, ...
You get the picture.
Once it has been determined that every single nickel of a taxpayer's cashflow is subject to Gummint audit and cross-checking, the taxpayer's costs rise dramatically--not to mention the costs now incurred by the babysitter, (aka taxes.)
Next time, Chris, don't write it off.
And by the way, my kids take cash for those services. Less than $10/hour. You want to withhold? Find the next competent kid. Maybe they'll take your deal.
HT: Sykes
After the birth of our children, my wife was itching to get back to work. In order to accommodate our new schedules, we decided to hire a UW-Madison student to babysit our kids for 10 hours a week.
...Yet when it came time to hire our own babysitter, it quickly became evident there was more to it than just paying out of pocket. For tax purposes, my wife and I had to register and get both state and federal business identification numbers.
From there, we had to pay income taxes, social security taxes, and unemployment taxes on our babysitter (as well as some back taxes, as it took a few months to figure this all out). We had to register with the Department of Workforce development to set up quarterly unemployment insurance payments – despite the fact that if our babysitter were to quit working, she wouldn’t be collecting unemployment. We had to file all the W-2 and W-3 forms with federal and state government to report her income. If you decide to pay the babysitter’s portion of the income tax, naturally that gets taxed too, since it is considered income to the sitter. Despite my wife and I both having master’s degrees (although, admittedly, mine came with the purchase of my 20th case of Miller Lite), we had to hire a professional tax preparer to sort the whole mess out. And this was for someone watching our kids for 10 hours a week.
Of course, the important phrase is "for tax purposes." Had the Schneiders not wanted the deduction, nobody would have cared. Or--maybe more focused--had the Gummints simply believed that they were paying (say) $100./week to Suzy Q to watch the kids, instead of demanding documentation, ...
You get the picture.
Once it has been determined that every single nickel of a taxpayer's cashflow is subject to Gummint audit and cross-checking, the taxpayer's costs rise dramatically--not to mention the costs now incurred by the babysitter, (aka taxes.)
Next time, Chris, don't write it off.
And by the way, my kids take cash for those services. Less than $10/hour. You want to withhold? Find the next competent kid. Maybe they'll take your deal.
HT: Sykes
Jim Cramer in Perspective
We are reminded that Jim Cramer, the 'screamer' of yesterday's Belling show, is entertainment, not wisdom:
On July 16th, as the Dow was setting new record highs, Cramer declared, "Subprime...is totally meaningless. I am now saying that if every loan in 2006 that was subprime blew up – $500 billion – if they all blew up, you would still not notice...It has no relevance whatsoever."
"The trancheing [sic] of this stuff is the reason why there's no impact," he continued, "because it's been divided and split among so many entities that no ONE entity is really being hurt, other than the dumb guy who ran Bear Stearns."
On July 16th, most of the investment world agreed with Cramer's benign assessment. But just 18 days later – and 900 Dow points lower – Cramer offered a dramatically different assessment.
"The Fed is asleep...We have Armageddon!" he screamed on the air. "In the fixed-income markets we have Armageddon!!" And so it seemed to the majority of investors on that day. The Dow tumbled nearly 300 points, while the price of protecting against falling share prices soared to multi-year highs.
I suppose that Armageddon can occur in less than 18 days, Jim.
How're the ratings?
(Source: The Rude Awakening Newsletter)
On July 16th, as the Dow was setting new record highs, Cramer declared, "Subprime...is totally meaningless. I am now saying that if every loan in 2006 that was subprime blew up – $500 billion – if they all blew up, you would still not notice...It has no relevance whatsoever."
"The trancheing [sic] of this stuff is the reason why there's no impact," he continued, "because it's been divided and split among so many entities that no ONE entity is really being hurt, other than the dumb guy who ran Bear Stearns."
On July 16th, most of the investment world agreed with Cramer's benign assessment. But just 18 days later – and 900 Dow points lower – Cramer offered a dramatically different assessment.
"The Fed is asleep...We have Armageddon!" he screamed on the air. "In the fixed-income markets we have Armageddon!!" And so it seemed to the majority of investors on that day. The Dow tumbled nearly 300 points, while the price of protecting against falling share prices soared to multi-year highs.
I suppose that Armageddon can occur in less than 18 days, Jim.
How're the ratings?
(Source: The Rude Awakening Newsletter)
Kagen's Health Care Opening Essay
Heh.
Here's what Rep. Kagen (NutJob/WI) has to say in his opening essay on healthcare:
Open disclosure is common sense. It will require the real cost of all health care services and products to always be visible and openly disclosed to customers. And it will make certain that everyone knows the price of a pill before they swallow it, the true lowest-cost of insurance policies, and all products or services provided by physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, medical technologists, dentists, chiropractors, and all other recognized health professionals.
Somehow, Rep. Kagen avoids mention of 'the source of medications.' Like, for example, if the allergist is 'mixing his own' meds.
Here's what Rep. Kagen (NutJob/WI) has to say in his opening essay on healthcare:
Open disclosure is common sense. It will require the real cost of all health care services and products to always be visible and openly disclosed to customers. And it will make certain that everyone knows the price of a pill before they swallow it, the true lowest-cost of insurance policies, and all products or services provided by physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, medical technologists, dentists, chiropractors, and all other recognized health professionals.
Somehow, Rep. Kagen avoids mention of 'the source of medications.' Like, for example, if the allergist is 'mixing his own' meds.
(Wisconsin State) Fair? or Partly Cloudy?
Kevin acts like the journalist he really is.
The local MSM? Still testing creampuffs, I guess.
I have to wonder if the Wisconsin State Fair is having disappointing attendance figures this year.
Through the years, the Fair has always announced its daily attendance numbers to the media, and to workers and vendors in a daily newsletter. This year, I am told, no such daily figures are being announced.
Could it be Fair officials are embarrassed and are trying to hide the dismal news?
Veteran Fair observers have seen some strange and rare goings-on.
For example, unusually small crowds at night this past weekend. How about the Budweiser stage and concession area closing at 9:30 one night. I’m told that simply never happens.
Other vendors have also been shutting down earlier than the 11:00 closing time on non-weekend nights.
The bonehead move of the Fair thus far was the booking of Lupillo Rivera and Ana Barbara on the Miller Lite Main Stage this past Saturday, neither one of whom sang a word in English.
Thursday night, attendance at the Main Stage was 7,000; Friday night, 4900.Saturday night’s concert, the attempt to bring diversity to the fair, brought in a whopping 840 fans. The concert ended around midnight, right about the time the Fair was closing. That, too, shouldn’t make Fair management very happy. The idea on the weekends is to bring in big names on the Main Stage who will draw big crowds. You then get those concert fans back into the park after the show to eat, drink, and spend more money. That didn’t come close to happening Saturday.
Perhaps it's just co-incidence that the Fair management issued a press release to the effect that 'this is one of the top State Fairs in the USA,' and was dutifully read by one of the local TV stations last night.
Don't recall hearing any data to support that contention.
The local MSM? Still testing creampuffs, I guess.
I have to wonder if the Wisconsin State Fair is having disappointing attendance figures this year.
Through the years, the Fair has always announced its daily attendance numbers to the media, and to workers and vendors in a daily newsletter. This year, I am told, no such daily figures are being announced.
Could it be Fair officials are embarrassed and are trying to hide the dismal news?
Veteran Fair observers have seen some strange and rare goings-on.
For example, unusually small crowds at night this past weekend. How about the Budweiser stage and concession area closing at 9:30 one night. I’m told that simply never happens.
Other vendors have also been shutting down earlier than the 11:00 closing time on non-weekend nights.
The bonehead move of the Fair thus far was the booking of Lupillo Rivera and Ana Barbara on the Miller Lite Main Stage this past Saturday, neither one of whom sang a word in English.
Thursday night, attendance at the Main Stage was 7,000; Friday night, 4900.Saturday night’s concert, the attempt to bring diversity to the fair, brought in a whopping 840 fans. The concert ended around midnight, right about the time the Fair was closing. That, too, shouldn’t make Fair management very happy. The idea on the weekends is to bring in big names on the Main Stage who will draw big crowds. You then get those concert fans back into the park after the show to eat, drink, and spend more money. That didn’t come close to happening Saturday.
Perhaps it's just co-incidence that the Fair management issued a press release to the effect that 'this is one of the top State Fairs in the USA,' and was dutifully read by one of the local TV stations last night.
Don't recall hearing any data to support that contention.
Barf-Beam Next Defensive Weapon?
Just after you see the light, you barf.
It looks like a big flashlight — but it's really a nonlethal weapon designed to make you sick.
Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc., of Torrance, Calif., has been granted a contract by the Department of Homeland Security to develop what it calls the "LED Incapacitator," according to a DHS online newsletter.
The handheld device using light-emitting diodes to emit super-bright pulses of light at rapidly changing wavelengths, causing disorientation, nausea and even vomiting in whomever it's pointed at.
The handheld device using light-emitting diodes to emit super-bright pulses of light at rapidly changing wavelengths, causing disorientation, nausea and even vomiting in whomever it's pointed at.
• Click here to read the newsletter writeup.
"There's one wavelength that gets everybody," says IOS President Bob Lieberman. "Vlad [IOS top scientist Vladimir Rubtsov] calls it 'the evil color.'"
This is not likely to be a popular home-defense weapon where there is white carpeting.
It looks like a big flashlight — but it's really a nonlethal weapon designed to make you sick.
Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc., of Torrance, Calif., has been granted a contract by the Department of Homeland Security to develop what it calls the "LED Incapacitator," according to a DHS online newsletter.
The handheld device using light-emitting diodes to emit super-bright pulses of light at rapidly changing wavelengths, causing disorientation, nausea and even vomiting in whomever it's pointed at.
The handheld device using light-emitting diodes to emit super-bright pulses of light at rapidly changing wavelengths, causing disorientation, nausea and even vomiting in whomever it's pointed at.
• Click here to read the newsletter writeup.
"There's one wavelength that gets everybody," says IOS President Bob Lieberman. "Vlad [IOS top scientist Vladimir Rubtsov] calls it 'the evil color.'"
This is not likely to be a popular home-defense weapon where there is white carpeting.
Monday, August 06, 2007
Arlen Specter's Decline Into "Certifiably Psychotic"
He was always a suspect. Until Arlen opened his flap, nobody in this country really gave a drat for "Scottish Laws" vis-a-vis our Constitution.
Now he's drawn back the curtain.
...Senator Arlen Specter is providing covering fire for these partisan Democrats by announcing his intention to "review" the judicial opinions of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito to see if they have "complied with" promises he believes they gave in their Senate testimony as to how they would rule on the bench.
The word "astonishing" is inadequate for the level of hubris Specter demonstrates.
HT: Pro Ecclesia
Now he's drawn back the curtain.
...Senator Arlen Specter is providing covering fire for these partisan Democrats by announcing his intention to "review" the judicial opinions of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito to see if they have "complied with" promises he believes they gave in their Senate testimony as to how they would rule on the bench.
The word "astonishing" is inadequate for the level of hubris Specter demonstrates.
HT: Pro Ecclesia
"Free Love"?
G K Chesterton on that topic:
They have invented a phrase, a phrase that is a black and white contradiction in two words -- "free love" -- as if a lover ever had been, or ever could be, free. It is the nature of love to bind itself, and the institution of marriage merely paid the average man the compliment of taking him at his word.
HT: Happy Catholic
They have invented a phrase, a phrase that is a black and white contradiction in two words -- "free love" -- as if a lover ever had been, or ever could be, free. It is the nature of love to bind itself, and the institution of marriage merely paid the average man the compliment of taking him at his word.
HT: Happy Catholic
Signs of Disease: "Show Up or Pay More"
At St. Jerome's in Oconomowoc, Fr. Yockey, the pastor, offers a deal:
Show up at Mass 70% of the time, and you get a tuition break for the chilluns you send to the parish grade school.
Really.
Here's another deal:
281. Which are the chief commandments, or laws, of the Church?
The chief commandments, or laws, of the Church are these six:
1) To assist at Mass on all Sundays and holydays of obligation
The penalty for disregarding this particular law is most assuredly NOT financial.
Fr. Yockey explains:
"It was my decision. I'm calling it the expectation model. What this means is that parents who are registered as parishioners of St. Jerome are expected to live up to the teachings of the Catholic Church, and the official teaching reminds parents that they are the primary educators of their children in the ways of faith."
Well, doh. The Church does tell parents that they are 'the primary educators of their children.' But the far more grave expectation is "To assist...on ALL Sundays and holydays..." Why doesn't Fr. Yockey put THAT in the bulletin? Or on the schoolhouse door?
The disease is worldliness. I am not convinced that the cure is more of the same.
Terry has more here.
Show up at Mass 70% of the time, and you get a tuition break for the chilluns you send to the parish grade school.
Really.
Here's another deal:
281. Which are the chief commandments, or laws, of the Church?
The chief commandments, or laws, of the Church are these six:
1) To assist at Mass on all Sundays and holydays of obligation
The penalty for disregarding this particular law is most assuredly NOT financial.
Fr. Yockey explains:
"It was my decision. I'm calling it the expectation model. What this means is that parents who are registered as parishioners of St. Jerome are expected to live up to the teachings of the Catholic Church, and the official teaching reminds parents that they are the primary educators of their children in the ways of faith."
Well, doh. The Church does tell parents that they are 'the primary educators of their children.' But the far more grave expectation is "To assist...on ALL Sundays and holydays..." Why doesn't Fr. Yockey put THAT in the bulletin? Or on the schoolhouse door?
The disease is worldliness. I am not convinced that the cure is more of the same.
Terry has more here.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
As To That Proposal of the Bishops...
Chironomo speculates that the USCC's draft proposal for "liturgical music" was both mis-directed AND has been sorta kinda buried.
Moreover, that the response from Rome was not direct, but indirect.
Michael McMahon, President of NPM, pens a curious look at the Directory for Music suggested by the Bishops in November of 2006 in “Establishing Criteria for Liturgical Songs”. From the outset, he misses the point entirely…. Liturgiam Authenticam doesn’t call for establishing criteria for liturgical songs… it calls for establishing a fixed repertoire of liturgical texts to be used for singing. There is a huge difference, which apparently the Bishops missed as well. Giving him his due, however, he does point out that the Bishop’s document has been submitted for recognitio as required, but that “as of July 1st, the U.S Bishops were still waiting to hear back from Rome.” I think this silence from Rome speaks volumes.
(Faithful readers recall that NAPM is more accurately referred to as NAP(AL)M; the organization spent about 40 years attempting to incinerate any clear and reality-based understanding of the term musica sacra, not to mention putting the publishers of that stuff out of business.)
Anyhoo,
I would suggest that they have heard back from Rome already, in both Sacramentum Caritatis ...and in the letter to Bishops accompanying Summorum Pontificam
Both of these documents were issued this year, following the Bishops submission of the Directory, and both set forth a vision of what the music in the liturgy should be (in the case of summorum pontificam, the vision is to enact what was intended in Musicam Sacram).
Not a bad thesis. Given the inclinations of the current Pope, NAP(AL)M might be ceding membership to the Church Music Association of America over the next 10 years, because CMAA actually gets it.
Moreover, that the response from Rome was not direct, but indirect.
Michael McMahon, President of NPM, pens a curious look at the Directory for Music suggested by the Bishops in November of 2006 in “Establishing Criteria for Liturgical Songs”. From the outset, he misses the point entirely…. Liturgiam Authenticam doesn’t call for establishing criteria for liturgical songs… it calls for establishing a fixed repertoire of liturgical texts to be used for singing. There is a huge difference, which apparently the Bishops missed as well. Giving him his due, however, he does point out that the Bishop’s document has been submitted for recognitio as required, but that “as of July 1st, the U.S Bishops were still waiting to hear back from Rome.” I think this silence from Rome speaks volumes.
(Faithful readers recall that NAPM is more accurately referred to as NAP(AL)M; the organization spent about 40 years attempting to incinerate any clear and reality-based understanding of the term musica sacra, not to mention putting the publishers of that stuff out of business.)
Anyhoo,
I would suggest that they have heard back from Rome already, in both Sacramentum Caritatis ...and in the letter to Bishops accompanying Summorum Pontificam
Both of these documents were issued this year, following the Bishops submission of the Directory, and both set forth a vision of what the music in the liturgy should be (in the case of summorum pontificam, the vision is to enact what was intended in Musicam Sacram).
Not a bad thesis. Given the inclinations of the current Pope, NAP(AL)M might be ceding membership to the Church Music Association of America over the next 10 years, because CMAA actually gets it.
Good News for Midwestern Church Musicians
Nah--I don't call them "ministers of music," sorry.
The Church Music Association of America has announced that its next Colloquium for study of Catholic Church music will be held in CHICAGO, instead of D.C.
June 16-21, 2008 (Monday noon through Saturday evening) Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois
Gregorian Chant has been called the most beautiful music this side of Heaven. But as Pope Benedict XVI and the Second Vatican Council have emphasized, it is also integral to Catholic liturgical life and should be heard and experienced with wide participation in every parish. The Church Music Association of America is working to bring about this ideal with its Sacred Music Colloquium.
...The primary focus of the Colloquium is instruction in chant and the Catholic sacred music tradition, participation in chant and polyphonic choirs, nightly lectures and performances, along with daily celebrations of liturgies in both English and Latin.
Attendance is open to anyone interested in improving the quality of music in Catholic worship. Professional musicians will appreciate the rigor, while enthusiastic volunteer singers will enjoy the opportunity to study under an expert faculty. If you have never sung chant before, the colloquium will open a new world of beautiful sacred music to you, so you too are encouraged to attend.
Attendees also benefit from camaraderie with like-minded musicians who share their love of the liturgy of the Church. Growing awareness and appreciation of chant and its solemnity has generated particular excitement about the conference this year.
The cost is reasonable (this is almost a full week of instruction, demonstration, and implementation)
$675 for single room/full program including meals, and materials,
$575 for double room/full program, including meals and materials
$360 tuition only, including materials (you can pay per meal as you choose)
A deposit to reserve your spot is $75, with full payment due by May 15, 2008. Register first and then make your deposit. .... You can also mail this registration form that includes your check or credit card number to: CMAA Colloquium Registration, 920 Sanders St., Auburn, AL, 36830.
“The greatest need of liturgy today is the restoration of the sense of the sacred,” writes CMAA President William Mahrt of Stanford University. “Music has a principal role, since it expresses that sense of the sacred and sustains it through time.”
Musicians from SE Wisconsin and NE Illinois are well-positioned to 'commute' the event.
Info, including a full schedule and the registration form (PDF), can be found here.
These are outstanding 'working' seminars. I've attended a couple of them in the past and the music, the instructors, and the other attendees are worth FAR more than the posted prices.
Get this into your budget!
The Church Music Association of America has announced that its next Colloquium for study of Catholic Church music will be held in CHICAGO, instead of D.C.
June 16-21, 2008 (Monday noon through Saturday evening) Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois
Gregorian Chant has been called the most beautiful music this side of Heaven. But as Pope Benedict XVI and the Second Vatican Council have emphasized, it is also integral to Catholic liturgical life and should be heard and experienced with wide participation in every parish. The Church Music Association of America is working to bring about this ideal with its Sacred Music Colloquium.
...The primary focus of the Colloquium is instruction in chant and the Catholic sacred music tradition, participation in chant and polyphonic choirs, nightly lectures and performances, along with daily celebrations of liturgies in both English and Latin.
Attendance is open to anyone interested in improving the quality of music in Catholic worship. Professional musicians will appreciate the rigor, while enthusiastic volunteer singers will enjoy the opportunity to study under an expert faculty. If you have never sung chant before, the colloquium will open a new world of beautiful sacred music to you, so you too are encouraged to attend.
Attendees also benefit from camaraderie with like-minded musicians who share their love of the liturgy of the Church. Growing awareness and appreciation of chant and its solemnity has generated particular excitement about the conference this year.
The cost is reasonable (this is almost a full week of instruction, demonstration, and implementation)
$675 for single room/full program including meals, and materials,
$575 for double room/full program, including meals and materials
$360 tuition only, including materials (you can pay per meal as you choose)
A deposit to reserve your spot is $75, with full payment due by May 15, 2008. Register first and then make your deposit. .... You can also mail this registration form that includes your check or credit card number to: CMAA Colloquium Registration, 920 Sanders St., Auburn, AL, 36830.
“The greatest need of liturgy today is the restoration of the sense of the sacred,” writes CMAA President William Mahrt of Stanford University. “Music has a principal role, since it expresses that sense of the sacred and sustains it through time.”
Musicians from SE Wisconsin and NE Illinois are well-positioned to 'commute' the event.
Info, including a full schedule and the registration form (PDF), can be found here.
These are outstanding 'working' seminars. I've attended a couple of them in the past and the music, the instructors, and the other attendees are worth FAR more than the posted prices.
Get this into your budget!
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Bp. Sklba and Fr. Reese Join Hands. Trouble Afoot!
It doesn't take too long for The Usual Suspects to emerge. This time, they tag-team a recent statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which concerned the Catholic Church's self-definition.
Milwaukee's auxiliary, Bp. Sklba, leads off with an innocuous-sounding statement describing what he will say to the ELCA Convention in Chicago. (The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the 'far-left' Lutheran wing, not to be confused with the Missouri Synod or the Wisconsin Synod.)
He starts off:
"I certainly have to address the issues we struggle with. I don't want it to be bland. I don't want it to be just fluff. I want it to be a contribution. It has to at least recognize the (Vatican's) recent statement. I have to allude to that, to offer some assurance that this is not any rejection of dialogue partners or a lessening of commitment."
Of course the statement did not 'reject....partners' nor 'lessen commitment.' Those are straw-men. All the statement did is affirm what the Catholic Church teaches about itself and the logical consequences of those teachings.
Sklba said the document was aimed at Catholic theologians and their interpretations of Vatican II documents and papal encyclicals. It was drafted by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by the pope, but he did not craft every word, Sklba said.
The 'he did not craft every word' clause is added to insinuate that the document lacks the 'finality' of a Papal proclamation; Sklba's wording is designed to intone the "It's Not Infallible!!" tune in the background. Cute. But irrelevant; he also (adroitly) acknowledged that the document was "approved by the Pope" which is all that's needed.
Enter Fr. Reese (SJ). It is rumored that Fr. Reese was removed from his position as editor of the Jesuits' America magazine because the magazine was having trouble presenting orthodox doctrine consistently and thoroughly. Fr. Reese begins with a True Fact:
"This wasn't a grenade aimed at Protestants," said Father Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center. Benedict favors ecumenical dialogue but worries that it "is making Catholics think that as long as we all love Jesus and do good, it doesn't matter what church we belong to.
In Reese's view, ambiguous terms added in drafting Second Vatican Council documents to achieve near unanimous approval are being given specific interpretations by Vatican conservatives.
Well, maybe. Fr. Reese is correct that "specific interpretations" are being made, but these "specific interpretations" re-state exactly what the Church has said for 2,000 years or so. Fr. Reese would have us believe that the Second Vatican Council "changed stuff"--which is the motto of the "1960's Man." Unfortunately for Fr. Reese, the Council did not change one single teaching of the Church (although it did use different words and approaches to reaffirm Church teachings.) Fr. Reese also artfully inserts the BugBearTerm "Vatican conservatives." This reduces theology to partisan politics and implies that, were a "conservative" to state that "The sky is blue" that the truth of that statement hinges on political analysis.
Now the fun really begins.
A biblical scholar and theologian, Sklba focused on a word that has caused debate among theologians - what Vatican II meant by saying "the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church" instead of already "is" that church. The document says the Catholic Church is the one true church, and Sklba agrees. But he interprets "subsists" as meaning the Catholic Church is not yet the church that Christ intended, that it has flaws and needs continuing reform.
"There's something in that 'subsists' which recognizes that we clearly have not fully complied with the mind of Christ," Sklba said.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (search on 'subsists') presents the thing this way:
"The sole Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, . . . subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him. (870)
And further:
In her [the Catholic Church] subsists the fullness of Christ's body united with its head; this implies that she receives from him "the fullness of the means of salvation" which he has willed: correct and complete confession of faith, full sacramental life, and ordained ministry in apostolic succession. (830)
From the use of the term in those teachings we can infer the meaning of the term "subsists," also given in Lewis & Short as: to stay, continue, remain or to stay, tarry, abide, remain.
But we can also read the document over which Bp. Sklba wrings his hands for a definition:
"Christ 'established here on earth' only one Church and instituted it as a 'visible and spiritual community' that from its beginning and throughout the centuries has always existed and will always exist, and in which alone are found all the elements that Christ himself instituted. ... ‘subsistence’ means this perduring, historical continuity and the permanence of all the elements instituted by Christ in the Catholic Church. ... the word 'subsists' can only be attributed to the Catholic Church alone ..."
(It does help to understand Latin when defining the term. It IS, after all, derived from Latin. Think 'underlying' or 'underpinning' or 'substrate' to get a better sense of the meaning of the term.)
Why was the expression "subsists in" adopted instead of the simple word "is"?
Response: This "does not change the doctrine on the Church," but only elucidates "the fact that there are 'numerous elements of sanctification and of truth.'"
This is not hard to figure out. While there are 'numerous elements of sanctification and truth' which exist, only the Catholic Church has ALL of them, and has HAD all of them from the day of Pentecost. While ELCA Lutherans have some of them (as do Methodists, Baptists, etc.,), none of those sects have Apostolic Succession, nor do they have ALL the elements which the Church does. And by the way, the document states just that.
But the Bishop utilizes the height of spin when he tries using the words of Cdl. Ratzinger against the words of the Congregation for Doctrine:
Sklba also points to earlier statements by Ratzinger.
When the National Evangelical Lutheran/Catholic Dialogue ended its 10th round of talks in Milwaukee in 2004, its report said that Catholic judgment on the authenticity of Lutheran ministry need not be all or nothing.
The report quotes a 1993 letter from Ratzinger: "I count among the most important results of the ecumenical dialogues the insight that the issue of the Eucharist cannot be narrowed to the problem of validity. Even a theology oriented to the concept of succession . . . need not in any way deny the salvation granting presence of the Lord in the Lutheran Lord's Supper."
Of course, the entire letter (and context) is not quoted. But the first thing that I recalled when reading the last phrase in the quote was the text "Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am." That's one way to look at Cdl. Ratzinger's statement, and it fits precisely into the general thoughts of the CDW document. Here's why:
The Lutherans do not believe that their minister effects Transubstantiation--that is, they do not believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are literally and truly present under the appearance of bread and wine after their minister offers the gifts to God; on the other hand, the Catholics DO believe that the priest, acting in the Person of Christ, effects Transubstantiation at the Consecration of the Mass. (See "full sacramental life" in Catechism #830 above.)
What's key here is not "the presence" of the Lord. He told us that He would be 'present' along with two or three (or more) others gathered in his name. And the Lord can grant salvation despite 'non-succession' theological disputes. That's not in question.
What's key is Transubstantiation, which Bp. Sklba kinda-sorta elided from the discussion.
Further, Bp. Sklba
interprets "subsists" as meaning the Catholic Church is not yet the church that Christ intended, that it has flaws and needs continuing reform.
Umnnnnhhh....let's be precise, here, Your Excellency. The Church is also indefectible. Fr. Hardon's dictionary tells us the meaning of the term "indefectible" which also says a good deal about this "subsists" thing:
"Imperishable duration of the Church and her immutability until the end of time. The First Vatican Council declared that the Church possesses 'an unconquered stability' and that, 'built on a rock, she will continue to stand until the end of time.' (Denzinger 3013, 3056.) The Church's indefectibility, therefore, means that she now is and will always remain the institution of salvation, founded by Christ. This affirms that the Church is essentially unchangeable in her teaching, her constitution, and her liturgy...."
So the 'flaws' are not in the Church's teaching (doctrine and dogma.) They may exist in some other areas which are non-dogmatic or non-doctrinal. They may be flaws of 'accident,' but not of 'substance.'
What does Sklba mean by Catholic reform?
"Clarification, deepening," he said. "It's the same element of development of doctrine referred to in the Second Vatican Council's decree on divine revelation, where then-Father Ratzinger 40 years ago underscored the fact that doctrine developed and continues to develop and deepen understanding of revelation through the prayer and study of Christians, through the religious experience of Christians, and, only finally he pointed out, through the formal teaching ministry of the church.
"So, he was fascinated by the recognition of the development of doctrine, which has been part of Catholic tradition. It might take us yet in another direction.
The old 'switcheroo' here. Bp. Sklba implies that 'clarification' and 'deepening' will 'take us ...in another direction' and so, after all, nothing's permanent. Of course he did not SAY that--it would cost him his job to state that the Church would "un-truth" a truth. So he sorta-kinda implies it...
After all, "What is truth?"
Don't buy that line!! Clarification means that truth can be better-apprehended with another approach to the truth, or through different expression of that truth. It does NOT mean that "truth changes."
See, truth subsists.
Terry has more here.
Milwaukee's auxiliary, Bp. Sklba, leads off with an innocuous-sounding statement describing what he will say to the ELCA Convention in Chicago. (The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the 'far-left' Lutheran wing, not to be confused with the Missouri Synod or the Wisconsin Synod.)
He starts off:
"I certainly have to address the issues we struggle with. I don't want it to be bland. I don't want it to be just fluff. I want it to be a contribution. It has to at least recognize the (Vatican's) recent statement. I have to allude to that, to offer some assurance that this is not any rejection of dialogue partners or a lessening of commitment."
Of course the statement did not 'reject....partners' nor 'lessen commitment.' Those are straw-men. All the statement did is affirm what the Catholic Church teaches about itself and the logical consequences of those teachings.
Sklba said the document was aimed at Catholic theologians and their interpretations of Vatican II documents and papal encyclicals. It was drafted by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by the pope, but he did not craft every word, Sklba said.
The 'he did not craft every word' clause is added to insinuate that the document lacks the 'finality' of a Papal proclamation; Sklba's wording is designed to intone the "It's Not Infallible!!" tune in the background. Cute. But irrelevant; he also (adroitly) acknowledged that the document was "approved by the Pope" which is all that's needed.
Enter Fr. Reese (SJ). It is rumored that Fr. Reese was removed from his position as editor of the Jesuits' America magazine because the magazine was having trouble presenting orthodox doctrine consistently and thoroughly. Fr. Reese begins with a True Fact:
"This wasn't a grenade aimed at Protestants," said Father Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center. Benedict favors ecumenical dialogue but worries that it "is making Catholics think that as long as we all love Jesus and do good, it doesn't matter what church we belong to.
In Reese's view, ambiguous terms added in drafting Second Vatican Council documents to achieve near unanimous approval are being given specific interpretations by Vatican conservatives.
Well, maybe. Fr. Reese is correct that "specific interpretations" are being made, but these "specific interpretations" re-state exactly what the Church has said for 2,000 years or so. Fr. Reese would have us believe that the Second Vatican Council "changed stuff"--which is the motto of the "1960's Man." Unfortunately for Fr. Reese, the Council did not change one single teaching of the Church (although it did use different words and approaches to reaffirm Church teachings.) Fr. Reese also artfully inserts the BugBearTerm "Vatican conservatives." This reduces theology to partisan politics and implies that, were a "conservative" to state that "The sky is blue" that the truth of that statement hinges on political analysis.
Now the fun really begins.
A biblical scholar and theologian, Sklba focused on a word that has caused debate among theologians - what Vatican II meant by saying "the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church" instead of already "is" that church. The document says the Catholic Church is the one true church, and Sklba agrees. But he interprets "subsists" as meaning the Catholic Church is not yet the church that Christ intended, that it has flaws and needs continuing reform.
"There's something in that 'subsists' which recognizes that we clearly have not fully complied with the mind of Christ," Sklba said.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (search on 'subsists') presents the thing this way:
"The sole Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, . . . subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him. (870)
And further:
In her [the Catholic Church] subsists the fullness of Christ's body united with its head; this implies that she receives from him "the fullness of the means of salvation" which he has willed: correct and complete confession of faith, full sacramental life, and ordained ministry in apostolic succession. (830)
From the use of the term in those teachings we can infer the meaning of the term "subsists," also given in Lewis & Short as: to stay, continue, remain or to stay, tarry, abide, remain.
But we can also read the document over which Bp. Sklba wrings his hands for a definition:
"Christ 'established here on earth' only one Church and instituted it as a 'visible and spiritual community' that from its beginning and throughout the centuries has always existed and will always exist, and in which alone are found all the elements that Christ himself instituted. ... ‘subsistence’ means this perduring, historical continuity and the permanence of all the elements instituted by Christ in the Catholic Church. ... the word 'subsists' can only be attributed to the Catholic Church alone ..."
(It does help to understand Latin when defining the term. It IS, after all, derived from Latin. Think 'underlying' or 'underpinning' or 'substrate' to get a better sense of the meaning of the term.)
Why was the expression "subsists in" adopted instead of the simple word "is"?
Response: This "does not change the doctrine on the Church," but only elucidates "the fact that there are 'numerous elements of sanctification and of truth.'"
This is not hard to figure out. While there are 'numerous elements of sanctification and truth' which exist, only the Catholic Church has ALL of them, and has HAD all of them from the day of Pentecost. While ELCA Lutherans have some of them (as do Methodists, Baptists, etc.,), none of those sects have Apostolic Succession, nor do they have ALL the elements which the Church does. And by the way, the document states just that.
But the Bishop utilizes the height of spin when he tries using the words of Cdl. Ratzinger against the words of the Congregation for Doctrine:
Sklba also points to earlier statements by Ratzinger.
When the National Evangelical Lutheran/Catholic Dialogue ended its 10th round of talks in Milwaukee in 2004, its report said that Catholic judgment on the authenticity of Lutheran ministry need not be all or nothing.
The report quotes a 1993 letter from Ratzinger: "I count among the most important results of the ecumenical dialogues the insight that the issue of the Eucharist cannot be narrowed to the problem of validity. Even a theology oriented to the concept of succession . . . need not in any way deny the salvation granting presence of the Lord in the Lutheran Lord's Supper."
Of course, the entire letter (and context) is not quoted. But the first thing that I recalled when reading the last phrase in the quote was the text "Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am." That's one way to look at Cdl. Ratzinger's statement, and it fits precisely into the general thoughts of the CDW document. Here's why:
The Lutherans do not believe that their minister effects Transubstantiation--that is, they do not believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are literally and truly present under the appearance of bread and wine after their minister offers the gifts to God; on the other hand, the Catholics DO believe that the priest, acting in the Person of Christ, effects Transubstantiation at the Consecration of the Mass. (See "full sacramental life" in Catechism #830 above.)
What's key here is not "the presence" of the Lord. He told us that He would be 'present' along with two or three (or more) others gathered in his name. And the Lord can grant salvation despite 'non-succession' theological disputes. That's not in question.
What's key is Transubstantiation, which Bp. Sklba kinda-sorta elided from the discussion.
Further, Bp. Sklba
interprets "subsists" as meaning the Catholic Church is not yet the church that Christ intended, that it has flaws and needs continuing reform.
Umnnnnhhh....let's be precise, here, Your Excellency. The Church is also indefectible. Fr. Hardon's dictionary tells us the meaning of the term "indefectible" which also says a good deal about this "subsists" thing:
"Imperishable duration of the Church and her immutability until the end of time. The First Vatican Council declared that the Church possesses 'an unconquered stability' and that, 'built on a rock, she will continue to stand until the end of time.' (Denzinger 3013, 3056.) The Church's indefectibility, therefore, means that she now is and will always remain the institution of salvation, founded by Christ. This affirms that the Church is essentially unchangeable in her teaching, her constitution, and her liturgy...."
So the 'flaws' are not in the Church's teaching (doctrine and dogma.) They may exist in some other areas which are non-dogmatic or non-doctrinal. They may be flaws of 'accident,' but not of 'substance.'
What does Sklba mean by Catholic reform?
"Clarification, deepening," he said. "It's the same element of development of doctrine referred to in the Second Vatican Council's decree on divine revelation, where then-Father Ratzinger 40 years ago underscored the fact that doctrine developed and continues to develop and deepen understanding of revelation through the prayer and study of Christians, through the religious experience of Christians, and, only finally he pointed out, through the formal teaching ministry of the church.
"So, he was fascinated by the recognition of the development of doctrine, which has been part of Catholic tradition. It might take us yet in another direction.
The old 'switcheroo' here. Bp. Sklba implies that 'clarification' and 'deepening' will 'take us ...in another direction' and so, after all, nothing's permanent. Of course he did not SAY that--it would cost him his job to state that the Church would "un-truth" a truth. So he sorta-kinda implies it...
After all, "What is truth?"
Don't buy that line!! Clarification means that truth can be better-apprehended with another approach to the truth, or through different expression of that truth. It does NOT mean that "truth changes."
See, truth subsists.
Terry has more here.
Friday, August 03, 2007
From North Dakota, an Essay on the Motu Proprio
Hat tip to Fr. Z for this wonderful re-post:
In the past few weeks, two important documents were presented to the universal church by the Holy See.The first document, “Summorum Pontificum,” was released July 7 by Pope Benedict XVI as an apostolic letter in the form of a motu proprio. It relaxes the restrictions on the celebration of the Mass and other sacraments using the forms that were present before the Second Vatican Council.
...the faithful who read the document will see that, rather than positioning one version of the Roman Missal against another, the Holy Father declares, “They are, in fact, two usages of the one Roman Rite.” The document explains that there are two forms for celebrating the Holy Mass: the ordinary form of the Mass, currently celebrated in our parishes, according to the Roman Missal of Paul VI from 1970, and the extraordinary form of the Mass celebrated according to the Roman Missal from 1962, commonly known as the Tridentine Mass.
...The renewed attention to celebrating either form of the Mass with greater reverence will lead us to a deeper love for our Eucharistic Lord. One way in which our current missal will be improved in the coming years is with updated translations from the official Latin texts. Sadly, our current English translation is not as theologically rich or linguistically beautiful as comparable translations
The Holy Father’s desire, and my own, is that all of us develop a deeper love and reverence for the great treasure we receive from Christ, himself, in every Mass.
His Excellency Most Reverend Samuel Aquila, Fargo, ND.
In the past few weeks, two important documents were presented to the universal church by the Holy See.The first document, “Summorum Pontificum,” was released July 7 by Pope Benedict XVI as an apostolic letter in the form of a motu proprio. It relaxes the restrictions on the celebration of the Mass and other sacraments using the forms that were present before the Second Vatican Council.
...the faithful who read the document will see that, rather than positioning one version of the Roman Missal against another, the Holy Father declares, “They are, in fact, two usages of the one Roman Rite.” The document explains that there are two forms for celebrating the Holy Mass: the ordinary form of the Mass, currently celebrated in our parishes, according to the Roman Missal of Paul VI from 1970, and the extraordinary form of the Mass celebrated according to the Roman Missal from 1962, commonly known as the Tridentine Mass.
...The renewed attention to celebrating either form of the Mass with greater reverence will lead us to a deeper love for our Eucharistic Lord. One way in which our current missal will be improved in the coming years is with updated translations from the official Latin texts. Sadly, our current English translation is not as theologically rich or linguistically beautiful as comparable translations
The Holy Father’s desire, and my own, is that all of us develop a deeper love and reverence for the great treasure we receive from Christ, himself, in every Mass.
His Excellency Most Reverend Samuel Aquila, Fargo, ND.
WSJ/NBC Poll Disputes "Pollyanna" Pubbie View
Well, maybe everything's coming up roses.
And maybe not.
Most interesting is the poll's finding that "Jobs Going Overseas" is the #2 concern of those polled. And that ain't good news for the Pubbie Pollyannas.
At the same time, BLS reports 92K new jobs last month, (non-farm private employment) while ADP (a payroll processor) has reported only 48K. The BLS stat is WAY under 'consensus,' which expected 127K.
Merely keeping up with population growth requires about 125-140K jobs/month.
And maybe not.
Most interesting is the poll's finding that "Jobs Going Overseas" is the #2 concern of those polled. And that ain't good news for the Pubbie Pollyannas.
At the same time, BLS reports 92K new jobs last month, (non-farm private employment) while ADP (a payroll processor) has reported only 48K. The BLS stat is WAY under 'consensus,' which expected 127K.
Merely keeping up with population growth requires about 125-140K jobs/month.
First "Sub-Prime," Now "Alt-A"
In the home mortgage market, "sub-prime" loans were the first to blow up, leading to some major problems for Bear, Stearns (and others, like American Home Mortgage, which closed its doors yesterday.)
Now the "Alt-A" loans are on the block, too. "Alt-A" loans are 'pretty good' stuff; not "prime," but better than "sub-prime." "Alt-A" is as much as 20% of originations in 2006.
... Wachovia, the seventh largest home lender, discontinued making Alt A mortgages through brokers because ``it's becoming more difficult to sell these mortgages in the secondary market as the financial markets continue to tighten,'' spokeswoman Christy Phillips-Brown said.
... SunTrust Banks Inc., the 14th largest home lender, has ``pretty much gotten out of Alt A'' for now, said Sterling Edmunds, who heads its mortgage unit.
It's RUMORED that Washington Mutual is also getting out of "Alt-A."
Now the "Alt-A" loans are on the block, too. "Alt-A" loans are 'pretty good' stuff; not "prime," but better than "sub-prime." "Alt-A" is as much as 20% of originations in 2006.
... Wachovia, the seventh largest home lender, discontinued making Alt A mortgages through brokers because ``it's becoming more difficult to sell these mortgages in the secondary market as the financial markets continue to tighten,'' spokeswoman Christy Phillips-Brown said.
... SunTrust Banks Inc., the 14th largest home lender, has ``pretty much gotten out of Alt A'' for now, said Sterling Edmunds, who heads its mortgage unit.
It's RUMORED that Washington Mutual is also getting out of "Alt-A."
Mattera Speaks Clearly
Y.A.F.'s response to CAIR's threatening letter:
GO TO HELL AND TAKE YOUR 72 VIRGINS WITH YOU
That from Jason Mattera, of Young Americans for Freedom, after the Council for Kissing the Ass of Terrorists' lawyers sent a nastygram to YAF over hosting Robert Spencer as a speaker.
I like Mattera's brevity and clarity.
Kohl, Feingold Foul Selves on S.1 "Ethics" Bill
Following the unconscionable vote of Cong. Ryan and Sensenbrenner (and lots of other Members of the Party In Government), Sens. Kohl and Feingold also voted for the "Ethics" bill, S.1.
It's possible that GWB will veto it. Don't hold your breath.
Despite the spinning done by the MSM on the bill, the AP/JS account revealed the real reason this piece of crap passed:
Lawrimore [a White House spokesman] called the travel provision unworkable because a first-term president seeking re-election would have to pay extremely high sums to cover the full cost of using Air Force One on political trips. Campaign committees for presidents, who always fly on military craft for security reasons, pay the government the cost of a first-class ticket when using Air Force One, Lawrimore said.
Note the term "unworkable."
This is Step 2 in the long-term plan for Federally-financed elections, which is also Step 2 in the plan to remove "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances" from the 1st Amendment.
The bill's "unworkability" does not stem solely from restrictions on Presidential campaign flights. It is loaded with incomprehensible language affecting ALL Federal campaign activity--precisely because, when the Bill is declared un-Constitutional, the next "logical" step will be to ban ALL private contributions.
That's why the utterly depraved Sen. Slimegold voted for it.
Don't ask me about the excuse that Sensenbrenner and Ryan will use. There IS none.
It's possible that GWB will veto it. Don't hold your breath.
Despite the spinning done by the MSM on the bill, the AP/JS account revealed the real reason this piece of crap passed:
Lawrimore [a White House spokesman] called the travel provision unworkable because a first-term president seeking re-election would have to pay extremely high sums to cover the full cost of using Air Force One on political trips. Campaign committees for presidents, who always fly on military craft for security reasons, pay the government the cost of a first-class ticket when using Air Force One, Lawrimore said.
Note the term "unworkable."
This is Step 2 in the long-term plan for Federally-financed elections, which is also Step 2 in the plan to remove "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances" from the 1st Amendment.
The bill's "unworkability" does not stem solely from restrictions on Presidential campaign flights. It is loaded with incomprehensible language affecting ALL Federal campaign activity--precisely because, when the Bill is declared un-Constitutional, the next "logical" step will be to ban ALL private contributions.
That's why the utterly depraved Sen. Slimegold voted for it.
Don't ask me about the excuse that Sensenbrenner and Ryan will use. There IS none.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Death in the Milwaukee Blogger Family
Karen Marie, who posted here occasionally, has died.
In paradisum deducant te angeli; in tuo adventu suscipant te martyres; et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem.
Always a lady.
In paradisum deducant te angeli; in tuo adventu suscipant te martyres; et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem.
Always a lady.
Apocalypse Soon?
The link to Family Security is provided. Read into it what you want.
Given that, here's a piece of very practical (and easy-to-implement) advice from the article:
...if we are traveling by public transportation, we should equip ourselves with a bottle of water, a hand towel and a flashlight. He reminds us that many fatalities in the London tube and Madrid train attacks occurred from victims who breathed in the lethal fumes from bomb components and burning gasoline. Had these people had wet towels to cover their mouths and noses, they would have had a much better chance of survival.
Actually that's useful advice for 'just getting around' no matter what.
Given that, here's a piece of very practical (and easy-to-implement) advice from the article:
...if we are traveling by public transportation, we should equip ourselves with a bottle of water, a hand towel and a flashlight. He reminds us that many fatalities in the London tube and Madrid train attacks occurred from victims who breathed in the lethal fumes from bomb components and burning gasoline. Had these people had wet towels to cover their mouths and noses, they would have had a much better chance of survival.
Actually that's useful advice for 'just getting around' no matter what.
Sensenbrenner, Ryan Fail A Test
Sadly and inexplicably, both Jim Sensenbrenner (R WI/5) and Paul Ryan (R WI/1) voted for the Sleaze-and-Piggy Ethics "Reform" act of Harry (Land Office) Reid.
These men deserve scorn and derision for their act.
Sorry to say so, but that's a fact.
How bad IS this Bill? Go here for the quick-facts version.
These men deserve scorn and derision for their act.
Sorry to say so, but that's a fact.
How bad IS this Bill? Go here for the quick-facts version.
Monomania
The Dims display their maturity:
Huebsch is wondering why the Dems aren't addressing the GOP offer, and instead offering health care items.
Decker said, "Mr. Speaker, we're going to talk about health care every day that we're at this table."
Does Decker's state-paid health insurance plan include meds which assure graduation from childhood?
Huebsch is wondering why the Dems aren't addressing the GOP offer, and instead offering health care items.
Decker said, "Mr. Speaker, we're going to talk about health care every day that we're at this table."
Does Decker's state-paid health insurance plan include meds which assure graduation from childhood?
Safe Squirrel Zone in Germantown
Squirrels are moving to Germantown to take advantage of the free food.
It's a Safe Squirrel Zone now:
Police last week issued a $172 ticket to a 73-year-old man who had been warned three times about shooting squirrels at his home.
The ticket was given July 22 to Ronald E. Riemer after a neighbor told police he had heard gunfire and saw two squirrels that had been killed in Riemer's yard.
According to a police report, Riemer acknowledged shooting squirrels, saying they damage his garden and eat bird food.
The article does not state whether the neighbor gave the squirrels a proper burial.
It's a Safe Squirrel Zone now:
Police last week issued a $172 ticket to a 73-year-old man who had been warned three times about shooting squirrels at his home.
The ticket was given July 22 to Ronald E. Riemer after a neighbor told police he had heard gunfire and saw two squirrels that had been killed in Riemer's yard.
According to a police report, Riemer acknowledged shooting squirrels, saying they damage his garden and eat bird food.
The article does not state whether the neighbor gave the squirrels a proper burial.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Subsidiarity, and the 9th and 10th
Yesterday, I opined that while Shel Lubar's concerns about fiscal responsibility in the Greater Milwaukee area are licit and compelling, that his proposal for a 'super-board' of fiscal control is not the right solution.
My line of argument was that the Principle of Subsidiarity should be respected and applied, and that the Founders, in their wisdom, wrote the 9th and 10th Amendments with that principle in mind.
A friendly interlocutor/attorney/blogger suggested (see combox in the link) that while he agrees that a "super-Board" may not be the solution, he does not think that the 9th/10th have all that much to do with "subsidiarity."
OK. Let's start by defining the terms.
Subsidiarity is the principle which states that matters ought to be handled by the smallest (or, the lowest) competent authority. The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as the idea that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level. The concept is applicable in the fields of government, political science, cybernetics and management. Subsidiarity is, ideally or in principle, one of the features of federalism. (Wikipedia)
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
(Kinda convenient that Wiki even mentioned "federalism" for this discussion, no?)
Obviously, we're merely converting the Amendments to the State level--or more accurately, to the sub-State level of 'regions' and 'localities.' Resemblance to actual sub-State regions may be accidental. Names are withheld to protect the innocent. All the usual jibberish from the lottery tickets and credit card agreements apply.
Many interpreters of the Constitution begin with the understanding that the Bill of Rights 'speaks directly to the Federal Government;' that is, that the BoR expressly limits the Feds. Both the 9th and the 10th show that clearly. The 9th protects "other" individual rights not already named in the Constitution and the BoR (e.g, assembly, bearing arms, property, etc.) and the 10th protects the rights of States, 'empowering' them with what was not explicitly granted to the Feds.
Thus, early on, some States maintained a State religion (Maryland was Catholic). Other States did not. Each State must govern elections as it sees fit (subject to the 14th,) etc., etc.
With these in mind, the combox is open to Reaganite.
My line of argument was that the Principle of Subsidiarity should be respected and applied, and that the Founders, in their wisdom, wrote the 9th and 10th Amendments with that principle in mind.
A friendly interlocutor/attorney/blogger suggested (see combox in the link) that while he agrees that a "super-Board" may not be the solution, he does not think that the 9th/10th have all that much to do with "subsidiarity."
OK. Let's start by defining the terms.
Subsidiarity is the principle which states that matters ought to be handled by the smallest (or, the lowest) competent authority. The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as the idea that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level. The concept is applicable in the fields of government, political science, cybernetics and management. Subsidiarity is, ideally or in principle, one of the features of federalism. (Wikipedia)
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
(Kinda convenient that Wiki even mentioned "federalism" for this discussion, no?)
Obviously, we're merely converting the Amendments to the State level--or more accurately, to the sub-State level of 'regions' and 'localities.' Resemblance to actual sub-State regions may be accidental. Names are withheld to protect the innocent. All the usual jibberish from the lottery tickets and credit card agreements apply.
Many interpreters of the Constitution begin with the understanding that the Bill of Rights 'speaks directly to the Federal Government;' that is, that the BoR expressly limits the Feds. Both the 9th and the 10th show that clearly. The 9th protects "other" individual rights not already named in the Constitution and the BoR (e.g, assembly, bearing arms, property, etc.) and the 10th protects the rights of States, 'empowering' them with what was not explicitly granted to the Feds.
Thus, early on, some States maintained a State religion (Maryland was Catholic). Other States did not. Each State must govern elections as it sees fit (subject to the 14th,) etc., etc.
With these in mind, the combox is open to Reaganite.
Defendant: Bear, Stearns
Not surprising, but another straw in the wind:
Investors in two Bear Stearns Cos. hedge funds took action against the company Wednesday for allegedly misleading them about the extent of the investment bank's exposure to risky mortgage-backed securities, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said.
The move comes as the two funds filed for bankruptcy protection, two weeks after the company told investors one was essentially worthless and the other had lost more than 90 percent of its value.
As the fate of those two funds moves into court, Bear Stearns said it moved late Tuesday to prevent investors from pulling money out of a third hedge fund, which had $850 million invested in highly rated mortgage-backed securities.
The company told investors the Asset-Backed Securities fund was not near collapse, but that it froze redemptions to prevent from being forced to sell assets to a market with little appetite for mortgage-related securities.
The 'nuclear waste' begins to spread.
Investors in two Bear Stearns Cos. hedge funds took action against the company Wednesday for allegedly misleading them about the extent of the investment bank's exposure to risky mortgage-backed securities, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said.
The move comes as the two funds filed for bankruptcy protection, two weeks after the company told investors one was essentially worthless and the other had lost more than 90 percent of its value.
As the fate of those two funds moves into court, Bear Stearns said it moved late Tuesday to prevent investors from pulling money out of a third hedge fund, which had $850 million invested in highly rated mortgage-backed securities.
The company told investors the Asset-Backed Securities fund was not near collapse, but that it froze redemptions to prevent from being forced to sell assets to a market with little appetite for mortgage-related securities.
The 'nuclear waste' begins to spread.
We Call Them "Liturgeists" For a Reason
Although this poor young thing may be vying for an "Onion" prize, we have to take her scribblings at face value, no? On the Motu Proprio...(N.B. ("please note well" to you, Peg) her text is blue, and Fr Z's is red.)
By Peggy Lovrien, Diocesan Director of Liturgy [Winona, MN]
The vernacular text evolved as the result of careful research and scholarly work by church clergy prior to the Second Vatican Council. [WHAT!? How could dozens of vernacular translations evolve before the Latin text existed? What a mess.] The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (CSL), the first document of the council, articulated the result of their scholarly work and called for the use of the people’s language in the liturgy. [Noooo…. the text of Sacrosanctum Concilium did not call for the vernacular. It called for Latin to be preserved as the language of the liturgy while opening the possibility that the vernacular could be used for some parts of the Mass in some occasions.] Use of the people’s language was a value because it allowed people to knowledgeably participate in the liturgy through full, conscious, and active participation. [This is very narrow. It suggests that people cannot participate at Mass if the Mass is not in the vernacular.] The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy laid the groundwork for the New Mass of 1969 (Novus Ordo).
For the rest of Ms. Lovrein's fantastical journey into the unknown (which in her case would be the Roman Catholic liturgy and its history) follow the link. There are several more paragraphs of sidesplitting humor available there.
By Peggy Lovrien, Diocesan Director of Liturgy [Winona, MN]
The vernacular text evolved as the result of careful research and scholarly work by church clergy prior to the Second Vatican Council. [WHAT!? How could dozens of vernacular translations evolve before the Latin text existed? What a mess.] The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (CSL), the first document of the council, articulated the result of their scholarly work and called for the use of the people’s language in the liturgy. [Noooo…. the text of Sacrosanctum Concilium did not call for the vernacular. It called for Latin to be preserved as the language of the liturgy while opening the possibility that the vernacular could be used for some parts of the Mass in some occasions.] Use of the people’s language was a value because it allowed people to knowledgeably participate in the liturgy through full, conscious, and active participation. [This is very narrow. It suggests that people cannot participate at Mass if the Mass is not in the vernacular.] The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy laid the groundwork for the New Mass of 1969 (Novus Ordo).
For the rest of Ms. Lovrein's fantastical journey into the unknown (which in her case would be the Roman Catholic liturgy and its history) follow the link. There are several more paragraphs of sidesplitting humor available there.
The UN: Anti-Woman
When you read or hear UN propaganda, you hear about "rights of women."
Then you read about the actualities.
...international institutions like UNFPA, [UN Population Fund] created after World War II to foster development, are key drivers of the unfolding tragedy through their promotion of fertility decline as a prerequisite for human development, and fertility control as an international human right.
How does that work?
Throughout human history, demographers tell us, nature has provided about 105 male births for every 100 females. This “sex ratio at birth”—stable across generations and ethnic boundaries—may range from 103 to as high as 106 boys for every 100 girls. In only one generation, that ratio has come unglued.
A Chinese census reports ratios as high as 120–136 boys born for every 100 girls; in Taiwan, ratios of 119 boys to 100 girls; in Singapore 118 boys per 100 girls; South Korea 112 boys per 100 girls; and in India, where the practice was outlawed in 1994, the ratio continues to exceed 120 boys for every 100 girls in some areas. Countries such as Greece, Luxembourg, El Salvador, the Philippines, Cape Verde, and Egypt, even among some ethnic groups in the United States (Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino), are showing the same deadly discrimination against daughters.
What is the cause of the crisis? Experts point to a recent confluence of four main factors: rising access to sonogram technology, increased access to abortion, a preference for sons, and fertility decline.
And who, exactly, provides 'sonograms..abortion access..and fertility decline?
UNFPA,
whose latest update to its report on member-state contributions shows that eight wealthy European countries, along with Canada and Japan, pay 86% of the $389 million bill to fund that agency, which aggressively promotes population control.
And who set "population control" as a priority?
From the time Robert McNamara took the reins of the World Bank in 1968 to the latest Bank health, nutrition, and population strategy released in April, successive Bank presidents have pursued an aggressive population-control agenda, targeting developing countries.
None other than the "boy genius" of the Vietnam War. Obviously, screwing up the US military and Vietnam was hardly enough of an accomplishment for this creature.
Now that women are becoming an endangered species,
UNFPA executive director Thoraya Obaid still thinks global contraceptive use is too low and told the press in March that the world needs a “wake up call to the urgency of giving couples the means to exercise their human right to freely determine the sizes of their families.” Obaid’s remark gives us a window into the tight collaboration between U.N. development, health, and human rights officials in promoting reproductive rights. In recent years, this has included UNICEF as well
Who's next on the elimination-parade-hit-list?
...the next victims of the trend will be Africa’s baby girls. With all the other evils facing them, so far they have largely avoided the deadly violence of sex selection due to that region’s relatively high fertility rates. International organizations like UNFPA are engaging in a full-court press to increase contraceptive prevalence in Africa (now the world’s lowest at 27%) and to liberalize abortion laws by several means, including a controversial continent-wide framework called the Maputo Protocol.
Sure happy that the US helps out with UN finances.
HT: First Things
Then you read about the actualities.
...international institutions like UNFPA, [UN Population Fund] created after World War II to foster development, are key drivers of the unfolding tragedy through their promotion of fertility decline as a prerequisite for human development, and fertility control as an international human right.
How does that work?
Throughout human history, demographers tell us, nature has provided about 105 male births for every 100 females. This “sex ratio at birth”—stable across generations and ethnic boundaries—may range from 103 to as high as 106 boys for every 100 girls. In only one generation, that ratio has come unglued.
A Chinese census reports ratios as high as 120–136 boys born for every 100 girls; in Taiwan, ratios of 119 boys to 100 girls; in Singapore 118 boys per 100 girls; South Korea 112 boys per 100 girls; and in India, where the practice was outlawed in 1994, the ratio continues to exceed 120 boys for every 100 girls in some areas. Countries such as Greece, Luxembourg, El Salvador, the Philippines, Cape Verde, and Egypt, even among some ethnic groups in the United States (Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino), are showing the same deadly discrimination against daughters.
What is the cause of the crisis? Experts point to a recent confluence of four main factors: rising access to sonogram technology, increased access to abortion, a preference for sons, and fertility decline.
And who, exactly, provides 'sonograms..abortion access..and fertility decline?
UNFPA,
whose latest update to its report on member-state contributions shows that eight wealthy European countries, along with Canada and Japan, pay 86% of the $389 million bill to fund that agency, which aggressively promotes population control.
And who set "population control" as a priority?
From the time Robert McNamara took the reins of the World Bank in 1968 to the latest Bank health, nutrition, and population strategy released in April, successive Bank presidents have pursued an aggressive population-control agenda, targeting developing countries.
None other than the "boy genius" of the Vietnam War. Obviously, screwing up the US military and Vietnam was hardly enough of an accomplishment for this creature.
Now that women are becoming an endangered species,
UNFPA executive director Thoraya Obaid still thinks global contraceptive use is too low and told the press in March that the world needs a “wake up call to the urgency of giving couples the means to exercise their human right to freely determine the sizes of their families.” Obaid’s remark gives us a window into the tight collaboration between U.N. development, health, and human rights officials in promoting reproductive rights. In recent years, this has included UNICEF as well
Who's next on the elimination-parade-hit-list?
...the next victims of the trend will be Africa’s baby girls. With all the other evils facing them, so far they have largely avoided the deadly violence of sex selection due to that region’s relatively high fertility rates. International organizations like UNFPA are engaging in a full-court press to increase contraceptive prevalence in Africa (now the world’s lowest at 27%) and to liberalize abortion laws by several means, including a controversial continent-wide framework called the Maputo Protocol.
Sure happy that the US helps out with UN finances.
HT: First Things
The FBI's Little Problem With Criminals
Seems that the FBI is not exactly pure as the driven snow.
Representative Delahunt: I'm not talking about the Attorney General guidelines. Do they [FBI agents] have a legal responsibility, currently, to report evidence, both exculpatory, or evidence of a crime, when a homicide is being investigated?"
Murphy: If you will indulge me Congressman, I'd like the opportunity to answer that question offline because there are various circumstances under which that question might be answered differently that would include some of the aspects about how we manage sources, how we make decisions about the management of sources. And I would appreciate the opportunity to answer that question for the record offline.
What is that all about?
The FBI does not always tell the locals that an FBI confidential informant has murdered someone while working for the FBI.
AND the FBI has 'buried' exculpatory information (thus sending the wrong people to prison) when that information suits FBI purposes.
What's it mean to you?
About $100 million in damages in the last reported settlement.
HT: Balko
Representative Delahunt: I'm not talking about the Attorney General guidelines. Do they [FBI agents] have a legal responsibility, currently, to report evidence, both exculpatory, or evidence of a crime, when a homicide is being investigated?"
Murphy: If you will indulge me Congressman, I'd like the opportunity to answer that question offline because there are various circumstances under which that question might be answered differently that would include some of the aspects about how we manage sources, how we make decisions about the management of sources. And I would appreciate the opportunity to answer that question for the record offline.
What is that all about?
The FBI does not always tell the locals that an FBI confidential informant has murdered someone while working for the FBI.
AND the FBI has 'buried' exculpatory information (thus sending the wrong people to prison) when that information suits FBI purposes.
What's it mean to you?
About $100 million in damages in the last reported settlement.
HT: Balko
"Proceed in Piggery, Peacefully"
That's the gist of the Senate's watered-down "ethics" reform bill, which seems to have the support of all the usual suspects.
And earns the disdain of Tom Coburn, who actually understands ethics (he's an MD.)
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said he will fight the bill because it ``guts key earmark reforms.'' He noted that, unlike a previously adopted version, it would allow the majority party's leaders - not the Senate parliamentarian- to rule on whether earmark disclosure requirements have been met in bills reaching the Senate floor.
Yah--'party leaders' like Harry (Land-Office) Reid, or Helmet-Hair Lott. That inspires confidence, no?
HT: Captain's Quarters
And earns the disdain of Tom Coburn, who actually understands ethics (he's an MD.)
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said he will fight the bill because it ``guts key earmark reforms.'' He noted that, unlike a previously adopted version, it would allow the majority party's leaders - not the Senate parliamentarian- to rule on whether earmark disclosure requirements have been met in bills reaching the Senate floor.
Yah--'party leaders' like Harry (Land-Office) Reid, or Helmet-Hair Lott. That inspires confidence, no?
HT: Captain's Quarters
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