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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Nun Guilt Trip

Substitute "X" in the following sentence with a country/region - and I'll tell you what decade you went to grade school in - assuming you went to Catholic school and had nuns.

"Don't you know children are starving in X?" [followed by] "They'd be happy to have those raisins / cream of wheat / lima beans and corn which were retrieved from civil war rations, " [Or whatever it was you were trying to stuff in the school garbage bins after lunch.] Nuns had eagle eyes then, and no compunctions re: laying a guilt trip on you.

1930s - China
1940s - Europe
1950s - Korea
1960s - Biafra
1970s - Cambodia
1980s - Ethiopia
1990s - Romania
2000s - Sudan / North Korea

Did I miss any?

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Karen has two mommies



But it's okay, because Mary is the other mommy. When I was tiny, and learning my prayers, which my mother heard every night, she told me that Mary was my other mommy who was in heaven. And that long after she [my mother] had died and left this earth, I would always still have Mary there for me as mom.

Fr, Blake today has some beautiful reflections on Mariology today. I think love for the Blessed Mother is best inculcated when young, well before school age. It is wonderful that God gave her to us as our mother too. We can all in truth say "I have the most wonderful mother in all the world."

I don't know if most parents still teach their children the Memorare and the Hail Holy Queen, but they were some of the first prayers I ever learned. The latter was part of the Leonine prayers said after Mass when I was little. I must say, that for a long time, though I knew that "Christ" referred to Jesus, as a toddler I associated that word with buttered toast. I always smiled when I came to that word, because I knew that nightly prayers were over, and my own mom would tuck me in.

(The above right photo is a little dog earred, because that's the one my dad always carried in his wallet.)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Update on Salesman of the Month


...up, I knew someone would post the pic. that's hanging in a gun shop....sales up in Brockton, Mass.


Clinton Boobocrats ride Again

Ha-ha-ha....The Zero Admin. just can't get down the basics of simple gift giving between nations. I especially love how we pay for real experts in the State department who actually know contemporary Russian, but the boobs from Clinton's personal team get their fingers in the gear box.

"The trip was marked by tussles over information and access, but it became known for a high-profile blunder in Geneva on March 6. There, Clinton met Sergei Lavrov, the dour Russian Foreign Minister, and cheerily presented him with a large red button in a yellow case, with the words “Reset” and “Peregruzka” written on it. “We worked hard to get the right Russian word. Do you think we got it?” Clinton asked. “You got it wrong,” said Lavrov. The error appalled some in the State Department, because the button – which was inscribed in Latin script, not Cyrillic – hadn’t been assembled with the help of State’s cadre of Russian speakers and professional translators, but rather by Clinton’s small political team. The day of the event, people involved said, Reines showed the finished product to officials who spoke Russian, but who weren’t native, or up-to-date enough to catch the error in a word out of computer terminology.

One of those was the senior director for Russia at the National Security Council, Michael McFaul, a well-known Russia scholar. Three people familiar with the incident said that, in its aftermath, Reines sought to place public blame on McFaul, a former Stanford professor. Pressed Monday on the button incident, Reines denied that he’d ever blamed McFaul, and sent over a joking statement taking responsibility for the gaffe. “Ultimotely [sic], this was my soul [sic] risponsibility [sic], nobody else's in or out of the building. While the Russians laughed off the error and accepted the gift in the spirit of cooperation that it was meant, I've been sic [sic] about the mistake since, especially that I let down the Secretary and the fine professionals at the State Department,” he e-mailed."


Don't you love the spelling in the last paragraph by a member of the Clinnochio team? Everyone goofs up once in a while, but this is so laden with mistakes it's frightening. I'm sure he's making a lot more money than people who have the job of saying "You want fries with that?" Whole article here.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Famous "Catholic" University Whores itself at the feet of Nobama

May practising Catholics never give another dime, or send their children there. I feel sorry for actual Catholics who were graduating that day. May as well stay home and have them send the sheepskin in the mail, and file it under "worthless."

"From NBC's Athena Jones and Mark Murray: The White House just announced that President Obama will deliver commencement addresses at Arizona State (on May 13), Notre Dame (May 17), and the U.S. Naval Academy (May 22). "

Hey, did you know the church prefers penance services to private penance?

Yeah, reaaaallllly. My hippy pastor said so in tonight's sermon.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Hard for sins to slip your mind!

I don't know about you, but I LOVE looking at "other people's parishes." Even in otherwise unremarkable churches, there's usually a little something to catch the eye. I was in Holy Spirit, San Diego yesterday, and I found these 7 guys pretty remarkable. I've never seen anything like this in any other church. This gang of 7 was just outside the confessionals.




From top left to bottom: Envy, Pride, Gluttony, Lust, Greed, Sloth and Anger - the names are carved on them in English, and the names are given in Spanish, just so the parishioners who speak that don't shine them on. I guess Hispanics don't get Angry though. A far cry from Doc, Grumpy, Dopey, Happy, Bashful, Sleepy and Sneezy.

There was also this little sign to accompany the crew:


Life Happens

Don't blink. Mom is taking a picture this boy will treasure forever.




Old Testament Liars and Creeps and Maybe Susanna had the last laugh


This morning I'd attended adoration and Mass at St. Anne's. I'd quite forgotten that some times of the year the EF form has quite lengthy readings. [For the daily Mass during the week outside of special seasons, the Mass goer generally suffers from a paucity of readings, but they go "big time" during Lent.]

Today the first reading was the one where the virtuous Susanna is just trying to get a private bathe in the water in her husband's orchard behind the gates, away from it all - and it turns out two judges have been watching her and waiting for when she's alone. They try and blackmail her: "lie with us" or we'll say we saw you getting it on with some strapling youth, and they'll condemn you to death. She doesn't bite, damned if she does, damned if she doesn't. But she doesn't submit to these creeps, and prays to the Lord for deliverance, Then she is condemned to death with no evidence, because the jury believes the witness of the creeps. All of a sudden, Daniel, apparently the one Jewish guy in the town with a brain, isn't buying it. He has the perps separated and questions them in turn (after insulting each) "Well, sparky, what KIND of tree were they doing it under?" Each comes up with a different answer -- the two judges are the ones that end up being executed. [I'm going to look up "mastic" and "holm" because I have NO idea what kind of trees those are.]

Well, now to the point. Some time ago a nun I know said it's always good to try and read scripture as if you are reading that particular passage for the 1st time. See if you can think of some angle you never thought of before.

It occurs to me:

1) Wouldn't it have been bad if the two judges had both randomly picked the same kind of tree?
(Which tells me that that orchard had to have a great variety of trees! IF I go to an orange grove, for instance, it wouldn't take the amazing Kreskin to guess "orange."]


2) Why does Daniel call the first guy a liar, even before he gives the answer, and doesn't wait until it's compared to the second guy's answer?


3) If he DID know he was a liar beforehand (otherwise he wouldn't have insulted him) how COULD he have known that Susanna really was telling the truth?

UNLESS....

Susanna had dismissed her maids because she DID want to meet with Daniel for a tryst, and these two creeps hadn't seen him. Maybe she's had the last laugh all along.

JUST KIDDING.....really. I'm SURE she was virtuous, but these things do strike me as odd.

But what a raw deal women got then under the ancient Jews as compared to Christianity (and Islam, etc. for that matter.) In the last few years the Pakistanis had allowed a woman to be raped as a payback for something a member of her family did.

Contrast to the Gospel reading. The woman who was sleeping around was brought before Jesus, and the enemies of Jesus try to get Him to condemn her. Instead He points out that they all have sinned (when I was a youngster, our nun speculated to us that some say Jesus was writing their sins on the ground) -- they leave. Some take this to mean that He let her off -- well, He did the stoning, but He still told her to "sin no more."

Christianity cuts women a better deal in every way. [Except for odd outbursts from Paul, but let me not go there.] Jesus ALWAYS stuck up for the ladies. Especially even telling His own male disciples to take a hike whenever they whinned that He was wasting his time on women and or children.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Mermaid Update

I started going to the Kroc Center to do swimming Jan. 21. So far I've swum 22 miles...not quite enough to make it to Santa Catalina ♫, but if memory serves far enough to have swum the channel.

Need to get a new suit already as the one I have is hanging on me. Dropped a trouser size and a bit. Still have a ways to go before sveltitudeness is achieved, but unless I get lazy should make great progress by end of summer if I keep it up.


I must say I like this form of exercise, I don't feel like I'm slogging along in my own sweat. On the weekdays if I swim before work I started doing 1/2 miles, and almost a month ago I started doing 3/4 mile as my base a.m. workout. If I go in on the weekend I've done as much as two miles a workout. (This past Sunday. Took me ages!) This a.m. I did the .75 at 59 minutes. In the beginning it took me 50 minutes to do a half mile. I just do an elongated dog paddle and the backstroke, so that's why the times are slow. I don't feel like taking my contacts in and out, so I keep my eyes out of the water. I think I'm starting to grow gills. Haven't changed my diet a bit so still hitting pizza and hot dogs. And Starbucks carmel cider is addictive. I treat myself before Monday a.m. Mass. I'm usually in the water 5 days out of 7 unless *stuff happens* happened.


6 AD

The Time: 6 A.D.
The Place: The Sea of Galilee
Dramatis Personae: Jesus, John, the future Baptist, Mary, and Joseph in a cameo appearance

Jesus: MARCO

John: Polo

Jesus: Mar-co

John: POLO, sheesh, are you DEAF?

Mary: Will you kids get out of the water? John, you're turning blue!

Jesus: Mahhhh-ahhhhhm!!! Do I have to, too? I don't even get waterlogged.

Mary: Yes, you're spooky. Dad wants to get the caravan packed, we're WAITING for you, young man.

Jesus: Yes, mother.

John: [sotto voce] You are *such* a goody-two-sandals.

Jesus: HEY, stop snapping your towel at my butt.

John: MAKE me.

Jesus: I *can* take you, if I felt like it.

John: You and what army?

Joseph: MOVE IT!!! You KNOW how backed up traffic got last year!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Benny the Lion Tamer!!!!




Freeze, SUCKAH!!

What moxie!!! Doesn't even need a headlock!



Sorta...

Barry Soetero's teleprompter threatens mutiny

This moronic oaf is the one the leftists world wide swoon over. But Bush and Palin were "dumb."




I always laugh at supposed European "sophistication." We're talking about Germans who are going ape over Obama fried Chicken Fingers, and French people who dote on Jerry Lewis as a genius. Not to mention 90% of the US media still hasn't gotten up off its kneepads.

This loser can't pull off hosting official guests from Ireland or the UK. Can't wait until he presents a Saudi with a a pork ribs dinner.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Scum sucking Commander in Chief intends to screw wounded soldiers


"WASHINGTON, March 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The leader of the nation's largest veterans organization says he is "deeply disappointed and concerned" after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.


"It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan," said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. "He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it."


The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, "This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ' to care for him who shall have borne the battle' given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm's way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America's veterans!" "

What a surprise. A dirtbag is a dirtbag is a dirtbag.
A kewpie doll for whomever knows whose portrait is attached to this post.

And Henry IV, Part II, Act III, Scene I, Line 33 would be a caveat well heeded.

Monday, March 16, 2009

What kind of Handgun are you?

I am a: Glock Model 22 in 40 cal
Firearms Training
What kind of handgun are YOU?

Digi and I scored the same handgun. Not suprising...oddly enough.

[In real life I have the Walther PPK short.]

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Friday, March 13, 2009

One Bright Spot in the Economy

"The One" has been named "employee of the month."

This priceless comment

"professor357 (3/13/2009 7:55:32 AM)
My local gun store has a picture of the "Employee of the Month" posted prominently on the wall above the gun display case. You guessed it. For the past five months running, that picture has been Barack Hussein Obama, responsible for more sales of guns and ammo than anyone else."


was in the combox on a story in the Tulsa World which said that guns and ammo sales are still at a record high.

And this little video bears repeating.

And here I thought he was good for nothing.

Jackie Parkes is back blogging


Jackie's new blog is here.

Two of her relatives have died this week, her mother-in-law, Ingeborg Parkes, today - and her cousin's daughter, Emily Nugent, age 11, died March 10th.

May their souls and the souls of all the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, Rest in Peace.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Where's a good exorcist when you need one?

I can not bring myself to pray for Nobama. However, I do think he should be prayed AT. Of course, I'd be happy to be in the proverbial "Amen corner" should that come to pass.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Nobis quoque peccatoribus to you too, buddy....

Last summer, for the first time since I was 7, I attended a Latin Mass. Fr. Sean was visiting, and I knew he was going to say this form of the Mass and I didn't want to miss out. And in the last month, since St. Anne's parish has been given to the EF form, and I've been "doing extra" for Lent, and some of the daily Mass times are convenient for me to attend and still get to work, I've been going occasionally.

I've been disappointed in the silent Canon...we're supposed to "pray along" but "they" [rubrics Nazis] seem insistent on not caring if the lay people know _Exactly where_ the priest is. If you bag the correct seat or two, where you can see the priest's hand movements, etc., you can be "in the ballpark" but not necessarily right on.

The ONE part of the canon that WAS said out loud were these three weensie words. I mean, if you're going to say SOMETHING out loud during the canon, you'd think it would be something major like "Hoc est enim Corpus meum." [This is my Body.] Nah. But WHY, I wondered, get the congregants to stir by saying aloud "Nobis quoque peccatoribus...?" [...to us, sinners also ...]

I figured it was something arcane. And it was. But I didn't know quite how arcane. I looked it up in my copy of Jungmann's "Mass of the Roman Rite." Here's what it says:

"In the Roman Ordines of the seventh century the plan supposed that the subdeacons, who, at the start of the preface, had ranged themselves in a row opposite the celebrant of the other side of the free-standing altar, and who during the canon bowed profoundly, would straighten up at the Nobis quoque and go to their assigned places so they might be ready to assist in the fraction of the bread as soon as the canon was over. This rule, which naturally had no meaning except at the grand pontifical services, was retained even when, at the end of the eight century, it became customary to recite the canon in a low tone. So, to give the subdeacons the signal when the time came, the celebrant had to say these words tin an audible voice. [etc.]"

Then the practise of having the subdeacons help in this way fell by the wayside over the centuries.

Great. So now these few words are said out loud to allow the now non-existant subdeacons a chance to help do stuff they aren't going to do because they stopped doing in centuries ago...Brilliant. But ask a little favor like "speak up so we can follow along in the missal" can't be accomodated. Sheesh.

[On another note I notice a friend of Fr. Sean's have a hissy fit over on "Z"s blog [even Z wasn't too upset about it] over a female substituting "Domine, non sum digna" [the female form] over "Domine, non sum dignus." I think I'll start saying the "digna" bit too just to tick off Fr. Sean's friend, should he be dancing in attendence.]

Friday, March 6, 2009

I'm guilty as all get out...



When I was young, laws of abstinence regards "NO MEAT" on any Fridays of the year were still in force. In my case, I followed it even when under age 7 because mom made the meals, and I wasn't about to break open the piggy bank. Then when I was nine, IIRC, they changed the rule. But I HAD remembered that one was still obligated to "do something else" as an act of self-denial if one was not going to forego meat.


Well, gradually over the years I "forgot" about this stipulation that one "do something else."

I did remember being quite furious, when I was an older teen, to find out that the Mexicans (and I think other Spanish speaking peoples, depending where they were if memory serves) were never bound by this rule. I thought "Geez, there I was at age 8, I would have rather died than eat a hot dog offered by a protestant friend, and some rich grandee grifter politico in Me-hee-co was wining and dining all his friends with Carne Asada and cerveza and not thinking twice about it. FEH. Some poor guy in Appalachia feels bound, but not some rich guy down there. Double standard. Maybe this isn't such a big deal."

I've still always tried to do my best not eating meat on Friday in Lent...but I have to admit that being "out of practise" there always seems to be one Friday I goof and totally forget and blow a meal, and realize half-way through "Hey, dumb***, it's FRIDAY." Then not wanting to waste the food (that would be a sin "there-are-children-in-Biafra-starving") I guiltily choke the rest down, shamefaced that I blew it. So far, so good, but I'm not betting the farm.

I'm beginning to think that perhaps I shouldn't eat meat ANY Friday of the year as an act of self-denial. *sigh* Then I wouldn't be "out of practise" and wouldn't get that nagging feeling "....and you didn't remember to do any other act of denial, either." I think I'll still hold open that possiblity of "doing something else" if a friend, for instance, suddenly invites me for dinner on a Friday night, and it's meat. But I have to admit, I've been plain lax the rest of the year outside of Lent.

Guilty. Guilty. GUILTY as all get out. And I'm really, really SORRY.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Fr. Mildew is back!

Fr. Mildew is feeling much better and will be resuming blogging. He also says this year marks the 50th year of his priesthood!

Congratulations, Fr. and glad you are feeling better.

Talk about Sour Puss


Mac, I take it Sylvester would not be jealous....


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

In my Dreams - aka: Ideally, this is how the Dow Recovers

Dow hits 5500: 5 or 6 Jewish people start to bad mouth Nobama.
Dow hits 5000: People who didn't bother to vote who are starting to lose their jobs start shooting the finger at people with Obama stickers.
Dow hits 4500: Crissy Matthews of PMSNBC, having no stamina, has a major melt down, and is hauled off to the funny farm. Even liberals laugh, because face it - no one likes a panty waist.
Dow hits 4000: People start to throw bricks through car windows of people who still have Obama stickers on their cars
Dow hits 3500: Secret service starts resigning in droves, because no one wants to protect Nobama
Dow hits 3000: Keith Oberman gets up off his knee pads. Claims he never supported Obama. His own children spit on him.
Dow hits 2500: Michelle Obama runs off with Jerimiah Wright to Bimini.
Dow hits 2000: White House chef starts getting careless with rat poison, like Prince Youssoupov and his friends, he has trouble with the tea cakes taking effect. Obama gives Rasputin a run for his money
Dow hits 1500: 6% of Black people finally start to diss "The One" up from 5% who saw through the guy from the get-go.
Dow hits 1000: "The One" commits hari-kari
Dow jumps to 14,000 the next day.
Rest of public rounds up remaining Obama supporters and casts them into the freakin' Antarctic
Dow jumps to 20,000

Update: He opened his yap again when the market opened. If you listen closely, you can hear Four Jews in a Room Bitching ♫. (Yes, Stephen, if you're reading that last little bit is especially for you! :-D)

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Where's our altar stone?


When I was a little girl, sister explained how altars have altar stones - and how those altar stones have relics. And how when the priest kissed the altar, he was kissing the area just over the altar stone. Another reinforcement for the conscept of "the communion of saints." I was always very impressed by this, and in my days of teaching CCD (catechetical instruction, for you folks outside the US) I always made it a point to show the children the altar stone, when I gave a lesson on all the objects in the church and what the priest wears to Mass, etc.


About 15 years ago, our parish underwent needed structural repairs (in our case to make it MUCH more sound in event of an earthquake. Unfortunately, along with ANY renovation, comes the wreckovation gangstas from the diocese. Overall, we did pretty well in the processs, people literally rising up to tell Fr. Muckety-Muck (from the diocesan office) and his Protestant hired henchwoman "consultant" to take a flying leap off a short pier. However, not to make "too many waves" and get his head cut off, the then pastor felt compelled to install a newer altar, one of those square hunks of "blah." NO ALTAR STONE. The old altar was put in storage, AND eventually "restored" although not IN the church. Well, with this "Restoration" I notice the Altar Stone is GONE. I notice a new "top" to the altar. Is the stone buried under that new top? The present pastor isn't the sort you'd ask about that kind of thing. But DAMMIT, what happened to it?


Where did people get the idea that simply because you want to be able to understand the Mass instantaneously, and see what the priest is doing, then *obviously* you want Kumbaya second rate CRAP? When churches were being built left and right, and wreckovated NO ONE said: We want crappy wooden bowls, damn terry cloth hand towels instead of proper finger towels, get rid of patens, altar rails, and take out glorious sanctuary lamps, bells (some places don't have them at all), we want lame-ass songs, put in abstract art stations, etc.


How to remedy this?


First, kill all the hippies. Wait. No. Too extreme. And if you kill them you take the chance of not feeling sorry for the sin. So. Perhaps we can have a death watch on diocesan hippies? You know how it's kind of sad when the last survivor of a war passes, all that living history goes. Maybe we can make a map, and as each diocese's hippies are all gone, we can gradually color the diocese gold. Sort of like the Hoover Institute keeps a watch on how free societies are politically.


Honestly, I feel like taking a hostage until that stone is returned to its rightful place. ON THE ALTAR. IN CHURCH.
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