Thanks!

To the kind folks who wrote to me this week after my announcement. (You know who you are.) I am feeling a bit better, but I am just plain old tired.

Again, no blogging on the Fridays of Lent this year.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 02/17/05 08:49:35 PM
Categorized as Blog Stuff.

Fiat: Responding to God's Call

"From Candidacy to (God Willing) the Diocesan Priesthood".

Vide.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 02/17/05 08:46:05 PM
Categorized as Blogosphere Stuff.

"Mad How Disease"

A poem by Russ Vaughn.

I am quite late in blogging the latest from our favorite Screaming Eagle Poet — who is also the poet laureate of The American Thinker.

Mad How Disease

Words recently read have just so made my day,
Some whimsical wisdom from sage Austin Bay,
Who points out profoundly and slick as you please,
The Democrat Party has Mad How Disease.
The infection most certainly is iatrogenic,
From too many visits to Dr. Dean's clinic.
They should have been warned that they should be wary
Of getting too chummy with the Left's Typhoid Mary.

With such manifest symptoms, diagnosis is simple,
That boil on their butt is now more than a pimple.
Diagnosing the pathogen's really no chore:
Yellow streak down the back, an aversion to war.
Beginning mid-body there's a leftward progression,
Higher levels of bile and mounting aggression.
Some victims of Mad How go totally postal,
Especially those diagnosed as being bi-coastal.

A most telling trait is a Roquefort stench
And delirious devotion to anything French.
Older victims on campus seem sallow and pale
With that sure sign of Mad How, a grey pony-tail.
Repetitive chanting, waving x-rated banners,
Are significant symptoms, as are infantile manners.
Shouts of “Vietnam!” and “Quagmire!” as foul epithets,
Could lead one to conclude this a form of Tourettes.

So what's the prognosis for the Party's infection?
That depends what is in the mad doctor's injection.
If it's more toxic serums of weakness and fear,
The fate of the victims is fatally clear.
Despairingly cynical, brimming with hate,
They're likely to share the other dodo bird's fate,
An ignoble end to their political journey,
A sheet over the face and Rove pushing the gurney.

Russ Vaughn
2d Bn, 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam 65-66

See also these.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 02/17/05 08:40:26 PM
Categorized as Political.

Moonbat Central

Hunting the Radical Snark @ Discover the Network.

Vide.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 02/17/05 07:37:33 PM
Categorized as Blogosphere Stuff.

Discover the Network

The interlocking network of Leftists, that is.

Vide.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 02/17/05 07:22:44 PM
Categorized as WorldWideWeb Stuff.

MHL?

I keep hearing something about an MHL — is that right? — not having some sort of... season?

If anybody knows anything about that... well... never mind. Who cares?

P.S. Confer.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 02/17/05 07:09:53 PM
Categorized as Social/Cultural.

It All Started on Monday

The DC Examiner, a startup newspaper, publishes, yesterday, an e-mail by Susan Estrich, Feb. 14; a response by Michael Kinsley of LAT; and, another response by Charlotte Allen of IWF.

And here we are, reading it all today.

Would such a thing have been possible even five years ago?

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 02/17/05 06:59:26 PM
Categorized as Media.

"A Grief Observed"

No, not the book by C.S. Lewis.

Thanks to Eutychus Fell for his very kind mention of The Blog from the Core and ELCore.Net. And thanks to him for notice of this remarkable essay by Folke T. Olofsson, a pastor of the established (Lutheran) Church of Sweden, recounting the effective destruction of his church:

.... One Sunday in the Spring of 1960 some churchgoers after the service told me that this was a black day, a day of grievance for the Church of Sweden. I did not know why, and when they told me that three ladies were being ordained priests that Sunday, I simply did not understand the point. So what! I knew that some of my High Church friends were against the ordination of women and told me that is would a disaster for the Church. The reform was presented as one of church order and not one of doctrine, and its aim was, as it was said by its advocates, to reach out to people alienated from the church. Only later did I realize what had really happened at the Sunday. Gradually, I also realized that those who took their Christian faith most seriously were those who opposed the novelty. The flavour and scent which I had learnt to recognize was simply more detectable around and among these people. As a student still in the Gymnasium, I attended Bible studies, in which ordinary parish priests occasionally stated their reasons for being against the reform. If I remember correctly, they predicted that in the long run there would not only be ordained women, but this reform would lead to a different view of the Word of God and hence God´s revelation.

Now, they said, man was in command of the Bible, free to interpret it the way he, she or the spirit of the times wanted, and as a consequence of this, there would be a new understanding of the priesthood to begin with. They predicted that insolubility of marriage would wane with a new understanding of marriage and what it meant to be a man and a women, there would be a new way of looking at the Creation and the order given in it, a new way of understanding human sexuality, that same-sex relationships in the end would be accepted, and there would even be blessings of same-sex relationships, marriages, and as the crowning event: the understanding of God the Father would be replaced by God the Mother. It sounded like some dystopic theological science fiction. The priests, the names of whom I do not even remember, expressing these opinions were, of course, criticized by their more moderate colleagues: "You are surely painting the Devil on the wall!" In a retrospect of forty years, I cannot but admire the clearsightedness of these "pike-jawed faithpolicemen" - a common derogatory characterisation of these High Church or Traditionalist priests, routinely used by the man who was later to become the bishop, or as he rather preferred to call himself, Diocese director, of Stockholm. Ingemar Ström, who died recently. These priests, at that time there was quite a few of them, were with a saddening regularity chased through the columns of the local newspapers and tabloids, otherwise filled with tear-jerking accounts of how poor ordained women were being harassed by those reactionary, women hating, loveless dogmatic black-coats....

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 02/17/05 06:41:00 PM
Categorized as International & Religious.

The Sergeants' War

At the inestimable Dyspeptic Mutterings.

If you haven't read Dale Price's response to Rod Dreher... well, what are you waiting for? (These would be in Blogworthies, but I have an informal rule to exclude multi-part entries.)

• The Sergeants' War, Part I.
• The Sergeants' War, Part II.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 02/17/05 05:47:00 PM
Categorized as Religious.

Catholic Carnival XVII

At Living Catholicism this week. Your Humble, Faithful Blogster has an entry in this week's Carnival.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 02/17/05 05:31:04 PM
Categorized as Catholic Carnival & Religious.

Novena for Michael Schiavo

I gather that, without unforseen events, Terri Schindler Schiavo's death watch will begin on Feb. 22. Thanks to Margaret for sending this the other day.

The novena intention is as follows: "For a conversion of mind and heart in the soul of Michael Schiavo which leads ultimately to his eternal salvation, and which spares the life of his precious wife, Terri."

The novena begins February 15, 2005. February 22 would be the 9th and final day. However, Terri Schiavo could live as many a five or six days after removal of the tube. So start whenever you can and say the novena prayer as long as she remains alive.

The following prayer is suggested. But all are free to pray as the Holy Spirit moves them.

Always remember that the power of prayer accompanied by fasting, penance and acts of charity is greatly enhanced.

Oh Lord of eternal compassion and mercy, by the words your Son has taught us, “I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” (Mt 6:43) grant we beseech Thee to hear the prayers we offer in this novena for the conversion of Michael Schiavo. As in all things, may it be done according to Your Holy Will. Glory be....

Let Us Pray.

O, God, Lord of Life,
We bring before You, the life and soul of Michael Schiavo,
Whom You have redeemed by Your Precious Blood.
Mindful of Your boundless mercy, O Lord,
We beg You to grant Michael
The grace to know You and desire You with his whole heart
So that in this desiring, he may seek and find You
And in finding you, he may love You
And in loving You, he may lose the desire to end the life of
Your precious daughter, Theresa Marie.
We plead with You, O Lord,
To surround Theresa with Your constant protection
So that she and Michael,
Together with all the hosts of Angels and Saints,
May glorify Your Infinite Mercy for endless ages. Amen.

Our Father....
Hail Mary....
Glory be....

Amen.

P.S. Contrary to some reports, I am not the author of this novena.

[Follow-up: French Version of Novena for Michael Schiavo.]

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 02/17/05 08:00:51 AM
Categorized as Terri Schindler Schiavo.

"Stupid Does As Stupid Is"

Jeff Jacoby writes at The Boston Globe, Feb. 10:

.... Presidents come and go, but laments about the high price of higher education are eternal — and so are calls for ever more federal aid to mitigate it. For 60 years, the federal government has been shoveling money into programs meant to make college more affordable — yet a college degree today is more unaffordable than ever. Rarely has Washington so comprehensively worsened a problem it was determined to solve.

Beginning with the GI Bill in 1944, federal tuition aid has metastasized into a dizzying array of subsidies, most of which are now encompassed in the Higher Education Act. In addition to Pell Grants, there are Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity grants and Federal Work-Study jobs, as well as Perkins Loans, Family Education Loans, Direct Student Loans, and Stafford (or Guaranteed) Student Loans. In 2005, these will account for more than $73 billion in overall federal financial aid to college students.

Then there are the billions of dollars' worth of tuition credits and deductions written into the tax code — the Hope Tax Credit, the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit, the higher education expense deduction, the student loan interest deduction, and the tax-exempt Qualified Tuition Plans, known as "529s."

And the result of this energetic government campaign to hold down the cost of a college education? The cost of a college education is skyrocketing — and has been for years....

Colin McNickle takes it a step further, at the Tribune-Review, Feb. 14:

.... Social Security is the perfect example of true ignorance. Never mind that partially privatized accounts, coupled with even reduced existing program benefits, would exceed current Social Security benefits, it is blasphemous in many quarters to talk of restructuring this old-age safety net.

The unintended consequence? Seven decades of a lower savings rate. So what, the apologists for the Nanny State say; the difference is covered by Social Security. But for the private sector, that means there are fewer private investment dollars available "and the economy -- and wages -- grow more slowly than they would without Social Security," Mr. Norton rightly notes. Everyone is poorer for it.

And there are many other equally applicable contemporary situations. Here are just two:

- Wage floors. Whether it be called "the minimum wage" or a "living wage," the result is fewer entry-level jobs. The very people supposed to be helped by such laws are hurt; an entire class of people is denied that critical first rung on the employment ladder.

- Labor unions. Indeed, wages and working conditions for union members generally are high and better. But unions also have reduced the number of jobs available; by raising the price of labor, less of it is bought. Additionally, given that most organized labor representation is among those in government jobs, the cost to taxpayers is artificially inflated.

Both articles reference a new study on the effect of government tuition aid on the cost of education, which is announced here.

And Jacoby cites Peter Wood, who has been quoted here before.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 02/17/05 07:46:13 AM
Categorized as Educational & Political.

"9/11: Debunking The Myths"

Popular Mechanics looks at zany conspiracy theories about September Eleventh and sets the record straight.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 02/17/05 07:15:28 AM
Categorized as Social/Cultural.