Sunday, July 31, 2005

 

Big Bad Government

Big Government strikes and strikes and stikes...

Congress gave final approval (short of the president's signature) to a silly energy bill on Friday which includes a four-week expansion of daylight savings time. Under the guise of saving energy, our buffoons in Washington are putting our school-age children at more risk as it will extend the amount of time many children must wait in the dark waiting for school busses. One of the reasons given for the extension is that people will be less likely to turn on lights at night since it will be lighter later. Hmm... what about in the morning when it will be darker later into the day? Additionally, many people use the additional "light hours" to run errands and go places IN THEIR CARS. More pollution, anyone? Finally, what about all those pre-programmed devices that cannot be changed that already have the time change built in like clocks, radios and cell phones (to name just a few)? Thanks for the headache, D.C.

Then there is the continued debate over President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. Not only does this act come with unfunded mandates, it is another encroachment of big government into local affairs. Bush obviously does not agree with Tocqueville about what the strength of American politics is -i.o. local participation and control of politics and government. The Department of Education was created in 1979, and part of Reagan's 1980 platform was to ABOLISH it.

It's time to do it!

Saturday, July 23, 2005

 

The Ascendance of Orthodoxy

Fr. Neuhas reccomends the article A Hard Faith by Peter Boyer (not a Catholic). I doubt that this article was or ever will be bed time reading for the Bernadin faction of the Church in America.

 

The Death Tax

I cannot add too much to the Club For Growth's webpage and commercial. Check it out.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

 

Roberts and Schumer (and the Vatican)

Conservatives who are dancing in the streets need to settle down. Judge Roberts had this to say about Roe v. Wade during his last round of confirmation hearings:

"Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land... Theres is nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent."

As for Schumer's reaction to the appointment, what is interesting is that finally I have read the truth. In other words, for the first time, a known high ranking liberal Senator has spoken the truth about the intentions of liberals as it comes to the courts:

"Now that he is nominated for a position where he can overturn precedent and make law, it is even more important that he fully answers a very broad range of questions."


MAKE LAW! And I always thought that was in Schumer's job description and not that of any judge at any level.

Oh, by the way, the Vatican has taken another swipe at strict Darwinian evolution (the randomness line).

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

 

Fruit of the Mouth

Okay, this is a real rant:

Would you, the cooks in the restaurants of America, stop putting orange slices underneath or next to my eggs and potatoes. I don't like the tast of orange eggs or orange anything else with breakfast!

Also, shut up and drive, and I don't just mean your phone. To the lady who was flossing while driving yesterday, try putting two hands on the wheel and shut your mouth.

To the repairmen who don't come when they say, have the courage to call me and cancel so I can try to find someone else.

That's all for now...

Monday, July 18, 2005

 

Pope Benedict is anti Harry Potter

It has recently become clear that Pope Benedict is anti Harry Potter. Given this news, it becomes apparent that Catholic parents should keep their children away from the corrupting influences of these works. Those who have questions about the problems should check out the LifeSite site.

Saturday, July 16, 2005

 

Los Angeles' Gay Deacon

Why did Cardinal Mahony allow an openly gay man, who appears to be a gay activist as well, to become a deacon? L.A. Catholic blog asks this question and delves into the thinking of Eric Stolz, including two links to the latter's website which should cause any Catholic loyal to Rome to question whether or not the Cardinal is as well.

Of course, if all of us had been paying attetion, then this event woldn't come as a shock. In case you missed it, here is a list of known gay bishops in the United States.

Heaven help us!

Thursday, July 14, 2005

 

But Was He Tenured?

It turns out that one of the terrorists in the latest attack in London taught disabled children in England according to Sky News. This seems to blow a hole into the good ship "lslam, Religion of Peace" about the size of the hole in the USS Cole. Unfortunately, most people will forget or overlook this little inconvenient fact just as most people probably don't remember the Cole.

Folks, they don't all look and act like fanactics found in the streets of the Sunni triangle or various other "Death to America" locales. They want to kill at least four million U.S citizens, half of which must be children. Bin Laden argues that since we pay taxes, and the government spends those tax dollars to kill Muslims, we are all guilty.

You cannot rationalize with fanatics. Stop trying.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

 

Some Still Don't Get It

The Financial Times lead editorial in yesterday's edition shows a complete lack of understanding of the dangers of multiculturalism. Those who embrace the idea of mutliculturalism also must embrace the idea of moral and cultural relativism since no one culture or value system can be valued above another. Somehow, the twits at the Times don't get this, nor do they bother to understand that multiculturalism is rooted in Gramscian Marxism. The ignorant editorial board sums up their core idea as follows: "At its best London offers a dream to rival the American dream: more genuinely multicutural, more relaxed and capable of humor."

Of course, the same editors go on to contradict themselves by writing that "more must be done to integrate Islameic London with the wider community." Multiculturalism is not about integration; rather, it is about undermining the hegemonic culture in charge. For radical Muslims, it is a temporary tool to destroy the culture of the west. London's Islamic community has a history of harboring such nuts, and even the Washington Post has an article showing as much (free subscription required).

This sort of twaddle is enough to make one's head hurt. But, not to be outdone by the goofballs on the editorial page, the current socialist prime minister of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, writes in the same edition from another position of silliness: that this whole problem is a) the fault of the West (implying the United States) and, b) it really is a legal problem, "The EU is an area of law, freedom and democracy and must continue as such." The is the same dangerous mind that ran against Spain's involvement in Iraq, and, when the terrorists blew up the trains in Madrid, used that to "prove" that the West's and Spain's policy of fighting state-sponsors of terror was wrong. The Socialists won, Spain pulled out its troops (like the terrorists demanded) and... authorities found another Islamic-terrorist bomb on a train track the next month (and were fortunate enough to disarm it before it went off). So, his policy did not prevent Spain from being the target of another Islamic-terrorist attack.

Of course the prime minister of Spain argues that we have to understand their mind set, and then goes on to blame financial conditions (like a good socialist) among other perceived problems. Well, Mr. Prime Minister, this is all you have to understand - they are trying to kill you. Stop them before they do or die.

Of course, the appeasement of the socialist government of Spain showed weakness, which is exactly what the terrorists thrive on. In reality, the action of this fool last year emboldened the terrorists and probably encouraged them to strike out again, this time in London. But I'm willing to bet he will never look in the mirror and come to that conclusion. Rather, he is more likely to spit on President Bush and hug the corrupt and ineffective United Nations (and he does the latter in his piece).

Then there is David Gardner who leads the charge of the blame-America-first-bandwagon. He sites some recent polling data that shows that Muslim Arabs really like ideas like democracy, and even like our culture. "In other words, they don't hate us for our values, but because of our policies" which is in direct contrast to the position of President Bush.

My response to Mr. Gardner is that he should review the tapes of the people dancing in the streets in various Arab-Muslim locales after 9/11. He should talk to the persecuted minority groups in various Islamic countries (like the Kurds), or to the women of several countries who have no chance at enjoying any type of freedom whatsoever or are treated as second class citizens. Mr. Gardner has no grasp of what the Ikwhan approach to Islam is about, nor does he seem to understand the mullahs of Iran; his ignorance disqualifies him from commenting on the situation, and he should be fired.

To its credit, the FT does print some opposing views. But, given its editorial and some other articles (including the silliness of its own Jeffrey Sachs), it is getting increasingly difficult to give much credence to any political reporting or analysis of politics or business that the paper offers.

(note: I am going on vacation for a few days... see ya later!)

Friday, July 08, 2005

 

Appeasement?

The Wall Street Journal (free subscription required) lead editorial nails it: it is time to be united and up our attack on terrorists. One of the major liberal blog sites, the the Daily Kos seems to have hardly noticed that anyone died. In fact they are more outraged over a politically incorrect slip of the tongue by a Fox reporter than the deaths and injuries sustained by Londoners and visitors. The New Republic is almost as bad as they fret about the size of the next attack. I am not much of a Christopher Hitchens fan, but at least he got it right this time.

Then there is the Mark Steyn interview on the Hugh Hewitt show yesterday where Steyn also lambasts the idiots of the Radio Left including Franken and his goofy guest, Oliphant.

A bit of an odd homily was given by Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, who is the leader of the Achdiocese of Westminster which includes London. Generally speaking he was rignt on target with staments such as the following:

The people who carried out these monstrous acts with chilling efficiency and forethought are believed to have acted in the name of religion. If so, it is not a religion recognisable to the religious people of this world. Who is their god? It is not the God who revealed himself to Moses and Jacob; nor the God who, in Jesus Christ, walked this earth and died and rose to save humanity; nor the God worshipped by the Muslim people, who is a God Almighty and Merciful. Who is the god of the men of hate? It is a false god; one projected from the darkest recesses of the human heart.

The odd bit is as follows:

The law of history is not on the side of the terrorists. The past is littered with the burned-out husks of attempts at bringing about political change through violence. Violence, as we know, breeds violence, and violence ultimately destroys itself. If we stand firm, if we believe in peace, then terror will not succeed; it will exhaust itself in time.

Huh? "if we believe in peace" is simply not clear. I doubt that Churchill could be described as man who did not want peace, but faced with Nazi agression in Europe and against England, he acted forcefully to re-establish peace on the continent (with the Allies, of course).

I certainly hope the good Cardinal is not referring to the idiotic position of Pax Christi USA that leads its website today:

"The nonviolence we are talking about is not an acquiescence to aggression, not a passive acceptance of abuse. It is rather a firm standing up for what is true, a witnessing to the dignity of human life, an affirmation of the value of all human existence..." - Gerard Vanderhaar

I think the Pax Christi position can be summed up in this picture. It's time to recognize that appeasement does not work, even if it is hidden in tough words.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

 

What will Roger do?

The Vatican has issued a statement that says Roman Catholics cannot support abortion rights as reported here.

Roger's spin should be interesting. Based on past experience, he might get around to it sometime in November.

 

Train Trip

My family and I took a train trip today and had a lovely time.

PBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBT! to the terrorists!

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

 

I can't stand it!

Cardinal Mahony allowed inauguration ceremonies for the new mayor of Los Angeles to take place in the cathedral. Mayor Villaraigosa is a pro-choice "Catholic." Protestors have called for Mahony to resign.

The cardinal has wrecked any credibility he has left by allowing for such a ceremony to be held in a church. I have no problem with him attending civic ceremonies for the mayor in his role as Cardinal, but this act of defiance against the teachings of Rome should get Mahony a one-way ticket to his "parish" in Rome from whence he should not return. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen and the result will be more politicians and cafeteria Catholics jumping on the "tolerant pro-choice" bandwagon. Another conseqence might be more Hugh-Hewitt like defections to conservative preachers (regardless of denomination or lack thereof) who may not be Catholic, but do not tolerate such gross and open defiance of moral law.

Monday, July 04, 2005

 

A New Sin, Live - 8 and the Fourth

I couldn't go to communion on Sunday. I was too irritated, and I don't think someone who is irritated should be going to communion. You see, the sermon given by Fr. Lefty at the Mass I went to (well, they call called it a celebration, but did not indicate what, exactly, they were celebrating) informed me that I was a sinner. Normally, that type of statement is not enough to raise my eyebrows or blood pressure, but since there was a "new sin" being identified, well, things were different.

Fr. Lefty was trying to get the point across that war and violence begins at home when we hurt the ones we love with things we say... like "Fr. Lefty" I suppose. I think it is a bit of a stretch to say that actions like September 11 are the direct or indirect result of me saying something harsh to my wife or children (as wrong as the latter may be). However, I have no problem with his argument that we need to behave better towards the ones we love.

The problem is that he also argued that one of the problems with our "war-like" society can be traced to the games we teach boys to play specifically football and boxing. As I have only coached and made a living at the former, I will refrain from commenting on the latter. Fr. Lefty stated," Oh, sure, football caaaaaaan be fun, but what is it really about? It is about one group of guys beating up on another group of guys while the second group tries to do the same as the first... then we unleash these boys on our girls and society after teaching them to be aggressive and look what we get."

Well, what we get from sermons like this is contempt for the local church. But, fortunately, I can laugh a bit since, like the old Irish joke's punchline, "This is not my parish."

Then there is the loony left and Live-8. I received an e-mail today from good meaning friend of mine to go to some affiliated site and help end world poverty. It's a nice thought, but the leftovers from the 1960's and the brain dead celebrity left is running this show, so no thanks. The real answer to all this leftist nonsense can be found in a column in the Sunday Times of London by Simon Jenkinis entitled With a song in their heart and not much at all in their heads. I couldn't have said it better. One last point: many of the same people who are trying to help sub-Saharan Africa link part of the overall problem to the spread of HIV and AIDS; the problem I have is not the recognition that HIV/AIDS is a serioius issue, it is that the lefties advocate the use of artificial contraception which goes against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. If you play around on the one.org website, you will see their link and support of UNAIDS which advocates the use of condoms.

As for Independence Day, I caught part of the last hour of the Dennis Prager show while driving. His topic dealt with those of us who put the flag out on days such as this versus the anti-nationalist leftists who disdain such behavior. His claim is that most in education, particularly in the humanities at the college level, fall in the second category. I would generally agree, but I began to think about the exceptions that I know. For the most part, those exceptions are teachers who went to Christian colleges (not Catholic) and continue to be active in church life. This would seem to go along with Praeger's contention that America is great and uniques since was founded on a belief in God, a commonality of culture, and a belief in responsible liberty.

On that note, I think I will go and have a Budweiser Select... a beer made by the last major American owned brewery.

Happy Fourth of July!

Friday, July 01, 2005

 

The Battle Supreme, Part I

With the announcement of Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor that she his retiring, the drooling liberals will be sharpening their blades in expectation of slicing up President Bush's nominee. We can only hope that Bush has enough courage to nominate a non-activist non-"oh what would the world court do" clown like Souter in an attempt to get along with the lefties.

For left and right views click here to get links to a couple of good sites.

Oh, and just say, "no" to Alberto Gonzales!

 

That Giant Sucking Sound

I remember when Ross Perot was railing against the ratification of NAFTA claiming that a giant sucking sound would be heard from the jobs being sucked out of the United States into Mexico. Well, that has happened with one exception: the country is China, not Mexico (and NAFTA has nothing to do with that).

But United States assets are potentially being lost as well. The communist government of China is supporting the CNOOC's takeover bid of Unocal to the tune of $10 per share at little or no interest. This would allow the communists to effectively take over a major fuel asset of the United States. Chevron should not be the only entity concerned - all Americans should be bothered by this potential deal. Yesterday, the House moved to block the Bush Administration's ability to investigate and reccomend the deal in a 328-91 vote, but the deal is not dead. CNOOC may turn its sites (as dictated by Bejing) on to other assets (like Australia's The Gorgon Project). Although this might seem good for the U.S. in the shortrun, having our allies lose control of their petroleum production is not a good thing for us in the long run.

Then there is venerable Maytag who makes washer, dryers and Hoover vacuums among other things. Haier of China has entered into a bidding war after the due diligence period was supposedly over and a contract signed between Maytag and Ripplewood. At stake are 18,000 American jobs. The odd part of this story is that one analyst thinks that Haier is less likely to ship the jobs back to China. That would only be true, in my humble opinion, after the Chinese demand major concessions from the union employees. The analyst counters by saying that the Chinese are likely to use the existing plant to provide parts for its current Chinese line of products.

Meanwhile, Thursday was the last day for United States citizens to inform the IRS of offshore accounts. Those "who fail to comply face a $10,000 fine and a maximum civil penalty of $100,000 or 50 percent of the value of the offshore account." The result may be that people will have already or will have soon shift funds from "friendly" reporting countries to places like Singapore and, drum-roll, China (as in the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank).

If there is any good news, it comes from Toyota, who is expanding its Camry plant in Kentucky and building a truck assembly plant in San Antonio. Unfortunately, Toyota has announced plans to expand in North America, but not in the United States with plans to build one new plant and expand another in Canada.

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