So much for Jeff Flake.
A fellow who worked for Ted Cruz issued the following bullet-list about Flake the Fake:
2) Jeff Flake was 1 of 10 Republican senators who voted to confirm Loretta Lynch for Attorney General
3) Flake voted to fund President Obama’s unconstitutional executive amnesty.
4) Flake voted against Sen. Mike Lee’s 1st Amendment Defense Act
5) Flake voted for Obama’s $1.1 trillion Cromnibus 2015 spending bill
6) Flake voteed to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank
7) Flake voted for S.2114 which increased Russia’s power at the International Monetary Fund
8) Flake voted for a CLEAN debt limit suspension (2014)
9) Flake was 1 of 11 Republican senators who voted to confirm Janet Yellen
10) Flake voted for the Ryan-Murray budget which lifted spending caps
& raised fees (taxes) in exchange for promises of future spending
cuts
11) Flake voted for the Gang of 8 amnesty bill
12) Flake voted for the post-Newtown gun grab
13) Flake voted AGAINST The Defund Obamacare Act of 2013 (S.1292)
14) Flake voted to increase debt by $900 billion in exchange for the promise of discretionary cuts in the future (2011)
15) Flake preferred John Kasich over Cruz or Trump in the 2016 GOP Primary.
---quoted at AOSHQ
Thought I'd red-highlight the Paul Ryan Bullshit item, as a reminder that Ryan could return to McDonald's work and taxpayers would not miss him at all.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Run for Office, Eric Holder??
If this Rosatom/U-1 deal plays out as expected, Holder's promise not to run for office will be kept.
It's hard to run for office from your guest-room at Leavenworth.
--OR--
His REAL running will be to a rental suite/dacha outside of Moscow.
It's hard to run for office from your guest-room at Leavenworth.
--OR--
His REAL running will be to a rental suite/dacha outside of Moscow.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
*Shock*!!! Hillary and Democrats Paid for Lying "Intel"
Surprise!!
Hillary and the Dem Nat'l Committee paid for the lies and slanders in the "dossier."
As usual, Perkins, Coie was involved, too. Lawyers.......
Hillary and the Dem Nat'l Committee paid for the lies and slanders in the "dossier."
As usual, Perkins, Coie was involved, too. Lawyers.......
Whacking the LiturgyWonks
It appears that--perhaps--we are at the beginning of the end of the Reign of the LiturgyWonk. This 'beginning' started with the election of B-16, of course, but the momentum is gaining. And the gain is in the clear understanding of history, always easier to see from a distance than from up close.
...Future historians of liturgy may similarly wonder at the devotion of many contemporary liturgists to the term “modern” in liturgical discourse, be that in disparaging the purportedly non-participatory nature of pre-modern liturgy; in rejoicing at the breakthroughs of modernity in the enlightenment liturgies of the eighteenth century and at its triumph in the liturgical reform following the most recent Ecumenical Council; or in embracing the paths of radical inculturation and deconstructive creativity down which postmodernity beckons the liturgy.
Analogous observations in respect of theological and pastoral discourse and practice are also possible. Whether we ought to or not, whatever the discipline, far too often we consciously or subconsciously default to defining ourselves and our theological, liturgical, and pastoral initiatives and practices in relation to modernity....
(There are also analogues in contemporary political discourse, by the way.)
In contrast:
...for the Christian it is the person of Christ, God incarnate in human history, the definitive revelation of the Father, who is pivotal and in relation to whom we define ourselves. He, not the prevailing philosophical fashion, is our reference....
In other words, there is Truth--and then there is all else. Choose carefully.
Now what does that have to do with the Liturgy?? Glad you asked!! See, there's a problem:
...Today, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, “modern” is modern no longer: we have moved beyond modernity into the “post” modern era. Where does that leave us? What does that mean for our modern liturgical rites and practices as they approach their fiftieth birthdays? Are we hastily to pension them off and hurry to create postmodern ones (if that is even possible)? Are we to cling to the modern rites and their attendant milieu uncritically and as tenaciously as some have clung to the premodern rites? How and with what authority are we to proceed? Or are we simply to descend into an ecclesial and liturgical subjectivism which mirrors that of postmodern society?...
Dom Reid notes that Pius X's call for 'participation in the liturgy' was not, in any sense, founded on 'modernity.' Rather, it was founded on the antiquity and liceity of such participation, which had faded dramatically during the period between ~1600 and ~1900 AD. But 'participation' to Pius X did not mean translating to the vulgar, nor singing pops-derived ditties which wholesale replaced the parts of the Mass, like the Propers. (That, by the way, was imitation of the Lutherans, Calvinists, and eventually the degraded forms of Anglicanism.)
Instead, Reid proposes this:
...Authority acts authentically in regard to the Sacred Liturgy when it acts in a manner that respects and is utterly consonant with its nature so as to optimize the good of souls. We find this in the development of the liturgy throughout history, whether that be in its gradual development which authority witnesses and respects, or even in the occasional but always proportionate introduction by authority of elements into the rites, or even its similarly proportionate pruning of them. So too this principle may be found in the repudiation of inauthentic liturgical developments such as the sixteenth century breviary of Cardinal Quignonez or of the eighteenth century Synod of Pistoia....
(This raises questions about the revisions of, e.g., Holy Week by Pius XII, who was certainly not a liturgy-lefty. So: if we accept his revisions as fitting within Reid's definition above, then what of the Order which wants (and by the way, claims the authority) to toss out those revisions?? Hmmmm???)
Moving on, Reid quotes someone who put his finger directly on the problem back in the 1920's:
...There is need for reform—but at which end shall the reformers start? They have apparently attempted to cure the disease by removing those symptoms only which appear on the surface. There can be no doubt—any parish priest can verify this—that even to this day the prayer which is offered up publicly is of a nature which is consonant with and produced by the culture of the congregation....
And as has been correctly noted--repeatedly--Culture is downstream from Cult. This is not a circular argument, for The Cult is that which is preached first, and lived next. Somewhere along the line, the preaching dis-connected from the living, or the living detached itself from the preaching.
Then we got Bugnini, and you'll have to read the essay yourself to find out what went wrong there.
...Future historians of liturgy may similarly wonder at the devotion of many contemporary liturgists to the term “modern” in liturgical discourse, be that in disparaging the purportedly non-participatory nature of pre-modern liturgy; in rejoicing at the breakthroughs of modernity in the enlightenment liturgies of the eighteenth century and at its triumph in the liturgical reform following the most recent Ecumenical Council; or in embracing the paths of radical inculturation and deconstructive creativity down which postmodernity beckons the liturgy.
Analogous observations in respect of theological and pastoral discourse and practice are also possible. Whether we ought to or not, whatever the discipline, far too often we consciously or subconsciously default to defining ourselves and our theological, liturgical, and pastoral initiatives and practices in relation to modernity....
(There are also analogues in contemporary political discourse, by the way.)
In contrast:
...for the Christian it is the person of Christ, God incarnate in human history, the definitive revelation of the Father, who is pivotal and in relation to whom we define ourselves. He, not the prevailing philosophical fashion, is our reference....
In other words, there is Truth--and then there is all else. Choose carefully.
Now what does that have to do with the Liturgy?? Glad you asked!! See, there's a problem:
...Today, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, “modern” is modern no longer: we have moved beyond modernity into the “post” modern era. Where does that leave us? What does that mean for our modern liturgical rites and practices as they approach their fiftieth birthdays? Are we hastily to pension them off and hurry to create postmodern ones (if that is even possible)? Are we to cling to the modern rites and their attendant milieu uncritically and as tenaciously as some have clung to the premodern rites? How and with what authority are we to proceed? Or are we simply to descend into an ecclesial and liturgical subjectivism which mirrors that of postmodern society?...
Dom Reid notes that Pius X's call for 'participation in the liturgy' was not, in any sense, founded on 'modernity.' Rather, it was founded on the antiquity and liceity of such participation, which had faded dramatically during the period between ~1600 and ~1900 AD. But 'participation' to Pius X did not mean translating to the vulgar, nor singing pops-derived ditties which wholesale replaced the parts of the Mass, like the Propers. (That, by the way, was imitation of the Lutherans, Calvinists, and eventually the degraded forms of Anglicanism.)
Instead, Reid proposes this:
...Authority acts authentically in regard to the Sacred Liturgy when it acts in a manner that respects and is utterly consonant with its nature so as to optimize the good of souls. We find this in the development of the liturgy throughout history, whether that be in its gradual development which authority witnesses and respects, or even in the occasional but always proportionate introduction by authority of elements into the rites, or even its similarly proportionate pruning of them. So too this principle may be found in the repudiation of inauthentic liturgical developments such as the sixteenth century breviary of Cardinal Quignonez or of the eighteenth century Synod of Pistoia....
(This raises questions about the revisions of, e.g., Holy Week by Pius XII, who was certainly not a liturgy-lefty. So: if we accept his revisions as fitting within Reid's definition above, then what of the Order which wants (and by the way, claims the authority) to toss out those revisions?? Hmmmm???)
Moving on, Reid quotes someone who put his finger directly on the problem back in the 1920's:
...There is need for reform—but at which end shall the reformers start? They have apparently attempted to cure the disease by removing those symptoms only which appear on the surface. There can be no doubt—any parish priest can verify this—that even to this day the prayer which is offered up publicly is of a nature which is consonant with and produced by the culture of the congregation....
And as has been correctly noted--repeatedly--Culture is downstream from Cult. This is not a circular argument, for The Cult is that which is preached first, and lived next. Somewhere along the line, the preaching dis-connected from the living, or the living detached itself from the preaching.
Then we got Bugnini, and you'll have to read the essay yourself to find out what went wrong there.
Mueller v. Podesta? Not Really
I think The Captain's take on the 'Podesta leak' is dead-on.
...This entire thing is a leak designed as misdirect and bait. Mueller is attempting to deflect attention away from his own role in all of this, and one of the best ways to do it is to get some GOP senators and congressmen in his corner cheering for him. Once his enemies have said publicly that his office and efforts are legitimate, they cannot later undo that statement....
Holder, Mueller, Rosenstein, McCarthy: all the same flavor of crook with different packages.
So. What do they have on Sessions?? Hmmmmmm???
...This entire thing is a leak designed as misdirect and bait. Mueller is attempting to deflect attention away from his own role in all of this, and one of the best ways to do it is to get some GOP senators and congressmen in his corner cheering for him. Once his enemies have said publicly that his office and efforts are legitimate, they cannot later undo that statement....
Holder, Mueller, Rosenstein, McCarthy: all the same flavor of crook with different packages.
So. What do they have on Sessions?? Hmmmmmm???
VDH Clarifies Very Well And It Ain't Pretty
VDH finally comes out with facts that should bother Republican Party Poobahs. But it gets worse, because both (R) factions are ignoring the Very Big Issues.
...United or divided, the Republicans have lost the popular vote in four out of the last five national elections — 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016 — not because large numbers of Republicans voted for the Democratic candidate, but because there are not enough Republicans to begin with. And their candidates were not able to capture enough Independents and Democrats, or to motivate enough first-time or lapsed Republicans to register and turn out to vote, or to flip new demographic groups to conservatism....
Yes, Trump lost the popular vote. But he also knew that the Reagan Democrats live in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, and West Virginia, and that the Democrat Drunk chose to ignore some of them and openly insult the rest.
Anyhow, Hanson then goes through a list of agreed matters, and it turns out that there's lots of agreement between the factions. But then there's the problem-part:
...Never Trumpers now see the Trump base as prone to demagogic frenzies on immigration and trade; too monolithically white; often-angry blame-gaming losers of globalization; naïve rather than self-critical about so-called white pathologies; and in their populism too dismissive of the importance of political experience, impressive education, and the changing demography of the U.S.
The far more numerous Trump base voters sees the Never Trumpers as too self-important; predictably bicoastal careerist; too quick to judge and write off their supposed ethical inferiors; too eager to get along with liberals within their own bubble; too wedded to traditional definitions of political qualifications and success; and more worried about decorum than winning....
Read those grafs again, and you smell the stale Chardonnay d'Hillary: she could easily have voiced every word of the first graf (or actually DID), and she embodies all the attributes of the second. In fact, Hanson has ID'd 'the Establishment', or the "city class" of Angelo Codevilla.
...Trump is a symptom of widespread disgust, not the head of a carefully crafted ideological movement with a checklist of issues. What created him was furor at a smug, entrenched Republican political establishment....
Then VDH goes all justifiably Prophet of Doom:
...Meanwhile, the administrative state expands, the debt is headed for $21 trillion, crass identity politics tear the nation apart, the effort to restore deterrence abroad grows ever more dangerous, and the campuses, Hollywood, the NFL, and the media are reminding us that progressive politics are now our culture’s orthodoxy, vital for success in nearly all fields. And dealing with all that is the only conservative fight that counts....
There is NOT ONE major Republican figure, with the possible exception of Ted Cruz, who is addressing the issues raised there. Why not? Basically, it's because talking about and campaigning on those issues is a pretty good way to lose, as Cruz found out.
We're down to prayer and fasting, people.
...United or divided, the Republicans have lost the popular vote in four out of the last five national elections — 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2016 — not because large numbers of Republicans voted for the Democratic candidate, but because there are not enough Republicans to begin with. And their candidates were not able to capture enough Independents and Democrats, or to motivate enough first-time or lapsed Republicans to register and turn out to vote, or to flip new demographic groups to conservatism....
Yes, Trump lost the popular vote. But he also knew that the Reagan Democrats live in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, and West Virginia, and that the Democrat Drunk chose to ignore some of them and openly insult the rest.
Anyhow, Hanson then goes through a list of agreed matters, and it turns out that there's lots of agreement between the factions. But then there's the problem-part:
...Never Trumpers now see the Trump base as prone to demagogic frenzies on immigration and trade; too monolithically white; often-angry blame-gaming losers of globalization; naïve rather than self-critical about so-called white pathologies; and in their populism too dismissive of the importance of political experience, impressive education, and the changing demography of the U.S.
The far more numerous Trump base voters sees the Never Trumpers as too self-important; predictably bicoastal careerist; too quick to judge and write off their supposed ethical inferiors; too eager to get along with liberals within their own bubble; too wedded to traditional definitions of political qualifications and success; and more worried about decorum than winning....
Read those grafs again, and you smell the stale Chardonnay d'Hillary: she could easily have voiced every word of the first graf (or actually DID), and she embodies all the attributes of the second. In fact, Hanson has ID'd 'the Establishment', or the "city class" of Angelo Codevilla.
...Trump is a symptom of widespread disgust, not the head of a carefully crafted ideological movement with a checklist of issues. What created him was furor at a smug, entrenched Republican political establishment....
Then VDH goes all justifiably Prophet of Doom:
...Meanwhile, the administrative state expands, the debt is headed for $21 trillion, crass identity politics tear the nation apart, the effort to restore deterrence abroad grows ever more dangerous, and the campuses, Hollywood, the NFL, and the media are reminding us that progressive politics are now our culture’s orthodoxy, vital for success in nearly all fields. And dealing with all that is the only conservative fight that counts....
There is NOT ONE major Republican figure, with the possible exception of Ted Cruz, who is addressing the issues raised there. Why not? Basically, it's because talking about and campaigning on those issues is a pretty good way to lose, as Cruz found out.
We're down to prayer and fasting, people.
Schizophrenic? You Prolly Smoked Weed
Not sure that it really makes much difference in the Great Scheme of Things, but a study finds that if you were smoking pot in the school parking lot, you have a great chance of being a schizo.
So how bad is it to have a schizo-narcissist as President?
So how bad is it to have a schizo-narcissist as President?
Little Cock Robin's Next Move(s)
Rep. Nass is concerned that Robin Vos will be burying conservative legislative proposals for the rest of the legislative term this year.
That's a possibility. And it should be met with an instant takedown of Little Cock Robin as speaker.
That's a possibility. And it should be met with an instant takedown of Little Cock Robin as speaker.
Dostoevski On Tyrants
We all understand--more or less--"tyranny" in Gummint. But read this passage from Dostoevsky in the context of "business," not "gummint."
....any man who has tasted this power, this boundless opportunity to humiliate most bitterly another being made in the image of God — becomes the servant instead of the master of his own emotions. Tyranny is a habit. It can and does eventually develop into a disease. I believe that the best of men may grow coarse, degrade to the level of a beast by sheer force of habit. Blood and power intoxicate one, they develop callousness and lust. The greatest perversions grow finally acceptable and even delicious to mind and heart. The man and the citizen perish in the tyrant forever and the return to human dignity, remorse and spiritual rebirth becomes scarcely possible to him. Besides, the example and mere possibility of arbitrary power are contagious; they are indeed a great temptation. A society which regards such things calmly is already corrupt at the roots.....quoted at AOSHQ
Ever work for a business run by a "tyrant"?
And yes, that passage applies to Harvey-Wood, too.
....any man who has tasted this power, this boundless opportunity to humiliate most bitterly another being made in the image of God — becomes the servant instead of the master of his own emotions. Tyranny is a habit. It can and does eventually develop into a disease. I believe that the best of men may grow coarse, degrade to the level of a beast by sheer force of habit. Blood and power intoxicate one, they develop callousness and lust. The greatest perversions grow finally acceptable and even delicious to mind and heart. The man and the citizen perish in the tyrant forever and the return to human dignity, remorse and spiritual rebirth becomes scarcely possible to him. Besides, the example and mere possibility of arbitrary power are contagious; they are indeed a great temptation. A society which regards such things calmly is already corrupt at the roots.....quoted at AOSHQ
Ever work for a business run by a "tyrant"?
And yes, that passage applies to Harvey-Wood, too.
Monday, October 23, 2017
Paul Ryan, Side-Stepping Responsibility. Again.
Here we have Paul, who lives in a home surrounded by a large wall (and armed guards) refusing to take responsibility for Federal action.
Congressional Republicans are backing away from legislation banning “bump stocks” – devices used by Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock that effectively turn semi-automatic rifles into machine guns – and are turning to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to ban them by executive action instead.
“We think the regulatory fix is the smartest, quickest fix, and then, frankly, we’d like to know how it happened in the first place,” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., said in a news conference last week....Captain quoting Theissen
Paulie the Girly Boy wants some twit bureaucrat to take the fall for interfering with the Second Amendment--or NOT interfering with same. He doesn't have the balls.
Congressional Republicans are backing away from legislation banning “bump stocks” – devices used by Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock that effectively turn semi-automatic rifles into machine guns – and are turning to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to ban them by executive action instead.
“We think the regulatory fix is the smartest, quickest fix, and then, frankly, we’d like to know how it happened in the first place,” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., said in a news conference last week....Captain quoting Theissen
Paulie the Girly Boy wants some twit bureaucrat to take the fall for interfering with the Second Amendment--or NOT interfering with same. He doesn't have the balls.
What Happened??
With a few reservations, I find Z-blog to be a worthwhile read. Today he blows up the idea that the "civic religion" of the US is encapsulated in Lincoln's "Four score....dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Not really, according to Z-man. Yes, there is a "civic religion." But it was not what Lincoln said it was, and the one we do have has metastasized into a nightmare.
...A century ago, Progressives were Christians, who were Progressive reformers. Then they were Progressives, who could also be Christians. Then they were just Progressives. There was a time when “liberal Catholic” was a real thing, but no one can chase two rabbits at once. Eventually, the American civic religion won out and is now being imposed on all of us, by force....
There's little question that Christianity is no longer an influence on public policy. One could use the date of Roe v Wade as a point of demarcation, but who cares about the date?? In fact, the current Civic Religion is agnostic at best, and probably atheist. This is the illness--the disorder--which makes "licit" such perversions as gay marriage, abortion on demand, and trannies (of any persuasion.)
By the way, it doesn't take much reading to understand that Catholicism in the USA has undergone a similar, and deadly, transmogrification.
Not all of us are Progressives; not all of us are "liberal" Catholics. But it seems that the resistance to the current Civic Religion is not exactly overwhelming. It did produce Trump, more or less.
What next??
Not really, according to Z-man. Yes, there is a "civic religion." But it was not what Lincoln said it was, and the one we do have has metastasized into a nightmare.
...A century ago, Progressives were Christians, who were Progressive reformers. Then they were Progressives, who could also be Christians. Then they were just Progressives. There was a time when “liberal Catholic” was a real thing, but no one can chase two rabbits at once. Eventually, the American civic religion won out and is now being imposed on all of us, by force....
There's little question that Christianity is no longer an influence on public policy. One could use the date of Roe v Wade as a point of demarcation, but who cares about the date?? In fact, the current Civic Religion is agnostic at best, and probably atheist. This is the illness--the disorder--which makes "licit" such perversions as gay marriage, abortion on demand, and trannies (of any persuasion.)
By the way, it doesn't take much reading to understand that Catholicism in the USA has undergone a similar, and deadly, transmogrification.
Not all of us are Progressives; not all of us are "liberal" Catholics. But it seems that the resistance to the current Civic Religion is not exactly overwhelming. It did produce Trump, more or less.
What next??
The Feds Are Buying MORE Guns & Ammo
Nah, not the armed forces. The Department of Education! HHS! Small Business Administration (????)
And they are buying a LOT of ammo.
...The government spent $114 million on ammunition, including bulk purchases by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ($66,927); the Smithsonian ($42,687); and the Railroad Retirement Board ($6,941). The Social Security Administration spent $61,129 on bullets including 50,000 rounds of ammunition plus 12-gauge buckshot and slug ammo. The EPA special agents purchased ammunition for their .357 and 9mm revolvers and buckshot for their shotguns. ...
Fish and Wildlife purchased suppressors, too. I suppose they don't want to disturb the fish, or the Bambis, when they're shooting citizens.
And they are buying a LOT of ammo.
...The government spent $114 million on ammunition, including bulk purchases by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ($66,927); the Smithsonian ($42,687); and the Railroad Retirement Board ($6,941). The Social Security Administration spent $61,129 on bullets including 50,000 rounds of ammunition plus 12-gauge buckshot and slug ammo. The EPA special agents purchased ammunition for their .357 and 9mm revolvers and buckshot for their shotguns. ...
Fish and Wildlife purchased suppressors, too. I suppose they don't want to disturb the fish, or the Bambis, when they're shooting citizens.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Actually, Robin, You GOT Foxconn
Short-man syndrome is taking over Robin Vos, who thought he was King until some conservatives got behind his (little bitty) curtain and noticed that Robin ain't shit.
So now he talks like he might still be influential. His district got the largest gift since WWII production contracts in Milwaukee, and the short-man-who-wanna-be-King is acting even stupider.
Take your pension, Robin. Get outta Dodge.
So now he talks like he might still be influential. His district got the largest gift since WWII production contracts in Milwaukee, and the short-man-who-wanna-be-King is acting even stupider.
Take your pension, Robin. Get outta Dodge.
When Will the "Military" Card Wear Out Its Welcome??
It's always good to see competition for political offices, of course. This country (and this State) has had a political-inbreeding problem for decades and watching the upstarts knock off a few of the smug pension-grabbers has been gratifying.
But we've noticed a trend that is becoming annoying, and that is the "I'm a military vet, so I should get your vote" stuff. This all began with the Hoopla-Gang at Fox News (I'm looking at you, Hannity, and you're getting overweight) but has spread to others who refer to ANYONE who ever wore an Armed Forces uniform as "HERO!!!" (You know who you are, Kevin.)
I probably know 200 men who are veterans of Korea and VietNam. They don't wear that on their sleeves; they don't advertise it in neon lights on their foreheads, and they know damn well that military service is no more a qualification for the Senate than is being a successful carpenter or dental assistant. They did what they had to do, they survived, they came back here and went to work, raised kids, all that stuff.
Anyhow, this nice young fellow with wife, chilluns, and military service is now running for Senate here. He's backed by the "anti-Establishment" guy, Bannon, and financed by an Old Money family, Uihlein (which, by the way, is Illinois money, which we Wisconsinites just love.....not.)
And he's wearing a helluvalot of Establishment Credentials: McKinsey & Co., Harvard School of Gummint, Dartmouth/Tuck School MBA.....
Really? So he's a Minnesota-educated Lefty who served the country, got Leftoid-Edumacated, became a consultant, and now he's an anti-Establishment Senatorial-timber guy, eh?
Stop beating the "military" drum. It's becoming annoying and frankly, with John Kerry and John McCain pounding the same drum, it can flip to being terrible for someone.
But we've noticed a trend that is becoming annoying, and that is the "I'm a military vet, so I should get your vote" stuff. This all began with the Hoopla-Gang at Fox News (I'm looking at you, Hannity, and you're getting overweight) but has spread to others who refer to ANYONE who ever wore an Armed Forces uniform as "HERO!!!" (You know who you are, Kevin.)
I probably know 200 men who are veterans of Korea and VietNam. They don't wear that on their sleeves; they don't advertise it in neon lights on their foreheads, and they know damn well that military service is no more a qualification for the Senate than is being a successful carpenter or dental assistant. They did what they had to do, they survived, they came back here and went to work, raised kids, all that stuff.
Anyhow, this nice young fellow with wife, chilluns, and military service is now running for Senate here. He's backed by the "anti-Establishment" guy, Bannon, and financed by an Old Money family, Uihlein (which, by the way, is Illinois money, which we Wisconsinites just love.....not.)
And he's wearing a helluvalot of Establishment Credentials: McKinsey & Co., Harvard School of Gummint, Dartmouth/Tuck School MBA.....
Really? So he's a Minnesota-educated Lefty who served the country, got Leftoid-Edumacated, became a consultant, and now he's an anti-Establishment Senatorial-timber guy, eh?
Stop beating the "military" drum. It's becoming annoying and frankly, with John Kerry and John McCain pounding the same drum, it can flip to being terrible for someone.
The Feminization of Everything
This will be anecdotal, but feel free to add on.
Due to the nature of AM radio in this area on Sunday mornings, I tune to NPR station(s) when traveling to and from my parish. I give myself brownie points for listening to the opposition--and I don't have to listen to more variations of rock, country, or other FM generics. Further, I don't have to listen to 4-hour panegyrics on the World's Most Perfect Vitamin/Fat-Reduction/Food/Get-Rich-Quick/Vacuum Cleaner crapola that is on the AM stations.
Anyhow, as I was on the return drive, it finally hit me: all that I had heard on NPR was female hosts interviewing female guests (with one 2-minute exception.) And, predictably, the interviews were all on "human interest" stories, all with melancholy, depressed, suppressed, repressed, victims of some damn thing, mostly capitalist pigs, the weather, or Trump. You'd be surprised how easy it is to work Trump = Horrible into damn near any news event.
In one of today's victimology lessons, Trump managed to take away even MORE precious dollars from the sick, lame, and halt, by taking money away from insurance companies. Not ONE WORD was said about that "Constitution" or "illegal" stuff--which was carefully avoided in order to indict Trump as the second coming of Hitler. Or someone like that.
But it's not just today. Thinking back, I've heard NPR females interviewing other females, foreign and domestic, about grubbing for not-enough-food in countries I've never heard of, about sewing sweatshops in all those same places, about oppressionisms in India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and places in Africa, and--of course--victims of the (US) wars in the Middle East, too.
All babes, all the time, and all fully clothed, dammit.
Then we have the feminization of the NFL. No, not the rules changes. Nope. The feminization has to do with the utter and complete lack of manhood in the ownership vis-a-vis this blatant disrespect for the flag and what it stands for. The owners are girly-girls, and that includes the Presi-twink of the Packers. But that's not all: the NFL has tongue-bathed the LBGQTXRLFFIP bunch with its threats to Texas over boys/girls room legislation and its abject self-humiliation over that queer college kid who couldn't make ANY team that was forced to hire him as a prospect.
Then there's the Catholic Church. See today's entry on that topic. Girl-i-fi-ca-tion.
And on a more parochial level, I've noticed that men are no longer in the church choirs in the Ordinary Form parishes I frequent. Oh, yah, there's always a couple of them--but not that long ago, a suburban parish choir would have 3 men for every 6-7 women. Now it's 3 or 4 men, period.
Men are disappearing from colleges, too; women are the majority of college grads and that's not going to change for a long, long, time--with the exception of this: men are the clear majority in Engineering, Dental, and Med schools. That's where facts, logic, and thinking are required. Just co-incidence, I'm sure.
It's entirely possible that the United States will pre-emptively surrender after a threat from a determined, vicious, enemy even if the numbers are against that enemy, and even if the enemy is poorly armed, maybe with only makeshift weapons.
Oh, wait! The Muslims are ........ahhhh..........well, then. It's over.
Due to the nature of AM radio in this area on Sunday mornings, I tune to NPR station(s) when traveling to and from my parish. I give myself brownie points for listening to the opposition--and I don't have to listen to more variations of rock, country, or other FM generics. Further, I don't have to listen to 4-hour panegyrics on the World's Most Perfect Vitamin/Fat-Reduction/Food/Get-Rich-Quick/Vacuum Cleaner crapola that is on the AM stations.
Anyhow, as I was on the return drive, it finally hit me: all that I had heard on NPR was female hosts interviewing female guests (with one 2-minute exception.) And, predictably, the interviews were all on "human interest" stories, all with melancholy, depressed, suppressed, repressed, victims of some damn thing, mostly capitalist pigs, the weather, or Trump. You'd be surprised how easy it is to work Trump = Horrible into damn near any news event.
In one of today's victimology lessons, Trump managed to take away even MORE precious dollars from the sick, lame, and halt, by taking money away from insurance companies. Not ONE WORD was said about that "Constitution" or "illegal" stuff--which was carefully avoided in order to indict Trump as the second coming of Hitler. Or someone like that.
But it's not just today. Thinking back, I've heard NPR females interviewing other females, foreign and domestic, about grubbing for not-enough-food in countries I've never heard of, about sewing sweatshops in all those same places, about oppressionisms in India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and places in Africa, and--of course--victims of the (US) wars in the Middle East, too.
All babes, all the time, and all fully clothed, dammit.
Then we have the feminization of the NFL. No, not the rules changes. Nope. The feminization has to do with the utter and complete lack of manhood in the ownership vis-a-vis this blatant disrespect for the flag and what it stands for. The owners are girly-girls, and that includes the Presi-twink of the Packers. But that's not all: the NFL has tongue-bathed the LBGQTXRLFFIP bunch with its threats to Texas over boys/girls room legislation and its abject self-humiliation over that queer college kid who couldn't make ANY team that was forced to hire him as a prospect.
Then there's the Catholic Church. See today's entry on that topic. Girl-i-fi-ca-tion.
And on a more parochial level, I've noticed that men are no longer in the church choirs in the Ordinary Form parishes I frequent. Oh, yah, there's always a couple of them--but not that long ago, a suburban parish choir would have 3 men for every 6-7 women. Now it's 3 or 4 men, period.
Men are disappearing from colleges, too; women are the majority of college grads and that's not going to change for a long, long, time--with the exception of this: men are the clear majority in Engineering, Dental, and Med schools. That's where facts, logic, and thinking are required. Just co-incidence, I'm sure.
It's entirely possible that the United States will pre-emptively surrender after a threat from a determined, vicious, enemy even if the numbers are against that enemy, and even if the enemy is poorly armed, maybe with only makeshift weapons.
Oh, wait! The Muslims are ........ahhhh..........well, then. It's over.
Nature Takes Its Course
Takes its course....or a meal.
Yesterday, a squirrel met his demise here, a victim of high-speed lead from a pellet gun. Can't say who could have done that sort of deed, of course......
Anyhoo, I had slated a proper disposal of the corpse for this morning, but something saved me the time and effort during the night.
Could have been an owl or one of the feral cats which are around here; maybe a chickenhawk (but I don't think they grab meals at night.) We've seen raccoons, but have only heard about coyotes which appear about half-mile to the north.
Dinner was served, and if another squirrel attempts to purloin the bird-food, there may be a second course available!
Yesterday, a squirrel met his demise here, a victim of high-speed lead from a pellet gun. Can't say who could have done that sort of deed, of course......
Anyhoo, I had slated a proper disposal of the corpse for this morning, but something saved me the time and effort during the night.
Could have been an owl or one of the feral cats which are around here; maybe a chickenhawk (but I don't think they grab meals at night.) We've seen raccoons, but have only heard about coyotes which appear about half-mile to the north.
Dinner was served, and if another squirrel attempts to purloin the bird-food, there may be a second course available!
The Civil War in the Catholic Church, Part XXIV
"New Ways Ministry" is an enemy of the Church and her Founder, but they transmit interesting information in their zeal to overturn right order.
In April 2017, Bishop John Stowe of Diocese of Lexington offered the most comprehensive positive statement against the firing of church workers in LGBT-related disputes. He told attendees at New Ways Ministry’s 8th National Symposium “We must preserve our tradition and our integrity as a church. . .We risk contradicting ourselves if we want our employees to live by the church’s teaching and if we ourselves as an institution don’t live by our teaching, which has always opposed discrimination of any sort.”
Which proves that Bp. Stowe does not understand English, and/or skipped all the Seminary coursework for Moral Theology and Natural Law. (Or maybe he took the courses, failed, and was ordained anyway?) The Church has always justifiably discriminated against individuals who openly flout Church teachings. Note, please, that I use the word "openly."
Bishop Stowe is not alone.
...Cardinal Sean O’Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston, has spoken out against firing of legally married gay or lesbian people who work for Catholic institutions. O’Malley said that this trend is a situation that “needs to be rectified.”...
Maybe Cardinal O'Malley "needs to be rectified" instead.
And of course, there are the Jesuits, who have had homosexual problems since at least the early 1960's, and which Order has become gay-er and gay-er over the last 30 years.
...In October 2016, the Jesuit weekly America Magazine published an editorial titled “Unjust Discrimination” that challenged the firing of LGBT church workers....
...In April 2016, officials at the University of San Francisco including President Fr. Paul Fitzgerald, SJ, welcomed the marriage of head women’s basketball coach Jennifer Azzi to assistant coach Blair Hardiek...
....In July 2015, Fordham University responded to conservative criticisms by congratulating theology department chair J. Patrick Hornbeck on his same-gender marriage in the Episcopal Church....
WWVLD??? (Where "VL" stands for Vince Lombardi)
And of course, the love of all the late-shows, James Martin, SJ--whose increasingly bizarre and vicious attacks on good-hearted Catholics such as Robby George and Austin Ruse tell us all we need to know about his disordered personality.
One more thing: the current Pope, Francis, happens to be a Jesuit.
In April 2017, Bishop John Stowe of Diocese of Lexington offered the most comprehensive positive statement against the firing of church workers in LGBT-related disputes. He told attendees at New Ways Ministry’s 8th National Symposium “We must preserve our tradition and our integrity as a church. . .We risk contradicting ourselves if we want our employees to live by the church’s teaching and if we ourselves as an institution don’t live by our teaching, which has always opposed discrimination of any sort.”
Which proves that Bp. Stowe does not understand English, and/or skipped all the Seminary coursework for Moral Theology and Natural Law. (Or maybe he took the courses, failed, and was ordained anyway?) The Church has always justifiably discriminated against individuals who openly flout Church teachings. Note, please, that I use the word "openly."
Bishop Stowe is not alone.
...Cardinal Sean O’Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston, has spoken out against firing of legally married gay or lesbian people who work for Catholic institutions. O’Malley said that this trend is a situation that “needs to be rectified.”...
Maybe Cardinal O'Malley "needs to be rectified" instead.
And of course, there are the Jesuits, who have had homosexual problems since at least the early 1960's, and which Order has become gay-er and gay-er over the last 30 years.
...In October 2016, the Jesuit weekly America Magazine published an editorial titled “Unjust Discrimination” that challenged the firing of LGBT church workers....
...In April 2016, officials at the University of San Francisco including President Fr. Paul Fitzgerald, SJ, welcomed the marriage of head women’s basketball coach Jennifer Azzi to assistant coach Blair Hardiek...
....In July 2015, Fordham University responded to conservative criticisms by congratulating theology department chair J. Patrick Hornbeck on his same-gender marriage in the Episcopal Church....
WWVLD??? (Where "VL" stands for Vince Lombardi)
And of course, the love of all the late-shows, James Martin, SJ--whose increasingly bizarre and vicious attacks on good-hearted Catholics such as Robby George and Austin Ruse tell us all we need to know about his disordered personality.
One more thing: the current Pope, Francis, happens to be a Jesuit.
Madison PD Policy to Shut Down Abortion Clinics!!!
We note that policy for police officers in the People's Republic of Madison has been re-written.
...The old policy said officers have "a legal and moral obligation to use force wisely and judiciously," while the new policy tells officers that their main duty is the "protection and preservation of all human life - including the lives of individuals being taken into custody."...
It is a scientific fact that "all human life" includes pre-born babies.
Therefore, I strongly encourage all Madison Police Department members to close down the abortion clinics with that City, using force wisely and judiciously!!
...The old policy said officers have "a legal and moral obligation to use force wisely and judiciously," while the new policy tells officers that their main duty is the "protection and preservation of all human life - including the lives of individuals being taken into custody."...
It is a scientific fact that "all human life" includes pre-born babies.
Therefore, I strongly encourage all Madison Police Department members to close down the abortion clinics with that City, using force wisely and judiciously!!
Saturday, October 21, 2017
These Three: Holder, Mueller, and Rosenstein
That's not the name of a failed vaudeville show.
Aside from the Treason of Hillary (and Bill), The Treason likely also rests on these three.
Is that why Sessions doesn't want the C.I. to testify? Covering a lot of asses, Jeff??
A little concerned about riots if you arrest Holder, Mueller, and Rosenstein, Jeff?
Not smart, Jeff.
Aside from the Treason of Hillary (and Bill), The Treason likely also rests on these three.
Is that why Sessions doesn't want the C.I. to testify? Covering a lot of asses, Jeff??
A little concerned about riots if you arrest Holder, Mueller, and Rosenstein, Jeff?
Not smart, Jeff.
Uranium-1, "Ghost" Russki Spies, and Hillary's Treason
Screw it--let's call it what it is. Hillary committed treason.
Now to the details.
The Russkis were running spies here, who were spying on Hillary (she was Sec/State, remember.) Then the Feebs arrested 10 of the Russkis.
Bad timing: they were arrested the day before Bill Clinton was to get $500,000.00 to give a 20 minute speech to the Russians. By total co-incidence, Bill's speech-fee was arranged during a State Department review of the Russki purchase of ONE FIFTH OF OUR URANIUM MINING ASSETS.
So. What did Hillary do with the 10 Russki spies?
You can read the whole thing at the link, or take one guess......
Now to the details.
The Russkis were running spies here, who were spying on Hillary (she was Sec/State, remember.) Then the Feebs arrested 10 of the Russkis.
Bad timing: they were arrested the day before Bill Clinton was to get $500,000.00 to give a 20 minute speech to the Russians. By total co-incidence, Bill's speech-fee was arranged during a State Department review of the Russki purchase of ONE FIFTH OF OUR URANIUM MINING ASSETS.
So. What did Hillary do with the 10 Russki spies?
You can read the whole thing at the link, or take one guess......
Friday, October 20, 2017
The Screwing Is Coming!!!
Our friends on the Senate side of Congress have passed a budget resolution which will--just like the last several of them--put the US further into debt. By about another trillion dollars or so.
To make up for this, Congress will be reducing income taxes!! That way, we can all pay less against a debt-load which is near equivalent to the country's GDP. See?? Makes sense, huh?
But wait!! There's more!!
People who live in high-tax States and cities (like anyone in Wisconsin) will not be able to deduct State and local taxes as we have forever...meaning that your "taxable income" will be going up, even as the tax rates go down (we think.)
And there's even more than that!!!
The smart-boyz in Congress (and their staffers)--all of whom are given fixed-amount pensions no matter what they save--have determined that YOU cannot save too much money for retirement any more. So that 401(k) you've been furiously stuffing like a mad squirrel?? Fuggedaboutit!! They think that you're entitled to save only $2,400.00/year of your own money. (Yes, it used to be $15,000.00. But you don't NEED all that money, you see.
Nice, huh?
Here's my thoughts on tax reform: starting tomorrow, the US Government will abrogate all its pension promises to all Congressmen--active or retired--and all their staffers, active or retired. That, my friends, will reduce that $1 Trillion deficit and help those jackwads understand "saving for retirement."
What say you???
To make up for this, Congress will be reducing income taxes!! That way, we can all pay less against a debt-load which is near equivalent to the country's GDP. See?? Makes sense, huh?
But wait!! There's more!!
People who live in high-tax States and cities (like anyone in Wisconsin) will not be able to deduct State and local taxes as we have forever...meaning that your "taxable income" will be going up, even as the tax rates go down (we think.)
And there's even more than that!!!
The smart-boyz in Congress (and their staffers)--all of whom are given fixed-amount pensions no matter what they save--have determined that YOU cannot save too much money for retirement any more. So that 401(k) you've been furiously stuffing like a mad squirrel?? Fuggedaboutit!! They think that you're entitled to save only $2,400.00/year of your own money. (Yes, it used to be $15,000.00. But you don't NEED all that money, you see.
Nice, huh?
Here's my thoughts on tax reform: starting tomorrow, the US Government will abrogate all its pension promises to all Congressmen--active or retired--and all their staffers, active or retired. That, my friends, will reduce that $1 Trillion deficit and help those jackwads understand "saving for retirement."
What say you???
"Sanctuary" Schadenfreude
Well, well. One "sanctuary" county (Sonoma) in California has reaped its reward: horrific fires, death, and destruction of homes, wineries, and grape plantations.
At least some of its fires were set by an illegal alien criminal.
At least some of its fires were set by an illegal alien criminal.
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Lawyers Hardest Hit
Your heart will break when you think of all the unemployed lawyers.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday became the first of President Trump's agencies to issue an order barring the agency from being drawn into court settlements that alter environmental outcomes to the liking of environmental and other special interest groups.
"The days of regulation through litigation are over," EPA chief Scott Pruitt declared in a statement. "We will no longer go behind closed doors and use consent decrees and settlement agreements to resolve lawsuits filed against the Agency by special interest groups where doing so would circumvent the regulatory process set forth by Congress."
Pruitt's order would also end the practice of paying out "tens of thousands of dollars in attorney's fees to these groups with which we swiftly settle," Pruitt added.
The litigation tool, commonly referred to as "sue and settle," was used with great success by environmental groups under the Obama administration to force a regulatory process behind closed doors, according to Pruitt.....
So. "Lawyers Hardest Hit" is the situation. But I don't hear any crying from you guys.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday became the first of President Trump's agencies to issue an order barring the agency from being drawn into court settlements that alter environmental outcomes to the liking of environmental and other special interest groups.
"The days of regulation through litigation are over," EPA chief Scott Pruitt declared in a statement. "We will no longer go behind closed doors and use consent decrees and settlement agreements to resolve lawsuits filed against the Agency by special interest groups where doing so would circumvent the regulatory process set forth by Congress."
Pruitt's order would also end the practice of paying out "tens of thousands of dollars in attorney's fees to these groups with which we swiftly settle," Pruitt added.
The litigation tool, commonly referred to as "sue and settle," was used with great success by environmental groups under the Obama administration to force a regulatory process behind closed doors, according to Pruitt.....
So. "Lawyers Hardest Hit" is the situation. But I don't hear any crying from you guys.
Wojtyla, Weigel, and Bare Ruined Choirs
Fr. George Rutler is a remarkably gifted dissenter from the Modern Project, even when that Project includes such as John Paul II and his biographer, George Weigel.
...Another subject for another day is how the theological dissidents and dilettantish revisionists who patronised Wojtyła and loathed Ratzinger burrowed into the cultural underground, suborning the media and academies, waiting for their moment which, if tenuous and fragile, they think had arrived. The geriatric modernists are breathing fresh air, and the test will be how long their moment will actually last.
With scholastic realism, John Paul II believed that, in theology, 2+2 = 4. He did not subscribe to a Hegelian synthesis whereby truth is what is left after “making a mess”. His Theology of the Body was of a vision loftier and more demanding than instruction in how to kiss. If anyone could express that even more clearly than Wojtyła it was Ratzinger, whose masterful articulation confounded all stereotypes of German obscurantism. John Paul evidently recognised that himself, which he is why he relied on him so much, and that may have been another instance of the wheel of Providence at work. Both of them were like Bunyan’s pilgrim contending against “dismal stories” but they did so without subjecting doctrine to casuistry, or condescending to rudeness and insults.
The way John Paul focused on the horizon may at times have distracted him from what was going on around his doorstep. His episcopal appointments sometimes were perplexing and his idealism beclouded his willingness to acknowledge abuses within the clerical system. My friend Fr Stanley Jaki once expressed to me his caution that phenomenology might be Wojtyła’s “Achilles heel” rather than the strength of his philosophical narrative. It is curious that such a sublime visionary should have been remarkably atonal in matters liturgical and artistic. His pontificate boasted no Borromini, and its cultural landscape was pockmarked with such offences as the Jubilee Church in Rome, the Divine Mercy Shrine in Kraków, Los Angeles Cathedral and the pharaonic John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington DC....
Indeed. George Weigel stopped in Milwaukee to address a charity dinner a dozen or so years ago, and was very clear in his distaste for Latin and the Old Rite movement. JPII was also distinctly un-enthused about the EF. But the fact remains that the Old Rite (EF) and its Latin lingua franca still have a near-monopoly on Beauty in the liturgy (although the Anglicans have done very well with English, by and large, as the exception to that rule.)
...Another subject for another day is how the theological dissidents and dilettantish revisionists who patronised Wojtyła and loathed Ratzinger burrowed into the cultural underground, suborning the media and academies, waiting for their moment which, if tenuous and fragile, they think had arrived. The geriatric modernists are breathing fresh air, and the test will be how long their moment will actually last.
With scholastic realism, John Paul II believed that, in theology, 2+2 = 4. He did not subscribe to a Hegelian synthesis whereby truth is what is left after “making a mess”. His Theology of the Body was of a vision loftier and more demanding than instruction in how to kiss. If anyone could express that even more clearly than Wojtyła it was Ratzinger, whose masterful articulation confounded all stereotypes of German obscurantism. John Paul evidently recognised that himself, which he is why he relied on him so much, and that may have been another instance of the wheel of Providence at work. Both of them were like Bunyan’s pilgrim contending against “dismal stories” but they did so without subjecting doctrine to casuistry, or condescending to rudeness and insults.
The way John Paul focused on the horizon may at times have distracted him from what was going on around his doorstep. His episcopal appointments sometimes were perplexing and his idealism beclouded his willingness to acknowledge abuses within the clerical system. My friend Fr Stanley Jaki once expressed to me his caution that phenomenology might be Wojtyła’s “Achilles heel” rather than the strength of his philosophical narrative. It is curious that such a sublime visionary should have been remarkably atonal in matters liturgical and artistic. His pontificate boasted no Borromini, and its cultural landscape was pockmarked with such offences as the Jubilee Church in Rome, the Divine Mercy Shrine in Kraków, Los Angeles Cathedral and the pharaonic John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington DC....
Indeed. George Weigel stopped in Milwaukee to address a charity dinner a dozen or so years ago, and was very clear in his distaste for Latin and the Old Rite movement. JPII was also distinctly un-enthused about the EF. But the fact remains that the Old Rite (EF) and its Latin lingua franca still have a near-monopoly on Beauty in the liturgy (although the Anglicans have done very well with English, by and large, as the exception to that rule.)
Luther's Faith/Science Disjunction
This little excerpt is part of a longer, valuable, essay on the topic:
...It is easy to see how one of the most profound effects of Luther’s approach to reason was a generalized distrust of it amongst the theologians and adherents of the reformed tradition, the theological and spiritual tradition that dominates the Anglo-Saxon world. Luther’s distrust of reason was broader however, than its application to theology. It was not long before philosophy, that branch of knowledge most closely associated with reason, was itself regarded as something detached from religion. If Luther thought that his knowledge of God through the Scriptures (faith) was superior to human reason, others began to regard human reason as superior to faith. That movement was called the Enlightenment; the Age of Reason with capital letters. [There's your old 'thesis/antithesis'--but the 'antithesis' was God-less.]
It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the West inherited from Luther two “thought worlds”: one which, putting reason aside, believed in God relying only on conclusions drawn from Scripture; and the other, putting the “question” of God to one side, relied on the application of reason to human realities. Thus, Luther’s deprecation of reason is one of the factors that gave rise in the West and particularly in the English-speaking world to the split between faith and reason. From there it was a small step to a supposed conflict between religion and science. The origins of this conflict certainly owed something to propagandist use of the Galileo affair by Enlightenment writers, but at a more basic level, it had to do with the perceived distance between the knowledge of God and the knowledge of the universe first insisted upon by Martin Luther....
Of particular note and germane to this, is B-16's Regensburg lecture, which made it clear that the Moslems also practice a "reason-free religion." That's food for thought for my Lut'ran friends, no
...It is easy to see how one of the most profound effects of Luther’s approach to reason was a generalized distrust of it amongst the theologians and adherents of the reformed tradition, the theological and spiritual tradition that dominates the Anglo-Saxon world. Luther’s distrust of reason was broader however, than its application to theology. It was not long before philosophy, that branch of knowledge most closely associated with reason, was itself regarded as something detached from religion. If Luther thought that his knowledge of God through the Scriptures (faith) was superior to human reason, others began to regard human reason as superior to faith. That movement was called the Enlightenment; the Age of Reason with capital letters. [There's your old 'thesis/antithesis'--but the 'antithesis' was God-less.]
It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the West inherited from Luther two “thought worlds”: one which, putting reason aside, believed in God relying only on conclusions drawn from Scripture; and the other, putting the “question” of God to one side, relied on the application of reason to human realities. Thus, Luther’s deprecation of reason is one of the factors that gave rise in the West and particularly in the English-speaking world to the split between faith and reason. From there it was a small step to a supposed conflict between religion and science. The origins of this conflict certainly owed something to propagandist use of the Galileo affair by Enlightenment writers, but at a more basic level, it had to do with the perceived distance between the knowledge of God and the knowledge of the universe first insisted upon by Martin Luther....
Of particular note and germane to this, is B-16's Regensburg lecture, which made it clear that the Moslems also practice a "reason-free religion." That's food for thought for my Lut'ran friends, no
Big Pharma's Scare-Stories!!
Well, it's near Hallowe'en, so Scary Stories are in order.
Here's the Big Pharma Scary Story for this year. Note the cynical twist at the end of this post.
Multiple bills circulating through Congress indicate lawmakers are interested in allowing Americans to import prescription drugs from Canada and other nations, even though that proposal has been strongly criticized by leading members of the law enforcement community....
The bills in question will reduce the price of scrip-drugs, which is something that Big Pharma does not want. So how to counter this? Easy!! Get someone else to carry your water. Someone just a little dense--like the Sheriff's Association (whoever they are.)
...Law enforcement leaders have expressed concerns about opening importation of prescription drugs from other countries, arguing it would become easier for drug traffickers, freed from the stringent oversight of the DEA and FDA, to move drugs across the border and directly into the hands of Americans.
The National Sheriff's Association issued a resolution formally opposing such bills in July. They noted a 2016 DEA report that warned of the possibility of counterfeit prescription drugs, containing the deadly opioid fentanyl, leading to a spike in opioid-related deaths.
"Drug importation would…worsen the opioid crisis, open up the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain to adulterated and counterfeit drugs, further burden law enforcement, and endanger the safety of officers and other first responders," the resolution read....
Opioids......yah.......those would be the drugs that BIG PHARMA HAS BEEN PUSHING FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS, RIGHT??
So. We begin by pushing addictive drugs. When the gangs take over, we pretend we had nothing to do with it--and when our profits are threatened, we make up Scary Stories about the very same drugs that we pushed. Stories like "...they will get into the hands of the Wrong People...." and "....people will DIE!!!!"
Stick it where the sun never shines, jackwads.
Here's the Big Pharma Scary Story for this year. Note the cynical twist at the end of this post.
Multiple bills circulating through Congress indicate lawmakers are interested in allowing Americans to import prescription drugs from Canada and other nations, even though that proposal has been strongly criticized by leading members of the law enforcement community....
The bills in question will reduce the price of scrip-drugs, which is something that Big Pharma does not want. So how to counter this? Easy!! Get someone else to carry your water. Someone just a little dense--like the Sheriff's Association (whoever they are.)
...Law enforcement leaders have expressed concerns about opening importation of prescription drugs from other countries, arguing it would become easier for drug traffickers, freed from the stringent oversight of the DEA and FDA, to move drugs across the border and directly into the hands of Americans.
The National Sheriff's Association issued a resolution formally opposing such bills in July. They noted a 2016 DEA report that warned of the possibility of counterfeit prescription drugs, containing the deadly opioid fentanyl, leading to a spike in opioid-related deaths.
"Drug importation would…worsen the opioid crisis, open up the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain to adulterated and counterfeit drugs, further burden law enforcement, and endanger the safety of officers and other first responders," the resolution read....
Opioids......yah.......those would be the drugs that BIG PHARMA HAS BEEN PUSHING FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS, RIGHT??
So. We begin by pushing addictive drugs. When the gangs take over, we pretend we had nothing to do with it--and when our profits are threatened, we make up Scary Stories about the very same drugs that we pushed. Stories like "...they will get into the hands of the Wrong People...." and "....people will DIE!!!!"
Stick it where the sun never shines, jackwads.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
The Crime Family: Obozo, Clinton, Holder, Putin, and Bit-Players
We mentioned yesterday that Clinton took cash from Putin before giving her assent to a Russian takeover of US uranium assets.
Holder, Clinton, Mueller, Rosenstein, McCabe, and Comey were all involved, with Mueller, Comey, Rosenstein, and McCabe "investigating" the facts for FOUR YEARS. We invented and perfected atomic bomb in far less time than that.
Now it turns out that Obama/Holder/Clinton had even more in common with The Mob than just simple graft and corruption.
...Sara Carter of Circa News interviewed Victoria Toensing, a lawyer for the FBI informant who said her client “is not only afraid of the Russian people, but he is afraid of the US government because of the threats the Obama administration made against him.”...
Fits very well. When do the executions begin? Will Grassley's investigation last ANOTHER FOUR years??
Holder, Clinton, Mueller, Rosenstein, McCabe, and Comey were all involved, with Mueller, Comey, Rosenstein, and McCabe "investigating" the facts for FOUR YEARS. We invented and perfected atomic bomb in far less time than that.
Now it turns out that Obama/Holder/Clinton had even more in common with The Mob than just simple graft and corruption.
...Sara Carter of Circa News interviewed Victoria Toensing, a lawyer for the FBI informant who said her client “is not only afraid of the Russian people, but he is afraid of the US government because of the threats the Obama administration made against him.”...
Fits very well. When do the executions begin? Will Grassley's investigation last ANOTHER FOUR years??
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Clintons Took the Money and Gave....
There's really no other way to put this. The Clintons have an established M.O. of taking large money and then selling out US interests.
That was obvious in Bill's first campaign for President when--in the primaries--he took a large load of cash from Chinese Commnuist coffers and later created a "national monument" which benefitted the Lippo Group, a ChiCom front company.
Now it is demonstrated that Hillary gave the Russians control of US uranium assets in return for a whole bunch of Russian money sent to the Clintonpiggy bank Foundation.
Here's a question: who paid Hillary to violate the Espionage Act with her personal server??
Here's another question: is the death penalty still in effect for treason?
That was obvious in Bill's first campaign for President when--in the primaries--he took a large load of cash from Chinese Commnuist coffers and later created a "national monument" which benefitted the Lippo Group, a ChiCom front company.
Now it is demonstrated that Hillary gave the Russians control of US uranium assets in return for a whole bunch of Russian money sent to the Clinton
Here's a question: who paid Hillary to violate the Espionage Act with her personal server??
Here's another question: is the death penalty still in effect for treason?
Famous Jesuits
Here's one famous (former) Jesuit:
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law on Sunday that will allow Californians to identify themselves as having a “nonbinary” gender on state identification documents, rather than having to choose either male or female....
Sure, Jerry. We normals think testes and ovaries are different, but we've been wrong until *just now.*
Another famous Jesuit is Pp. Francis.
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law on Sunday that will allow Californians to identify themselves as having a “nonbinary” gender on state identification documents, rather than having to choose either male or female....
Sure, Jerry. We normals think testes and ovaries are different, but we've been wrong until *just now.*
Another famous Jesuit is Pp. Francis.
Monday, October 16, 2017
Yah, Your Router Is a Leaker
But it's not so much your household router that you should worry about.
It's those "Free Wi-Fi" business routers found in all sorts of places, such as car-dealer showrooms, etc.
Just don't do it outside your home.
It's those "Free Wi-Fi" business routers found in all sorts of places, such as car-dealer showrooms, etc.
Just don't do it outside your home.
Vukmir/Nicholson Cage Match
Well, it's begun.
Channel 6 does a decent job of covering the story, although Theo Keith needs to learn how to spell "Uihlein."
As a Conservative, I've been impressed by Vukmir, and Nicholson will have to come up with a lot more than "I'm a Marine and I fought in a war" to get traction. (Charlie Sykes is a converted (D), too--and look what happened to him, Mr. Nicholson.)
At the same time, Vukmir has to convince us that she's not going to go Grothman and follow Ryan's directions like a little puppy-dog.
Get the popcorn.
Channel 6 does a decent job of covering the story, although Theo Keith needs to learn how to spell "Uihlein."
As a Conservative, I've been impressed by Vukmir, and Nicholson will have to come up with a lot more than "I'm a Marine and I fought in a war" to get traction. (Charlie Sykes is a converted (D), too--and look what happened to him, Mr. Nicholson.)
At the same time, Vukmir has to convince us that she's not going to go Grothman and follow Ryan's directions like a little puppy-dog.
Get the popcorn.
Sean Duffy's Right on This One
Sean Duffy (R-WI) is not always a hard-boiled Conservative. But on flood insurance, he IS one. And he's proposing that taxpayers stop "insuring" homes which are built in flood zones.
Other "conservative" (R)'s are fighting him tooth and nail. That's because, ya'know, principles don't earn big-ass campaign contributions. And, what the hell, it's not THEIR money--it's just play money, financed so that your grandchildren will have to pay it off--long after the Congress-slime has retired with their very nice pension and gold-plated retirement-health-care package.
The Swamp is a lot worse than even Trump imagined.
Other "conservative" (R)'s are fighting him tooth and nail. That's because, ya'know, principles don't earn big-ass campaign contributions. And, what the hell, it's not THEIR money--it's just play money, financed so that your grandchildren will have to pay it off--long after the Congress-slime has retired with their very nice pension and gold-plated retirement-health-care package.
The Swamp is a lot worse than even Trump imagined.
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Problematic Bishops
Earlier today we mentioned a problematic Pope (the current one.) We haven't published much about problematic Bishops here, but it's not hard to find news items about them. There are plenty here in the USA, and undoubtedly more in other parts of the Catholic world.
But it's not quite as bad as in the 'good old days' of the Diocletian persecution.
"When the African Council of Cirta met in 305, after the persecution had spent its first violence in these parts, it revealed a pitiful state of affairs. All the bishops present but two seem to have been traditores in some sense. The president himself was compromised, and agreed to suspend all enquiries to avoid unpleasantness. Nor were the only faults those of lack of courage. More than one of these men was afterwards found guilty of direct theft; others of simony and adultery, and of peculating Church funds. One bishop, who admitted to two murders, retained his seat in this assembly by a timely display of diabolically bad temper.
"We may hope that this sort of thing was exceptional, but the evidence is not reassuring. We hear, e.g., of bishops in Palestine who after the persecution, "because they had not rightly shepherded the rational flock of Christ, were by divine justice turned into camel-drivers, an animal of a natural perversity to which they were suited". It is a fact that though there were a score of sees in Palestine, no bishop was martyred there in ten years of persecution ... "
Comforting words. Or maybe not.
HT: Fr H
But it's not quite as bad as in the 'good old days' of the Diocletian persecution.
"When the African Council of Cirta met in 305, after the persecution had spent its first violence in these parts, it revealed a pitiful state of affairs. All the bishops present but two seem to have been traditores in some sense. The president himself was compromised, and agreed to suspend all enquiries to avoid unpleasantness. Nor were the only faults those of lack of courage. More than one of these men was afterwards found guilty of direct theft; others of simony and adultery, and of peculating Church funds. One bishop, who admitted to two murders, retained his seat in this assembly by a timely display of diabolically bad temper.
"We may hope that this sort of thing was exceptional, but the evidence is not reassuring. We hear, e.g., of bishops in Palestine who after the persecution, "because they had not rightly shepherded the rational flock of Christ, were by divine justice turned into camel-drivers, an animal of a natural perversity to which they were suited". It is a fact that though there were a score of sees in Palestine, no bishop was martyred there in ten years of persecution ... "
Comforting words. Or maybe not.
HT: Fr H
The Paddock Story Doesn't Add Up
Apparently Paddock slipped and fell in a casino a few years ago and sued the casino. CNN (yes, I know) got their hands on the case transcripts and tells us this:
...He was a nocturnal creature who gambled all night and slept all day. He took Valium at times for anxiousness, and had the doctor who prescribed it to him on retainer. He wagered up to a million dollars a night, but wandered around glitzy Las Vegas casinos in sweatpants and flip-flops, and carried his own drink into the high rollers’ area because he didn’t want to tip the waitresses too much....
So this ex-postal worker, ex-IRS agent, ex-manufacturing firm employee and current "landlord" was pushing $1 million chips around?
I know Ann Coulter has trouble believing that this guy could 1) HAVE that sort of disposable cash; and 2) LOSE as much as he had to lose (about $25 on every $10K he bet.)
AND he had a couple of small airplanes and at least 2 houses?
Really?
...He was a nocturnal creature who gambled all night and slept all day. He took Valium at times for anxiousness, and had the doctor who prescribed it to him on retainer. He wagered up to a million dollars a night, but wandered around glitzy Las Vegas casinos in sweatpants and flip-flops, and carried his own drink into the high rollers’ area because he didn’t want to tip the waitresses too much....
So this ex-postal worker, ex-IRS agent, ex-manufacturing firm employee and current "landlord" was pushing $1 million chips around?
I know Ann Coulter has trouble believing that this guy could 1) HAVE that sort of disposable cash; and 2) LOSE as much as he had to lose (about $25 on every $10K he bet.)
AND he had a couple of small airplanes and at least 2 houses?
Really?
Civil War in the Catholic Church, Part XXIV
The current Pope, a Jesuit with a bad case of running-mouth, has managed to muddy the clear waters of Catholic teaching on more than one occasion. For the past year, his deliberately ambiguous statement on divorced-and-remarried Catholics have been under attack by hundreds of clergy and laymen. (N.B.: the term 'divorced-and-remarried' is short-form, not nuanced.) He loosed another swirl of foofoodust with his effusive praise of Luther, managing to confuse the grace/works doctrine in the process.
Now the Jebby Pope has gone even farther into the swamp of confusion with his remarks on the death penalty.
Ed Feser is a Catholic and a professor of philosophy in California. Feser has studied the question of the death penalty extensively.
...“When Pope Francis says that capital punishment is ‘in itself contrary to the Gospel,’ and ‘inadmissible … no matter how serious the crime,’ he seems to be contradicting traditional teaching,” said Dr. Edward Feser, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Pasadena City College in California...
Some of you remember that JPII modified Church teaching on the DP, suggesting that in wealthy societies (i.e., most of the West), life imprisonment could be substituted for the DP. But JPII did not say that the DP is intrinsically wrong.
...Both the Old and New Testaments indicate that the death penalty can be legitimate. For instance, Genesis 9:6 states: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image.” Or again, St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans teaches that the state “does not bear the sword in vain (but) is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer.”
Feser said previous popes have “consistently” reaffirmed the legitimacy of capital punishment and have “insisted that accepting its legitimacy is a requirement of Catholic orthodoxy.”...
For clarity: I am NOT a fan of the DP; I think JPII's idea is perfectly serviceable in the US.
Here in Milwaukee we had a microcosm of this under the reign of Rembert Weakland. There was a benefit: Catholics who cared were forced to study up on the Catechism. I guess it's time to start that study all over again.
Now the Jebby Pope has gone even farther into the swamp of confusion with his remarks on the death penalty.
Ed Feser is a Catholic and a professor of philosophy in California. Feser has studied the question of the death penalty extensively.
...“When Pope Francis says that capital punishment is ‘in itself contrary to the Gospel,’ and ‘inadmissible … no matter how serious the crime,’ he seems to be contradicting traditional teaching,” said Dr. Edward Feser, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Pasadena City College in California...
Some of you remember that JPII modified Church teaching on the DP, suggesting that in wealthy societies (i.e., most of the West), life imprisonment could be substituted for the DP. But JPII did not say that the DP is intrinsically wrong.
...Both the Old and New Testaments indicate that the death penalty can be legitimate. For instance, Genesis 9:6 states: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image.” Or again, St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans teaches that the state “does not bear the sword in vain (but) is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer.”
Feser said previous popes have “consistently” reaffirmed the legitimacy of capital punishment and have “insisted that accepting its legitimacy is a requirement of Catholic orthodoxy.”...
For clarity: I am NOT a fan of the DP; I think JPII's idea is perfectly serviceable in the US.
Here in Milwaukee we had a microcosm of this under the reign of Rembert Weakland. There was a benefit: Catholics who cared were forced to study up on the Catechism. I guess it's time to start that study all over again.
Near-Fatal Darwin Award in Racine, WI
The only problem with this group of Darwin Award winners is that they damn near killed 3 other people.
Three adults brought a gas tank from a car inside the building when it started raining, firefighters said. Gas vapors somehow ignited in the basement, causing the explosion....
When the stairwell -- the only way out from the second floor burned, three people were trapped and forced onto the roof....
Take a gas tank, WITH GASOLINE, into a home through a standard-sized door. Spill the gas, of course, down the stairs, into a basement with several not-too-tight electrical connections.
Commence kaboom!!
Three adults brought a gas tank from a car inside the building when it started raining, firefighters said. Gas vapors somehow ignited in the basement, causing the explosion....
When the stairwell -- the only way out from the second floor burned, three people were trapped and forced onto the roof....
Take a gas tank, WITH GASOLINE, into a home through a standard-sized door. Spill the gas, of course, down the stairs, into a basement with several not-too-tight electrical connections.
Commence kaboom!!
How Stupid Is George Lopez, Anyway?
Apparently he's stupid enough to appear at an event and insult everyone in the audience.
Stupid enough to get booed, loudly.
Stupid enough to get removed from the stage, horse-hockey about "four minute limit" aside.
Bonus question: is this the beginning of the end for the lefty crap-machine? Or did it begin with the crash in NFL ratings?
Stupid enough to get booed, loudly.
Stupid enough to get removed from the stage, horse-hockey about "four minute limit" aside.
Bonus question: is this the beginning of the end for the lefty crap-machine? Or did it begin with the crash in NFL ratings?
Army-Officer Commie, USAF Satanists. Hmmmm
We're all aware that West Point allowed a Communist to graduate and become a second-john in the US Army.
But the US Air Force can top that!!
Four airmen from Shaw Air Force Base have been charged after allegedly spray-painting a church in South Carolina with satanic graffiti....
Satanism trumps Communism. On paper the Commies worship nothing at all, whereas the Satanists worship the Ultimate Wrong Guy.
Think 8 years of Obozo were just misguided health- and economics- policies???
Think again.
But the US Air Force can top that!!
Four airmen from Shaw Air Force Base have been charged after allegedly spray-painting a church in South Carolina with satanic graffiti....
Satanism trumps Communism. On paper the Commies worship nothing at all, whereas the Satanists worship the Ultimate Wrong Guy.
Think 8 years of Obozo were just misguided health- and economics- policies???
Think again.
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Rape, Non-Disclosure, and Public Policy Vis-a-Vis Weinstein
Well, yes, this is about Weinstein.
Althouse cites a story in which Rose McGowan has 'blown off a [non-disclosure agreement (NDA)] and openly told her story about Weinstein raping her. Not 'grab-a-boob,' not 'grab-a-pussy' (both reprehensible, by the way)--but RAPE.
There is such a thing as "public policy." Here's a definition of public policy:
A principle that no person or government official can legally perform an act that tends to injure the public.
OK. So. If Weinstein is a serial rapist and abuser, is an NDA about Weinstein's activity contrary to "public policy"? If the NDA prevents other young women from knowing that they may well be victims of this scumbucket, it would seem that the NDA is a problem. After all, those other young women are "the public."
I suppose someone could argue that "the public" is a much larger entity than just 5, 10, or 25 young women; or that disclosure would precipitate greater harm than non-disclosure. But I don't think those arguments hold water.
Hmmmmm??
Althouse cites a story in which Rose McGowan has 'blown off a [non-disclosure agreement (NDA)] and openly told her story about Weinstein raping her. Not 'grab-a-boob,' not 'grab-a-pussy' (both reprehensible, by the way)--but RAPE.
There is such a thing as "public policy." Here's a definition of public policy:
A principle that no person or government official can legally perform an act that tends to injure the public.
OK. So. If Weinstein is a serial rapist and abuser, is an NDA about Weinstein's activity contrary to "public policy"? If the NDA prevents other young women from knowing that they may well be victims of this scumbucket, it would seem that the NDA is a problem. After all, those other young women are "the public."
I suppose someone could argue that "the public" is a much larger entity than just 5, 10, or 25 young women; or that disclosure would precipitate greater harm than non-disclosure. But I don't think those arguments hold water.
Hmmmmm??
The New "Speeding"
Not that long ago, someone who was nailed for speeding 15-25 miles over the limit was regarded as a lunatic.
Now 20-30 over is not very fast. The new benchmark is 20-49 over.
We're talking 80-90+ MPH on Milwaukee County interstates--where there IS other traffic. Not like out in cow-town Jefferson County. Yes, 80 or so is the accepted norm on I-90/94 in Michigan--but everybody runs at that speed there, and have done so for at least 20 years--and NOT in metro Detroit.
In Milwaukee County the norm is still 5-10 over. Trying to run at 80 in 60 MPH traffic is a big problem.
Now 20-30 over is not very fast. The new benchmark is 20-49 over.
We're talking 80-90+ MPH on Milwaukee County interstates--where there IS other traffic. Not like out in cow-town Jefferson County. Yes, 80 or so is the accepted norm on I-90/94 in Michigan--but everybody runs at that speed there, and have done so for at least 20 years--and NOT in metro Detroit.
In Milwaukee County the norm is still 5-10 over. Trying to run at 80 in 60 MPH traffic is a big problem.
Friday, October 13, 2017
Marc Lasry Has Some 'Splainin' To Do
One could ask Mr. Lasry exactly why he was a close associate of Pig-Wig Weinstein.
Lasry was a member of the Board of Weinstein's company, and the company paid out hundreds of thousands of settlement dollars to young women.
Hmmmm???
Of course, local media hasn't asked the questions. They won't.
Lasry was a member of the Board of Weinstein's company, and the company paid out hundreds of thousands of settlement dollars to young women.
Hmmmm???
Of course, local media hasn't asked the questions. They won't.
Trump Slaps Congress, Hard. Good For Him!
The President just body-slammed all the insurance lobbyists, insurance companies, and hospitals who paid off various congressmen to institute and maintain ObozoCare.
Since Congress didn't get the message, maybe they'll pay attention after their friends are bankrupt.
Can you hear us now??
Since Congress didn't get the message, maybe they'll pay attention after their friends are bankrupt.
Can you hear us now??
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Ingrate Bitch in Puerto Rico
PDT states the obvious: the US military, its first-responders, and FEMA people cannot remain in Puerto Rico forever. Since Puerto Rican governments have--basically--pissed away hundreds of millions of dollars instead of maintaining or improving infrastructure, it is impossible for the US to "fix it all" for those islanders.
So the Lefty Ingrate Bitch-Mayor of San Juan doesn't like it?
Tough.
So the Lefty Ingrate Bitch-Mayor of San Juan doesn't like it?
Tough.
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Another Liturgical Revolution Coming?
These guys claim to be well-informed.
The new Roman Missal will become available on the First
Sunday of Advent 2018 but the Vatican will allow a two-year period to phase
it in....
Other sources say that the above is complete balderdash.
There has been discussion about the OF's three-year cycle of readings. People who favor it say that the more extensive readings from the NT and the inclusion of OT readings are a good thing. People who oppose it say that it's a LOT easier for the people in the pews to grasp a repeated 52 than a repeated 156 readings.
What IS certain is that the Propers of the Mass (remember them??) have not been updated to reflect the OF cycle. Maybe just eliminating them will be the next major change; and under Pp. Francis, that could very easily happen.
Reliable sources close to the Holy See have indicated that sometime in the second half of 2018, the Novus Ordo Lectionary and Calendar are to be
imposed upon the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Mass.
Other sources say that the above is complete balderdash.
There has been discussion about the OF's three-year cycle of readings. People who favor it say that the more extensive readings from the NT and the inclusion of OT readings are a good thing. People who oppose it say that it's a LOT easier for the people in the pews to grasp a repeated 52 than a repeated 156 readings.
What IS certain is that the Propers of the Mass (remember them??) have not been updated to reflect the OF cycle. Maybe just eliminating them will be the next major change; and under Pp. Francis, that could very easily happen.
Blast From the (Distant) Past: Matt Flynn
Saw Flynn last night on the teevee. Hard to miss--he hasn't had a haircut since 1980 or so, when he was playing hardball bully-boy, picking on child-victims of homosexual priest ephebophiles.
Don't know why he wasn't wearing bell-bottoms with a paisley shirt.
If nothing else, he makes Tony Evers look even more like a girl.
Don't know why he wasn't wearing bell-bottoms with a paisley shirt.
If nothing else, he makes Tony Evers look even more like a girl.
NeverTrumper Schneider Having Teenage-Girl Fits
Some NeverTrumpers have gone into catatonic-teen-girl states. Schneider joins the RedState bunch in his piece here.
By the way, whatever happened to Charlie Sykes?
By the way, whatever happened to Charlie Sykes?
Diane Feinstein, Aging Badly
The woman from the land of fruits and nuts has declared--after lots of research into the Second Amendment--that concealed carry is un-Constitutional.
OK, then. She should disarm us.
OK, then. She should disarm us.
Monday, October 09, 2017
What the GunGrabbers Want Next
It ain't a "bump-stock" ban. (By the way, very few actual gun people use the damn things. It's more important to hit a target than to blow a bunch of lead everywhere....but I digress.)
Courtesy The Captain, we have this exchange:
...“You said earlier that you would be willing to allow a clean bill in Congress that bans or regulates bump stocks without requiring more, broader gun control to be attached to the bill,” Jake Tapper said. “Is universal background checks, closing the so-called gun show loophole, requiring background checks for private sales, is that the next step for people in your philosophical camp and Senate?”
“It should be the next step, in large part because it is the most popularly accepted change. And it has the biggest effect,” Murphy said. “So yes, that would be the clear next step....
That next step is also called "a registry." Your name will be on a list, which will be kept by the ever-trustworthyIRS FBI NSA.......well, they'll find somebody. Not to worry.
Courtesy The Captain, we have this exchange:
...“You said earlier that you would be willing to allow a clean bill in Congress that bans or regulates bump stocks without requiring more, broader gun control to be attached to the bill,” Jake Tapper said. “Is universal background checks, closing the so-called gun show loophole, requiring background checks for private sales, is that the next step for people in your philosophical camp and Senate?”
“It should be the next step, in large part because it is the most popularly accepted change. And it has the biggest effect,” Murphy said. “So yes, that would be the clear next step....
That next step is also called "a registry." Your name will be on a list, which will be kept by the ever-trustworthy
Sunday, October 08, 2017
Colonic Kaepertwit: "It's All About MEEEEEE!!"
Well, see, here's the principle: employ MEEEEEEE!!! and I will respect the flag.
UPDATE: The story is Fake News!! And the reporter has been offered a lifetime no-cut $1 million contract with CNN.
I might have made up part of the last graf.
UPDATE: The story is Fake News!! And the reporter has been offered a lifetime no-cut $1 million contract with CNN.
I might have made up part of the last graf.
Saturday, October 07, 2017
Importing Deflation: Auto Industry
Margins in the automobile business are dropping fast. While US-based automakers manage to make most of their products (83%) in the USA, non-US labels are barely over 60%--at least by the measures created in a study from American Automotive Policy Council and cited by DetroitBureau.
Whatever the 'product balance' numbers are, it is critical to understand that the US automakers are competing against lower-cost non-US product. Thus, US automakers squeeze suppliers and dealers, regularly, and hard. Ford Motor just announced that they will reduce 'material costs' (read: suppliers) and 'engineering' to increase its pretax from 6% to 8%. Ford did not say so, but you can bet the house that a chunk of money will also come from the hides of dealers.
When imported/foreign-made components or whole goods force cost & price reductions, that's called "importing deflation." The auto industry, overall, is about 1/6th of the country's economy--same as healthcare. So the deflation, most often seen and felt in wage/benefit reductions, is meaningful.
It's what Trump talks about, people. Pay attention.
Whatever the 'product balance' numbers are, it is critical to understand that the US automakers are competing against lower-cost non-US product. Thus, US automakers squeeze suppliers and dealers, regularly, and hard. Ford Motor just announced that they will reduce 'material costs' (read: suppliers) and 'engineering' to increase its pretax from 6% to 8%. Ford did not say so, but you can bet the house that a chunk of money will also come from the hides of dealers.
When imported/foreign-made components or whole goods force cost & price reductions, that's called "importing deflation." The auto industry, overall, is about 1/6th of the country's economy--same as healthcare. So the deflation, most often seen and felt in wage/benefit reductions, is meaningful.
It's what Trump talks about, people. Pay attention.
Satire Is Fun!!
For those of you who just can't take all the SERIOUS......whether Left, Right, or NFL......there's The Babylon Bee, which is a 'Christian' version of The Onion.
Here's their essay on the Gun Control debate.
Stop there, and stay a while.
Here's their essay on the Gun Control debate.
Stop there, and stay a while.
Watch the Commentariat on Blackburn
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) will be running for Corker's Senate seat.
Marsha Blackburn is absolutely hated by Planned Parenthood, the nation's most prominent, enduring, and prosperous mass-murderer.
The Official Commentariat from the Left--which means all the Ds and the MSM--will say what we expect them to say.
Watch closely the Official Commentariat from the Right. Many of them suck up to the nation's most prominent mass-murderer, and have voted accordingly. They do NOT want Blackburn in the Senate.
Know the enemy.
Marsha Blackburn is absolutely hated by Planned Parenthood, the nation's most prominent, enduring, and prosperous mass-murderer.
The Official Commentariat from the Left--which means all the Ds and the MSM--will say what we expect them to say.
Watch closely the Official Commentariat from the Right. Many of them suck up to the nation's most prominent mass-murderer, and have voted accordingly. They do NOT want Blackburn in the Senate.
Know the enemy.
Luther's Two-Sacrament Religion, Revolt Against the Mass
Pp. Benedict XVI asked 'Where is God in modern worship?'
"The doing of man has certainly put the presence of God in oblivion". The Church, however, lives on the "right celebration of the liturgy", emphasizes Benedict XVI. If the pre-eminence of God were no longer clear in the liturgy and in life, the church was in danger....
Perhaps the genesis of the God-less-ness in today's worship lies with Old Mr. 500, M. Luther. Russell Shaw reviews a re-publication of Paul Hacker's "Faith in Luther" with foreword by Reinhard Hutter--and preface by none other than Ratzinger (!)
We are reminded, too, that Luther reduced the seven Sacraments to only two (baptism and Eucharist)--dumping Confession/Reconciliation into the wastebasket.
...Out of this tangle came Luther’s distinctive view of faith as a “reflexive” or “apprehensive” entity – the believer’s reaching out to salvation in Christ, seizing it (or Him), and directing it (or Him) back upon himself in order to possess the assurance of salvation and a place among the elect....
...Luther’s “temptations” were the outcome of the deadly stress produced by the first effort of a man-oriented trend to assert itself within the uncontested framework of a decidedly theocentric and Christocentric religion. Since Luther’s time the same trend has forced faith to withdraw to the position of a “religionless Christianity.” Anthropocentrism has reached its last stage before coinciding with professed atheism. This situation causes a new kind of interior convulsion, and this is the contemporary form of faith’s essential experience of temptation.....(quoting Paul Hacker)
Hacker relies heavily on Luther’s immensely popular Small Catechism. Summing it up, he writes that for Luther “the act of reflexive faith is directed to the Divine Person of Christ, but it is intended to recoil on the believer’s ego in order to evoke in him a consciousness of his own relation with God, a consciousness of consolation and salvation.”
Think of the "Jesus Loves Me"/"Just As I Am" class of hymnody....Hmmmm?
...The effects of Luther’s thinking, of course, didn’t end with him. On the contrary, Hacker says, “The new concept of faith inescapably initiated a development in which religion became at first man-oriented and eventually man-centered.” Here was “the seed of anthropocentrism in religion and of idealism in philosophy.”...
Back to Ratzinger: "Where is God in modern worship?"
And one more thing: is it just a co-incidence that there are almost zero confessions heard in the Modern Worship parishes?? Luther ditched Confession and created the theology which Ratzinger warns about when that theology is applied to liturgy. People act on their instruction, and as we know, the liturgy is a primary instructor: "Lex credendi, lex orandi" and all that.
Hmmmmmmm.
"The doing of man has certainly put the presence of God in oblivion". The Church, however, lives on the "right celebration of the liturgy", emphasizes Benedict XVI. If the pre-eminence of God were no longer clear in the liturgy and in life, the church was in danger....
Perhaps the genesis of the God-less-ness in today's worship lies with Old Mr. 500, M. Luther. Russell Shaw reviews a re-publication of Paul Hacker's "Faith in Luther" with foreword by Reinhard Hutter--and preface by none other than Ratzinger (!)
We are reminded, too, that Luther reduced the seven Sacraments to only two (baptism and Eucharist)--dumping Confession/Reconciliation into the wastebasket.
...Out of this tangle came Luther’s distinctive view of faith as a “reflexive” or “apprehensive” entity – the believer’s reaching out to salvation in Christ, seizing it (or Him), and directing it (or Him) back upon himself in order to possess the assurance of salvation and a place among the elect....
...Luther’s “temptations” were the outcome of the deadly stress produced by the first effort of a man-oriented trend to assert itself within the uncontested framework of a decidedly theocentric and Christocentric religion. Since Luther’s time the same trend has forced faith to withdraw to the position of a “religionless Christianity.” Anthropocentrism has reached its last stage before coinciding with professed atheism. This situation causes a new kind of interior convulsion, and this is the contemporary form of faith’s essential experience of temptation.....(quoting Paul Hacker)
Hacker relies heavily on Luther’s immensely popular Small Catechism. Summing it up, he writes that for Luther “the act of reflexive faith is directed to the Divine Person of Christ, but it is intended to recoil on the believer’s ego in order to evoke in him a consciousness of his own relation with God, a consciousness of consolation and salvation.”
Think of the "Jesus Loves Me"/"Just As I Am" class of hymnody....Hmmmm?
...The effects of Luther’s thinking, of course, didn’t end with him. On the contrary, Hacker says, “The new concept of faith inescapably initiated a development in which religion became at first man-oriented and eventually man-centered.” Here was “the seed of anthropocentrism in religion and of idealism in philosophy.”...
Back to Ratzinger: "Where is God in modern worship?"
And one more thing: is it just a co-incidence that there are almost zero confessions heard in the Modern Worship parishes?? Luther ditched Confession and created the theology which Ratzinger warns about when that theology is applied to liturgy. People act on their instruction, and as we know, the liturgy is a primary instructor: "Lex credendi, lex orandi" and all that.
Hmmmmmmm.
Another YUGE Move From The Donald
The President has reversed the mandate of his tinpot-dictator predecessor and as a result, a religious objection will suffice for an organization to dump artificial birth-control from its ObozoCare plan.
The foppish-Right neocons such as Billy (War-War) Kristol, Kevin Williamson, George Will, and Eric Erickson continue to despair from their various Caribbean-cruise boats, and certain leftover Congress-slimes who have not yet gotten the question (much less the answer) continue to flail about, looking for assurances that putting America third is still OK.
They will eventually lose their grip on the boat and disappear into the deep. Thank God.
The foppish-Right neocons such as Billy (War-War) Kristol, Kevin Williamson, George Will, and Eric Erickson continue to despair from their various Caribbean-cruise boats, and certain leftover Congress-slimes who have not yet gotten the question (much less the answer) continue to flail about, looking for assurances that putting America third is still OK.
They will eventually lose their grip on the boat and disappear into the deep. Thank God.
Friday, October 06, 2017
Kimmel Actually an Authority!
I did not know this!
Kicking off a rousing and emotional monologue on his Jimmy Kimmel Live! late-night talk show Tuesday during which he laid out yet another case for the common-sense nature of his views on policy and the evil barbarism of those who hold different views, host Jimmy Kimmel reached into his desk and produced a document officially declaring himself America’s greatest moral authority.
“I know some people have questioned my impassioned political
speeches, so let me just show you this,” Kimmel said before presenting
the document for all the world to see. “I guess I assumed it was obvious
due to the tone of my lectures and the obvious emotion behind them, but
just in case anyone is unclear—I am, in fact, this nation’s highest
moral authority.”...
The news item also has a picture.
Good thing that Pp. Francis is NOT in this country, eh?
Kicking off a rousing and emotional monologue on his Jimmy Kimmel Live! late-night talk show Tuesday during which he laid out yet another case for the common-sense nature of his views on policy and the evil barbarism of those who hold different views, host Jimmy Kimmel reached into his desk and produced a document officially declaring himself America’s greatest moral authority.
The news item also has a picture.
Good thing that Pp. Francis is NOT in this country, eh?
Gill Another Version of Dumping the Electoral College
One of Wisconsin's brightest lawyers essays on Gill currently before SCOTUS. The case has portent; if it is decided favoring the (frankly) Left, then the Electoral College will be defunct.
....The lower court in Gill nevertheless thought Wisconsin's maps were unfair because it was possible to draw maps that might lead to more "proportional" results. This gives away the game. Because the efficiency gap treats "wasted" votes as a presumptive constitutional problem that must be explained away or remedied, it is, in the end, a requirement of some form of rough proportionality between the aggregate votes for the candidates of one party and the number of seats won by that party's candidates. It is the absence of that proportionality that turns out to be the "inefficiency" that must be remedied.
But Democratic and Republican voters are not uniformly distributed throughout a state's geography and it is unlikely that the results of numerous individual elections will match statewide preferences. Although it claimed otherwise, there is no way around the fact that the lower court majority chose to impose a constitutional obligation to, in effect, gerrymander for "competitiveness" and to compensate for the natural disadvantage imposed by the geographic concentration of Democrats....
Follow the logic of the Lefties on this case and look at the red-highlighted text.
Hillary would be President, people.....
....The lower court in Gill nevertheless thought Wisconsin's maps were unfair because it was possible to draw maps that might lead to more "proportional" results. This gives away the game. Because the efficiency gap treats "wasted" votes as a presumptive constitutional problem that must be explained away or remedied, it is, in the end, a requirement of some form of rough proportionality between the aggregate votes for the candidates of one party and the number of seats won by that party's candidates. It is the absence of that proportionality that turns out to be the "inefficiency" that must be remedied.
But Democratic and Republican voters are not uniformly distributed throughout a state's geography and it is unlikely that the results of numerous individual elections will match statewide preferences. Although it claimed otherwise, there is no way around the fact that the lower court majority chose to impose a constitutional obligation to, in effect, gerrymander for "competitiveness" and to compensate for the natural disadvantage imposed by the geographic concentration of Democrats....
Follow the logic of the Lefties on this case and look at the red-highlighted text.
Hillary would be President, people.....
Thursday, October 05, 2017
(R) Money Spigot in "OFF" Position
Apparently Mitch-Yertle-McTurtle has been told to go screw himself.
...Tensions reached a boiling point at a recent dinner at the home of Los Angeles billionaire Robert Day. In full view of around two dozen guests, Thomas Wachtell, a retired oil and gas investor and party contributor, delivered an urgent message to the night’s headliner, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: Just do something....
The only referendum on the Pubbies that really counts is telling a tale:
...Party officials are so alarmed that North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who oversees fundraising for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told his colleagues at a recent conference meeting that donations had fallen off a cliff after the Obamacare flop. The committee’s haul plummeted to just $2 million in July and August, less than half of what it raised in June....
Yah. In fact, other pundits are whispering that the Pubbies could actually NOT gain Senate seats in the next election, despite very, very, favorable contests.
Oh, well. If they're useless wastes of oxygen, get rid of 'em.
...Tensions reached a boiling point at a recent dinner at the home of Los Angeles billionaire Robert Day. In full view of around two dozen guests, Thomas Wachtell, a retired oil and gas investor and party contributor, delivered an urgent message to the night’s headliner, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: Just do something....
The only referendum on the Pubbies that really counts is telling a tale:
...Party officials are so alarmed that North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who oversees fundraising for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told his colleagues at a recent conference meeting that donations had fallen off a cliff after the Obamacare flop. The committee’s haul plummeted to just $2 million in July and August, less than half of what it raised in June....
Yah. In fact, other pundits are whispering that the Pubbies could actually NOT gain Senate seats in the next election, despite very, very, favorable contests.
Oh, well. If they're useless wastes of oxygen, get rid of 'em.
The Family: Sine Qua Non of Real "Social Justice"
Neumayr, as usual, produces a barbed and insightful essay on the Modern Administrative Totalitarians, which only co-incidentally touches on The Evil Of The Day, guns.
But in passing he makes this observation:
...[A]n elite that prides itself on destroying the traditional family is aghast at the rise of so many mass-shooting misfits who come from “broken families.”...
You can find statistics on the enormous increase in fatherless children on your own, and note the co-incidence of such children with certain racial groups. You will also note that that particular disparity is disappearing, so don't get all snarky about it. Look hard at the backgrounds of our recent "mass murderers"--and at the cohort which is killing off Chicago's youth. What do you see? More pointed: who is missing?? Hmmmmm???
"Social Justice" in the teaching of Leo XIII begins with the FAMILY. The Modern Administrative State has attacked the family with subtle (e.g., baby-welfare) and not-so-subtle (e.g. "no-fault" divorce), and now it appears that the Church's leadership is dancing with that Devil in recent ambiguous flapjawing over re-married Catholics.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.....
But in passing he makes this observation:
...[A]n elite that prides itself on destroying the traditional family is aghast at the rise of so many mass-shooting misfits who come from “broken families.”...
You can find statistics on the enormous increase in fatherless children on your own, and note the co-incidence of such children with certain racial groups. You will also note that that particular disparity is disappearing, so don't get all snarky about it. Look hard at the backgrounds of our recent "mass murderers"--and at the cohort which is killing off Chicago's youth. What do you see? More pointed: who is missing?? Hmmmmm???
"Social Justice" in the teaching of Leo XIII begins with the FAMILY. The Modern Administrative State has attacked the family with subtle (e.g., baby-welfare) and not-so-subtle (e.g. "no-fault" divorce), and now it appears that the Church's leadership is dancing with that Devil in recent ambiguous flapjawing over re-married Catholics.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.....
B-16: Where Is GOD in Modern Worship?
Pp. Emeritus Benedict XVI has not stopped writing on the Only Thing That Matters, the Mass (liturgy.)
According to katholische.de, the German Catholic newspaper:
...The emeritus pope, in the preface, is pursuing a core thesis that the deeper cause of the present crisis of the Church is the darkening of God in the liturgy. "The misunderstanding of the liturgical form, which is widespread in the Church, focuses on the aspect of submission as well as its own activity and creativity". The consequence: "The doing of man has certainly put the presence of God in oblivion". The Church, however, lives on the "right celebration of the liturgy", emphasizes Benedict XVI. If the pre-eminence of God were no longer clear in the liturgy and in life, the church was in danger....
...Benedict XVI draws a pessimistic picture of the present in his text. "In the consciousness of today's people, the affairs of God and thus also the liturgy did not appear urgently," he complains. All things are urgent today, only the matter of God is not. The emeritus pope recalls the principle of the monastic rule of Benedict of Nursia (around 480-547) that nothing should be preferred to worship....
So. Where is GOD in your parish's Mass? Has He been stashed someplace behind a screen of incessant jabber-flappy, or incessant, purposeless, music? Do the "announcements" take more time than the Canon of the Mass?
Hmmmm???
According to katholische.de, the German Catholic newspaper:
...The emeritus pope, in the preface, is pursuing a core thesis that the deeper cause of the present crisis of the Church is the darkening of God in the liturgy. "The misunderstanding of the liturgical form, which is widespread in the Church, focuses on the aspect of submission as well as its own activity and creativity". The consequence: "The doing of man has certainly put the presence of God in oblivion". The Church, however, lives on the "right celebration of the liturgy", emphasizes Benedict XVI. If the pre-eminence of God were no longer clear in the liturgy and in life, the church was in danger....
...Benedict XVI draws a pessimistic picture of the present in his text. "In the consciousness of today's people, the affairs of God and thus also the liturgy did not appear urgently," he complains. All things are urgent today, only the matter of God is not. The emeritus pope recalls the principle of the monastic rule of Benedict of Nursia (around 480-547) that nothing should be preferred to worship....
So. Where is GOD in your parish's Mass? Has He been stashed someplace behind a screen of incessant jabber-flappy, or incessant, purposeless, music? Do the "announcements" take more time than the Canon of the Mass?
Hmmmm???
Wednesday, October 04, 2017
Scrawny Old Crone and Her '60's Revolution
The New Yorker has a little piece crowing about an old crone who is still trying to keep the '60's revolution's flames going. Name's Ginsburg.
As any fool can tell you, SCOTUS decisions are not always correct. Same fool can tell you that some of their decisions were atrocious exercises of "raw judicial power"--except that the quote comes from a NOT-fool who sat on that bench and noted the reality.
Hey, honey, the '60's are over! Shut up and retire.
As any fool can tell you, SCOTUS decisions are not always correct. Same fool can tell you that some of their decisions were atrocious exercises of "raw judicial power"--except that the quote comes from a NOT-fool who sat on that bench and noted the reality.
Hey, honey, the '60's are over! Shut up and retire.
BANG-On!! Arendt: The Administrative State, Violence Follows
Found by AOSHQ....Limbaugh dug up a very pertinent quote from Hannah Arendt on violence in society.
....[Limbaugh]: I am quoting Hannah Arendt: “The greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left with whom one could argue, to whom one could present grievances, on whom the pressures of power could be exerted. Bureaucracy is the form of government in which everybody is deprived of political freedom, of the power to act; for the rule by Nobody is not no-rule, and where all are equally powerless we have a tyranny without a tyrant.”...
Limbaugh goes on to ID the bureaucracy as 'the deep state.' That's not inaccurate, but a better term might be 'the Administrative State.'
And the Administrative State is what we now have, people. Ever walk into a Bank to make a small cash deposit to one of your children's accounts? You CAN NOT DO SO--because the Feds 'have a rule' about that and the Bank is, BY RULE, required to think the money is drug-dealing proceeds.
I am not kidding. And that four-levels-removed decisionmaking is what produces deserved anger.
....[Limbaugh]: I am quoting Hannah Arendt: “The greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left with whom one could argue, to whom one could present grievances, on whom the pressures of power could be exerted. Bureaucracy is the form of government in which everybody is deprived of political freedom, of the power to act; for the rule by Nobody is not no-rule, and where all are equally powerless we have a tyranny without a tyrant.”...
Limbaugh goes on to ID the bureaucracy as 'the deep state.' That's not inaccurate, but a better term might be 'the Administrative State.'
And the Administrative State is what we now have, people. Ever walk into a Bank to make a small cash deposit to one of your children's accounts? You CAN NOT DO SO--because the Feds 'have a rule' about that and the Bank is, BY RULE, required to think the money is drug-dealing proceeds.
I am not kidding. And that four-levels-removed decisionmaking is what produces deserved anger.
"Joy of Sex" Panel at Boston College
About 100 years ago, I was accepted by Boston College. Didn't go there, but ya'know....
Anyhow, BC has provided a roster of ....ahhhh....interesting fellows.....who will address Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Sex After Your First Marriage). If you paid attention over the last 18 months, you'll recognize all the names.
...Cupich will attend the Boston-area event as will Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who was called to Rome from Dallas by Francis in 2016 to lead the Vatican's new Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. Farrell will speak Oct. 5 as part of a panel on how the apostolic exhortation addresses those in Western cultures who have become disaffected by authority structures.
Keenan said the event will have a particular focus on hearing from those who have been involved with helping the European church better understand and implement Amoris Laetitia.
Speakers include German Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck, who participated in the 2014 and 2015 Synods of Bishops that led to the exhortation; Malta Archbishop Charles Scicluna, who co-wrote a January 2017 document for Malta's priests on how to implement the exhortation in their country; and Jesuit Fr. Antonio Spadaro, a papal confidant and editor of the Italian magazine La Civiltà Cattolica.
Other bishops set to speak at the event include Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory and San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy....
Abp. Chaput will not attend, but will send asacrificial lamb delegate. We hope that the delegate will have body armor.
We don't know why Planned Parenthood wasn't invited.
Anyhow, BC has provided a roster of ....ahhhh....interesting fellows.....who will address Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Sex After Your First Marriage). If you paid attention over the last 18 months, you'll recognize all the names.
...Cupich will attend the Boston-area event as will Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who was called to Rome from Dallas by Francis in 2016 to lead the Vatican's new Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. Farrell will speak Oct. 5 as part of a panel on how the apostolic exhortation addresses those in Western cultures who have become disaffected by authority structures.
Keenan said the event will have a particular focus on hearing from those who have been involved with helping the European church better understand and implement Amoris Laetitia.
Speakers include German Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck, who participated in the 2014 and 2015 Synods of Bishops that led to the exhortation; Malta Archbishop Charles Scicluna, who co-wrote a January 2017 document for Malta's priests on how to implement the exhortation in their country; and Jesuit Fr. Antonio Spadaro, a papal confidant and editor of the Italian magazine La Civiltà Cattolica.
Other bishops set to speak at the event include Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory and San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy....
Abp. Chaput will not attend, but will send a
We don't know why Planned Parenthood wasn't invited.
The Perils of Cheap Labor: Tata
We're not particularly sympathetic with Epic Systems of Madistan; on the other hand, theft is theft, and the bad guys got caught.
And--wonder of wonders--the bad guys are a slave-labor IT house!!
...In its initial complaint filed in October of 2014, Epic accused Tata of waging an “elaborate campaign of deception to steal documents, confidential information, trade secrets, and other information and data from Epic.”...
Bad, bad, bad boys. Tata was creating its own med-system and just needed a little information, you see? Well, it cost them:
... Judge William Conley handed down an order on Friday to reduce the damages that Tata Consultancy Services, a massive technology firm headquartered in India, would have to pay Epic from $940 million to $420 million. He also dismissed a motion by Tata to reconsider the jury’s verdict, along with counter-allegations that Tata had filed....
It's not just importing deflation, folks. It's also importing theft.
And--wonder of wonders--the bad guys are a slave-labor IT house!!
...In its initial complaint filed in October of 2014, Epic accused Tata of waging an “elaborate campaign of deception to steal documents, confidential information, trade secrets, and other information and data from Epic.”...
Bad, bad, bad boys. Tata was creating its own med-system and just needed a little information, you see? Well, it cost them:
... Judge William Conley handed down an order on Friday to reduce the damages that Tata Consultancy Services, a massive technology firm headquartered in India, would have to pay Epic from $940 million to $420 million. He also dismissed a motion by Tata to reconsider the jury’s verdict, along with counter-allegations that Tata had filed....
It's not just importing deflation, folks. It's also importing theft.
The Ignorance. It Hurts.
It is really painful to read ignorance like this:
...Lee said high-caliber bullets do the most damage.
"They have great penetrating power and capacity, and it's a real hazard and it's a real danger for the community," Lee said....
Lee is a BATF/E agent and really, really, really ought to know better than to use completely meaningless flapdoodle such as "high-caliber."
The story is about .........doh.........."assault weapons," of course. They're the ones that kill everything in sight, sorta like nuclear bombs and pesticides and diesel exhaust.
So is "high caliber" the .223 of your AR? Or is it the .308 of your AK? There IS a difference. Or is it the .45 of your handgun? How about the .50 of other handguns? Or the .540 of an elephant-gun?
Hmmmmm???
...Lee said high-caliber bullets do the most damage.
"They have great penetrating power and capacity, and it's a real hazard and it's a real danger for the community," Lee said....
Lee is a BATF/E agent and really, really, really ought to know better than to use completely meaningless flapdoodle such as "high-caliber."
The story is about .........doh.........."assault weapons," of course. They're the ones that kill everything in sight, sorta like nuclear bombs and pesticides and diesel exhaust.
So is "high caliber" the .223 of your AR? Or is it the .308 of your AK? There IS a difference. Or is it the .45 of your handgun? How about the .50 of other handguns? Or the .540 of an elephant-gun?
Hmmmmm???
Teacher's College Kiddie Klub
Meanwhile, at the Teacher's College of UC-Berkeley, we have some graduate students (yes, in Education) protesting ..........stuff.
..."Well-beings are being put on the line because of the emotional, mental, and physical stress that this university is compounding with what is already going on in [their] everyday lives," one student said.
"This is our mental health. This is our physical health. This is…um," another demonstrator said before trailing off, scratching her head and turning to another protestor.
"I don’t know why you’re still, like, sitting down, y’all. I don’t understand. I really don’t understand. Y’all can take your f—ing test, but people are dying out there," another protestor said before then accusing students of supporting white supremacy....
Notice the carefully-articulated diagnosis of ailments, the utilization of what used to be English, the careful and logical linkage between cause and effect?
Yah. I didn't either.
These swamp-things will be teaching your kids, my friends.
..."Well-beings are being put on the line because of the emotional, mental, and physical stress that this university is compounding with what is already going on in [their] everyday lives," one student said.
"This is our mental health. This is our physical health. This is…um," another demonstrator said before trailing off, scratching her head and turning to another protestor.
"I don’t know why you’re still, like, sitting down, y’all. I don’t understand. I really don’t understand. Y’all can take your f—ing test, but people are dying out there," another protestor said before then accusing students of supporting white supremacy....
Notice the carefully-articulated diagnosis of ailments, the utilization of what used to be English, the careful and logical linkage between cause and effect?
Yah. I didn't either.
These swamp-things will be teaching your kids, my friends.
Tuesday, October 03, 2017
Politico's Hot Story
This is really quite a hot story.
Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff railed against congressional leaders in closed-door remarks to wealthy donors and called for a “purge” if GOP lawmakers don’t quickly rally behind President Donald Trump’s agenda....
As Politico notes, Pence has been--externally--the 'peacemaker' in the Executive offices. But this guy is his COS and later in the article, he specifically mentions Ryan and Yertle McConnell-Turtle.
Basically he told the Big Money to call up these guys and tell them the spigot is closed--AND that the Big Money guys should threaten to primary them.
Wow.
Well, good. If the BozoClass hasn't learned from watching Boner and Can'tOr go down in flames, then they can join them in sudden-death retirement.
Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff railed against congressional leaders in closed-door remarks to wealthy donors and called for a “purge” if GOP lawmakers don’t quickly rally behind President Donald Trump’s agenda....
As Politico notes, Pence has been--externally--the 'peacemaker' in the Executive offices. But this guy is his COS and later in the article, he specifically mentions Ryan and Yertle McConnell-Turtle.
Basically he told the Big Money to call up these guys and tell them the spigot is closed--AND that the Big Money guys should threaten to primary them.
Wow.
Well, good. If the BozoClass hasn't learned from watching Boner and Can'tOr go down in flames, then they can join them in sudden-death retirement.
Ryan Wimps Out Again
It's reported that Paul Ryan has "indefinitely" shelved the hearing protection act which would delete the pile of paperwork anyone has to do to get a suppressor. They ARE legal now, ya'know; but it's a typical Gummint Bureaucracy pain in the ass to get one.
It's entirely possible that Ryan will lose to his (D) opponent. The First is NOT a 'safe' Pubbie district and--to give Ryan credit--he represents it pretty well. Not conservative at all.
It's entirely possible that Ryan will lose to his (D) opponent. The First is NOT a 'safe' Pubbie district and--to give Ryan credit--he represents it pretty well. Not conservative at all.
The Feebs: Top. Men. Only.
The FBI has had a lot of problems lately, most notable being its ex-director who is apparently a perjurer, serial liar, toady, and megalomaniac all rolled into one.
But maybe he's just as stupid as this EX-feeb:
..."Sportsmen, hunters would make an argument that they need that so that their target, whether it's a deer, etc. don’t hear the shot," Gomez claimed, "but numerous other sportsmen have shot from muskets–when the founding fathers started the Second Amendment--up until now successfully killed game animals without the use of a silencer."....Top. Man. Manny Gomez quoted at AOSHQ
Yup. Deer-hunters really want suppressors so the Bambis will not hear the shots.
Top. Men. Only.
But maybe he's just as stupid as this EX-feeb:
..."Sportsmen, hunters would make an argument that they need that so that their target, whether it's a deer, etc. don’t hear the shot," Gomez claimed, "but numerous other sportsmen have shot from muskets–when the founding fathers started the Second Amendment--up until now successfully killed game animals without the use of a silencer."....Top. Man. Manny Gomez quoted at AOSHQ
Yup. Deer-hunters really want suppressors so the Bambis will not hear the shots.
Top. Men. Only.
Monday, October 02, 2017
CBS "Legal" Scrunt Pipes Up
Some "legal" scrunt employed by CBS, a woman with three or four surnames (take your pick/guess) has decided that country music fans, being largely Trump voters, deserved what they got in Vegas.
Hayley Geftman-Gold Lattman, whoever.
That's classy.
Hayley Geftman-Gold Lattman, whoever.
That's classy.
About That FBI....
A couple of posts below, I mention that the FBI seems to think that it is an Independent Authority All Its Own. You suckers may well pay for it, but the FBI does whatever-the-f*&^ it wants to do and you just shut up. Or they will find a way to SHUT you up. Get it?
Anyhow, good ol' Z-man has another theory on the Mueller thing:
....The most likely answer for why a special prosecutor was appointed is that it was an easy way to get the whole thing out of the White House. Since the story is bogus and Mueller surely knows it is bogus, it will be a nice patronage program for a year or two and then the whole thing goes away. The second most likely answer is that Mueller’s job is to clean up the mess left by Comey and protect the reputation of the FBI, maybe even some other intelligence agencies. That way, no one gets hurt the problems are quietly fixed....
IOW, it's the "Look!!! A squirrel!!!" thing writ about as large as possible.
Anyhow, good ol' Z-man has another theory on the Mueller thing:
....The most likely answer for why a special prosecutor was appointed is that it was an easy way to get the whole thing out of the White House. Since the story is bogus and Mueller surely knows it is bogus, it will be a nice patronage program for a year or two and then the whole thing goes away. The second most likely answer is that Mueller’s job is to clean up the mess left by Comey and protect the reputation of the FBI, maybe even some other intelligence agencies. That way, no one gets hurt the problems are quietly fixed....
IOW, it's the "Look!!! A squirrel!!!" thing writ about as large as possible.
Talk About Oppressing the Poor!! How About EPA??
It's true, but that doesn't matter to the Cloud People inhabiting the press (or D.C.): Many Gummint regulations cost the poor a lot--which they often don't have.
Cigarette taxes are one example; while do-gooders insist that high commodity-taxes discourage smoking (which is true to an extent) reality-based people know that high commodity-taxes also slam the poor harder than the affluent.
Same with EPA's ridiculous emission testing. Poor people don't buy new cars--and often, they don't even purchase slightly-used cars. They have old beaters instead. So emissions testing is a severe burden, especially when failing the test requires $400.00++ in spending before you're off the hook.
FORTUNATELY, we have State leggies who get it!!
...With respect to vehicle emission limitations which are required by the federal government for specified Wisconsin counties, one bill would provide for an exemption for any motor vehicle “not less than 10 years old.” This represents a broadening from the current exemption which is tied to the year 1995....
It would be nice if EPA were called out on its anti-poor policies by the MSM. But that will never happen.
Cigarette taxes are one example; while do-gooders insist that high commodity-taxes discourage smoking (which is true to an extent) reality-based people know that high commodity-taxes also slam the poor harder than the affluent.
Same with EPA's ridiculous emission testing. Poor people don't buy new cars--and often, they don't even purchase slightly-used cars. They have old beaters instead. So emissions testing is a severe burden, especially when failing the test requires $400.00++ in spending before you're off the hook.
FORTUNATELY, we have State leggies who get it!!
...With respect to vehicle emission limitations which are required by the federal government for specified Wisconsin counties, one bill would provide for an exemption for any motor vehicle “not less than 10 years old.” This represents a broadening from the current exemption which is tied to the year 1995....
It would be nice if EPA were called out on its anti-poor policies by the MSM. But that will never happen.
Full-Auto Massacre in Vegas
I never believe the MSM's yapping about "automatic" rifle fire, but this video tells the story.
Also a bit surprising:
Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo confirmed that the suspected gunman was a 64-year-old man named Stephen Paddock....
LVPD killed the guy and found his gal-pal. Nothing--so far--tells us that it was IslamoFascist.
Also a bit surprising:
Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo confirmed that the suspected gunman was a 64-year-old man named Stephen Paddock....
LVPD killed the guy and found his gal-pal. Nothing--so far--tells us that it was IslamoFascist.
Clearly, the FBI Doesn't Work For YOU.....
Just in case you think that paying someone's salary entitles you to control over their activities and records, the FBI is here to prove you wrong, sucker.
It has now been more than a month since a House Intelligence Committee subpoena set a September 1 deadline for the FBI and the Justice Department to turn over documents related to the Trump dossier.
Not a single document has been produced.
"Well," you say, "that's just the House. Who cares what they think?"
Wrong, NFL-kneeler breath!!
...Just as they have been doing with the House intelligence panel, the FBI and Justice Department tried to blow off [Senator] Grassley...
Need I remind you that this FBI bunch now reports directly to Trump's attorney general Sessions?
Or maybe they don't. Evidently they think they 'report' to nobody at all. And THAT, my friends, is what needs to be fixed, either the easy way or......
It has now been more than a month since a House Intelligence Committee subpoena set a September 1 deadline for the FBI and the Justice Department to turn over documents related to the Trump dossier.
Not a single document has been produced.
"Well," you say, "that's just the House. Who cares what they think?"
Wrong, NFL-kneeler breath!!
...Just as they have been doing with the House intelligence panel, the FBI and Justice Department tried to blow off [Senator] Grassley...
Need I remind you that this FBI bunch now reports directly to Trump's attorney general Sessions?
Or maybe they don't. Evidently they think they 'report' to nobody at all. And THAT, my friends, is what needs to be fixed, either the easy way or......
Wimpy Wimpy Wimpy Zinke
Apparently Rule # 1 remains in force in the Interior Department:
All Land Belongs to the Deep State. You just occupy it, even if you have a title. Deep State can and will take it back any time it wants.
Don't like that? Don't ask Trump's boy Zinke for relief.
...He failed to recommend revocation of any Clinton and Obama decrees, despite finding that many failed to satisfy the requirements of the Antiquities Act of 1906. He offered boundary adjustments for only four monuments (two in Utah, one in Oregon, and one in the Pacific Ocean) but suggested, with unwarranted optimism, the worst of the others could be eased by expanding the lawful activities there.
Finally, he urged using the widely-discredited act to set more land off-limits, including in his backyard in Montana....
There's a record of non-accomplishment if I ever saw one.
All Land Belongs to the Deep State. You just occupy it, even if you have a title. Deep State can and will take it back any time it wants.
Don't like that? Don't ask Trump's boy Zinke for relief.
...He failed to recommend revocation of any Clinton and Obama decrees, despite finding that many failed to satisfy the requirements of the Antiquities Act of 1906. He offered boundary adjustments for only four monuments (two in Utah, one in Oregon, and one in the Pacific Ocean) but suggested, with unwarranted optimism, the worst of the others could be eased by expanding the lawful activities there.
Finally, he urged using the widely-discredited act to set more land off-limits, including in his backyard in Montana....
There's a record of non-accomplishment if I ever saw one.
Sunday, October 01, 2017
From Your Lips......
Kasich thinks he might leave the (R) Party.
At least he's more honest than McPain. But that's a VERY low bar.
At least he's more honest than McPain. But that's a VERY low bar.
Actual Puerto Rico Situation--From a Cop Living There
Apparently this female cop from San Juan area called a NYC radio station and spilled the beans on the demi-Communist mayorette who is bitching to NPR and CNN about the relief efforts.
It's not surprising. Kinda smells the same as the New Orleans mess--you know, (D) Mayor, totally incompetent bureaucracy, people dying....
The usual stuff.
It's not surprising. Kinda smells the same as the New Orleans mess--you know, (D) Mayor, totally incompetent bureaucracy, people dying....
The usual stuff.
Drone Mass!!!
You thought you'd seen it all.
You haven't. (Note: this post has been corrected!)
Today, at a parish on the far-west end of Waukesha County the Mass' processional and recessional were accompanied by a DRONE which was there to record such for the new parish website.
This is because websites save souls, ya'know.
There is good news: the drone was noisy enough to cancel out the singing of the choir.
By the way, this parish has a staffer whose concern is liturgical correctness. Apparently "correct" does not include 'common sense.'
I am acquainted with a number of under-40 types who understand the economy of salvation--and who are making EF Masses their home. Thanks be to God!!
You haven't. (Note: this post has been corrected!)
Today, at a parish on the far-west end of Waukesha County the Mass' processional and recessional were accompanied by a DRONE which was there to record such for the new parish website.
This is because websites save souls, ya'know.
There is good news: the drone was noisy enough to cancel out the singing of the choir.
By the way, this parish has a staffer whose concern is liturgical correctness. Apparently "correct" does not include 'common sense.'
I am acquainted with a number of under-40 types who understand the economy of salvation--and who are making EF Masses their home. Thanks be to God!!
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