Bowl Tour

The abbreviated bowl tour for me (Maureen will get in three; I will only get in two) begins today as I drive to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl which pits Cal vs. Texas Tech. TT belongs in the Holiday Bowl; Cal belongs in the Rose Bowl.

As for the Rose Bowl, this could prove to be another down year similar to the Washington State fiasco of a few years ago when they not only got thumped by Oklahoma, but also failed to sell most of their tickets for the game. Although I do not expect an empty section like I saw in that game to repeat itself in 2005, I have noticed, or should I say not noticed many fans from either school mulling around the Pasadena-Glendale area as in years past.

Now I realize that the tourist destinations are not located in the P-G area for the most part, but normally one would see folks meandering around at night looking for food or going to movies. The amount of school color seen this year is minimal.

I can only wonder if it is as bad for the Miami area with the Trojans. SC does not usually travel well to distant places other than Notre Dame. The sponsorship and TV money will keep the system going, but are the fans and the teams served best by this BCS process? I would suggest that they are not, and that the best way to keep the best interests of all of college football in tact is to return to the old system of bowl games. As I have said countless times before, very few people care about NCAA basketball about a week after the national championship game; however, the old system of bowls kept college football on the minds of fans year round due to the positive controversy it created. That is the type of marketing idea that we need to return to since it promotes the sport and the bowl system year round.

Liturgical Abuse

My wife and I seem to be adrift in the sea of rampant anti-Roman Catholicism at this time when we go to Mass almost anywhere in the United States. I can understand why the Vatican views much, but not all, of the Church in the United States as being a bit "off" (and I am being nice). The constant stream of liturgical abuses that we have to suffer through at the various churches we have attended in our area alone has become something that we can no longer be silent about. However, at this time, we shall not name names so as to afford our wayward priests and their congregations to get back in line and follow the teachings and laws of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

A) The Abuse of unauthorized persons on the altar during the Consecration (during the Eucharistic Prayer)

So often the trendy priests ask for children to wander on up to stand around the altar during the Consecration. My wife and I attended a parish (not our own) for Christmas this year where this happened. The priest was so distracted that he didn't notice that the entire Congregation stood for the entire Consecration. When I politely asked him about it after Mass, he replied," Oh, Pastor xxxx hasn't gotten in to that here... I didn't even notice that they were standing... but you can go to other parishes nearby where they do that" signalling his approval of the practice.

Previous norms do not proscribe that children should not be on the altar. However, they also do not proscribe that dancing elephants be eliminated either (as one priest told me last summer). Instruction Redemtionis Sacramentum is clear on this topic:

The proclamation of the Eucharistic Prayer, which by its very nature is the climax of the whole celebration, is proper to the Priest by virtue of his Ordination. It is therefore an abuse to proffer it in such a way that some parts of the Eucharistic Prayer are recited by a Deacon, a lay minister, or by an individual member of the faithful, or by all members of the faithful together. The Eucharistic Prayer, then, is to be recited by the Priest alone in full.[131] (emphasis added) Hello! ALONE!

He, as many others priests are, was also oblivious to the use of the orans posture by some in the pews (other parishes actively promote it!).

As can be seen On Certain Questions of Collaboration:

2. ... Neither may deacons or non-ordained members of the faithful use gestures or actions which are proper to the same priest celebrant. It is a grave abuse for any member of the non-ordained faithful to "quasi preside" at the Mass while leaving only that minimal participation to the priest which is necessary to secure validity.

The relatively conservative EWTN is nicer, but still in line with Rome.

B) The use of girls as altar servers is permitted, but it is obvious that it is not the preferred practice of Rome for reasons obvoius in the latest document (March 2004):

[47.] It is altogether laudable to maintain the noble custom by which boys or youths, customarily termed servers, provide service of the altar after the manner of acolytes, and receive catechesis regarding their function in accordance with their power of comprehension.[119] Nor should it be forgotten that a great number of sacred ministers over the course of the centuries have come from among boys such as these.[120] Associations for them, including also the participation and assistance of their parents, should be established or promoted, and in such a way greater pastoral care will be provided for the ministers. Whenever such associations are international in nature, it pertains to the competence of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments to establish them or to approve and revise their statutes.[121] Girls or women may also be admitted to this service of the altar, at the discretion of the diocesan Bishop and in observance of the established norms.[122]

C) Then there are priests who like to ramble on and on and then forget to say required prayers, or just skip over them (and, no I do not mean certain prayers like the Gloria or the Nicene Creed that may eliminated on certain days). The Vatican states in Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum:

58.] All of Christ’s faithful likewise have the right to a celebration of the Eucharist that has been so carefully prepared in all its parts that the word of God is properly and efficaciously proclaimed and explained in it; that the faculty for selecting the liturgical texts and rites is carried out with care according to the norms; and that their faith is duly safeguarded and nourished by the words that are sung in the celebration of the Liturgy.

D) Reverence at Holy Communion

If you are in a parish that stands, do you show reverence prior to receiving Holy Communion? Do your priests even mention it (hats off to Holy Family Parish in Glendale on this one as well as reminding its flock to bow during the correct time during the Nicene Creed... we did not even have a chance to kneel at the church we went to for Christmas). From Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum:

[90.] “The faithful should receive Communion kneeling or standing, as the Conference of Bishops will have determined”, with its acts having received the recognitio of the Apostolic See. “However, if they receive Communion standing, it is recommended that they give due reverence before the reception of the Sacrament, as set forth in the same norms”.[176]

And when was the last time you saw a communion plate? I have been "whining" about this one for years!

[93.] The Communion-plate for the Communion of the faithful should be retained, so as to avoid the danger of the sacred host or some fragment of it falling.[180]

E) Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion

This is an issue that Americans love to pretend that they know more about being Catholic than the Vatican does. However, the Americans are wrong according to the latest (see other links above):

[88.] The faithful should normally receive sacramental Communion of the Eucharist during Mass itself, at the moment laid down by the rite of celebration, that is to say, just after the Priest celebrant’s Communion.[172] It is the Priest celebrant’s responsibility to minister Communion, perhaps assisted by other Priests or Deacons; and he should not resume the Mass until after the Communion of the faithful is concluded. Only when there is a necessity may extraordinary ministers assist the Priest celebrant in accordance with the norm of law.[173]

Of course the liberals will argue that "necessity" means incorporating the faithful and making sure the reception of Holy Communion does not make Mass go past an hour. BLECH! Change the Mass schedule and follow the rules!

They should read On Certain Questions on Collaboration, Article 8:

2. Extraordinary ministers may distribute Holy Communion at eucharistic celebrations only when there are no ordained ministers present or when those ordained ministers present at a liturgical celebration are truly unable to distribute Holy Communion.(99) They may also exercise this function at eucharistic celebrations where there are particularly large numbers of the faithful and which would be excessively prolonged because of an insufficient number of ordained ministers to distribute Holy Communion. (100) This function is supplementary and extraordinary (101) and must be exercised in accordance with the norm of law...

The same article defines said persons as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and not Eucharistic Ministers or any other title. It is VERY specific about the terminology that MUST be used.

F) Conclusion

I could write a book, but I'll just keep bloggin'...

My wife and I will continue to try our best. Hopefylly, Cardinal Mahoney will see the light and let the F.S.S.P. in to the Archdiocese, or, he will copy the actions of the great Cardinal Pell of Sydney, Australia.

How to Help Update

Click Here.

Scroll down to the donations section for several links.

Pray and Help

The devastation due to the recent earthquake and resulting tsunami in Southeast Asia is mind-boggling. Those of us in America tend to be clueless or uninformed about such problems in other parts of the world. If you would like to do something to help, you may donate to the general fund of the Red Cross. The Red Cross is not taking disaster specific donations, but any contribution you make will help the organization help those affected by this tragedy as well as others around the world similarly affected by such nasty events.

And, of course, your prayers are encouraged.

Christmas 2004

"Celebrate the feast of Christmas every day, even every moment in the interior temple of your spirit, remaining like a baby in the bosom of the heavenly Father, where you will be reborn each moment in the Divine Word, Jesus Christ."

-St. Paul of the Cross

USCulture of Death

Well......................

I would hope that not everyone who is at the school or has graduated from it are in favor of this stem-cell state-funded abortion nonsense.

I type this while wearing by W04 t-shirt.

But there is at least one idiot at the USC alumni office that thinks stem cell research is a fund-raising winner.

Whoops!

II guess I will have to specify the football team for all future contributions... or maybe I will just send them here.

Angel Tree

I realize that there are many fine organizations that compete for your attention and extra dollars during the Holiday season. However, there is one that you can be a part of as an member of a group or that you may support simply by donating: Angel Tree.

Angel Tree is an organization that helps the children of prisoners. Regardless of what their parents may have done, these innocents are some of the most overlooked children at this time of year due to the stigma attached to them unfairly by society. Although it may be too late for your church organization to get actively involved this year, you can still donate online and begin preparing for next year or get involved with their other activities.

That's Right! You're not from Texas!

No, I am not from Texas, although I moved to and lived in CenTex briefly in 1998. I would have stayed there longer had certain business opportunities had panned out (and the fact that they did not is not the fault of CenTex).

But I was well aware of the Texas "attitude" back in the early 1990's when I first visited the DFW area for a few days. An old college buddy of mine was whacking out columns for one of the major local papers as a sports writer, and I had the privelege of hanging out at the old Arlington ballpark with him.

It was NOT Texas... well, hanging out with him, an Ohio man, was not hanging out in Texas. Well, sort of it was (great grammar, huh?!)

Even though we "did" Dallas and even hung out at one of the Rangers players' spots (with acutal Rangers and their female groupies), it seemed like I was hanging out in a town that was trying to be Los Angeles.

However, after living there, I now realize that DFW is trying very hard to be Texas-cosmopolitan.

I think that is exactly what George W. Bush is trying to be. And even though I am not from Texas, I like to think that I kind of "get it."

For those of you who are still challenged, listen to Lyle Lovett's song about his, and our, great state of Texas

Anti-Hewitt (whiner)

Okay, I have identified myself as generally anti-Hugh Hewiit due to his deep-rooted anti-Roman Catholic personal issues.

But since I do have one or two optimistic bones in my body, I occasionally check outhis webiste.

The questions that should have been asked are: Why did the National Cancer Institute suspend the study? I could give you Hewitt's answer, but then that would go against his early stated idea that he does not know what he is talking about:



My point is that the talking heads of cable land know as much about the drug approval process as I do about monster trucks.  And I don't know anything about monster trucks...



The full blog is linked above, so if you think I am out of line, just click and read. I understand that he is defending the 980 million to 1 billion dollars spent on each drug by U.S. companies prior to the drug being inserted into the market.

At least that is what it appears it is he is doing (oh, how Hewitt of me!).

Anti-Wilsonian Whiners

Those of us who have bothered to read General Franks (ret.) book know what the current Bush Administration and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld were trying to create with the modern army. Nowhere in that book, nor nowhere else of that I am aware, did it appear that the current administration ever assumed that war would be perfect or done in a matter of a few short months. In fact President Bush stated that it might take years beyond his administration (assuming an eight year term) to win the war.

Now the bitter people, people of the same moral core as those who could not see Reconstruction through and, thus, brought us years of racist segregation, are looking for a cut-and-run strategy that will make themselves look like heroes in the short term, but will be shown to be just as evil as those who sought a political solution in the late 19th century presidential election that saw a Republican win the presidency in an exchange for the end of Reconstruction. However, the lack of courage of the modern day senatorial cowards will hurt those abroad immediatel and those of us here in the United States soon as well (or so I predict).

Rumsfeld's tactics are not the problem, nor is the man.

The problem is the idea that Iraq can be a democracy, in the U.S. sense of a state, in January of 2005 without us stationing a large amount of troops there for decades. Although I will support this position as it is better than pulling out, the United States would be better off insstalling a federalist system that included three states: Kurdish, Sunni-Baathist, and Shia. This is nowhere near a perfect solution; but the regionalism that the forces are trying to deal with is one that ignores the the historic lines of the area. A constitutional monarchy based on this idea might be an acceptable idea as well.

The U.N. cannot handle this. If they could, Lebanon would not be a toy-state of Syria (where it appears that many tons of "materials" and money from Iraq flowed to prior to the latest Coalition invasion). Heck, the U.N. cannot fix Haiti!

Terrorists Never Lie

From the Sydney Morning Herald...

Have you read it yet?

Aren't you glad that this esteemed paper of our allied country did such a wonderful follow-up? Oh.. you are right! They presented the story as true without spending any real effort to check on the facts of the story.

Yep! Those terrorists NEVER lie!

I am going to bed (no lie, unless I am a terrorists or I can find more about this guy in the next two minutes!).

Gratitude

(please excuse any typos! this blog was longer and more detailed before BLOGGER ate it throught the preview function!)

President Ronald Reagan in his remarks at the presentation ceremony for the Presidential Sholars Awards on June 16, 1988 said, "Gratitude is a way to deeper wisdom. Look for that deeper wisdom; believe me, there's a hunger for it. And your in luck. As Americans, you have a special claim on it."

That idea was probably true for most Americans in 1988. But in the last 16 years, the concept of gratitude for America has come under attack more and more. It really started in the 1960s, but the promotion of the Balkanization of the country through marxist multi-culturalism has caused the idea of gratitude to be one on its death bed in many parts of the country. Unfortunately, those parts of the country seem to have voted "blue" in the last election. Given the Gramscian leanings of these people, a swap of red and blue should happen immediately.

But I digress.

The "tomato soup" concept of America (which is more fitting than the melting pot) is one that should be promoted as it also promotes gratitude. Those who willingly come to this country to live, work and generally benefit from our system should be grateful. The positive aspects of their person and culture might add flavor and character to the "soup," but the stock or core should remain tomato soup.

The least grateful groups (and, it seems, most of the loudest) are ones that hate this idea. In their view, the United States is either entirely morally corrupt and/or can only make moral decisions if those decisions pass the "global test." The Founding Fathers are not folks who created a system of government that can promote the individual and society over time; they are racists, homophobes, and misogynists.

Can't you just hear Howard Dean's scream as a self-enforced segregation begins in this country (and one not started by the "whites")?

Keeping Christ in my Chinese Christmas

Somewhere in China there must be a bunch of folks who are laughing about Christmas and all the goofy Americans who are buying the products for that celebration that are made in China (the products, not the Americans).

I am one of the Americans on which they have played their annual communist-softened-by-Starbucks-capitalism prank.

First, we have the lovely illuminated snowflakes for your pathway. These little treats are imported and sold by Costco. The very first box I opened had a string of five snowflakes that were attached together in a circle (they are supposed to be in a line). My wife, who has no faith in my ability to untangle anything or follow directions (let alone find them) properly, triumphantly set off to fix the problem. She returned defeated, and the laughter from China became louder.

Of course, the reason why I don't pay much attention to the directions that come with the these products anymore is that they have things missing in them like verbs: key words that might help you understand how to put an item together. Here is an example of the type of direction I no longer "follow": Stakes, as on diagram. Usually, if I have untangled the product to the point that the mounting stakes are even in play, my frustration level is sent over the top when I look at the directions that have no diagram of stakes nor where they might best be placed on the product. At this point, I normally drive the stakes into the directions creating a directions and front lawn shish kebab (perhaps that should be pot sticker).

The loudest laugh from China must have come this year when, while assembling the illuminated train for the first time, I discovered that the mounting cords were missing. The mirthful Chinese had placed metal rods and attachment pieces for my use in case I was going to place the train on the roof (perhaps this helps them target us capitalists with some sort of hidden GPS system). I attached these to the back of the train, and then used the j-stakes to loosely mount the train on the lawn (the roof stakes were not long enough to reach the ground by about six inches). A gentle breeze would cause the stakes to clank against the mounting braces which reminded one of an old steam engine clanking down the track. However, the sprinklers would be able to hit the train with sufficient force to knock the whole thing over.

"Ha, ha, ha," go the Chinese.

As for me? I had to go to the hardware store to buy parts.

I also put out the illuminated deer from last year. One of the buck's antlers goes on and off intermittently much like a cheap hotel sign in a film-noir. What the Chinese don't seem to remember is that the history of the United States is built on expansion and land aquistion. If the products they send us keep falling apart, we will run out of landfill space and will need to expand... into China!

Okay, not China... they have nukes (and it appears they may have stolen the directions for some of these from Los Alamos. I assume they have more faith in our ability to write clear instructions, but wouldn't it be a hoot if we leaked poorly written missilie and warhead instructions to them? "Oops!" we would say. "You mean you meant to radiate and illuminate Washington D.C. and not Bejing? Our bad!") My suggestion is that we go after Canada and greatly irritate all the non-church going Red State liberals who have fled us Jesusland freaks who are trying to keep Christ in Christmas (okay, I know I live in the barren dessert of atheism and enlightenment... Hey! Maybe I can be classified as a "minority!")

On second thought, let's not leak those bad nuke instructions to the Chinese. Let's send them copies of the New Testament. If they follow those instructions, we would all be better off.

Get out the polish

Notre Dame has started to rebuild its tarnished reputation by hiring one of its own and, from what I hear, a generally good guy and a darn good football coach, Charlie Weis. Best of luck to him, except when he is playing the Trojans.

Another program got out the polish as well this weekend as the University of Washington hired recently deposed Irish head man, Tyrone Willingham. I'll wish him only a little luck since he landed in the same conference as the Trojans! He's another good man who, fortunately, has landed on his feet. Unfortunately, that is not always true in this business.

I would not be justified in slamming Stanford for hiring Walt Harris, but it seems like Norm Chow just cannot bet a break (and Kentucky is not a break).

Art Gabriel - One of the Greatest Generation

Art Gabriel had surgery yesterday for cancer that was located in his abdomen and pelvis area. Although only about 1/3 of the cancer was removed, it did relieve the blockage from which he was suffering.

Why should you care?

Because Art is one of the sweetest and generous men you could ever hope to meet.

Because Art has been loyal to his family and wife for decades.

Because art is a faithful Catholic and long-time member of the Knights of Columbus.

Because Art fought in World War II...

with Audie Murphy...

and he was, at "worst," the fourth most decorated U.S. soldier in World War II.

Churchill's famous comment about "owing" never applied more so than to Art especially when Art's entire life is taken into consideration: "Never in the face of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few."

If you "Google" or "Dogpile" his name, nothing that is relevant seems to match except for the reference to the Angel Gabriel and the related art work.

Art's life has truly been a work of art that we hope will continue for many more years. I hope that you pray to the Angel Gabriel to intercede on his behalf.

Vivat Jesus!

Uh... Kerry lost!

How else do you respond to this "unbiased" news report in the Sydney Morning Herald (yes, I know that it is not an American paper, but, please, they are on the other side of the international date line!):


"None of the funds made available in this act ... may be used to provide assistance to the government of a country that is a party to the International Criminal Court and has not entered into an agreement with the United States," a portion of the text reads.


The author is worried about Jordan:


Jordan, which has helped train Iraqi police and hosted conferences on the reconstruction of Iraq, is set to lose approximately $US250 million ($330.82 million) in aid. Peru is expected to lose $US8 million ($10.59 million) for democratic reforms and agricultural programs, drug-trafficking, and terrorism.


Didn't Jordan expel most of the Palestinians from its borders many years ago? The King of Jordan NEEDS us.

Of course, this silly court passes Kerry's "Global Test." However, it does not pass the "United States Constitutional Test."

Damon's Saved?

On January 1, 2005, the Campbell restaurant group will take over the ownership and operation of the venerable Damon's Restaurant in Glendale. I have it on good authority that Chris Campbell (Prep '85) will manage the facility on the behalf of the family.

If Chris screws it up, he will have to answer to Brett, Dave, Scott, Ed, and myself.

Now that is the real Motley Crew (Larry King-Campbell joke).

Confusing Canada

Canada.

One generally thiks of maple syrup, toothless hockey players, and snow.

One does not think about a country that condones gay marriages, but after today's Canadian Supreme Court decision that might change.

Or, maybe it won't.

The decision by the court says that the government, by not acting earlier, has already accepted the outcome... in a non-binding way.

Although the NHL is headquartered in New York, fans of the league can only hope that it does not look to its Canadian roots to find examples of logic in its attempt to fix its labor problems. Actually, I am amazed that the Canadian legal system has not forced the few remaining Canadian based teams to start the season (at least in Canada). Of course, the results, like each goal scored, would be non-binding.

Born Republican

This from the Washington Times on December 8:

What explains the divide between Republican-voting "red" states and Democratic-voting "blue" states? It's the "baby gap," Steve Sailer explains in the American Conservative.

"The white people in Republican-voting regions consistently have more children than the white people in Democratic-voting regions. The more kids whites have, the more pro-Bush they get," Mr. Sailer writes, adding, "Whites remain the 800-pound gorilla of ethnic electoral groups, accounting for over three out of every four votes."

Focusing on total fertility rates — average lifetime births per woman — Mr. Sailer observes: "The most fecund whites are in heavily Mormon Utah, which, not coincidentally, was the only state where Bush received over 70 percent. White women average 2.45 babies in Utah, compared to merely 1.11 babies in Washington, D.C., where Bush earned but 9 percent. The three New England states where Bush won less than 40 percent — Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island — are three of the four states with the lowest white birth rates. ...

"Bush carried the 19 states with the highest white fertility (just as he did in 2000), and 25 out of the top 26, with highly unionized Michigan being the one blue exception to the rule. ...

"In sharp contrast, Kerry won the 16 states at the bottom of the list, with the Democrats' anchor states of California (1.65) and New York (1.72) having quite infertile whites."


What can I possibly add to that (besides more children)?

Petty Latham - Petty Libs

Allow me to put this in the term of sport:

Question: If you are the Head Coach of a team that should have won, but did not, what do you do?

Answer: If you are Mark Latham, you whine, blame the players, shun responsibility, and threaten to fire those who do not support you.

Thankfully, those of us in the United States of America have not been subjected to the same type of whining as those in Australia. The difference is that the Australians still have a pseudo-parlimantary system, subject to the whims of the Queens Representative, and a very small population concentrated in the the South East portion of the country.

Regionalism is alive in Australia; but I am not sure it is "well." This is due to population concentration and immigration patterns.

Sheesh!

I think the BCS might be in charge of the Australian elections!

Go Trojans!

Boycotting Hewitt

I cannot take it anymore. I pray that someone with more patience than I can eventually listen to, analyze, and persuade Hugh Hewitt to come back to the Church and stop being such a condescending and pompous heretic. Perhaps his family in Ohio can help hims see the light.

As a Roman Catholic in good conscience who has not turned his back on the Mother Church for the sake of politics or to create a personal superiority complex found in many who have (both in the right and left of politics), I shall no longer listen to Hugh Hewitt.

Although I agree with him that the sex-abuse scandal is a problem in the Church, he continuously implies that the problem is much larger than it really is (much like the liberal press). If he spent half the time researching the issue as he has whining about the Salvation Army not being able to place its buckets in front of select stores, he might come to realize that his Reformation-like smugness places him in the league whose ideas, while seeming conservative by many standards, have led to the rampant disease of modern liberalism.

Thank God, literally, for classical radio and my CD player.

BCS Madness

(forgive the typos, I have not proof read this one!)

Many people are whining about the lack of "fairness" in the Bowl Championship Series.

Oh, really.

These people want a communist system of college football: the elites (politburo) share everything somewhat equally, and to heck with the rest (everyone else).

The bowl system was originally designed to reward teams for a season well-competed in addition to trying to generate a little tourism and stature for the host cities and their related events.

It has grown into a greedy and ugly mess.

It is time to go back to the traditional system of major bowl games and major conference tie-ins. Let the fans argue all off-season about who was the real national champion (heck, doesn't that create more interest in the sport long after the season than anything else the NCAA has to offer? From a marketing perspective, a playoff makes little or no sense for a sport that has such a large number of student-athletes per team. Folks who compare NCAA Division I football to the same level of basketball are really clueless about the amount of lives affected. The real greed is located at the top and suppoted by the college version of Pravda, otherwise known as the sports writers who get to cover these events.

The following might be the dumbest, if not the strangest, statement of the day from the BCS mouthpiece, Keven Weiberg of the Big 12/BCS:

BCS TELECONFERENCE

BCS Coordinator and Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiberg's statements during the BCS teleconference

Comments regarding Texas going to the Rose Bowl:

"As you know, the rules that govern the BCS selection process are very much prescribed, and we followed the rules right down the patch. The way it works is that once the teams are identified that are in the pool from which the selection can be made, we then begin with the actual selection process. Since Southern Cal was the No. 1 team in the country and was the Rose Bowl's host team, the Rose Bowl then had the first selection to replace that departed host. The Rose Bowl did indicate, understanding that California was not available to be selected, that they preferred to select Texas. At that point, we did have to pause and make sure the Fiesta Bowl was prepared to pass on Texas since Texas comes from its host conference. It also was losing a champion in Oklahoma. The Fiesta Bowl did indicate their willingness for Texas to move over and play in the Rose Bowl. I think that was a very gracious gesture on their part and showed their support for the system."

What are you talking about, good sir, on TWO points?

1) The Rose Bowl gets first choice for a replacement since its team (Pac-10 USC) was #1.

2) The Rose Bowl should never be in a position for any other bowl game to affect who it wants to pick assuming it loses team(s) to another BCS game. It is the GRANDADDY of them all. Since traditional match-ups are shot for the time being, I think that the Rose Bowl should have been allowed to match Auburn vs. Texas or Cal or Utah. Weiberg's comments are just another reason why the Rose Bowl needs to get out of the BCS.

Texas

I am not one who normally looks at a team's past seasons to determine whether or not they deserve to be in a BCS game or whether they are a good fit for a bowl game as a general rule. But, Texas is the exception to the rule. The folks who run/ran FireMackBrown.com may be hiding for the time being, but my guess is that they will be back soon.... very soon.

It seems like Texas has been in the last 10 Holiday Bowls... well, three of the last four in reality, but it seems like they have been out here forever. From a fan standpoint, how many Texas fans will be willing to make the trip slightly north to Pasadena to see sights they have already seen once, if not three times, recently? My guess is that the answer is not very many, but, for the sake of the local economy, I hope I am wrong (and Texas fans do like to party in an upscale fashion, so who knows?). As for Michigan fans, they have had an off year, and this game means little to them.

An Auburn v. Texas matchup would have drawn a tremendous amount of people from both schools for sure. Auburn is undefeated, and Texas would be looking to make a statment that might actually fire up recruits and alums.

Cal

Cal should have lost at home to Oregon. Cal should have blown out directional Mississippi yesterday. Cal is better than Texas, but Cal lost to its own lack of tradition more than the east coast bias.

A Cal v. Texas matchup would have been better than what I will have to suffer through on Jan. 1 this year in Pasadena, but Cal needed to do more, and the Golden Bears did not.

Last shouldabeen match-up list

Based on yesterday and some sleep (and forgive me if it sounds contradictory):

Rose Bowl: Utah v. Auburn
Fiesta Bowl: Texas v. Michigan
Sugar Bowl: Va Tech v. Pittsburgh (game could/should be transferred to the Carrier Dome)
Orange Bowl: USC v. Oklahoma

Good night!

Football Part I

I am exhausted and need to go to bed but this is what I think should happen:

Orange: Oklahoma v. USC
Sugar: Auburn v. Va Tech
Fiesta: Texas v. Pitt
Rose: Utah v. Michigan

Cal needed to do more.... they should go to the Holiday Bowl.

SC did BARELY enough.

More after the results come in tomorrow afternoon.

Another change on the horizon

Well, my wife and I have finally decided to make the switch in the beginning of the new year to Lutheranism. Nah, just kidding!

We will be registering at Holy Redeemer parish in the Montrose section of Glendale. Holy Redeemer has an excellent school, a newly remodled church, and is closer to us than A.B.V.M. in Pasadena. Although everyone at A.B.V.M. has always treated us well, we really view ourselves, now, as Glendalians. As such, we want to be involved in a parish that is in the immediate community in which we live.

With this switch will come an eventual shift to a new council in the Knights of Columbus. As to when in 2005 this will happen, well, I just don't know. It really depends on whether or not my current council wants to replace me as Grand Knight for the remainder of the Columbian year which ends at the end of June of 2005.

Please pray for us as we make this transition and, once again, become the new kids/strangers. Hopefully, we will not feel like strangers for long!

To Fake or not to Fake?

After further review, I hereby apologize to all ND fans everywhere for the fake punt.

As I told my compatriot at the game before the play, I would go for it in an attempt to keep control. Had we made the first down, I would have put in the second team as well, but I would have let them try to score. We all know Cassel (sp.?) needs the work.

I am curious as to why Coach Willingham wasn't bothered by it and his reaction to it initially shaped mine, but it shouldn't have.

Notre Dame: Dumb, not Racist

Notre Dame (the one in South Bend, IN) has chosen to fire its head coach of football, Tyrone Willingham, after his third season on the job. The primary reason for doing so was that he had made progress, but not enough progress to meet Notre Dame standards. But then, the idea of standards at Notre Dame wandered off in to the "relative" years ago in the core areas of Catholicism, so nobody should be amazed at the firing since popular opinion seems to rule the decision making process at this French-missionary founded school.

One can point to many problems at the university, but one need only single out Fr. McBrien who has constantly attacked the Pope and the teachings of the Church and wondered aloud about the Holy Father resigning. Standards of accountability seem to differ at this institution where they should not.

I have heard that Notre Dame alums were not happy with the coach. I am not sure what that means since the complaints have been vague. The best one that I have read was sent to me via email (and there were several) and indicated that things would have been better if he had won.

Huh?

Fans wanted an immediate return to success, although I remember many "Domers"' applauding the hire of Willingahm since he supposedly knew how to be successful at a school with academics like Notre Dame; but, that idea assumed the fact that Notre Dame was going to try and compete at the same level as Stanford in football. The obvious conclusion was that a boquet of bowl games was okay so long as one of them was a sweet smelling BCS game every once in a decade.

The alums and the administration seem to have changed the rules on Coach Ty in mid-contract. The A.D. has stated that the firing was not his idea (how long will he last?).

(and, yes I edited this since it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over the top and harsh in the original - edited at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday).

Death the Dutch Way

In yet another reason why we in the United States should be happy that the Eurocandidacy of John Kerry went down to defeat, one Dutch hospital has already announced that they are euthanizing babies.

Why do so many people look to Europe for "compassionate thought?"

Colored Lights

Settle down!

I am posting about the type of lights that I will put up (would have this past weekend if the wind wasn't an issue) in the next 10-12 days.

I am a colored light guy. So, it appears, are: my new love-to-hate radio personality Hugh Hewitt and the fantastic James Lileks (and, James, I still have a stand of the old-fashioned peeling light bulbs strand of lights).

They both cite a piece that refers to the level of sophistication of those people who put on only white lights during the Christmas season on their properties.

Please...

The white light fad started only a few years ago and makes houses look, well, lit-up as if they were having a special year-end sale. They were interesting the first year, but now I keep thinking about some close-out section at the local OSH store for the end-of-the-year hammock sale.

Now I do admit that white lights can certainly add to an overall theme especially here in Southern California where the only snow we see is usually confined to the mountains. But to see house after house adorned in white lights is to see, well, a bunch of houses in a row looking as if they are being seasonal in their home protection attempt. GET FESTIVE PEOPLE!

Now, I would be remiss if I did not admit to the fact that I do have some white lights in my decoration scheme. They are on the mechanical deers that I have (I bought two, and some time during the season last year, they give birth to a smaller third unlit one... go figure! I guess Darwin was wrong in that non-animated objects can reproduce). I have seen those framed-lit deers in a color scheme, and they look, well, stupid.

My only hope is that some coyote or mountain lion does not attack my deer and injure itself or else I might have a bunch of militant environmentalists picketing in the street in front of my house. Well, if that happens, they better bring a bunch of white lights or else they are going to get hit by a car or cars since I live on a dark street.

Advent has started - go to church!

May God Bless you all during this Christmas Season (and how about those Packers!).

Canada, Part II

It seems I offended the folks at blogger by questioning the motivation and facts of another blogger. Well, here I go again! Just before I was going to go to bed, the Canada Al removed my posts from his site, and added one of his own as can be found below.

Since I am trying to engage in a debate of ideas with someone who has such great animosity towards the United States, I randomnly chose Al's site.

Here is his latest post, entitled Armagedon

(italics added to differentiate his post from mine)



There are "signs" the lunatic right may be right, no matter how distasteful the idea may be to rational people. There are signs these may be the "last days." I, as an agnostic, would be the last one to discount any idea out of hand, even something as preposterous as this one.

"It is written" that everything is turned upside down in the "last days." Everything that was nonsense becomes sense. Everything that was unthinkable becomes the norm.

Not long ago the word Armageddon signified the worst possible thing that could be imagined, namely, the end of human civilization through nuclear holocaust. Today, it signifies, at least to the lunatic right, the best possible thing that can be imagined, namely, yes, the end of human civilization, but with this difference: After everyone else has perished, the lunatics would be lifted up unto heaven. It is a consummation devoutly desired.

There are corollaries to this new worldview. War is good, because peace and progress can never lead to the volcanic catharsis that would necessitate divine intervention. It is best to have insane leaders, because sane ones are not likely to make the "correct" decisions that will bring on the end and the new beginning.

This has been achieved. Bush wants war to bring on the Second Coming. Cheney wants it so his former company will profit by it, no matter how many hundreds of thousands of people get killed in the process. And the rest of the gang have simply sold their souls to the devil.

So maybe I should redefine the nature of the "last days." Maybe the last days do not have anything to do with divine intervention or lack thereof. Rather, maybe the last days have to do with a human race that has become so corrupt and selfish that it looks away from the misery of its fellows, consciously and knowingly. These may be the last days. But only because we have made them so.


I will be even briefer in my second attempt to address his new view of the Second Coming:

1) President Bush is a Methodist, and, as far as I know, they are not enraptrued by the rapture;
2) Cheney dumped his control and stock in Haliburton well before 9/11;
3) As the readings in the U.S. missal in the Roman Catholic Church stated this first weekend of Advent, no one knows when the time is coming.

I am hoping to convert (pun intended) my adversary to a point where he argues non-emotive facts instead of blind rants. I will probably tire of this soon, but if you don't feel free to try and comment both here and at Not the Country Club.

Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow!

There is No Free Speech at this anti-U.S. Canadian Blog

Check out Not the Country Club.

I have posted to comments to this person's blog citing countering views based on researched facts. The owner (Al?) has decided to remove them both instead of trying to cite or argue points other than from the position of emotional rant. You can see my name, but not my posts as they have been removed.

Feel free to try and debate this coward.

Unless you are offensive or threatening, you can always post at my blog even if I do not agree with you!

Long live the freedom of speech!

Sports Illustrated on line

The folks at SI caught themselves before I could get back on-line. I tried to rebut an article that was there at 3:00 p.m. PST that is not there at 8ish. The author was trying to argue that both Texas and Cal were fighting for the last spot in the BCS. Uh, no! If everyone wins out this weekend, Cal goes to the Rose Bowl in the last available slot. I guess they figured out before I could elevate myself to the top of the call-in show heap of people with nothing better to do (and I did, as always, have better things to do).

Constitutional Amendment on Marriage

Now the big push will come since the Supreme Court has correctly decided not to hear the appeal of those opposed to the MA Supreme Court decision to allow gay marriages in that state.

Marriage is a states' rights issue. FOR NOW.

I agree that an amendment is necessary since the Full Faith and Credit Clause will force other states to recognize those marriages even if those states do not allow them to take place within their borders.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's Grande!

President Bush has nominated Mr. Gutierrez, the chairman of Kellogs, to the position of Secretary of Commerce. Gutierrez is a true American success story, learning English as a bell-hop and working his way up from delivery man to CEO of Kellogs.

My guess is that Democrats will be incensed since he is not a victim, and has shown determination in his life efforts. He is originally from Cuba, and has spent part of his life in Mexico. Perhaps this is the "Bush Affirmative-Action Plan": if you take action, you will be affirmed by the administration (and confirmed by the Senate) regardless of your ethnic background.

Sunday Night

Not much time to write...

Took the squirrels to Knott's today; dressed them as princesses from the Disney collection this afternoon in a final (failed) attempt to get good pictures for the Christmas card; ran errands; and, there was too much wind last night, today, and until Tuesday to clean up the mess of leaves and mow the lawn so that I can put up the "pretty lights" as Kelly calls them. Perhaps I can get some of that done by the end of the week.

As for the silliness about USC running up the score, if the Trojans were guilty, blame the system and the East Coast bias that ripped votes from them last week when they did not even play. Grow up, people; it's a multi-million dollar system that the BCS has created.

Have the Fiesta Bowl officials taken poison yet? They are looking at a potential of Syracuse at 6-5 or, maybe, Pittsburgh at 8-3 versus Utah. Hopefully there will be a UTE-quake in Tempe.

The BCS officials are praying that there are no upsets this weekend. The Holiday Bowl, on the other hand, is hoping that SC loses so that Cal has to go to San Diego. Right now, it looks like the Holiday Bowl is stuck with an ASU team that just lost to a terrible Arizona team and the former has lost its QB for the year. Assuming there are no radical changes this week, ASU will play a mediocre Texas A&M team. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

And how about them Tigers? Occidental Tigers, that is. I think the Elite Eight is as far as any SCIAC team has gone in the playoffs, and they did it by winning on the road against Concordia-MN 42-40. Next up is the tough Lindfield team up in Oregon at noon on Satuday.

Tradition

In the coming weeks, I will rant, write, ponder, issue screeds, etc. about tradition. One of my constant complaints is that those of us who suffer in the blue states also suffer from an erosion of solid traditions. Although the tradition about which I am to write may sound trivial to some, my position is that it is very much an American tradition worthy of a place at the "table" of traditions established in the American Century - the 20th Century (and, no, I do not think that the 21st Century will not be the American Century, Part II, but it certainly is possible that it will not be... more later).

U.S.C. v. Notre Dame

As a former (and, perhaps, future) football coach, I am pleased that Pete Carrol and the U.S.C. staff and players are focused on the end goal of the year: the National Championship. However, football is like a marathon on an uneven surface, and one needs to know how to pace oneself. I am not sure that Carrol understands the terrain of this particular course yet as he still seems to coach each game as if he was in the N.F.L. for the long haul. It appears that they may be down playing today's contest too much. I read in a newspaper today that many of the players seem to think that the Cal and Arizona State games were bigger. I can certainly understand the hype that may have lead to that feeling, but someone should remind the Trojans (including the staff) of two things:

1) It's Notre Dame;

2) Notre Dame beat Tennessee AT Tennessee this year.

As for #1, the alums of Ol' SC circle, highlight, and underline the date of this game every year. I would guess that most of them (including me) are really ticked off that this is not our last game in this even numbered year (As long as we are tampering with tradition, let's bring back La Tech for our last game after U.C.L.A. in odd numbered years... I AM JOKING). Carrol really down played the game in today's paper, but he needs to realize that it is much bigger than any other game year-after-year (U.C.L.A is a close second) if he wants to keep his job.

But does he want to keep his job?

I know that Julie's is gone and that the 9-0 has been shut down, but Carrol should have least thrown a bone to the alums by saying something like the following, "Hey. it's Notre Dame. A sold-out Coliseum against a team that knocked off Tennessee at home. I'm looking forward to the challenge and taking another HUGE step towards the national championship game in January."

But, no; Carrol was like the players who downplayed the game.

The website has even downplayed the game as of Friday night, as the main athletic site has no focus on the game, and the football page's top story is on parking and a free-shuttle service from the Staples parking lot.

If you are a Notre Dame player, you are insulted. Let's face it, I AM INSULTED.

Also: this team is not as good as the team was last year after nine games. The secondary is suspect, and the offensive line is questionable. This game, on the national stage, will determine whether or not they have finally met expectations for this year or not. If they cover the 22 point spread against Notre Dame (and if they beat U.C.L.A. without any questionable calls), then the Trojans deserve to be in the national title game... in the Rose Bowl.

Can U.S.C. win? YES!
Should U.S.C. win? YES!

Methinks I should bet the dog.

Ahhh... but that tradition survived by luck last year.

In other news....

What the heck happened to ASU? Answer: They are the second most overrated team in the nation (Wisconsin is #1).
Texas should not be ranked higher than Utah or Louisville.

Here is my top ten (as if you cared):

1) U.S.C.
2) California
3) Utah
4) Oklahoma
5) Auburn
6) Louisville
7) Texas
8) Georgia
9) Iowa
10) Tennessee

And since Tradition seems not to matter in College Football, here are the way the bowl games should go as of this morning in my pseudo-tradition mode (that blows off lower rated conference winners):

Rose: U.S.C. vs. Cal (5:00 p.m. PST 1/1/05)
Fiesta: Utah vs. Texas (1:00 p.m. PST 1/1/05)
Orange: Oklahoma vs. Georgia (9:00 a.m. PST 1/1/05)
Sugar: Auburn vs. Louisville (5:00 p.m. PST 12/31/04)
Cotton (or whatever the next highest paying game is): Iowa vs. Tennessee (5:00 p.m. PST 12/30/04)

Holiday Bowl: Boise State vs. Iowa State (assuming they beat MO today)

How about bringing back the no-repeat rule for the Rose Bowl this year??????? Cal-Iowa, anyone???

Sheesh!

Let's start a new tradition since my the old one (I prefer the old bowl system) is dead and using BCS standings:

1 plays 2 in a rotating scheme of four bowls (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange)
In years that 1 v 2 is not in the Rose Bowl, the RB gets 3 v 4 unless it chooses otherwise.
5 v 6 and 7 v 8 would rotate through the remaining bowls unless they want to trade teams based on location and "tradition."

9, 10, 11, 12 would be divided between the Cotton and Holiday Bowls (rotate and/or base on location of school).

Lies Down Under (Democracy Guerillas)

Conservatives in America complain about bias from the left. The same is true in Australia. But rarely is the anti-American bias as bad as it is in this Sydney Morning Herald article of November 27 (whose editors are still bitter about Latham's loss):

With their websites and stickers, pranks and slogans, the democracy guerillas of the Ukrainian Pora youth movement have already notched up a famous victory - whatever the outcome of the stand-off in Kiev.

Ukraine, traditionally passive in its politics, has been mobilised by the young democracy activists and will never be the same again.

But while the gains of the orange-bedecked "chestnut revolution" are Ukraine's, the campaign is an American creation, a sophisticated and brilliantly conceived exercise in Western branding and mass marketing that, in four countries in four years, has been used to try to salvage rigged elections and topple unsavoury regimes.

Funded and organised by the US Government, deploying US consultancies, pollsters, diplomats, the two big American parties and US non-government organisations, the campaign was first used in Europe in Belgrade in 2000 to beat Slobodan Milosevic at the ballot box.

Richard Miles, the US ambassador in Belgrade, played a key role. And last year, as US envoy in Tbilisi, he repeated the trick in Georgia, coaching Mikhail Saakashvili in how to bring down Eduard Shevardnadze.

Ten months after the success in Belgrade, the US ambassador in Minsk, Michael Kozak, a veteran of similar operations in central America, organised a near identical campaign against Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus. That one failed.

The experience gained in Serbia, Georgia and Belarus has been invaluable in plotting to beat the regime of Leonid Kuchma in Kiev.

The operation - engineering democracy through the ballot box and civil disobedience - is now so slick that the methods have matured into a template for winning other people's elections.

In the centre of Belgrade, there is a dingy office staffed by computer-literate youngsters who call themselves the Centre for Non-Violent Resistance. If you want to know how to beat a regime that controls the mass media, the judges, the courts, the security apparatus and the voting stations, the young Belgrade activists are for hire.


They emerged from the anti-Milosevic student movement, Otpor, meaning resistance. The catchy, single-word branding is important. In Georgia last year, the parallel student movement was Khmara. In Belarus, it was Zubr. In Ukraine, it is Pora, meaning high time. Otpor also had a potent, simple slogan that appeared everywhere in Serbia in 2000 - the words "gotov je" ("he's finished"), a reference to Milosevic. A logo of a black-and-white clenched fist completed the masterful marketing.

In Ukraine, the logo is a ticking clock, signalling that the Kuchma regime's days are numbered.

Stickers, spray-paint and websites are the activists' weapons. Irony and street comedy mocking the regime puncture public fear and enrage the powerful.

US pollsters and consultants are hired to organise focus groups and plot strategy. The usually fractious oppositions have to be united behind one candidate if there is to be any chance of unseating the regime. That leader is selected on pragmatic grounds, even if he or she is anti-American.

The other key element is the "parallel vote tabulation", a counter to the election-rigging tricks of disreputable regimes.

There are professional outside election monitors from bodies such as the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, but thousands of local election monitors are also trained and paid by Western groups.

Exit polls are critical because they seize the initiative in the propaganda battle, invariably appearing first, receiving wide coverage and putting the onus on the authorities to respond.

And after Kiev?

Keep an eye on Moldova and the authoritarian countries of central Asia.


Heavens! I would think that the United States was anti-Democracy unlike that pseudo-tsar Putin.

As in the post above (written before this one, but dated for the game) states, tradition is important. Yes, I know that the tradition of football does not compare to the tradition of democracy. But the SMH is treating OUR involvement in promoting democracy as somehow evil by listing this leftist rant as a news article.

The Gramscians have clearly taken over at the SMH.

Thanksgiving

Enjoy your day just as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln did. And then there is Ronald Reagan's farewell speech, which is a true example of American thanks.

As for me:

I give thanks to God that I was born and raised in the Faith of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

I give thanks to God for my wife, my family, and my two little girls.

I give thanks to God for all my blessings.

Finally, I give thanks to God that I was born in the United States of America so that I may freely hear all of the criticisms launched at me and my Christian brothers of all faiths from our enemies and some of our so-called allies.

Values, Christian values, played the final role in the re-election of George W. Bush. We are not a perfect nation, but our value system, embedded in our Constitution, continually prods and forces us to do what is right. What other major nation has more of a responsibility to be a beacon of Judeo-Christian values, freedom, and tolerance than one that was founded on the freedom of will granted to it by Providence? The answer: none.

I give thanks that other nations strive, not to be like us, but to share in our fundamental commitments to freedom and morality.

May God bless all of you today and always...

AND

God Bless America!

Liberal Blog World Reviews

Oh my...

My oldest sister (heck, is that politcally correct) since me an e-mail the other day that was supposedly from a liberal in New York City who voted for Kerry. Supposedly, this woman was writing to "Red" America (heck, I HATE that term as Red is associated with communism) to introduce herself as a flag-waving American who was "realistic." I could not read the who letter. Well, part of the reason was that I really couldn't since there was an error in transmission. But I would have given up since she was trying to convicne me (the letter writer that is) that she had come to grips with the fact that there were gay people.

Hmmm... when was the last time that the Republican Party advocated the prosecution of gay people as a plank of its national platform?

The letter of the NY liberal (that I could read) was another example of moral relativism.

At least she was not condescending, and she was trying to be civil. I don't mind a bit of sass (heck, it makes arguing fun), but at least she did not go over the line (okay, I could comment, but I won't).

Check out these blogs: some are hate-filled, some are thoughtful, and some are "I am a victim," but all are liberal:

Not the Country Club (thank the heavens!)
Keep it really real son
Safire
School Sux (please don't transfer to my school site!)
bad with titles (Reactionary American Indian blog... maybe just reactionary)
Undeniably Rosie (undeniably clueless about FDR's folly and economics in general)
Live from Vijay

These blogs are indicative of the rants I hear at my job and in my community.

But even liberals have hearts (if not social skills) when one of their partners is with child:
Drown (ok, this picture is actually pro life even if the rest of the site is heinous liberal in tone)

Bob Graham - 90 Miles from Home

Well, it took me a few hours but I finally found someone to take the "Boris Crown" away from Hugh Hewitt (who has been reduced to bitter ex-Catholic): Bob Graham (but only for tonight since Hewitt will probably launch his War of the Roses on Friday).

The former (a reason to give thanks tomorrow) Senator from Florida has gone off the deep-end in the promotion of his new book Intelligence Matters (and the Amazon website is slashing prices for it) by giving a phone interview to Mother Jones. This is a man who has put a target on his forehead asking to be hit over the head with a loaded Salvation Army red bucket (but not communist red... settle down!).

Here is one of his gems: "Our new adversaries, however, speak languages that we hardly understand and come from cultures where we’re even more ignorant."

HUH?

They hate us, they hate our culture, and they want to kill us. Let me be clear: not all Muslims are terrorists, but the vast majority of terrorists today are Muslim. The first people that "they" would line up and shoot or behead would be the folks at Mother Jones and those who give them interviews (yes, I know, I am next in line, or first since I cannot run too fast).

Another of Graham's insightful points: "In terms of a shorter-term thing, the United States is the most diverse nation on earth, and we have significant numbers of people from almost every ethnic and cultural background. There are, for instance, approximately seven million Americans whose heritage is from the Arab Middle East. It has been very difficult to date to get people with that heritage cleared to serve in the intelligence services; there is almost a profiling that has kept them out. I think we need to develop new ways of evaluating the patriotism and credibility of Arab Americans so that we can take advantage of people who are more likely to have a knowledge of the languages and an understanding of the cultures of our principal threat areas today."

Yo, Bob! Approximately 70% of our population is (dare I type it) WHITE, with a Judeo-Christian background. Until the mid-1960s, the focus of this country was on assimilation of immigrants to the culture.

What the heck do you mean by "a sort of profiling." If you are going to slam our security, be specific. It appears that you do not even know what is going on in your own state!

Of course it is equally irritating that Graham accepts the thesis of the following question as posed by Mother Jones as true: "MJ.com: When did you first realize that the administration was shifting its focus away from Al Qaeda and Afghanistan and toward Iraq instead?" Graham's response, that includes his leftist view of General Franks' (Ret.) role, accepts the thesis that the is no Global War on Terror, and that we are unable to conduct a war against more than onethird-world terrorist nation at a time. How defeatist is that?

And then there is the new B1-Bob dropping bombs on the Bush Administration by calling him a liar in a politically polite way:
"BG: I would say it was the willingness of the intelligence agencies to be co-opted for political reasons. As early as the spring of 2002, the White House had called CIA representatives down to begin preparing what would be a public document to make the case that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, weapons that could be used on an immediate basis and therefore required pre-emptive action to eliminate. When we got into the hearings on that issue in the August/September period of 2002, we were aware that what the intelligence community was telling us privately was not the same as what they were telling the American people publicly; that conditions and limitations that were being given in a closed session were eliminated in the public documents. Comments on Saddam Hussein’s actual willingness to use weapons of mass destruction -- assuming he had them -- were much more restricted in private briefings than what the administration was releasing to the American people. That was one of the reasons I voted against the authorization to go to war when it came before the Senate in early October of 2002."

It reads as if Graham has Michael Moore on the other line listening in, and that Moore is feeding Graham the "correct" (I initially wrote "right") response.

Oh, it gets worse:

"MJ.com: How can the government shift focus back to Al Qaeda and terrorism?

BG: Well, that’s a very good question to which there is no good answer. We’ve gotten ourselves so bogged down in the quagmire of Iraq that we’ve allowed our principal enemies to regroup, to recruit thousands of new terrorists, to diversify into a much more flexible and nimble organization."

Translation: it's all our fault.

To be fair, I have to give Mother Jones some credit (and they may have fired Jeff Fleischer by now) since he asked questions that seem to think that Al Qadea and Syria might actually be guilty of something that is not the direct result of U.S. oppression. But my guess is that the editors will rectify/clarify that soon.

Maybe ol' Bob is upset that he was not a part of the 9/11 commission. Who knows? MJ never asked that question.

Hugh "Get Squirrel and Moose" Hewitt

As I was walking across the campus this morning I noticed that our new electronic message board had one of those old fashioned bowling ball type bombs exploding into the words "Happy Thanksgiving." It was one of those renditions of a cartoon bomb that one would expect Boris to be launching at "squirrel and moose" on his futile and stupid cause of wiping them out (although it is obvious that the charities involved are both fine ones to support).

Hugh Hewitt has quickly become the modern day version of Boris as he is now launching silly bombs in a consipracy theory fashion at St. Jude and children with cancer.

I had to read his blog three times this morning in attempt to convince myself that he does deserve a black hat and coat. Unfortunately, he should don those items immediately so long as he continues in his buffoonish and somewhat vindictive ways.

In the type of dismissive parlance I expect from condescending liberals, he states that St. Jude is a "fine research hospital" whose new fundraising campaign has the support of corporate America (okay) and (cue ominous music) "Hollywood Elites."

Now anyone on the right-side of the political spectrum knows that there is no greater current term to use to slam someone or some cause than to say they are associated with "Hollywood Elites." Hewitt knows this. I can only come to the conclusion that it is an intentional attempt to the posion the water in this debate.

Hewitt does further damage to the reputation of St. Jude Hospital by understating its mission and its reason for existence. Here are his words:

'Did St. Jude insist on the exiling of Salvation Army as a condition of Target's participation in the big roll out of this glitzy new campaign? Is St. Jude considered a 'safe charity,' secular with a sectarian name, and fun to be associated with given the glamour of the Hollywood affiliates?

Research into pediatric cancer is indeed a noble cause, but did St. Jude muscle out - intentionally or unintentionally - the dowdy old, very Christian Salvation Army with its unglamorous business of feeding drunks and clothing homeless?'"

(italics added to differentiate Hewitt's words from mine).

Hewitt's screed is offensive on many levels: 1) His unfounded smear, posed as a question, about the possibility that St. Jude "exiled" the Salvation Army is beyond the pale; 2) Since when is "St. Jude" a secterian name or completely secular charity? Danny Thomas, in honor of St. Jude's interecession and God's positive blessings, did what any good Roman Catholic would do in his situation when he made a public show of his thanks for the intercession by founding the hospital. I realize that Mr. Hewitt has left the Roman Catholic Church, but he knows better. 3) His misrepresentation of the total cause that is St. Jude hospital is appalling. All patients are accepted at St. Jude regardless of their ability to pay. The efforts and cause of St. Jude hospital is both catholic (universal) and Catholic (Christian).

Maybe Mr. Hewitt should check his facts before he launches his bombs.

For those of us who are thinking clearly, you can donate to the Salvation Army and St. Jude hopsital.

If you are interested in prayer's to St. Jude, click here, and for more information on St. Jude as well as the Dominican Shrine in Chicago, please click here.

(edited at 11:00 a.m.)

Rather's Replacement

Maybe CBS can replace Dan Rather on the Evening News with the head of the fabulous Jihadunspun.com. Only at this website may you find the truth about the U.S. dumping the bodies of its own soldiers into rivers.

These fanatics make Rather's Air National Guard memo story look responsible!

When I clicked on the link to find more about this site, I got a message: FATAL ERROR. It may be fixed now, but the irony was not lost on me.

No more Mea Culpas

What do Ron "where the camera at" Artest of the NBA and Mark Latham of the somewhat loyal opposition Labor Party of Australia have in common? Answer: they both are in love with blaming someone else for their failures and mistakes.

What is interesting to note is that the commonality of these two men, who seem to be living in two different cultures, is that they are both unhappy but willing residents of the culture of victimhood propogated by years of leftist nonsense. Any apparent differences are not in the roots of the culture but in the branches.

Latham has recently lashed out at other members of his party for their large defeat to the Liberal (which is actually consevative - go figure) Party of Australia. Maybe some of Latham's claims are true, but it appears no one in Labor wants to take responsibility for anything especially Latham.

Artest is worried about being "dissed." In his recent interview with NBC, he makes light of his past acts of thuggery. He shouldn't be pleased with what happened to him, but a better man would have walked away and let the officials and security men handle the situation. His selfish response has damaged his team.

Many commentators have indicated that there is some sort of "hip-hop" culture that breeds this type of response. If true that could be the branch on which this fruit of liberalism sprouted. If that is the case, the fertilizer is the closely related venue of trash-talk sports radio which is also part of the anything goes mentality of liberalism in that standards and decency are almost irrelevant. Individual desires and opinions seem to outweigh any responsibility to anyone else whether it be your group of friends or your teammates.

Now, Michael Phelps, the olympic swimmer, made a mistake; but, he has taken responsibility for it. Unfortunately, he is the exception to the rule. None of us condone the mistake, but we should recognize him for doing the right thing in the aftermath. His is an example we can all follow since we all make mistakes.

One commentator on ESPN (I wish I had seen more so I could cite his name) this weekend argued that Jackie Robinson took much more unfair and racially motivated abuse and always behaved like a gentleman and a role model. Robinson behaved correctly even when a good portion of society did not. His example is one all of us should follow including this blogger.

In AND of this World: Christ the King Feast Day

Hugh Hewitt is a man with whom I have love-hate relationship.

I think he is a Machiavellian-Christian. Anyone who has studied Machiavelli realizes that the man is not amoral nor immoral as many casual observers paint him to be. Rather, Machiavelli is a man who understood how the world and political leaders worked, and wrote a brief tome on how a practical man should behave if he wanted to retain power (but when considered as a part of his entire work he seems less dastardly).

I must admit that I have never read nor even touched Mr. Hewitt's In But Not Of due to the content of his radio show since I think his radio show exposes his "in and in" the world attitude. When I tag Mr. Hewitt with the "Machiavellian" label, it is based on all the works of Machiavelli. Thus, the label of Machiavellian-Christian is accurate and a constructivism criticism.

Let me give you a recent example of his Machiavellian-Christianity:

In but in: Arlen Specter is okay - abortions are okay! Bad tort laws are okay! Bad workmans-comp laws are okay!

In but not of: Target is bad for not letting the Salvation Army collect during the Christmas season.

Pro-growth, pro-tort refrom and ANTI-ABORTIONISTS all came out against Specter becoming the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Hewitt was for it for "long term" reasons. Translation: Machiavellian reasons.

His anti-Target nonsense seems to be for short-term gain. He claims otherwise citing the birth of Our Savior, but I was raised Roman Catholic, and I can remember my mother telling me that we did not put money in those kettles because our OWN church did "the same work here and around the world" like Catholic Charities. Of course that charity is part of the Roman Catholic Church that Mr. Hewitt has left. The Salvation Army, which can find it roots in the Methodist Church, is very evangelical which caters to the whims of Mr. Hewitt these days.

Mr. Hewitt probably feels victorious since Specter has agreed to back Bush's nominees. BUT, Specter only did that after those of us who are not like Hewitt complained... as real Conservative Christians who understand that there are certain issues that are non-negotiable when clear alternatives are offered.

Mr. Hewitt is not the conservative Christian that many of his brethren in the evangelical movement thinks he is.

Think about this:

Today, in the Roman Catholic Church, was the feast of Christ the King.

I'll make it easy for y'all:

The gospel was about the two felons, crucified, dying in pain on either side of Jesus. The first to comment taunted Jesus just as the Roman Soldiers were doing claiming that if He, Jesus, was the King of the Jews, He should prove it.

The second criminal chastised the first, telling him that the man beside them, Jesus, was not guilty of anything whereas the two criminals were guilty. Dismas (traditionally San Dimas here in Southern California) was afforded the chance to repent. Some may feel that he was lucky.

Maybe.

But Saint Dimas was nailed to cross to die just as Christ was.

He took responsibility for his immoral actions that affected others.

Should the rest of us gamble our souls and silence ourselves for "long-term" political gains if it means the death of milliions?

The voices of conservative-Christians (Catholics and non-Catholics alike) forced Senator Spector to change his tune.

Hewitt did not help us accomplish this goal.

Folks like Katherine Lopez at least tried!

(Originally posted at 9:00 p.m. on 11/22)

Football Saturday on Sunday

(First section originally posted at 3:25 p.m. on Saturday, November 20)

Just came back from watching my former team, Occidental, upset Willamette in the first round of the NCAA III playoffs in Eagle Rock, 28-14. The biggest series came at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Occidental interecepted a pass at near their own goal line, but the offense proceeded to fumble the ball! Oxy held on four downs, the air went out of the Willamette baloon.

As I write this, Wisconsin is not taking advantage of the favor that Ohio State has provided them with the latter's victory over Michigan. Come on Badgers!

Stop reading this and go watch some great football!

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Argh!

As of late Sunday!

Now what do I do with those extra RB tickets? Well, I think I can sell two of them next door to the Maize and Blue house (no, really, they painted it maize and blue with a white trim years ago).

I can only hope that SC does not go into the tank. I NEED Cal. Saying, or typing, that hurts me except for the fact that I am now totally pro Pac-10 since the Badgers have gone into an exhibit at the Great Lakes Aquarium. At least I got some good video of the urchins when I was there last June.

The second worst possible scenario is having SC win out and Cal blowing the make up game a la UCLA v. Miami a few years back. Had Wisconsin beaten Iowa, I would have predicted a Cal tank aginst Southern Miss. Thankfully, Southern Miss is coming off a bad loss at at the hands of a bad TCU team and it still has to play UAB. Cal should blow these people out.

But what happens if Cal's head coach leaves for Florida before that? With the apparent hiring of Spurrier at the eastern S.C., Florida needs to find a hot coach. Tedford fits the bill.

Of course it is in Tedford's best interest to to clamp down on all of this talk until after this weekend's SC-ND game.

Let's assume for a minute that SC loses this week but still beats UCLA. Cal will be in the top three and will go to the Fiesta Bowl to play Utah if there is any justice in the world. What if Tedford swings a deal to keep Zook as titular OC at Florida? The anti-Zook forces are feeling a bit chagrined as of late, and the man is very popular with the players and RECRUITS! The last thing Florida needs is Zook landing at South Carolina and taking some key state of Florida recruits with him. Even if Cal wins and finishes at #4, I just don't see things changing much in my scenario.

Of course, I'd love to see Tedford out of the Pac-10 recruiting wars. But let's be honest, he would make a TON more money at pro-football Florida than he ever could at pro-Title IX Cal.

------------------

Then there is UNLV

Now who should UNLV hire?

I have to tip my hat to J-Rob. Although his last couple of years were not great, the team is no longer a joke. His upgrading of the facilities for football has made this job a true diamond in the rough situation for anyone who can recruit on the West coast and can bring a decent track record and a brand of exciting football to THE excitement town.

Answer: Bob Toledo

Now the other rumor is Mike Sandford, and no offense to him as I think he is a darn good coach, UNLV needs a name of someone who has shown that he has won at a high level. Toledo's record is not perfect. But he is not J-Rob in retiremnt mode in his second stint at USC. Everything I have heard is that Toledo wants an another chance to win, but he realizes that a mid-major is his stepping stone back to a major team (perhaps TX A&M, but I am getting ahead of myself). I just don't see him taking the Al Borges option (whom he should have given more control to, but that is another story).

Now what should he do for his staff?

I am partial to Bob Moran at Pasadena C.C. as O.C., but I am not sure that he would be a good fit right away. Toledo needs to realize that he needs a true O.C. who he can influence but not control. Toledo needs to be an H.C. Folks like Pete Carol are rare in college football today, and by his actions at UCLA, Toledo has shown he is not quite that type of dual coach.

So, let Moran coach receivers.

Hire Gary Bernardi as O.C. and Tackles-T.E. coach. They worked well together in Westwood, and Gary KNOWS recruiting in the west.

Keep Steve Johns as Recruitng Coordinator and linebacker coach.

Hire Ron Smeltzer from a local L.V. high school who also has serious pro coaching on his resume.

Hire Harry Justvig away from Dixie College in St. George, UT (given the location, need I say more?) and put him where you need him. His resume is impressive.

As for the rest of the staff, I have a bunch of brilliant ideas including hiring me. But the only one I would put above me is Chris Caminiti at Occidental. Now if that blows you away, he has a ring from the Patriots of last year after spending two years as Director of Football Operations and general coach/scout/go-to-guy. Actually, Chris should be the first hire since he spent a year at UNLV as a GA a few years back under Robinson.

Gee... Do you think I know all of these guys?

I could fill out the staff of who ever they hire with perfect fits for the school including most, if not all, of the current staff. But, every HC needs his own guys... I think that the above mentioned men WOULD BE his loyal own guys.

T.R. and W

I keep hearing and reading about how dastardly George W. Bush is. Frequently I hear people complain that he is abusing the office of the Presidency, and we all remember the goofballs at moveon.org who compared him to Hitler.

As I have written in this space before, I cannot agree with everything that Bush has done. I don't think there is any president that has a perfect record. But given the grand issues of the day, I think it might be noteworthy to reflect back on the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt while viewing the current presidency of George W. Bush.

T.R. was the first president of modern times to really transform the presidency into an activist institution that was involved directly and decisively in both domestic and foreign affairs. Bush is simply staying true to that part of the Republican legacy of our country.

As for those people who just cannot seem to "understand" why Bush was re-elected, I think that Bush shares the support of the "plain-folk" first described by Abraham Lincoln and cited by Roosevelt:

"It is a particular gratification to me to have owed my election... above all to Abraham Lincoln's 'plain people;' to the folks who work hard on the farm, in the shop, or on the railroad, or who own little stores, little businesses... I would literally, not figuratively, rather cut off my right hand than forfeit by any improper act of mine the trust and regard of these people."

What will be interesting to see is how Bush's new Republican progressivism will fare in the next four years. His push on immigration issues (that is not a favorite of mine), his desire to reform the broken tort system, his view of America as a beacon and promoter of liberty and representative democracy, his ideas about reforming the currently doomed Social Security pension system, and his apparent new push to find charitable and private sector ways to tackle the health care issues of our country all place him in the T.R. school of Republicanism. However, Bush seems content to lead only on some, but not all, of these issues and allow the individuals outside of government, the citizens, do the heavy lifting which is more of a reflection of Reaganism.

Perhaps history will regard Bush as having received his B.A. degree from the T.R. school and his M.A. from Reagan's. Only time will tell if a Ph.D. is in the offing as well, or, perhaps, he will skip right into forming his own school for future Republican presidents.

Re-Targeting Target

Hugh Hewitt is still blowing the Target controversy up to be more than it should be.

He responds to James Lileks reasoned post about the whole matter as follows with my answers to his answers in bold:

But this time he fails to grasp the central nettle. James argues this is one battle in an endless series of battles that are just better not fought. I disagree. It is a unique battle (like the Boy Scout battle) and one that deserves more than a check and a resignation to forces greater and more complicated than ourselves.

The season we are on the cusp of celebrating is uniquely a religious season. It has its origin in the journey of a poor and homeless family who were given shelter, and in the entry of grace and mercy into human history in the form of Christ. The Salvation Army is uniquely a mission to the homeless and the poor - the lost and the least. They are not just another charity, and it is not just any old time of year.

I answer that (how Aquinian of me, smirk) even in light of the good that they do, the Salvation Army is just another charity. As a matter of fact, there are many charities that are designed to and actually help the downtroden as well as the addicted such as those of the Roman Catholic Church including Catholic Charities U.S.A.. In fact, the Salvation Army finds it roots in the Methodist church, and one can argue that the Salvation Army is an offshoot of the Methodist Church. Why should Target be forced to favor one particular Christian Church over another in such a public fashion?

Further, Target is a company grown wealthy on the season we celebrate. For retailers, Christmas is the mother lode, the 25% in 30 days that makes all they year seem merry. How indifferent to the source of their wealth that Target would insult the spirit of Christmas.

I answer that Hewitt is being downright silly on this point as even he posted yesterday that Target does give to charities, and by posting Lileks bleat on the subject, Hewitt shows that Target actually has an advertised charity on its website that helps children. Target is not at all indifferent.

Finally, one other reason the Target exiling of the red kettles has grated is that it of course brings to mind Dickens' A Christmas Carol, where Scrooge's greed and self-absorption blinded him to the need all around him. He grudgingly gave Cratchet a day off, but the ghost of Christmas future made it clear what end was in store for a life of churlish indifference to need.

I answer that this is way-off base as stated in my previous answer. It appears that the idea of a crusade is more important to Mr. Hewitt than the idea of acting upon all the relevant facts.

So, James, I hope you reconsider - not in your own shopping habits, but in the weighing of this controversy as the equal of other consumer complaints. It isn't "just another boycott."

I answer that it is just another boycott, and a silly one to boot for the aforementioned reasons. By the way, the CD player I picked up at Target yesterday works just fine, thank you.

Targeting Target

Yesterday's Boston Globe reported that Target stores will not allow the Salvation Army to have its bell-ringers and kettles displayed at the entrances to the stores.

Folks in the blogosphere, like Hugh Hewitt are throwing a collective hissy fit although James Lileks has his head screwed on correctly.

So far I have not seen anyone give sufficient credit to Target for its generous contributions to many programs including its St. Jude Hospital program for the holidays that is prominently displayed on its website.

Grow up, people. If you want to support the Salvation Army, cut them a check or donate online.

As for me, I will be making a purchase of an electronic appliance at the Target store in West Covina this afternoon.

edited at 12:16 p.m.

The God of Islam V. the God of Christianity

This past Sunday, the following announcement was placed in the parish bulletin of my Roman Catholic Church:

For Your Knowledge

Today marks the end of the Ramadan fast for our Muslim brothers and sisters - 6 million of them living in the United States. The month of fasting, which began October 16, has been a time for purification, a time to regroup their lives around their true religious principles of peaceful, compassionate living. These are not to be confused with the terrorists - our true Muslim brothers and sisters are looking to live a live in union with the same God we Christians worship.

I can only assume that the individual responsible for the placement of this blurb in the parish bulletin meant well. I think that most average American Muslims of the pre-9/11 sort are like most average American Christians in that they are happy to live in and industrialized country that provides a good opportunity for them and their family AND allows them to worship as they please without any real harrasment. On a personal level, that would be a fair description of the Muslims I have associated with since I was a small child. Unfortunately, the person responsible for this notice in the bulletin appears to be a victim of wishful thinking. Even if 9/11 had never happened, they are theologically wrong. But they are simply repeating the mantra of the MSM who seem to be having a difficult time with the whole "values thing."

Here's why:

Muslims do not worship the same God as Christians worship. People who want to excuse the excesses of Islam go to great lengths to point this "fact" out even though it makes absolutely NO sense.

Muslims do not believe in the Trinity!!!!! Therefore, they do not believe in the same God as Christians. The Islamic view of God is as unique as the Mormon view, but neither are the same as the Christian view of the Trinity! Muslims believe that Jesus was a messenger of God and not divine.

Islam teaches that the "prophet" Muhammed was taken up to heaven body and soul (just like Mary) from a spot in Jerusalem...

And Heaven? Various descriptions can be found here, and here. And I am being nice since the whole concept of dozens of virgins waiting for the righteous martyr is repulsive.

Preaching tolerance while promoting the Judeo-Christian values of the United Sates is a good thing as you have read in previous posts. However, the effect of the aforementioned bulletin message furthers the cause of the Gramscian multi-culturalists who hate America even though I doubt that was the intent of the individual who placed the message.

Originally posted at 8:35 p.m. on November 17