January 2005 Archives

Catholic Light reader David B. says there is no reference to abortion in the Constitution. I don't think he's looking closely enough. You see...

...the Third Amendment to the Constitution forbids the quartering of soldiers in private homes...

...that right was used to legalize contraception in Griswold vs. Connecticut...

...and Griswold was a major precedent for finding the right to an abortion.

From no quartering soldiers, to allowing baby repellants, to killing eight-months-gestated babies while they're still in the birth canal. What part about that can't you follow, David? Don't tell me you're not getting it. Maybe you could read this class summary and it will make it clearer.

The Iraqi elections are over, and by all accounts they have been successful: fewer murders than expected, and millions of people showed up, including many Sunnis (though personally I don't care if ex-oppressors get all pouty and decide not to play.) The winners will then build a new Iraqi constitution, which will pave the way for a permanent government later this year.

Meanwhile, I look forward to hearing from the Democrats who asserted that "the security situation" precluded Iraq from having a fair election. They were to see an additional "miserable failure" they could hang around the Bush administration's neck. They should rehearse a few phrases for the news shows tomorrow morning, such as, "I'm glad I'm wrong," "Boy, those dark-skinned people can really surprise ya sometimes!" or "Maybe the president is onto something with this 'democracy' thing."

The left-wing blogs, usually a leading indicator of the next crackpot party line the leading Dems are about to take, have already started moving the goalpost: "This Election is simply, in my estimation, an exercise in pretty pictures" (Daily Kos). Or this choice quote from the Democratic Underground: "I can't believe the Iraqis are buying into this 'democracy' bulls---."

Given the intelligence, wit, and sensitivity of Catholic Light readers, I don't need to point out the high irony of people calling themselves "Democrats" yet dumping all over democracy itself. To them, the Constitution is a sacred document when it refers to free speech and press freedoms, but infinitely malleable when it comes to gun rights, property ownership, religious expression, states' rights, or commercial activity. Democracy is good as long as Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy are elected by left-wing constituencies, but bad if it means George Bush and Tom Delay. In fact, any political phenomenon can be evaluated not in terms of justice or goodness, but whether it advances your ideology.

To the Iraqi people: may God bless you and your country, and may you defeat the enemies of your freedom and well-being. Ignore those who would rather you live under someone else's boot — a situation they would never accept for themselves or their families. Millions more are cheering for you.

Reuters, which for anti-American bias is in a class of its own, has this lead on its main Iraqi voting story: "Millions of Iraqis turned out to vote Sunday, defying anti-U.S. insurgents determined to drown the historic poll in blood."

The U.S. has lost hundreds of men in Iraq, but Iraqis have lost thousands more. There haven't been many large-scale attacks against American forces in the last several weeks, as the thugs have been attacking policemen and innocent civilians. The thugs are trying to seize control over Iraq, or at least a big part of it, so they can continue to oppress the majority of the population, ruling through intimidation and violence. The U.S. is simply an impediment, not the main enemy. I like the acronym the military uses for the thugs: AIF, for "Anti-Iraqi Forces."

To be fair, the article itself has a jubilant tone, as Iraqis celebrate the opportunity to determine their own future. I've said before that the insurgency will end the Irish way. (No, that doesn't mean they'll fight and drink themselves to death.) After the Irish Republic gained its independence, there was a full-scale civil war, with many deaths on both sides. Finally, weary of war, the Irish public permitted its government to root out and kill the warriors. The republic has been relatively peaceful ever since.

• Perennial moron Robert Fisk calls the election a "fantasy" and a "charade." Fisk is, you'll recall, the British reporter who was beaten by an Afghan mob, then blamed the U.S. and U.K.'s attack on the peace-loving Taliban, saying if he were from Afghanistan, he would have attacked the first Westerner he saw, too. The unregenerate side of me hopes he'll have a similar encounter with Iraqi thugs. Happy reporting, Bobby! His piece is worth reading, if only to snicker at his babbling hysteria.

• Balloon Juice has a "accentuate the negative, eliminate the positive" roundup of news from Iraq.

• ScrappleFace has a feature, "Iraqi Voting Disrupts News Reports of Bombings," that sums up media coverage in four paragraphs. The opening: "News reports of terrorist bombings in Iraq were marred Sunday by shocking graphic images of Iraqi 'insurgents' voting by the millions in their first free democratic election."

BONUS SCRAPPLEFACE LINK: "Kennedy: U.S. Troops Restrict Al Qaeda Civil Rights." It brings to mind a good point: pseudo-Catholic Senators such as Ted Kennedy and John Kerry get upset when terrorists have to sit in uncomfortably cool rooms, yet they have no problem with a doctor stabbing a baby's skull and sucking out his brains.

After Eric Ewanco and I arrived in DC for the March for Life, we, as experienced New Englanders, ignored the public officials' warnings about the weather and headed into town anyway to visit the Holy Places. We started with the Basilica but, since Eric's Ukrainian, we also made a pilgrimage to the Icon and Book Service on Quincy Street, a treasure trove of all things Orthodox and Eastern Catholic. We also took a tour of the Franciscan Holy Land shrine, dropped in late for Melkite vespers in McLean, and met some friends for burgers.

The next day we attended Divine Liturgy at my favorite church in the Washington area, the striking and rustic Ukrainian parish in Silver Spring. The sign out front reads "Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Particular Church", so it's known around town as "the Particular Church". In spite of the quirky sign, it's an impressive place built in the late '90s in the style of Carpathia's Hutzul mountains. Now this is a church!

I'll check with Eric to find out when his pictures of the interior will be on-line.

Baltimore deacon Mark Ripper has assembled a useful web site with information on the Faith. I came across his St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Resource Site while looking for the text of the rite of Ordination, and indeed he has all three versions. Thanks, Deacon Mark!

An article on Perpetual Adoration with a nice photo of the chapel at St. Agnes parish.

And Fr. Groeschel Attracts 1,000 to Blessed Sacrament Parish.

All the above from the Arlington Catholic Heretic Herald.

And some non-Arlington news: Vatican not impressed with threat to sue over access to archives from CNS.

Yesterday I heard a homily about how progressive St. Angela Merici was because she founded a community of women that wore lay clothes and lived and worked among the laity. This was centuries, the priest said, before it occured to religious communities to cast off their religious garb and live with the people. What a load! The sisters would become the Ursulines didn't wear religious garb because their group wasn't a religious order.

Though convinced of her divinely appointed mission to lay the foundations of an educational order, Angela for seventeen years could do no more than direct a number of young women who were known as "The Company of St. Ursula" but who continued to live in the midst of their own families, meeting at stated times for conferences and devotional exercises. The many difficulties that hindered the formation of the new institute gave way at last, and in 1535, twelve members were gathered together in a community with episcopal approbation, and with St. Angela de Merici as superioress.

The Ursulines, it says, to this day are still faithful to the mission for which the order was founded, namely to educate young girls. St. Angela Merici and the Ursulines are not really the model of the orders that liberated themselves from the shackles of fidelity to their respective charisms. How could they be? They took up a habit and a rule and have remained faithful to their charism.

The orders that are thriving today have an identity. Don't convince me that The CFR's or the Nashville Dominicans aren't "among the people" in the apostolates. Bah. That homily nearly spoiled my day.

From The Arizona Republic

Two co-founders of Life Teen, the nation's largest Catholic youth ministry based in the Valley, were accused Thursday in a lawsuit of covering up and helping carry out sexual attacks on a 14-year-old boy two decades ago.

The lawsuit, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, also claimed that the Life Teen program at St. Timothy's parish in Mesa had "a social culture which inappropriately focused upon sexual activity . . . and fostered an environment that led to inappropriate sexual behavior."

This was forwarded to me from a friend.

As a transportation battalion, my unit will be delivering the voting machines and the ballots to villages and cities throughout Iraq during the upcoming elections. (January 30/31) Our convoys are prime targets for the insurgents because they do not want the equipment to arrive at the polling stations nor do they want the local Iraqi citizens to have the chance to vote; timely delivery must occur so that the elections occur. Encourage your friends and family members and those within our churches to pray specifically for the electoral process. Historically, the previous totalitarian regime would not allow individual citizens to vote.

Democracy will not be realized in Iraq if intelligent and competent officials are not elected to those strategic leadership positions within the emerging government; freedom will not have an opportunity to ring throughout this country if the voting process fails.

Announce this prayer request to your contacts throughout your churches, neighborhoods, and places of business. Those with leadership roles within the local church, post this message in as many newsletters and bulletins as possible. There is unlimited potential for God's presence in this process but if we do not pray, then our enemy will prevail (See Ephesians 6:10-17). A prayer vigil prior to the end of the month may be an innovative opportunity for those within your sphere of influence to pray. This is a political battle that needs spiritual intervention. A powerful story about God's intervention in the lives of David's mighty men is recorded in 2 Samuel 23:8-33. David and his warriors were victorious because of God's intervention. We want to overcome those who would stand in the way of freedom. David's mighty men triumphed over incredible odds and stood their ground and were victorious over the enemies of Israel. (Iraqi insurgents' vs God's praying people). They don't stand a chance.

I will pray with my soldiers before they leave on their convoys and move outside our installation gates here at Tallil. My soldiers are at the nerve center of the logistic operation to deliver the voting machines and election ballots. They will be driving to and entering the arena of the enemy.

This is not a game for them. It is an historic mission that is extremely dangerous. No voting machines or ballots, No elections. Your prayer support and God's intervention are needed to give democracy a chance in this war torn country.
Thank you for reading this e-mail. Please give this e-mail a wide dissemination.

Thank you for your prayer support for me and my family. Stand firm in your battles.
>>
Blessings,
v/r
CH (CPT) Lyle Shackelford
Battalion Chaplain
HHD, 57th Transportation Battalion
Providing With Mobility
"Keep Em Moving"

Bill Would Require Big Employers to Spend on Health Care

The proposal would mandate employers in Maryland with at least 10,000 full- and part-time employees to spend at least 8 percent of payroll costs on employee health care coverage.

Look out below for the responses...

No, that's actually not a joke, although it's more of a "gathering" than a convention. Next month, I'm going on Nameless Entity business to Ottawa. Naturally, I am going to meet with Pete Vere (we've never met in person.) He has invited fellow Catholic Light readers John Pacheco and Tim Ferguson as well. Are there any other Canadian readers who want to have dinner with us? My trip is tentatively scheduled for the week of Feb. 14, though I'm 90% sure it'll happen then.

Nobody has posted anything for days. So I'm posting this. Anyone have anything substantive to say?

I was 20 years old when Johnny Carson left the "Tonight Show," and I felt like the world was ending. To be specific, it was after he left, and Jay Leno took over. Instead of the big-band intro and the curtain parting for Johnny, it was a nebulous, tuneless modern jazz composition and about 500 computer-animated curtains before Mr. Big Face came out. The universe had shifted out of balance.

Until then, I hadn't realized how good Carson was. Truth be told, he was an average stand-up comic, and many of his jokes were downright lame. When it came to interviews, though, he was peerless. He had a way of reassuring nervous guests, even if it was their first time in front of a national audience. He never was nasty, or attempted to put himself front and center. Instead, he coaxed them into presenting themselves as well as they could. You always came away with a sense of the subject's personality, instead of Carson's.

The same year that Carson left, Governor Bill Clinton was elected president. Although I considered him a dishonest braggart, it didn't surprise me when he won. The Baby Boomers, having burned and pillaged their way through American society, were bound to have one of their own in the White House. But there was something about the "Tonight Show" transition that was unexpectedly jarring.

In retrospect, my discomfort probably sprang from a real generational shift. When I was growing up, I blamed the Boomers for screwing up a lot of things, but I comforted myself by thinking of the previous generation, which was still very much with us. Presidents Reagan and Bush were from that generation, as were my grandparents, all four of whom were alive then. Being young, I thought the Boomer takeover was always someday in the future. But when Johnny disappeared behind the curtain, that day had arrived, at least to me.

My latest is now posted to Catholic Exchange. Co-authored with my colleague Jacqueline Rapp, we discuss the evolution of Church's understanding of marriage since Vatican II, and how the position of women in society is strengthened when as the Church understands marriage more deeply.

Here are the details. The lesbians will likely win since BC is Canada's California, and those currently sitting on the Human Rights Tribunal are holdovers from the previous socialist government. We desperately need a revolution in this country.

In my experience, U.S. Army soldiers are a mixed bag: there are lots of good ones, several crappy ones, and some completely outstanding ones. First Lieutenant Prakash of the 1st Infantry Division is one of the latter group. He was awarded a Silver Star for fearlessly leading his tank platoon in the face of fierce, and ultimately futile, enemy resistance. His tank suffered significant damage, but after getting it fixed, he led his men right back into the thick of the fight.

The only soldiers in the news recently have been that freaky West Virginia slut and her slack-jawed, perverted love-master. Men like this deserve some publicity, too. Lt. Prakash is the child of Indian immigrants and planned to become a doctor before he found his calling in the Army. According to the article, his platoon eliminated over 50 human obstacles to world peace during that battle alone. He has the gratitude of his country and the Silver Star bestowed by the Army, but I submit he qualifies for yet another honor: the Catholic Light Total Badass Award for January 2005.

It must have been a slow news day for the Washington Post to use this article as its Military Outrage Story du jure:

Imaad said they were startled by a loud banging at the door. He went quickly to open it. When he did, Imaad said, there were about a dozen U.S. soldiers standing with their guns pointed at his head.

Imaad and his mother said the soldiers rushed in, ordering them to sit together while they searched the house. "You look poor," Imaad recalled one of the soldiers saying. "Why?"

Imaad answered in English: "I have not been able to find a job, although I'm a graduate of the College of Arts." His heart was pounding, Imaad said. His mother, a chatty widow who adores her son, sat next to him, shaking.

The soldiers went to search his bedroom. He heard laughing, and then they called for him, he said. Imaad went to his room and saw that the soldiers had found several magazines he kept hidden from his mother. They had pictures of girls in swimsuits and erotic poses. Imaad said the soldiers spread the magazines on his bed and put his Koran in the middle.

"This is a good match," Imaad said one of the soldiers told him.

"It was a nightmare," he said. "I will never forget those bad soldiers when they put the Koran among the magazines."

Within 20 minutes, the soldiers left without arresting him or his mother. While the soldiers went next door to search his neighbor's house, Imaad began to slap his mother, he said. "The American people are devils," Um Imaad recalled her son repeating.

More than that, the only sources for this story are a mother-smacking jobless homebody, and the target of his violence. No one else corroborated any details of the story, other than there were U.S. troops in the neighborhood that night.

It's also curious that the Post — which ran article after article repeating condemnations of "The Passion of the Christ" as anti-Semitic — would also repeat laughably anti-Jewish statements without comment.

Um Imaad brought Imaad pills from the doctor to try to calm him. He looked at the yellow ones, then the red ones and refused to take them. "All these belong to Jewish people," he said, pushing one set aside. "And these others are from bad or foreign people."

More seriously, there are a few things to know about Arab communication if you have not dealt with Arabs before. WARNING: the following paragraphs contain generalizations, which are sometimes mischaracterized as "stereotyping." However, just about anyone who has communicated with Arabs for a significant llength of time will agree with these generalizations.

1. Arabs exaggerate. Most people can embellish, but Arabs have a knack for inventing or magnifying details. Case in point: why would 12 men all point their weapons at one guy in a doorway? Why would they bunch up, unless they wanted to present an appealing target for a bad guy with an AK-47 or hand grenade? Most likely, there were two or three guys at the door, and others providing perimeter security.

2. In part because they exaggerate, Arabs do not expect their words to be taken at face value. You, the listener, are expected to read between the lines. If you don't, it's your fault, not the speaker's.

3. Arabs will make up events in order to save their personal honor. Thus, it is very unlikely that the soldiers would have arranged the naughty pictures around a Koran; it's more likely that Imaad made that up. You see, looking at provocative photos of sluttish infidels is bad, but juxtaposing them with the words of Allah as dictated to the Prophet? Incomparably worse! So the real crime wasn't Imaad's lack of chastity, it was the blasphemy of the Crusaders!

That's why Imaad says later in the article, "I asked God to forgive me...because I could not prevent American sins" (emphasis mine). Not forgiveness for his sins, but other people's.

(Thanks to Australian blogger Tim Blair for the original link to the article. Read his take, which is a lot funnier than mine.)

The National Shrine of our Lady Queen of the Universe in East Boston is one of the oddest religious structures around: built into a hillside, it doesn't have a church on top, but an open plaza and outdoor chapel. When you enter the building, you go down two floors to the main church, a broad auditorium, and to the Shrine's function rooms. On the same floor as the church is this locked doorway:

When I was there, the Christorama wasn't open, but I'll be back. What other well-intentioned displays of tackiness can you think of at parishes and shrines?

or just a declaration that God's creation is holy?

(Forgive the insipid Rueters headline)

I'm on the way to DC for the March for Life. I hope to see all of you there!

Check out "Manolo for the Men," a men's fashion blog that somehow I came across last week. I would have thought a fashion blog might bore me to death (I am usually well-dressed, but never fashionable), but this proves again that compelling writing makes just about anything readable, even if it's written in (probably fake) broken English. To wit:

...The Vivienne Westwood, she has long specialized in the fashion for the adolescent who cries out for the attention. The perfect look for the angst-ridden, rebellious teenager, but not the look for the serious adult. The grown up peoples they require the grown up clothes.

Do not denigrate the importance of looking "normal". Fashion it is about looking good, not seeking out the look of the abnormal, or the outre, or the purposely ridiculous.

Manolo says, the true radical in the serious well-cut, well-tailored clothes is the one whose thoughts, talents, and actions will change the world. The attention-seeking adolescent in the motley clothes of the fool, this person is merely the comedic sideshow.

In this, the Manolo he has expressed the truth!

Showing their customary tolerance for different ways of life, "protestors" forced two Army recruiters to leave a Seattle community college, but not before destroying recruiting materials.

I thought the Left was against suppressing speech, destroying "hateful" literature, and intimidating one's opponents. Maybe they should adopt a new slogan: "We're offering yesterday's ideas in a new, fascist-style package!"

Mysterious Fan Visits Edgar Allan Poe's Grave

56 years in a row!

I'm in the market for a new digital SLR and happened upon this fascinating site for something decidely low-tech: a large-format pinhole camera called the "Snapdragon."

Since it is, as you can see, totally manual, they recommend the "Point and Pray" method to control the exposure.

Check out the gallery while you're there!

Professor's Saturn Experiment Forgotten

David Atkinson spent 18 years designing an experiment for the unmanned space mission to Saturn. Now some pieces of it are lost in space. Someone forgot to turn on the instrument Atkinson needed to measure the winds on Saturn's largest moon.

"In total, the core of our team has invested something like 80 man years on this experiment, 18 of which are mine," Atkinson wrote. "I think right now the key lesson is this - if you're looking for a job with instant and guaranteed success, this isn't it."

Virginia Senate Approves Red Light Camera Bills

You haven't known anger until you've gotten a ticket from one of these things that says you were in the intersection .09 seconds after the light turned red.

Austin Ruse, the energetic voice of Catholic social policy at the UN, has launched a new web site on culture-of-life issues. Bringing together news from C-FAM with opinions from a stable of spunky columnists, TheFactIs.org looks to be worth a regular visit.

I think most people would be excited about a Bishop's fidelity to the Magisterium. Wouldn't you?

Still the women who head these organizations (NOW and others) tend to ignore women who disagree with them and continue to act as if they speak for all women — though that must be getting harder and harder.

Holy Name of Jesus Church in Providence is celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity by demonstrating the depth of Christian unity that exists in the Catholic Church: they're offering seven days of Masses with celebrants of various countries and rites. What a neat idea!

On the food front:
I knew there was some fundamentally wrong with the order of the world when I walked into a Krispy Kreme shop the other day and the place was empty: not a soul on this side of the counter.

Apparently I'm not the only one to recognize something's not working for the doughnut maker.

Will they name him Nyquil? I doubt it.

Please keep all of them in your prayers!

MODESTO, California, JAN. 15, 2005 (Zenit.org).- In spite of the popular image of tanned California teen-agers, new laws make it easier to have an abortion that to get a tan in the Golden State. A report Jan. 2 in the Modesto Bee newspaper explained that a new law prohibits tanning salons for those under 14, while those aged 14-18 will need parental permission.

By contrast, a Jan. 3 report by LifeNews.com informed readers that California Attorney General Bill Lockyear defended a law saying parents cannot be told when their teen-age children absent themselves from school to have an abortion.

Such contradictions are not limited to the United States. On Nov. 7 the London Daily Telegraph reported on an attempt, later rejected, by British parliamentarian David Hinchcliffe to introduce a total ban on smacking children. In 1990, Hinchcliffe opposed an amendment to a law that sought to reduce the legal limit for abortion from 24 weeks to 18 weeks, added the Telegraph.

In fact, the newspaper commented that of the 75 members of Parliament who voted in favor a smacking ban, 14 were present in the 1990 debate, and every one of them had voted in favor of abortion up to 24 weeks. As well, most had voted in favor of provisions making it legal to kill an unborn handicapped child right up to the point of birth.

White male choral director ISO Easter anthems for his church choir.
4-parts in a high church style preferred.
Either english or latin.
Organ accompaniment or a capella.
Please leave comments below.

Thanks!

AP reports on an effort to stop some deceptive attempts at ministry:

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has started screening priests who celebrate Mass aboard cruise ships to prevent unqualified clergy from ministering to Catholic passengers.

The bishops have approved more than 650 priests to work on cruise lines in a process designed to weed out unsuitable candidates such as clergy who were suspended in the church's sex abuse scandal or those who have left the priesthood.

Priests who apply for the program, which started a year ago, must have their bishops' approval and are subject to yearly review. All dioceses conduct their own background checks on priests, said Doreen Badeaux, secretary general of the Apostleship of the Sea, a Catholic ministry devoted to seafarers.

Celebrity and Holland America lines are working with priests approved by the Apostleship, while other cruise lines continue hiring clergy privately or using agencies such as Rent-A-Priest, a group that provides former, now-married priests who are no longer authorized to conduct Mass.

Eventually, the bishops hope all cruise lines will adopt a more thorough screening process for clergy.

``It wasn't being regulated by the bishops' conference and they weren't doing background checks on these guys,'' said the Rev. Sinclair Oubre, president of the AOS-USA, a chaplains' organization affiliated with the Apostleship of the Sea. ``Since we started this, some of the cruise lines have become more alert.''

AOS-USA National Director Fr. John Jamnicky writes in the organization's December newsletter:

We continue to hear complaints from Catholics who take cruises on Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Carnival; that some of the priests that celebrate Catholic Mass and introduce themselves as Roman Catholic Priests are in fact [...] schismatic priests, suspended priests, former priests, or just plain impostors.

[Thanks to Kathy Shaidle for the tip-off]

Even though the following took place in New Jersey, it scares the what-I-just-changed-in-my-daughter's-diaper out of me. Canada is allowing Muslims into our country faster than Eurabia, and we have strict gun-control to keep us from defending ourselves.

New Jersey: An Islamic Murder of Christian Copts?

(Update: I've taken the liberty of dropping the broken link and pointing to Chris Johnson's entry on the subject. --RC)

Actually, I think we're related!

A pastor from B.C. got interested in the new religious communities and movements after attending the 2002 World Youth Days, so he made a pilgrimage out of visiting fifteen of them in Ontario and Quebec. They're some inspiring and faith-filled people!

You may recall that a CL reader in Switzerland, found a statue of St. Lawrence for our home. It costs roughly $400. I'm trying to find a good way to get the money to Jeff, as the shopkeeper selling the statue does not take credit cards. I can wire the money to Jeff via Western Union, but it costs $42.

If that's the only option, so be it, I'll pay the fee. Before I do that, I wanted to prevail upon you smart Catholic Light readers to see if you could think of a way to save me a few bucks (or Swiss francs, in this case.)

A strange tale indeed!

My latest from Planet Envoy...

What Every Catholic Apologist Should Know About Canon Law

I BIT MY TONGUE AND RESISTED the urge to fire off an angry email. Reading through an on-line discussion board for budding Catholic apologists like myself, I had come across a message written more with an excess of zeal than with a correct understanding of canon law. Granted, the offending message was written with the best of intentions, and I also admired the offending author as a competent biblical apologist when it came to defending the Catholic faith against Protestant challenges. Nevertheless, this apologist’s competency with the Bible didn’t extend to the Code of Canon Law. And the question had come, not as an attack upon the Church, but from someone sincerely seeking to return to the Church.

Continue

After the new Italian state stripped the Papal States from the Vatican, the Holy See forbade faithful Catholics from participating in Italy's government. This included voting in democratic elections. Something like a third of the Italian population dutifully obeyed, and the result: Benito Mussolini. The Fascists and Communists, who began with small percentages of the population, did not face any electoral competition from serious Christians, and thus the playing field was left to various monsters large and small.

A mirror-image situation is about to happen in Iraq. The Sunni Muslims look like they are going to boycott the January 30 elections for the interim government. That means the new government will be dominated by the minority Kurds and the majority Shiites. The Sunnis will thus have little say in Iraq's rebirth, and that may well spell trouble for them. They have been oppressing the Kurds and Shiites for the last half-millennium or so, under the Ottoman Empire, the Hashemite kings, and the Baathists.

As the brilliant Charles Krauthammer pointed out, the U.S.-led coalition has basically been fighting a civil war against the Sunnis for the last year and a half. Once Iraq gets its native lawmakers together and they form a constitution, the formerly oppressed groups may want to extract some payback from the Sunnis if they're still misbehaving. Who can blame them? Whereas if the Sunnis at least try to be conciliatory, they might receive mercy. But their ingrained Arab pride will get the better of them, and they will be arrogant to the last.

For similar reasons, I don't think Catholics should stop participating in mainstream society, which is why I am not generally in favor of homeschooling (and neither is the Church, which considers Catholic schools to be the first option if it is at all possible.) It isn't even possible to shield your kids entirely from the effects of our diseased culture: it still seeps in through the cracks. So go out and try to transform it as best you can, and choose what is good and encourage it.

A visiting priest at my suburban parish completed the Preparation of the Gifts and made this comment to the congregation:

I just confused the server.

When I was washing my hands back there a minute ago, I asked her if she had any soap. I mean, she was bringing the water and a towel, so I asked where the soap was.

She looked at me; and she said, "We don't use soap here."

"I'm just kidding."

Father has no clue. Where's his attention? It should be on the task at hand, of course.

Now, it's perfectly understandable that a funny little thought like "where's the soap?" might cross a priest's mind when he's doing the Lava me, and it might interrupt his prayerful celebration of the rite of Mass. Thoughts do come and go, and if you have a sense of humor, they're sometimes funny thoughts. They distract you.

The server's attention should be on the rite too. Just doing the rite reverently and with attention, laying aside one's worldly cares and personal concerns, is a prayer, and the server probably was doing that until Father decided to share his little would-be joke. By doing that, he took away the server's opportunity to pray that moment.

Sad.

Then he decided to turn it into a little bit of his stand-up act and give the audience some yuks.

Father, please shut up. Mass is a ritual, so let it be one. Let Him increase and you decrease. If you break the ritual, and if you step out of character, it tells us that you don't believe in the role you're playing. And God forbid, if you make a joke out of it, you're adopting an ironic stance toward the Most Holiest thing that happens on earth. Reflect.

The CARA organization at Georgetown reports that the level of self-reported Sunday mass attendance hasn't changed much over the past four years: up at the Jubilee, down again, up after 9/11, down when the sex-abuse scandal went nationwide, and now more or less where it was in late 2000.

Admittedly, the real level of Mass attendance probably doesn't live up to the 33% figure, but the self-reported number is probably a good indication of trends.

...in what appears to be a Blue State snub of Red States. Church of the Masses offers a couple good ideas. Let's email EWTN and Pax TV and ask them to play the Passion during the evening of the Oscar ceremony.

This news story from not too far from here is bound to give Michael Moore a heart-attack. It shatters a number of key leftist claims. Anyone want to guess what they are?

...is being auctioned off as a fundraiser for Free Dominion.

From a Newfoundlander now living in Washington, D.C., a new website has arisen that provides supporters of Newfoundland with the opportunity to take political action via the internet. Fair is fair. Just because Newfoundland is not Quebec does not mean that Prime Minister Paul "Mr. Dithers" Martin should not be forced to keep his promise to the province. Does President Bush know what type of character he's dealing with in the Canadian Prime Minister? Anyway, please visit A Fair Deal for Newfoundland

An anonymous Postmodern Liturgist offers parodies of the conventional wisdom foolishness.

Here's a sample:
(tune: "Simple Gifts", a/k/a "Lord of the Dance")

“I’ll be dancing everywhere, you see,
for I am Liturgical Dance.” said she
“And I’ll lead you all, whoever you may be
Into doing Liturgical Dance with me.”

Today is the Feast Day of St. Raymond de Penafort. He is the Patron Saint of canon lawyers. Most of younger canonists in the area will be gathering for Mass at the university before visiting this nice Irish pub for a dinner party.

Dave Pawlak has just put together a new blog that gathers people's prayer requests. I urge you to all check it out. It's called St. Blog Prayer Network.

In was talking to someone today about the Gonzales hearings, I pointed out that Democrats were singling out the nominee for things he didn't do. My interlocutor said that Gonzales "authorized torture." I replied that Gonzales had done no such thing: he had merely given a definition of the line where torture begins; also, he repeated the plain-as-day fact that al Qaeda and Taliban detainees are illegal combatants, and cannot be considered legal under any conceivable definition of the Geneva Conventions.

I gave my personal opinion: that we should have extracted whatever information we could from the detainees, then executed them, as customary international law allows. My friend persisted: we should do no such thing. We should always treat the "prisoners," as he called them, at the highest level of kindness. Furthermore, Judge Gonzales should never, ever have given the opinions he did, because he was "representing the United States."

I demurred again. No, I said, the man was White House counsel. He was called upon to give legal opinions, not moral treatises. He was asked, "What treatment can these detainees receive without torturing them?" and he answered the question. He was not called up to answer whether the treatments were prudent or even moral.

Sticking to his guns, my friend repeated that Gonzales should not have said such a thing. It was completely wrong for him to do so. I said that was a recipe for either lying or making sure legal advice is delivered orally, so there is no written record of the advice. It would mean that in the back of the counsel's mind, he would be thinking, "Should I give him my legal opinion, or the legal opinion that would look best if I'm ever up for Senate confirmation?"

My friend proceeded to connect the "condoning" of torture with the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, and that all the officers in the abusers' chain of command should have been indicted. (Hey, to me those pictures looked like a normal Saturday night party at Andrew Sullivan's townhouse.) This seemed like a departure from the rule of law that he was just championing — since there is no evidence that the officers authorized the abuse, why should they go to jail? I mean, I'm all for humbling the mighty when they've done wrong, and the military should have sacked the abusers' superiors (which they did). But to throw them in jail on the mere suspicion that they might have participated, in the absence of any proof, did seem a little unfair to me. If the low-level people had been able to implicate their superiors in exchange for lighter sentences, at least some would have. Since none of them have, it's reasonable to conclude they were acting out their own diseased fantasies.

There are, however, many people who not only want to excuse torture, they want to see it practiced as a matter of course. John Derbyshire on NRO reports that when he wrote a column against torture, "reader response...was overwhelmingly pro-torture." That comports with my own experience, as I have argued with people that it is inhumane to torture convicted murderers to death, and why it would not be a good idea to allow police officers to summarily execute criminal suspects.

So, on the one hand, you have people to whom cutting off a detainee's finger is A-okay. On the other, you have people who think that raising one's voice at a detainee is a war crime. (Don't tell my kids!) Occasionally, for a flickering moment, I wonder why God bothered to give us an intellect and free will in the first place.

A Washington law firm that demanded a year ago today the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington settle accounts relating to clergy sexual abuse hopes to file claims within the next few months on behalf of 20 victims.
But Kevin Baine, a lawyer with Williams & Connolly, the D.C. firm representing the archdiocese, questions the claims of lawyers for Greenberg-Traurig, which is representing the potential plaintiffs.
"So far, they've produced nothing relating to any priest of the archdiocese," he said. "If they come forward with a series of demands, we will address them."
Plus, "there is no evidence that any active priest of the archdiocese has ever been involved in sexual abuse," he added, "and there are not at this point proceedings or negotiations relating to any claims of abuse" by archdiocesan priests.

For better or worse, it goes everywhere.

Robert H. Bork remembers his ambivalence in 1989 as the Berlin Wall came down and dungarees and rock music poured into the former East Germany.
"You almost began to want to put the wall back up," says the former Supreme Court nominee, a tart critic of American popular culture.
If there is one proposition on which Western European elites and radical Islamists, American social conservatives and snobby latte town aesthetes all seem to agree, it is this: American popular culture is a subversive thing.

I give you David Frum here and more David Frum here.

And an editorial from the Washington Post from Jan. 3 entitled "Haphazard Charity".

What's missing from the WaPo editorial, not surprisingly, is the crucial ingredient for creating wealth: freedom. We can't just throw money at poor nations, we have to encourage them to become free.

One last thing to consider on the topic of our own attachments and the demands of personal charity, meaning self-sacrificing love, not govermental largesse. In his days as student St. Dominic sold his greatly treasured religious books inscribed on parchment and gave the money to the poor. "I could not bear to prize dead skins when living skins were starving and in need," he said.

"...archaeologists believe they have uncovered the remains of the Siloam Pool in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem..."

...for ebook download through Author House for a mere $3.95. This is a translation my friend Raymond and I did of the traditionalist classic written by Dom Gerard Calvet, the retired abbot of St. Madeleine de Le Barroux Traditional Catholic Benedictine Monastery in France. The book is basically a blue-print for restoring Catholic tradition to our Catholic faith, our countries and our culture. Print copies should also be available shortly.

Preface: Charlie, my 5.5-year-old son, is fascinated with "Spider-Man," though of course we won't let him see either of the movies (not because they're bad -- we own them both -- but because he's way too young.) The following is an actual conversation about "Spider-Man 2":

Charlie: Daddy, does Dr. Octopus die in the end?

Me: Yes, he does.

C: How come?

M: He drags his science experiment into the river so it won't blow up and hurt lots of people.

C: Why did he die?

M: Because that was the only way to stop the experiment.

C: I thought he was bad.

M: Yeah, but he turned good at the very end and decided to save all those people.

C: [thinks a moment] I guess Dr. Octopus had to spend a lot of time in inventory.

M: In what?

C: Inventory.

M: What are you talking about?

C: You know, the place where Jesus fixes you before you go to heaven.

M: Oh, you mean purgatory.

C: Yeah, purgatory.

M: Right, Dr. Octopus would probably have to go there.

Don't celebrate by shooting firearms into the air.

In an attempt to influence Palestinian and Iraqi elections, Osama bin Laden released a tape that...

...makes it clear that Muslims under no circumstances should take part in these elections. Rather, they should fight the concept. He adds that "shedding the blood" of Iraqi military, security and national guardsmen "is permitted."
Al Qaeda's leader explains that participating in the elections is apostasy because the Iraqi constitution is "a 'Jahiliyya,' one made by man." And, because "the elections are ordered by America." Anyone voting in the Iraq or Palestine "commits apostasy against Allah," warns bin Laden. "Muslims must beware of these kinds of elections. They must unite around the Jihad warriors and those who resist the occupiers."

As you recall, he released a tape in advance of our election threatening the most dire consequences if Bush was relected. He couldn't send bombs or planes, famine or pestilence, so he sent a tape. It was tactical and strategic miscalculation of the first order. Read "Osama's ballot box phobia" in TWT today and see bin Laden is indeed running scared of these elections.

Richard Gere has also made a tape, encouraging Palestinians to get out and vote.

In a transcript obtained by The Associated Press, he said: "Hi, I'm Richard Gere, and I'm speaking for the entire world. We're with you during this election time. It's really important: Get out and vote."

School 'Peanut Gallery' Raises Eyebrows

Schools are requiring students who bring peanut butter sandwiches for lunch to eat at their own table to protect children who have nut allergies.

Food allergists say peanut allergies among school-aged children have doubled to 400,000 over the last five years. They can't explain the spike but said it has caused more schools to creatively accommodate allergic students.

They can't explain it? I can. The Liturgical Reforms of Vatican II are the cause of rising nut allergies. Now is the time to act! Please download and post this sign on the doors to your Church sacristy, liturgy director's office, music practice room, and the closet where they store all the stuff the art committee has made. You know, the tapestries they hang up in the sanctuary for each liturgical season because there is no reredos? You don't have that? That's great! You can pray for those of us who do.

Click to download this as a PDF,
then print with impunity!

1) Nurses at Montreal English hospital fail French test, lose licences

2) Delays drive away sick children
Rate is double that in the U.S.: 'It's never acceptable, because bad things can happen to people when they leave'

Apparently Marie Johnston, formerly Marie Routhier, has received a lot of feedback for standing by her province and Premier Danny Johnston. FreeDominion.ca just posted the following form letter she is sending back that better explains why she took a principled stand.

Here's some excerpts:

"The thing that some have trouble understanding about my actions, and those of our premier, is that this isn’t about declaring war on, or a hate for Canada. If anything, it’s about wanting to BELONG to Canada, and to stop being treated like an unwanted step child. We don’t want to be a welfare province. We don’t WANT Alberta and Ontario to provide a free ride for us. We merely want to be given the tools - and opportunity - to dig ourselves out of the financial mess that we have been placed in.

"I’m reminded of a saying that I try to live by. “Loyalty above all else, except honour”. Yes, I am a Canadian.. but I’m a Newfoundlander first, and the treatment that this province is receiving is FAR from honourable.

"I'd also like to point out that, if lowering the flag is Un-Canadian, we have an Un-Canadian Prime Minister. I find it convenient, and somewhat entertaining, that he is quick to insult Danny over the flag issue, but has it led him to fly the Canadian Flag on his ships?"

More evidence that Michael Moore's Canada simply does not exist: Retired [Canadian] firearms officer stashed 100 illegal weapons at home. We desperately need a Second Ammendment. Each day it becomes more clear to me how our anticipated two-million dollar gun [control] registry rapidly degenerated into a billion [Updated estimates now at two billion] dollar government boondoggle. I can understand why it doesn't work -- it is, after all, a government project concocted in the nation's four largest cities to apply to the most rural and underpopulated country in the world. But how do you underestimate the cost by 99.9%? Oh, I forgot. This is Canada.

Received another cranky - um, make that crank - email from some leftist who claims we don't need a military in Canada. The reason he cites is that Canada doesn't have any enemies (except of course the Americans) and only the Americans would invade us. Some days I wonder whether I'm dealing with real people. It seems my IQ drops another point with every email I open from a Canadian leftist. Not only is this guy's claim not true -- Al Quaida has ranked us something like six on their target list -- but just last year we were unable to fend off an invasion from -- get this -- Denmark! (Watch the home video via Wikipedia of the Danes invading Canada.)

Woah! To support conservative Premier Danny Williams and protest the federal Liberals giving Newfoundland the shaft over off-shore oil, Marie Routhier changed her name to Marie Johnston.

To explain a little background to this dispute, Newfoundland is Canada's poorest province, despite being rich in numerous resources including off-shore oil. The reason for the poverty is that the federal government has Newfoundland in a welfare trap whereby they take most of Newfoundland's tax revenue through claw-backs, but cuts them a check through transfer payments.

The current Premier of the province is trying to break this cycle, and Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin promised Newfoundland (when it looked like the province would vote Conservative) that by Christmas this year a deal would be worked out, no strings attached, whereby Newfoundland could keep its off-shore oil revenue. It worked come election. Of course, Paul Martin lied, probably figuring that after the election he could simply blow Newfoundland off since he controls their purse string. Which is what he did. Nevertheless, Premier Danny Williams has nerve of stone. He stood up for his province and ordered the Canadian flag removed from all government buildings in the province. In Canada, this is the supreme political sacrilege any politician can commit, but the future livelihood of his province depends upon the feds keeping their election promise.

So how does this tie into Marie Johnston, formerly Marie Routhier. And why is Marie's name change big news? Well to begin, twenty-five year old Marie is probably Canada's most famous fashion designer among swimmers, gymnists and figure skaters. In fact, she designed the official swimwear for Team Canada Synchronized Swimming. She also designed a line of patriotic (albeit somewhat immodest) swimsuits around the Canadian flag -- a line she is now discontinuing.

Raised in a single-parent family, she was quite poor. She began sewing at a very young age as a figure skater, because her mother couldn't afford to buy the outfits the other kids had. By her teens she ended up swinging this into a full-time career, and operated her company out of Newfoundland for several years where she fell in love with the province. She also fell in love with the conservative ideals of Premier Danny Williams, and moved back when he won the election. Her replacement line will be known as "Republic of Newfoundland". Nevertheless, she's forfeiting a lot of name recognition in changing her name, as every Canadian recognizes "Marie Routhier" but not "Marie Johnston".

But how does the name change tie into all this? Johnston is the maiden name of Marie's mother, who raised. Routhier, on the other hand, is the family name of her father who abandoned her when she was a baby. Where this becomes highly political is that Marie's paternal great-great-grandfather is Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier, who authored the original French lyrics to "O Canada!" which is our national anthem. So this is a pretty big shot fired across the bow of Canadian culture by one of its young leaders.

...while the United Nations, the "last, best hope of the world," sends some well-paid bureaucrats to Asia, where they will assess the situation and attend meetings. But the U.N. has more "moral authority." Right?

...of Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal on Of Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal on Allison Woo's photoblog. I would link the image here but I don't want to run afoul of copyright laws. Click away - it's stunning! A strange thing I noticed, a sanctuary lamp is in the foreground but there is no candle in it.

From the Office of Readings today, this is a conference St. Elizabeth Ann Seton gave her spiritual daughters:

I will tell you what is my own great help. I once read or heard that an interior life means but the continuation of our Savior's life in us; that the great object of all his mysteries is t omerit for us the grace of his interior life and communicate it to us, it being the end of his mission to us into the sweet land of promise, a life of constant union with himself. And what the first rule of our dear Savior's life? You know it was to do his Father's will. Well, then, the first end I propose in our daily is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner her wills; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will.

I know what his will is by those who direct me; whatever they bid me to do, if it is ever so small in itself, is that will of God for me. Then do it the manner he wills it, not sewing an old thing as if it new, or a new thing as if it were old; not fretting because the oven is to hot, or in a fuss because it is too cold. You understand-not flying and driving because you are hurried, not creeping like a snail because no one pushes you. Our dear Savior was never in extremes. The third object is to do his will because God wills it, that is, to be ready to quit at any moment and to do anything else to which you may be called...

You think it very hard to lead a life of such restraint unless you keep your eye of faith always open. Pereverance is a great grace. To go on gaining and advancing every day, you must be resolute, and bear and suffer as our blessed forerunners did. Which of then gained heaven with a struggle?...

What are our real trials? By what name shall we call them? One cuts herself out a cross of pride ; another, one of causeless discontent; another, one of restless impatience or peevish fretfulness. But is the whole any better than children's play if looked at with the common eye of faith? Yet we know certainly that our God calls us to a holy life, that he give us every grace, every abundant grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty.

But we lack courage to keep a continual watch over natura, and therefore, year after year, with our thousand grace, multiplied resolutions, and fair promises, we run around in a circle of mistery and imperfections. After a long time in the service of God, we come nearly to the point from whence we set out, and perhaps with even less ardor for penance and mortificaitons than when we began our consecration to him.

You are not in your first setout. Be above the vain fears of nature and efforts of your enemy. You are children of eternity. Your immortal crown awaits you, and the best of Fathers waits there reward your duty and love. You may indeed sow in tears, but you may be sure there to reap in joy.

It's a pity her order, the Sisters of Charity, have but one potential vocation in this whole country and one woman in formation.

Grace has been struggling with a terminal illness since last June. She is nineteen years old and one of thirteen children in a profoundly devout and holy family. Last night she was rushed to the hospital, had a stroke, and fell into a coma. These are surely her last hours. Please pray for her and her family today.

UPDATE 1/5/04: Grace passed on early this morning. Her sister, who is in an order, flew here yesterday with her Mother Superior to say good-bye. They made it in time, thanks be to God. Please continue to pray for her family. Thank you.

At last, women lash out at hip hop's abuses - Stanley Crouchin the NY Daily News, link via Drudge

The most successful black women's magazine, Essence, is in the middle of a campaign that could have monumental cultural significance.

Essence is taking on the slut images and verbal abuse projected onto black women by hip hop lyrics and videos.

The magazine is the first powerful presence in the black media with the courage to examine the cultural pollution that is too often excused because of the wealth it brings to knuckleheads and amoral executives.

Knuckleheads and amoral executives transcend ethnic and racial boundaries, as does the cultural pollution Mr. Crouch writes about. The need to counter this is universal.

Other Parents Want Gay Couple's Kids Out of [Catholic] School

"The teachings of the church seem to have been abandoned," John R. Nixon told the Times. "We send our children to a Catholic school because we expect and demand that the teachings of our church will be adhered to."

The Rev. Gerald M. Horan, superintendent of diocese schools, said that if Catholic beliefs were strictly adhered to, then children whose parents divorced, used birth control or married outside the church would also have to be banned.

Is it fair for Fr. Horan play the moral equivalence game, or is there something fundamentally different about a child in Catholic school that has two daddies vs. the issues he lists above?

Talk amongst yourselves.

It's odd. All four years I lived in the United States, I never witnessed a single gun crime. Within a week of being back in Canada, however, I was doing a late night Dairy Queen run with my buddy when these two hooligans (I won't mention the ethnic background of the perpetrators since in Canada it's a hate crime that could see me jailed longer than them) walked in with a shotgun. Of course, our strict gun control laws insured that they were the only two people armed throughout the holdup.

I later discovered from a police officer friend of mine (who told me off the record I should have stayed in the US) that armed robberies have become quite common in my hometown during the four years I was away. He felt a lot of it had to do with high taxes, high immigration and a sluggish economy. For those who don't wanna stay on welfare, it's easier to turn to crime than to find honest employment and keep enough of your paycheck after taxes. Additionally, with the police underfunded and their hands tied in many ways, most criminals are in and out of the system in no time.

The same has happened with gang violence in schools. Here's a pretty nasty story that demonstrates why Michael "Bowling for Columbine" Moore, who claims that Canada is such a violence free society that we don't lock our doors in major cities, should stick to his fairy tales about America and not try and invent them about the Mediocre White North as well: Attackers hacked at teen with machete

Time's speculation about Cardinal Ratzinger as the next Pope is intriguing, all right, and probably appealing to his fans.

The reporter Jeff Israely could have stopped there reasonably enough, but he goes on to float this idea:

Moreover, John Paul's very public health woes may prompt the Cardinals to push his successor to impose a mechanism to avoid another pontificate slowed by illness. Ratzinger, who has sought ways to adapt church governance for modern times, might be willing to agree to an age limit and pass on the job after a few years.

Cardinal Ratzinger might indeed support some change in the way the Roman primacy is exercised, especially if it facilitated the re-establishment of full communion with the Orthodox Eastern churches. But a religious proposal that comes along in the name of "adaptation for modern times" can probably be assumed wrong until proven otherwise.

50 Years Ago, a Grand Pianist Caught Washington's Ear

An article on the silver anniversary of Glenn Gould's concert debut in Washington, DC. Listen, you classical music fans, if you don't have any of his recordings in your collections, stop what you are doing and get one. Start with his Bach recordings rather than the modern stuff, unless, of course, that is your bag. You won't be disappointed.

Since quoting Daniel Pipes is a potential a hate crime in Canada (if you don't believe me, please follow this link), I'll just quote the relevant paragraphs from the second amended class action complaint and let you read Dr. Pipes' brief commentary yourself:

"86. Council on American Islamic Relations and CAIR Canada (collectively, CAIR), have aided, abetted, and materially sponsored and al Qaeda and international terrorism. CAIR is an outgrowth of the Hamas front group the Islamic Association of Palestine. The FBI's former associate director in charge of Investigative and Counter-Intelligence Operations described the Islamic Association of Palestine as an organization that has directly supported Hamas military goals and is a front organization for Hamas that engages in propaganda for Islamic militants. It has produced videotapes that are very hate-filled, full of vehement propaganda. It is an organization that has supported direct confrontation.

"87. CAIR and CAIR-Canada have, since their inception, been part of the criminal conspiracy of radical Islamic terrorism. These organizations play a unique role in the terrorist network. They emanate from the notorious HAMAS terrorist organization and like so many of the terrorism facilitating charities named and indicted by the United States government they are engaged in fund raising under the guise of assisting humanitarian causes they are, in reality, a key player in international terrorism. The unique role played by CAIR and CAIR-Canada is to manipulate the legal systems of the United States and Canada in a manner that allows them to silence critics, analysts, commentators, media organizations, and government officials by leveling false charges of discrimination, libel, slander and defamation. In addition, both organizations have actively sought to hamper governmental anti-terrorism efforts by direct propaganda activities aimed at police, first-responders, and intelligence agencies through so-called sensitivity training. Their goal is to create as much self-doubt, hesitation, fear of name-calling, and litigation within police departments and intelligence agencies as possible so as to render such authorities ineffective in pursuing international and domestic terrorist entities.

"88. The role of CAIR and CAIR-Canada is to wage PSYOPS (psychological warfare) and disinformation activities on behalf of Whabbi-based [Wahhabi-based, DP] Islamic terrorists throughout North America. They are the intellectual "shock troops" of Islamic terrorism. In the years and months leading up to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 these organizations were very effective in helping to ensure that North American law enforcement and intelligence officials were sufficiently deaf, dumb, and blind to help pave the way for the attacks on the United States. The role played by these entities is an absolutely essential part of the mix of forces arrayed against the United States as they help soften-up targeted countries so as to facilitate and enhance the likelihood for a successful attack."

Responding to one of my posts over at Canadian Republic, some constitutional monarchist and Canadian loyalist (who sounds an aweful lot like a self-proclaimed "proud member of the Orange Lodge" I had been debating at Free Dominion) left the following love-letter in my comments box:

--------------------------------------------
Yes, get him [me] a green card, INS!

Which is, Mr. Vere? Do you want a green card, and the chance to move down there? Or do you want to turn us into a complete clone of America?

The first step to getting a green card, Mr. Vere, Ms. Shaidle, Albertadude, Adam Yoshida, and all the rest of you traitorous "conservative" (not really) Canadian bloggers, is to apply. Tell them how much you hate your homeland, tell them how much you idolize America, tell them how you'd be willing to take a bullet for Uncle Sam. Fight for Uncle Sam in a foreign war, then maybe, just maybe, you'll be granted citizenship, if you come home not in a box. Or promise to be as talentless a hack as your fellow traitor Mark Steyn, and maybe they'll let you in to write neocon agitprop! (Don't worry; you're more than half-way there already!)

BTW, you criticize the U.N. (which I don't like either, incidentally) for being "basically a coalition of banana republics, terrorist states, and tinpot dictatorships" and then say "the reality is that the US (a Republic) did the right thing in taking charge". But since you love republics so much, why is one republic and member of the U.N., the U.S., taking charge necessarily preferable to coalitions of various kinds of republics (banana, terrorist, tinpot dictatorship - almost none of these are monarchies, after all), including free republics such as the same nation you wish to be in charge, the U.S.? What does America's being a republic have to do with anything, in this case?

And if the American revolution was a good thing, and one Canada should emulate, in your opinion, then why is it bad if some countries change governments continually through revolutions? You contradict yourself, when you support revolution as a legitimate means of changing forms of government, on the one hand, yet see political stability as a desirable goal, on the other!

BTW, should America's "Coalition of the Willing" members Great Britain and Australia dump their monarchy, too, or just us Canucks? After all, their having the monarchy, just as we do, hasn't stopped them from having the sort of foreign policy you like - whereas our government does differently - so is the problem really the monarchy, or is it just that you don't like what Chretien and now Martin have done, foreign-policy-wise, since 9/11/01?

Get your green cards and get out, all of you! Frig, much as I loathe my nation being flooded with all manner of foreign subhumans, whether clit-removing ragheads or dog-eating coolies or crack-gang violent homeys, at least some of them actually like the country which has let them in, in contrast to you traitors - I'm tempted to vote Grit to continue completely unbridled immigration, just to offset your influence in Canada by importing a new populace, at least some of which will actually be grateful to their new home...

(And in case you read this, MWW, I said "my nation", and meant it; your people lost a half millennium ago, deal with it.

You too, Mr. Levantine; not all of us are shabbos goyim...)
------------------------

Does this explain why Canada's Progressive Conservative Party, until it merged with the Canadian Alliance just prior to the last election, had lost practically every election to the Liberal Party in the last fifty years?