Supreme Court short list alert: James Harvie Wilkinson III

Terence P. Jeffrey, at Human Events Online, warns us to beware the middle-of-the-road conservative, a strange bird indeed.

“A Supreme Court judgeship is perhaps the closest our country has come to clothing mortals with deistic powers,” wrote James Harvie Wilkinson III in a 1974 book about clerking for Justice Lewis Powell.

In anticipation that Chief Justice William Rehnquist may retire, speculation abounds about which mortal President Bush may now offer these “deistic powers.”

The rumored “short list” features some stellar federal appellate judges with credible records as strict constructionists: Michael Luttig of the 4th Circuit, Edith Jones of the 5th, Samuel Alito of the 3rd, and Michael McConnell of the 10th.

Conservatives would be thrilled with any of these.

But another name gives pause. This is the same Harvie Wilkinson, who once marveled at the near-divine authority assumed by Supreme Court justices and who now sits, with Luttig, on the 4th Circuit.

“Democrats may view some conservative jurists as more palatable than others,” notes Congressional Quarterly. “If Rehnquist retires and Bush nominates a middle-of-the-road conservative, (Emphasis mine.) such as 4th Circuit appeals court Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, the confirmation process will probably be relatively easy.”

Much does recommend Wilkinson. He is lauded for a powerful mind, congenial manner, and elegant writing style. He graduated from Yale, was a law review editor at the University of Virginia Law School, became a popular professor there, and as editorial page editor of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot wrote hard-hitting pieces against court-ordered busing and in favor of the death penalty.
So, what makes him “more palatable” to Democrats?
Well, in Gibbs v. Babbitt, Wilkinson ruled that the constitutional clause giving Congress power “to regulate commerce … among the several states,” justified a Fish and Wildlife Service regulation prohibiting North Carolina farmers from shooting red wolves when they threatened the farmers’ livestock on the farmers’ property after FWS “reintroduced” wolves in the state. “The relationship between red wolf takings and interstate commerce is quite direct,” opined Wilkinson, “with no red wolves, there will be no red-wolf related tourism, no scientific research, and no commercial trade in pelts.”
Judge Luttig, in a biting dissent, characterized Wilkinson’s desire to protect interstate trade in endangered-species pelts as “most humorous.” But Wilkinson was serious. He was exercising the almost deistic power of a judge almost on the Supreme Court.

Bad enough, but check out his opinion on the holy grail of totalitarians of all stripes:

“Although lifestyle freedoms are not expressly safeguarded, we believe that the spirit of the Constitution operates to protect them,” wrote Wilkinson and White. “We are aware of the historic dangers that attend judicial departure from specific constitutional mandates. Judging by inference from constitutional provisions, or from the Constitution as a whole, has plunged the Court into difficulties in the past. Notwithstanding textual and institutional difficulties, judicial recognition of lifestyle freedoms as due process liberties better serves the basic purposes of the Constitution than dismissal of them.”

Wilkinson, to be sure, expressly disagreed with his co-author’s analysis of whether the “spirit of the Constitution” might harbor a right to homosexual activity. “Mr. Wilkinson would uphold the state’s interest in the preservation of the traditional family,” the authors wrote, “Mr. White would desire stronger empirical proof that the state interest is truly put in jeopardy by homosexual practices among consenting adults.”

But Wilkinson’s and White’s joint analysis of abortion is eye-opening. “The right to procreate also suggests a right not to procreate. …,” they wrote. “Only in Roe v. Wade, however, did the right not to procreate gain firm recognition as a lifestyle decision. In upholding the right to abortion, the Court recognized that an unwanted child might create a ‘distressful life and future,’ with psychological, physical, and financial burdens for the woman concerned. Although Roe has been severely criticized, the decision is not an illogical extension of the Court’s earlier decisions in matters of intimate association. Indeed, if procreation is labeled a constitutional right, it may imply a full freedom of negative choice, in the same sense that marriage implies a full choice not to marry, voting not to vote, and travel to remain at home. For the constitutional right of procreation can hardly be fundamental if one is compelled to exercise it.”

Keep an eye on the Repansycan White House. This joker would make a perfect wimp-out choice. Remember Souter?

Thomas Sowell: Liberals and Class (part 3)

Sometimes it seems as if liberals have a genius for producing an unending stream of ideas that are counterproductive for the poor, whom they claim to be helping. Few of these notions are more counterproductive than the idea of "menial work" or "dead-end jobs."

Think about it: Why do employers pay people to do "menial" work? Because the work has to be done. What useful purpose is served by stigmatizing work that someone is going to have to do anyway?

Is emptying bed pans in a hospital menial work? What would happen if bed pans didn't get emptied? Let people stop emptying bed pans for a month and there would be bigger problems than if sociologists stopped working for a year.

Having someone who can come into a home to clean and cook and do minor chores around the house can be a godsend to someone who is an invalid or who is suffering the infirmities of age -- and who does not want to be put into an institution. Someone who can be trusted to take care of small children is likewise a treasure.

Many people who do these kinds of jobs do not have the education, skills or experience to do more complex kinds of work. Yet they can make a real contribution to society while earning money that keeps them off welfare.

Many low-level jobs are called "dead-end jobs" by liberal intellectuals because these jobs have no promotions ladder. But it is superficial beyond words to say that this means that people in such jobs have no prospect of rising economically.

This should serve as a wake up call for those mis-guided Catholics who constantly bray about economic justice. But that might be expecting too much.

Joe Sobran faces his mortality, and that of his son.

Please pray for the complete recovery of Mr. Sobran and his son. And if that is not God's will, then pray that they may offer their suffering to Him.


Different Strokes
May 31, 2005

Once again I’ve pulled my disappearing act, this time for less than a week in hospital. I enjoy the pampering, but I confess I’m getting a little tired of Jell-O.

I was still recovering from a recent operation on my foot when my son Mike noticed that my speech was slurred and my facial muscles were sagging on one side. I was also finding it hard to concentrate and even to type. Mike suspected I’d had a mild stroke and called my doctor.

Mike remembered that both my parents had died of strokes, and he also knew something he wasn’t telling me. Anyway, my doctor examined me and sent me straight to the hospital, where tests confirmed that I’d indeed had a stroke.

Then came the shocker. I got a phone call from my older son, Kent, 38, who lives in Ohio. He sounded fine, but he told me that he’d also had a stroke in early May. And his was more severe than mine, paralyzing his left side. He walks with a cane now, but he’s expected to make a full recovery.

My poor, dear boy! You can accept the signs of your own mortality, but when your children are afflicted, there are no words for what you feel. Kent is the oldest of my four, and maybe the most beloved among those who know him. I’ve always been especially proud of him; I’ve often thought he grew up before I did. Relatives, friends, and fellow workers are eager to help him now, so I don’t have to worry that he’ll be alone, though I can’t visit him yet myself. Still, until now he has always been self-sufficient, and it’s painful to know that today he depends on others for so many things he has always done independently. Then again, I tearfully remembered the days when he was a little boy who depended on me.

Mike and the girls, Vanessa and Chris, had known about Kent’s stroke for a couple of weeks, but decided to keep the bad news from me for the time being as I recuperated from my surgery. But knowing what he knew, Mike put two and two together when he saw my symptoms. My children have become my protectors. King Lear should have been so lucky.

I’ve also learned a bit of my family’s medical history. I never met my mother’s father, who died a few years before I was born. He was only 41. Now I’m told he was killed by a stroke. Come to think of it, his wife, my grandmother, suffered a terrible stroke many years later.

Well, now I know better what to look for. A doctor in the hospital suggested that my and my family’s blood clots too quickly and needs to be thinned a bit. Point taken. I’ve reached the age where you eat your own weight in pills, hoping they are low in calories and carbs.

I forget who invented heredity, but I often wish he hadn’t. It would have been wiser to leave these things alone and just let nature take its course — or, as one might say, let nature take its corpse. Now we have to worry about inheriting genes and things from our parents and then passing them on to our kids to boot.

This complicates our natural pride and joy in our offspring. Your child gets the sniffles and you ask yourself guiltily, “What have I done?” You can’t assume he caught it from a classmate; he may have gotten it from you! You and your damned genes. To the ancient childhood complaint “I didn’t ask to be born” is now added the new twist, “And I certainly didn’t request your lousy bloodlines!"

So far my four have shunned such recrimination, responding to all our common ailments with commendable esprit de corps — or, if you like, esprit de corpse. They seem to take the old-fashioned view that we’re all in this together, and whatever Dad doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

They do grow up so fast! I was reminded of this again last fall when a policeman at my door woke me before dawn to tell me I faced arrest; but to my great relief I was able to convince him that he was confusing me with my grandson Joe, who is named after me. Apparently Joe had given the cops my address instead of his own. Quick thinking, kid! He got that from me. Heredity isn’t all bad.

Dick Durbin: Insane simpleton or Leninist-Leninist seeking more power?

Laura Ingraham is pissed off this morning. She's playing audio clips of Senator Durbin comparing detention at Gitmo with Pol Pot, the Nazis, and the Soviet commies.
The Repansycans are stupid, but the Party of Blasphemy, Buggery, and 'Bortion is just plain evil. (Put that in your crack pipe and smoke it, Howard.)

I am looking for a transcript.

Here's the latest from Laura's website. Apparently, the idiot's staff is hanging up on callers. I don't know about you, but I haven't been hung up on by a senator all day. I think it might be fun.

DURBIN COMPARES U.S. INTERROGATIONS TO POL POT AND NAZIS! Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), speaking on the Senate floor, described our interrogation practices at Gitmo (keeping the 20th hijacker cold or hot, or playing of loud rap music) as akin to something that "happened by [sic] the Nazis, Soviets in their Gulags, or some madman regime like Pol Pot." Not only is this absurd and hideously inaccurate, but Durbin's comments makes our military's job more difficult, and encourages anti-Americanism around the world. Thanks, Dick. Tell him what you think by calling his Senate office at (202) 224-2152.

Finally! Thanks to the conservatives' favorite serial adulterer, I found the entire contents of Senator Dick's intellecual ejaculation. Look here.

Buchanan: 3rd world bailout bull

Pat (at WND) nails the black hole of foreign "aid".

"Debt Cut Is Set for Poorest Nations" was the headline in Sunday's Washington Post over the lead story.
"The world's wealthiest nations," wrote Paul Blustein, "agreed yesterday to cancel more than $40 billion in debts that some of the world's poorest nations owe to international lenders – a move inspired by the belief that full debt forgiveness is necessary to give those countries a chance to escape the trap of hunger, disease and economic stagnation." Sounds wonderful.
Alan Cowell's story in the New York Times explained: "The deal [is] expected to ease the 18 poorest countries' annual debt burdens by $1.5 billion. They are Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. All must take anticorruption measures."
It is hard not to break out laughing at that last line.
This $40 billion debt write-off is being hailed as the most magnanimous act since the Marshall Plan. But there is another way to see it: George Bush signed onto one of the biggest bailouts in history. For, here, children, is what has just gone down:
First, that $40 billion was squandered or stolen by the most corrupt regimes and biggest thieves in the Third World. The money is gone. We shall never see it again. And all the wastrels and crooks who got away with it will not be pursued.
Second, the idiot-bankers at the IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank who failed to do due diligence when they made the $40 billion in loans, and lied about how good the loans were, will not be exposed and prosecuted, or tarred and feathered as they should.
Third, the IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank will see all their lost funds replenished, so they can start flying around to those same exotic countries and capitals, shelling out new loans to the same crowd of crooks and incompetents, or their successors.
Fourth, American taxpayers will have to pony up the cash for this historic bailout of the international banks.
Why is this happening? Because George Bush owes Tony Blair, and because Blair, bless his socialist soul, believes in the salvific power of foreign aid and has to bring home some bacon to show his skeptical countrymen the "special relationship" between the two is not that of master and poodle.

I have a solution. We immediately wipe out all existing debt, no strings attached, in exchange for the dismantlement of the IMF and World Bank and the end of all loans and aid forever.

Abortionist accused of eating fetuses.

I honestly cannot say I would be shocked if this is true. Barbaric is too mild a word.
Do we dare call it demonic?
Yes, I do.


A Kansas City abortionist is out of business after investigators discovered a grisly house of horrors at his clinic – with fetuses kept in Styrofoam cups in his refrigerator and one employee accusing him of microwaving one and stirring it into his lunch.
The unsanitary conditions in Krishna Rajanna's clinic prompted legislative approval of new abortion regulations in Kansas, a bill that was vetoed by the governor. Rajanna's activities have reportedly been the subject of law-enforcement investigations for nearly two years.
Rajanna first came to the attention of police in September 2003 when he called police to investigate alleged employee theft.
Detective William Howard of the Kansas City Police Department responded.
"I thought I had heard and seen every vile, disgusting crime scene, but was in for a new shock when I started this investigation," he would say later. Howard turned the matter over to the local district attorney and three state agencies.
Topping the list of horrors was an employee's account that she and others witnessed Rajanna "microwave one of the aborted fetuses and stir it into his lunch," as Howard recalled earlier this year when testifying before a Kansas House committee.
Rajanna denied the accusation. But he did keep fetuses in Styrofoam cups in the refrigerator along with food and drink.
"Dr. Rajanna lacked personal hygiene," testified Howard. "His hair was messy, hands dirty, and his clothing was wrinkled and stained. He put on old, used foot booties while we were there."
Howard testified the clinic was dark, dingy, had poor lighting and smelled musty. There were dirty dishes in the break-room sink and on the table, trash everywhere, and roaches crawling on the countertops. Howard was afraid to sit down.
Howard noted there were no hazardous waste containers anywhere. (An employee later testified Rajanna took home all contaminated, medical and biohazard waste for residential trash pick-up.)
As for the "procedure room," Howard's partner spotted dried blood on the floor and said the room looked "nasty."
Two dishwashers located next to the staff toilet served as sterilizers, according to employee testimony. Photographs show the toilet was bloody and functioned as a human waste disposal in the literal sense.


On Saturday, the State Board of Healing Arts voted unanimously to revoke Rajanna's license.
In March, a board inspector made two surprise visits to Rajanna' clinic. He reported the facility was unclean and that he found syringes of medications in an unlocked refrigerator. The inspector also reported finding a dead mouse in the hallway.
Rajanna said in his 10 years of performing abortions in Kansas City, no patient has complained about care.
Rajanna can appeal the decision to district court. He argued that he had not been given an opportunity to meet with the inspector to correct the deficiencies. But board members concluded that Rajanna's clinic represented a danger and said that as a doctor, he shouldn't have needed the board's prodding to keep a clinic clean and safe.
Board members also noted that Rajanna had been previously disciplined, in 2000 and 2001, for not properly testing his patients for their blood types and for improperly labeling medications. Also, in February, Rajanna signed an agreement to improve his clinic's conditions and paid a $1,000 fine.
With Rajanna's case pending, abortion opponents won legislative approval of a bill requiring abortion clinics to obtain an annual license from the Department of Health and Environment, hire surgeons as their medical directors and report patient deaths to the state within a day. The measure also mandated that the department set standards for equipment, medical screenings, ventilation and lighting.
But Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, an abortion-rights advocate, vetoed the measure, saying medical professionals – not legislators – should set standards.
Related commentary with links to photos:
'Fetus eater' loses medical license

An economist claims the WTC was blown up from the inside.

Washington, DC, Jun. 13 (UPI)
Insider notes from United Press International for June 8


A former Bush team member during his first administration is now voicing serious doubts about the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9-11. Former chief economist (Emphasis mine.) for the Department of Labor during President George W. Bush's first term Morgan Reynolds comments that the official story about the collapse of the WTC is "bogus" and that it is more likely that a controlled demolition destroyed the Twin Towers and adjacent Building No. 7. Reynolds, who also served as director of the Criminal Justice Center at the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas and is now professor emeritus at Texas A&M University said, "If demolition destroyed three steel skyscrapers at the World Trade Center on 9/11, then the case for an 'inside job' and a government attack on America would be compelling." Reynolds commented from his Texas A&M office, "It is hard to exaggerate the importance of a scientific debate over the cause of the collapse of the twin towers and building 7. If the official wisdom on the collapses is wrong, as I believe it is, then policy based on such erroneous engineering analysis is not likely to be correct either. The government's collapse theory is highly vulnerable on its own terms. Only professional demolition appears to account for the full range of facts associated with the collapse of the three buildings."

Where have all the decapitations gone?

It may just be me, but it seems we have a dearth of westerners being beheaded of late. This Australian gentleman kept his head thanks to US and Iraqi forces. (Thanks to Yahoo! News)

Here's a timeline of Mr. Wood's kidnapping from the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Fourteen Holy Helpers

It seems like a perfectly wonderful devotion. My guess it was "suppressed" because it reminded those endarkened (BTW, this link reminds me Fordham U. is no longer Catholic. At least they had the good manners to make it official.) souls of the 1960's of bad things, like sin and death. And, as everyone alive in the '60's knows, Catholicism musn't be a downer religion, it's all about rainbows, bunnies, and gumdrops. (Yum!)


The Fourteen Holy Helpers

A group of saints invoked with special confidence because they have proven themselves efficacious helpers in adversity and difficulties, known and venerated under the name Fourteen Holy Helpers. Though each has a seperate feast or memorial day, the group was collectively venerated on 8 August. However, this feast was dropped and suppressed in the 1969 reform the of the calendar.

They are invoked as a group because of the Black Plague which devastated Europe from 1346 to 1349. Among its symptoms were the tongue turning black, a parched throat, violent headache, fever, and boils on the abdomen. It attacked without warning, robbed its victims of reason, and killed within a few hours; many died without the last Sacraments. Brigands roamed the roads, people suspected of contagion were attacked, animals died, people starved, whole villages vanished into the grave, social order and family ties broke down, and the disease appeared incurable. The pious turned to Heaven, begging the intervention of the saints, praying to be spared or cured. This group devotion began in Germany, and the tradition has remained strong there.


Achatius
against headaches
Barbara
against fever, against sudden death
Blaise
against ills of the throat
Catherine of Alexandria
against sudden death
Christopher
against plagues, against sudden death
Cyriacus
against temptations, especially at time of death
Denis
against headaches
Erasmus
against abdominal maladies, for protection of domestic animals
Eustachius
against family trouble
George
for protection of domestic animals
Giles
against plagues, for a good confession
Margaret of Antioch
for safe childbirth
Pantaleon
for physicians, for protection of domestic animals
Vitus
against epilepsy, for protection of domestic animals

As devotion spread, Pope Nicholas V attached indulgences to devotion of the Fourteen Holy Helpers in the 16th century, but these are no longer attached under the modern norms and grants.


INVOCATION OF THE HOLY HELPERS
Fourteen Holy Helpers, who served God in humility and confidence on earth and are now in the enjoyment of His beatific vision in Heaven; because thou persevered till death thou gained the crown of eternal life. Remember the dangers that surround us in this vale of tears, and intercede for us in all our needs and adversities. Amen.

Fourteen Holy Helpers, select friends of God, I honor thee as mighty intercessors, and come with filial confidence to thee in my needs, for the relief of which I have undertaken to make this novena. Help me by thy intercession to placate God's wrath, which I have provoked by my sins, and aid me in amending my life and doing penance. Obtain for me the grace to serve God with a willing heart, to be resigned to His holy will, to be patient in adversity and to persevere unto the end, so that, having finished my earthly course, I may join thee in Heaven, there to praise for ever God, who is wonderful in His Saints. Amen.


The Litany of the Fourteen Holy Helpers

LORD, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost,Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God,Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Queen of Martyrs, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, helper in all needs, etc.
Fourteen Holy Helpers,
Saint George, valiant Martyr of Christ,
Saint Blase, zealous bishop and benefactor of the poor,
Saint Erasmus, mighty protector of the oppressed,
Saint Pantaleon, miraculous exemplar of charity,
Saint Vitus, special protector of chastity,
Saint Christophorus, mighty intercessor in dangers,
Saint Dionysius, shining mirror of faith and confidence,
Saint Cyriacus, terror of Hell,
Saint Achatius, helpful advocate in death,
Saint Eustachius, exemplar of patience in adversity,
Saint Giles, despiser of the world,
Saint Margaret, valiant champion of the Faith,
Saint Catherine, victorious defender of the Faith and of purity,
Saint Barbara, mighty patroness of the dying,

All ye Holy Helpers, etc.
All ye Saints of God,
In temptations against faith,
In adversity and trials,
In anxiety and want,
In every combat,
In every temptation,
In sickness,
In all needs,
In fear and terror,
In dangers of salvation,
In dangers of honor,
In dangers of reputation,
In dangers of property,
In dangers by fire and water,
Be merciful, spare us, O Lord!
Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Lord!

From all sin, deliver us, O Lord.
From Thy wrath, etc.
From the scourge of earthquake,
From plague, famine, and war,
From lightning and storms,
From a sudden and unprovided death,
From eternal damnation,

Through the mystery of Thy holy incarnation, etc.
Thy birth and Thy life,
Through Thy Cross and Passion,
Through Thy death and burial,
Through the merits of Thy blessed Mother Mary,
Through the merits of the Fourteen Holy Helpers,
On the Day of Judgment, deliver us, O Lord!

We sinners, beseech Thee hear us.
That Thou spare us,
We beseech Thee, hear us.
That Thou pardon us, etc.
That Thou convert us to true penance,
That Thou give and preserve the fruits of the earth,
That Thou protect and propagate Thy holy Church,
That Thou preserve peace and concord among the nations,
That Thou give eternal rest to the souls of the departed,
That Thou come to our aid through the intercession of the Holy Helpers,
That through the intercession of St. George Thou preserve us in the Faith,
That through the intercession of St. Blase Thou confirm us in hope,
That through the intercession of St. Erasmus Thou enkindle in us Thy holy love,
That through the intercession of St. Pantaleon Thou give us charity for our neighbor,
That through the intercession of St. Vitus Thou teach us the value of our soul,
That through the intercession of St. Christophorus Thou preserve us from sin,
That through the intercession of St. Dionysius Thou give us tranquillity of conscience,
That through the intercession of St. Cyriacus Thou grant us resignation to Thy holy will,
That through the intercession of St. Eustachius Thou give us patience in adversity,
That through the intercession of St. Achatius Thou grant us a happy death,
That through the intercession of St. Giles Thou grant us a merciful judgment,
That through the intercession of St. Margaret Thou preserve us from Hell,
That through the intercession of St. Catherine Thou shorten our Purgatory,
That through the intercession of St. Barbara Thou receive us in Heaven,
That through the intercession of all the Holy Helpers Thou wilt grant our prayers,

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us, O Lord.

V. Pray for us, ye Fourteen Holy Helpers.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promise of Christ.


Let us Pray.

Almighty and eternal God, Who hast bestowed extraordinary graces and gifts on Thy saints George, Blase, Erasmus, Pantaleon, Vitus, Christophorus, Dionysius, Cyriacus, Eustachius, Achatius, Giles, Margaret, Catherine, and Barbara, and hast illustrated them by miracles; we beseech Thee to graciously hear the petitions of all who invoke their intercession. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.O God, who didst miraculously fortify the Fourteen Holy Helpers in the confession of the Faith; grant us, we beseech Thee, to imitate their fortitude in overcoming all temptations against it, and protect us through their irttercession in all dangers of soul and body, so that we may serve Thee in purity of heart and chastity of body. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings

Today we honor St. Vitus, patron of epileptics and one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.

Today's reading is 2 Corinthians 9:6-11.
Today's Gospel reading is Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 .


Everyday links:

The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help


Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful;O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me.
Amen.


St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.
Prayers from EWTN



Prayer to Saint Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)

From The Very Helpful Medical News Department:

Help for PMS as close as the supermarket
(From AP via The Washington Times)

Women searching for ways to ward off the anxiety and irritability caused by premenstrual syndrome may be able to find solutions as nearby as their local supermarket.

A study published yesterday finds that a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D -- available in milk, cheese, yogurt and fortified orange juice -- appears to help women reduce the risk of PMS symptoms

The findings support earlier research indicating calcium seems to help women cope with PMS. But the new study also suggests that when calcium is combined with enough vitamin D, it may help prevent PMS altogether.

The AFL-CIO crackup.

With only 8% of private sector workers in unions, and their leaders hopelessly wedded to the Party of Blasphemy, Buggery, and 'Bortion, the dinosaur once known as Big Labor goes quietly into oblivion.

Five labor unions are drawing up a framework for a new coalition to represent their 5 million members because they are increasingly dissatisfied with the AFL-CIO's strategy to bolster the labor movement.

The unions plan to outline a strategy tomorrow to start a new group and raise $1 billion over the next five years to fund organizing efforts and to breathe life into a floundering labor movement. The new group would include the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Unite Here, Laborers' International Union of North America, and Teamsters union.

Their departure would represent a major fracture within a labor movement that is reeling from infighting and declining membership.

The unions, which represent about 40 percent of the AFL-CIO's 13 million members, have been trying during the past year to convince the leadership of the labor federation to spend more money to increase the number of union workers and to spend less on political activity.

Golly. I thought they just wanted to rip out the communion rails and turn the altars around.

James Taranto and Best of the Web Today find the darndest things.

Egyptian Scholars Say the Darnedest Things

The Middle East Media Research Institute translates an interview Saudi television carried with Egyptian historian Zaynab Abd Al-Aziz:

Abd Al-Aziz: The decision to impose one religion over the entire world was made in the Second Vatican Council in 1965.

Host: Huh?

Abd Al-Aziz: Yes. A long time ago.

Host: They decided to Christianize the world?

Abd Al-Aziz: Yes. The decisions of the 1965 Vatican Council included, first of all, absolving the Jews of the blood of Christ. This decision is well known and was the basis for the recognition of the occupying Zionist entity--Israel. The second decision was to eradicate the left in the eighties. I believe we've all witnessed this. The third decision was to eradicate Islam, so that the world would be Christianized by the third millennium.

Because the world was not "Christianized" by 2000, Abd Al-Aziz explains, "the World Council of Churches assigned this mission to the US in January 2001. . . . What did the US do? It fabricated the show of . . . is it September 9 or 11?"

Are we certain they weren't interviewing Howard Dean or Oprah?

It looks like Andres and a buddy on a play date.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Here's evidence that we were on to something in our item Friday on what we dubbed Karen Finley liberals: A New York Times magazine piece on the treatment of terrorist prisoners is illustrated by a pair of photos illustrating "torture" techniques, taken by none other than Andres "Piss Christ" Serrano.

Thanks to Best of the Web Today for the heads up.

A roundup of the past three weeks' good news from Iraq.

BY ARTHUR CHRENKOFF (via OpinionJournal)

Arthur does yeoman's work. Check his blog if you don't believe me. Freedom lovers everywhere owe him quite a large debt.

"You can't fix in six months what it took 35 years to destroy." These words, spoken by Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq's first democratically elected Prime Minister in half a century, should be inscribed in 3-foot-tall characters as a preface to all the reporting from Iraq. Sadly, the underlying reality all too often seems to escape many reporters caught in the excitement of "now."
Writing in the Christian Science Monitor, A. Heather Coyne concurs with the gradualist view:
Having spent the past two years in Iraq, first as an Army officer and now as the head of the Iraq office of the Washington-based US Institute of Peace, I am struck by the determination and steadiness of Iraqis as they struggle to build a stable, democratic country, and by the continuing, firm commitment of Iraqis to participate in--and manage--that process.
In spite of a constant threat from the various insurgencies over the past year, Iraqi government agencies, political parties, and civil society organizations have gradually expanded their capabilities and activities. They will tell you how much more they could have done had they not been constrained by security threats or--almost as important--the lack of reliable infrastructure, but what they have accomplished already is admirable, as is their unflagging determination in the face of these threats and constraints.
There is a phrase I hear in almost every conversation with Iraqis that captures the mood of this process: hutwa bi hutwa, or "step by step." Below, some of those often overlooked or underreported steps that people of Iraq and their foreign friends have been taking over the past three weeks:
• Society. Samir al-Saboon, the Sunni head of Iraq's National Security Agency, has recently shared the results of latest opinion research in Iraq, taken in May:
Recent polling data shows that fully two-thirds of Iraqis believe their country is headed in the right direction, Saboon said. While a poll in January showed only 11 percent of Sunni Muslims in Iraq shared that view, that percentage has since grown to 40, he said. . . .
Recent polling data shows that fully two-thirds of Iraqis believe their country is headed in the right direction, Saboon said. While a poll in January showed only 11 percent of Sunni Muslims in Iraq shared that view, that percentage has since grown to 40, he said. The biggest task on the political calendar is preparing Iraq's new democratic constitution by August. The committee to draft the document will be composed of 69 members: 55 from the National Assembly, 13 Sunni representatives, and a member of a small Mandean sect. "Around half the Sunni representatives will be members of political parties and the others representatives from Sunnis regions, mainly in the centre and the west of the country." The 13 will be chosen by the Sunni community, not the Assembly or the committee. The committee's head is Shiite cleric Hummam Hammoudi; his deputies are a Kurdish legislator, Fouad Massoum, and a Sunni Arab lawmaker, Adnan al-Janabi.
Among the foreign offers of help, the Indian government has volunteered its expertise to help draft the constitution.
There is already some good news on the constitution:
Shiite legislators have decided not to push for a greater role for Islam in the new Iraqi constitution out of concern that the contentious issue will inflame religious sentiments and deepen sectarian tensions.
Instead, the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite coalition that won the most seats in January's elections, will advocate retaining the moderate language of Iraq's temporary constitution that was drawn up under the auspices of the American occupation authority.
Humam Hamoudi, the Shiite cleric who heads the 55-member constitutional committee that will draft the new document, said that any attempt to debate the issue of Islamic law could ignite a firestorm of competing sectarian demands and that the brief references to Islam in three paragraphs of the temporary constitution should be left untouched.
"These paragraphs represent the middle ground between the secularists and those who want Islamic government, and I think the wisest course of action is to keep them as they are," he said in an interview at his Baghdad home. "Opening up the subject for discussion would provoke religious sentiments in the street." Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jaffari has restated to the Assembly his government's vision--most importantly, that "the political programme of the interim government set up following elections has the objective of building a federal, pluralist Iraq while respecting human rights and public freedoms."

Be sure to read the whole thing. There is a remarkable amount of good news you will never hear from the you-know-what.

Steyn: Quran desecration crock a win for Jihad spin docs.

A Brit with balls returns to flush out various and sundry fools.

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's kleptocrat strongman, destroyed a mosque the other day. It was in Hatcliffe Extension, a shantytown on the edge of Harare razed by the "police." Mugabe is an equal-opportunity razer: He also bulldozed a Catholic-run AIDS center. The government destroyed the town in order to drive the locals out into the countryside to live on the land stolen from white farmers. Quite how that's meant to benefit any of the parties involved or the broader needs of Zimbabwe is beyond me, but then I'm no expert in Afro-Marxist economic theory.

The point is the world's Muslims seem entirely cool with Infidel Bob razing a mosque. Unlike the fallout over Newsweek's fraudulent story about the Quran being flushed down a toilet, no excitable young men went bananas in Pakistan; no western progressives berated Mugabe for his "cultural insensitivity." And sadly most of the big shot Muslim spokespersons were still too busy flaying the Bush administration to whip their subjects into a frenzy over Hatcliffe Extension's pile of Islamic rubble.

Last week, Ambassador Atta el-Manan Bakhit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference called on Washington to show "no leniency" to the "perpetrators" of "this despicable crime." "This disgraceful conduct of those soldiers reveal their blatant hatred and disdain for the religion of millions of Muslims all over the world," said His Excellency. The Egyptian foreign minister was also in a tizzy. "We denounce in the strongest possible terms what the Pentagon confirmed about the desecration of the Qu'ran," said Ahmed Aboul Gheit, calling for strong measures, heads to roll, etc.

And what was it the Pentagon "confirmed"? That since Gitmo became the global center of U.S. Quran Desecration operations, there have been five verifiable instances of official minor "disrespect" for the holy book, three of which may have been intentional, which averages out at one incident per year. The same report also turned up 15 documented instances of "disrespect" by Muslim detainees. "These included using a Quran as a pillow, ripping pages out of the Quran, attempting to flush a Quran down the toilet and urinating on the Quran."

When three times as many detainees "desecrate" the Koran as U.S. guards do, it seems clear that the whole Operation Desecration ballyhoo is yet another media crock and the Organization of the Islamic Conference and all the rest are complaining about nothing. Or is Quran desecration one of those things like Jews telling Jewish jokes or gangsta rappers recording numbers like "Strictly 4 My Niggaz"? Are only devout Muslims allowed to desecrate the Quran? No doubt that's why the Egyptian foreign minister and company had no comment on the recent suicide bombing at a mosque in Kandahar, which killed 20, wounded more than 50 and presumably desecrated every Quran in the building.

Yet, as is often the way, the Muslim world's whiny spokespersons have been effortlessly topped by the old hands of the anti-American left. Thus, according to Amnesty International, Gitmo is the "gulag of our time."

Voices of the Damnable.

"If a woman we were counseling expressed doubts about having an abortion, we would say whatever was necessary to persuade her to abort immediately."

– Judy W., former office manager of the second largest abortion clinic in El Paso, Texas.



"I was trained by a professional marketing director in how to sell abortions over the telephone. He took every one of our receptionists, nurses, and anyone else who would deal with people over the phone through an extensive training period. The object was, when the girl called, to hook the sale so that she wouldn't get an abortion somewhere else, or adopt out her baby or change her mind. We were doing it for the money."

– Nina Whitten, chief secretary at a Dallas abortion clinic under Dr. Curtis Boyd.


Mychal Massie (at World Net Daily) has a problem with the abuse of the word "choice". Are there shelters for innocent words raped and beaten by the left?

Schools defend polling 6th-graders on oral sex;

Clinton and Jackson Await Results


Shrewsbury, Mass., school officials are defending as a vital way to stay informed about health risks a survey passed out to 11- and 12-year-olds that included questions about oral sex.

Isn't progress neat?

School committee President Deborah Peeples said parents were allowed to view the survey ahead of time, but were not able to take a copy home to review before their children answer it.

"It might be misinterpreted or misunderstood or they could use it to direct their children's responses,'' she said. "The responses we get here are very accurate.''

Genius! Give that broad a Freudian cigar!

Website of the Day

Thanks to Laura Ingraham for the heads up on Fishinghurts.com (!)

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the gene pool, the moral midgets of the platonic (I hope) beastiality set send a shiver up your spine.

Angling

Imagine reaching for an apple on a tree and having your hand suddenly impaled by a metal hook that drags you—the whole weight of your body pulling on that one hand—out of the air and into an atmosphere in which you cannot breathe. This is what fish experience when they are hooked for “sport.”

Many people grow up fishing without ever considering the terror and suffering that fish endure when they’re impaled by a hook and pulled out of the water. Recreational anglers rarely stop to contemplate that fish are complex and intelligent individuals. In fact, if anglers treated cats, dogs, cows, or pigs the way they treat fish, they would be thrown in prison on charges of cruelty to animals.

Why not let fish enjoy the beautiful day, too, by leaving your fishing gear at home? Click here for more ways to help fish.

The continuing protestant crackup...

...or, Three Weeks in a Progressive Swamp.

Through the first three weeks of May, the Rockridge Institute, a California-based politically progressive think tank, partnered with a coalition of religious organizations to host an online conference on “Values and Building a Movement.” After going to http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org, signing on and getting my password, this conservative Calvinist Presbyterian elder waded into a post-modern religious and political slough. Sometimes I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, being spun around in a cultural tornado that left me wondering, “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto!”

This sounds like fun.

Ostensibly, this was a religious conference coordinated by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Christian Alliance for Progress, Muslim Peace Fellowship and Tikkum, a Jewish group. Avowed atheists and pagans also participated. The purpose was to “reframe” the progressive agenda to make it more acceptable to the electorate.

Hoohoo! Talk about the usual suspects.

After a few days discussing the nature of God and whether what one believes about Him (or Her) should influence public policy, I concluded that religious progressives passionately believe almost anything about not much and not much about almost anything. Progressives frame reality outside the context of a master narrative with each individual’s truth determined by gender, sexual-orientation, race and class. My contentions that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God, Jesus Christ the only way to salvation, and that same sex “marriage” is sinful got me dubbed a “Konservative Khristian.” One correspondent suggested I might be a “freeper who reports to the Karl Rove Gang.” (A “freeper” is someone who reads The Free Republic. Sorry, I’m a “trender” who reads Motor Trend.)

Wheeeeeeee! Primacy of the individual will! Wheeeeeeee! Viva Martin Luther!
Oops. Sorry,kids.

The ultimate objective is for a radicalized Democratic Party to regain both houses of Congress and the presidency by 2008…hopefully earlier with the impeachment of Bush. Dorothy, do they have swamps in Kansas?

Otherwise, the progressive agenda is familiar: legalize gay marriage, retain unimpeded access to abortion, hike taxes to expand government social, medical and welfare programs and to save social security. Progresso-babble concerning radio-active particles in the atmosphere, global warming, along with contentions that the Bush administration engineered 9/11 crept into “the frame.” Aware that most Americans reject most if not all their agenda, how they frame their arguments is vital. One correspondent warned, “In terms of political discourse, gay rights and abortion are clearly ‘wedge issues’ purposely positioned by political conservatives to keep us off the ‘bread and butter’ issues. But does that mean that we should abandon the dialogue concerning moral fairness and diversity?” Translate that, “frame to fool so we can win.”

Mr. Tilford has a keen eye. But where are the lesbian Wiccans? You can't have a leftist circle jerk (figuratively speaking) without lesbian Wiccans.

The progressive left’s immediate goal is to discredit and (they hope) impeach the President by contending he manufactured intelligence to support invading Iraq. One correspondent, noting that impeachment is unlikely, recommended “focus on War Crimes (sic) as the vehicle for bringing Bush & Co. to justice.”

Constant carping that “Bush lied” joined to contentions that American soldiers are committing war crimes in Abu Ghraib and the “Guantanamo Gulag” will result neither in impeachment nor increased voter support for the progressive agenda. It may, however, encourage terrorists to step up their attacks hopeful that “help is on the way” in the guise of a new administration. Meanwhile, progressive protestations that “we are doing this to support the troops” are disingenuous and dangerous. Make no mistake, progressives want to discredit the administration and regain political power. What they envision is unfathomable to most Americans.

That was not as much fun as I thought it would be.

What is the Natural Law, you ask?

As a service to the lazy and the busy, here is the short form from the Angelic Doctor himself:

According to St. Thomas, the natural law is "nothing else than the rational creature's participation in the eternal law" (I-II, Q. xciv).

Learn more about the Natural Law from St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica here.

Albertsons agrees to respect pharmacists’ right of conscience

Employer will honor religious liberty of its pharmacists despite Illinois governor’s "emergency rule" challenged by ADF and CLS

Good for them. This is a victory for reality and the Natural Law.

Albertsons Corporation agreed to accommodate its pharmacists’ right to refuse to fill prescriptions that violate their religious or moral beliefs. The accommodation came on the heels of a lawsuit filed by attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and Christian Legal Society against the employer and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on behalf of pharmacist David Scimio.

"The right of conscience is an important component of religious liberty. Pharmacists should not be forced to fill prescriptions for the 'morning after' abortion pill if it violates their conscience," said Chief Litigation Counsel Steven H. Aden of CLS’s Center for Law and Religious Freedom.

"We applaud the decision by Albertsons to restore to Mr. Scimio and other Albertsons pharmacists the same rights they had prior to the governor’s action and allow them to be true to their beliefs about the sanctity of human life," Aden said.

Shortly after ADF and CLS filed suit, Albertsons distributed a memo to all of its Illinois pharmacists stating that it would accommodate their pharmacists' right of conscience by permitting them to refer prescriptions to which they conscientiously object to another Albertsons pharmacist or to a competitor to be filled within two hours.

ADF and CLS attorneys filed the case, Scimio v. Blagojevich, in Illinois state court April 15 on behalf of Scimio, a pharmacist who objects to filling prescriptions for abortifacients on religious grounds. Blagojevich’s "emergency rule" stating that a pharmacist "must dispense... without delay" contraceptives, including so-called "emergency" contraceptives such as the "morning after" pill, prompted the suit, which ADF and CLS will voluntarily dismiss at a hearing in the case today.

"Given Governor Blagojevich’s claim that the emergency rule applies only to pharmacies and not pharmacists themselves, we expect that he will agree that Albertsons' desire to respect the convictions of its pharmacists is legitimate under the law," Aden said.

For more on this, see my previous posts here and here.

Krauthammer: Why Clarence Thomas is right and Scalia is wrong.

In our current corrupted debates about the judges, you hear only about results. Priscilla Owen, we were told (by the Alliance for Justice), ``routinely backs corporations against worker and consumer protections.'' Well, in what circumstances? In adjudicating what claims? Under what constitutional doctrine?
The real question is never what judges decide, but how they decide it. The Scalia-Thomas argument was not about concern for cancer patients, the utility of medical marijuana or the latitude individuals should have regarding what they ingest.
It was about what the commerce clause permits, and even more abstractly, who decides what the commerce clause permits. To simplify only slightly, Scalia says: Supreme Court precedent. Thomas says: the Founders, as best we can interpret their original intent.
The Scalia opinion (concurring with the majority opinion) appeals to dozens of precedents over the last 70 years under which the commerce clause was vastly expanded to allow the federal government to regulate what had, by the time of the New Deal, become a highly industrialized country with a highly nationalized economy.
Thomas' dissent refuses to bow to such 20th-century innovations. While Scalia's opinion is studded with precedents, Thomas pulls out founding-era dictionaries (plus Madison's notes from the Constitutional Convention, The Federalist Papers, and the ratification debates) to understand what the word commerce meant then. And it meant only ``trade or exchange'' (as distinct from manufacture) and not, as we use the term today, economic activity in general. By this understanding, the federal government had no business whatsoever regulating privately and medicinally grown marijuana.
This is constitutional ``originalism'' in pure form. Its attractiveness is that it imposes discipline on the courts. It gives them a clear and empirically verifiable understanding of constitutional text -- a finite boundary beyond which even judges with airs must not go.

Amen, brother Krauthammer. And amen, brother Thomas. Will this "judicial philosophy" ever return to its rightful position of primacy? I hope so, but I doubt it. The 7 Dwarfs dealt it a serious blow.

And if conditions change and parts of the originalist Constitution become obsolete, amend it. Democratically. We have added 17 amendments since the Bill of Rights. Amending is not a job for judges.
(Thanks to Townhall.com)

The Feds have finally caught up with Your Humble Servant.

I have been summoned to federal court for jury duty at the end of July.

On the one hand, I would like to sit there for the three day minimum and then go back to work to make up the money I will have lost.

On the other hand, it would be cool to be on a mob trial jury and help put away one of the more evil of my Italian-American cousins.

Of course we're mostly talking about Sicilians here. And Sicilians are Italian like Napoleon was French: Yes, they are, but...

On the hideously deformed mind and soul of Michael Jackson.

I hope this is the only time you will read anything on this subject here.

False religion + vast wealth = mental and moral disorder.

I hope these jurors can find a way to live with themselves the next time he does it. But then again, our society seems to specialize in easing that sort of pain.

Happy Birthday US Army!

The US Army was founded on this date in 1775. From the humble beginnings during our Revolution to the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen, for 230 years one thing has remained constant: our citizen soldiers. The bravery, intelligence, selflessness, leadership, and humanity of the American soldier won us our freedom and has preserved it to this very day.

Do everything you can to keep our Army envied and respected throughout the world.

Today is Flag Day

As you honor our country and her flag, be certain to do so with the proper respect. Remember, rules exist for a reason.

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings

Today we honor St. Marcian of Syracuse, bishop and martyr. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.

Today's reading is 2 Corinthians 8:1-9.
Today's Gospel reading is Matthew 5:43-48.


Everyday links:
The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help


Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful;O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me.
Amen.

St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.
Prayers from EWTN


Prayer to Saint Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)

Tomorrow, June 14, is Flag Day.

Before you fly your flag, be sure to review flag etiquette here.

Learn how to properly fold the flag here.

If your flag is no longer serviceable, learn how to dispose of it properly here.

RAGE AT AUTHOR AFTER CLAIM: BILL RAPED HILLARY, CONCEIVED CHELSEA

Now that's what I call a headline. (Thanks to Drudge, the king.)

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton turned furious and considered legal action after learning bestselling author Ed Klein would allege in a new book: Bill Clinton raped her -- resulting in the conception of daughter Chelsea Clinton!

"[Author] Klein is going to rot in hell for this," a well-placed source close to Hillary said over the weekend.

Here's the real news - someone close to the Clintons actually believes in Hell.

The explosive charge comes in THE TRUTH ABOUT HILLARY: WHAT SHE KNEW, WHEN SHE KNEW IT, AND HOW FAR SHE'LL GO TO BECOME PRESIDENT -- set for release next week. [The book ranked #198 on AMAZON.COM's hourly sale chart late Sunday.]

MORE

"I'm going back to my cottage to rape my wife," Klein quotes Bill Clinton as saying during a Bermuda getaway in 1979.

Once a class act, always a class act, Mr. C.

Klein source claims Bill later learned Hillary was pregnant reading about it in the ARKANSAS GAZETTE.

"The fact that his wife didn't tell him that she was pregnant before she told a reporter doesn't seem to phase him one bit, because he says, 'Do you know what night that happened?""'No,' I say. 'When?" "'It was Bermuda,' he says, 'And you were there!'"

MORE

The rape claim is just the beginning of Klein's alleged revelations, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.

TRUTH ABOUT HILLARY marks the most aggressive attempt yet to investigate Hillary.

The former first lady turned senator fumed as a close aide offered details of the book, an insider explains.

"Mrs. Clinton told me she would considering suing him for outright libel," the top Hillary source explains.

"This is the right wing attack machine on crack!"

MORE

But Hillary and her camp may have a hard time typecasting Ed Klein as a Clinton-crazed right-winger. Klein is the former foreign editor of NEWSWEEK and former editor in chief of the NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE. He is a frequent contributor to VANITY FAIR and PARADE.

From The My Beautiful, Wacky Italian Cousins Department:

The world famous political apathy of Italian voters saves untold thousands of lives and souls.

ROME (AP) - Efforts to loosen Italy's assisted-fertility laws in a national referendum failed Monday because low voter turnout invalidated the balloting - a victory for the Vatican.
Turnout must be at least 50 percent-plus one of the electorate for the vote in a referendum to be valid. In two days of balloting, only about 26 percent had voted, according to nearly complete returns released by the Interior Ministry.

If you had had a couple hundred governments since WWII, you'd stay home too.

Katie Holmes, 26 year old self-proclaimed virgin, screws up big time...

...or Gee, Tom, when are the spaceships going to take us to that better place without critics or aging?


Proving a Catholic education is no match for Hollywood or the diminutive Tom Cruise, the lovely Miss Holmes puts her immortal soul in jeopardy:

Katie Holmes says she's converting to the Church of Scientology, embracing the religion of her boyfriend, Tom Cruise.

Holmes, in London to promote her new film, "Batman Begins," said Monday that she's excited about her lessons in Scientology, a religion founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

The 26-year-old actress and Cruise went public with their romantic relationship in April. The former Catholic and star of television's "Dawson's Creek" grew up with a poster of Cruise on her bedroom wall and has said she grew up wanting to marry him.

"We all keep dreaming, and luckily, dreams come true," Holmes said.
Cruise was in Tokyo Monday for the premiere of his new film, "War of the Worlds."

In an interview in the June 17 issue of Entertainment Weekly, the 42-year-old actor was asked if Holmes is curious about Scientology.

"Yeah, absolutely. She digs it," he tells the magazine.

In response to a question about whether he'd asked Holmes not to do "Factory Girl" - about Edie Sedgwick and Andy Warhol - because of the drug use in the movie, Cruise says: "I don't even know what 'Factory Girl' is."

He adds: "Listen, the thing you've got to know about Katie is that she's an incredibly bright and self-determined woman. She makes her own decisions."

Cruise was previously married to Mimi Rogers and Nicole Kidman, and dated Penelope Cruz for several years.

Pray for the salvation of all souls.

You know The Church is in trouble when...

...the opening hymn at Sunday Mass is the theme song from "The Poseidon Adventure" .

That's the original from 1972, not the ill-fated sequel "Beyond The Poseidon Adventure" , and certainly not the upcoming trainwreck (ha!) of a remake starring Richard Dreyfus (oooo! Star power!) and Kurt Russell.

However, if Kurt could be persuaded to reprise the role of Snake Plisskin from "Escape From New York" (But not "Escape From L.A." ), I might be persuaded to watch it.

"Escape From The Bottom Of The Sea", anyone? (Richard Basehart, call your office.)

Hey, kids! There's a Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea drinking game!

(This is what's known as a digression. I get the feeling I am trying to think about anything other than what we are doing to the Holy Mass.)

And for our Jewish listeners...

...when it comes down to prophets versus kings, I'll take the prophets every time.

The sickest kind of unintended irony...

...Protestants singing " Faith of Our Fathers".

That should thin the herd.

Whatever happened to...

...the great heterosexual AIDS epidemic?

I think Professor Peter Duesberg knows.

But, but, but what about Africa? Read this.

Science, not politics.

Meet the real GULAG

Professor R.J. Rummel dashes the hopes of the anti-US coalition against the truth.

Amnesty International (AI) has likened Camp Delta," the U.S. Military Detention Facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for captured terrorists to a Gulag. This is so absurd for those who know about Gulag as to raise a serious question about AI's objectivity. I would go further. It is a left-wing attempt to defame the United States in the same way that some leftists have likened President Bush to Hitler. This is an ideological war, and these blasts are from the left's artillery. In response, please pass this around to that an appreciation of what Gulag really meant gets the widest possible dissemination.



The Real Gulag*

The history of this sewage system [labor camps] is the history of an endless swallow and flow; flood alternating with ebb and ebb again with flood; waves pouring in, some big, some small; brooks and rivulets flowing in from all sides; trickles oozing in through gutters; and then just plain individually scooped-up droplets. ---- Alexandr Solzhenitsyn


The forced labor camp system that ultimately became known as Gulag (from the Russian acronym Gulag for the Main Directorate of Corrective Labor Camps, a department of the Soviet secret police, originally the Cheka; subsequently the GPU, OGPU, NKVD, MVD, and finally the KGB) were legally sanctioned in July, 1918, with the decree that inmates capable of labor must be compelled to do physical work. This was the beginning of the deadly, Soviet forced labor, what could as well be called, slave labor, system. In the next year decrees established forced labor camps in each provincial capitol and a lower limit of 300 prisoners in each camp. The first large camps were established on the far north Solovetsky Islands. In August, 1919, Lenin made the Party view clear in a telegram: “Lock up all the doubtful ones in a concentration camp outside the city.” As Solzhenitsyn notes, these people are not even “guilty” ones, but only “doubtful”.

From the beginning, the conditions in some of these camps were so atrocious, often calculatingly so, that prisoners could not expect to survive for more than several years. One at Kholmogori near Archangel became known as a death camp, it was so perilous to prisoners that were often sent to these camps to die, not after a court trial, but by a simple administrative decision.

The end of Mike Tyson.

The career of a man who wasted an opportunity to be one of the best ever has come to what I hope to be its sad and not unexpected, end.


As Mike Tyson sat on his stool, quitting after six rounds against Kevin McBride, he had a look of resignation and relief on his face.

At last, he realized, his tumultuous career was finally over.

"I didn't feel bad or nothing at all, just that what's over is over," Tyson said during an introspective half-hour interview with ESPN.com following Saturday night's post-fight news conference.

Tyson was mellow, witty, sad, philosophical and happy at different times. But the one thing that came across was plain and simple: Thank goodness it's over.

"I just don't have the desire to fight no more," Tyson said as he signed a few autographs. "I wasn't truly into it. If you're a fighter your heart has to be in it more than your physical attributes. There's nothing like the fighting heart, and I don't have the fighting heart for that kind of work.


Although small for a heavyweight, he was ferocious enough to make up for what he lacked in size. He was a puncher, not a boxer. He defeated many early opponents by intimidation before he entered the ring.


He said the only reason he has continued to fight was because "it was profitable and I was just caught up in the lifestyle. Everybody knew it was over. I'm not lying. You know it. You've been around me. We all know the deal. Don't feel sorry for me. It is what it is."

Tyson had two points deducted by referee Joe Cortez in the sixth round for head butting McBride, 32, of Ireland. Tyson, who has a lengthy history of dirty fighting tactics – who could forget him gnawing on Evander Holyfied's ears? – says he butted McBride on purpose.

"I did because we are fighting. It's just the way it is, man," Tyson said. "No regrets. I'm just glad no one is hurt. That is just the game we live in. We're in the hurt business. It's really not [OK to head butt] but I did it anyway."


He never learned how to box, but more importantly, he never learned how to be a man. D'Amato and Cayton did everything they could to keep their meal ticket out of jail when he misbehaved, but did nothing to alter his behavior for fear of alienating him. D'Amato died and Cayton lost Tyson to Don King anyway.


Tyson said he didn't want any sympathy.

"I'm not the kind of guy you feel sorry for, I'm just not that kind of guy," he said. "I don't want people to look up to me. I know who I am. I've done things I am not proud of in my life. I don't want nobody looking up to me. I'm just an isolated guy. People think they know me but they don't know me."


Kevin Rooney tried to teach him to box, so when his fearsome power inevitably diminished with age, he could still demolish men with his hands. But Rooney was white, and the professional blacks (as opposed to black professionals) around Iron Mike told him he needed black cornermen. What we got was the idiocy of Tyson losing to Buster Douglas in Tokyo while his trainer put a water balloon on the champ's swollen eye.


Tyson said he was going to consider doing missionary work and that he would like to spend more time with his children in retirement but that he probably shouldn't because he is a self-described poor father.

"I'm not a good father. I'm a good man with my kids. I'm very generous with them. I'm very kind to them, but I am not a good father," he said. "I'm not going to tell you I am a good father. I have to contribute to the world. I have to teach them how to contribute to the world. That's our whole existence – to contribute to the world and make it a better place in some way. In my life I contributed to make it a bad place."


Then came the rape conviction, jail, comeback #1, biting Holyfield's ear in two, suing King for $100 million, Robin "Psychobitch" Givens, fights outside the ring, a few more months in jail, losses, medication, another wife or three, tigers, pigeons, more losses, and, of course, a tattoo of mass murderer Mao on his arm. The ignorance and death started to blur into a giant media blob and real boxing fans lost interest.


Tyson's purse for the fight was $5 million, but he is in bankruptcy after blowing some $300 million in career earnings. Most of the purse will go to his creditors. That was one of the main reasons he continued to fight.
"I want to pay my debts, but I will just do the best I can in life," Tyson said. "If I got money, I'll pay them. If I have no money, I can't pay them. If they lock me up, at least I'll have a place to stay. I'm used to being locked up."

Tyson, who was convicted and imprisoned for rape in the 1990s, said he's not afraid to go back to jail if he can't pay his creditors.

Whatever Tyson does, he said fighting won't be a part of it.

"I'm pretty vain. I like the way my body looks so I want to keep in good shape, but I don't want to fight no more," he said. "I just don't have the desire no more, I don't have the stomach to do it no more. I don't even kill insects in my house. I just don't kill anything no more. I used to kill pigeons, rip their heads off, 'You dirty rat pigeon!' I don't even have the heart to kill an animal no more. I just changed my whole life in general. That probably could have changed the way I fight."


Please pray for Mike Tyson. He only knows how to do one thing, and now he is unable to do it. Have no pity on him for the way he has lived his life, but have pity on him for the future he faces.


If Tyson stays retired, he will surely be elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame five years from now and his career will be rehashed yet again. He said he is not interested in such honors.

"I'm not into the boxing world no more. I don't want to be remembered at all," he said. "My heart is not in the fighting game. I don't even like it no more. I hate the smell of the gym. I won't go in the Hall of Fame. I'm just not that guy anymore. The WBC invited me to be one of the 20 greatest fighters of all time, but I'm not going to do that. I hate the boxing game. I'm not interested it in it no more.

"I never appreciated the fame unless I used it to get what I wanted. Great, I never had to wait in line for a restaurant or a club. I never had a problem getting the best girl. I abused it like that. I was pretty selfish with my fans. I never gave them the time the way I should have. I don't think I like the people anymore in the fight game. They look at me as something I no longer am. They're cheering for the wrong guy.

"This is a weird feeling in my life I have to deal with, not being a violent man anymore when my whole life's reputation was built on being extremely violent. I just don't know how to deal with that right now. I don't even go to strip clubs no more. I don't know who I am sometimes, but I am not the guy I used to be. I'm not an angel or anything. I'm still lascivious, periodically. I'm just looking for some balance in my life."

(My apologies to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com for messing up his excellent article.)

Tyson's record in the ring, courtesy of SI.com.

A chronology, also from SI.com.

At the risk of appearing to be a teenaged nerd...

...I'd like to mention a new Japanese anime series called "Paranoia Agent" that airs on Cartoon Network Saturday nights at midnight eastern.

Well, it's new to us. It aired in Japan in 2001. It seems to be about a young boy on skates who bashes people in the head with an aluminum baseball bat. Some of them even seem to welcome the attacks.

It is too soon to tell if this tale of society's decay works.

Needless (?) to say, this cartoon is not for children.

Band of the Day

Otis Taylor and The Otis Taylor Band.

Check out his great recordings and be sure to catch him live. Otis also has one of the great album titles of all time "When Negroes Walked The Earth" . I saw John Lee Hooker about twenty years ago and I think Otis Taylor is better.

Warning: Otis Taylor plays the blues. If you do not like the blues, you should.

Non-compensated Plug of the Day

Best athletic shoe (none dare call them sneakers): Asics cross-trainers.

I'm not so keen on their running shoes, though I do own a pair. Of course, it is entirely possible the fault lies with me. According to the old knees on the wall, it may be time to stop running.

From The Unknown History Department:

Is it ethical to save lives by exploiting them in one of the most crass ways imaginable? The strange story of the man who popularized incubators and saved the lives of countless premature infants by displaying them at the Coney Island sideshow.

Incubator-Baby Side Shows
by William A. Silverman, M.D.
Pediatrics 64(2):127-141, August 1979
Reproduced by permission of Pediatrics.


On the morning of Thursday, March 2, 1950, I read the following obituary in the New York Times:

MARTIN A. COUNEY, "INCUBATOR DOCTOR"

Dr. Martin A. Couney, a specialist in the care of prematurely born infants, who had shown such babies to the public for an admission price at fairs and other exhibitions throughout the United States and in Europe for more than fifty years, died last night at his home, 3728 Surf Avenue, Sea Gate, Coney Island. He was 80 years old. "The Incubator Doctor" as Dr. Couney was informally known, was born in Germany, studied medicine in Breslau, Berlin and Leipzig, receiving an M.D., and later in Paris under Dr. Pierre C. Budin, noted pediatrician, who developed a method of saving the prematurely born.

At the Berlin Exposition in 1896, Dr. Couney operated an exhibit of prematurely born babies to show the Budin technique. The exhibit was a financial success, as was a second one at Earl's Court in London. In 1898 Dr. Couney paid his first visit to the United States and staged an exhibit at the Omaha Trans-Mississipi Exposition. He returned to Paris for the exposition of 1900, but was back in this country for the Buffalo Exposition the next year, and then decided to remain here for good.

For years he had shows at both Dreamland and Luna Park, and the night Dreamland was destroyed by fire the babies were saved by a quick transfer to the Luna Park incubators, some of the lodgers doubling up.
Dr. Couney had one of his Baby Incubators attractions at the New York World's Fair [1939-40]. He leaves a daughter, Hildegarde Couney, long associated with her father's affairs. His wife, Annabelle May Couney, died in 1938.

This biographic sketch triggered a faint memory: I remember being puzzled about the "incubator-baby exhibit" when I walked by what I thought was one of many ordinary side shows in the amusement area of Chicago's Century of Progress Exposition in 1933. Now, 17 years later, my curiosity was rekindled. I decided to pursue the facts about this colorful (and bizarre!) chapter in medical history. I have had a delightful time; the search has taken 28 years (so far), and some loose ends remain. For instance, I have been unable to reconcile some of Couney's accounts (given to various reporters over the years) with the recorded evidence or with statements obtained when I interviewed his nephew, some of his fellow workers, and a number of physicians who knew him. [1]

Again, much stranger than fiction.

The spread of these ideas was spurred on through the curious circumstances which grew out of Budin's request that his young associate, Martin Couney, exhibit the newly-modified Tarnier incubator at the World Exposition in Berlin in 1896. [6] Budin armed the young man with a letter of introduction to Professor Czerny, an illustrious obstetrician. Couney hit upon the idea of placing live premature infants in the infant incubators and asked Czerny's help to obtain the babies. Czerny sent him to Empress Augusta Victoria, the protectress of Berlin's Charity Hospital, who agreed readily: the premature infants were considered to have little chance of survival. Couney brought six incubators and an entourage of Budin's nurses to the exposition and named the exhibit "Kinderbrutanstalt." The notion of a "child hatchery" caught the imagination of the Berlin public and soon there were ribald songs about the exhibit in the beer halls and night clubs. Couney's exhibit was located in the amusement section next to the Congo Village and the Tyrolean Yodlers; it was a huge success, always jammed with people. Several batches of infants were reared at the show and, according to Couney, "there were no deaths." During the exhibit, a London promoter by the name of Samuel Schenkein visited Couney and invited him to repeat the show in London the following year at the Victorian Era Exhibition to be held in Earl's Court. Couney agreed.

I have been able to track down an account of the London exhibit which appeared in a commentary in Lancet, May 29, 1897, entitled "The Use of Incubators for Infants" [4]. The editors reviewed the history of infant incubators, noted 2,534 infant deaths in London for one year attributed to premature birth, and they welcomed any attempt to improve the construction of incubators:

That this has been achieved will, we are informed, shortly be rendered evident by a remarkable exhibit at Earl's Court. A structure is now in the course of erection just opposite the Welcome Club, where infants prematurely born will be nursed and kept in new and model couveuses. The main feature of this new incubator is the fact that it requires no constant and skilled care. It works automatically; both ventilation and heat are maintained without any fluctuations whatsoever, not only for hours, but even for days. The incubator need not be touched for these purposes, and the only attendance necessary is that needed for feeding and washing the infant... Only air taken outside the building is supplied to the infant within the incubator. When we consider how often private houses, and even hospital wards, are inefficiently ventilated, it is not necessary to insist on the advantage of deriving the air-supply direct from the street or garden...

Mitch "Mail It In" Albom:

Chicks really dig that sensitive guy stuff.

Scriptural Snippets

Yesterday's Mass featured one of my favorite Gospel passages, and it inspired me to add another regular feature to the blog. Occasionally I will drop one one my favorite bits of God's word on you.

Here is Romans 5:6-11 .


6
For why did Christ, when as yet we were weak, according to the time, die for the ungodly?
7
For scarce for a just man will one die: yet perhaps for a good man some one would dare to die.
8
But God commendeth his charity towards us: because when as yet we were sinners according to the time.
9
Christ died for us. Much more therefore, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from wrath through him.
10
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son: much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
11
And not only so: but also we glory in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received reconciliation.

We are relentless sinners. Over and over and over again. And yet...

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings

Today is the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, Franciscan, priest, thaumaturgist (one given the gift of performing miracles), defender of the faith against heresy, and one of the greatest of the saints. He performed his most famous miracle when a group of Italian heretics tried to poisonhis foodand he rendered it harmless by the sign of the cross. St. Anthony, pray for us.

The readings for the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua are 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 and Matthew 5:38-42 .



Everyday links:
The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help


Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful;
O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me.
Amen.

St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.
Prayers from EWTN

Prayer to Saint Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)