John Schultz: April 2003 Archives

Sgt. Eric M. Johnson checks in

From Iraq, published in the Washington Times.

God bless him, his family, and every other person who has made tremendous sacrifices to make this world a better place.

"O'Connor Retiring"

I saw that headline on The Corner and thought - here comes an acrimonious Supreme Court nomination battle. Turns out it's about the retirement of rock and roll's very own sour-puss butch, Sinead O'Connor.

The article says O'Connor has been "known for her angry visage and for wearing baggy clothes." Also known for tearing up a picture of Pope JP II on Saturday Night Live. I say good riddance, and if you decide to use the term "sour-puss butch" in your everyday life remember you heard it here first.

From Today's Washington Post

One Diocese's Early Warning On Sex Abuse

I'll reserve comments until I have time to digest. In the mean time - this is of interest because it refers to incidents that started in 1957 and includes detail on how then Bishop Matthew F. Brady responded:

...he wrote letter after letter -- at least 15 in all -- warning other bishops not to let the priest back into parish work.

Our Risen Lord

On the third day the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying ways they realised the new wonder; but even they hardly realised that the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in the semblance of the gardener God walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn.

- G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

Many thanks for the prayers

Teresa and I are doing better vocally, the allergies seem to be subsiding.

I hope everyone has a blessed Good Friday.

Prayer Request

My wife Teresa and I are suffering from severe allergies and basically can't sing. This is very bad since we have the Triduum litguries coming up and both of us are supposed to fulfill cantor duties. Please say a prayer we can make a full recovery by Holy Thursday.

When he had seen the sun's rays hidden and the temple veil torn asunder while the Saviour died, Joseph went to Pilate and cried:

Give me that Stranger,
who had wandered since his youth as a stranger.
Give me that Stranger,
by hatred slain, as a stranger.
Give me that Stranger,
whom I behold with wonder, seeing him a guest of death.
Give me that Stranger,
cut off from this world by envious men.
Give me that Stranger,
that I might lay him in a tomb,
who, being a stranger, has no place to rest his head.
Give me that Stranger,
to whom his Mother cried when she saw his dead:
"My Son, wounded are my senses and my heart burns
as I behold you dead!
Yet I praise you for I trust in your Resurrection!"

-Byzantine Troparion of the Burial of Christ

Palm Sunday

The Word of God the Father,
the Son who is coeternal with Him,
whose throne is heaven, whose footstool is the earth,
today has humbled himself by riding into Bethany on
a donkey.
So the children of Israel praise him,
bearing green branches and crying:
"Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes,
the King of Israel!"

-from the Byzantine Vespers,
Stichera for Palm Sunday

Newsflash: Rep. Jim Moran in trouble again!

A Jewish civil rights organization and some Alexandria Democrats have criticized Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) for suggesting at a recent party meeting that a major American pro-Israel lobbying group will raise $2 million and "take over" efforts to unseat him next year.
David Friedman, D.C. regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, said Moran's remarks were divisive and intended to isolate and exaggerate the role of his Jewish critics: "This only confirms what we already knew: that Jim Moran is a bigoted man who perpetuates age-old canards and stereotypes about Jews."

Kim Jong Il has a blog.


Here's a snippet of an IM conversation:

We now have the unofficial support of the Norwegians for the Iraq invasion

U.S. Ambassador: "Er... I mean... of course I knew it was a hoax!"

The Lights are out in Baghdad

General Franks promises to "close and lock all the windows and doors" when he is done.

Quick overview of the Just War Doctrine

From my favorite Catholic apologetics group, Catholic Answers.

Karl Keating's book, Catholicism and Fundamentalism, kept me Catholic when I got the standard sola scriptura piffle when I was in high school.

CAMP RYAN, Kuwait (April 2, 2003) - In keeping with President George
W. Bush's promise to aid the Iraqi people, Marines from the 4th Civil
Affairs Group (CAG), headquartered at Anacostia Naval Station, Washington,
D.C., are preparing to move from here to Task Force Tarawa's forward area in
An Nasiriyah, Iraq.
Detachment C, 4th CAG, a group of twelve-Marines, will link up with
other 4th CAG Marines in An Nasiriyah who are tasked with creating and
maintaining good relationships with the Iraqi people in the areas where they
will be assigned during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"Our military will definitely devastate the Iraqi military," said
Fairfax, Va., native Capt. Brian A. Reynaldo, detachment officer-in-charge,
Det. C, 4th CAG. "We want to prove to the Iraqi people that the fight is
not against them. It's a war against Saddam Hussein."
The best time to make a good impression is when the coalition
forces, moving across the desert, encounter indigenous people who may be
fleeing a town or relocating to avoid combat zones, according to Port
Tobacco, Md., native Master Sgt. Jeffery A. Dyson, staff
non-commissioned-officer-in-charge, Det. C, 4th CAG.
Because large groups of Iraqis travel together along paved roads,
they can create a problem for vehicle convoys trying to travel the same
roads. In that instance, the CAG would find the leader of the Iraqi
traveling party and through him, negotiate a solution that allows both
parties to continue along the road. The goal is to leave the Iraqis in a
better condition than when the encounter began.
"Most of the time, we will try to get those travelers linked up with
an international organization, like the Red Cross, or a non-government
organization, like Doctors Without Borders, so they are taken care of after
we move forward," said Reynaldo. "If we can't get them linked up with one
of those organizations, we do what we can to help them."
In helping the Iraqis, the civil affairs Marines are trained to
maximize any living necessities the people may be traveling with to ensure
the Iraqis have what they need to survive the desert environment.
"If we are near a town or even in a town when we encounter
civilians, we try to use their assets to assist them," said Dyson. "If they
have no assets, we will give them some of whatever we have as a last resort,
but everything we give them is something we have to resupply later."
Another key function of civil affairs will be creating hasty refugee
camps for Iraqi people who have been displaced by the Iraqi army. A hasty
refugee camp ensures the people have a place to live, food to eat and
relative comfort in the desert.
"We want to keep these people together and alive, because it's the
humane thing to do," said Arlington, Va., native 1st Lt. Leilani C.
Eleccion, team leader, Det. C, 4th CAG. "We want them to be comfortable and
to know they are safe with us."
A hasty refugee camp, while enclosed, is not a concentration camp.
The civilians living inside are free to come and go as they please as long
as they agree to be searched each time before each they enter the compound.
Inside the compound, they are given all the amenities they need to live
comfortably and attended to by medical personnel.
In building a hasty refugee camp civil affairs Marines will have to
take into consideration the Moslem laws and customs. For example, single
men will have to be housed separate from single women, and the chow hall
will not serve any pork products.
Once Det. C reaches Iraq, they can expect to be met with a host of
missions, but the Marines are confident that they are up to any task.
"My Marines are ready," said Reynaldo. "After sitting here for a
couple of weeks, they want the opportunity to prove themselves and be
successful."

Three Catholic nuns wanted to protect the children of Iraq with a "symbolic disarmament" when they trespassed. Maybe it was from the disarmament group they belong to.

Can someone please tell me how smearing your blood on the top of a missle silo advances the kingdom of God?

Watch out, Saddam!

Tobacco Shortage Makes Marines Irritable