Pius XII - "The Deputy" and Rolf Hochhuth

...in a prior post Philip commented that Pope Pius XII saved many Jews. Which reminded me of a good article I ran across some time ago which picked apart the scurrilous lies told by Rolf Hochhuth in his play The Deputy. You can see the article from the Catholic League here.

A whole year for St. Paul?!

....ПОЧЕМУ? I only need a half hour or so with him. I just want to know:

1) Dude, did you have an older sister who used to regularly beat the snot out of you? It would explain so much.

2) How much did you charge per tent?

3) So what's the real story? Fell off the horse and hit your head? Or one of the other versions?

4) Did you secretly laugh yourself silly when the guy you told to go circumcise himself actually did? Were you nice enough to at least send him an ice pack?

Inquiring minds want to know.

H/T to Fr. Blake for the snazzy icon picture. (artist's conception)

Especially for St. Therese and Pope Pius XII fans

....right at the start of this clip is some footage from the visit of Pius XII to Lisieux and the basilica dedicated to St. Therese.





St. Therese (besides the Blessed Mother) is my favorite female saint....and Pope Pius XII is also a favorite of mine. I like him more and more the more I read his encyclicals.

Huzzah for the 2nd Amendment.

"WASHINGTON (AP) - Silent on central questions of gun control for two centuries, the Supreme Court found its voice Thursday in a decision affirming the right to have guns for self-defense in the home and addressing a constitutional riddle almost as old as the republic over what it means to say the people may keep and bear arms."

Full story here.

Thank you George W. Bush especially for Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito. I'd also like to thank Justice Kennedy for "finding his set", Justices Thomas for being consistent and Justice Scalia for booting it home for the winning team. As per usual, Breyer, Ginsburg, Stevens, and that total loser, Souter, proved out to be gun grabber wannabes.

Predictably, liberal pantywaists like Chicago's Richard Daley and DC Mayor are limp hand waving already. Count on FEWER deaths from gun crime in those cities next year. Ditto NYC.

Run, scumbags, run....you won't know who's packin' heat in the house. Your time is up.

RKBA links.

It's amazing how

right on the money this is....

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you. But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft. You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily. You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

Somehow when God Made Fred....

....I bet He turned to Mary and said: "Watch THIS one."

Mac Gave me Fodder

for a rant on gasoline ...

May as well put the rant here too. She said that "petrol" was selling for the equivalent of roughly $9.osomething a gallon. She asked how much we're paying.

Here was my response:

too freakin' much.

$4.42 a gallon today.

BTW, I don't know if you know or not but the US gallon is 4/5ths an Imperial gallon. I don't do litres and neither should you. ;-D Outside of class anyway.

My tank holds about 13 gallons and I'd gone 288 miles and a shade. It took about 12.12something or so to fill it up today. I have the car a little overloaded at the moment, but considering it's a small Honda SUV the milage was just under 24 MPG, which isn't bad.

I say next time we have a war with the camel jockeys we should just start a war for the hell of it, take all their damn oil and not apologize for it - then we can grab Ted Kennedy, and all those other bozo bunny hugging polar bear loving granola crunching sandal wearing bearded hippy tie dyed tshirt wearing tree climbing ****ers and get them in a group and take them all up to Point Barrow in Alaska, let them freeze to death, sharpen a point on their dead carcasses and use that as the drill head to start drilling in the Anwar. Had we started when we'd wanted to years ago, we'd be just about self sufficient. That goes for drilling off Fla and Ca. too as the heathen Chinamen and Cubans are doing with their slant drilling....then we ought to line up every politician that stood in the way, line em up against the wall, and rip the flesh off them.

Then after that we should get real mad.

We also need to build some new oil refineries, because those panty waists haven't approved a new one in 20 years even though we've had 20-25 millions of illegal aliens in plus our own natural population growth.

And if McCain doesn't take his head out of his backside and get religion real soon we can nail his crown jewels to the wall too.

H/T Mac (good cartoon too)

Music quiz

See if you can name the song the lyrics below come from and the title of the musical theatre show the song came from. My dear friend Stephen F. will get all these in a heartbeat, so he's not allowed to play in the combox on this one -- except to answer (if he sees it) the "Expert" question. :-D He's allowed to kibbitz though.

Put the # and song title and/or show to any you know in the combox. It should be a collaborative effort. Let me know if they were too easy or too hard.

Easy:
1. Christ you know I love you. Did you see I waved? I believe in you and God, so tell me that I'm saved.

2. At three I started Hebrew School, at ten I learned a trade.

3. And underneath her wimple she has curlers in her hair.

4. to see Thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly, follow Thee more nearly

Intermediate
5 Then it's off with the rum and the bibles. Take on the slaves, clink, clink.

6 Went to church, praying Santa Maria, send me guidance, send me guidance, pretty please .

7 Friends! The idle brain is the devil's playground.

8 When you go to get a word of advice from the fat little pastor he will tell you to love ever more .

Advanced:

9 ...but she was granted one more start, the convent of the Sacred Heart ...

10. - goodbye go and cry at another person's wake, if you're quick, for a kick, you can pick up a christening...

11. The devil's companions know not whom they serve - it might be instructive to observe

12. May I take this occasion to say: that the whole human race should go down on its knees, surely be grateful for mornings like these

Expert: (not a lyric, but a line from the libretto)
Where'd you play? The Vatican?

Cows with Guns

There's a lesson in this one somewhere ....






(Christine, who knew?!)

Song Dedication

...for a lovely subset of guys who recently commented on a sartorial issue on a certain prominent blogger's cassock/surplice item. Not ALL the guys, mind - just the ones who can never manage to refrain from sounding queenier than the queen. On such topics they never disappoint in not sinking to misogyny. [Hey, a litotis!] Male Broadway costume designers don't get as bitchy. If a blog IS listed on my sidebar, it's *not* that one.

This one's for you, fellas. ♫

A belated Tony Award to you in your very own category. Feel free to chat amongst yourselves, I have to go down to Frye's Electronics to see if I can find a replacement needle for my gaydar meter which had jumped off the scale with such force it became dented.

update: found a FRU needle right next to the FRU mouse balls, how apt

Not to be a pedant but....

...in looking at all the blog postings re: the Pont-
ifical Mass done this past Saturday at Westminster Cathedral in London....wasn't there supposed to be a 7th candle on the altar? At least according to the article in the Catholic Encyclopedia there should have been. I don't know if they let the cardinal off without the buskins either, but inquiring minds wanna know. Perhaps the Cathedral was simply fresh outta big candlesticks or they "forgot" and hoped no one would notice.

H/T to Fr. Tim Finigan because I swiped his photo and altered it just a bit.

By hook or by crook

...funny the things you recall. The U.S. Golf Open this year is being played at Torrey Pines in San Diego. It's a beautiful course just north of the campus of UCSD. It's a public course, and San Diego is a golfer's paradise.

35 years ago this spring I was taking the honors course in US history from the legendary Father Earl LaRiviere (aka Fr. LaRiv) at University High. We'd all been paired up and given a class assignment to do one project on San Diego - something for which there were no source books. Two classmates, Dan C. and Peter H. were links rats ... always playing a round of golf somewhere. So naturally, they decided to do their report on "A history of San Diego Golf Courses."

Fortunately for them, Fr. LaRiv (a Jesuit who brooked no nonsense) was recovering from back surgery at the time Dan gave the oral report. Brother James was substituting for Fr. LaRiv and Dan was less than verbose. So brother started quizzing him.

Bro. James: What's your favorite course?
Dan: Torrey Pines
Bro. James: What are the green fees?
Dan: No idea, we just sneak on about the third hole or so.

Brother was speechless. I'd love to know what Fr. LaRiv would have said. I can guarantee he wouldn't have been speechless! I *think* Dan and Peter should be safe, the statute of limitations having worn off by now. Incidentally, Phil Mickelson attended the same high school some years later. The golf coach must have had the dream team that year!

Happy Father's Day

...to all fathers out there. Especially "our fathers in faith."

Happy Flag Day

This picture was taken in the fall of '64 of me and one of my cousins who bears the name Michael. (Ben if you're reading this, we're standing right about where Uncle Rowland and Aunt Mary's "new" addition was built a couple years later.)

Flag Day is one of those nice little holidays it's good to remember and be thankful for. No shortage of patriotism in my family while growing up. In fact, my blog name is taken from the song "Oh, Columbia" which you can hear here. A little more staid than I like it rendered, but fun all the same.

The first verse goes like this:

"O Columbia! the gem of the ocean,

The home of the brave and the free,

The shrine of each patriot's devotion,

A world offers homage to thee;

Thy mandates make heroes assemble,

When Liberty's form stands in view;

Thy banners make tyranny tremble,

When borne by the red, white, and blue,

When borne by the red, white, and blue,

When borne by the red, white, and blue,

Thy banners make tyranny tremble,

When borne by the red, white and blue."

Digi, this one's for you....

...I have SO had it with those scum sucking ba$tard$ on the $upreme Court. Ginsberg and Kennedy and the other 3 clowns who decided terrorists at war with us are to have vomit carrying ACLU babysitters represent them in court instead of a military tribunal. If ever there is another revolution it will start with getting rid of those five clowns. If the military code of justice was good enough for those guys from Nazi Germany who were landed via sub to do terrorists acts of war on our soil in WWII, it ought to be good enough for the Mohammedans. My first thought was what the grandfather in Moscow on the Hudson had to say re: a further revolution. [3rd scene.]



(Yes, I know it's not translated with subtitles. Suffice to say the grandfather is rather colorful about where the gonads of the "leaders" will be after the next revolution.)

Barf-o-Rama ...Dance Travesty

If you've been sick but can't get the vomit up, stop by and see Kit at By-the-Brook's Liturgical Hokey-Pokey post.



See how far you can make it before you want to put a knife or a bullet hole or a cricket bat through your computer screen. [I made it to 18 seconds and lost it when the priest started skipping around the altar that had the monstrance WITH the Host in it.]

Do not miss Mac's Grand Tour

Mulier Fortis: "Open Day" With A Twist...

Who knew you could tour a crematorium? In the Time Share industry after such a tour they'd leave you with some parting gifts. It occurred to me ... what would you give?

Toaster?
Microwave?
George Forman Grill?
Potting Soil?
Others?
Bueller? Bueller?

"Partner ads"


H/T Mulier Fortis

No duh, Sherlock

What's Your Political Philosophy? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Socially Conservative Republican Social conservatives share a belief in traditional morality and social mores and the desire to preserve these in present day society, often through civil law or regulation. The government should use its influence in the public square to support traditional family values. Socially Conservative Republican 100% Pro Business Republican 100% Foreign Policy Hawk 90% Libertarian 70% Old School Democrat 60% New Democrat 45% Green 35%

H/T St. Monica's Kneeler

Don't Miss

Digihairshirt's wonderful tribute to her dad. Surely the 6th of June was one of his finest hours.

1st Things Meme

Esther tagged me on this one. I'm going to cheat a little and count "today" as Thursday rather than Friday (which it technically is in my time zone) --- because if I took it literally, I didn't get zip done in the 8 minutes or so it's been Friday here ... as I still haven't gone to bed yet, but was just about to turn in.

Just write down what you did first today…

* The first thing I thought today: “God, is it 4:10 already?” [I drove a friend to the airport this morning and we left at 4:45 ... at least the actual drive was only about 10 minutes, because she lives pretty close to the airport. It wasn't quite daylight in the swamp when we left, but it was by the time I stopped for "breakfast."]
* The first thing I ate today: Three doughnuts. The shop was on the way back from the airport, and since I was up so early and "virtuous" I was entitled. For the record: one glazed, one custard filled topped with chocolate icing, and a strawberry cruller. PLUS Anything eaten before 6 a.m. has NO calories. See my last year's calorie helper post for more diet tips.
* The first thing I drank today: Hanson's diet ginger ale. As God is my witness it is almost a dead ringer for Idris Ginger Beer.
* The first thing I said today: "Oh #$%!"
* The first action I did today: Ignored the time for 10 minutes before I rolled out of bed to put my contacts in.
* The first thing I read today: A little of Mike Meyers CompTIA A+ Certification Guide...just as I crawled back into bed about 5:30 and went back to sleep.
* The first item of clothing: Shorts (undies were already on)
* The first person I spoke to today: My friend Mary "why the hell is your flight so early?" Actually, I don't remember the first thing I said. It was probably a grunt. [;-P]
* The first chore I did today: Washed dish after lunch.
* The first blog I visited today: Mine! I gotta see if anyone commented. Then Fr. Blake's. I wanted see if he'd been tapped for bishop or something.

I tag anyone who wants to play.

(Maybe it's just me, but the tail section of Alaska Airline's planes always make me wonder if they used Charles Manson for the model....)

Bobby Kennedy - 40 years on

40 years ago, in the wee hours of July 5th, 1968, Bobby Kennedy was assassi-
nated, after he'd won the California primary.

In retrospect, it was one of the first acts of Arab terrorism in the US. Bobby supported the state of Israel, and his assassin was a prototypical radical. There are a handful of events in my life where I can remember exactly where I was and what the day was like when I heard "the news."

This is one I remember like it was yesterday. I can even remember the detail that the young busboy had put his own rosary in RFK's right hand. (Barely discernible here.) How many busboy's today would carry such a thing?

RIP, Bobby.

You got it, Mohammed

Yeah, it would make my day too:

" GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the reputed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, told a military judge at his arraignment Thursday that he welcomes the death penalty as a way to martyrdom and ridiculed the proceedings as an "inquisition." See here for the full story.

Too bad it will probably go down as a lethal injection instead of a firing squad, assuming you get your wish. But in the end, I don't care how they do it, just do it. I wouldn't count on 72 virgins where you're going, sport. I'd give you pig for your last meal too. Bacon, if I was going to fry you. Get 'er done.

[Don't even bother trying to talk me out of holding out for the death penalty in some cases, Cardinal Dulles and I are tight on this one.]

10 people 10 minutes

Angela tagged everyone on her blogroll for this one:

10 People You'd Like to Spend 10 Minutes With:
[I had a hard time picking just 10, so I picked 10 people concerned with faith, etc.
and then I picked 10 of the secular sort.]

(in no order)

1. Jesus
2. Mary
3. St. Joseph
4. St. Therese of Lisieux
5. St. Thomas More
6. St. Tarcisius
7. St. Jerome
8. Pius XII
9. St. Peter
10. St. Paraskevia

Secular:

1. William F. Buckley, Jr.
2. Whitaker Chambers
3. Ann Coulter
4. Queen Elizabeth II
5. George Washington
6. Ronaldus Magnus
7, Evelyn Waugh
8. Will Shakespeare
9. Samuel Pepys
10. Winston Churchill

And I tag anyone who wants to do it, but if you do let me know in the combox. And if you don't have a blog but want to play you can use my combox.

No wonder HM has so many doggies

.
She goes out for a ride with two...


And comes back from the ride with three....



(My all time favorite movie gaffe.)

Do I get any time off purgatory....

...for not swatting a deacon upsidethehead when after the ablutions (not thoroughly done properly) he puts together the chalice and its accoutrements in the wrong order? Chalice on bottom then pall then paten then corporal then purificator on top? [And he never does it the same way twice, and not once has he gotten it right by accident.] Did this guy never serve as an altar boy? Do they not give rubrics classes in this diocese? Does he not take note of how it's handed to him?

"Dude, it's not rocket science. Pay attention."