Speaking of charitable giving

I donated to catholicvote.org who produced this wonderful pro-life ad which NBC rejected (CWN) for the Super Bowl.

Overheard Conversations Dept.

Locale: Post Office

They need to give more back. I mean charities and taxes. They are keeping us poor.

I only agree that some rich ought to think more about charitable giving. It seems that some rich only think about that when they know it will be revealed as part of running for office or getting appointed to a public office.

I am a charitable giver because God expects it of me. It's all God's money in the first place.

Where I disgree but I don't take offense is that the person I overhead (perhaps not -- she was quite loud and proclaiming it to the public) is that a rich person making another dollar is taking a dollar out of a poor person's pocket.

The size of the economic pie is not fixed, and it grows with something called capital.

What is capital?

Capital is money (you knew that already...) being used to make more money. The other uses of money are consumption (i.e. what you put in your mouth -- goods and services for which you are the end user), taxes, and gifts.

Over and over again on talk radio, I hear (a) examples of basic economic illiteracy and (b) knowledgeable people complaining as I am now that without many more Americans understanding the difference between consumption and capital, we capitalists are doomed.

The New York Times also explains how Wall Street bonuses work

NYT: Getting Theirs Cuts Both Ways on Wall Street

If you’ve never worked on Wall Street, it is hard to wrap your head around the idea that a company that lost nearly $19 billion in a single year, as Citigroup did in 2008, could still pay its employees billions in bonuses. It is probably even harder to believe that some of those employees grumble about it.

Heroic Work by French Catholic priest

AP: Priest uncovering beginnings of Final Solution

KIEV, Ukraine – The Holocaust has a landscape engraved in the mind's eye: barbed-wire fences, gas chambers, furnaces.

Less known is the "Holocaust by Bullets," in which over 2 million Jews were gunned down in towns and villages across Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Their part in the Nazis' Final Solution has been under-researched, their bodies left unidentified in unmarked mass graves.

"Shoah," French filmmaker Claude Lanzmann's documentary, stands as the 20th century's epic visual record of the Holocaust. Now another Frenchman, a Catholic priest named Patrick Desbois, is filling in a different part of the picture.

Most perpetrators and victims are facing a higher form justice now. This story is an interesting contrast to the more widely publicized remarks of Bp Williamson blogged earlier.

Heart operation saved Ronaldo's football career

Heart operation saved Ronaldo's football career
Ronaldo had to have a heart operation to save his career, his mother Dolores Aveiro revealed in the interview for British tabloid newspaper the Sun.
Doctors diagnosed a racing heart when Cristiano was just fifteen. There were concerns Cristiano, may have had to abandon the footballing career because of the problem.
When the problem emerged Cristiano was a promising young player with Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon.Actual Fifa World Footballer of the Year had to go through demanding medical tests before doctors felt that is best bet to stay on the pitch and to operate to solve his irregular heart beat.Cristiano's mother told The Sun:
“His heart raced a lot when he wasn’t running.”
“The people in charge at Sporting alerted me and I went to Portugal where I had to sign some papers and authorise him being treated in hospital.”
“They used a sort of laser to cauterise the source of the problem. He was operated on in the morning and came out at the end of the afternoon.”
“Before we knew exactly what he had, I was worried because there was the possibility of him giving up playing football.”
“But the treatment went well and after some days he was back at training again.”
“Cristiano wasn’t very worried — he didn’t take the situation very seriously — but I got a big fright.”

Wall Street Bonuses

Wall Street bonuses are not greed and it reflects Obama's ignorance of
the capitalist system to call them so. It reflects in part a failure of
the advocates of capitalism to reinforce the bedrock concepts of
meritocracy and pay for performance. This is nothing new on Wall
Street.

Money began to be set aside for bonuses paid in December 2008 and
January 2009 starting in December 2007 a full 12 months ago. Money is
being set aside now for bonuses to be paid in 2010.

They reflect the uncertainty of the year to come -- will it be
profitable, unprofitable, or wipe out the firm? Bonuses are paid in any highly
competitive industry. Is the very idea of variable pay being attacked
here as "greed"?

The variability of bonuses reflects three factors: the overall economy
-- the growth/contraction of capital, the profit or loss of the firm,
and finally the individuals contribution to that enterprise. Poorly run
Wall Street firms were shut down or merged in sort a shotgun marriage.
Market forces are at work here.

Bonuses are also a legacy of days 30 and 40 years ago when there was a
mix of partners and non-partner employees, the partners were paid out
their annual profits and since many employees could not be made partners
they were compensated at the same time.

Finally, the taxes paid by these employees are also expected by local
and state governments. Taxes are withheld from them. They are part of
the economic fabric of New York City and State. You have the unusual
situation of the Attorney General of New York State Andrew Cuomo saying
the bonuses should NOT be paid and the New York State Comptroller
begging for the taxes that will be paid on those bonuses.

Bonuses in themselves are not greed but Wall Street's version of
incentive pay. Greed comes into the picture when they are excessive for
the results obtained by that employee at any level.

My feedback to Fox News

If you ever mention Amy Fisher -- immediately follow it with this fact: she was originally charged with the attempted murder of Mary Jo Buttafuco and took a plea deal for assault. She does not deserve any free publicity. She pointed a gun at the head of a human being and pulled the trigger. It is a miracle her victim did not die.

34-year-old Fisher is making a porno.

The Three Stooges

The Three Stooges are eternally part of the culture for people - especially kids - living in the New York Area in the 60's and 70's as the episodes filled up time on afternoon TV where there was really no programming. It took the Stooges out of obscurity and made them forever famous (but not wealthy or recognized when they were alive.)

YouTube has the fictionalized biography of the Three Stooges from Moe's viewpoint (not available on DVD/VHS) See also IMDB

My email to Rush Limbaugh

I support you Rush, citizen of the United States, against the President of the United States. He has singled you out rather than naming a Republican in elective office.

If words matter, I ask you to challenge Obama to a debate -- a real debate. Just the two of you and 2 cameras. Coin toss to go first. Then 15 mins./15/14/14/1/1 and it's done, and then repeat it as often as he opens up his mouth to complain about you. Of course he will not accept, but I think it is important to challenge him.

If he breaks a 220 year precedent and names a private citizen as his political target, then let him break precedent again and debate you.

100 feet away from the New York Times building, they treat these New Yorkers like people from Mars

It's always fascinating to read how fascinated the New York Times reporters are with expressions of religious faith. Here's the latest quaint dispatch from the Times on those Catholics.

New York Times: Bishops’ Reinstatement a Relief for Some Catholics

A Roman Catholic Mass was held Sunday in Midtown Manhattan that seemed to be from another time. The women covered their heads with delicate lace veils and the priest said the Mass in Latin with his back to the congregation.

Their missals, or booklets, were dated 1962, the year that the Second Vatican Council began ushering modernization and openness into the Catholic Church, changes that the worshipers at Sunday’s Mass reject.

Recommended Reading

News Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina) Evangelical worship attracts Hispanic Catholics

Behind its bland, warehouse-like exterior, Comunidad Cristiana Hosanna on Sunday morning is a feast for the senses.

Little girls in white robes and sequined headbands twirl as guitar, keyboard and timbales pound out salsa, merengue and American pop rhythms at rock-concert decibels. The crowd sings along with the robed chorus: "Levanto mis manos" -- "I raise my hands."

The trappings of the religion that dominates the Latin American culture in which these worshippers were raised -- the Roman Catholic rosaries and golden chalices -- give way to shouts and tambourines at this Pentecostal church in Southeast Raleigh. Congregants shake their hips and throw their heads back in praise for more than two hours.

There's quite a bit of this happening everywhere. Fortunately in my area, there are several Spanish speaking bishops, priests, deacons, and lay pastoral staff.

I problem I see but, not being a Spanish-speaker, am unable to contribute to the solution is the lack of formation in Latino immigrants. They are drawn not only by tradition but by community.

I wish I could say "faith" more than "tradition" but from my discussion with my Latino neighbors they really were never given the basics of the faith and anyone approaching them with Christian faith at their level is likely to "win" a convert, who may be a regular Mass-goer.

Saving New York's Catholic high schools by making them independent?

Newsday: 10 NY Catholic high schools to be independent

NEW YORK - Ten Catholic high schools in New York City and Westchester will become independently operating schools run by local boards of directors.

OK, I don't know the real reason for this. However, I don't think it is designed to break the power of the unions which represent the teachers at these schools.

As "independent", of course, there is no commitment to maintaining a Catholic identity and a Catholic character to the schools.

These schools were built with the donations of hundreds of thousands of Catholics in the pews over a century. Now they are to be "gifted" to lay local boards of directors.

Let's look at this in 10 years and see if these schools remain "Catholic" in any sense.

Total Awesome Catholic Pro-Life Ad

via Nation Review Online: Media Blog

NY Post, Charles Hurt: PREZ ZINGS GOP FOE IN A $TIMULATING TALK

(Obama to Congressional Republicans) "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done,"

If by "get things done" you mean giving Democrats a permanent electoral majority and transforming private enterprise into socialism, then count us out. I like private property and limited government.

The Democrats in control of the government will drive this country into a deeper recession with all this wasteful government spending. The fewer Republicans who sign on the better. When this whole thing blows up, let's have clarity who is responsible for it.

Also Byron York, National Review Online

More on SSPX:

Catholic Culture: Vatican Lifts Decree of Excommunication of SSPX Bishops

In a letter to SSPX members announcing the decree, Bishop Fellay described the Pope's decision to lift the excommunications as "unilateral, benevolent, and courageous."

Bishop Fellay has used the code word "unilateral" which will be interpreted as "we didn't retreat an inch, they surrendered unconditionally." Furthermore, the Vatican appears to have conceded the original 1988 excommunications were its own error and this error is being reversed now.

SSPX views and Vatican views on Dignitatis Humanae and Nostra Aetate remain irreconcilable.

New pictures from the pro-life procession on the feast of the Holy Innocents (Manhattan) in December and the March for Life in Washington DC.

The Holy Father is making a tough decision...

Bishop Richard Williamson is being reconciled to the Catholic Church. He was in schism by being ordained a bishop without the permission of the Pope in the Society of Pope St. Pius X.

Reuters: Pope rehabilitates Holocaust denier

This is the sort of the thing the Vatican ought to anticipate -- that Williamson has been speaking in public minimizing the Holocaust and endorsed the Protocols of the Elders of Zion -- and apart from the schism -- he would be required to repudiate those views.

There are few things that I consider beyond discussion and these are two of them. The Protocols are a ridiculous fiction originally targeted at Napoleon III and the French. (Wikipedia) and silly notion that a mere 300,000 Jews died at the hands of Nazi genocide. There seems to be no popular conspiracy theory that Bp Williamson doesn't believe.

I have a genuine concern on two levels when a person who not only holds these views privately but discusses them publicly. First, the pulpit of a Catholic bishop in fill communion with the Church is the wrong place to give to someone to propagate these views. Adding the authority of a bishop to these views helps the promoters of anti-Semitism spread these lies.

Secondly, and this is the one that gets the 20 point headlines. It is ammunition for everyone who sees that the Catholic Church is anti-Semitic. And this time, they have a point. The dismissal of these charges by the media people in the Vatican is insulting.

Asked about Williamson's comments, chief Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said they were "totally extraneous" to the lifting of the excommunications.

"This act regards the lifting of the excommunications, period," Lombardi told reporters.

"It has nothing to do with the personal opinions of a person, which are open to criticism, but are not pertinent to this decree."

Personal opinions matter and Father, you should have had a better response prepared to this issue. Those opinions cannot and should not be defended.

AP: Vatican criticizes Obama on abortion issue

Vatican officials said Saturday they were disappointed by President Barack Obama's decision to end a ban on federal funding for international groups that perform abortions or provide information on them.

Monsignor Rino Fisichella, who heads the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life, urged Obama to listen to all voices in America without "the arrogance of those who, being in power, believe they can decide of life and death."

Fisichella said in an interview published Saturday in Corriere della Sera that "if this is one of President Obama's first acts, I have to say, in all due respect, that we're heading quickly toward disappointment."

This was expected and I think, could have been expressed better. The mistake that the Monsignor makes is belief that this is Obama's arbitrary decision. I think the comment on arrogance and disappointment is properly directly towards the 18 million Catholic American voters who voted for Obama. Obama is merely acting on the mandate given to him by the electorate.

A helpful article on the 2008 Catholic vote in Our Sunday Visitor

More on FOCA

The bill does not contain a mandate that Catholic hospitals perform abortion against their mission or that doctors and nurses perform abortions against their consciences. However, the absence of a conscience clause allows regulations to be written to contain such mandates. They will have to be litigated and perhaps allow the courts to "write in" a conscience clause into law. More likely however, the courts will endorse the regulatory mandates because the conscience clause is not in FOCA.

The literal text of the law is not the only matter before us. We have to look at the inevitable consequences of FOCA passed without a conscience clause. Several state laws have such conscience clauses.

When Supreme Court in Roe v Wade overturned every state law it was not mandated that 50 million unborn human children would die as a consequence. They did not know that. We can know the consequences of FOCA passed without a conscience clause. We know that Catholic hospitals, doctors, and nurses will be forced to perform abortions.

To your point, Alexander, if a conscience clause is not required for Catholic hospitals doctors, and nurses to remain free to choose not to perform abortions, why is there such an objection by abortion advocates to its inclusion?

Another FOCA rebuttal

Will FOCA"force taxpayers to pay for abortions" and "force Catholic Hospitals to perform abortions or be shut down?"

The pro-abortion claims this is

misleading.

While the federal government is currently restricted from directly funding abortions, several states directly fund abortions. FOCA would repeal the Hyde Amendment which implements this restriction. http://www.nchla.org/datasource/ifactsheets/4FSHydeAm22a.08.pdf

So yes, with the Hyde Amendment repealed, "taxpayers would be forced to pay for abortions" as they now do in 17 states.

The legislation lacks a provision for hospitals, doctors, nurses, and pharmacies to choose to not abort the unborn -- a conscience clause. This allows abortion advocates to later litigate a mandate to provide "comprehensive health services" (i.e. abortion) on a so-called non-discriminatory basis.

"Freedom of Choice" is Orwellian in eliminating the freedom of health care providers to choose not to kill the unborn.

So yes, with FOCA, without a conscience clause, Catholic hospitals will be forced to shut down. (They will not perform abortions.)

Snopes and FOCA: Correcting an error

http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/choice.asp

The comment on that if FOCA is passed:

"Partial birth abortions would be legal and have no limitations."

is correct and the rebuttal is incorrect.

The definition of "health" in the context of abortion legislation and litigation needs to be explained to the reader:

"Health" is a not a medically or juridically defined term. It is self-determined and not subject to any review or any advocacy for the unborn child. This was mandated by Doe v. Bolton 410 U.S. 179 (1973), another Supreme Court decision. The psychological stress associated with any pregnancy, planned or unplanned, meets the low standard for "risk to the health of the mother" The practical consequence of this that allowing a law to be enacted that has a "risk to the health of the mother" exception is essentially permitting an abortion for any reason or no reason. Laws with a "health of the mother" restriction have not, do not, and will not restrict abortion.

FOCA will remove the existing restriction on partial birth abortion.

So nice, they said it twice. I don't get the "12 more balls" reference
Washington Post: Obama takes oath again

After a flawless recitation, Roberts smiled and said, "Congratulations,
again."

"Thank you, sir," Obama replied, to a smattering of applause.

"All right," Obama said. "The bad news for the pool is there's 12 more balls."

Now, if only we could get a look at the original birth certificate on file in Hawaii. I would be satisfied.

Oh! Inaugural Balls. Never Mind....

Pardon Me

These are likely (and I hope Bush grants them)
Alberto Gonzales, Scooter Libby, Ignacio Ramos, Jose Compean

and not for Ted Stevens and Duke Cunningham.

Fox 5:Flight 1549 Wreckage Becomes Tourist Attraction

The wreckage of the US Airways Flight that went down in the Hudson River has become something of a tourist attraction. Fox 5's Lisa Evers talked to people who couldn't get over the miracle of all 155 people on board surviving the crash.

It is finally out of the Hudson River so life on the West Side can get back to normal. Reporters stand out in the cold and say stuff like "Here, 24 hours ago..." -- and there's nothing to see there now. It's a report that could have been given in the cozy studio, but you need to have video showing that the reporter was there. Perhaps there will be a plaque place on the riverfront to memorialize the event.

NRO Corner: Jim Boulet has died

Jim Boulet was the head of English First. Where I live is the most multicultural census tract in the United States. Americans of European descent are now a minority here, so I have always followed the groups which support English as the primary language for creating a cultural unity and identity for America.

I know many more immigrants (legal and illegal) than the average New Yorker and that's saying a lot. They love the opportunity and quality of life here. On the down side they also see a huge opportunity in scamming the government for benefits, even some which they might legitimately qualify for.

One thing for certain is that the ability to read and write English is the critical skill to get employment above the most menial level. I hope the children raised in my neighborhood see it as their home and not merely an address.

Lincoln appears in an Obama poster

I put my avatar through the Obama poster maker

You can try it out here

Madoff was a pure Ponzi scheme

It had been expected that Madoff in order to evade the auditors and SEC maintained some sort of real trading operation so that the profitable trades could be pointed to a evidence this was not a Ponzi scheme.

It turns out the Madoff did not attempt to cover his tracks in this way. A Ponzi scheme is a fraud where the early investors make a profit on their investment -- their reported success is the fuel for subsequent investors and in the process of this the promoter withdraws a large part of the investment.

What's necessary for the scheme to work is some plausible reason why the scheme:

will work

has up to now been undiscovered

is limited and not everyone can participate

The first Ponzi scheme was based on international money orders denominated in foreign currecy.

Madoff claimed that he could make money in the stock market with something called a "split strike conversion" (you can google that term). As everyone else has written this is a strategy that generates small returns and has some protection if the market dives -- it's not a strategy that generates consistently profits as Madoff subscribed.

If this was a true Ponzi scheme, why did all his employees need to go to work for? Were they all duped into thinking they were making decisions what to buy and sell with the investors capital?

Diego Maradona:"I know that Lionel Messi is the best player in the world"

Diego Maradona:"I know that Lionel Messi is the best player in the world"

Argentinian national selector charismatic Diego Armando Maradona marked the regulations for FIFA's World player of the year vote as "stupid" on friday after he was prohibited from selecting Lionel Messi.
Maradona told reporters"I had to choose somebody else, knowing that Lionel Messi is the best player in the world,""Whoever thought that up is stupid," adding that he had voted for Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo instead.
Prestigious prize for the best player in 2008,received Cristiano Ronaldo.Ronaldo received 935 votes in a worldwide poll of national team captains and coaches,Lionel Messi finished second 678 points, Fernando Torres was third he collected 203 points.Rules, however rules out that Captain teams and coaches may not vote for the players from their own country.

UK Telegraph: Zimbabwe introduces $100 trillion banknote Zimbabwe's central bank will introduce a $100 trillion Zimbabwean banknote, worth about US $33 on the black market, to try to ease desperate cash shortages, state-run media said on Friday. This country was once known as Southern Rhodesia after Cecil Rhodes. The tragedy unfolding in this country almost makes one doubt that democracy can be practiced everywhere and for all. I doubt that any elections in this country were ever free.

We now owe the Weimar Republic an apology. Their inflation was nothing compared to this.

"I'm perfectly happy to say I'm a Roman Catholic and that doesn't mean I'm a nutter."

To even form such a statement tells you that something has gone terribly wrong.

This is from

UK Telegraph: Christians are becoming social pariahs in Britain, claims Jeremy Vine

The Radio 2 host said that he feels unable to talk about his faith on his show because he fears how people would react.

He argues that society has become increasingly intolerant of the freedom to express religious views.

"You can't express views that were common currency 30 or 40 years ago," he said.

"Arguably, the parameters of what you might call 'right thinking' are probably closing.

"Sadly, along with that has come the fact that it's almost socially unacceptable to say you believe in God."

His comments follow the claim from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, that Britain is an "unfriendly" place for religious people to live.

We weren't promised a world that would be friendly to us. In fact we were told to expect that the world would reject Christ and Christians. 2 Timothy 3:10 -- Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. I don't shout to the world "Bring it on!" -- but "Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim, Till all the world adore His sacred Name."

We can no longer take for granted that the world and in particular the United States is aligned with Christianity. Think back to the year I was born -- the phrase "under God" was officially added to the Pledge of Allegiance and the national motto proclaimed "In God We Trust" in 1956. It would be unthinkable today. Pushing religion out of public life and to the margins of the culture is something to be resisted and not acquiesced to.

History Channel, complaint number 38

All the content from History Channel International is gone -- it redirects to the other web site. Worse yet. The feedback page to let them know of the problem returns an error when attempting to send a message to them.

Cardinal Jose
Policarpo warns Catholic women

LISBON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Portugal's Cardinal Jose
Policarpo has warned young women
in the predominantly Catholic
nation against marrying Muslims.
"The advice that I
give to young Portuguese girls is -- be
careful with relationships, think twice about
marrying Muslims,"
the patriarch of Lisbon said.
"It is getting into a pile of
troubles, that not even Allah
knows where would end."

Policarpo made the
statement at a gathering on Tuesday
evening in a well-known casino that
organizes meetings of public
figures with paying guests. His comments were repeated
on
several television stations on Wednesday.

There are about 40,000 Muslims
in Portugal, which like
neighboring Spain was once ruled by Muslims from north
Africa,
where many Muslim immigrants come from.
The country's biggest Islamic
organization said it was upset
by the comments.

"We were in a way hurt by the
choice of words by the
patriarch of Lisbon about our community and about the
dialogue
that we have sought with all religious denominations, and
especially
with the Christian religions," the Islamic Community
of Lisbon said in a statement.

The Vatican discourages Catholic women from marrying Muslims
and Policarpo
echoed that position in blunt terms.
"I know that if a young European
of Christian background
marries a Muslim, as soon as they go to his country,
they'll be
subject to the regime of Muslim women," Policarpo said.
"Just
imagine it."
Policarpo, a leading cardinal who was tipped as a contender
in the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict, also said
dialogue with Muslims
was not easy in Portugal.
"It is only possible to dialogue with those who want
to have
dialogue, for example with our Muslim brothers
dialogue is very
difficult," he said.

Patrick McGoohan has died

I loved this actor -- from his Disney run as the Scarecrow (1963, I'm 9) to Secret Agent to the Prisioner, to his guest star roles in Columbo... (1990's, I am 40)

More about him on IMDB

Cristiano Ronaldo is World Footballer of the Year

Cristiano Ronaldo is World Footballer of the Year
Cristiano Ronaldo was named FIFA World Footballer of the Year for 2008 at the FIFA Gala in Zurich.Ronaldo, who's also bearer of the esteemed award Ballon d'Or for the European Footballer of the Year, beat rivals like Kaka (Brazil 2007 winner), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Fernando Torres (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).
After Ronaldo received FIFA World Footballer award from Pele at the FIFA Gala in Zurich he stated:"It's an overwhelming moment in my career and I'd like to dedicate this award to my family, friends and colleagues,"

All FIFA World Players:
1991: Lothar Matthäus (Nem)
1992: Marco van Basten (Niz)
1993: Roberto Baggio (Ita)
1994: Romario (Bra)
1995: George Weah (Libr)
1996: Ronaldo (Bra)
1997: Ronaldo (Bra)
1998: Zinedine Zidane (Fra)
1999: Rivaldo (Bra)
2000: Zinedine Zidane (Fra)
2001: Luis Figo (Por)
2002: Ronaldo (Bra)
2003: Zinedine Zidane (Fra)
2004: Ronaldinho (Bra)
2005: Ronaldinho (Bra)
2006: Fabio Cannavaro (Ita)
2007: Kaka (Bra)
2008: Cristiano Ronaldo (Por)

Fr Neuhaus Tribute

From "Catholic Matters" (p.226)

Monday, April 18. At the moment, at this very moment of writing, my dominant thought and feeling is far from edifying. This wretched laptop computer lost all 2,000 words of today's dispatch, and the technological wizards of EWTN have not been able to retrieve them.

As John Calvin is said to have said upon delivering a book to the printer, "It is very much like dropping a beau­tiful rose down a very deep well, never to be heard of again." That was centuries ago, and he had the satisfaction of knowing that determined folk would be able to find a copy. Not so in this age of digital revolution, and digital frustration. But enough. By an act of near-heroic self­discipline, I banish distracting outrage and set about reconstructing at least a digest of what seems worthy of re­port.

A few hours ago, the Sistine Chapel was hermetically sealed, or as hermetically sealed as anything can be in a world of high-tech communications, as a journalist de­scribed the world upon the laying of the first transatlantic telegraphic cable in 1858 or thereabouts. There is some­thing deliciously satisfying in watching the more than 6,000 reporters accredited to these events, along with their hundreds of satellite trucks and anchorpersons at the ready, being forced to watch a stovepipe for a puff of smoke.

If it ain't random, it ain't Darwin

UK Spectator, Matt Ridley: The natural order of things

NRO Corner, Jim Manzi: Unnatural Evolution

My comment (which echoes Jim's)

Matt left out a critical word -- "random" in "nudging forward descent with modification." I don't and I don't know of any engineer I know who works with random modification -- rather is it is intelligently directly modification.

First Things: Born Toward Dying
By Richard John Neuhaus (February 2000)

We are born to die. Not that death is the purpose of our being born, but we are born toward death, and in each of our lives the work of dying is already underway. The work of dying well is, in largest part, the work of living well. Most of us are at ease in discussing what makes for a good life, but we typically become tongue-tied and nervous when the discussion turns to a good death. As children of a culture radically, even religiously, devoted to youth and health, many find it incomprehensible, indeed offensive, that the word “good” should in any way be associated with death. Death, it is thought, is an unmitigated evil, the very antithesis of all that is good....

You may have seen this linked elsewhere. I am happy to share it with you again.

A Catholic Bernie Madoff? Not quite

Bloomberg: Ponzi Scheme Targeted Catholics, Priests, U.S. Says

U.S. prosecutors and market regulators accused a Buffalo, New York-area investment adviser of operating a Ponzi scheme that targeted Catholics, including priests.

Richard Piccoli, 82, was charged with mail fraud at federal court in Buffalo, U.S. Attorney Terrance Flynn said today in a statement. Piccoli placed advertisements in Catholic newspapers across the country while raising at least $17 million since 2004, according to the statement.

I wish that priests, religious orders, etc. all sought the advice of independent and skeptical financial advisers and invest in insured institutions rather than hedge funds or unregistered fund managers. Mathematically, Madoff's fraud was about 3,000 times greater.

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus has passed away.

Facebook: Father Richard J. Neuhaus, RIP's Wall (my post there)

Remember this priest when you recall the great priests you have known. I met him only once in person and thanked him for his work in First Things but I have read the Naked Public Square, Death on a Friday Afternoon, and Catholic Matters, and tried to see each of his appearances on EWTN. He was holy, smart, funny, and inspiration to all of us who want to proclaim that Jesus is Lord to a world growing ever more hostile to that good news.

Please read some of the other tributes there and at the official memorial site.

Is this a Catholic prayer?

Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, offered the following prayer at opening session of the House of Representatives:

Dear friends, let us remind ourselves in this special place, on this special day, that we are in the presence of God.

Lord, we praise You at this historic moment. You are the loving Father of us all, the merciful, the compassionate, the source of all wisdom, the giver of all gifts.

We have so much to thank You for, dear God -- for our lives, our families, for our freedom and our opportunities, for our Nation and for the historic choice of leadership it has just made and, indeed, for the age-old values that are still enshrined in our Constitution and in our hearts.

Sustain the Members of the 111th Congress in courage and in confidence as they face the daunting needs of this special time. Challenge them, Lord, not to forget the hungry and the homeless, the unborn and the immigrant, those without access to good education or decent health care, and those many men and women caught in a cycle of poverty from which they cannot escape without our help.

Let our Representatives be builders of a better world--a world without war or violence, without oppression or corruption--builders of a new world whose foundations are human dignity, the values of family life and respect for the laws of nature.

Lord, we pray: Make us always proud of those we have chosen to lead us so that, with their leadership and Your loving care, You may always be proud of us and of these United States of America. Amen.

I had 500 chars in make a comment on the over at Catholic Culture

(1) "...the merciful, the compassionate" is frankly, a typical Muslim invocation of the name of the One-God-who-is-not-the-Holy-Trinity.

(2) The jump from the Constitution which doesn't mention the role Congress in remembering the hungry and the homeless is breathtaking. Charitable giving in Catholic experience has always been a matter of private choice and not the government's mandate.

(3) "Lord..make us proud" better spoken as "Lord...make us humble -- and always be in awe of You"

Cristiano Ronaldo Ferrari crash

Cristiano Ronaldo escaped uninjured yesterday after crashing his Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano.During his way to training, Ronaldo's car hit a roadside barrier inside a tunnel and bounded off a wall.A witness stated Cristiano walked away from the wreck with no serious injurys. “It is amazing he got out of it without a scratch,”
Edwin van der Sar Manchester United's goalie, was following in his Bentley at the time of the wreck but wasn't involved with the collision.

Cristiano Ronaldo's wrecked Ferarri pictures:

Ronaldo drove home him self in a Bentley Continental after training ended.

Three atheists and an agnostic bus: Ariane Sherine, Richard Dawkins and Polly Toynbee. (Photo: Leon Neal/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

We have 2,000 years of experience with our version of the "Good News"

This campaign is as lame as those of Julian the Apostate and the French revolutionaries such as Robespierre. At least they were trying to create a virtuous society. When the Marquis de Sade and Nietzsche arrived they were both anti-God and anti-morality as well (at least as Christians understood conscience and the moral obligations among all people). The ideological descendants of the latter two have launched their very own propaganda fide.

New York Times: The Atheist Bus Drove In on the Web
and Atheists Send a Message, on 800 British Buses

...And then she thought, how about putting some atheist messages on the bus, as a corrective to the religious ones?

And so were planted the seeds of the Atheist Bus Campaign, an effort to disseminate a godless message to the greater public. When the organizers announced the effort in October, they said they hoped to raise a modest $8,000 or so.

But something seized people’s imagination. Supported by the scientist and author Richard Dawkins, the philosopher A. C. Grayling and the British Humanist Association, among others, the campaign raised nearly $150,000 in four days. Now it has more than $200,000, and on Tuesday it unveiled its advertisements on 800 buses across Britain.

“There’s probably no God,” the advertisements say. “Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”

I believe in the free expression of religion, so let them even say "There is no God." and let there be a good exchange of views about the meaning of life and all those transcendent questions and see which version of the "Good News" is going to win the hearts and minds of the world.

Fox News New York:An unholy theft happened in Brooklyn.

Officials of the Diocese of Brooklyn said someone stole the Social Security number and birth date of its bishop and used the information to apply for credit cards.

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio's credit card company called to notify the cleric that someone was trying to open a new account in his name sometime during the Christmas holidays. Diocese spokesman the Rev. Kieran Harrington said the bishop called police.

Harrington says the bishop was lucky because no money was taken and no cards were actually obtained.

I am entirely in sympathy with the bishop. My name is rather common, and along the way linked in some databases to some deadbeats, so I get someone else's collection notices often.

It will be interesting to see how much schadenfreude it engenders on the net.

Cristiano Ronaldo New Year's holidays

Cristiano Ronaldo New Year's holidays
Sir Alex Ferguson allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to spent the New Year's holidays at home on Madeira with family and friends,and to recharge his batteries before Premier League encounter with Chelsea on Jan 11.
Ronaldo recently had a series of confrontations with opponents(Middlesbrough’s Emanuel Pogatetz, Stoke City Andy Wilkinson and Tottenham’s Michael Dawson),but the short break and a change of environment idea represents a routine at Old Trafford from which the Cristiano might benefit.In the meantime, Cristiano is in the running for the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year. On Jan. 12 winner will be announced at the Zurich Opera House.Some of thenominees to the FIFA World Player 2008 Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Lionel Messi, Fernando Torres and Xavi Hernandez......

A false dichotomy

As I get up to speed with the other Catholic bloggers in 2009, I will mention a few blogs I have read and some comments I have posted.

Unam Sanctam presented what I thought was a false dichotomy.

It is common enough to lay out here and I also have some space to explain where I am in the middle of this.

On one hand, there's Catholic Monarchism -- from Constantine to Blessed Charles I, Emperor of Austria. This is the ideal government is one that it Catholic from the top down and able to establish the Catholic Church as a state religion, and to encumber or even suppress the spread and practice of non-Catholic religions. When it comes to papal observations I take the insights of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict VI over that of Pope Pius IV who, in office from 1559 to 1565, would know nothing but monarchy. Excessive zeal -- seeking a short cut to establishing the Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven -- is its driving force.

On the other hand, there is spiritual sloth -- Indifferentism, Syncretism, false Ecumenism -- it has many names. I don't think it's important to make a major argument against this now, just identify it.

There's a big middle in the middle of the two. When I am, I am a big believer in the principle of subsidiarity and accountability. Small, visible local charities -- where people can give up all three: time, talent, and treasure. Uncoupling it all -- creates two evils: powerful politicians who control the flow of other people's money and a class of people becoming dependent on the government.

I am likely the first (and perhaps only) blogger to declare admiration for both Dorothy Day and for Cardinal Spellman. In many ways, the inability for these two to work out some accommodation is the legacy we have contend with today.

The sloth aspect of it comes in when you believe that you need to eliminate war, poverty, economic instability, and deadly disease before you can share the gospel. Those four, you might recognize as the Four Horsemen of Rev 6. The right sort of balance between the corporal works and spiritual works of mercy is "DOMINUS JESUS" written by Pope Benedict when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Catholic League: Gays Vandalize San Francisco Church

So this is the new tolerance.

The Catholic League thinks a share of the blame for this outrage goes to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for ignoring the routine insults the Catholic Church has in the public life of San Francisco.

When vandalism like this happens, there's a tendency to hush it up, lest others get ideas of their own and Churches get targeted more frequently.

Best article I have read on the Gaza War so far

Altantic. Robert D. Kaplan: Iran's Postmodern Beast in Gaza

To start with, Hamas does not have to win this war. It can lose and still win. As long as no other political group can replace it in power, even as some of its diehards can continue to lob missiles, however ineffectually, into Israel, it achieves a moral victory of sorts. Moreover, if Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement tries to replace Hamas in power, Fatah will forever be tagged with the label of Israeli stooge, and in the eyes of Palestinians will have little moral legitimacy. Israel’s dilemma is that it is not fighting a state but an ideology, the postmodern glue that holds together Greater Iran.

It's a power vacuum that something other than Hamas has to fill when its over.

Update: Caroline Kennedy -- adding 2 items:

Princess avoided the routine financial disclosure required by NYC employees. Even the people who worked under her filed the disclosure but she got a pass. And the excuse undermines her so-called qualifications -- she had no influence on policy and priorities at the city Department of Education.

A personal observation from me -- who waits until they are 51 to decide, getting appointed to the Senate is what I really have wanted to do all my life, and, I haven't prepared a resume that would get me elected to the New York City Council?

Today's extreme search is "Catholic urine"

Google news search for "catholic urine"

As you might expect the usual suspects are going into their silly happy dance over a report appearing in L'Osservatore Romano that found a connection between the urine of female consumers of oral contraceptives.

One source gave it the absurd headline:
Fairfax Digital (Australia): Pill link to infertile men: Pope

The pill "has for some years had devastating effects on the environment by releasing tonnes of hormones into nature" through female urine, said Pedro Jose Maria Simon Castellvi, president of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, in the report.

A more local account is from Fox which quotes AFP which quotes L'Osservatore Romano which doesn't have online text.

The contraceptive pill is polluting the environment and is in part responsible for male infertility, a report in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said Saturday.

The pill "has for some years had devastating effects on the environment by releasing tonnes of hormones into nature" through female urine, said Pedro Jose Maria Simon Castellvi, president of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, in the report.

"We have sufficient evidence to state that a non-negligible cause of male infertility in the West is the environmental pollution caused by the pill," he said, without elaborating further.

"We are faced with a clear anti-environmental effect which demands more explanation on the part of the manufacturers," added Castellvi.

I don't think they are referring to a direct ingestion on the urine but to the urine going through the sewers and then somehow remaining biologically active in the next loop through the food chain.

I don't think that that's a significant source. The real mother lode of estrogen is in additives they give to animals to fatten them or accelerate growth. I think the greens generally own that issue.

The bigger problem is not impotence or instability but a whole set of cultural signals and economic disincentives given to women not to marry and to raise children.

It's not an exclusively Catholic concern but natural law issue that a family is not only the incubator for children but for the whole continuity of the society from which the mother and father originate, hope for the future, and economic security for the people living beyond the years where they can work.

The future, as always, belongs to families.

Consider Italy, it ranks 204 out of 220 countries (and other regions) with 1.3 children born to each woman of child-bearing age. In other words, today there is 1 grandchild for every 3 grandparents -- in two generations, there will be only 1 Italian for every 4 Italians now of child-bearing age. Self-genocide.

Update

Clearly, the science behind oral contraceptives causing male fertility is not rock solid but rather wild speculation. I think it was imprudent for LOR to print it -- if only to stop the anti-Catholics from again using the Vatican a pinata as examiner.com does here:

Those Roman Catholics are at it again. It seems they will stop at nothing to stop the production and use of contraceptives.

Port Authority Police stop shoe thrower

I knew there would be copycat shoe throwing incidents. This one happened just after the Bush visit to Iraq -- on December 17, 2008.

New York Times: Say Whatever You Want, but No Throwing Shoes

The target was the chairman of the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The attempted thrower was complaining about the proposed fare increase.

It's not funny any more.

Bernie Madoff. Was it good for the Jews?
Rabbi Marc Gellman lets us know

Newsweek: Letter To Madoff. Measuring the toll of the disgraced financier.

Dear Bernie Madoff:

I don't think you know what you have done.

Life inevitably inflicts upon us different kinds of wounds. Very few people can live connected lives and not occasionally fail those who depend upon them and trust them. However, these are failures not betrayals. They come from trying to do the right thing and not being able to do it. A betrayal is different than a failure. A betrayal is an intentional wounding. It is born of cruelty, not ignorance. Most of us know of failures and betrayals. What you have done, however, is to radically expand the scope and viciousness of betrayal. You betrayed not just your friends, but your closest friends. You betrayed the trust of those who entrusted you with everything they had saved. You betrayed charities whose good works you have extinguished in an afternoon. These betrayals are epic in their scope and dazzling in their utter lack of remorse or responsibility. There must be some new word invented to describe the way you have redefined betrayal. The Bible calls such things a toevah, "an abomination". It means an act so alien to our values and our natures that it cannot be understood or explained. You have committed an abomination. This is what you have done.

I will writing a little later about how the Madoff scandal went undetected in a technical sense, but here is an excellent statement of outrage for a start.

The Madoff scandal taints everyone (including me) who works on Wall Street where there needs to be a certain degree of trust among participants in the securities industry.

Reading List: The Catholic Thing: Three Clergyman, Robert Royal

Last week, three Christian clergymen were featured in the pre-Christmas news, and how they were treated tells us a good bit about where we have gotten to in our public ethos – and even our public etiquette.

A good summary of the three Christmas messages. The article lacked links which I have added here:

Rick Warren (no transcript)

Rowan Williams Christmas Sermon

Pope Benedict Christmas Message

I added as a comment there that Rowan Williams is again obsessed with power (his word is "authority" but he means power), and with the redistribution of wealth.

"Catholic" is only an ethnic identity in New York State

"Catholic" may mean several things in New York State:

My genetic background is a combination of Irish, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, etc.

My ancestors were Catholic.

My parents were Catholic.

I think I was baptized Catholic.

If I were forced to declare some closest religious affiliation, it would be Catholic.

(and finally) I believe and profess all that the Holy Catholic Church teaches, believes and proclaims to be revealed by God.

Yes, there are many CINOS -- Catholics in name only. In politics here, it is simply the litmus test to getting any funding to run for office.

There's an absurd cynicism where it comes to party politics in New York -- the "Catholic" label applies not to real public policy positions which align with the teachings of the Catholic Church (i.e. abortion, same sex marriage, death penalty) but with the voters ethnic identity.

The New York Times since it is discussing Republicans and Catholics gives it the crude name of tribalism.

New York Times: What if Paterson Defies Conventional Wisdom?

“That’s a white Catholic ticket,” said one person who has ties to the governor’s political team, and who requested anonymity for fear of losing those ties. “And it’s white Catholics upstate they are going to lose.”

According to the tribal logic of New York politics, Mr. Paterson can expect strong support in New York City, among black voters and from staunch Democrats. Ms. Kennedy, a white Catholic, could help in the battleground suburbs of Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. But the Democratic ticket already includes Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, who is Catholic and already broadly popular in those places.

I think Rudy can run and win the governor's office in 2010. I pray for his conversion.

The Deacon's Bench: Catholic teacher loses job for marrying without annulment

I side with the school on this one. During the time I was contributing on a daily basis to this blog I covered the story of Michelle McCusker fired for refusing to get married after getting pregnant in defiance of the school's teacher's code of conduct to live according to Catholic teaching. The ACLU took up the case, I guess the ACLU lost because they last updated the case status in 2006.

Denise Richards is wearing a cross

I though I'd continue one of the unique and odd features of this blog and post photos of celebrities wearing the cross. Our first subject is Denise Richards appearing in the New York Post Page Six which actually appeared on page 11.

Christian Post: Malaysia Bans Catholic Paper for Use of 'Allah'

The Malaysian government has put a stop to a Catholic newspaper over the use of the word “Allah” in its Malay-language edition, the paper’s editor reported Thursday.

Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of The Herald weekly newspaper, said the government ordered the Malay edition to stop running until courts resolve a ban on the paper’s use of “Allah” to refer to God, according to the news site Malaysiakini.com.

“The prohibition amounts to persecution,” Andrew told The Associated Press. “It curtails our freedom of expression and diminishes our rights as citizens…. We are perplexed and we do not think that the prohibition is on solid legal ground.”

Malaysia has a Muslim-majority. It often, with Turkey, is near the top of the lists of Muslim-dominated countries which claim to have a tolerance of non-Islam religions. This action doesn't seem to be an expression of that.

"Allah" is not a name but the generic word for God which is an Arabic word which predates the prophet Mohammad. Its use by a Catholic newspaper is not blasphemous.

Catholic Google

I just noticed a new front-end for filtering Google search results.

Here is the search for "Madonna" on catholicgoogle.com

Here is the search for "Madonna" on google.com. Try it.

I suspect it is going to be shut down shortly or renamed as it seems to be violation of Google's trademark, but I am not a lawyer.

quo vide techcrunch.com

Kathy Griffin is vulgar, but is she funny?

Matt Drudge has this thing for CNN, so it makes sense that he would shine the spotlight on this

New York Post: HAPPY #*%! NEW YEAR TO YOU, TOO!
COMIC KATHY LASHES OUT AT HECKLER ON CNN

Comedienne Kathy Griffin may be doomed to life on CNN's S-list after answering a heckler with a shrieking, vulgar tirade during the network's live New Year's Eve broadcast.

"Screw you," she told the heckler. "Why don't you get a job, buddy? You know what? I don't go to your job and knock the d- - - out of your mouth."

Whoever greenlighted Griffin for this gig is probably looking for a new job as well.

Well, it's a case of justice delayed here as people may recall that Griffin expressed some anti-religious biogtry in accepting an award,as the
Catholic League reported

On September 8 [2007], at the 59th Annual Creative Arts Emmy Awards, comedian Kathy Griffin won Outstanding Reality Program for her Bravo show, “My Life on the D-List.” In her acceptance speech, Griffin said, “Suck it, Jesus, this award is my God now.” Fox will televise the Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 16 from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

I know, I know, her popularity is going to increase among Bravo's audience for this. It is the cult of celebrity, after all.

St. Patrick's Cathedral and evangelization

This year I again was a volunteer guide to explain the meaning of the nativity scene of St. Patrick's Cathedral with the Franciscan friars and sisters of the Renewal.

There were many ordinary questions but the memorable one came from a young boy who asked is sort of a repetition -- "Is this God's house?", "Where is God?", "Where can I see him?". I have answered this question in another form from adults, but I have about 30 seconds to explain it to an 8-year old:

God is everywhere so the whole universe is God's house.

In a special way, God is here in the cathedral, the whole cathedral is pictures of God and God's holy people.

Inside the cathedral, there's a special place where God is. It's called a tabernacle, it's a gold box next to a big candle to tell us God is inside.

Jesus held up bread and said "This is my body" -- changing the bread into his body. When the priest here does that, some of the people eat the body of Christ and some goes back into the tabernacle, the gold box, and people pray to Jesus before it.

His mother understood and hopefully in her own way she can help him understand.