"Catholic" Charities Continues Its Suicide

The USCC's "Catholic" Charities organization is known for its grants to less-than-Catholic organizations, usually of the Alinsky-ite flavor, and often connected to pro-abortion gangs.

So what does "Catholic" Charities do about that?

Appoints another clandestine pro-abort as the New Leader.

Suicide used to be quick.  This bunch is dragging it out over decades.  After all, there's still some money in the place.

What's Walker Talking About?

Yup.  Walker's going to run for the Presidency.

That requires the (R) shot at Conservatives, of course--so here's the transcript:

"Some in Washington believe government should play a growing role in our lives and rarely question its expense," Walker said. "Others have such disdain for government that they attempt to keep it from working at all...."

What the hell does that mean, Scott?  

What it does mean, of course, is that Walker is just fine-and-dandy with setting up ludicrous straw-men and then knocking them down.

Not what I'd call 'leadership.'

Think of It!! ObozoCare for the Internet!!

Obozo's next foray into the demolition of the United States will be a Federal regulatory takeover of the Internet.

Bet you can't wait!  It'll be just like the Good Old Days when he lied like Hell about "less cost" and "more services" for EVERYONE!!  So now we have........ahhh........higher costs and LESS services.  (You shoulda read the bill, dumbasses.)

And you'll get to see, once again, the Feds' mastery of internet stuff, just like you did when ObozoCare's web-page was unveiled!!  It'll all be FREE!  And even BETTER!!

So.

Who'll buy John Boehner on this one?

Does Grover Norquist Hate Americans?

Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform has 'grown' beyond its johnny-one-note tax silliness.

Now they are also self-proclaimed experts on H1-B immigration. 

Except they're wrong--which doesn't prevent them from their yappy-dog antics.

How about some mathematical and econometric facts?

...what’s wrong with giving visas to those with graduate degrees?  Aren’t they more qualified?  If not enough Americans pursue graduate study, isn’t it justified to fill this “gap” with foreign workers?  The answer is very simple:  NO....

...One can argue whether having a doctorate in computer science is a big thing or not (I would argue mainly not), but the point is that it is irrelevant.  At least in the case of CS, in the special 20,000-visa H-1B category, we are talking about Master’s students.  Hence my term, the Master’s Category.
You may ask, “Aren’t workers with Master’s degree holders better, more qualified?”  My firm answer is NO....

So Grover's "Master's degree" claim is hogwash.

As to anti-Americanism:

...the bill fails to deliver on another claim made in the above press release:  “[the bill would help employers hire immigrants] while making reforms to protect [US.] workers.”  I’ve read both the summary and full text of the bill, and there is NOTHING there about U.S. worker protections....

Matloff, cited above, has demonstrated that there is not any "shortage" of Americans in STEM fields*  None.  And there is, therefore, no "need" to import questionably-qualified STEM majors.  None.

So what does Norquist have against Americans?


*Read the EPI paper linked in Matloff's post

MU Uses the Obama Pirouette in Dumping McAdams

A few days ago, Marquette University announced that Prof. McAdams' classes had been cancelled for the Spring '15 semester.

The University babbled something about 'safety of our students' (especially precious snowflake defenseless  TA's who squash free speech and thought in their classes.)

For a moment, leave aside the fact that the Marquette campus, as a whole, is a 'danger zone' for students who are concerned with such things as armed robbery, assault, and muggings.

Marquette is suddenly worried about the "safety" of its TA's.   Who knows?  Thousands of stifled but enraged 19- and 20-year-olds could rise up and utterly destroy.....Ahhh.  Never mind.  They'd have to leave The Avalanche to do that, and, ya'know....

Anyhow, one day later, the Obama Administration announced that Obama Himself, Lord Fauntelroy XXVIII, will be 'pushing back' on journalists who plan to run items disparaging jihadists.

The reason for this?

..."The president...will not now be shy about expressing a view or taking the steps that are necessary to try to advocate for the safety and security of our men and women in uniform" whenever journalists' work may provoke jihadist attacks, spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at the White House’s daily briefing....

Yah!!  The "safety of our troops", for crying out loud.  Seriously.  That's now Obozo's first and foremost Concern.  He might even start a hashtag thing for the troops, who only have M-4's, M-16A2's, and assorted tanks and howitzers available for defense.

"Safety."

Just a co-incidence, of course.

It's SOME Islam, Not All

Interesting breakdown of Islamic 'sects' and the genesis thereof.

...Islam is similar to Judaism in the importance it gives to legal interpretation. ... Unlike Christianity in the West, where divisive debates often have focused on theological doctrines, in Islam the most important schools of thought reflect differences in jurisprudence. There are four main schools of law for Sunnis (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali schools) and one for Shi’ites (Ja‘fari). The main distinctions between these schools lie in divergent opinions about authoritative sources or roots of law. All accept the Qur’an and the sunnah (Muhammad’s example) as foundational but differ on the importance of consensus in collective scholarly reasoning (ijma) and individual analogical reasoning (qiyas). The most conservative school, Hanbali, tends to emphasize the Qur’an and sunna and is suspicious of ijma and qiyas, while the most liberal, Hanafi, tends to emphasize qiyas and individual opinion....

OK so far?  Good.  Here's more.

...Wahhabi and Salafi thought in their modern expression derive from Islamic jurist-theologians Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328) and Muhammad Abd ­al-­Wahhab (d. 1792). They are both renowned students and teachers of the Hanbali school of law. Salafi teaching upholds the first three generations of Muslim history (salaf) as sacrosanct alongside the prophetic example. Not all Salafis are Wahhabis. The latter brand any practice or teaching later than the third century of Islam (salaf) as satanic innovation (bida‘). Wahhabism is the most literalist and iconoclastic branch of Hanbalism, which itself is the most conservative of the four main schools. For instance, while other Muslims might urge abstention from alcohol, Wahhabis also prohibit stimulants, including tobacco. Not only is modest dress prescribed but also the type of clothing that should be worn, especially by women (a black abaya, covering all but the eyes and hands). Religious education includes training in the use of weapons. Wahhabism emphasizes the importance of avoiding non-Islamic cultural practices and non-Muslim fraternity on the grounds that the sunna and the central importance of Muhammad as exemplar forbid imitating non-Muslims. Wahhabi scholars have warned against taking non-Muslims as friends and against smiling at or even wishing them well on their holidays....

And, you guessed it, the Muzzie terrorists are Wahhabi.

Which also happens to be the inclination of Saudi Arabia as a whole.  That's why the money for these cretins flows from......ahhh.....oil revenues.

There's a lot more at the link, including a section which demonstrates that the terrorists are actually breaking even Wahhabi laws.

Bp. Ricken's Excellent Question

The Bishop of Green Bay asks a very good question:

....why would St. Norbert, a Catholic college, invite someone who is such a high profile and well-known protagonist and activist of abortion rights to weigh in on the causes and contexts of a dramatic increase in domestic violence in the United States?...

Well, Excellency, it's because murdering children is not "violence," of course. Silly question.

I've often referred to St Norbert's as 'the best little Methodist college in the Midwest.'  But that might be a slander of the Methodists.

"Religion of Peace" Starts 2015 WIth a Lot of Bangs

Yah, yah, Paris.

How about Nigeria?  Does anyone really care about black lives?

The terrorist group Boko Haram has massacred at least 2,000 people in the Nigerian state of Borno, according to a Nigerian government official.  The town of Baga was destroyed, and 16 other villages and towns were also razed to the ground in two days of horrific violence.

Think Al Sharpton's going over there to bitch, moan, and pull some shakedowns?

(Well, maybe, if he gets a few hundred tabs of Viagra in payment.)

It's the Republicans' Turn to Increase Taxes

Well, of course.  That's why the country voted (R), right?

...With gasoline prices at lows not seen since 2009, some political observers and business executives say now is the ideal time to raise the 18.4 cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline and the 24.4 cent-a-gallon tax on diesel fuel, which haven’t increased since 1993. The taxes are the main source of revenue for the highway trust fund.

Mr. Inhofe didn’t say he supports raising the gas tax, and he refutes referring to it as such. “It’s not a tax,” Mr. Inhofe said. “It’s a user fee.”...

Inhofe proves himself to be just another artful liar.  "User fee" implies that all gasoline (and diesel) is used for driving on Federal highways. 

Really?

Yes, there will be a tax increase.  Yes, the Feds will continue dictating ALL transport-related policies to the States. 

Yes, the Ruling Class is intact. 

The Confusion of Bishop-Speak

It is impossible to discern a meaning in the following:

...I do not wish to lend our voice to notions which might suggest that same-sex couples are a threat incapable of sharing relationships marked by love and holiness and, thus, incapable of contributing to the edification of both the church and the wider society.

In the midst of changing societal definitions and understandings of marriage, there may no doubt be some confusion. However, with patience and humility, our church must continuously strive to discover what the spirit is saying and respond to the Synod Fathers' suggestion to discern what pastoral response faithful to church teaching and marked by respect and sensitivity might be appropriate for same-sex couples, even as God's creative designs for and the church's sacramental understanding of marriage are affirmed....

Umnnnhhhh.  Huh?

Somewhere in that spaghetti-nest of verbosity the Bishop could have said 'admonish the sinner in charity.'  Ain'a?

"Consequence, Not Cause"

That's the phrase used to describe the rise of Front National in France, a political party which is opposed to  current French immigration policies.

...The French journalist and author Eric Zemmour told the BBC parties the Front National is “not a cause, it is a consequence.” He added, “People vote for the FN to say to their elites, ‘Stop doing what you are doing!’ But they never do.”...

Sounds kinda familiar.

“If Europe is getting more immigrants than its voters want,” Weekly Standard senior editor Christopher Caldwell wrote, “this is a good indication its democracy is malfunctioning.”...

Huh.  Who would have guessed?

Yup. EPA Wants to Kill the Upper Midwest Dead

You've been hearing about this for months.  BOHICA!!

The Environmental Protection Agency sent a message Wednesday to states that don't want to develop plans to reduce carbon emissions at power plants: If you don't come up with your own way to do this, we'll implement one for you.

EPA has issued a proposed regulation that would require electric utilities to reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. The agency will issue a final rule for existing power plants in mid-summer, according to Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for EPA's office of air and radiation. Rules for new and modified power plants will be issued at the same time....

For practical purposes, that will eliminate coal-fired plants, as there is no extant technology which will achieve these reductions for those installations, which are principally found in the Upper Midwest (the "Rust Belt").  It will also virtually eliminate coal mining--and thousands of jobs therein--in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Southern Illinois, and possibly Idaho and Montana.

And by the way, "carbon emissions" are what you exhale.  So another route for this asinine reg will be to simply slaughter the populations of the Upper Midwestern States.

Or you could freeze to death.  'S OK with EPA.

A Reflection on "Liturgy of the Word"

Kwasniewski is on to something here.

...When the “Liturgy of the Word” is vouchsafed a distinct existence as one of the two parts of the Mass, and particularly when this distinctiveness is enhanced by a gargantuan lectionary with often lengthy readings frequently detached from the other prayers and antiphons of the Mass, there arises the impression of a text that is free-floating and self-justifying, the reading and preaching of which can become the pastorally central arena, throwing the sacramental essence of the Mass into shadow. How often have we experienced the Liturgy of the Word ballooning to an overwhelming size, losing all proportion with the pulsing heart of the liturgy, the offering of the sacrifice and the ensuing communion? In many Masses I’ve attended over the years, the time used by the opening greeting, the readings, and the homily was some 45 minutes, while somehow everything from the presentation of the gifts onwards was crammed into 15 minutes. In the rush to be done (now that the gregarious and intellectually engaging business of readings and preaching is over), either Eucharistic Prayer II or III is chosen—prayers that are utterly dwarfed by the preceding textual cornucopia, seeming like a pious afterthought. The anaphora and its still point, the consecration, shrink and lose their centrality....

Yah.  And even moreso when the celebrant intrudes on the Canon with ad hoc obiter dicta motu proprio, as regularly happens at a church near me--which finally drove me out of the place.

Anyhoo, what Prof. K. objects to is the Protestant-ization; whereas the Prots (bless 'em) go all sola scriptura-with-sermon, for the Catholic the high points are the Consecration and Communion--intimacy with the Word which far surpasses just hearing it.

Killer Muslims? Or Killer French Law?

In France, it's near impossible to carry arms, even if you're a cop.  So today's Muslim killers didn't have much of a problem:

...A reporter for Britain’s Telegraph newspaper in Paris told Sky News that the first two officers to arrive, who were apparently unarmed, fled after seeing gunmen armed with automatic weapons and possibly a grenade launcher....

As this item explains, handguns may be owned--legitimately--with shrink-test, physical, hunting-club membership, but must be renewed every three years.

Concealed carry for self-defense?  California makes it easy in comparison.

So yah, the Muzzies were the active actors.  French law was the passive actor.

The Left's Control of Language

Hannan, a Brit, thus one who actually understands English, notes that the Left/Gramscians have successfully changed the meanings of words, which is effectively the same as picking one's battle-ground.  Of COURSE they can win arguments--so long as thinking is outlawed and language is perverted.  (I picked that word 'perverted' for a reason, of course.)

...Any discussion of the relationship between government and citizen is perforce conducted in loaded terms. You can still make the case for greater liberty, but not without sounding rather mean. A glossary will give some indication of how loaded the linguistics are against conservatives.

RIGHT-WING: Baddie. Vladimir Putin, a lifelong KGB man who regrets the break-up of the USSR, is invading neighboring countries. This is a bad thing, so he must be “right-wing.” The mullahs in Iran abolished the monarchy, nationalized industry, and drove most of the middle classes into exile. But they’re also nasty, so they, too, must be “right-wing.” A crazed gunman goes into a school and . . . oh, you get the picture....

DIVERSITY: People who look different but think the same way. Diversity applies to race, sex, disability, and sexual orientation. It emphatically does not apply to opinion....

INVESTMENT: Government spending. Any lingering trace of the original meaning—that is, of assets producing some kind of return—was obliterated by the spending splurge that preceded the 2008 crash....

COMMUNITY: The state—or, more precisely, the state’s bureaucracy. The one thing it emphatically doesn’t mean is a voluntary association of individuals. When people talk of “involving the community,” they invariably want more legislation.

Plenty more at the link!

The FBI, CIA, and.....the Post Office?

There is no question that Big Brother is watching you.  In the last 2 years or so, NSA's pervasive and all-encompassing surveillance schemes have been at least partially exposed; and if you think the FBI isn't part of that game, you're naive in the extreme.

All in the name of "terrorism," ya'know, because damn near every American can be a "terrorist."  Pro-life?  Terrorist.  Pro-Second Amendment?  Terrorist.  Don't like Obozo's policies?  Terrorist and RAAAAAACISSS, too!!

Use a computer, use a cellphone, use a land-line, mail a letter, you will be watched.  Go to the doctor?  We have the Obozo Mandate's computer records for that, fella.

Now it turns out that the Post Office--that lumbering bankrupt--does more than just scan your mail.

Sharyl Atkisson found out:

...The FBI often works in close conjunction with the postal service on computer cases, and there’s evidence implicating illegal or unauthorized connection into my system from a postal computer that’s not online or accessible by anybody in the public… A set of IP addresses implicate the post office in some of this or at least the use of their computer systems....

Laugh?  Or cry?

The Revenge of the Empire

Interesting little side-note in the Boehner Revenge story.

...The House Republican leadership is carefully reviewing the list of members who voted against the speaker and those who opposed a procedural motion in December on the so-called “crominibus,” the $1.1 trillion spending package to keep the government open through to September....

Cromnibus passed because a number of Republicans voted for "the Rule" which brought it to the floor.  The bill itself was so bad that Boehner had to get Democrats to vote for it.  The bill fully funds almost every Obozo program and department.  It stinks.

Republicans who bill themselves as "conservatives" then voted AGAINST Cromnibus.  It's the John F'n Kerry Gambit, but in this case they were for it before they were against it. Jim Sensenbrenner, who is long past his stale-date, is one of those people.

To them, the First Thing is to preserve themselves and The Empire.  The rest of us can take the hindmost.

OMG! A Stop-Loss of Four Thousand Five Hundred?

Usually when you hear squealing, it's from pigs.

In this case, it's from Elite Pigs.

HAR HAR HAR DE HAR HAR HAR.

Burge for President

Since Romney, Bush, Huckabee, and various other Ruling Class creeps are intent on becoming President and ruining the remainder of America, this candidacy is very promising, indeed!

I promise to create an economic depression and confine it to a 40 mile radius of the US capitol.  --IowaHawk

Best promise I've heard from ANY candidate.  Bar none.

Zing!

Good question!

HT:  Peter