The devastation in the south is just unbelievable. I'm really at a loss for words. Here's a link to Little Green Footballs for a list of relief agencies.
John Schultz: August 2005 Archives
Every now and then I glance at the Huffington Post via Yahoo's "news" listings just to feel better about myself.
Here's a whopper from today to show how disconnected some lefty nuts are from reality. (For any lefty nuts reading this, I meant no disrespect by that last comment.)
As Hurricane Katrina dismantles Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, it’s worth recalling the central role that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour played in derailing the Kyoto Protocol and kiboshing(more here...)
President Bush’s iron-clad campaign promise to regulate CO2.
Is everything political? Absolutely everything?
I'm not talking about Outlook, I'm talking about an old-timey Inbox - where things go that are high on the priority list.
If Benedict does have an Inbox - this is back in it.
Pope studying document on gay priests
Vatican City, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI reportedly is now studying a proposed instruction that would ban the ordination of homosexuals as Roman Catholic priests.
"In the last hours of his life there was a great tranquility and peace. He knew that he was going to his destination, to the Lord," the archbishop said. "He had not one bit of fear," but was in "great peace the last day," Dziwisz said.
via FoxNews.
Catholic Universities & UNICEF
Officials at the six Catholic universities with UNICEF chapters seemed mostly unaware of either UNICEF's shift toward abortion advocacy or the Vatican's disapproval of same. From spokesmen and women at the six--Boston College, Fordham, Georgetown, Loyola-Marymount-California, the University of St. Thomas (Texas), and Villanova--I got many who answered "They do?" and "It did?" when I asked whether UNICEF's pro-choice stance and the papacy's reaction to it caused any conflict on their own campuses.
Editor: Pope John Paul II was 'martyr'
VATICAN CITY -- The editor of the Vatican newspaper said Thursday that Pope John Paul II was a "martyr" even though he survived a 1981 assassination attempt - the latest official comment suggesting a speedy path to sainthood for the late pontiff.Mario Agnes, editor-in-chief of the official Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano, told an annual pro-Catholic political meeting that the stones in St. Peter's Square where John Paul's blood was shed should be preserved because it was the blood of "an authentic martyred pope."
Seems to be a stretch of the definition of martyr...
Many blog readers have probably seen the reports by researchers doubting that unborn babies feel much pain up to a certain point in their development.
I won't take JAMA to task for presenting an overview of academic research, though I would think that some of that research may be politically motivated.
The part that will make you crazy is this:
"One woman said she would pray for my soul," DeAngelis [the editor] said Thursday. "I could use all the prayers I can get." She said she is a staunch Roman Catholic and strongly opposes abortion, though she also supports women's right to choose.
and it gets worse, in the very last sentence of the article:
DeAngelis said she attends Mass at least weekly and is also a Eucharistic minister, which allows her to administer communion to fellow Catholics.
One of the ladies in my choir lamented Pope Benedict's election. "I don't think the Church's relationship with Muslims will get any better."
At the time I thought the comment was silly.
And here's my back-up.
Pope meets German Muslims in push for better ties.
Pope Benedict meets leaders of Germany's mainly Turkish Moslem community on Saturday to stress the importance he places, like his predecessor, on closer ties with other faiths.
For you black helicopter people, "closer ties" doesn't mean interfaith services where the Pope rubs shoulders non-catholics. It means the Pope witnesses to the eternal truth of Christianity given to the Catholic Church.
Catholic youths flock to centuries-old Latin Mass
DUESSELDORF, Germany – While hundreds of thousands of young Roman Catholics sing and dance their way through World Youth Day festivities, some start each morning in silent prayer attending the rarely celebrated old Latin Mass......The traditional liturgy, almost forgotten since the Church switched to vernacular tongues for its services, is full of reverent rituals and ornate vestments which were put aside as outdated after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).
But these traditions are making a quiet comeback among a tiny minority of young Catholics who find the strict Roman rite more sacred and prayerful than the loud guitars and chatty priests they see in their local parishes.
There was a flurry of international activity last week regarding speculation that Eveline Herfkens, a pro-abortion Dutch bureaucrat connected to the UN, would address World Youth Day in Germany. This was first reported by Catholic World Report and followed up by Lifesitenews.org. Tom Ward, president of the Catholic Family Association of Great Britain, spent a part of last week alerting American and other pro-life leaders of the impending speech by Herfkens.
From TheFactIs.org
Ukrainian Catholic Church says move to Kyiv not aimed at other churches
(AP) - The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said Aug. 18 that the church's plans to move its headquarters from the western city of Lviv to the Ukrainian capital were not aimed against other churches."The move is not aimed against anybody and it is motivated by real needs and the development of the Greek Catholic Church," Cardinal Lubomir Husar said in a statement posted on the church's official Web site.
The Greek Catholic Church plans to move to Kyiv by this Aug. 21, Husar said.
Russian Orthodox Church's Patriarch Alexy II warned on Aug. 17 that the move would affect relations with the Vatican and would stoke tension in Ukraine. Protests staged by minor pro-Russian organizations were expected on Aug. 21.
The Russian church has long accused Catholics of poaching for converts among the Orthodox since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 Soviet collapse.
For those of you who think the EU exists to give politicians who are unelectable back home something to do, I offer this:
EU spends €1.5m on world youth day
That's $1.8M at today's exchange rate.
The European Commission is contributing €1.5 million to the Catholic festival known as the World Youth Day currently taking place in Cologne, Germany.The money comes from a special event budget line and will go towards "elements which correspond to the European Union's values and focus on solidarity and active citizenship", the commission said in a statement.
Ranty Islam of DW-WORLD.DE
Not sure if "Ranty" is male or female, a journalist or some wild-eyed progressive zealot, but here's what he/she's got for us:
Reformers Turn Up Heat on Church
Critics have been present at World Youth Day, bringing up issues such as the role of women, family planning and gay rights. There are signs that the gap between them and church leaders is narrowing.
Of course, that's because some jokers from the Women's Ordination Conference set up shop to peddle things like condoms, married priests, and their favorite: women priests.
This section of the piece seems particularly dubious:
One of the few events WYD organizers put on to engage young people in an open debate focused on precisely these themes called "YouthHearing."Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Archbishop of Tegucicalpa (Honduras)
Held at a community center in Cologne on Wednesday afternoon, there was rapturous applause from the floor when critics brought up the ban on condom use, which in their view undermines the fight against HIV/AIDS in poor countries.In their response, German Bishop Reinhard Marx and Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez from Honduras stopped just short of actively endorsing condoms, but acknowledged that they can play an important role.
Here's another view of what we're getting from WYD:
Young Catholics want Pope to uphold Church sex stand
Quote like this must send the Women's Ordination Conference people into fits of despair:
"Why should the Church change with the times?" asked Mexico City student Ibanez Monserrat, 19. "What it says works for all kinds of people."
Dashing young priests turn heads at Youth Day
The article has the typical snarky reference to "chastity" when they mean celibacy.
Bishop stops ban on jazz in church
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Arundel and Brighton has intervened in the row over a Petworth Festival jazz concert held at a church in Duncton last Saturday. Bishop Kieran Conry, who has just returned from a pilgrimage to Lourdes, said he had no intention of stopping the show going ahead, despite pleas from a Petworth parishioner, Christopher Savage, a worshipper at the parent church in Petworth, the Sacred Heart."There would be no difference between a Beethoven quartet and jazz. You cannot make a judgement on the style of the music," the bishop said.
Bold part - discuss below.
Harvard university for funding a study on the origins of life.
"My expectation is that we will be able to reduce this to a very simple series of logical events that could have taken place with no divine intervention," said David R. Liu, a professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard.
It won't be biased or anything though.
Seems to me the "Intelligent Design" debate is fundamentally a mathematical probability problem. You'd think someone at Harvard would be interested in that angle...
I had around 12 singers for choir last night and we had a congregation of around 80 people. It was about 85 degrees in the church - likely some technical issue with the AC.
My choristers wanted me to turn the fan on, but I didn't know how much noise it would make. I had to turn the lights above the choir area down since they generate heat. One of my basses saw I was getting a little exasperated and looked at me and said, "John - can you get me a cold drink?" We laughed and made the best of it.
Our pastor didn't mention the heat until the very end of Mass, when he invited people to pray in the chapel because the AC was working there. We sang the Arcadelt "Ave Maria" - a simple piece that works fine with a small group.
Asked if she thought the people making the film would care about her protest, she said: "I don't suppose they do, but that doesn't matter tuppence to me. It matters to me what God thinks, not what the film crew think."When I face Almighty God, at my final judgment, as we all will, I can say, I did try my best, I did try my best to protest..."
And later in the article:
The Very Rev Alec Knight and the cathedral chapter are said to have agreed to let filming take place after the film's producers made a £100,000 donation. Sister Mary accused the Cathedral of the sin of simony - conducting financial transactions involving spiritual goods."The Church should not be accepting money for something that is not a true story," she said. They should be praying more, and then the money would come in. To a believer, any believer, what is happening is blasphemous."
Monks run out of the world's best beer
"Our shop is closed because all our beer has been sold out," said a message on the abbey's answering machine, which it calls the "beer phone."
The beer phone. That's brilliant.
Resumes That Didn't Work
*Compiled from actual resumes by Robert Half International*
I demand a salary commiserate with my extensive experience.
I have lurnt Word Perfect 6.0, computor and spreadsheat progroms.
Received a plague for Salesperson of the Year.
Reason for leaving last job: maturity leave.
Wholly responsible for two (2) failed financial institutions.
Failed bar exam with relatively high grades.
It's best for employers that I not work with people.
Let's meet, so you can ooh and aah over my experience.
You will want me to be Head Honcho in no time.
I Am a perfectionist and rarely if if ever forget details.
I was working for my mom until she decided to move.
Marital status: single. Unmarried. Unengaged. Uninvolved. No commitments.
I have an excellent track record, although I am not a horse.
I am loyal to my employer at all costs. Please feel free to respond to my resume on my office voice mail.
I have become completely paranoid, trusting completely no one and absolutely nothing.
My goal is to be meteorologist. But since I possess no training in meteorology, I suppose I should try stock brokerage.
I procrastinate, especially when the task is unpleasant.
Personal interests: donating blood. Fourteen gallons so far.
Instrumental in ruining entire operation for a Midwest chain store.
Note: Please don't misconstrue my 14 jobs as job hopping. I have never quit a job.
Marital status: often. Children: various.
Reason for leaving last job: They insisted that all employees get to work by 8:45 every morning. Could not work under those conditions.
The company made me a scapegoat, just like my three previous employers.
Finished eighth in my class of ten.
References: None. I've left a path of destruction behind me.
This from the Boston globe
The pope and a puzzling African king
Another prominent feature of the pope's new crest has also attracted attention: the picture of the ''African king" facing left on the coat of arms. For one thing, the portrait is practically a caricature of an African male, with exaggerated lips painted ruby red. ''It's not good," says Holy Cross professor of religious studies Matthew Schmalz, who has written about the crest for the Catholic magazine Commonweal. There is little doubt why the image of the African king appears on the crest. It symbolizes the Pope's commitment to rallying Catholic worshipers in Africa, the fastest-growing province of the church. (In June, Benedict said he would summon a special synod of African bishops, the first since 1994.) ''For me, [the African king] is an expression of the universality of the Church," the then-Cardinal Ratzinger wrote in his 1998 book ''Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977." He also wrote that he did not know where the African image, which appeared on his coat of arms when he was archbishop of Munich-Freising, came from.
Caput Aethiopum. According to the website of his former Archdiocese:
"The shield, which is divided into three sections, displays the “Moor of Freising." The Moor’s head, facing left and typically crowned, appeared on the coat of arms of the old principality of Freising as early as 1316, during the reign of the Bishop of Freising, Prince Konrad III, and it remained almost unchanged until the “secularization” of the Church’s estates in that region in 1802-1803. Ever since that time the archbishops of Munich and Freising have included the Caput Aethiopum, the head of an Ethiopian, in their episcopal coat of arms."
Bishop ban targets pro-abortion, gay rights politicians
Catholic move mutes speeches at churches
Frances Kissling, who heads Catholics for a Free Choice, said the ban represents a change from the past, when politicians frequented church dinners and the like.She said the church risks isolating itself politically and religiously if it continues to restrict who may address Catholics at church facilities.
Arizona Rep. Collette Rosati, a Catholic and a Republican, said she supports the bishop.
"You can't give a bully pulpit to politicians who don't support church teaching," she said.
I'm glad some bishops are working hard to keep Catholic events Catholic.
Web's Wikipedia to tighten editorial rules-founder
"There may soon be so-called stable contents. In this case, we'd freeze the pages whose quality is undisputed," he said.Citing a recent example of vandalism, Wales recalled how following the election of the new Pope Benedict in April, a user substituted the pontiff's photo on the Wikipedia site with that of the evil emperor from the Star Wars film series.
