Is Positive Thinking the Key to a Longer Life?
A growing mountain of evidence suggests that an upbeat, positive attitude could be the key to a long life. Some of the best scientific proof comes from the world of religion.
At the Franciscan Handmaids of Mary in New York, there can be an 80-year divide between the sisters who teach and the children in their classes. The age difference hardly matters. Many of the nuns are aging remarkably well, and doctors wonder if it's a matter of personality.
"I realize it is not how long you live but how intensely you live, in terms of appreciating your life and living life to the fullest," said Sister Loretta Theresa Richards.
Richards is 76, and doctors say her sense of purpose may be helping to keep her healthy. Studies show people who are busy, optimistic and have networks of friends tend to live longer. Involvement is good, not tiring.
"It does not wear you out," said Dr. David Bennett, director of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging in Chicago. "It seems to keep everything working."
But why? How does the mind affect the body? Several studies have focused on nuns and monks because they have consistent lifestyles — and are happy to help scientists in the cause of knowledge.
"I wake up in the morning and there is one prayer I say every day, and it carries me for the day," said Sister Anthony Marie Granger, 83.
Psychologists say there is an obvious need for negative emotions, such as fear, which tell us to run from danger.
But over the years, the stress hormones that result are bad for the heart and immune system. So it may be that positive emotions — like optimism and serenity — help your body recover from that stress.
Research has shown that people who meditate — whether in prayer or under a doctor's guidance — can lower their blood pressure.
"You can bring about biochemical, molecular, physiological changes in the body that are effective in treating stress conditions," said Dr. Herbert Benson, founding president of the Mind/Body Medical Institute and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. Benson is the author of several best-selling books on what he calls "the relaxation response," a technique he says people can use daily to control stress.
Additional studies suggest that upbeat, stress-reducing traits appear at an early age. Some of the most striking findings have come, not from examining nuns in their later years, but from essays they wrote when they entered the convent in their 20s.
Those who were optimistic and had active minds back then, were the ones who aged best. On average, they lived 10 years longer than others.
The essays offer tantalizing clues, but researchers caution that, until recently, few people reached age 65. They died from infections, heart attacks and other causes, long before they had a chance to reach old age.
"You realize that this is really the first generation in the history of the world to get old," said Bennett. "We are really at the beginning of understanding aging."
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Convent Archives Provide Striking Link Between Outlook and Life Expectancy
Miss Sierra Stiles, 8, kilt a b'ar.
How cool is this? Seriously, folks, if you don't think this story is cool, you just don't get it.
Born to the woods, she's 4 1/2 feet tall and 8 years old, with a shock of light brown hair and a steady trigger finger that put two bullets into a black bear's chest cavity Monday, according to her and her father and granduncle, who were hunting with her. State officials backed the claim by Sierra Stiles and credited her with the first kill of Maryland's second bear season since hunting the animals resumed after a half-century ban.
Sierra Stiles,8, put two bullets into a black bear's chest cavity Monday in Western Maryland, according to her and her father and granduncle, who were hunting with her.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources officials, waiting to take measurements and tissue samples from the bears at a wildlife management center here, shook their heads in amazement at the news that the first hunter to bag a bear was a third-grade girl from Kitzmiller, on Maryland's border with West Virginia.
Sierra recounted here how she shot the 211-pound bear from 50 yards away with her .243-caliber rifle. "I was scared," she said, then paused for dramatic emphasis. "Because bears will eat anything!"
With evidence that the bear population has rebounded after nearly being wiped out in the early 1900s, Maryland is allowing hunters to kill 40 to 55 bears this season. This is up from a haul of 20 bears last year, when hunters met the quota in one day. The season is likely to last a few days longer because of the higher quota and abysmal weather: It was raining, then snowing, Monday in Western Maryland.
Early on, the hunt did not appear very promising: At least one hunter quit because of the weather, and animal rights advocates in bear suits protested in front of the natural resources headquarters in Annapolis.
Then at 9:50 a.m., Sierra, wet and shivering, arrived at the Mount Nebo Wildlife Management Area with her father and granduncle in a red Ford F-150 pickup. They backed into a small garage, and game workers hoisted the bear's carcass out of the truck's bed with a hanging hook.
Donald Stiles beamed as his daughter, dressed in hunters' camouflage with a fluorescent orange vest, told how she skipped school to shoot the male bear.
After winning one of 200 bear-hunting permits granted by lottery this year -- and acing the required safety test with a score of 98 -- Sierra recalled being rousted out of bed by her mother at 4:58 a.m., wolfing down a bowl of cereal and heading outside, to a field on her granduncle's farm. They waited two hours in the bush under a steady, cold rain.
"I was dragging," Sierra said.
It got a bit brighter as the sun glowed sullenly through a thick blanket of clouds, she said. Sierra's granduncle, Robert Harvey, saw a dark shadow in the distance, but he didn't know what it was. Her father thought it was a bear.
"I froze up," she recalled. Regaining her composure, Sierra stood behind a tree, waiting until the bear was about 50 yards away, she said. Then she took careful aim and squeezed the trigger. The bullet struck the bear behind the shoulder. Unfazed by the rifle's light recoil, she said, she ejected the casing, reloaded and fired another round. (Thanks to Washington's other newspaper and WND for the heads up.)
Remotely controlled humans.
From Breitbart.com come this story of those pesky Japanese, interesting science, and weird technology.
In a word, everything is normal.
Prepare to be remotely controlled. I was.
Just imagine being rendered the rough equivalent of a radio-controlled toy car.
Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Japans top telephone company, says it is developing the technology to perhaps make video games more realistic. But more sinister applications also come to mind.
I can envision it being added to militaries' arsenals of so-called "non-lethal" weapons.
A special headset was placed on my cranium by my hosts during a recent demonstration at an NTT research center. It sent a very low voltage electric current from the back of my ears through my head _ either from left to right or right to left, depending on which way the joystick on a remote-control was moved.
I found the experience unnerving and exhausting: I sought to step straight ahead but kept careening from side to side. Those alternating currents literally threw me off.
The technology is called galvanic vestibular stimulation _ essentially, electricity messes with the delicate nerves inside the ear that help maintain balance.
I felt a mysterious, irresistible urge to start walking to the right whenever the researcher turned the switch to the right. I was convinced _ mistakenly _ that this was the only way to maintain my balance.
The phenomenon is painless but dramatic. Your feet start to move before you know it. I could even remote-control myself by taking the switch into my own hands.
There's no proven-beyond-a-doubt explanation yet as to why people start veering when electricity hits their ear. But NTT researchers say they were able to make a person walk along a route in the shape of a giant pretzel using this technique.
It's a mesmerizing sensation similar to being drunk or melting into sleep under the influence of anesthesia. But it's more definitive, as though an invisible hand were reaching inside your brain.
NTT says the feature may be used in video games and amusement park rides, although there are no plans so far for a commercial product.
Some people really enjoy the experience, researchers said while acknowledging that others feel uncomfortable.
I watched a simple racing-car game demonstration on a large screen while wearing a device programmed to synchronize the curves with galvanic vestibular stimulation. It accentuated the swaying as an imaginary racing car zipped through a virtual course, making me wobbly.
Another program had the electric current timed to music. My head was pulsating against my will, getting jerked around on my neck. I became so dizzy I could barely stand. I had to turn it off.
NTT researchers suggested this may be a reflection of my lack of musical abilities. People in tune with freely expressing themselves love the sensation, they said.
"We call this a virtual dance experience although some people have mentioned it's more like a virtual drug experience," said Taro Maeda, senior research scientist at NTT. "I'm really hopeful Apple Computer will be interested in this technology to offer it in their iPod."
Research on using electricity to affect human balance has been going on around the world for some time.
James Collins, professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, has studied using the technology to prevent the elderly from falling and to help people with an impaired sense of balance. But he also believes the effect is suited for games and other entertainment.
"I suspect they'll probably get a kick out of the illusions that can be created to give them a more total immersion experience as part of virtual reality," Collins said.
The very low level of electricity required for the effect is unlikely to cause any health damage, Collins said. Still, NTT required me to sign a consent form, saying I was trying the device at my own risk.
Religion of Peace Update.
Syrian show: Jews cut Christian throats
Jordanian TV airs 'documentary' of Zionist history
Sheikh seeking to 'terminate' Jews honored
Awarded 'Islamic Personality of the Year' at international event
(Thanks to WorldNetDaily for these links.)
Richard Pipes on the word "Islamophobia".
The term presents several problems, however. First, what exactly constitutes an “undue fear of Islam” when Muslims acting in the name of Islam today make up the premier source of worldwide aggression, both verbal and physical, versus non-Muslims and Muslims alike? What, one wonders, is the proper amount of fear?
Second, while prejudice against Muslims certainly exists, “Islamophobia” deceptively conflates two distinct phenomena: fear of Islam and fear of radical Islam. I personally experience this problem: despite writing again and again against radical Islam the ideology, not Islam the religion, I have been made the runner-up for a mock “Islamophobia Award” in Great Britain, deemed America’s “leading Islamophobe,” and even called an “Islamophobe Incarnate.” (What I really am is an “Islamism-ophobe.”)
Third, promoters of the “Islamophobia” concept habitually exaggerate the problem:
· Law enforcement: British Muslims are said to suffer from persistent police discrimination but an actual review of the statistics by Kenan Malik makes mincemeat of this “Islamophobia myth.”
· Cultural: Muslims “are faced with an extreme flow of anti-Islamic literature that preaches hatred against Islam,” claims the president of the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Virginia, Taha Jabir Al-‘Alwani: “novels, movies, books and researches. Just among the best selling novels alone there are almost 1000 novels of this type.” One thousand bestsellers vilify Islam? Hardly. In fact, barely a handful do so (for example, The Haj, by Leon Uris).
· Linguistic: A professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, falsely reported (in his keynote speech at a U.N. event, “Confronting Islamophobia,” reports Alexander Joffe) attempts to hide the Arabic origins of English words such as adobe – which derives in fact from ancient Egyptian, not from Arabic.
· Historical: The term anti-Semitism was originally used against Arabs living in Spain, Nasr also stated in his speech, and was not directed at Jews until after World War II. Nonsense: anti-Semitism dates back only to 1879, when it was coined by Wilhelm Marr, and has always referred specifically to hatred of Jews.
Fourth, Hizb ut-Tahrir’s manipulation of “Stop Islamophobia” betrays the fraudulence of this word. As the Sunday Times article explains, “Ostensibly the campaign’s goal is to fight anti-Muslim prejudice in the wake of the London bombings,” but it quotes Anthony Glees of London’s Brunel University to the effect that the real agenda is to spread anti-Semitic, anti-Hindu, anti-Sikh, anti-homosexual, and anti-female attitudes, as well as foment resentment of Western influence.
Finally, calling moderate Muslims (such as Irshad Manji) Islamophobes betrays this term’s aggressiveness. As Charles Moore writes in the Daily Telegraph, moderate Muslims, “frightened of what the Islamists are turning their faith into,” are the ones who most fear Islam. (Think of Algeria, Darfur, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan.) “They cannot find the courage and the words to get to grips with the huge problem that confronts Islam in the modern world.” Accusations of Islamophobia, Malik adds, are intended “to silence critics of Islam, or even Muslims fighting for reform of their communities.” Another British Muslim, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, discerns an even more ambitious goal: “all too often Islamophobia is used to blackmail society.”
Muslims should dispense with this discredited term and instead engage in some earnest introspection. Rather than blame the potential victim for fearing his would-be executioner, they would do better to ponder how Islamists have transformed their faith into an ideology celebrating murder (Al-Qaeda: “You love life, we love death”) and develop strategies to redeem their religion by combating this morbid totalitarianism. (Thanks to Human Events Online for the heads up.)
You think you know, but you don't know.
From Human Events Online:
Everyone from the Washington Post to the Boston Globe to CBS' "60 Minutes" has pumped up public fears that terrorists could seize Russian-made suitcase-sized nuclear bombs and carry a portable Hiroshima into Manhattan.
They're wrong.
An extensive investigation by best-selling author Richard Miniter reveals that the Russians only made a small number of these bombs and all were dismantled under the watchful eyes of U.S. inspectors in the early 1990's -- years before CBS and the Washington Post pumped out their scare stories.
New evidence that completely discredits the media myth of suitcase nukes is revealed in the powerful new book Disinformation: 22 Media Myths that Undermine the War on Terror published by Regnery (a HUMAN EVENTS sister company).
Surprise! That's Fyodor's Book of the Day!
Joe Sobran writes an epitaph for the administration of Bush the Younger.
(Note: The link above will take you to Joe's current on-line column. The archive is here. Not all of his past columns are available in the archive.)
No president since Richard Nixon has faced such a welter of problems, and even Nixon, until his final days in office, never faced such rapidly dissolving support. No single “smoking gun” like the Watergate tapes is likely to finish Bush off, but he looks unexpectedly desperate, confused, ineffectual.
What does he stand for? Only one thing: the failed war he has already staked his reputation on. He has subordinated everything to that, and in its absence it would be impossible to name any philosophy, conservative or otherwise, he could be identified with.
Ouch! Big time.
So conservatives are now afraid that when the dust has settled, their philosophy will be identified with Bush’s failure. That would be unjust to their philosophy, but they’ve asked for it. It’s too late for them to repudiate him now. He hasn’t betrayed them as badly as they’ve betrayed their philosophy by supporting him all these years.
The president Bush most resembles is not Nixon, but Lyndon Johnson, who also tried to expand the Federal Government in every direction and fatally split his base. Democrats paid a heavy price for supporting his war in Vietnam along with his multifarious social programs. They tried to recoup by pretending he hadn’t happened and moving leftward, but liberalism got a bad name and by 1994 they’d lost the electoral majority they’d taken for granted since the New Deal.
Now Bush has given conservatism a bad name — with a lot of help from conservatives who should have known better. Was keeping John Kerry out of the White House worth the price of backing Bush’s war?
Now that's a cheap shot. Any Freudian worth his angst will tell you Kerry would have become one of the all-time greatest warmongers, if only to prove those Swift Boat guys wrong.
Poll finds discontent with both parties.
Americans are increasingly critical of President Bush and dissatisfied with the Republicans who have controlled Congress for a decade, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll finds.
But congressional Democrats — while favored when it comes to the economy, the war in Iraq and even taxes — have problems, too. They get a rating only somewhat less negative than the GOP. (Thanks to USA Today and CNSNews.com for the heads up.)
Don't start hyperventilating, kiddies. This is not the shock that will trigger the formation of The Reality Party. (More here.)
Why? Because politicians are like the weather. Everyone talks about them, but nobody stops them.
Bloodbaathist Update. (These things have been popular of late.)
Washington Post:
Assad Says Accused Syrians May Face Trial
Yeah, sure.
Stalin had lots of trials, too, you know. Sometimes five or six an hour.
The glorious legacy of King Goober II is updated for your edification.
(CNSNews.com) - Two women who say they were sexually assaulted by Bill Clinton plan to visit his presidential library in Little Rock on Wednesday. "What can be more embarrassing for the possible future 'first man'?" the press release asks.
Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and attorney Candice Jackson, author of "Their Lives: The Women Targeted by the Clinton Machine," will tour the library and hold a news conference afterwards.
The women said they want to determine if the Clinton Library is displaying "true historical fact or mere Clintonian fiction."
They are specifically looking for "revisionism of Clinton's womanizing," the press release said.
Fat chicks with low self-esteem of the world unite! Save the legacy of your hero, the man who brought you closer to power than even JFK!
Dems try to stop uppity Republican (who just happens to be non-white).
(CNSNews.com)- Even before Maryland Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele announced on Tuesday that he was running for the U.S. Senate in 2006, Democrats had labeled the first African-American to hold statewide office as "arrogant" and "out of touch."
What? Oh, arrogant.
Arrogant is what they call Mr. Steele. See, I thought they called him uppity.
You can see how easy a mistake that is to make.
Sodomite Advocacy Group Admits Only 1.25% Of Population Is Homosexual!
That sure seems to be what they are saying. And since it is the closest these folks have ever come to the truth, I'm running with it.
(CNSNews.com) - While anti-war protesters are busy planning a vigil outside the White House to mark the death of the 2,000th U.S. soldier in Iraq, a homosexual advocacy group announced Tuesday that more than 25 of those killed were homosexual.
From The Peaceful Use Of Nuclear Power Department:
Preemptive strikes, anyone? Anyone?
The bottom line, kiddies? War is bad. That's why it is better to take it to them than wait for them to bring it to us.
"But, Fyodor, Israel isn't us!"
Sorry, I forgot. I guess we'lljust have to let a few hundred thousand die.
From ABC News:
Iran's hard-line president called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" and said a new wave of Palestinian attacks will destroy the Jewish state, state-run media reported Wednesday.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also denounced attempts to recognize Israel or normalize relations with it.
"There is no doubt that the new wave (of attacks) in Palestine will wipe off this stigma (Israel) from the face of the Islamic world," Ahmadinejad told students Wednesday during a Tehran conference called "The World without Zionism."
"Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury, any (Islamic leader) who recognizes the Zionist regime means he is acknowledging the surrender and defeat of the Islamic world," Ahmadinejad said.
Ahmadinejad also repeated the words of the founder of Iran's Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called for the destruction of Israel.
"As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map," said Ahmadinejad, who came to power in August.
Ahmadinejad referred to Israel's recent withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as a "trick," saying Gaza is part of the Palestinian territories and the withdrawal was meant to make Islamic states acknowledge Israel.
To me, every single one is a milestone.
U.S. death toll in Iraq rises to 2,001
But, hey, that's just me.
The numbers really don't matter to the appeasers.
Stay tuned. You'll hear from them again if it reaches 3,000.
Website of the Day.
Welcome to 21st century America. Take a look at thecobrasnake.com. Is this our culture? Yep, part of what passes for culture these days.
But he did make me look.
By the scale of his lifestyle, Mark "The Cobra Snake" Hunter may be Los Angeles' preeminent hipster.
He hangs out with models, DJs, pro skaters, fashion designers, celebrities, rock musicians, the unbearably cool and the painfully fashionable. He wears the most outrageous designer and vintage fashions, which he often gets as gifts. He flies all over the world to attend parties. People, young women especially, recognize him wherever he goes.
And yet Hunter has no car, no steady job, and is barely 20 years old. He gets around on a bike. By his own admission, he is goofy and not exactly physically striking. He points at his wiry beard and the furry paunch of his stomach as evidence.
All Hunter does is go out at night, take pictures of people who catch his eye and then post the photos on his website, thecobrasnake.com.
Anybody could do it, of course, but Hunter has taken photo-blogging to the level of celebrity. His website is where Hunter, paparazzo to the unfamous, holds a mirror up to hipster culture and also helps manufacture it.
The images he posts feature drinking, dancing, posing, jumping, laughing, stuffing food in one's mouth, same-sex physical affection, falling down, smoking, funny faces, open-mouthed kissing, tattoos, cellphones, teeth jewelry, sweating, vomit, blood, smeared makeup and skin.
As a result, thecobrasnake.com attracts roughly 10,000 visitors a day and e-mails from all over the world.
Hunter has been taking pictures and sharing them with friends since his late teens. After graduating from Santa Monica High School and finding Santa Monica College of little interest, he dropped out and found a job as an apprentice to L.A.-based guerrilla artist Shepard Fairey.
In late 2003, an idea struck him. He drafted a manifesto, parts of which read: "Concept for the site: People try to look cool for a reason, to get noticed, but they put so much effort into their look and they should get more out of it…. This website will take pictures of all the hipsters in the scene, the scene could be a concert, a club, an art show or anything cool like that. So the way it goes is I'm goofy and like to talk to hot people, so I will ask to take their picture."
The website launched in early 2004. At first it was known as polaroidscene.com, but after a few threatening letters from the Polaroid company, Hunter switched it to reflect his nickname. Hunter describes it as a "marketing tool" with no other attachable meaning.
"Sharing the photos on the website is the only right thing to do," Hunter said at the start of a recent night out in Hollywood. "There's no reason I shouldn't be at somebody's party — for the most part."
The over/under on it becoming a pay site is eight months.
Hunter is sitting in his office in a workspace bungalow he shares with close friend and DJ Steve Aoki of Dim Mak Records. From his new digs on Cahuenga Boulevard, Hunter oversees two high school girls as unsalaried interns. He spends his time managing the site, organizing his nights, networking on his earpiece-enhanced cellphone and drawing.
"If you want to look at me in a bad way, I'm playing off people's vanity." Hunter says that in L.A. and New York "they're almost accustomed to the idea that they're going to get some sort of fame or something out of it, which is cool. It's sort of a win-win for me and them."
Jade Castrinos, a 19-year-old American Apparel employee and singer, arrives at the office. Castrinos is one of Hunter's most recognizable muses. His camera has captured her dancing, eating fast food, playing in the ocean, jumping, kicking, brushing her teeth, climbing out of fair rides, whipping her hair about and squeezing into a clothes dryer while smoking a cigarette among other things.
In one picture, Castrinos is in a food aisle at a convenience store. She is jumping high into the air, her legs tucked underneath her, her hair an explosion. She is wearing tiny shorts and worn-down cowboy boots, the very image of hip, rock 'n' roll bliss.
Hunter seems to feed off Castrinos' energy.
As the interview progresses, she sits against a wall with a giant piece of bubble gum squeezed between her teeth. She pulls the ends of it down away from the sides of her mouth to create a long stretchy glob of goo, while Hunter goes behind a table to change into a pair of gleaming white Diesel jeans, a gift.
"What are you doing?" Hunter asks flirtatiously.
"Science project," she manages to say through the gum.
"We got to take a picture of that," Hunter says, quickly snapping a few pictures with one hand while adjusting his belt with the other.
(Thanks to the LA Times for the heads up.)
Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.
Today is the Feast of St. Alfred The Great, scholar and king. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.
Today's reading is Romans 8:26-30.
Today's Gospel reading is Luke 13:22-30.
Everyday links:
The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today
Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
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.
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.)
PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Wellington Mara, Requiescat in pace.
Mr. Mara was the principal owner of the New York football Giants, and one of the men who made the NFL what it is today.
MLB, the NBA, and the NHL could have learned a lot from Mr. Mara.
Wellington Mara of the New York Giants, one of the NFL's most influential owners for more than a half century and the last of the league's founding generation, died Tuesday. He was 89.
Wellington Mara became a Giants' ballboy in 1925 after his father, Timothy J. Mara, bought the team.
Mara, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997, died of cancer at his home in Rye, the team said.
Mara's influence went far beyond the Giants. He clearly was one of the most important figures in NFL history.
"Wellington Mara represented the heart and soul of the National Football League," NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. "He was a man of deep conviction who stood as a beacon of integrity."
One of Mara's greatest contributions came in the early 1960s. He and brother Jack, owners of the biggest team in the biggest market, agreed to share television revenue on a leaguewide basis, dividing the huge amounts of money available in cities like New York with smaller markets from Pittsburgh to Green Bay.
Part of that agreement meant that the Giants ceded the right to sell their own games to television for a leaguewide contract, in those days with CBS. That concept of revenue sharing allowed the NFL to thrive and remains in place today.
He also served during the 1970s as chairman of the NFL's Management Council, which negotiated labor contracts, and as a member of the competition committee.
In 1989, he and group of older owners wanted Pete Rozelle's successor to be Jim Finks, then the New Orleans general manager, rather than Tagliabue, then a league lawyer. Mara thought the league should be run by a football man.
But Mara and several other old-guard owners finally agreed to break a stalemate of four months by throwing their votes to Tagliabue and he became one of the new commissioner's staunchest supporters, a man Tagliabue often leaned on for advice.
Tagliabue wasn't the only one who sought out Mara. His advice also was invaluable to other owners, league officials, media and even fans.
"When Well Mara stood to speak at a league meeting, the room would become silent with anticipation because all of us knew we were going to hear profound insights born of eight decades of league experience," Tagliabue said.
Mara became a Giants' ballboy at age 9 on Oct. 18, 1925 after his father, Timothy J. Mara, bought the team. He stayed fully involved in its operation for almost 80 years, except for three years while in the Navy during World War II. Until he became ill last spring, he attended most practices and every game.
In 1930, at 14, his father made him co-owner with older brother Jack, and he ran the club until several years ago when son John took over day-to-day operations.
But from 1979 on, while the team was run by general managers George Young and Ernie Accorsi, Mara had final say on football decisions. He was the one who decided to fire Jim Fassel after the 2003 season and replace him with Tom Coughlin.
"I've never had more respect for anybody in this business, or in any business, or in any walk of life, than Wellington Mara," said Coughlin, an assistant on earlier Giants teams. "To say Wellington Mara is one of a kind, I would endorse that wholeheartedly."
Before last Sunday's game against Denver, Coughlin told his players of Mara's condition. The Giants won on a touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Amani Toomer with 5 seconds left. In the locker room after the game, the players chanted "Duke, Duke, Duke" -- Mara's nickname.
Manning later said he had been told by one of Mara's grandsons that the owner awakened in time to see the winning play, then smiled and went back to sleep.
The players, current and past, all admired him.
"After games, you'd walk into the locker room and he'd be standing right there to shake your hand, win or lose," running back Tiki Barber said. "That was one of the moving feelings about playing for the New York Giants, having your accountability given to you as soon as you walked into the locker room."
"Wellington Mara is the face of not only the New York Giants but the NFL," tight end Jeremy Shockey said. "He's a pioneer and the guy that everybody looks up to."
When former players became ill, Mara would find them doctors, pay their medical expenses and arrange help for their families. Many old-timers were on the payroll as scouts or advisers. Even in this era of sophisticated scouting, it wasn't unusual for Young or Accorsi to get a call from a former player recommending the Giants look at some prospect.
In most cases, the team was well aware of the prospect, but Mara never dropped any of those old "scouts" from the payroll.
Mara always considered himself a football man first, running the on-field operations through the 1950s until 1979 while Jack and then Jack's son Tim ran the business end. The team was successful during the '50s and early '60s with such stars as Frank Gifford, Y.A. Tittle, Sam Huff and Roosevelt Brown and a coaching staff that included Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi as assistants.
But after losing to Chicago in the 1963 NFL championship game, the Giants began a long slide, failing to make the playoffs again until 1981 as Wellington and Tim, by then the co-owner, feuded.
In 1979, on the commissioner's recommendation, the Maras agreed to hire Young as general manager and the team again became a power.
It won Super Bowls in 1986 and 1990 with Bill Parcells coaching a team that starred Lawrence Taylor and Phil Simms and stout defenses. The 1990 team featured one of the best coaching staffs assembled: future head coaches Coughlin, Bill Belichick, Al Groh, Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel and Ray Handley.
Parcells left after that season and the Giants slipped into the middle of the pack.
They made the Super Bowl again after the 2000 season, losing to the Baltimore Ravens, owned by Art Modell, Mara's close friend and longtime partner in league matters. Mara never openly criticized Modell's move of a team that had been the Giants' chief on-field rival during the '50s and '60s, and they celebrated getting to the Super Bowl together.
In 1991, Tim Mara and his family sold their share of the team to Robert Tisch. Tisch and Mara were officially co-owners and Tisch ran much of the business affairs. But it was always clear this was Wellington's team -- for many years they were known by New York headline writers as "the Maramen."
Mara is survived by wife Ann, 11 children and 40 grandchildren.
There was no immediate word on funeral arrangements.
(Thanks to ESPN.com for this obituary.)
A home run for Taranto.
Butterfield in Reuterville
From a Reuters dispatch on U.S. crime statistics:
The U.S. prison population continued to grow last year even though reports of violent crime during 2004 were at the lowest level since the government began compiling statistics 32 years ago, according to a government report released in September.
The other night, we realized that our degree of drunkenness was continuing to grow even though the liquor in the bottle was at the lowest level since we opened it. Life is full of paradoxes, isn't it?
Who is Harriet Miers? Part 15
James Taranto has established a Miers Nomination Death Watch. Sadly, the Miers legacy will live on for generations, regardless of the outcome of this kerfuffle.
The Los Angeles Times reports "many constitutional experts" are "shaking their heads" over a written answer Miers gave the Senate Judiciary Committee: "Miers described her service on the Dallas City Council in 1989. When the city was sued on allegations that it violated the Voting Rights Act, she said, 'the council had to be sure to comply with the proportional representation requirement of the Equal Protection Clause.' " Even Andrew Sullivan knows there is no such thing.
That's a perfect reason not to vote for her, Senator.
The Washington Post reports that under Miers's leadership, the Texas Bar Association "embraced racial and gender set-asides and set numerical targets to achieve that goal." This may raise the hackles of people who believe in equality--though in fairness we should note that this sort of discrimination is so commonplace in the private sector that it may be unfair to infer anything about Miers's personal or legal beliefs here.
Another, Senatrix.
Today's Washington Post reports that the Senate Judiciary Committee is likely to subpoena Focus on the Family's James Dobson "to explain the private assurances he says he received from the White House about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers," and specifically her views on abortion and Roe v. Wade. For background, see John Fund's column from last Monday.
The New York Times reported yesterday that Sen. Sam Brownback, a conservative Kansas Republican who sits on the Judiciary Committee, is calling on the Bush administration to waive executive privilege and release documents from Miers's tenure at the White House. On Friday Charles Krauthammer suggested that a dispute over such documents would be the perfect "exit strategy"--i.e., pretext to withdraw the nomination.
On the Oct. 7 episode of PBS's "The Journal Editorial Report," this columnist went "out on a limb" and predicted Miers would not be confirmed. Seventeen days later, the limb feels stronger than ever.
God bless and protect Lt. Col. Herbert Carter, USAF Retired, and his buddies from the 332nd Fighter Group, warriors still.
Want to know why Hitler never had a chance?
One Last Mission
Here's a great story from the Associated Press, dateline Tuskegee, Ala.:
Lt. Col. Herbert Carter is 86 years old and ready for deployment. More than 60 years after his World War II tour with the pioneering black pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen, Carter's new mission will be shorter, though no less courageous.
Carter is one of seven aging Tuskegee Airmen traveling this weekend to Balad, Iraq--a city ravaged by roadside bombs and insurgent activity--to inspire a younger generation of airmen who carry on the traditions of the storied 332nd Fighter Group. . . .
Current members of the 332nd, redesignated as the 332nd Air Expeditionary Group in 1998, include men and women of different backgrounds and races.
But the black retirees said they are thrilled that a group still fights within their 332nd lineage, regardless of skin color.
"I'm proud they're in a unit carrying our name," said Charles McGee, 82, a retired colonel whose 409 combat missions is an Air Force record. "That's very meaningful from the heritage point of view."
The original Tuskegee Airmen were recruited in an Army Air Corps program created to train blacks to fly and maintain combat aircraft during World War II--though some of the retired Airmen say it was really designed to try to prove that blacks were incapable of flying and fighting. . . .
"My status as a Negro bordered on second-class citizenship and the military simply reflected the culture of the time," Carter recalled in a recent interview. "If you were a Negro, you were a Negro in either setting."
Eventually, the black airmen flew escort for bombers. They were credited with shooting down more than 100 enemy aircraft and never losing an American bomber under escort to enemy fighters. In all, 992 pilots were trained in Tuskegee from 1940 to 1946. About 450 deployed overseas and 150 lost their lives in training or combat. . . .
"I think everything should be done to pass their story to future generation of Americans," said Ted Johnson, 80, who graduated from the Advanced Flight School in 1945 and is considered one of the youngest Tuskegee Airmen.
"It was the Tuskegee Airmen who made America come to its senses," he said, "that individuals should be judged on their accomplishments, rather than their ethnicity and color."
Amen to all that, Sir!
That last comment is one of the wisest things we've heard anyone say in a while about race in America. What's so inspiring about the Tuskegee Airmen is that they served their country, and had faith in it, at a time when the country had not yet earned it. (Thanks to Best of the Web Today for the heads way up.)
Happy Birthday, Bobby Knight!
The Texas Tech coach is 65 today.
I wouldn't want to play for him.
I wouldn't want my kids to play for him.
But I'd love to buy him a beer someday.
Bloodbaathist Update...
...or, What's a dictator to do? If you can't trust the UN to cover up your crimes, whom can you trust?
...or, Kofi Annan should be imprisioned for the rest of his unnatural life.
Deleting a Dictator
Bashar al-Assad may become the first dictator to fall from power because U.N. functionaries are incompetent with computers, suggests a report in the Times of London:
The United Nations withheld some of the most damaging allegations against Syria in its report on the murder of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister, it emerged [Friday].
The names of the brother of Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, and other members of his inner circle, were dropped from the report that was sent to the Security Council.
The confidential changes were revealed by an extraordinary computer gaffe because an electronic version distributed by UN officials on Thursday night allowed recipients to track editing changes.
The original Microsoft Word document is here, and MidEastWeb.org has rendered it in HTML form. Here's the key passage...
One witness of Syrian origin but resident in Lebanon, who claims to have worked for the Syrian intelligence services in Lebanon, has stated that approximately two weeks after the adoption of Security Council resolution 1559, Maher Assad, Assef Shawkat, Hassan Khalil, Bahjat Suleyman and Jamil Al-Sayyed senior Lebanese and Syrian officials decided to assassinate Rafik Hariri. He claimed that Sayyed a senior Lebanese security official went several times to Syria to plan the crime, meeting once at the Meridian Hotel in Damascus and several times at the Presidential Place and the office of Shawkat a senior Syrian security official. The last meeting was held in the house of Shawkat the same senior Syrian security official approximately seven to 10 days before the assassination and included Mustapha Hamdan another senior Lebanese security official. The witness had close contact with high ranked Syrian officers posted in Lebanon.
According to the Times, "Mr. Annan had pledged repeatedly through his chief spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, that he would not change a word of the report by Detlev Mehlis, a German prosecutor":
But computer tracking showed that the final edit began at about 11.38am on Thursday--a minute after Herr Mehlis began a meeting with Mr Annan to present his report. The names of Maher al-Assad, General Shawkat and the others were apparently removed at 11.55am, after the meeting ended.
Last week we noted an Associated Press report that Secretary-General Kofi Annan had said that "he is determined to keep an upcoming report into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri from fanning tensions between Syria and Lebanon." Thanks to Bill Gates, now we know how far Annan was willing to go to protect the Syrian dictatorship. (Thanks to Best of the Web Today for the heads up.)
So, let me see if I've got this straight. Now your story is "Judy Miller lied, and people died."?
Eeek! Left-fascist attempts to criminalize political differences (because deep down they fear and loathe the democratic process) keep coming back to haunt us. (LEFT)
Just in time for Halloween, the Plameplot Dome Scandal rises from the dead (a la Jason Voorhees) at the direction of the Old Gray Bitch herself, who seems to be screwing up the Impeach BushMonkey campaign.
As for possible indictments, I say bring 'em on. I'll bet Karl Rove has a lawyer good enough to rip Joe Wilson, Judy Miller, and the intellectually inbred morons who run the Times to shreds. Yes, sir, I can't wait to see it.
As usual, Captain's Quarters is on top of things:
Will Gray Lady's Attacks On Miller Stop Indictments?
Josh Gersten at the New York Sun reports today that the ongoing attacks on the credibility of Judith Miller at her own newspaper may have an unintended, ironic effect on the grand jury investigation headed by Patrick Fitzgerald. Given that her testimony and writing has been central to the efforts to tie Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to an alleged conspiracy to discredit Joseph Wilson, the continued disparagement of her truthfulness might well result in an inability to use her in support of any prosecution:
Attorneys closely following the case said the sharp criticism Ms. Miller has received from her editors and colleagues may discourage the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, from bringing perjury charges against Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby.
According to Ms. Miller and others who have testified before the grand jury investigating the leak, Mr. Fitzgerald has shown significant interest in whether Mr. Libby or other White House officials testified truthfully about their involvement in an alleged effort to discredit a vocal critic of President Bush, Joseph Wilson IV, by disclosing that his wife is a CIA employee. ...
"If it's going to be a perjury case, he's got a hard case because his key witness is Judy Miller," a former federal prosecutor, Paul Rosenzweig, said. "She has some issues as a witness."
Last week, the Times published a lengthy story containing unflattering anecdotes about Ms. Miller, including a claim that she referred to herself as "Miss Run Amok." On Friday, the newspaper's managing editor, Bill Keller, sent a memo to his staff asserting that Ms. Miller "seems to have misled" the paper's Washington bureau chief, Philip Taubman, regarding her knowledge about Mr. Libby's alleged campaign against Mr. Wilson. On Saturday, a Times columnist, Maureen Dowd, questioned Ms. Miller's candor and suggested that she no longer be allowed to write for the newspaper.
Mr. Rosenzweig, who worked on the independent counsel investigation of President Clinton, said the attacks on Ms. Miller would complicate any attempt to present her as a witness. "Can you imagine a defense attorney saying, 'So, I understand they call you Miss Run Amok?'" the ex-prosecutor said.
One could try to make the argument in court that Miller would testify against interest in order to build some credibility for her testimony, but while that makes a fine theoretical argument, it would hardly outplay "Miss Run Amok" with a jury. Perjury convictions require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. If it comes down to Miller's word against Rove or Libby, it will be tough to hold Miller up as a paragon of virtue when her own employer calls her a liar in print.
In its zeal to indict Miller for using her extended contacts with the White House to get scoops inaccessible to the rest of the industry, the Exempt Media and most of the punditry have probably crippled a portion of Fitzgerald's work, regardless of whether he has garnered more information elsewhere. He obviously considered the Miller connections at least moderately important to his investigation. If he issues indictments that rely on her testimony, he may as well resign himself to the fact that the administration's opponents will have made it almost impossible to ever get a conviction.
This almost appears too unthinkingly foolish, even for the Gray Lady. I wonder if Bill Keller thinks that Fitzgerald might be aiming at another Times source instead of Scooter Libby, leading him to go out of his way to discredit Miller now. Perhaps these memos and editorials mean to protect Joseph Wilson instead?
Anne Rice? Say it ain't so, Fyodor!
Yep. Never thought ol' Fyodor would spend time and energy on the authoress of those vampire books for chicks (and confused boys), did you? (BTW, I've always thought I should make my own dumbass movie. I'd call it Lesbians Make The Best Vampire Killers. But this is no time for that particular digression. remind me later. I'll tell you all about it.) Well, it seems Mrs. Rice has returned to Catholicism after a nearly life- long absence.
And now she's going to write a book about Jesus as a seven year old, told from the young Savior's perspective. (Kirkus Reviews raves about it, so its gotta be good.)
They've been worried about her. After 25 novels in 25 years, Rice, 64, hasn't published a book since 2003's "Blood Chronicle," the tenth volume of her best-selling vampire series. They may have heard she came close to death last year, when she had surgery for an intestinal blockage, and also back in 1998, when she went into a sudden diabetic coma; that same year she returned to the Roman Catholic Church, which she'd left at 18. They surely knew that Stan Rice, her husband of 41 years, died of a brain tumor in 2002. And though she'd moved out of their longtime home in New Orleans more than a year before Hurricane Katrina, she still has property there—and the deep emotional connection that led her to make the city the setting for such novels as "Interview With the Vampire." What's up with her? "For the last six months," she says, "people have been sending e-mails saying, 'What are you doing next?' And I've told them, 'You may not want what I'm doing next'." We'll know soon. In two weeks, Anne Rice, the chronicler of vampires, witches and—under the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure—of soft-core S&M encounters, will publish "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt," a novel about the 7-year-old Jesus, narrated by Christ himself. "I promised," she says, "that from now on I would write only for the Lord." It's the most startling public turnaround since Bob Dylan's "Slow Train Coming" announced that he'd been born again.
Meeting the still youthful-looking Rice, you'd never suspect she'd been ill—except that on a warm October afternoon she's chilly enough to have a fire blazing. And if you were expecting Morticia Addams with a strange new light in her eyes, forget it. "We make good coffee," she says, beckoning you to where a silver pot sits on the white tablecloth. "We're from New Orleans." Rice knows "Out of Egypt" and its projected sequels—three, she thinks—could alienate her following; as she writes in the afterword, "I was ready to do violence to my career." But she sees a continuity with her old books, whose compulsive, conscience-stricken evildoers reflect her long spiritual unease. "I mean, I was in despair." In that afterword she calls Christ "the ultimate supernatural hero ... the ultimate immortal of them all."
To render such a hero and his world believable, she immersed herself not only in Scripture, but in first-century histories and New Testament scholarship—some of which she found disturbingly skeptical. "Even Hitler scholarship usually allows Hitler a certain amount of power and mystery." She also watched every Biblical movie she could find, from "The Robe" to "The Passion of the Christ" ("I loved it"). And she dipped into previous novels, from "Quo Vadis" to Norman Mailer's "The Gospel According to the Son" to Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins's apocalyptic Left Behind series. ("I was intrigued. But their vision is not my vision.") She can cite scholarly authority for giving her Christ a birth date of 11 B.C., and for making James, his disciple, the son of Joseph by a previous marriage. But she's also taken liberties where they don't explicitly conflict with Scripture. No one reports that the young Jesus studied with the historian Philo of Alexandria, as the novel has it—or that Jesus' family was in Alexandria at all. And she's used legends of the boy Messiah's miracles from the noncanonical Apocrypha: bringing clay birds to life, striking a bully dead and resurrecting him.
Rice's most daring move, though, is to try to get inside the head of a 7-year-old kid who's intermittently aware that he's also God Almighty.
(Thanks to Newsweek and Drudge for the heads up.)
I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. People find their way Home all the time. But she still can't write her way out of a wet paper bag.
Presented for your consideration: The Death of Death?
Who wants to live to be 1,000?
If you wish to be a prophet, first you must dress the part. No more silk ties or tasseled loafers. Instead, throw on a wrinkled T-shirt, frayed jeans, and dirty sneakers. You should appear somewhat unkempt, as if combs and showers were only for the unenlightened. When you encounter critics, as all prophets do, dismiss them as idiots. Make sure to pepper your conversation with grandiose predictions and remind others of your genius often, lest they forget. Oh, and if possible, grow a very long beard.
By these measures, Aubrey de Grey is indeed a prophet. The 42-year-old English biogerontologist has made his name by claiming that some people alive right now could live for 1,000 years or longer. Maybe much longer. Growing old is not, in his view, an inevitable consequence of the human condition; rather, it is the result of accumulated damage at the cellular and molecular levels that medical advances will soon be able to prevent — or even reverse — allowing people to go on living pretty much indefinitely. We'll still have to worry about angry bears and falling pianos, but aging, the biggest killer of all, will cease to be a threat. Death, as we know it, will die.
Mainstream gerontologists do not agree and hate to even raise the topic in public. They shy away from talk about life extension or "curing" aging and prefer to focus on keeping older people healthy for as long as possible, a goal referred to in the discipline as "compression of morbidity" or "healthspan." Many of them write off Mr. de Grey as more beard than brain.
So ... is he crazy? Not in the sense that he is divorced from reality or just making things up as he goes along. Mr. de Grey is a serious, thoughtful, sincere, prolific, even brilliant researcher and thinker who seems to have devoted every last ounce of his intellect to conquering the single biggest medical menace facing mankind. Along the way, he has acquired plenty of supporters and detractors — and gained the respect of some of the top scientists in the world.
He even has a plan. It is, to say the least, ambitious, and it depends on a number of techniques and treatments that have yet to be developed (curing cancer, for instance, is one of the steps). His approach, which he has dubbed Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence, draws from different branches of science and medicine and is enough to spin the heads of specialists and nonspecialists alike. It has also caused a stir, something Mr. de Grey certainly knows how to do. "One hundred and fifty thousand people die every day, and two-thirds of those die of aging in one way or the other," he says, while nursing a pint of fine English ale. "If I speed up the cure for aging by one day, then I've saved 100,000 people." He pauses thoughtfully for a moment. "Actually, I probably do that every week."
(Thanks to The Chronicle and Drudge for the heads up.)
Fyodor gets another first hand look at the disease killing The Church in the West: Despair.
Your Humble Servant spent this past weekend on the road, visiting a niece at a major metropolitan university and catching some live college football.
My hotel was a mile from a beautiful church filled with hand carved wood that had been built in 1870 by the mostly German immigrants of the small town that had been effectively swallowed by the city decades ago.
The neighborhood is now run-down, shabby, and looked deserted on Sunday morning.
The few congregants that showed for the 8:30 AM Mass were almost all elderly and female. The priest greeted everyone at the door by name. He appeared to be in his early 60's, with thin gray hair and a medallion hanging from his neck proclaiming "peace". He spent a couple of minutes with Your Humble Tourist. It turns out his great-great-great and then some grandfather had been a Mennonite bishop back in Amish country. I said a silent prayer of thanksgiving for the ancestor of his who had found his way Home.
I knelt in a pew behind an elderly gentleman in a light brown suit. His back was bent, but only partially because he was praying. The priest walked up the nave, patted the man on the back, and asked why his wife was not with him. The gentleman related how she had fallen the day before and could not walk. The priest said he would pray for her recovery and then walked into the sacristy to prepare to say the Mass.
(Look out! It's digression time. Whatever happened to vestibules? My parish's vestibule disappeared one Sunday when the Reader Chick urged us to greet each other in the lobby after Mass. That's when I realized my church had a lobby, like a hotel or the 16 screen cineplex nearby. It was too ugly to have a vestibule. Today's moronic architects can't produce vestibules. They're lobby kind of guys. Don't get me wrong. Our eight year old building is much better than most modern churches I have seen. Let me just say it possesses beauty insufficient to fulfill its purpose.)
All the altar servers and "Eucharistic ministers" were elderly women. The priest began the Mass by saying since October is Respect Life month, his homily would be concerned with "justice and peace". I felt a headache coming on. (For the temporarily non-Catholic in the audience, "justice and peace" are usually code for leftist politics in The Catholic Church.)
During the Gospel reading, the man in front of me began to wobble and sat down hard on the pew. I was not quick enough to catch him. He struggled to his feet, ignoring my offers of help. He was again unsteady and the couple seated next to him tried to help him sit. An usher appeared with a wheelchair (my guess is this sort of thing happens regularly in this parish) and, together with Your Humble Servant, attempted to help the man into the chair.
Eventually he was placed in the wheelchair and someone drove him home. After Mass, the usher told me the man had been a bit disoriented, but seemed fine. What struck me was the tenacity with which this octogenarian (nonagenarian?) held onto the pew while we tried to help him.
I asked the Lord to accept the Mass for this man and his wife, of course, but this really is not the point of my tale today.
After the Gospel was read, the priest preached his homily as promised. He talked about how respecting life means more than just opposing abortion. I held my breath, hoping against hope he would thunderously condemn artificial birth control, but the moment passed.
He praised the late Cardinal Bernardin and his "seamless garment". (More Catholic code, kiddies. It means "If you oppose abortion, you must also oppose the death penalty, because after all, ripping a child out of his mother's womb after chopping him to pieces is EXACTLY the same as the State lawfully executing a murderer for his crime.)
Then he riffed on the history of The Church and Trade Unionism and how the priests had stood with the workers as they organized in the name of better working conditions. I gave him a silent "Amen" for that. After all, I was the only kid I knew who wore a Solidarnosc button throughout my college years. (BTW, I was often accused of being a CIA stooge for this by The Forces of Progress.)
After this, the priest lost me. He launched into health care, increasing the minimum wage, saving the trees...you know, the leftist litany.
But even this did not bother me greatly. I have heard more leftist priests than I care to remember.
What got to me was Father's equation of leftist political goals with The Church's "realizing" its true mission after Vatican II. (I can't go into that here, kiddies. It would take too long and really piss me off.) Yes, "social justice" is all The Church on earth was meant to be about.
I have no doubt this priest is a good man, but he is dead wrong. The mission entrusted to His disciples (That's us, kiddies.) by Our Lord and Savior, the Son of God, is to save souls. And with all due respect to that priest and what must be a difficult situation in that dying parish, saving souls has NOTHING to do with minimum wage laws.
When is the last time you heard a priest mention sin, death, Hell, repentance, the Sacrament of Penance, Purgatory, or salvation? Don't answer. I know. Unless you are extremely lucky, or extremely old like that poor gentleman in front of me at Sunday Mass, you haven't ever heard any of it.
Vatican II was, and is, valid. But much like the US civil rights movement, it was hijacked by the totalitarian left in order to create an earthly paradise. Not the City of God, to be sure, but a paradise created in man's image, according to his defective will.
The entanglement of The Christ's True Church in leftist politics is not a sign of the Gospel being preached by example, it is a sign of weak faith and despair. Yes, despair.
Somewhere along the line, Catholics lost the will to fight Satan. (Yes, kiddies, the Foolish One himself still exists.) Instead of battling to save every single individual immortal soul they met, our priests, bishops, nuns, (You DO NOT want to get me started on the corruption and destruction visited upon our nuns!) and laity figured it was easier to worry about filling their bellies. You can tell if a man is full, after all. But you can't ever really know if his soul will get to heaven until he gets there. (Stay with me, you protestants! It'll be worth it.)
Of course, there's nothing wrong with true charity. Faith, Hope, and Charity - remember? (Funny how "justice" is nowhere to be found in that list. I guess God forgot that one, eh, Cardinal Bernardin? Sorry. He knows the truth now. May God have mercy on his soul.)
Loving one's neighbor as oneself does mean feeding and clothing and sheltering and healing others as Father pointed out in his homily. But the totalitarian leftists get even THE commandment wrong. They aren't about charity, they are all about government, which is all about Power, which is the opposite of Love.
They've given up on Charity just as they gave up on evangelization, conversion, salvation, purity, chastity, prudence, et cetera. And for what? The ease of letting the government take care of the poor, the hopeless, the helpless, the forgotten, the sinners. It is so much easier (and comfortable) to lobby your state rep or even march against the War Against Islamic Terrorists (I am not even going to get into that. You can imagine on which side dear deluded Father firmly planted himself.) than it is to hear confessions, or help an old lady die a holy death, or even hold an AIDS patient's hand.
Our priests are moral cowards because we are moral cowards. They know (or should know) which of their parishioners are divorced and remarried. Why don't they publicly refuse them the Sacraments? Scandal? Scandal, my eye! These peoples' immortal souls are in jeopardy and if their priest is afraid to help them, then who will?
NOBODY. That means they will go to Hell when they die.
That means they will go to Hell when they die.
One more time, for emphasis. Take it slowly now, kiddies. Weigh each word and consider its meaning carefully.
That...means...they... will... go...to...Hell...when...they...die.
When was the last time you taught a child he is not genuflecting to the altar or crucifix, but to The True Presence in the tabernacle? OH, RIGHT, I FORGOT! THE BLESSED SACRAMENT IS NOW HIDDEN AWAY IN A "CHAPEL" OFF TO THE SIDE, LIKE A CRAZY OLD UNCLE WE LOCK IN HIS ROOM SO HE WON'T EMBARRASS US IN FRONT OF OUR COOL NEIGHBORS! So, go ahead, Jimmy. Genuflect where and when you want, 'cause it's the thought that counts!
I fear souls are being lost in untold numbers in our own parishes.
And what of our missionary duty to the rest of the world?
There will be Hell to pay, kiddies.
Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.
Today is the Feast of St. Tabitha (or Dorcas), a widow who was raised from the dead by St. Peter (Acts 9:36-42). Pray for us, all you angels and saints.
Today's reading is Romans 8:18-25.
Today's Gospel reading is Luke 13:18-21.
Everyday links:
The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today
Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
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.
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.)
PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Insiders see hint of Miers pullout.
We can only hope.
From Ralph Z. Hallow and Charles Hurt of The Washington Times comes this tale of wimpy ickiness in the White House.
The White House has begun making contingency plans for the withdrawal of Harriet Miers as President Bush's choice to fill a seat on the Supreme Court, conservative sources said yesterday.
"White House senior staff are starting to ask outside people, saying, 'We're not discussing pulling out her nomination, but if we were to, do you have any advice as to how we should do it?' " a conservative Republican with ties to the White House told The Washington Times.
The White House denied making such calls.
"Absolutely not true," White House spokesman Trent Duffy said.
But the conservative political consultant said that he had received such a query from Sara Taylor, director of the Office of White House Political Affairs.
Miss Taylor denied making any such calls.
A second Republican, who is the leader of a conservative interest group and has ties to the White House, confirmed that calls are being made to a select group of conservative activists who are not employed by the government.
"The political people in the White House are very worried about how she will do in the hearings," the second conservative leader said. "I think they have finally awakened."
"Absolutely false," Miss Taylor said. "Some of these conspiracy theories have risen to a new level."
The White House also said yesterday that Miss Miers will carry on with all previously planned meetings with senators on Capitol Hill and is still working to schedule new ones.
"They're continuing to work to schedule meetings," White House spokesman Jim Dyke said.
The Times reported yesterday that Senate Republican lawyers said no new meetings with Miss Miers would be scheduled -- at least until after the hearings.
So, you think you need to nominate a broad to the Supreme Court, do you...
...Why don't you nominate a broad who knows we're at war out here?
Laura Ingraham provides the following link to a speech by Justice Janice Rogers Brown from 2000. Mr. President, this is what we mean when we say we want conservatives on the court. Dump La Miers and give us a chance at restoring freedom in America.
"A Whiter Shade of Pale": Sense and Nonsense — The Pursuit of Perfection in Law and Politics
Here's a sample:
There are so few true conservatives left in America that we probably should be included on the endangered species list. That would serve two purposes: Demonstrating the great compassion of our government and relegating us to some remote wetlands habitat where — out of sight and out of mind — we will cease being a dissonance in collectivist concerto of the liberal body politic.
In truth, they need not banish us to the gulag. We are not much of a threat, lacking even a coherent language in which to state our premise. [I should pause here to explain the source of the title to this discussion. Unless you are a very old law student, you probably never heard of "A Whiter Shade of Pale."] "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is an old (circa 1967) Procol Harum song, full of nonsensical lyrics, but powerfully evocative nonetheless. Here's a sample:
"We skipped the light fandango turned cartwheels cross the floor I was feeling kinda seasick but the crowd called out for more.
The room was humming harder as the ceiling flew away. When we called out for another drink the waiter brought a tray."
There is something about this that forcibly reminds me of our current political circus. The last verse is even better.
"If music be the food of love then laughter is its queen and likewise if behind is in front then dirt in truth is clean...."
Sound familiar? Of course Procol Harum had an excuse. These were the 60's after all, and the lyrics were probably drug induced. What's our excuse?
If Harriet Miers could quote from Procol Harum and use the word "gulag" sarcastically in the same day, I'd eat my hat!
This speech to The Federalist Society (Oh, my. Aren't they like the Klan?) shows real conservatives what might have been if the prez had a pair.
The results from this weekend's football picks.
Whatever happened to...
...actress Angie Dickinson, one of the sexiest women of all time?
Angie 's alive and well at age 74. Sadly, they don't make 'em like her anymore boys. I guess that's why we invented photography.
Are you wondering who the fabulous babe in the Mercury commercials is?
Name: Jill Suzanne Wagner
Born: Jan. 13 1979
Winston-Salem, NC
Height: 5' 8"
Eyes: Emerald green
Hair: Brown
She's best known for appearing on MTV's low grade moron extravaganza Punk'd.
Mercury seriously miscalculated. It is simply impossible for the 98% of American men who are heterosexual to pay any attention whatsoever to their cars when Miss Wagner is in the shot. (No, that is not a typo, kiddies. It's 98%. Kinsey and the other perverts are liars. Surprise!)
Memo To Marvin Lewis, Chad "Dancin' Fool" Johnson, T.J. "We're Still The Best Team" Houshmandzadeh, et al.:
Before you start talking about playing football with the big boys, you must learn how to play big boys style football.
Steelers pound upstart Bengals
Fyodor's Game Ball goes to CB Ike Taylor for shutting down (and up) Chad Johnson.
Who dares speak truth to the muderous power brutalizing Zimbabwe?
Archbishop Pius Ncube, that's who!
Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo has warned that 200,000 Zimbabweans could die of hunger over the next few months because of food shortages resulting from government policies.
Speaking at the launch of a new film on Operation Murambatsvina, the regime’s recent massive demolition programme, he declared: “I think Mugabe should just be banished, like [Liberian president] Charles Taylor.”
Take that, Mugabe, you ignorant thug! It is time for you to repent and try to save your immortal soul.
If you really are a Catholic, you should start with a visit to Archbishop Ncube. Crawling on your hands and knees would be appropriate.
Speaking at the launch of a new film on Operation Murambatsvina, the regime’s recent massive demolition programme, he declared: “I think Mugabe should just be banished, like [Liberian president] Charles Taylor.”
The archbishop claimed that food security in Zimbabwe was now so precarious that he estimated unless there was a dramatic change of policy malnutrition could contribute to tens of thousands of premature deaths by February 2006.
The archbishop claimed that food security in Zimbabwe was now so precarious that he estimated unless there was a dramatic change of policy malnutrition could contribute to tens of thousands of premature deaths by February 2006. (Thanks to Ekklesia for the heads up.)
Oh, joy, kiddies! It's United Nations Day!
Today, all over the world, good little girls and boys will dress up in a thin three-piece veneer of civilization, behave pusillanimously, ineffectually, and vindictively, and then cap off the celebration by going out and imposing their defective, malformed wills upon their their helpless neighbors by whatever means prove to be necessary.
Yippee!
(BTW, because of a wave of nostalgia sweeping the globe, the Arafat goat rapist* costume has replaced the blue-helmeted child rapist costume as the number one seller this year.)
*For "goat rapist" legal statement, look here.
Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.
Today is the Feast of St. Cadfarch , primarily known as a founder of churches in Wales. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.
Today's reading is Romans 8:12-17.
Today's Gospel reading is Luke 13:10-17.
Everyday links:
The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today
Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
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.
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.)
PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
About Me
- TheChurchMilitant
- First of all, the word is SEX, not GENDER. If you are ever tempted to use the word GENDER, don't. The word is SEX! SEX! SEX! SEX! For example: "My sex is male." is correct. "My gender is male." means nothing. Look it up. What kind of sick neo-Puritan nonsense is this? Idiot left-fascists, get your blood-soaked paws off the English language. Hence I am choosing "male" under protest.