Ha ha ha ha ha... I can't stop laughing on this one.
I beg you, if you haven't watched Battlestar Galactica, the new one, you must watch it. Really. It coincides with this election year very nicely. Go to www.hulu.com if you're cheap, Netflix if not, and go buy it if you love it.
DO NOT watch it with your kids.
I saw this at www.galleyslaves.blogspot.com. Don't even know what the blog is about, but this is hilarious.
The BSG Ticket
Watching Palin's introduction it became immediately clear that she looks uncannily like a young Laura Roslin.* This can only bode well for Palin. But the parallels don't stop at her looks. Like Roslin, Palin was basically a private citizen (Roslin was a teacher, Palin was a reporter) before being pulled into politics. Neither seems to have had any larger ambition, until events pulled them into prominence. And both were immediately discounted by outside observers as being unequal to the demands of their new positions.
But wait! There's more!
If Palin is Roslin, isn't McCain very much a Bill Adama? Both are Navy men. Both seemed destined to be passed over by a younger generation of hotshots, until a perfect storm elevated them to command. Both are tough old dogs with little patience for politics. Heck, Adama's staff even call him the Old Man.
Like Adama and Roslin, McCain and Palin should complement each other well. I eagerly await the moment in the VP debate when Palin is asked what she would do with Osama bin Laden if he were captured. One assumes her answer will be some variation of, "Put that thing out the airlock."
* Galley Wife S.L. observed this within seconds of Palin stepping on stage.
8:28 PM | posted by Jonathan V. Last Permalink
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
More politics
So, here is an Obama article at the bottom. I have been wondering what "community organizer" means, and I guess this article explains it. He's not exactly for or against Obama, he just thinks it's interesting that Obama makes it sound all warm and fluffy and soup kitchen-y by only vaguely alluding to those years.
There's quite a big stink now amongst the Dems that Sarah Palin has less experience as a whole than Obama. In some cases, that's true. And it is a worry. I want to see her in an interview and in a debate or three before I make up my mind. McCain took a heck of a gamble, and it may or may not pay off. I'm impressed she even said yes, because her life is never going to be free again. Secret Service agents are going to be her best friends for a long time. They say she's "unknown outside Alaska", but that's not true. Many a pro-lifer got the news of her son's birth last April and immediately decided to keep an eye on her. I know I did.
She has a four month old boy, Trig, who has Down's Syndrome. I hate how reporters keep saying, "unfortunately, she has a son with Down's". Hey, unfortunately she didn't abort him! But also, it's unfortunate she has him, why didn't she kill him? Is that what they are saying? Really? I don't know how anyone can really believe this drivel, but they do. Also, Down's varies A LOT. I have known those who cannot speak and do wear diapers, and I have known one who ran an art gallery in Mendocino, CA, and another who went to community college while her sister was in college with me, both of us becoming special ed teachers. Her son may not be as high needs as certain people with agendas are implying. I saw a boy with Down's at the bathroom at a ball game last night. He was doing pretty darned well. You could tell he's disabled, but so is my sister, and most people can just deal with it. They don't try to kill them or think, "It's too bad they're alive."
Folks are now also calling into question whether she will be neglecting her four month old for this work on the GOP ticket. Well, I am assuming there is a nanny or there are grandparents who help a lot. Not to mention her husband. He has a loving family of siblings, too. Folks who don't know any large families have no idea how much help siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins can be. I'm sure he's well cared-for. Sure, I love the idea of a stay-at-home mom as much as the next conservative, but I'm so excited to have someone NOW (Nat. Org. for Women (not THIS woman)) should be happy about, but can't be. She's all a woman "should be", and yet because she's religious and pro-life, she can't be applauded. Nice double standard there.
Will she do well as VP? I'm really not sure. I want to hear what she will say. I think she has an iron core, and that alone might really get her through what she does not know. Think Teddy Roosevelt. Don't mess with the big stick.
Obama news here:
Obama's "community organizer" phase was about political power, not soup kitchens
John Maki (Bio)
Filed under , Monday July 28, 2008
"Community organizer."
If you've heard the term, you likely learned about it through Barack Obama's memoir or one of his speeches where he talks about his time working in poor neighborhoods on Chicago's South Side in the 1980s. He refers to this time in his life a lot. Obama leans on it, hard, while stumping. But what does it mean?
"One of my fundamental beliefs from my days as a community organizer is that real change comes from the bottom up ... And there's no more powerful tool for grassroots organizing than the Internet."
-Barack Obama
What do community organizers actually do? How do they do it? And how has Obama's experience as a community organizer shaped his run for the presidency?
Since 2002, I have worked with several Chicago-based community organizers and even done some organizing myself. My experience has taught me to view Barack Obama, Chicago's most famous community organizer, in a different light than you will likely encounter from most political commentators.
Community organizing is old-fashioned, bare-knuckle politics for the little guy.
Were you picturing Obama in a soup kitchen instead? It is not your fault. When Obama talks about his time as a community organizer, he does not go beyond a vague and benign description of how he worked with unemployed steelworkers and their families to fight for change. Media coverage of Obama's days as a community organizer has not been much better. Most journalists tend either to repeat stories that Obama has told in his books, or merely interview people who worked with him at the time without giving you a clear idea of what community organizing entails.
The words "community organizing" themselves probably present the biggest problem.
Hearing the touchy-feely sound of "community," you may assume organizing has something to do with community service, like working at a homeless shelter.
But there is nothing touchy or feely about community organizing. It has more in common with the brutal contact sport of Chicago politics than it does with any kind of charitable act, such as serving food to homeless people. And like the neon-green relish that garnishes a Gold Coast dog, community organizing is pure Chicago.
Saul Alinsky: Godfather of modern community organizing, cleaning up cesspools by appealing to self-interest
The history of community organizing begins in the slums of Chicago's South Side in the 1930s, when Saul Alinsky organized the people who lived in the Back of the Yards, the neighborhood Upton Sinclair wrote about in The Jungle. Alinsky was himself a South Sider and knew that the Back of the Yards was not only one of the worst slums in the country, the neighborhood was also, as he put it in a 1972 interview for Playboy Magazine, "a cesspool of hate: the Poles, Slovaks, Germans, Negroes, Mexicans and Lithuanians all hated each other and all of them hated the Irish, who returned the sentiment in spades."
That was fine with Alinsky. His goal was not to get the people he organized to love each other, just work together. As Alinsky once put it, "to [expletive] your enemies, you've first got to seduce your allies."
Alinsky's key insight was that while poor people who lived in places like the Back of the Yards do not have access to traditional forms of power, they do have numbers. He believed that if enough poor people realized it was in their interest to work together and fight for particular issues, they could pressure people in power to give them what they want.
To build a base of support, Alinsky formulated a set of strategic principles he later taught people at the Industrial Areas Foundation, an institute he established to disseminate the art of community organizing. In 1965, shortly before he was assassinated, Malcom X said that Alinsky knew more about organizing than anybody in the country. Today, there are probably few community organizers alive who either do not have a direct connection to Alinsky or to one of his students.
One of the most important lessons that Alinsky taught community organizers is not to rely on high-minded ideals like "brotherly-love or "the common good" to get people to fight for particular goals. Instead, as a community organizer you are always looking for ways to appeal directly to a person's self-interest, whatever that may be. This is not to say ideals do not matter to community organizers. But at the end of the day, an ideal is only as good as what it can help you accomplish.
So, if you are a community organizer and want to organize an area, you first try to meet with as many indigenous leaders as possible, the kinds of men and women who populate neighborhood churches and civic groups that others will listen to and naturally follow. The purpose of these one-on-one meetings is not to become their friend. You want to find out what their self-interest is so you can use it. This includes milking their personal connections to expand your base of support. As a community organizer, the sole source of your power is your relationships. And the more people you have in your pocket, the more likely it is that you can use them to get what your base wants.
Here is a typical community-organizing scenario. Let's say you are a community organizer who has cultivated and trained a strong base of support and identified a particular problem to attack. You then target a public official who can get you something you want. Let's call him Official X. He chairs an appropriations committee that is deciding whether to fund a program your base supports. You and your base request a meeting with him. Official X agrees and asks that you come to his office. Before you go, you coach a core group of your base, the people you call ‘your leaders,' on what to say and how to behave at the meeting.
After painstakingly rehearsing everyone's roles, so that no part of the meeting is left to chance, you are ready to do the real thing. You take your leaders to the meeting, and you have one of them present your base's demands. Your leader explains to Official X what you want him to do, and why it is in his self-interest to do so. Whatever arguments your leader uses to make their case, he also makes sure that Official X understands that he will pay a price for not helping. If Official X stands in your way, your base is going to try to find a way to hurt him, whether it's by attacking him through the press, or turning out people to vote against him. If this tactic makes Official X angry, you could not care less. You do not want people in power to like you. As a community organizer, you want them to respect and fear you.
But you also make sure that Official X knows so long as he helps you out, you will help him out too. After all, as a community organizer, your job is not to change the system; it is to master and use the system's rules to your advantage.
If you think these tactics resemble standard forms of political intimidation, you are right.
As I said before, community organizing is old-fashioned, bare-knuckle politics for the little guy.
This is also what most coverage of Obama's days as a community organizer fails to appreciate. For whether you are an Alinksy-schooled community organizer or a Chicago politician, you are a student of power. If you have survived long enough to succeed in either position, like Obama has, you have learned not to worry so much about the power you have. What keeps you up at night is the power you do not have. In community organizing and politics, you know the only thing that can hurt you is what you cannot control.
Since Obama became the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, he has been accused of moving to the center and flip-flopping on positions he adopted during the primary. This criticism misses the point. In his recent moves, Obama, the community organizer, is simply trying to build new alliances as he neutralizes threats to his power. It is what any Chicago-trained community organizer worth his salt would do.
Update: I tried to write a neutral analysis of how Obama's community organizing experience has influenced his presidential campaign. Archpundit -- a stellar Illinois politics blogger -- see this experience as a significant advantage for Obama. Check out his take here.
There's quite a big stink now amongst the Dems that Sarah Palin has less experience as a whole than Obama. In some cases, that's true. And it is a worry. I want to see her in an interview and in a debate or three before I make up my mind. McCain took a heck of a gamble, and it may or may not pay off. I'm impressed she even said yes, because her life is never going to be free again. Secret Service agents are going to be her best friends for a long time. They say she's "unknown outside Alaska", but that's not true. Many a pro-lifer got the news of her son's birth last April and immediately decided to keep an eye on her. I know I did.
She has a four month old boy, Trig, who has Down's Syndrome. I hate how reporters keep saying, "unfortunately, she has a son with Down's". Hey, unfortunately she didn't abort him! But also, it's unfortunate she has him, why didn't she kill him? Is that what they are saying? Really? I don't know how anyone can really believe this drivel, but they do. Also, Down's varies A LOT. I have known those who cannot speak and do wear diapers, and I have known one who ran an art gallery in Mendocino, CA, and another who went to community college while her sister was in college with me, both of us becoming special ed teachers. Her son may not be as high needs as certain people with agendas are implying. I saw a boy with Down's at the bathroom at a ball game last night. He was doing pretty darned well. You could tell he's disabled, but so is my sister, and most people can just deal with it. They don't try to kill them or think, "It's too bad they're alive."
Folks are now also calling into question whether she will be neglecting her four month old for this work on the GOP ticket. Well, I am assuming there is a nanny or there are grandparents who help a lot. Not to mention her husband. He has a loving family of siblings, too. Folks who don't know any large families have no idea how much help siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins can be. I'm sure he's well cared-for. Sure, I love the idea of a stay-at-home mom as much as the next conservative, but I'm so excited to have someone NOW (Nat. Org. for Women (not THIS woman)) should be happy about, but can't be. She's all a woman "should be", and yet because she's religious and pro-life, she can't be applauded. Nice double standard there.
Will she do well as VP? I'm really not sure. I want to hear what she will say. I think she has an iron core, and that alone might really get her through what she does not know. Think Teddy Roosevelt. Don't mess with the big stick.
Obama news here:
Obama's "community organizer" phase was about political power, not soup kitchens
John Maki (Bio)
Filed under , Monday July 28, 2008
"Community organizer."
If you've heard the term, you likely learned about it through Barack Obama's memoir or one of his speeches where he talks about his time working in poor neighborhoods on Chicago's South Side in the 1980s. He refers to this time in his life a lot. Obama leans on it, hard, while stumping. But what does it mean?
"One of my fundamental beliefs from my days as a community organizer is that real change comes from the bottom up ... And there's no more powerful tool for grassroots organizing than the Internet."
-Barack Obama
What do community organizers actually do? How do they do it? And how has Obama's experience as a community organizer shaped his run for the presidency?
Since 2002, I have worked with several Chicago-based community organizers and even done some organizing myself. My experience has taught me to view Barack Obama, Chicago's most famous community organizer, in a different light than you will likely encounter from most political commentators.
Community organizing is old-fashioned, bare-knuckle politics for the little guy.
Were you picturing Obama in a soup kitchen instead? It is not your fault. When Obama talks about his time as a community organizer, he does not go beyond a vague and benign description of how he worked with unemployed steelworkers and their families to fight for change. Media coverage of Obama's days as a community organizer has not been much better. Most journalists tend either to repeat stories that Obama has told in his books, or merely interview people who worked with him at the time without giving you a clear idea of what community organizing entails.
The words "community organizing" themselves probably present the biggest problem.
Hearing the touchy-feely sound of "community," you may assume organizing has something to do with community service, like working at a homeless shelter.
But there is nothing touchy or feely about community organizing. It has more in common with the brutal contact sport of Chicago politics than it does with any kind of charitable act, such as serving food to homeless people. And like the neon-green relish that garnishes a Gold Coast dog, community organizing is pure Chicago.
Saul Alinsky: Godfather of modern community organizing, cleaning up cesspools by appealing to self-interest
The history of community organizing begins in the slums of Chicago's South Side in the 1930s, when Saul Alinsky organized the people who lived in the Back of the Yards, the neighborhood Upton Sinclair wrote about in The Jungle. Alinsky was himself a South Sider and knew that the Back of the Yards was not only one of the worst slums in the country, the neighborhood was also, as he put it in a 1972 interview for Playboy Magazine, "a cesspool of hate: the Poles, Slovaks, Germans, Negroes, Mexicans and Lithuanians all hated each other and all of them hated the Irish, who returned the sentiment in spades."
That was fine with Alinsky. His goal was not to get the people he organized to love each other, just work together. As Alinsky once put it, "to [expletive] your enemies, you've first got to seduce your allies."
Alinsky's key insight was that while poor people who lived in places like the Back of the Yards do not have access to traditional forms of power, they do have numbers. He believed that if enough poor people realized it was in their interest to work together and fight for particular issues, they could pressure people in power to give them what they want.
To build a base of support, Alinsky formulated a set of strategic principles he later taught people at the Industrial Areas Foundation, an institute he established to disseminate the art of community organizing. In 1965, shortly before he was assassinated, Malcom X said that Alinsky knew more about organizing than anybody in the country. Today, there are probably few community organizers alive who either do not have a direct connection to Alinsky or to one of his students.
One of the most important lessons that Alinsky taught community organizers is not to rely on high-minded ideals like "brotherly-love or "the common good" to get people to fight for particular goals. Instead, as a community organizer you are always looking for ways to appeal directly to a person's self-interest, whatever that may be. This is not to say ideals do not matter to community organizers. But at the end of the day, an ideal is only as good as what it can help you accomplish.
So, if you are a community organizer and want to organize an area, you first try to meet with as many indigenous leaders as possible, the kinds of men and women who populate neighborhood churches and civic groups that others will listen to and naturally follow. The purpose of these one-on-one meetings is not to become their friend. You want to find out what their self-interest is so you can use it. This includes milking their personal connections to expand your base of support. As a community organizer, the sole source of your power is your relationships. And the more people you have in your pocket, the more likely it is that you can use them to get what your base wants.
Here is a typical community-organizing scenario. Let's say you are a community organizer who has cultivated and trained a strong base of support and identified a particular problem to attack. You then target a public official who can get you something you want. Let's call him Official X. He chairs an appropriations committee that is deciding whether to fund a program your base supports. You and your base request a meeting with him. Official X agrees and asks that you come to his office. Before you go, you coach a core group of your base, the people you call ‘your leaders,' on what to say and how to behave at the meeting.
After painstakingly rehearsing everyone's roles, so that no part of the meeting is left to chance, you are ready to do the real thing. You take your leaders to the meeting, and you have one of them present your base's demands. Your leader explains to Official X what you want him to do, and why it is in his self-interest to do so. Whatever arguments your leader uses to make their case, he also makes sure that Official X understands that he will pay a price for not helping. If Official X stands in your way, your base is going to try to find a way to hurt him, whether it's by attacking him through the press, or turning out people to vote against him. If this tactic makes Official X angry, you could not care less. You do not want people in power to like you. As a community organizer, you want them to respect and fear you.
But you also make sure that Official X knows so long as he helps you out, you will help him out too. After all, as a community organizer, your job is not to change the system; it is to master and use the system's rules to your advantage.
If you think these tactics resemble standard forms of political intimidation, you are right.
As I said before, community organizing is old-fashioned, bare-knuckle politics for the little guy.
This is also what most coverage of Obama's days as a community organizer fails to appreciate. For whether you are an Alinksy-schooled community organizer or a Chicago politician, you are a student of power. If you have survived long enough to succeed in either position, like Obama has, you have learned not to worry so much about the power you have. What keeps you up at night is the power you do not have. In community organizing and politics, you know the only thing that can hurt you is what you cannot control.
Since Obama became the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, he has been accused of moving to the center and flip-flopping on positions he adopted during the primary. This criticism misses the point. In his recent moves, Obama, the community organizer, is simply trying to build new alliances as he neutralizes threats to his power. It is what any Chicago-trained community organizer worth his salt would do.
Update: I tried to write a neutral analysis of how Obama's community organizing experience has influenced his presidential campaign. Archpundit -- a stellar Illinois politics blogger -- see this experience as a significant advantage for Obama. Check out his take here.
School spoof
This is hilarious. It comes from my friend Barb, who has her blog at www.mckillipklan.typepad.com. Her eldest was my student last year. British humor is the best... thanks Barb. Really, you have got to watch this whole thing.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Neighbors!
There's a mom four or so doors down in our townhome group, and she has 2-3 little kids, and they have been found running in the street from time to time. The little one, maybe 2 years old, sometimes gets out and is in nothing but a diaper every time I see him. I was nice about this the first couple of times, but today DH came home and nearly ran over one of them in our own carport. She tried to explain that the uncle was watching them, but if that's the case, what was the kid doing with his hands in my wading pool? And why are they in my carport? My kids don't hang around in our neighbors' carports.
I told her I would not be the one calling CPS, but I know the neighbors talk and one of them has already threatened to. What I'm saying is, "Don't do this to your family." She needs to buy child locks for her front door and use them. She looked at me like I was a total nutjob, and I don't blame her because I was pretty freaked out, but I don't want to be sued because she isn't watching her kids but it happens outside my door. The kid is running freely in the street, for crying out loud! Just because there isn't a car there now doesn't mean people don't drive over 30 through there.
I've called before, and I hope never to call again, I hate, hate, hate calling CPS. Gives me the shakes. I'm a foster parent, and I know foster parents. We don't like to see people have their kids taken away, it's wrong, but we would rather that than something like death! Being run over can't be undone!
Thanks for letting me vent. At what point should I call, I wonder. I hope I scared her good this time.
I told her I would not be the one calling CPS, but I know the neighbors talk and one of them has already threatened to. What I'm saying is, "Don't do this to your family." She needs to buy child locks for her front door and use them. She looked at me like I was a total nutjob, and I don't blame her because I was pretty freaked out, but I don't want to be sued because she isn't watching her kids but it happens outside my door. The kid is running freely in the street, for crying out loud! Just because there isn't a car there now doesn't mean people don't drive over 30 through there.
I've called before, and I hope never to call again, I hate, hate, hate calling CPS. Gives me the shakes. I'm a foster parent, and I know foster parents. We don't like to see people have their kids taken away, it's wrong, but we would rather that than something like death! Being run over can't be undone!
Thanks for letting me vent. At what point should I call, I wonder. I hope I scared her good this time.
Happy Dance!
Doing the happy and happier dance. Ok, happy feeling not going away!
McCain-Palin 2008
Go, girl, go!!!!
McCain-Palin 2008
Go, girl, go!!!!
McCain's new VP?
Wow. I read somewhere that John McCain was very secretive about who he was going to pick for his running mate. They said you just never know what he's going to do, he's a maverick, but he's been holding it in. After all, if the party he's running against is making total donkeys of themselves (it is their symbol, after all), why speak up too often an put your foot in your mouth? Just let the other guy make his own self look bad. The DNC is doing a great job of looking dumb right now, if anyone cares to notice. I could give examples, but oh look, they are right there below!
I am very interested in what this lady will do. I think since McCain has foreign policy covered, he could indeed pick someone like Sarah Palin. Also, did you know she cut state property taxes by 60%? I thought that was a misprint. She's big into not wasting money, and I'm kind of excited. Also, she's hugely pro-life! She even has a son who has Down's, and these days, 80% of Down's babies are aborted.
Go Sarah!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin
I am very interested in what this lady will do. I think since McCain has foreign policy covered, he could indeed pick someone like Sarah Palin. Also, did you know she cut state property taxes by 60%? I thought that was a misprint. She's big into not wasting money, and I'm kind of excited. Also, she's hugely pro-life! She even has a son who has Down's, and these days, 80% of Down's babies are aborted.
Go Sarah!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin
Thursday, August 28, 2008
AP article on Pelosi fallout
Nice summary, here, too. And in the mainstream news, even!
Aha, it was "ensoulment" that she was thinking of. Well, that's just another reason I'm homeschooling my kids. If she's a product of Catholic schools, they aren't teaching very much Catholicism!
Pelosi gets unwanted lesson in Catholic theology
By RACHEL ZOLL – 7 hours ago
Politics can be treacherous. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi walked on even riskier ground in a recent TV interview when she attempted a theological defense of her support for abortion rights.
Roman Catholic bishops consider her arguments on St. Augustine and free will so far out of line with church teaching that they have issued a steady stream of statements to correct her.
The latest came Wednesday from Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik, who said Pelosi, D-Calif., "stepped out of her political role and completely misrepresented the teaching of the Catholic Church in regard to abortion."
It has been a harsh week of rebuke for the Democratic congresswoman, a Catholic school graduate who repeatedly has expressed pride in and love for her religious heritage.
Cardinals and archbishops in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York and Denver are among those who have criticized her remarks. Archbishop George Niederauer, in Pelosi's hometown of San Francisco, will take up the issue in the Sept. 5 edition of the archdiocesan newspaper, his spokesman said.
Sunday, on NBC's "Meet the Press" program, Pelosi said "doctors of the church" have not been able to define when life begins.
She also cited the role of individual conscience. "God has given us, each of us, a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions," she said.
Brendan Daly, a spokesman for Pelosi, said in a statement defending her remarks that she "fully appreciates the sanctity of family" and based her views on conception on the "views of Saint Augustine, who said, 'The law does not provide that the act (abortion) pertains to homicide, for there cannot yet be said to be a live soul in a body that lacks sensation.'"
But whether or not parishioners choose to accept it, the theology on the procedure is clear. From its earliest days, Christianity has considered abortion evil.
"This teaching has remained unchanged and remains unchangeable," according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. "Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law."
The Rev. Douglas Milewski, a Seton Hall University theologian who specializes in Augustine, said Pelosi seems to be confusing church teaching on abortion with the theological debate over when a fetus receives a soul.
"Saint Augustine wondered about the stages of human development before birth, how this related to the question of ensoulment and what it meant for life in the Kingdom of God," Milewski said.
Questions about ensoulment related to determining penalties under church law for early and later abortions, not deciding whether the procedure is permissible, according to the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
Augustine was "quite clear on the immorality of abortion as evil violence, destructive of the very fabric of human bonds and society," Milewski said.
Regarding individual decision-making, the church teaches that Catholics are obliged to use their conscience in considering moral issues. However, that doesn't mean parishioners can pick and choose what to believe and still be in line with the church.
Lisa Sowle Cahill, a theologian at Boston College, said conscience must be formed by Catholic teaching and philosophical insights. "It's not just a personal opinion that you came up with randomly," she said.
Catholic theologians today overwhelmingly consider debate over the morality of abortion settled. Thinkers and activists who attempt to challenge the theology are often considered on the fringes of church life.
However, there is a rigorous debate over how the teaching should guide voters and public officials. Are Catholics required to choose the candidate who opposes abortion? Or can they back a politician based on his or her policies on reducing, not outlawing, the procedure?
The U.S. bishops addressed this question in their election-year public policy guide, "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship."
They said that voting for a candidate specifically because he or she supports "an intrinsic evil" such as abortion amounts to "formal cooperation in grave evil."
In some cases, Catholics may vote for a candidate with a position contrary to church teaching, but only for "truly grave moral reasons, not to advance narrow interests or partisan preferences," according to the document.
It is a complex discussion. The Rev. Thomas Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, has some advice for candidates who seek to join the debate: Stick to politics — and support programs that truly help reduce the number of abortions.
"It is a big mistake," Reese said, "for politicians to talk theology."
Aha, it was "ensoulment" that she was thinking of. Well, that's just another reason I'm homeschooling my kids. If she's a product of Catholic schools, they aren't teaching very much Catholicism!
Pelosi gets unwanted lesson in Catholic theology
By RACHEL ZOLL – 7 hours ago
Politics can be treacherous. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi walked on even riskier ground in a recent TV interview when she attempted a theological defense of her support for abortion rights.
Roman Catholic bishops consider her arguments on St. Augustine and free will so far out of line with church teaching that they have issued a steady stream of statements to correct her.
The latest came Wednesday from Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik, who said Pelosi, D-Calif., "stepped out of her political role and completely misrepresented the teaching of the Catholic Church in regard to abortion."
It has been a harsh week of rebuke for the Democratic congresswoman, a Catholic school graduate who repeatedly has expressed pride in and love for her religious heritage.
Cardinals and archbishops in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York and Denver are among those who have criticized her remarks. Archbishop George Niederauer, in Pelosi's hometown of San Francisco, will take up the issue in the Sept. 5 edition of the archdiocesan newspaper, his spokesman said.
Sunday, on NBC's "Meet the Press" program, Pelosi said "doctors of the church" have not been able to define when life begins.
She also cited the role of individual conscience. "God has given us, each of us, a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions," she said.
Brendan Daly, a spokesman for Pelosi, said in a statement defending her remarks that she "fully appreciates the sanctity of family" and based her views on conception on the "views of Saint Augustine, who said, 'The law does not provide that the act (abortion) pertains to homicide, for there cannot yet be said to be a live soul in a body that lacks sensation.'"
But whether or not parishioners choose to accept it, the theology on the procedure is clear. From its earliest days, Christianity has considered abortion evil.
"This teaching has remained unchanged and remains unchangeable," according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. "Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law."
The Rev. Douglas Milewski, a Seton Hall University theologian who specializes in Augustine, said Pelosi seems to be confusing church teaching on abortion with the theological debate over when a fetus receives a soul.
"Saint Augustine wondered about the stages of human development before birth, how this related to the question of ensoulment and what it meant for life in the Kingdom of God," Milewski said.
Questions about ensoulment related to determining penalties under church law for early and later abortions, not deciding whether the procedure is permissible, according to the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
Augustine was "quite clear on the immorality of abortion as evil violence, destructive of the very fabric of human bonds and society," Milewski said.
Regarding individual decision-making, the church teaches that Catholics are obliged to use their conscience in considering moral issues. However, that doesn't mean parishioners can pick and choose what to believe and still be in line with the church.
Lisa Sowle Cahill, a theologian at Boston College, said conscience must be formed by Catholic teaching and philosophical insights. "It's not just a personal opinion that you came up with randomly," she said.
Catholic theologians today overwhelmingly consider debate over the morality of abortion settled. Thinkers and activists who attempt to challenge the theology are often considered on the fringes of church life.
However, there is a rigorous debate over how the teaching should guide voters and public officials. Are Catholics required to choose the candidate who opposes abortion? Or can they back a politician based on his or her policies on reducing, not outlawing, the procedure?
The U.S. bishops addressed this question in their election-year public policy guide, "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship."
They said that voting for a candidate specifically because he or she supports "an intrinsic evil" such as abortion amounts to "formal cooperation in grave evil."
In some cases, Catholics may vote for a candidate with a position contrary to church teaching, but only for "truly grave moral reasons, not to advance narrow interests or partisan preferences," according to the document.
It is a complex discussion. The Rev. Thomas Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, has some advice for candidates who seek to join the debate: Stick to politics — and support programs that truly help reduce the number of abortions.
"It is a big mistake," Reese said, "for politicians to talk theology."
Three mommies and bulk cooking, aka "So, how did it go?"
Rikki, Ethel and I all got together and did bulk cooking. We learned a few things, so I'd better put them here while they are in my mind.
We DID have fun. I want you all to know that.
It also took from 10 am -4pm and we got about 10 meals out of it each. Not bad, but with more of an assembly line style, it could have been better. I had a book on that, but someone lost it in her house... yes, she is looking for it. When she finds it, that will help. We have all done the Dinner's Ready thing, and it is super tasty, but if you can get things on sale, you can do it a lot more cheaply yourself. Time and energy might add up to how much they charge, though, depending on the person. We loved using Dinner's Ready, but we wanted to give this a try. Another reason is that there are three ingredients we were avoiding for two different people. DR will accommodate this, but it's a pain to ask and avoid things. The ingredients are:
MSG: causes migraine-like headaches
Partially hydrogenated anything: causes awful gas (run away)
Wheat: causes much of the above, my husband to get sick, and a certain baby to stay up all night crying.
So we all found recipes that would accommodate us, and that might be where part of the complication came in. It's worth it to have good food. A lot of bulk cooking/freezing recipes contain cream of mushroom or chicken soup, and they mostly have MSG in them, or the second ingredient, or even all three, which is a recipe for disaster in certain people's houses. No, she's not exaggerating. I used to live there!
The other things we all should have done is to do the prep work in our own homes. I should have precooked the onions and the mashed potatoes and the hamburger. I should have pre "squinched" the potato chips before making chicken nuggets (a huge hit, by the way). Ethel had tons of dehydrated ingredients she buys online, and while a little spendy up front, if you are going to make crockpot meals that will last til Armageddon, it's the way to go! And all natural, too.
Perhaps things were slightly slowed down by one of us needing the brakes replaced in their car, like, now. But I also happened upon a mechanic who did great work and really super fast, right near here. Thanks to Joyce and Heidi! Now we know where to take our beater, too. I was really impressed. I drove said owner back and forth, but that only took 15 mins total.
Also, we had a husband around to keep the kids sort of in line. They did pretty good, really. It was a good day, but I am tired, because after that, I rushed home to put food away, hug the husband, leave him with two kids, take the oldest to soccer practice, pay someone back for a Lands End order, go to the library to get books on hold, pick up said oldest kid, get peed on by the baby I was wearing on my back (and you don't want to know what else was in that diaper), rush home to company for Rosary night, enjoy the heck out of that, and then watch some Fr. Corapi until I just could not stay awake anymore. Darn. It was really interesting, too.
Did you know that Guadalupe is an Arabic word? This makes sense. Spain and "Arabia" were at war for a long time, so it makes sense that Spain adopted a few Arabic words, especially if they sounded sort of Spanish. It means "Wolf River". And when Spain also took over Mexico, of course those words would be passed on to the New World. How cool is that?
Also, when I was in CA in June, I stole a few things from Grandma's house (sorry Dad, I really couldn't resist, for homeschooling's sake!). There's a globe in my dad's childhood room that I've always loved, because it has words on it like "French West Africa" and "Belgian Congo" on it, and Hawaii is a territory. Through the use of Wikipedia, Mr. C. and a few other interested types spent til about 10pm figuring out that perhaps the globe is from 1946. Poland being a nation at that point had a lot to do with our calculations. It was so fun. We had conversations like "the war was over in 1945, so it had to be after, but this happened in 1947, so it had to be before that!" It was such a fun thing to do. Thanks, Dad, for keeping it!
Ok, that was long. On with the day.
We DID have fun. I want you all to know that.
It also took from 10 am -4pm and we got about 10 meals out of it each. Not bad, but with more of an assembly line style, it could have been better. I had a book on that, but someone lost it in her house... yes, she is looking for it. When she finds it, that will help. We have all done the Dinner's Ready thing, and it is super tasty, but if you can get things on sale, you can do it a lot more cheaply yourself. Time and energy might add up to how much they charge, though, depending on the person. We loved using Dinner's Ready, but we wanted to give this a try. Another reason is that there are three ingredients we were avoiding for two different people. DR will accommodate this, but it's a pain to ask and avoid things. The ingredients are:
MSG: causes migraine-like headaches
Partially hydrogenated anything: causes awful gas (run away)
Wheat: causes much of the above, my husband to get sick, and a certain baby to stay up all night crying.
So we all found recipes that would accommodate us, and that might be where part of the complication came in. It's worth it to have good food. A lot of bulk cooking/freezing recipes contain cream of mushroom or chicken soup, and they mostly have MSG in them, or the second ingredient, or even all three, which is a recipe for disaster in certain people's houses. No, she's not exaggerating. I used to live there!
The other things we all should have done is to do the prep work in our own homes. I should have precooked the onions and the mashed potatoes and the hamburger. I should have pre "squinched" the potato chips before making chicken nuggets (a huge hit, by the way). Ethel had tons of dehydrated ingredients she buys online, and while a little spendy up front, if you are going to make crockpot meals that will last til Armageddon, it's the way to go! And all natural, too.
Perhaps things were slightly slowed down by one of us needing the brakes replaced in their car, like, now. But I also happened upon a mechanic who did great work and really super fast, right near here. Thanks to Joyce and Heidi! Now we know where to take our beater, too. I was really impressed. I drove said owner back and forth, but that only took 15 mins total.
Also, we had a husband around to keep the kids sort of in line. They did pretty good, really. It was a good day, but I am tired, because after that, I rushed home to put food away, hug the husband, leave him with two kids, take the oldest to soccer practice, pay someone back for a Lands End order, go to the library to get books on hold, pick up said oldest kid, get peed on by the baby I was wearing on my back (and you don't want to know what else was in that diaper), rush home to company for Rosary night, enjoy the heck out of that, and then watch some Fr. Corapi until I just could not stay awake anymore. Darn. It was really interesting, too.
Did you know that Guadalupe is an Arabic word? This makes sense. Spain and "Arabia" were at war for a long time, so it makes sense that Spain adopted a few Arabic words, especially if they sounded sort of Spanish. It means "Wolf River". And when Spain also took over Mexico, of course those words would be passed on to the New World. How cool is that?
Also, when I was in CA in June, I stole a few things from Grandma's house (sorry Dad, I really couldn't resist, for homeschooling's sake!). There's a globe in my dad's childhood room that I've always loved, because it has words on it like "French West Africa" and "Belgian Congo" on it, and Hawaii is a territory. Through the use of Wikipedia, Mr. C. and a few other interested types spent til about 10pm figuring out that perhaps the globe is from 1946. Poland being a nation at that point had a lot to do with our calculations. It was so fun. We had conversations like "the war was over in 1945, so it had to be after, but this happened in 1947, so it had to be before that!" It was such a fun thing to do. Thanks, Dad, for keeping it!
Ok, that was long. On with the day.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Another good sign
I also saw this on a yahoo group. Beautiful.
August 25, 2008
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House of Representatives
H-232, The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Speaker Pelosi,
On the Sunday, August 24th, broadcast of NBC's Meet the Press, you stated "as an ardent, practicing Catholic, [abortion] is an issue that I have studied for a long time." As fellow Catholics and legislators, we wish you would have made a more honest effort to lay out the authentic position of the Church on this core moral issue before attempting to address it with authority.
Your subsequent remarks mangle Catholic Church doctrine regarding the inherent sanctity and dignity of human life; therefore, we are compelled to refute your error.
In the interview, Tom Brokaw reminded you that the Church professes the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. As stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being" (2274).
To this, you responded, "I understand. And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the Church, this is an issue of controversy. " Unfortunately, your statement demonstrates a lack of understanding of Catholic teaching and belief regarding abortion.
From the Apostles of the first century to Pope John Paul the Great "the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law" (Catechism 2271).
Thus, your erroneous claim about the history of the Church's opposition to abortion is false and denigrates our common Faith. For example, during the reign of Pope Innocent XI in 1679, the Church unequivocally stated it is an error for Catholics to believe a fetus does not have a soul; and confirmed the teaching that abortion constitutes an unjustified taking of innocent human life.
To reduce the scandal and consternation caused amongst the faithful by your remarks, we necessarily write you to correct the public record and affirm the Church's actual and historical teaching that defends the sanctity of human life. We hope that you will rectify your errant claims and apologize for misrepresenting the Church's doctrine and misleading fellow Catholics.
Respectfully,
Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (MI)
Hon. Steve Chabot (OH)
Hon. Virginia Foxx (NC)
Hon. Phil Gingrey (GA)
Hon. Peter King (NY)
Hon. Steve King (IA)
Hon. Daniel Lungren (CA)
Hon. Devin Nunes (CA)
Hon. John Sullivan (OK)
Hon. Patrick Tiberi (OH)
August 25, 2008
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House of Representatives
H-232, The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Speaker Pelosi,
On the Sunday, August 24th, broadcast of NBC's Meet the Press, you stated "as an ardent, practicing Catholic, [abortion] is an issue that I have studied for a long time." As fellow Catholics and legislators, we wish you would have made a more honest effort to lay out the authentic position of the Church on this core moral issue before attempting to address it with authority.
Your subsequent remarks mangle Catholic Church doctrine regarding the inherent sanctity and dignity of human life; therefore, we are compelled to refute your error.
In the interview, Tom Brokaw reminded you that the Church professes the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. As stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being" (2274).
To this, you responded, "I understand. And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the Church, this is an issue of controversy. " Unfortunately, your statement demonstrates a lack of understanding of Catholic teaching and belief regarding abortion.
From the Apostles of the first century to Pope John Paul the Great "the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law" (Catechism 2271).
Thus, your erroneous claim about the history of the Church's opposition to abortion is false and denigrates our common Faith. For example, during the reign of Pope Innocent XI in 1679, the Church unequivocally stated it is an error for Catholics to believe a fetus does not have a soul; and confirmed the teaching that abortion constitutes an unjustified taking of innocent human life.
To reduce the scandal and consternation caused amongst the faithful by your remarks, we necessarily write you to correct the public record and affirm the Church's actual and historical teaching that defends the sanctity of human life. We hope that you will rectify your errant claims and apologize for misrepresenting the Church's doctrine and misleading fellow Catholics.
Respectfully,
Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (MI)
Hon. Steve Chabot (OH)
Hon. Virginia Foxx (NC)
Hon. Phil Gingrey (GA)
Hon. Peter King (NY)
Hon. Steve King (IA)
Hon. Daniel Lungren (CA)
Hon. Devin Nunes (CA)
Hon. John Sullivan (OK)
Hon. Patrick Tiberi (OH)
Archbishops are speaking up
Thank God,
I was wondering when the archbishops would get annoyed enough to start speaking up, and by God, they certainly are. There are lots of articles around which explain in full what they are saying, and why. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seemed to think the Church just made up this thing about abortion "like, 50 years ago", and she heartily disagrees. My goodness, she really has her head in the sand. The only churches who have not waffled on baby killing are the ones connected to Catholicism! Before 1930, all the churches agreed abortion was wrong. This lady doesn't "do" history, does she?!
Biden is bad, too, it turns out. Another "Catholic", he also lies about the darndest things. I'd copy and paste like crazy here, but no one would want to read that much right here on this lil' ol' blog. He has lied about things like when and where he got what degrees, for instance. Um... we can look that up, sir. It's not hard. Did you really think no one would notice?
I do think, at this point and onward, that we're going to start seeing a split. Some folks will decide to thumb their nose at Church teaching and still call themselves Catholic, only now they are going to be much more vocal. And when they are told to step aside or be discommunicated, there is going to be hell to pay. Why do they want to stay Catholic anyway? There are lots of other churches they are totally in agreement with! They can join the Episcopalians any day now! It's almost the same thing, but you can have women and gays as priests and you don't believe it's the real body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. Sounds perfect to me for these folks.
The only thing I can deduce is that it's spiritual warfare, and Satan is attacking the Catholic Church from within. If archbishops won't stand up for what is right, and the faithful who want to be in line with the Vatican begin speaking against them out of necessity, where will all that lead?
A priest friend of ours likes to say that the Church is going to be going on a diet. Those who do not care for Church teaching will someday break off and leave, and we will pray for their souls, but our Church will be healthier for it. In previous centuries, the Church would not have allowed these people to even remain Catholic. Asking them to not receive communion til they get their heads screwed on right is small potatoes.
If you don't believe in Church teaching, please make sure you know what you are throwing away before you leave. Check out the good websites and read encyclicals. They fully explain, historically and currently, why we BELIEVE what we believe as Catholics.
Here are places where you can catch up, and also a good Catholic bookstore is the place to be! Catholic radio is amazing, too, and you can find all kinds of downloads and stuff at www.ewtn.com.
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius10/p10pasce.htm
http://www.vatican.va/
Here is a fox news article which summarizes all the other ones.
Archbishop of Washington Chides Pelosi; Denver Archbishop Warns Biden to Skip Communion
by FOXNews.com
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
By Bill Sammon
Irked by pro-choice Democrats who tout their Catholicism, the archbishop of Washington is chiding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for misstating church history and the archbishop of Denver is warning vice presidential hopeful Joe Biden not to take Communion.
The unusual public rebukes come as both Pelosi and Biden are talking up their faith in a bid for swing voters as Democrats stage their national convention in Denver. In an interview Sunday, Pelosi claimed to be an expert on the church’s abortion stance.
“As an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time,” Pelosi told NBC’s Tom Brokaw, who had asked her when life begins. “And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. And St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know.”
When Brokaw pointed out that the Catholic church “feels very strongly” that life begins at conception, Pelosi said: “I understand. And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the church, this is an issue of controversy.”
In an interview with FOX News on Tuesday, Archbishop Donald Wuerl said people need to reflect more before they start talking about church doctrine. He also issued a statement calling Pelosi’s explanation of the church’s abortion stance “incorrect.”
“The current teaching of the Catholic Church on human life and abortion is the same teaching as it was 2,000 years ago,” Wuerl noted. “From the beginning, the Catholic Church has respected the dignity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death.”
Wuerl cited a passage from the church’s catechism that condemns abortion as “gravely contrary to moral law.”
“Since the first century the church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion,” the catechism states. “This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.”
In an afternoon response, Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said that as mother of five, the speaker appreciates the “sanctity of family.”
“While Catholic teaching is clear that life begins at conception, many Catholics do not ascribe to that view. The speaker agrees with the Church that we should reduce the number of abortions. She believes that can be done by making family planning more available, as well as by increasing the number of comprehensive age-appropriate sex education and caring adoption programs. The speaker has a long, proud record of working with the Catholic Church on many issues, including alleviating poverty and promoting social justice and peace,” said spokesman Brendan Daly.
Biden too has disagreed with the catechism, as evidenced by a 2006 interview he gave to C-SPAN, which asked him about abortion.
“That debate in our church has not morphed, but changed over a thousand years,” Biden said. “It always is viewed by the church as something that is wrong, but there’s been gradations of whether it was wrong. You know, from venial or mortal sin, as we Catholics say, and versions of it.”
But Biden added that since Pope Pius IX’s reign (1846-1878), “it’s been pretty clear that’s been automatic — moment of conception.”
Over the weekend, Biden’s pro-choice views raised the ire of Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput.
“I presume that his integrity will lead him to refrain from presenting himself for communion, if he supports a false ‘right’ to abortion,” Chaput told The Associated Press.
As for Pelosi, Chaput called her “a gifted public servant of strong convictions and many professional skills. Regrettably, knowledge of Catholic history and teaching does not seem to be one of them.”
Chaput added that abortion “is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it.”
During that 2004 presidential campaign, Chaput and a dozen other bishops called on Democratic nominee John Kerry to refrain from taking Communion. The church has also objected to former GOP presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani taking Communion.
“I think some of it is regional,” said Pelosi, whose district encompasses San Francisco, in a recent interview with C-SPAN. “It depends on the bishop of a certain region and, fortunately for me, Communion has not been withheld and I’m a regular Communicant, so that would be a severe blow to me if that were the case.”
On Saturday, when Obama introduced Biden as his running mate, both men made a point of mentioning Biden’s Catholicism. Obama has struggled to win over Catholics, 52 percent of whom voted for President Bush in 2004.
Bill Sammon is Washington Deputy Managing Editor for the FOX News Channel.
I was wondering when the archbishops would get annoyed enough to start speaking up, and by God, they certainly are. There are lots of articles around which explain in full what they are saying, and why. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seemed to think the Church just made up this thing about abortion "like, 50 years ago", and she heartily disagrees. My goodness, she really has her head in the sand. The only churches who have not waffled on baby killing are the ones connected to Catholicism! Before 1930, all the churches agreed abortion was wrong. This lady doesn't "do" history, does she?!
Biden is bad, too, it turns out. Another "Catholic", he also lies about the darndest things. I'd copy and paste like crazy here, but no one would want to read that much right here on this lil' ol' blog. He has lied about things like when and where he got what degrees, for instance. Um... we can look that up, sir. It's not hard. Did you really think no one would notice?
I do think, at this point and onward, that we're going to start seeing a split. Some folks will decide to thumb their nose at Church teaching and still call themselves Catholic, only now they are going to be much more vocal. And when they are told to step aside or be discommunicated, there is going to be hell to pay. Why do they want to stay Catholic anyway? There are lots of other churches they are totally in agreement with! They can join the Episcopalians any day now! It's almost the same thing, but you can have women and gays as priests and you don't believe it's the real body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. Sounds perfect to me for these folks.
The only thing I can deduce is that it's spiritual warfare, and Satan is attacking the Catholic Church from within. If archbishops won't stand up for what is right, and the faithful who want to be in line with the Vatican begin speaking against them out of necessity, where will all that lead?
A priest friend of ours likes to say that the Church is going to be going on a diet. Those who do not care for Church teaching will someday break off and leave, and we will pray for their souls, but our Church will be healthier for it. In previous centuries, the Church would not have allowed these people to even remain Catholic. Asking them to not receive communion til they get their heads screwed on right is small potatoes.
If you don't believe in Church teaching, please make sure you know what you are throwing away before you leave. Check out the good websites and read encyclicals. They fully explain, historically and currently, why we BELIEVE what we believe as Catholics.
Here are places where you can catch up, and also a good Catholic bookstore is the place to be! Catholic radio is amazing, too, and you can find all kinds of downloads and stuff at www.ewtn.com.
http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius10/p10pasce.htm
http://www.vatican.va/
Here is a fox news article which summarizes all the other ones.
Archbishop of Washington Chides Pelosi; Denver Archbishop Warns Biden to Skip Communion
by FOXNews.com
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
By Bill Sammon
Irked by pro-choice Democrats who tout their Catholicism, the archbishop of Washington is chiding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for misstating church history and the archbishop of Denver is warning vice presidential hopeful Joe Biden not to take Communion.
The unusual public rebukes come as both Pelosi and Biden are talking up their faith in a bid for swing voters as Democrats stage their national convention in Denver. In an interview Sunday, Pelosi claimed to be an expert on the church’s abortion stance.
“As an ardent, practicing Catholic, this is an issue that I have studied for a long time,” Pelosi told NBC’s Tom Brokaw, who had asked her when life begins. “And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition. And St. Augustine said at three months. We don’t know.”
When Brokaw pointed out that the Catholic church “feels very strongly” that life begins at conception, Pelosi said: “I understand. And this is like maybe 50 years or something like that. So again, over the history of the church, this is an issue of controversy.”
In an interview with FOX News on Tuesday, Archbishop Donald Wuerl said people need to reflect more before they start talking about church doctrine. He also issued a statement calling Pelosi’s explanation of the church’s abortion stance “incorrect.”
“The current teaching of the Catholic Church on human life and abortion is the same teaching as it was 2,000 years ago,” Wuerl noted. “From the beginning, the Catholic Church has respected the dignity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death.”
Wuerl cited a passage from the church’s catechism that condemns abortion as “gravely contrary to moral law.”
“Since the first century the church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion,” the catechism states. “This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.”
In an afternoon response, Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said that as mother of five, the speaker appreciates the “sanctity of family.”
“While Catholic teaching is clear that life begins at conception, many Catholics do not ascribe to that view. The speaker agrees with the Church that we should reduce the number of abortions. She believes that can be done by making family planning more available, as well as by increasing the number of comprehensive age-appropriate sex education and caring adoption programs. The speaker has a long, proud record of working with the Catholic Church on many issues, including alleviating poverty and promoting social justice and peace,” said spokesman Brendan Daly.
Biden too has disagreed with the catechism, as evidenced by a 2006 interview he gave to C-SPAN, which asked him about abortion.
“That debate in our church has not morphed, but changed over a thousand years,” Biden said. “It always is viewed by the church as something that is wrong, but there’s been gradations of whether it was wrong. You know, from venial or mortal sin, as we Catholics say, and versions of it.”
But Biden added that since Pope Pius IX’s reign (1846-1878), “it’s been pretty clear that’s been automatic — moment of conception.”
Over the weekend, Biden’s pro-choice views raised the ire of Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput.
“I presume that his integrity will lead him to refrain from presenting himself for communion, if he supports a false ‘right’ to abortion,” Chaput told The Associated Press.
As for Pelosi, Chaput called her “a gifted public servant of strong convictions and many professional skills. Regrettably, knowledge of Catholic history and teaching does not seem to be one of them.”
Chaput added that abortion “is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it.”
During that 2004 presidential campaign, Chaput and a dozen other bishops called on Democratic nominee John Kerry to refrain from taking Communion. The church has also objected to former GOP presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani taking Communion.
“I think some of it is regional,” said Pelosi, whose district encompasses San Francisco, in a recent interview with C-SPAN. “It depends on the bishop of a certain region and, fortunately for me, Communion has not been withheld and I’m a regular Communicant, so that would be a severe blow to me if that were the case.”
On Saturday, when Obama introduced Biden as his running mate, both men made a point of mentioning Biden’s Catholicism. Obama has struggled to win over Catholics, 52 percent of whom voted for President Bush in 2004.
Bill Sammon is Washington Deputy Managing Editor for the FOX News Channel.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
another home idea
In the name of research, I'm looking at lots and also the idea of using UBuildIt to build that dream home of ours. I would like to have a 4-5 bedroom house, one of those rooms which would be our "library", "media room", "man-cave". Then the computer will be out of my living space, and I can curl up with a book and not hear the whirring of gadgets, no matter how cool they might be. I like quiet.
Since I'll have at least four men in my house one of these days, and they all seem to have a thing for tech, the man cave needs to happen. Also, one of those boys, or possibly two, LOVE trees, squirrels, dogs, horses, and all the things I love. My indoor boy has made a request for a tree house like SOMEONE else we know, and I've been told by said family to make sure the property includes at least one tree that could harbor said tree house someday. Now that they have built one, I imagine Mr. W. is just itchin' to build another one. Nice side income, eh?
So here are five acres just itchin' for me to buy them, very close to Maltby, highway 9 and 522. 522 is our ticket to Bellevue, and is an easy commute to anywhere, really. We've been out there to freecycle and to buy plants at Flower World. It's purty. Not far down 522 is a horse rescue I used to volunteer at, too.
Anyway, I'll take this. Then I need a floor plan.
Snohomish Vacant Land
7814 206th Dr SE
Snohomish, WA 98290
Price:
$147,421
Bed / Bath:
0 / 0.00
Status:
Active
Year Built:
0
Square Feet:
Not Available
Lot Size:
5.00 Acres
MLS#:
27128611
Great 5 acres on dead end road. Lots of quiet and privacy. Well installed, electricity in street under ground. Expired 4 bedroom LPD septic design. Great DOT Terms!
Property Information
Fuel:
In Street
Site:
Brush, Evergreens, Lightly Treed, Partially Cleared
Lot Description:
330 x 660
Taxes:
$628
Since I'll have at least four men in my house one of these days, and they all seem to have a thing for tech, the man cave needs to happen. Also, one of those boys, or possibly two, LOVE trees, squirrels, dogs, horses, and all the things I love. My indoor boy has made a request for a tree house like SOMEONE else we know, and I've been told by said family to make sure the property includes at least one tree that could harbor said tree house someday. Now that they have built one, I imagine Mr. W. is just itchin' to build another one. Nice side income, eh?
So here are five acres just itchin' for me to buy them, very close to Maltby, highway 9 and 522. 522 is our ticket to Bellevue, and is an easy commute to anywhere, really. We've been out there to freecycle and to buy plants at Flower World. It's purty. Not far down 522 is a horse rescue I used to volunteer at, too.
Anyway, I'll take this. Then I need a floor plan.
Snohomish Vacant Land
7814 206th Dr SE
Snohomish, WA 98290
Price:
$147,421
Bed / Bath:
0 / 0.00
Status:
Active
Year Built:
0
Square Feet:
Not Available
Lot Size:
5.00 Acres
MLS#:
27128611
Great 5 acres on dead end road. Lots of quiet and privacy. Well installed, electricity in street under ground. Expired 4 bedroom LPD septic design. Great DOT Terms!
Property Information
Fuel:
In Street
Site:
Brush, Evergreens, Lightly Treed, Partially Cleared
Lot Description:
330 x 660
Taxes:
$628
A cute lil' doggie came to see us
Today I was babysitting for Ethel and Bjorn, and as they were leaving with their kiddos, a little red chihuahua came right in as if she owned the place. She was really cute, and I would love to have kept her. She was fine with kids and cuddled up if you sat on the couch, but she never offered to jump up on you or even run out the door if you opened it. Someone spent some time on this doggie!
I yelled up the road when I saw some kids go buy to pass the word that I'd found a dog, and they did, because the owner came along later and claimed the pooch. She was crying and said it had been her fiance's dog, but he'd been murdered. Woah. TMI! But I'm really glad she got the dog back!
On goes the search for a little doggie in the window. I think the house search next summer might come first, though.
I yelled up the road when I saw some kids go buy to pass the word that I'd found a dog, and they did, because the owner came along later and claimed the pooch. She was crying and said it had been her fiance's dog, but he'd been murdered. Woah. TMI! But I'm really glad she got the dog back!
On goes the search for a little doggie in the window. I think the house search next summer might come first, though.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
How to report liturgical problems, or other problems in the Church
From Creative Minority Report, comes this comment on the blog. It was talking about problems in LA, and an especially telling incident in the gift shop. It sure does remind me of the books by Michael O'Brien. Check them out, they are Catholic fiction and extremely good.
This is helpful, if you want to know. The main complaint on the blog was about Cardinal Mahoney, who apparently is willing to have pro-life Catholics carted away from the steps if he is busy celebrating Mass with a pro-choice politician at the Cathedral.
Like I said, read the O'Brien books. Sophia House, Island of the World, Father Elijah, etc. They are eye-opening.
Here is contact information, should you ever need it. Good to clip and keep somewhere, or enter into your PDA type object.
annielle29 said...
Contacting Vatican Officials
To contact the Pope, write to:
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
00120 Vatican City, Italy, Europe
E-mail: benedettoxvi@vatican.va
If your bishop isn't doing his job, contact:
Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re
Prefect, Congregation for Bishops
Piazza Pio XII, 10
00193 Vatican City, Italy, Europe
Phone: (011) 39-6-6988-4217
In case of liturgical abuse, contact:
Francis Cardinal Arinze
Prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments
Piazza XII, 10
00193 Vatican City, Italy, Europe
Phone: (011) 39-6-6988-4368
In case of bad catechesis, contact:
Dario Castrillon Cardinal Hoyos
Prefect, Congregation for the Clergy
Piazza Pio XII, 3
00193 Vatican City, Italy, Europe
Phone: (011) 39-6-6988-4136
For problems with Catholic schools, universities, and seminaries, contact:
Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski
Prefect, Congregation for Catholic Education and Seminaries
Piazza Pio XII, 3
00193 Vatican City, Italy, Europe
Phone: (011) 39-6-6988-4156
For the Ecclesia Dei Commission, contact:
His Eminence Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos
President, Commision Ecclesia Dei
Plazza del S. Uffizio 11,
00120 Vatican City, Italy, Europe
August 24, 2008 4:09 PM
This is helpful, if you want to know. The main complaint on the blog was about Cardinal Mahoney, who apparently is willing to have pro-life Catholics carted away from the steps if he is busy celebrating Mass with a pro-choice politician at the Cathedral.
Like I said, read the O'Brien books. Sophia House, Island of the World, Father Elijah, etc. They are eye-opening.
Here is contact information, should you ever need it. Good to clip and keep somewhere, or enter into your PDA type object.
annielle29 said...
Contacting Vatican Officials
To contact the Pope, write to:
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
00120 Vatican City, Italy, Europe
E-mail: benedettoxvi@vatican.va
If your bishop isn't doing his job, contact:
Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re
Prefect, Congregation for Bishops
Piazza Pio XII, 10
00193 Vatican City, Italy, Europe
Phone: (011) 39-6-6988-4217
In case of liturgical abuse, contact:
Francis Cardinal Arinze
Prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments
Piazza XII, 10
00193 Vatican City, Italy, Europe
Phone: (011) 39-6-6988-4368
In case of bad catechesis, contact:
Dario Castrillon Cardinal Hoyos
Prefect, Congregation for the Clergy
Piazza Pio XII, 3
00193 Vatican City, Italy, Europe
Phone: (011) 39-6-6988-4136
For problems with Catholic schools, universities, and seminaries, contact:
Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski
Prefect, Congregation for Catholic Education and Seminaries
Piazza Pio XII, 3
00193 Vatican City, Italy, Europe
Phone: (011) 39-6-6988-4156
For the Ecclesia Dei Commission, contact:
His Eminence Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos
President, Commision Ecclesia Dei
Plazza del S. Uffizio 11,
00120 Vatican City, Italy, Europe
August 24, 2008 4:09 PM
Meet the Robinson's review
Hi Y'all,
I am so impressed, though slightly addled, by the movie "Meet the Robinson's". I can see why it wasn't an overnight super duper hit. All those slightly nerdy ones seem to develop a cult following over the years instead, and I think this might be one, but I'm not sure.
The basic story is that a boy grows up in an orphanage, and his ongoing wish is that he could see his birth mom, since no one has adopted him yet and he's close to 13. He knows there's not a lot of time left before his chances go down for a happy adoption. He's also fantastically smart, and ends up traveling through time. He meets his future family, and finds out that his future is far more exciting than his past and that he could ruin it by dwelling on things he cannot change. It's quite a good message.
The story is very convoluted, as far as having a lot of characters, most of which are completely and utterly zany, but fun. They are also a loyal family, which is very fun to watch. The message of "moving forward" and focusing on an optimistic future was a really good one.
The part I liked best, honestly, was when we watched the parts about how the movie was made. The director was adopted himself, and he took this children's book by William Joyce (Rolie Polie Olie and George Shrinks on Disney Channel and PBS, based on books), and he wanted to work on it. He said that his adoptive parents were always open, and said when he was 18, he was more than welcome to go looking for his birth parents. He said he woke up one day, and he was 24, and he hadn't even bothered to look. He realized he hadn't even thought about it, despite having had the power to go looking for the past six years! He was too focused on his OWN LIFE. In the present. Looking to the future.
Our adoptive child, soon to turn six, seemed to be thinking pretty hard during the movie. He was quite huggy afterward, and when I asked him if it made him feel weird, he said yes, but he was also very excited to watch it again immediately. I told him tomorrow, but I'm glad he liked it. I heard that some foster kids did not like it at all, so I wasn't sure how this would go over, but I decided to risk it.
It was neat for him to see the director say, "I was adopted, and while my story was not the same as the movie, I always wondered about my birth mom and asked the same questions this character did." It seemed like a very good message to me.
If you don't like crazy storylines and science fiction plots, you probably won't like this movie, but if you can sit and let it wash over you, and enjoy a good message, you might like it just fine.
I am so impressed, though slightly addled, by the movie "Meet the Robinson's". I can see why it wasn't an overnight super duper hit. All those slightly nerdy ones seem to develop a cult following over the years instead, and I think this might be one, but I'm not sure.
The basic story is that a boy grows up in an orphanage, and his ongoing wish is that he could see his birth mom, since no one has adopted him yet and he's close to 13. He knows there's not a lot of time left before his chances go down for a happy adoption. He's also fantastically smart, and ends up traveling through time. He meets his future family, and finds out that his future is far more exciting than his past and that he could ruin it by dwelling on things he cannot change. It's quite a good message.
The story is very convoluted, as far as having a lot of characters, most of which are completely and utterly zany, but fun. They are also a loyal family, which is very fun to watch. The message of "moving forward" and focusing on an optimistic future was a really good one.
The part I liked best, honestly, was when we watched the parts about how the movie was made. The director was adopted himself, and he took this children's book by William Joyce (Rolie Polie Olie and George Shrinks on Disney Channel and PBS, based on books), and he wanted to work on it. He said that his adoptive parents were always open, and said when he was 18, he was more than welcome to go looking for his birth parents. He said he woke up one day, and he was 24, and he hadn't even bothered to look. He realized he hadn't even thought about it, despite having had the power to go looking for the past six years! He was too focused on his OWN LIFE. In the present. Looking to the future.
Our adoptive child, soon to turn six, seemed to be thinking pretty hard during the movie. He was quite huggy afterward, and when I asked him if it made him feel weird, he said yes, but he was also very excited to watch it again immediately. I told him tomorrow, but I'm glad he liked it. I heard that some foster kids did not like it at all, so I wasn't sure how this would go over, but I decided to risk it.
It was neat for him to see the director say, "I was adopted, and while my story was not the same as the movie, I always wondered about my birth mom and asked the same questions this character did." It seemed like a very good message to me.
If you don't like crazy storylines and science fiction plots, you probably won't like this movie, but if you can sit and let it wash over you, and enjoy a good message, you might like it just fine.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Life Maintenance (the house)
I get little updates from www.flylady.com. I have never really gone nuts and followed the regimen, because I think I am doing ok in trying to develop my own household operations textbook in my head. I know what is wrong: too many boxes of CRAP. And I am going through them, one at a time. The one thing I have bought from Fly Lady is a beauteous purple and black ostrich feather duster. She's right, it makes dusting fun! And I come from a house where I don't believe I ever saw dusting occur. I didn't know you were supposed to do it. You dust bookcases? Really? Why? Oh, you mean that cloud of dust that is now assailing my nostrils?
Ooooohhhhhhh.... now I get it. My lack of knowledge has not helped DH's allergies over the years, especially since he came from a museum quality clean house himself. I think I prefer the dirt, but maybe that's just familiarity.
My mom refers to the spiders that lived in my closet as "my friends".
Today on Fly Lady someone mentioned that they cleaned the dryer vent. They thought it would be a huge task, and it wasn't. I didn't realize people did that. We've not been homeowners long, and I guess wasn't shown how to do quite a few things, although basic cooking and cleaning was something I could do when I left the house. It turns out a lot of fires start because I'm obviously not the only person who lacks this knowledge. I do have books on maintenance, and I plan to put some of those things on a list and try to do them, like yearly, semi-yearly, etc. It's kind of like keeping up a car, which I also knew nothing about, but am learning the hard way.
Please donate "stuff I never knew I should do but it is really important" to my list in the comments! When I have a list, I'll post it!
Ooooohhhhhhh.... now I get it. My lack of knowledge has not helped DH's allergies over the years, especially since he came from a museum quality clean house himself. I think I prefer the dirt, but maybe that's just familiarity.
My mom refers to the spiders that lived in my closet as "my friends".
Today on Fly Lady someone mentioned that they cleaned the dryer vent. They thought it would be a huge task, and it wasn't. I didn't realize people did that. We've not been homeowners long, and I guess wasn't shown how to do quite a few things, although basic cooking and cleaning was something I could do when I left the house. It turns out a lot of fires start because I'm obviously not the only person who lacks this knowledge. I do have books on maintenance, and I plan to put some of those things on a list and try to do them, like yearly, semi-yearly, etc. It's kind of like keeping up a car, which I also knew nothing about, but am learning the hard way.
Please donate "stuff I never knew I should do but it is really important" to my list in the comments! When I have a list, I'll post it!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Awesome news!
Our family friends, the Lessard's, sent this to me today in a forward. This is so heart-warming, I hope you will enjoy it, too! Even people as strong of mind as Olympic athletes can make mistakes, and even those same people can make the right decision in the face of "pro-choice".
Go to www.lifeissues.org for pictures, it's hard to get them to copy and paste without downloading them first, which takes more time than I like, so this is the lazy version.
Enjoy!
Life Issues Institute Logo
August 20, 2008
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lessard:
There's great news coming out of Beijing! You may be familiar with the story of Tasha Danvers-Smith. This athlete from the United Kingdom was one of Britain's best hopes for gold in the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. However, she became unexpectedly pregnant. The father of her baby was her coach-husband.
There was enormous pressure from the track and field community to abort her baby. A child, she was told, would destroy her Olympic dreams of gaining a medal. Tasha and her husband, Darrell, chose life for their baby. As a result, Tasha was castigated in the media. We, on the other hand, presented her with our Hero At Heart award, given to those who demonstrate outstanding courage or compassion on behalf of innocent human life. Tasha and I became fast friends ever since. During the first season of our half-hour weekly TV program, Facing Life Head-On, I interviewed Tasha and Darrell regarding these events.
Fast forward to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Tasha is once again competing against the best in the world in the 400 meter hurdles event. On August 20, 2008 she ran her personal best to claim the bronze medal! With this tremendous victory, Tasha has demonstrated to women all over the world that they don't have to sacrifice their unborn children to fulfill their dreams. Tasha's three-year-old son, Jaden, was an inspiration to her Olympic goals. The very thing critics said would destroy and derail her hopes was central to helping her fulfill them.
Tasha stood strong for life, even when it meant temporarily giving up her dreams for an Olympic medal. Now she has become a member of the exclusive club of Olympic champions, and she has her beautiful son, Jaden. I couldn't be happier for her!
Please email to TashaDanvers@lifeissues.org to convey your warmest congratulations to Tasha. I know she'd enjoy hearing from you. I'll make sure every email is delivered to her.
Associated Press
Sincerely for LIFE,
Bradly Mattes Signature
Bradley Mattes
Executive Director
Life Issues Institute
www.lifeissues.org
Life Issues Institute 1821 W Galbraith Rd Cincinnati OH 45239 513.729.3600
Go to www.lifeissues.org for pictures, it's hard to get them to copy and paste without downloading them first, which takes more time than I like, so this is the lazy version.
Enjoy!
Life Issues Institute Logo
August 20, 2008
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lessard:
There's great news coming out of Beijing! You may be familiar with the story of Tasha Danvers-Smith. This athlete from the United Kingdom was one of Britain's best hopes for gold in the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. However, she became unexpectedly pregnant. The father of her baby was her coach-husband.
There was enormous pressure from the track and field community to abort her baby. A child, she was told, would destroy her Olympic dreams of gaining a medal. Tasha and her husband, Darrell, chose life for their baby. As a result, Tasha was castigated in the media. We, on the other hand, presented her with our Hero At Heart award, given to those who demonstrate outstanding courage or compassion on behalf of innocent human life. Tasha and I became fast friends ever since. During the first season of our half-hour weekly TV program, Facing Life Head-On, I interviewed Tasha and Darrell regarding these events.
Fast forward to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Tasha is once again competing against the best in the world in the 400 meter hurdles event. On August 20, 2008 she ran her personal best to claim the bronze medal! With this tremendous victory, Tasha has demonstrated to women all over the world that they don't have to sacrifice their unborn children to fulfill their dreams. Tasha's three-year-old son, Jaden, was an inspiration to her Olympic goals. The very thing critics said would destroy and derail her hopes was central to helping her fulfill them.
Tasha stood strong for life, even when it meant temporarily giving up her dreams for an Olympic medal. Now she has become a member of the exclusive club of Olympic champions, and she has her beautiful son, Jaden. I couldn't be happier for her!
Please email to TashaDanvers@lifeissues.org to convey your warmest congratulations to Tasha. I know she'd enjoy hearing from you. I'll make sure every email is delivered to her.
Associated Press
Sincerely for LIFE,
Bradly Mattes Signature
Bradley Mattes
Executive Director
Life Issues Institute
www.lifeissues.org
Life Issues Institute 1821 W Galbraith Rd Cincinnati OH 45239 513.729.3600
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
How Our Tax System Works (or not).
I read this somewhere before, but thanks to the DHM at www.heartkeepercommonroom.blogspot.com, I now have it right here for all of you. I'm glad I'll be able to go back and see it again, because, being a little slow, I need the reminder sometimes. And now we know why rich people hate taxes. They already are taking more than the lion's share on their shoulders, and it's never enough for some people.
May I also add that those people are also paying some of the highest taxes for roads and schools that they may or may not use very much, and for health care programs they most certainly are not enrolled in. They are paying lots, often for things they don't believe in.
Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Tax Fairness
From the Tuesday Links post at Maggie's Farm:
What is "fair" about taking the money you earned? How can it be done fairly? Obama wants more "tax fairness." How do you get more "fair" than this:
As we come to the end of the Bush administration, the top 1% of American taxpayers already pay 40% of all income taxes -- the highest level in 40 years. The top 10% of income earners pay 71% of the taxes.
That is beyond fair, and it leaves 90% of the population as minimal contributors to the nation. There is an obvious danger in becoming a nation of 90% "getters" and 10% givers - and not the least being that you discourage the givers.
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for Ice Cream and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men ate in the Ice Cream Parlor every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily Ice Cream by $20. Ice Cream for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free, but what about the other six men - the paying customers?
How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share? They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33.
But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to eat his Ice Cream. So, the parlor owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay!
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'
'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a $1 - it's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'
'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'
'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for Ice Cream, so the nine sat down and had Ice Cream without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax deduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start eating Ice Cream overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
May I also add that those people are also paying some of the highest taxes for roads and schools that they may or may not use very much, and for health care programs they most certainly are not enrolled in. They are paying lots, often for things they don't believe in.
Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Tax Fairness
From the Tuesday Links post at Maggie's Farm:
What is "fair" about taking the money you earned? How can it be done fairly? Obama wants more "tax fairness." How do you get more "fair" than this:
As we come to the end of the Bush administration, the top 1% of American taxpayers already pay 40% of all income taxes -- the highest level in 40 years. The top 10% of income earners pay 71% of the taxes.
That is beyond fair, and it leaves 90% of the population as minimal contributors to the nation. There is an obvious danger in becoming a nation of 90% "getters" and 10% givers - and not the least being that you discourage the givers.
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for Ice Cream and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men ate in the Ice Cream Parlor every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily Ice Cream by $20. Ice Cream for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free, but what about the other six men - the paying customers?
How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share? They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33.
But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to eat his Ice Cream. So, the parlor owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay!
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'
'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a $1 - it's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'
'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'
'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for Ice Cream, so the nine sat down and had Ice Cream without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax deduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start eating Ice Cream overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Interesting news in Paraguay
Again, I didn't find this on CNN. I found on BBC News.
I heard of this, and never knew if the Pope had given him permission to resign as bishop. Apparently he did! I've never heard of that, but this guy must be worth it.
Interesting, yes?
updated 10:54 a.m. EDT, Fri August 15, 2008
Leftist ex-bishop inaugurated as Paraguay's president
ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) -- Leftist ex-bishop Fernando Lugo became Paraguay's president on Friday, ending six decades of one-party rule in a key step in the South American nation's democratic transformation.
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo waves during his inauguration Friday in Asuncion.
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo waves during his inauguration Friday in Asuncion.
Tens of thousands of Paraguayans cheered Friday morning as a tieless, sandal-clad Lugo raised his hand and was sworn in front of Paraguay's Congress.
In his inaugural address, Lugo pledged to do away with the misery and corruption that has defined the desperately poor nation under the Colorado Party, which supported the brutal 1954-1989 dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner.
"Today Paraguay breaks with its reputation for corruption, breaks with the few feudal lords of the past," said Lugo, who shaved off most of his trademark beard but stuck with a goatee for the ceremony attended by eight Latin American leaders and Taiwan's president.
Lugo acknowledged, however, that his path is "paved with the deceptions of the recent dictatorial past."
The Colorados still control most institutions of government and will likely frustrate efforts at land reform in the small landlocked country, where corruption is entrenched and 1 percent of the population controls 77 percent of the land.
Elements of both the left and right have challenged Lugo's authority, raising the specter of political chaos and civil unrest.
Don't Miss
* Landless protesters invade Paraguay farms
Landless peasants who have been seizing private property are threatening a much larger wave of invasions as early as this weekend. Members of his team also suspect the outgoing government tried undermine his presidency before it began by allowing critical supplies of fuel and medicine to disappear.
Transforming Paraguayan society "won't be easy, but it's not impossible," Lugo said.
Lugo, 57, spent 11 years as a bishop ministering to poor peasants in Paraguay's farmbelt before helping form the Patriotic Alliance for Change, his party, several years ago. The presidency is his first elected post.
Despite receiving belated and unprecedented permission from Pope Benedict XVI to resign as bishop, the new president promised Friday that "this layman will remain faithful to his church."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
I heard of this, and never knew if the Pope had given him permission to resign as bishop. Apparently he did! I've never heard of that, but this guy must be worth it.
Interesting, yes?
updated 10:54 a.m. EDT, Fri August 15, 2008
Leftist ex-bishop inaugurated as Paraguay's president
ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) -- Leftist ex-bishop Fernando Lugo became Paraguay's president on Friday, ending six decades of one-party rule in a key step in the South American nation's democratic transformation.
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo waves during his inauguration Friday in Asuncion.
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo waves during his inauguration Friday in Asuncion.
Tens of thousands of Paraguayans cheered Friday morning as a tieless, sandal-clad Lugo raised his hand and was sworn in front of Paraguay's Congress.
In his inaugural address, Lugo pledged to do away with the misery and corruption that has defined the desperately poor nation under the Colorado Party, which supported the brutal 1954-1989 dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner.
"Today Paraguay breaks with its reputation for corruption, breaks with the few feudal lords of the past," said Lugo, who shaved off most of his trademark beard but stuck with a goatee for the ceremony attended by eight Latin American leaders and Taiwan's president.
Lugo acknowledged, however, that his path is "paved with the deceptions of the recent dictatorial past."
The Colorados still control most institutions of government and will likely frustrate efforts at land reform in the small landlocked country, where corruption is entrenched and 1 percent of the population controls 77 percent of the land.
Elements of both the left and right have challenged Lugo's authority, raising the specter of political chaos and civil unrest.
Don't Miss
* Landless protesters invade Paraguay farms
Landless peasants who have been seizing private property are threatening a much larger wave of invasions as early as this weekend. Members of his team also suspect the outgoing government tried undermine his presidency before it began by allowing critical supplies of fuel and medicine to disappear.
Transforming Paraguayan society "won't be easy, but it's not impossible," Lugo said.
Lugo, 57, spent 11 years as a bishop ministering to poor peasants in Paraguay's farmbelt before helping form the Patriotic Alliance for Change, his party, several years ago. The presidency is his first elected post.
Despite receiving belated and unprecedented permission from Pope Benedict XVI to resign as bishop, the new president promised Friday that "this layman will remain faithful to his church."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
A new tradition, and a good one!
There is a family we know from college (yeah, I'm talking about you....) and we are currently tied for numbers of children. They are beating us right now, being due for number 5 this fall. We can hardly wait to see what the name will be!
This summer marks the beginning of something very cool. They have watched our kids while we went on an overnight twice now (I think? maybe more?) and this year, they went on an overnight on their tenth anniversary. The kiddos stayed here, so that made eight kids, ages 8,8,7,5,4,3,2 and 1 in our house of 967 sq ft. We were saved by a large family party and a hostess who was happy to use their van to transport said children to our house, and that wiped out all the kids real good. They slept great, ate great, behaved great, and we all went blackberry picking and bike riding this morning. They were a little tired, but mostly they were fine. I love summer. We go outside so much more. The blackberries are wonderful in 90 degree heat.
So, I do believe this will happen every year, no matter how many kids we all have. The kids don't care that our house is teeny (they might when their arms and legs get bigger, but they don't care now), and they had a great time. The best part about lots of kids is that they entertain each other. We're all trying to raise them right, so they generally have good manners, especially at other people's houses. It helps we put the fear of God in them before we drop them off. :)
Here's to an awesome summer tradition! Everybody find a partner family, and you try it, too! It's good to get away once a year. Really good.
No, you may not leave breastfeeding babies with us for more than three hours...
This summer marks the beginning of something very cool. They have watched our kids while we went on an overnight twice now (I think? maybe more?) and this year, they went on an overnight on their tenth anniversary. The kiddos stayed here, so that made eight kids, ages 8,8,7,5,4,3,2 and 1 in our house of 967 sq ft. We were saved by a large family party and a hostess who was happy to use their van to transport said children to our house, and that wiped out all the kids real good. They slept great, ate great, behaved great, and we all went blackberry picking and bike riding this morning. They were a little tired, but mostly they were fine. I love summer. We go outside so much more. The blackberries are wonderful in 90 degree heat.
So, I do believe this will happen every year, no matter how many kids we all have. The kids don't care that our house is teeny (they might when their arms and legs get bigger, but they don't care now), and they had a great time. The best part about lots of kids is that they entertain each other. We're all trying to raise them right, so they generally have good manners, especially at other people's houses. It helps we put the fear of God in them before we drop them off. :)
Here's to an awesome summer tradition! Everybody find a partner family, and you try it, too! It's good to get away once a year. Really good.
No, you may not leave breastfeeding babies with us for more than three hours...
Friday, August 15, 2008
A bad sign
Some folks don't believe me if I go on a rant and say society is going to hell in a handbasket, and they think some freedoms are always going to be there. What they forget is that those freedoms were fought for and people died for them, over hundreds and even thousands of years. Just because we have freedom of religion now does not mean we will always have it. And many countries still don't.
This was hard to believe, but a huge warning sign to me.
Italy? Really?
FAITH UNDER FIRE
Atheists abandon attempt to ban baptisms
'Americans should be aware such lawsuits may seem far-fetched, but are happening'
Posted: August 15, 2008
1:00 am Eastern
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
Italy has a large Catholic population
An atheism-promoting organization has withdrawn its lawsuit demanding that Christian baptisms of children be banned in Italy, after a U.S.-based legal team took on the defense of a bishop and the Roman Catholic Church there.
"This was a preposterous lawsuit, and we are pleased that it has been dropped," said Joseph Infranco, a senior counsel for the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund.
However, he said, "Americans should be aware that such lawsuits may seem far-fetched, but they really are happening … and foreign legal decisions are increasingly cited in American courts."
The ADF battled back when the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics filed a lawsuit seeking an end to all baptisms of children in Italy. The organization alleged the practice encroached on its religious freedom and violated Italian Constitutional Court precedents regarding free will and personal privacy in religious decisions.
The organization alleged the law does not allow parents to enroll their children in certain groups such as trade unions, therefore the law also "does not allow, as well, that the parents may decide their children become members of a religious association."
The Alliance Defense Fund reported the plaintiff in the case was demanding that his name be erased from a baptism registry in what was described as a type of "debaptism."
But the petition was withdrawn just before a court hearing was to take place.
Gianfranco Amato, an ADF-allied attorney, said the plaintiff became convinced that the nation's legal precedents would not support such demands.
"It's unthinkable to ask the government to force the church to abandon one of its sacraments to appease a radical, anti-religious agenda, yet that's what this activist group did,” said Amato.
"According to Italian law, the demand to remove a name from the register must be made by an individual with a personal interest, rather than by a private association such as the UAAR," said Amato. "Also, it was easy to demonstrate that the group had no legal leg on which to stand."
"All parents have the right to raise their children in their religious tradition, which obviously includes participation in the historic rituals associated with that religion," said Infranco.
The website for the atheist organization is in Italian, but an English translation describes the group as being based on the values of human rights, democracy, pluralism, equality and individuality.
It has been highlighted among a listing of resources on the website of prominent atheist Richard Dawkins.
This was hard to believe, but a huge warning sign to me.
Italy? Really?
FAITH UNDER FIRE
Atheists abandon attempt to ban baptisms
'Americans should be aware such lawsuits may seem far-fetched, but are happening'
Posted: August 15, 2008
1:00 am Eastern
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
Italy has a large Catholic population
An atheism-promoting organization has withdrawn its lawsuit demanding that Christian baptisms of children be banned in Italy, after a U.S.-based legal team took on the defense of a bishop and the Roman Catholic Church there.
"This was a preposterous lawsuit, and we are pleased that it has been dropped," said Joseph Infranco, a senior counsel for the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund.
However, he said, "Americans should be aware that such lawsuits may seem far-fetched, but they really are happening … and foreign legal decisions are increasingly cited in American courts."
The ADF battled back when the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics filed a lawsuit seeking an end to all baptisms of children in Italy. The organization alleged the practice encroached on its religious freedom and violated Italian Constitutional Court precedents regarding free will and personal privacy in religious decisions.
The organization alleged the law does not allow parents to enroll their children in certain groups such as trade unions, therefore the law also "does not allow, as well, that the parents may decide their children become members of a religious association."
The Alliance Defense Fund reported the plaintiff in the case was demanding that his name be erased from a baptism registry in what was described as a type of "debaptism."
But the petition was withdrawn just before a court hearing was to take place.
Gianfranco Amato, an ADF-allied attorney, said the plaintiff became convinced that the nation's legal precedents would not support such demands.
"It's unthinkable to ask the government to force the church to abandon one of its sacraments to appease a radical, anti-religious agenda, yet that's what this activist group did,” said Amato.
"According to Italian law, the demand to remove a name from the register must be made by an individual with a personal interest, rather than by a private association such as the UAAR," said Amato. "Also, it was easy to demonstrate that the group had no legal leg on which to stand."
"All parents have the right to raise their children in their religious tradition, which obviously includes participation in the historic rituals associated with that religion," said Infranco.
The website for the atheist organization is in Italian, but an English translation describes the group as being based on the values of human rights, democracy, pluralism, equality and individuality.
It has been highlighted among a listing of resources on the website of prominent atheist Richard Dawkins.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
NFP is for hippies!
Guess what? I knew this, but maybe more people would like to know:
NFP can save your planet! It's the green thing to do!
And, by the way, there is an article today on yahoo news about how amphibians are dying at alarming rates these days. They are like a canary in the coal mine, they tell you when we should pay attention, because we might be next... Huh, wasn't there a movie about this? Oh, yeah, "Children of Men". Good flick, very sad. Maybe it was estrogen that made the whole world infertile, but they were in so much denial that they never figured it out.
Estrogen in water 'feminizes' fish, lake study finds
Even small amounts decimate population
Tom Spears
The Ottawa Citizen; CanWest News Service
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Estrogen that goes down Canadian toilets -- some naturally from women, some from birth control pills -- is enough to make an entire fish species too feminine to reproduce, a seven-year Canadian study shows.
Fish scientist Karen Kidd dripped small amounts of estrogen into a clean lake in northwestern Ontario over several years, just as if urine with the female hormone were running in via sewage from a nearby city.
This constant hormone bath made male minnows produce eggs in unnatural, part-female sex organs.
Even after she stopped adding estrogen and the water was clean again, the minnows almost completely disappeared for several years.
Even small concentrations of estrogen can decimate wild fish populations, the University of New Brunswick biology professor concludes, even at levels found in some Canadian waters.
While the minnows were prone to fast extinction because of their short lifespan, Kidd says bigger fish could suffer a similar fate if they were exposed long enough. As well, she said, minnows are important as a food source for bigger fish.
"A lot of our pollution regulations tend to be centred around chemicals that are persistent in the environment and accumulate in fish," she said. These include pesticides, such as DDT and industrial PCB oils, which last for years.
Estrogen doesn't last long, but it, too, needs control, Kidd said. "We don't know a whole lot about the concentration of these compounds in our waters."
The bacteria in a modern sewage plant chew up estrogen effectively, but Kidd said the biggest concern is for rivers and water systems that receive untreated sewage. She said her city, Saint John, N.B., still sends 40 per cent of its sewage untreated into streams and, ultimately, the Bay of Fundy. The city recently obtained federal funds to treat all its sewage in a few years.
The first news of "feminized" fish came from British rivers in the 1990s. Male fish near sewage plants were producing eggs and carrying reproductive organs that were partly female.
"A lot of followup studies showed it was the natural estrogens that women excrete and then the synthetic estrogens in birth control pills that were the main causes of feminization in male fish," Kidd said. "The pill is one of the most heavily prescribed pharmaceuticals in the world. There are over a million women on it in Canada."
Kidd chose an unpolluted lake with healthy fish to learn what damage estrogen would cause.
Male minnows in water with estrogen stopped looking male. Where they should have distinct colours and bumps at spawning time, they didn't have any visible sign of maleness.
"And then when you opened them up, their testes were much smaller than they should have been" -- about one-third the normal size. By the third year of adding estrogen to the lake, the testes had ovary-type tissue and were producing eggs -- a condition called "intersex."
It's exactly what scientists had seen in the wild. Kidd's achievement is in reproducing this effect in a previously clean lake, proving that estrogen is the cause. "That was the big question: What does it mean for the fish population? We've shown that it has profound effects on the fathead minnow."
The last estrogen in Kidd's study went into the lake in 2003. Since then, bacteria and sunlight have broken it down and the water has returned to normal.
The minnow population, however, took a further two years to recover.
The seven-year study, funded by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the American Chemistry Council, is published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
© The Edmonton Journal 2007
NFP can save your planet! It's the green thing to do!
And, by the way, there is an article today on yahoo news about how amphibians are dying at alarming rates these days. They are like a canary in the coal mine, they tell you when we should pay attention, because we might be next... Huh, wasn't there a movie about this? Oh, yeah, "Children of Men". Good flick, very sad. Maybe it was estrogen that made the whole world infertile, but they were in so much denial that they never figured it out.
Estrogen in water 'feminizes' fish, lake study finds
Even small amounts decimate population
Tom Spears
The Ottawa Citizen; CanWest News Service
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Estrogen that goes down Canadian toilets -- some naturally from women, some from birth control pills -- is enough to make an entire fish species too feminine to reproduce, a seven-year Canadian study shows.
Fish scientist Karen Kidd dripped small amounts of estrogen into a clean lake in northwestern Ontario over several years, just as if urine with the female hormone were running in via sewage from a nearby city.
This constant hormone bath made male minnows produce eggs in unnatural, part-female sex organs.
Even after she stopped adding estrogen and the water was clean again, the minnows almost completely disappeared for several years.
Even small concentrations of estrogen can decimate wild fish populations, the University of New Brunswick biology professor concludes, even at levels found in some Canadian waters.
While the minnows were prone to fast extinction because of their short lifespan, Kidd says bigger fish could suffer a similar fate if they were exposed long enough. As well, she said, minnows are important as a food source for bigger fish.
"A lot of our pollution regulations tend to be centred around chemicals that are persistent in the environment and accumulate in fish," she said. These include pesticides, such as DDT and industrial PCB oils, which last for years.
Estrogen doesn't last long, but it, too, needs control, Kidd said. "We don't know a whole lot about the concentration of these compounds in our waters."
The bacteria in a modern sewage plant chew up estrogen effectively, but Kidd said the biggest concern is for rivers and water systems that receive untreated sewage. She said her city, Saint John, N.B., still sends 40 per cent of its sewage untreated into streams and, ultimately, the Bay of Fundy. The city recently obtained federal funds to treat all its sewage in a few years.
The first news of "feminized" fish came from British rivers in the 1990s. Male fish near sewage plants were producing eggs and carrying reproductive organs that were partly female.
"A lot of followup studies showed it was the natural estrogens that women excrete and then the synthetic estrogens in birth control pills that were the main causes of feminization in male fish," Kidd said. "The pill is one of the most heavily prescribed pharmaceuticals in the world. There are over a million women on it in Canada."
Kidd chose an unpolluted lake with healthy fish to learn what damage estrogen would cause.
Male minnows in water with estrogen stopped looking male. Where they should have distinct colours and bumps at spawning time, they didn't have any visible sign of maleness.
"And then when you opened them up, their testes were much smaller than they should have been" -- about one-third the normal size. By the third year of adding estrogen to the lake, the testes had ovary-type tissue and were producing eggs -- a condition called "intersex."
It's exactly what scientists had seen in the wild. Kidd's achievement is in reproducing this effect in a previously clean lake, proving that estrogen is the cause. "That was the big question: What does it mean for the fish population? We've shown that it has profound effects on the fathead minnow."
The last estrogen in Kidd's study went into the lake in 2003. Since then, bacteria and sunlight have broken it down and the water has returned to normal.
The minnow population, however, took a further two years to recover.
The seven-year study, funded by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the American Chemistry Council, is published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
© The Edmonton Journal 2007
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Two years ago in Russia and Georgia
I had never heard there was a problem until this recent conflict in the news.
This is an article from 2006, predicting this would be trouble. Please remember, both world wars were started by some seemingly unimportant conflict in a seemingly unimportant country, but because those countries had allies, it escalated to the world theater.
Pray for peace, folks.
Tuesday, Oct. 03, 2006
Why the Russia-Georgia Spat Could Become a U.S. Headache
By YURI ZARAKHOVICH/MOSCOW
Russia has escalated its showdown with its small, NATO-inclined neighbor of Georgia by closing all transport and postal communications. No trains, no flights, no ships, no vehicles, no mail money orders — nothing can cross the border. This time, it's much worse than just another Russian spat with a former satellite state. The Georgia standoff may soon create a major headache for the Bush Administration, because of U.S. support for Georgia's right to align itself with the West.
Tuesday's announcement of the new measures came even after Georgia had handed over four Russian military intelligence officers accused of spying, and months of insults against Russia, threats to restore Georgia's sovereignty over its breakaway pro-Moscow provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and also assaults on Russian personnel serving in Georgia. Moscow insists that Russia is the injured party, forced to retaliate.
But the crisis, spurred by some emotional and erratic outbursts from Georgia, may actually suit Moscow's agenda, since the deeper issue driving the conflict is Georgia's geopolitical orientation: Georgia has joined the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline that skirts Russia and ends its monopoly on transporting Caspian Sea oil to world markets; it has defied Moscow on a range of regional issues; and it is attempting to join NATO, presenting the Russian military brass with the prospect of a strategic rival strengthening its position along Russia's southern underbelly. In short, the crisis is an expression of Russia's failure to accept Georgia's independence.
To tighten the financial blockade, Russia's legislature on Wednesday will consider a bill banning all financial transfers to Georgia. Remittances sent home by some 1.2 million Georgians working in Russia currently amount to around $2 billion annually, around 20% of Georgia's GDP.
The Georgians certainly appeared intent on provoking the neighborhood hegemon last week when they made an ostentatious show of arresting the four Russian officers, threatening them with 20-year prison sentences and cordoning off Russian military headquarters in Tbilisi to demand the surrender of another Russian officer. Two groups of Russian servicemen were disarmed and beaten.
But Russia appeared more than ready for an escalation. Moscow recalled its ambassador, closed down its embassy and evacuated its personnel, and put its approximately 4,000 troops still in Georgia on high alert, ordering them to shoot to kill if they needed to defend themselves. "These people [Georgians] think that under the protection of their foreign sponsors they can feel comfortable and secure," intoned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday in televised remarks. "Is it really so?"
Putin's jibe at the U.S. was transparent. And he stepped up his open support of the secessionist agenda of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which had broken away from Georgia with Russian encouragement in the early 1990s and are treated by Russia as if they had been annexed: he had their leaders formally invited to a major Russian economic conference held close to the Georgian border on Sunday.
Sensing the danger in provoking Russian ire, the Georgians quickly backpedaled: The four arrested Russian officers were handed over to European diplomats, and they arrived in Moscow on Monday night. But instead of reciprocating with calming measures, the Kremlin appears to have seized on the opening offered by Georgia to press home a point.
Relations between Russia and Georgia grew strained even in the Soviet Union's last years when the then-Soviet Republic elected an ardent nationalist as president. The rift intensified during the breakup of the Soviet Union, when the Russian military helped Ossetian and Abkhaz separatists. And relations have deteriorated to a breaking point since the current government of Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in a popular uprising two years ago.
Georgia will be unlikely ever to tempt the breakaway regions back into the fold unless Tbilisi make that choice look more attractive to the Ossetians and Abkhaz than alignment with Russia. Saakashvili's heavy hints that he might force the issue has allowed Moscow to accuse the Georgian leadership of threatening aggression. And it has certainly helped President Vladimir Putin rally the Russian public behind a nationalist cause. A poll taken by the Moscow-based Echo Moskvy radio station late last month found that 40% of its typically liberal audience believe that Russia's national interests justify any hard line on Georgia. Such jingoism could work as smartly for Putin's as yet unnamed heir-designate as the Chechen war worked for Putin back in 1999 — that's if Putin feels sufficiently emboldened to risk reiterating Moscow's neighborhood supremacy by challenging what he sees as a U.S. proxy on his own turf.
Given the U.S. commitment to Georgia, the standoff raises a dilemma for the Bush Administration: Unless both Putin and Saakashvili are restrained, the spat that began with the arrest of four Russian officers could degenerate quickly into a real disaster.
* Find this article at:
* http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1542107,00.html
This is an article from 2006, predicting this would be trouble. Please remember, both world wars were started by some seemingly unimportant conflict in a seemingly unimportant country, but because those countries had allies, it escalated to the world theater.
Pray for peace, folks.
Tuesday, Oct. 03, 2006
Why the Russia-Georgia Spat Could Become a U.S. Headache
By YURI ZARAKHOVICH/MOSCOW
Russia has escalated its showdown with its small, NATO-inclined neighbor of Georgia by closing all transport and postal communications. No trains, no flights, no ships, no vehicles, no mail money orders — nothing can cross the border. This time, it's much worse than just another Russian spat with a former satellite state. The Georgia standoff may soon create a major headache for the Bush Administration, because of U.S. support for Georgia's right to align itself with the West.
Tuesday's announcement of the new measures came even after Georgia had handed over four Russian military intelligence officers accused of spying, and months of insults against Russia, threats to restore Georgia's sovereignty over its breakaway pro-Moscow provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and also assaults on Russian personnel serving in Georgia. Moscow insists that Russia is the injured party, forced to retaliate.
But the crisis, spurred by some emotional and erratic outbursts from Georgia, may actually suit Moscow's agenda, since the deeper issue driving the conflict is Georgia's geopolitical orientation: Georgia has joined the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline that skirts Russia and ends its monopoly on transporting Caspian Sea oil to world markets; it has defied Moscow on a range of regional issues; and it is attempting to join NATO, presenting the Russian military brass with the prospect of a strategic rival strengthening its position along Russia's southern underbelly. In short, the crisis is an expression of Russia's failure to accept Georgia's independence.
To tighten the financial blockade, Russia's legislature on Wednesday will consider a bill banning all financial transfers to Georgia. Remittances sent home by some 1.2 million Georgians working in Russia currently amount to around $2 billion annually, around 20% of Georgia's GDP.
The Georgians certainly appeared intent on provoking the neighborhood hegemon last week when they made an ostentatious show of arresting the four Russian officers, threatening them with 20-year prison sentences and cordoning off Russian military headquarters in Tbilisi to demand the surrender of another Russian officer. Two groups of Russian servicemen were disarmed and beaten.
But Russia appeared more than ready for an escalation. Moscow recalled its ambassador, closed down its embassy and evacuated its personnel, and put its approximately 4,000 troops still in Georgia on high alert, ordering them to shoot to kill if they needed to defend themselves. "These people [Georgians] think that under the protection of their foreign sponsors they can feel comfortable and secure," intoned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday in televised remarks. "Is it really so?"
Putin's jibe at the U.S. was transparent. And he stepped up his open support of the secessionist agenda of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which had broken away from Georgia with Russian encouragement in the early 1990s and are treated by Russia as if they had been annexed: he had their leaders formally invited to a major Russian economic conference held close to the Georgian border on Sunday.
Sensing the danger in provoking Russian ire, the Georgians quickly backpedaled: The four arrested Russian officers were handed over to European diplomats, and they arrived in Moscow on Monday night. But instead of reciprocating with calming measures, the Kremlin appears to have seized on the opening offered by Georgia to press home a point.
Relations between Russia and Georgia grew strained even in the Soviet Union's last years when the then-Soviet Republic elected an ardent nationalist as president. The rift intensified during the breakup of the Soviet Union, when the Russian military helped Ossetian and Abkhaz separatists. And relations have deteriorated to a breaking point since the current government of Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in a popular uprising two years ago.
Georgia will be unlikely ever to tempt the breakaway regions back into the fold unless Tbilisi make that choice look more attractive to the Ossetians and Abkhaz than alignment with Russia. Saakashvili's heavy hints that he might force the issue has allowed Moscow to accuse the Georgian leadership of threatening aggression. And it has certainly helped President Vladimir Putin rally the Russian public behind a nationalist cause. A poll taken by the Moscow-based Echo Moskvy radio station late last month found that 40% of its typically liberal audience believe that Russia's national interests justify any hard line on Georgia. Such jingoism could work as smartly for Putin's as yet unnamed heir-designate as the Chechen war worked for Putin back in 1999 — that's if Putin feels sufficiently emboldened to risk reiterating Moscow's neighborhood supremacy by challenging what he sees as a U.S. proxy on his own turf.
Given the U.S. commitment to Georgia, the standoff raises a dilemma for the Bush Administration: Unless both Putin and Saakashvili are restrained, the spat that began with the arrest of four Russian officers could degenerate quickly into a real disaster.
* Find this article at:
* http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1542107,00.html
First Day of Soccer
Well, that's it, I have two weeks' notice til it's time to buckle down and do "school". I put that in quotes because it's not "going to school", it's at our house, but fourth grade does seem to have a bit more meaty material in it, especially history! Hooray! I love history! I didn't learn half this stuff when I was a kid, just boring old textbook chapters. As my dad said, "Ah, I see you have other, selfish motives for homeschooling. You just want to learn this stuff, too!" Yup, Dad, you nailed it on the head. I didn't think that was my motive when I started, but by golly, it has turned into one of them.
Gabe has a new soccer coach today, after two years with Cindy. We loved Cindy, but a personality clash between herself and her son led her to send the team to other coaches. They split up the entire team, and I realize why. If a new coach took the team as is, the kids would take a month getting over, "But Cindy said...". So they are on totally new teams. Oh well. Gabe is awfully excited. Brandon gets to start tomorrow, for the first time ever. He is really, really excited, since he's been watching for two years. I could have put him in last year, but we had one car, and also his speech wasn't that great yet, so I figured his team wouldn't know what he was shouting. It's much better this year. Now if he'll just look up instead of down, like he does with the bicycle, he might get pretty good. He can run much faster than before, too. He grew about four inches this year, I think.
This year, it looks like we'll have soccer on Monday, Wed, Thurs, Sat and Sunday. I can see why people proudly display soccer mom stickers in their minivans. This is quite a sport. I never did it when I was little. DH did. I did distance running in track and cross country, swimming one year, 4-H horses from 4th-12th grade, and rowing in college for two years.
In other news, we are lovin' the Olympics on NBC.com. Gabe and Brandon are taking the opportunity to watch as many sports as they can to find out what they are. They watch entire soccer games online. We saw the men's 4x100 freestyle swim and even in slow motion it was impossible to tell whose hand touched the wall first. They did determine it was the US, but I sure felt sorry for the French. They were very sad. I know the feeling, when it's quite that close. Would you believe it's possible to tie in the 1500 meters? That was not a flattering picture, but I have a copy! :)
I wonder what sports the kids will eventually love? Sports saved my sanity in school, and both of us love them, so we're interested in how this will go with the complication of homeschooling, so the ease and convenience will not be there. We'll have to actively seek out sports and not overwhelm ourselves with too many at once.
Go, kids, go!!
Gabe has a new soccer coach today, after two years with Cindy. We loved Cindy, but a personality clash between herself and her son led her to send the team to other coaches. They split up the entire team, and I realize why. If a new coach took the team as is, the kids would take a month getting over, "But Cindy said...". So they are on totally new teams. Oh well. Gabe is awfully excited. Brandon gets to start tomorrow, for the first time ever. He is really, really excited, since he's been watching for two years. I could have put him in last year, but we had one car, and also his speech wasn't that great yet, so I figured his team wouldn't know what he was shouting. It's much better this year. Now if he'll just look up instead of down, like he does with the bicycle, he might get pretty good. He can run much faster than before, too. He grew about four inches this year, I think.
This year, it looks like we'll have soccer on Monday, Wed, Thurs, Sat and Sunday. I can see why people proudly display soccer mom stickers in their minivans. This is quite a sport. I never did it when I was little. DH did. I did distance running in track and cross country, swimming one year, 4-H horses from 4th-12th grade, and rowing in college for two years.
In other news, we are lovin' the Olympics on NBC.com. Gabe and Brandon are taking the opportunity to watch as many sports as they can to find out what they are. They watch entire soccer games online. We saw the men's 4x100 freestyle swim and even in slow motion it was impossible to tell whose hand touched the wall first. They did determine it was the US, but I sure felt sorry for the French. They were very sad. I know the feeling, when it's quite that close. Would you believe it's possible to tie in the 1500 meters? That was not a flattering picture, but I have a copy! :)
I wonder what sports the kids will eventually love? Sports saved my sanity in school, and both of us love them, so we're interested in how this will go with the complication of homeschooling, so the ease and convenience will not be there. We'll have to actively seek out sports and not overwhelm ourselves with too many at once.
Go, kids, go!!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
The anniversary of Humanae Vitae
This was a very good article from the National Catholic Register which explains what happened around the time Humanae Vitae was published. Apparently it was quite the big deal, because everyone expected the "Majority Report" to win. Since all the other churches had given in to contraception, surely the Catholics would, too.
Incidentally, until 1930 or so, no church anywhere approved of contraception. I guess when they caved, they figured it was inevitable that people would use it, so why make them feel guilty by calling it a sin? The problem is, sin isn't changeable. If it were, then anarchy would definitely rule. Good and evil aren't arbitrary, I'm afraid, but some people would prefer to make it so out of convenience for them.
It is a tragedy to decide that a child must die so you may live as you wish. -- Mother Teresa
Contraception: Breaking Silence
Humanae Vitae at 40
BY Father Walter Schu, LC
August 10-16, 2008 Issue | Posted 8/5/08 at 9:56 AM
Pope Paul VI’s courageous encyclical Humanae Vitae is the only papal encyclical to have been received with a firestorm of dissent by theologians, lay Catholics, and even bishops. To understand the vital importance of Humanae Vitae’s 40th anniversary, which is being celebrated this month, it is necessary to penetrate more deeply into the reasons behind such unprecedented dissent.
By July of 1968, many lay Catholics and theologians had been swept along by the ideological claims of the sexual revolution. But that wasn’t the only reason that more than 50% of Catholic married couples were already practicing contraception by the time the encyclical was issued.
Many believed that change in the Church’s consistent teaching against contraception was imminent. More than 60% of the laity expected such a change, according to a Gallup poll in mid-1965. How had such anticipation developed that what in fact could not be changed would be changed?
One key factor: Prominent theologians were beginning to speak out publicly in dissent against the Church’s teaching prohibiting contraception as a means of birth control. In highly publicized lecture tours, theologians like Hans Küng, Charles Curran and Bernard Häring made their dissent known.
Another influential figure on the public stage at the time was a Catholic gynecologist from Boston, Dr. John Rock. In 1963 he published his work, The Time Has Come: A Catholic Doctor’s Proposals to End the Battle Over Birth Control. Rock speciously argued that use of the birth-control pill was simply a refinement of the “rhythm method,” since it did no more than extend the woman’s naturally infertile period.
It does not require extensive moral training to recognize the fallacy in Rock’s reasoning.
To argue that performing the conjugal act after inducing sterility, thus eliminating its procreative meaning, is morally equivalent to abstaining from the conjugal act during the woman’s naturally fertile period for serious reasons, in order to respect both the unitive and procreative meanings of the act, is a fallacy so evident that no further elucidation is necessary.
Rock did not content himself with the publication of his book. He also appeared in such venues as Life, The Saturday Evening Post, and Newsweek, as well as television interviews. As a result, he was a key player in the secular media’s de facto legitimization of Catholic dissent.
But Catholic publications also began voicing their dissent.
The December 1963 issue of Jubilee magazine carried an influential article bluntly critical of Church teaching by Rosemary Radford Ruether, then a graduate student in Church history and mother of three young children. Her specious line of reasoning is revealed quite plainly in the following sentence: “Hence, sexual acts that are calculated to function only during times of sterility are sterilizing the act just as much as any other means of rendering the act infertile.”
Once again, to claim that abstaining from sexual intercourse during the woman’s fertile period is the same as sterilizing the act of intercourse is blatantly false. It is simply not the same to abstain from an act in order to respect its intrinsic meanings (unitive and procreative) as to engage in that act while eliminating its procreative meaning.
Even The Pontifical Commission for the Study of Population, Family and Births came to be a factor in leading many Catholics to think that a change in the prohibition against contraception was just around the corner.
Originally created by Pope John XXIII with six members, the commission was expanded several times by Paul VI. Its membership stood at 72, including bishops, priests, lay experts and married couples, when it met for the final time in the summer of 1966.
Unable to reach a consensus, the purely advisory body presented two reports to Pope Paul VI. What soon came to be known as the “Majority Report” called for a change in the Church’s teaching on contraception; the “Minority Report” outlined the reasons that the Church could not make such a change, due to the intrinsic evil of contraception.
Though all the members were bound by secrecy, the reports were leaked to the press and published in April 1967 by the National Catholic Reporter. The story greatly intensified expectations, at least among the laity, that the teaching would soon be amended.
Priests were a final factor in the swell of expectations for change. Many found themselves influenced by the voices of dissent and were reluctant to stand behind the Church’s teaching against contraception in confession or personal consultations.
As a result, they would often tell husbands or wives to follow their own consciences, to simply do what they thought was right. “Anyone wanting to practice birth control today can do so if he looks for the right priest,” wrote a couple from Syracuse, N.Y., in 1965.
The Great Silence
Given the groundswell of forces anticipating a change in Church teaching, perhaps the firestorm of dissent that greeted Humanae Vitae was not entirely surprising. But as the months and years passed, by the early 1970s a new phenomenon arose, what Jesuit theologian Richard McCormick called “the silence since Humanae Vitae.” Leslie Woodcock Tentler affirms in her book Catholics and Contraception: An American History, “Thus, not long after Humanae Vitae, a great public silence came to prevail with regard to contraception” (273-274).
Andrew Greeley characterized the situation in 1972 as follows: “A peculiar, implicit gentleman’s agreement has developed between clergy and hierarchy in which the hierarchy commits itself not to try seriously to enforce compliance with Humanae Vitae so long as the clergy is not too open and public in its opposition to the encyclical.”
Since approximately 80% of Catholic married couples still fail today to practice the Church’s teachings regarding contraception, this silence has proved just as devastating for the future of a culture of life as the actual open dissent to Humanae Vitae. By 1972 Pope Paul VI would famously declare: “Satan’s smoke has made its way into the temple of God through some crack. … One no longer trusts the Church; one trusts the first profane prophet that comes along.”
John Paul II
On Sept. 5, 1979, the great silence over Humanae Vitae was definitively broken with words that continue, even now, to reverberate more and more deeply in the hearts and consciences of Catholics throughout the world. At a Wednesday general audience, Pope John Paul II began elaborating on his theology of the body, which was the most comprehensive, cogent, and compelling defense of Humanae Vitae ever.
Catholic thinker Sean Inherst, to convey the intense drama of the present attack on God’s plan for man and woman, does not hesitate to identify the contraceptive ideology as a modern heresy: “anti-conceptionism.” Inherst affirms John Paul II’s theology of the body by explaining how married love is at the heart of God’s entire plan of salvation and will one day gain victory over this new threat to the faith and humanity.
I’m sure we are living in that age which Catholics of the future will describe as the near-triumph of the heresy of anti-conceptionism. They will recount that this heresy not only threatened millions of souls, but millions of bodies, as well.
As has always been the case in theological development, they will recognize that this attack against the original plan of God — disclosed as his “marital plan” — will have been vanquished by a precise theological elaboration on the place of the marital covenant: the very heart and center of the economy of salvation.
Legionary Father Walter Schu
is author of The Splendor of Love on John Paul II’s theology of the body, a course for couples of Familia.
wschu@legionaries.org
Incidentally, until 1930 or so, no church anywhere approved of contraception. I guess when they caved, they figured it was inevitable that people would use it, so why make them feel guilty by calling it a sin? The problem is, sin isn't changeable. If it were, then anarchy would definitely rule. Good and evil aren't arbitrary, I'm afraid, but some people would prefer to make it so out of convenience for them.
It is a tragedy to decide that a child must die so you may live as you wish. -- Mother Teresa
Contraception: Breaking Silence
Humanae Vitae at 40
BY Father Walter Schu, LC
August 10-16, 2008 Issue | Posted 8/5/08 at 9:56 AM
Pope Paul VI’s courageous encyclical Humanae Vitae is the only papal encyclical to have been received with a firestorm of dissent by theologians, lay Catholics, and even bishops. To understand the vital importance of Humanae Vitae’s 40th anniversary, which is being celebrated this month, it is necessary to penetrate more deeply into the reasons behind such unprecedented dissent.
By July of 1968, many lay Catholics and theologians had been swept along by the ideological claims of the sexual revolution. But that wasn’t the only reason that more than 50% of Catholic married couples were already practicing contraception by the time the encyclical was issued.
Many believed that change in the Church’s consistent teaching against contraception was imminent. More than 60% of the laity expected such a change, according to a Gallup poll in mid-1965. How had such anticipation developed that what in fact could not be changed would be changed?
One key factor: Prominent theologians were beginning to speak out publicly in dissent against the Church’s teaching prohibiting contraception as a means of birth control. In highly publicized lecture tours, theologians like Hans Küng, Charles Curran and Bernard Häring made their dissent known.
Another influential figure on the public stage at the time was a Catholic gynecologist from Boston, Dr. John Rock. In 1963 he published his work, The Time Has Come: A Catholic Doctor’s Proposals to End the Battle Over Birth Control. Rock speciously argued that use of the birth-control pill was simply a refinement of the “rhythm method,” since it did no more than extend the woman’s naturally infertile period.
It does not require extensive moral training to recognize the fallacy in Rock’s reasoning.
To argue that performing the conjugal act after inducing sterility, thus eliminating its procreative meaning, is morally equivalent to abstaining from the conjugal act during the woman’s naturally fertile period for serious reasons, in order to respect both the unitive and procreative meanings of the act, is a fallacy so evident that no further elucidation is necessary.
Rock did not content himself with the publication of his book. He also appeared in such venues as Life, The Saturday Evening Post, and Newsweek, as well as television interviews. As a result, he was a key player in the secular media’s de facto legitimization of Catholic dissent.
But Catholic publications also began voicing their dissent.
The December 1963 issue of Jubilee magazine carried an influential article bluntly critical of Church teaching by Rosemary Radford Ruether, then a graduate student in Church history and mother of three young children. Her specious line of reasoning is revealed quite plainly in the following sentence: “Hence, sexual acts that are calculated to function only during times of sterility are sterilizing the act just as much as any other means of rendering the act infertile.”
Once again, to claim that abstaining from sexual intercourse during the woman’s fertile period is the same as sterilizing the act of intercourse is blatantly false. It is simply not the same to abstain from an act in order to respect its intrinsic meanings (unitive and procreative) as to engage in that act while eliminating its procreative meaning.
Even The Pontifical Commission for the Study of Population, Family and Births came to be a factor in leading many Catholics to think that a change in the prohibition against contraception was just around the corner.
Originally created by Pope John XXIII with six members, the commission was expanded several times by Paul VI. Its membership stood at 72, including bishops, priests, lay experts and married couples, when it met for the final time in the summer of 1966.
Unable to reach a consensus, the purely advisory body presented two reports to Pope Paul VI. What soon came to be known as the “Majority Report” called for a change in the Church’s teaching on contraception; the “Minority Report” outlined the reasons that the Church could not make such a change, due to the intrinsic evil of contraception.
Though all the members were bound by secrecy, the reports were leaked to the press and published in April 1967 by the National Catholic Reporter. The story greatly intensified expectations, at least among the laity, that the teaching would soon be amended.
Priests were a final factor in the swell of expectations for change. Many found themselves influenced by the voices of dissent and were reluctant to stand behind the Church’s teaching against contraception in confession or personal consultations.
As a result, they would often tell husbands or wives to follow their own consciences, to simply do what they thought was right. “Anyone wanting to practice birth control today can do so if he looks for the right priest,” wrote a couple from Syracuse, N.Y., in 1965.
The Great Silence
Given the groundswell of forces anticipating a change in Church teaching, perhaps the firestorm of dissent that greeted Humanae Vitae was not entirely surprising. But as the months and years passed, by the early 1970s a new phenomenon arose, what Jesuit theologian Richard McCormick called “the silence since Humanae Vitae.” Leslie Woodcock Tentler affirms in her book Catholics and Contraception: An American History, “Thus, not long after Humanae Vitae, a great public silence came to prevail with regard to contraception” (273-274).
Andrew Greeley characterized the situation in 1972 as follows: “A peculiar, implicit gentleman’s agreement has developed between clergy and hierarchy in which the hierarchy commits itself not to try seriously to enforce compliance with Humanae Vitae so long as the clergy is not too open and public in its opposition to the encyclical.”
Since approximately 80% of Catholic married couples still fail today to practice the Church’s teachings regarding contraception, this silence has proved just as devastating for the future of a culture of life as the actual open dissent to Humanae Vitae. By 1972 Pope Paul VI would famously declare: “Satan’s smoke has made its way into the temple of God through some crack. … One no longer trusts the Church; one trusts the first profane prophet that comes along.”
John Paul II
On Sept. 5, 1979, the great silence over Humanae Vitae was definitively broken with words that continue, even now, to reverberate more and more deeply in the hearts and consciences of Catholics throughout the world. At a Wednesday general audience, Pope John Paul II began elaborating on his theology of the body, which was the most comprehensive, cogent, and compelling defense of Humanae Vitae ever.
Catholic thinker Sean Inherst, to convey the intense drama of the present attack on God’s plan for man and woman, does not hesitate to identify the contraceptive ideology as a modern heresy: “anti-conceptionism.” Inherst affirms John Paul II’s theology of the body by explaining how married love is at the heart of God’s entire plan of salvation and will one day gain victory over this new threat to the faith and humanity.
I’m sure we are living in that age which Catholics of the future will describe as the near-triumph of the heresy of anti-conceptionism. They will recount that this heresy not only threatened millions of souls, but millions of bodies, as well.
As has always been the case in theological development, they will recognize that this attack against the original plan of God — disclosed as his “marital plan” — will have been vanquished by a precise theological elaboration on the place of the marital covenant: the very heart and center of the economy of salvation.
Legionary Father Walter Schu
is author of The Splendor of Love on John Paul II’s theology of the body, a course for couples of Familia.
wschu@legionaries.org
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Da Boyz are on their way back
Phew!
I hear tell that we have many problems. Among them, a lack of a vasectomy, apparently I'm married to a "girl" because DH won't eat all the fatty food because he's really trying to stick to the South Beach Diet (his comeback: That's how I keep my girlish figure), we should call more often to be hung up upon, and Uncle Deet is anorexic because he's on a diet and in training, too.
But those are compliments in Tagalog, apparently.
I'm so glad I wasn't there. I must take life too seriously. I just cannot stand that much nitpicking! But anyway, they left while the getting was good so they could stay on good terms with my dear MIL, and that was probably smart of them. They shall return in the wee hours.
I wonder if they mentioned that Deet doesn't live with us anymore? I forgot to ask. He moved out in May, but for some reason they haven't noticed yet. We use cell phones only, that's probably why, and they haven't visited since October.
Ha ha ha...
In other news, my own folks are in CA for a month. Wish I was. I tried calling, but they are in this time capsule of a house which does not have anything, especially not an answering machine. There is a real, working, wringer washer in that house, and no working dryer. And I love it. Time was indeed simpler then.
Have fun, Mom and Dad.
I hear tell that we have many problems. Among them, a lack of a vasectomy, apparently I'm married to a "girl" because DH won't eat all the fatty food because he's really trying to stick to the South Beach Diet (his comeback: That's how I keep my girlish figure), we should call more often to be hung up upon, and Uncle Deet is anorexic because he's on a diet and in training, too.
But those are compliments in Tagalog, apparently.
I'm so glad I wasn't there. I must take life too seriously. I just cannot stand that much nitpicking! But anyway, they left while the getting was good so they could stay on good terms with my dear MIL, and that was probably smart of them. They shall return in the wee hours.
I wonder if they mentioned that Deet doesn't live with us anymore? I forgot to ask. He moved out in May, but for some reason they haven't noticed yet. We use cell phones only, that's probably why, and they haven't visited since October.
Ha ha ha...
In other news, my own folks are in CA for a month. Wish I was. I tried calling, but they are in this time capsule of a house which does not have anything, especially not an answering machine. There is a real, working, wringer washer in that house, and no working dryer. And I love it. Time was indeed simpler then.
Have fun, Mom and Dad.
Amy Tryon, local Olympic athlete
I'm going to post some cool Olympic stories this month, because there are some really great ones. Amy Tryon is from Redmond, WA, near here, and I've always wanted to see her in action. I had no idea she was this dedicated, though.
Poggio II: A horse from humble beginnings
By The Associated Press
Posted Thursday, August 7, 2008 12:10 PM ET
The horse Amy Tryon will ride in Beijing wasn't groomed for the Olympics with medals and blue ribbons and aristocratic trappings.
Poggio II was strictly low rent, a pack horse discovered in a want ad.
"Yeah, it's a unique story,'' Tryon said, laughing over the phone from outside Manchester, England.
The 16-year-old bay gelding and Tryon are representing the United States in their second straight Olympic equestrian competition.
Tryon, a recently retired 38-year-old firefighter from Duvall, Wash., and Poggio are entered in eventing - three days of dressage, show jumping and cross-country.
They have been competing in England during weeks of tuneups before their Olympic test begins Saturday in Hong Kong. A severe tropical storm has hit the area. More rain and wind are forecast, although the competition is not expected to be affected.
Poggio, for all his pedestrian path to the Olympics, has grace and precision to spare, the only horse to qualify for every U.S. national team over the last six years.
He won an individual bronze medal at the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Germany and helped the U.S. equestrian team to a bronze medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics and gold at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Spain.
This horse has come a long, long way. A decade ago, he was lugging camping gear and other equipment up and down the Cascade Mountains. A classified ad in the newspaper brought Poggio and Tryon together.
"Poggio's definitely had some humble beginnings, to say the least,'' said Joanie Morris, spokeswoman for the U.S. Equestrian Federation. "I'd have to say he's the only pack horse to be in the Olympics. He's an anomaly, for sure. Not too many Olympic horses are found in the want ads.''
Tryon first began riding horses in competitions at age 8. She was a firefighter at the Eastside Fire and Rescue in suburban Seattle in 1997 when she saw an ad for a horse in the paper. It mentioned the horse was sired by Polynesian Sire, which she knew to be a particularly strong jumping horse.
Based on bloodlines alone, she and a friend bought Poggio for $2,500. A week later Tryon traded with her friend - Poggio for a horse Tryon had on her farm.
It was not love at first sight.
"He was in pretty sad shape,'' Tryon said. "His feet needed attention. He had been living in a paddock with a bunch of horses and was a bit chewed up. And his feet were not put on his body very straight. He had long hair that needed to be cut. He certainly wasn't a show horse.''
Poggio had a short and failed career in thoroughbred racing before becoming a pack horse. Tryon's challenge: Make Poggio a master of dressage - the disciplined display of natural movements often called "horse ballet'' - plus show jumping and cross-country racing.
Throughout exhaustive retraining, Poggio showed his inherent jumping ability. Within one year, he was the first horse Tryon rode in a world-class eventing competition. Three years later, they were world champions. Now they are back in the Olympics.
"He has very much stepped out of his skill level,'' Tryon said.
Tryon, who co-owns Poggio with Mike Hart, sees this as the horse's finale after a decade of transformation.
"I'm planning this to be his last big international competition. He certainly doesn't owe me anything,'' she said. ``What I want for him is to step away from competition when he is still healthy and happy.''
The giggles and enthusiasm in Tryon's voice show she's happy. She, too, has come a long, unconventional way.
At first, she wanted no part of a sport she thought was for the rich. Her mother was a school teacher in a Seattle suburb. For her first eventing competition, Tryon rode a borrowed pony.
Her mother helped her graduate in two years from Issaquah High School so Tryon could move at age 16 to the East Coast, more of an equestrian region than the Northwest. Five years later Tryon was back home in a career in firefighting that began in 1993 as a 21-year-old volunteer. She was hired full time two years later.
Tryon said she chose firefighting because she could work consecutive 24-hour shifts and then have three days to compete in equestrian.
"The riding is all great, but you have to learn how to make a living,'' she said. "It's a constant struggle financially to be in this sport.''
She retired as a firefighter two years ago so she could compete and devote herself to training horses. Her husband, Greg, is a battalion chief with Eastside Fire and Rescue. He's to join Tryon in Hong Kong, a trip that comes with his bosses' blessings.
"I keep telling him he can't get fired,'' she said, laughing. "He's the only one making money.''
Even at the highest levels of equestrian, funding is scarce. The U.S. Olympic Committee gives some money to the national equestrian federation, but the federation has seven sports to fund. This year, Tryon received $5,500. That was to cover training expenses, food and boarding for herself and Poggio, plus rental cars, lodging and meals for the trips to England, Hong Kong and elsewhere.
Tryon raised additional money to help defray those costs. She conducted training clinics for young riders around Seattle. She worked horse shows. She made cold calls to friends and strangers. Her mother produced a newsletter for fundraising.
On the eve of the Olympics, Tryon's still seeking contributions. But she has had trials beyond money.
Last summer, she was suspended from competition for two months by the international equestrian federation and fined about $2,500 after she finished a cross-country event in Kentucky on a horse injured from a stumble just before the last jump of a run.
But a federation tribunal cleared Tryon of career-threatening charges that she intentionally finished the ride knowing the horse was seriously injured. Le Samurai was euthanized because of a leg injury.
Horse enthusiasts from around the world criticized Tryon for not being more decisive and for not pulling up Le Samurai before the final fence.
She says she is not vindicated by earning a place on the five-member U.S. eventing team a year later.
"I had a tragic accident and unfortunately lost a horse that was dear to me,'' she said. "It's a mistake that I made. He stumbled, which happens a lot in my sport. My reaction was not as quick as it could have been.
"I don't think it's ever something you can put behind you. But it's something you can learn from.''
Now the Olympics beckon, for a second time. Just like Poggio II.
"This is certainly much more than I expected Poggio and I to achieve,'' she said. "I guess I never dared to dream I'd be able do it on this scale.''
Copyright 2008 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
Poggio II: A horse from humble beginnings
By The Associated Press
Posted Thursday, August 7, 2008 12:10 PM ET
The horse Amy Tryon will ride in Beijing wasn't groomed for the Olympics with medals and blue ribbons and aristocratic trappings.
Poggio II was strictly low rent, a pack horse discovered in a want ad.
"Yeah, it's a unique story,'' Tryon said, laughing over the phone from outside Manchester, England.
The 16-year-old bay gelding and Tryon are representing the United States in their second straight Olympic equestrian competition.
Tryon, a recently retired 38-year-old firefighter from Duvall, Wash., and Poggio are entered in eventing - three days of dressage, show jumping and cross-country.
They have been competing in England during weeks of tuneups before their Olympic test begins Saturday in Hong Kong. A severe tropical storm has hit the area. More rain and wind are forecast, although the competition is not expected to be affected.
Poggio, for all his pedestrian path to the Olympics, has grace and precision to spare, the only horse to qualify for every U.S. national team over the last six years.
He won an individual bronze medal at the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Germany and helped the U.S. equestrian team to a bronze medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics and gold at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Spain.
This horse has come a long, long way. A decade ago, he was lugging camping gear and other equipment up and down the Cascade Mountains. A classified ad in the newspaper brought Poggio and Tryon together.
"Poggio's definitely had some humble beginnings, to say the least,'' said Joanie Morris, spokeswoman for the U.S. Equestrian Federation. "I'd have to say he's the only pack horse to be in the Olympics. He's an anomaly, for sure. Not too many Olympic horses are found in the want ads.''
Tryon first began riding horses in competitions at age 8. She was a firefighter at the Eastside Fire and Rescue in suburban Seattle in 1997 when she saw an ad for a horse in the paper. It mentioned the horse was sired by Polynesian Sire, which she knew to be a particularly strong jumping horse.
Based on bloodlines alone, she and a friend bought Poggio for $2,500. A week later Tryon traded with her friend - Poggio for a horse Tryon had on her farm.
It was not love at first sight.
"He was in pretty sad shape,'' Tryon said. "His feet needed attention. He had been living in a paddock with a bunch of horses and was a bit chewed up. And his feet were not put on his body very straight. He had long hair that needed to be cut. He certainly wasn't a show horse.''
Poggio had a short and failed career in thoroughbred racing before becoming a pack horse. Tryon's challenge: Make Poggio a master of dressage - the disciplined display of natural movements often called "horse ballet'' - plus show jumping and cross-country racing.
Throughout exhaustive retraining, Poggio showed his inherent jumping ability. Within one year, he was the first horse Tryon rode in a world-class eventing competition. Three years later, they were world champions. Now they are back in the Olympics.
"He has very much stepped out of his skill level,'' Tryon said.
Tryon, who co-owns Poggio with Mike Hart, sees this as the horse's finale after a decade of transformation.
"I'm planning this to be his last big international competition. He certainly doesn't owe me anything,'' she said. ``What I want for him is to step away from competition when he is still healthy and happy.''
The giggles and enthusiasm in Tryon's voice show she's happy. She, too, has come a long, unconventional way.
At first, she wanted no part of a sport she thought was for the rich. Her mother was a school teacher in a Seattle suburb. For her first eventing competition, Tryon rode a borrowed pony.
Her mother helped her graduate in two years from Issaquah High School so Tryon could move at age 16 to the East Coast, more of an equestrian region than the Northwest. Five years later Tryon was back home in a career in firefighting that began in 1993 as a 21-year-old volunteer. She was hired full time two years later.
Tryon said she chose firefighting because she could work consecutive 24-hour shifts and then have three days to compete in equestrian.
"The riding is all great, but you have to learn how to make a living,'' she said. "It's a constant struggle financially to be in this sport.''
She retired as a firefighter two years ago so she could compete and devote herself to training horses. Her husband, Greg, is a battalion chief with Eastside Fire and Rescue. He's to join Tryon in Hong Kong, a trip that comes with his bosses' blessings.
"I keep telling him he can't get fired,'' she said, laughing. "He's the only one making money.''
Even at the highest levels of equestrian, funding is scarce. The U.S. Olympic Committee gives some money to the national equestrian federation, but the federation has seven sports to fund. This year, Tryon received $5,500. That was to cover training expenses, food and boarding for herself and Poggio, plus rental cars, lodging and meals for the trips to England, Hong Kong and elsewhere.
Tryon raised additional money to help defray those costs. She conducted training clinics for young riders around Seattle. She worked horse shows. She made cold calls to friends and strangers. Her mother produced a newsletter for fundraising.
On the eve of the Olympics, Tryon's still seeking contributions. But she has had trials beyond money.
Last summer, she was suspended from competition for two months by the international equestrian federation and fined about $2,500 after she finished a cross-country event in Kentucky on a horse injured from a stumble just before the last jump of a run.
But a federation tribunal cleared Tryon of career-threatening charges that she intentionally finished the ride knowing the horse was seriously injured. Le Samurai was euthanized because of a leg injury.
Horse enthusiasts from around the world criticized Tryon for not being more decisive and for not pulling up Le Samurai before the final fence.
She says she is not vindicated by earning a place on the five-member U.S. eventing team a year later.
"I had a tragic accident and unfortunately lost a horse that was dear to me,'' she said. "It's a mistake that I made. He stumbled, which happens a lot in my sport. My reaction was not as quick as it could have been.
"I don't think it's ever something you can put behind you. But it's something you can learn from.''
Now the Olympics beckon, for a second time. Just like Poggio II.
"This is certainly much more than I expected Poggio and I to achieve,'' she said. "I guess I never dared to dream I'd be able do it on this scale.''
Copyright 2008 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Final decision on homeschooling in CA!
I'm so glad so many impressive people came to the defense of homeschooling. Even the Superintendent of Public Instruction in CA was against that original ruling!
From the HSLDA E-lert Service...
Aug. 8 , 2008
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A Great Victory for California Homeschoolers
Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:
In a unanimous decision, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District today ruled that “California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education.”
Today’s decision stands in stark contrast to the opinion this same three-judge panel issued in February, which would have made California the only state in the union to outlaw home education had it remained in effect.
“It is unusual for an appellate court to grant a petition for rehearing as this court did in March,” said HSLDA Chairman Mike Farris, “but it is truly remarkable for a court to completely reverse its own earlier opinion. We thank you for your prayers and give God the glory for this great victory.”
When the court vacated its earlier decision on March 25, 2008, it invited interested organizations to file friend-of-the-court briefs. “I have never seen such an impressive array of people and organizations coming to the defense of homeschooling,” said Farris, who was one of the attorneys who argued the case on rehearing along with Alliance Defense Fund attorney Jeff Shafer, who represented the father. The father was also represented by Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation.
California’s three largest homeschool organizations, California Homeschool Network, Homeschool Association of California and Christian Home Education Association joined together in one brief to defend the right of all parents to homeschool. HSLDA, Family Protection Ministries and Focus on the Family also joined in a separate brief. Numerous other private organizations came to the defense of home education as did California’s governor, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction.
We are extremely grateful to all of the organizations who worked tirelessly to protect and preserve homeschooling freedom in California. We are also thankful for you, our members, for your prayers and support during this trying season.
The freedom to homeschool is a precious gift from God. But keeping it free requires vigilance and perseverance. We must continue to work together diligently to preserve this precious freedom in California and elsewhere.
Sincerely,
J. Michael Smith
HSLDA President
To read the full opinion click here. Below are excerpts from the opinion:
We will conclude that: (1) California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education; and (2) the statutory permission to home school may constitutionally be overridden in order to protect the safety of a child who has been declared dependent. [FN1: We use the terms “home school” and “home schooling” to refer to full-time education in the home by a parent or guardian who does not necessarily possess a teaching credential.]
...
Although the Legislature did not amend the statutory scheme so as to expressly permit home schooling, more recent enactments demonstrate an apparent acceptance by the Legislature of the proposition that home schooling is taking place in California, with home schools allowed as private schools. Recent statutes indicate that the Legislature is aware that some parents in California home school their children by declaring their homes to be private schools. Moreover, several statutory enactments indicate a legislative approval of home schooling, by exempting home schools from requirements otherwise applicable to private schools.
...
While the Legislature has never acted to expressly supersede Turner and Shinn, it has acted as though home schooling is, in fact, permitted in California.
...
While the legislative history of Education Code section 44237 is somewhat complicated, it confirms this interpretation, and also reflects the Legislature’s apparent intent to accommodate home schooling parents.
...
The most logical interpretation of subsequent legislative enactments and regulatory provisions supports the conclusion that a home school can, in fact, fall within the private school exception to the general compulsory education law.
...
We therefore conclude that home schools may constitute private schools.
...
While the interpretation of the private school exemption is ultimately an issue for the courts, we find it significant that education and enforcement officials at both the state and local levels agree that home schools may constitute private schools.
...
In short, the rule of Turner and Shinn has been discounted as a doctrinal anachronism, and clinging to such precedent would undermine a practice that has been, if not actively encouraged, at least acknowledged and accepted by officials and the public for many years.
From the HSLDA E-lert Service...
Aug. 8 , 2008
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A Great Victory for California Homeschoolers
Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:
In a unanimous decision, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District today ruled that “California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education.”
Today’s decision stands in stark contrast to the opinion this same three-judge panel issued in February, which would have made California the only state in the union to outlaw home education had it remained in effect.
“It is unusual for an appellate court to grant a petition for rehearing as this court did in March,” said HSLDA Chairman Mike Farris, “but it is truly remarkable for a court to completely reverse its own earlier opinion. We thank you for your prayers and give God the glory for this great victory.”
When the court vacated its earlier decision on March 25, 2008, it invited interested organizations to file friend-of-the-court briefs. “I have never seen such an impressive array of people and organizations coming to the defense of homeschooling,” said Farris, who was one of the attorneys who argued the case on rehearing along with Alliance Defense Fund attorney Jeff Shafer, who represented the father. The father was also represented by Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation.
California’s three largest homeschool organizations, California Homeschool Network, Homeschool Association of California and Christian Home Education Association joined together in one brief to defend the right of all parents to homeschool. HSLDA, Family Protection Ministries and Focus on the Family also joined in a separate brief. Numerous other private organizations came to the defense of home education as did California’s governor, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction.
We are extremely grateful to all of the organizations who worked tirelessly to protect and preserve homeschooling freedom in California. We are also thankful for you, our members, for your prayers and support during this trying season.
The freedom to homeschool is a precious gift from God. But keeping it free requires vigilance and perseverance. We must continue to work together diligently to preserve this precious freedom in California and elsewhere.
Sincerely,
J. Michael Smith
HSLDA President
To read the full opinion click here. Below are excerpts from the opinion:
We will conclude that: (1) California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education; and (2) the statutory permission to home school may constitutionally be overridden in order to protect the safety of a child who has been declared dependent. [FN1: We use the terms “home school” and “home schooling” to refer to full-time education in the home by a parent or guardian who does not necessarily possess a teaching credential.]
...
Although the Legislature did not amend the statutory scheme so as to expressly permit home schooling, more recent enactments demonstrate an apparent acceptance by the Legislature of the proposition that home schooling is taking place in California, with home schools allowed as private schools. Recent statutes indicate that the Legislature is aware that some parents in California home school their children by declaring their homes to be private schools. Moreover, several statutory enactments indicate a legislative approval of home schooling, by exempting home schools from requirements otherwise applicable to private schools.
...
While the Legislature has never acted to expressly supersede Turner and Shinn, it has acted as though home schooling is, in fact, permitted in California.
...
While the legislative history of Education Code section 44237 is somewhat complicated, it confirms this interpretation, and also reflects the Legislature’s apparent intent to accommodate home schooling parents.
...
The most logical interpretation of subsequent legislative enactments and regulatory provisions supports the conclusion that a home school can, in fact, fall within the private school exception to the general compulsory education law.
...
We therefore conclude that home schools may constitute private schools.
...
While the interpretation of the private school exemption is ultimately an issue for the courts, we find it significant that education and enforcement officials at both the state and local levels agree that home schools may constitute private schools.
...
In short, the rule of Turner and Shinn has been discounted as a doctrinal anachronism, and clinging to such precedent would undermine a practice that has been, if not actively encouraged, at least acknowledged and accepted by officials and the public for many years.
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