October 2004 Archives

Happy Hallowe'en from the Mamas!

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Halloween.jpg

Be careful when you cross the street. Only go to the houses with porch lights on. Don't trip on your costume. And save all the Snickers bars for us!

OK, Listen Up!

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I've been looking at the search strings that turned us up lately:

Those of you looking for "Christian Porn" and "Incest in America"----

GO AWAY!

:-)

Oh, good grief

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Weblog: Episcopal Church Officially Promotes Idol Worship - Christianity Today Magazine

Can they get any weirder?

Any time, ANY TIME, you read about some liturgical thing called "the Women's" ANYTHING, run away. It's always a sign that something bizarre is going to follow.

From an email from an older friend:

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My friend sends me lots of joke emails. Most of them make the rounds so many times that you've actually seen most of the stuff a million times. But this "Gentle Thought" is something I ought to print out and tack onto my bulletin board so I can engrave it into my head:

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the
right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting
moment.

Go right now and read this:

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Who are the Angry White Men Now? over at one of my very favorite places: Independent Women's Forum.

The fact that they quote from Mark Steyn, a writer for whom I have long carried a torch (wink) is a big time bonus.

If'n you live in TX

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here is a link to the Texas Right to Life voter's guide.

gibson 4 prez

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did you catch mel's interview with diane sawyer on embryonic versus adult stem cell research? i love this man and i don't care who knows it.

diane sawyer: "is this a RELIGIOUS thing?"

smockmomma: "are you really such a dork?"

by jove, what's up wit dat?

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i don't realize how much common slang i use until i hear one of my children parrot me. it's a little wierd, funny, and sad to hear an eight year old boy who says, "that particular game is rather tedious -- what's up wit dat?" but he gets it from his verbally schizophrenic mother.

Book #43 of 2004 finished!

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A cotton candy confection of a book: Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes. Miss Sykes used to work at Vogue, so I assume she knows of what she writes. Blondes is a novel satirizing the young, hip, glamorous and RICH of New York City. Now THIS book I thought was funny (see how unfunny I thought The Nanny Diaries were, below).

If you are a guy, don't pick it up. If you're a girl and you want something about how those "other half" (the rich) live--and be assured of how shallow they are--then this is a quick read. It's a "beach book" for sure, and I'd give it 3 towels out of 5.

Book #42 of 2004 finished

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Finished this book a couple of nights ago. Interesting, and has given me a lot to think about. Basically it is the story of an MIT grad student and his new wife who go and live at the edge of a community (Amish/Mennonite strain) that uses virtually no modern technology. They stay for 18 months, experiencing life "off the grid."

It is fascinating, and there were several observations that even my relatively technologically saturated life bear out. The first one made me laugh out loud: The advent of dishwashers, those great labor savers, didn't do anything to reduce the pile of dishes on the kitchen counter. That is borne out as truth in MY house! Our dishwasher has been broken for the past 3 months, and we've been washing by hand. No more dishes are sitting around than there were before, when we simply argued about who would load them and who would unload. Go figure.

Anyway, the other observation was about time, and about how, without technological stimulation, it seemed to slow down. Now look, we have never gone without a lot of technology. But we did go for YEARS with no television on weeknights. I can vouch for the fact that nights with no tv seem longer (IN A GOOD WAY!) than those with tv. PapaC and I had discussed that, and could never put a finger on why that would be so. The act of reading, say, in a quiet house is a most satisfying experience. And hour of it is so satisfying (to me) that when it is over, you feel that it must be much later. To find out you still have another hour or so free is wiggle-your-toes-and-settle-further-back-into- the-pillows yummy. That has NEVER happened to me watching tv or videos. Then it is always "Wow! Where did the time go?" disconcerting.

I'm not rushing out to by a farm. But it does make you think about whether we are using the machines or they are conditioning us.

i received the following from a british friend of mine.

The Guardian, an extremist liberal newspaper in London recently printed a column calling for the assassination of President George Bush. Prior to that, the paper ran its "Clark County, Ohio" project in which it posted the names and addresses of 40,000 registered voters from Clark County, Ohio, on its website and urged readers to write the American voters and urge them to vote for John Kerry. You won't be surprised to know that most Clark County residents were offended to receive letters from socialists all over Europe insulting President Bush and urging them to vote for Democrats whom the Euro-socialists consider ideological siblings.

You will be interested to know that the news editor of this extreme liberal British paper was a media advisor to Bill Clinton in 1992, and served on the staff of hapless New York Mayor David Dinkins.

Read with interest. And, if you want to express your opinion to the "assassinate George Bush" columnist, his e-mail address is: charlie.brooker@zeppotron.com

I read the Guardian by internet every day just for laughs. Feel free to share brookers e-mail address. It would do him good to hear from a few indignant Americans.

UPDATE:

Monday October 25, 2004
from The Guardian

Corrections and Clarifications

The final sentence of a column in The Guide on Saturday caused offence to some readers. The Guardian associates itself with the following statement from the writer. "Charlie Brooker apologises for any offence caused by his comments relating to President Bush in his TV column, Screen Burn. The views expressed in this column are not those of the Guardian. Although flippant and tasteless, his closing comments were intended as an ironic joke, not as a call to action - an intention he believed regular readers of his humorous column would understand. He deplores violence of any kind."

uh huh. funny how liberals hate violence and yet they call for it, a la michael moore.

An odd thing...

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......happened last night, and it's not the first time it has happened. I'm beginning to think there is something wrong with me.

I picked up a copy of The Nanny Diaries at the library the other day. I don't know why--it was sitting with a display of books, and I remembered someone telling me she had loved the book. So I checked it out.

On the back of the book, there are snippets of reviews. Here are a couple of snips from them: "at times, impossibly funny" and "social satire that's as moving as it is funny" and "with a sophistication and wit that anyone can enjoy."

Hmmmm.

So, I have now finished the book. It was compelling to read. But there was NOTHING, not one thing, that I considered funny in the book AT ALL. It was all incredibly sad to me. The fact that I assumed that this was, in general, just a fictionalized version of what the young authors had experienced as nannies made it even more horrifying.

It reminded me of watching Muriel's Wedding, which is shelved in the comedy section of Hollywood video. It wasn't funny, either. Not that I thought it was a bad movie--I just didn't think it was a comedy.

And it reminded me of sitting in a theater watching Pulp Fiction. [Big ole MamaT warning on this one: If you haven't seen it, don't. You don't want those nasty images burned into your brain.] I have never felt more like an alien than when I was sitting in the theater surrounded by people who were LAUGHING when a guy's brains got blown out and sprayed around the inside of the car. Not funny. Not funny at all.

Look, maybe I'm humor-impaired. But I'm certainly losing touch with what passes as "modern humor."

Disgusting

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Maher: 'I'm spreading the anti-gospel'

Here's a sample:

Asked how what he does for a living is affected by his spiritual beliefs, Maher is ready with a provocative answer: "Well, I'm spreading the anti-gospel, aren't I?"

Like any polished preacher, his anti-gospel message, based on the premise that religion is "dangerous," can be summed up in three clear points.

"It wastes energy -- so much time and energy that could be spent on more important things, more-constructive things. It stops people from thinking. And it justifies insanity," he says, laughing. "Flying planes into buildings was a faith-based initiative. Other than that, I love it."

Reminds me of a line from the old Bugs Bunny cartoons: "What a maroon!"

Elisabeth Elliot speaks to my heart

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From my daily devotional:

There is no end to the spending, getting, having. We are insatiable consumers, dead set on competing, upgrading, showing off ("If you've got it, flaunt it"). We simply cannot bear to miss something others deem necessary. So the world ruins the peace and simplicity God would give us. Contentment with what He has chosen for us dissolves, along with godliness, while, instead of giving thanks, we lust and wail, teaching our children to lust and wail too.

Check out the lovely new Miss Lively!

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Come On, Get Lively

I just love new babies. And old babies. And toddlers. And kids. And teens. Oh, you know, just all of them!

still boycotting procter and gamble...

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yes, even the pampers, which ain't easy.

Last night...

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....Zteen, two of our friends, and I went to see:

TheMusicMan.jpg

at Theater Arlington. Zteen had never seen it before, and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time, followed by supper at a restaurant. We dragged ourselves home at 12:30 a.m. (which I know doesn't seem late to you night owls, but seemed extremely late to this morning person!).

We were talking about the show over supper, and decided that Robert Preston was THE Music Man, and that Matthew Broderick was a terrible imposter.

Such hummable songs. Here's one to think about, because I'm tired of worrying over politics and the dark age we're living in:

There were bells on the hill
But I never heard them ringing,
No, I never heard them at all
Till there was you.

There were birds in the sky
But I never saw them winging
No, I never saw them at all
Till there was you.

And there was music,
And there were wonderful roses,
They tell me,
In sweet fragrant meadows of dawn, and dew.

There was love all around
But I never heard it singing
No, I never heard it at all
Till there was you!

PapaC, I love you!

It's name that baby time....

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.... over at Two Sleepy Mommies!

Peony has already started. Go over and add your suggestions for the soon-arriving Mossboy!

confessions of a security mom

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i've been sitting on this one for awhile now, because i hold our beloved mr. luse in very high regard. if you're a regular dropper-in around here, you've read mr. luse's article entitled who are the innocent? by now, and may have even left a comment at his site. i wanted to leave a comment after i first read his article, but could never get the right words formed and i don't know if i can now, but if i'm going to expose a major brain fart, i'd rather do it on my own turf.

since i began trying to formulate a rational, logical, manly sort of theory about this ugly topic some anonymous commenter has in fact left comments that i might try to stand behind -- but i don't generally trust anonymous commentators. that said, let the stream of consciousness, if not conscience, begin.

war is hell and then some. i hate thinking about war. to put it mildly, it gets me down. mind you, i'm a product of the eighties. i remember the cold war, and not just vaguely. red dawn and the day after were very real to me. oh sure, they were only films, but i vividly remember being afraid of "the bomb." in fact, i was quite young when i first saw a documentary on the devastation of hiroshima and nagasaki. the images my young brain photocopied are in there forever. those bad boys aren't going anywhere. i have nightmares to this day of one little boy weeping pitiably as a nurse - damn her crisp white nurses outfit - tried to hold his skin on his charred arm. that poor baby stared right into the camera and scared the hell out of me. if that is what his arm looked like, i was terrified to imagine what was under the bandages on his head. all i could think of while i was watching it was how badly the tears must burn his raw little face.

i was only a kid myself and i wondered if the russians would do the same to us. i remember asking my mom what i should do if russia ever started bombing. her answer? run outside. but, mom, wouldn't i die? yes -- if you're lucky.

when my husband came home from the first gulf war he shared stories that would curl your toes. he was a "tagger and bagger" -- a vulgar euphemism that gets you through that kind of ugly job -- and has no illusions. and while I have been extremely blessed to be so very isolated from really ugly death, i don’t think i do either.

make no mistake, i have always loved my remote little ivory tower and i've always been quite cozy up here, thank you very much. but now i have children running through these gardens and i worry about the thorns below. i worry a lot.

i don’t like death. i don’t like war. i don’t like innocents dying any more than our dear mr. luse. even the enemy has mothers. i know that. i want peace. i don’t even like the death penalty. try as i might, i cannot be fully rational about this. is it because i am a woman? a mother? both? i get very emotional about the notion of death. especially painful death. for pete’s sake, i don’t even set rat traps because they seem so damn cruel.

and yet, if you come into my home, i will shoot you dead. if i can get to my gun, i will shoot a hole clean through your guts. and if i don’t have a deadly weapon, i will do my level best to become one myself. i will fight tooth and nail for my life and i will fight for the lives of my children and those whom i love and i will do it until one of us is dead. and if this mother can protect her children, why can not my country do the same?

no, i’m not going to grab a machine gun and mow down the neighbors to get to the intruder. but neither am i going to fling open wide my doors and say to the crack head passing by, hey you! i’m in here with my wee ones. we’re unarmed and passive. please don’t rape and murder us.

no, i boldly stake my security signs in my front and back yards: beware all who would do us harm.

well now

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KERRY SAID TO BE EXCOMMUNICATED
Los Angeles, Oct. 18 (CWNews.com) - A consultant to the Vatican has said Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has incurred the penalty of excommunication from the Catholic Church.

The consultant made his statement in a highly unusual letter to Marc Balestrieri, a Los Angeles canon lawyer who formally sued John Kerry in ecclesiastical court for heresy.

continue reading at ewtn news here.

Washington, DC, Oct. 19 (LifesiteNews.com/CWN) - The US Supreme Court has denied the request of three plaintiffs to hear their case against Planned Parenthood, in which the California women accuse the abortion provider of refusing to educate women about the link between abortion and breast cancer.

The original lawsuit was launched in August 2001 by Agnes Bernardo, Pamela Colip, and Sandra Duffy-Hawkins. The women wanted Planned Parenthood to begin providing women with accurate information about the evidence that abortion raises breast cancer risk; they were not suing for monetary damages.

The Supreme Court dismissed the case, upholding an earlier decision by the California Supreme Court, which ordered the women to pay legal fees in excess of $77,000.

the rest of this article may be read at ewtn news here.

voting records don't lie

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Dear Micki,

In a few days you will be voting, not only for the next President, but
also for your next Representative. Many will be voting for their next
U.S. Senator.

I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat. But I do recognize that
there are still differences between the two. I also recognize that,
regardless of what candidates of both parties say, when they get to
Washington their vote will fall along party lines about 98% of the
time.

Some politicians of both parties are notorious for saying one thing at
home and voting differently in Washington. In fact, both the Senate
and the House have ways to make it appear that the members voted the
way folks back home wanted them to vote without affecting the outcome.

That means that we should seriously take into consideration the party
affiliation of the candidate. Why? Because when they get to Washington
they are expected to vote the way the party leaders want them to vote,
regardless of how folks back home feel.

Here are differences between the parties on two issues we consider
extremely important. Again, members can be expected to vote along
party lines.

DEMOCRAT
Pro-abortion
Pro-homosexual marriage

REPUBLICAN
Pro-life
Pro-traditional marriage

I strongly urge you to give this issue serious consideration when you
vote. And by all means go vote.

Feel free to forward this letter to others.

Sincerely,

Don

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

Nice

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Gabriel Garcia Marquez:

Always say what you feel, and do what you think is good and right. If I knew that today would be the last time I’d see you, I would hug you tight and pray the Lord be the keeper of your soul. If I knew that this would be the last time you pass through this door, I’d embrace you, kiss you, and call you back for one more. If I knew that this would be the last time I would hear your voice, I’d take hold of each word to be able to hear it over and over again. If I knew this is the last time I see you, I’d tell you I love you, and would not just assume foolishly you know it already.

This is creepy.

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Science turns monkey into drones. Humans next.

I hope this is a joke. I fear it is not.

What can be done, will be done. Oh, we'll have really, really good reasons for it, you know. And it won't be US who are affected, you know. Just THEM, and they won't really know the difference. You know how THEY are.

Oh, dear. Oh, dear.

BBC NEWS | UK | Church wants gay bishop apology

It is time for the "continuing churches" to see that there is nothing to continue with in the US. Unity, unity, unity is all the talk. But there is no unity within the body, and, in fact, there cannot be any longer.

Bless their totally misguided hearts. Sometimes you have to either push out those who would change who you are or walk out on your own. No one wants to lose the (sometimes) beautiful buildings they have spent a lifetime paying for. But what does it do to gain a building and lose.......(you know the rest).

My heart breaks for the church home of my childhood. But it is inevitable without any real authority. And Canterbury just doesn't have it.

the stray spray

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what's up with that stray spray of water on my shower head? i hate that sucker, but i don't know what to do about it.
it's really frustrating to begin every single day feeling like my shower is out to get me, but i can't avoid it. and marc? well, he's no help. the stray spray doesn't seem to bother him...the one person who is most likely to defeat the blasted thing. of course, he's not five feet tall either. his eyes aren't in the exact line of fire, dabnabit.

vote with your buds

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life

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In my Elisabeth Elliot devotional today

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....there was a quote from George MacDonald:

"He is not terrified. One believing like him in the perfect Love and perfect Will of a Father of men, as the fact of facts, fears nothing. Fear is faithlessness.... A perfect faith would lift us absolutely above fear. It is in the cracks, crannies, and gulfy faults of our belief, the gaps that are not faith, that the snow of apprehension settles and the ice of unkindness forms."

Stolen shamelessly from Donna....

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....over at Quiet Life (link to the right): Tradition Day by Day: Home Page

This has readings from church writers for every day of the year. And not just the famous ones, either. Check it out. I've saved it to my favorite places.

.....while I was eating my oatmeal. It was in the new incarnation of Life that is appearing in our Friday newspaper. It is part of a letter written by "celebrated writer" (I don't know who he is) Tim O'Brien, who an older father, to his 16-month-old son, Timmy. The whole letter is touching, but especially this part:

More than that, I long for the day when you might also forgive me. I waited too long, Timmy. Until the late afternoon of June 20, 2003, I had defined myself, for better and for worse, by the novels and stories I had written. I had sought myself in sentences. I had loved myself only insofar as I loved a chapter or a scene or a scrap of dialogue. This is not to demean my life or my writing. I do hope you will someday read the books and stories; I hope you will find my ghost in those pages, my best self, the man I would wish to be for you. Call it pride, call it love, but I even dare to hope that you will commit a line or two to memory, for in the dream-space behind those vowels and consonants is the sound of your father's voice, the kid I once was, the man I now am, the old man I will soon become.

That said, I would trade every syllable of my life's work for an extra 5 or 10 years with you, whatever the going rate might be. A father's chief duty is not to instruct or to discipline. A father's chief duty is to be present. And I yearn to be with you forever, always present, even knowing it cannot and will not happen.

Now THAT is lovely.

tell me this isn't the cutest!

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Lilypie TTC Days

have an anniversary coming up? trying to conceive? new baby on the horizon? check out lilypie.com!

from my great aunt in florida

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I went to the store the other day. I was in there for only about five minutes. When I came out there was a city cop writing out a parking ticket.

I went up to him and said, "Come on, buddy, how about giving a senior citizen a break?"

He ignored me and continued writing the ticket.

I called him a name. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires.

So I called him a worse name. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first.

Then he started writing a third ticket.

This went on for about 20 minutes. The more I abused him the more tickets he wrote.

I didn't care. My car was parked around the corner and this one had a "Kerry-Edwards" bumper sticker on it.

I try to have a little fun each day now that I'm retired. It's important at our age.

I am so bummed....

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THIS is what I am supposed to be watching tonight: HOCKEY.

And I'm not.

Zteen and I may be the only people in the US who are totally bummed out by this, but we are in mourning.

TSO did it, so I have to, too!

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Name your THREE:

1. Pet Peeves: big media "news"casts, drink holders that won't actually hold a cup (the sole defect in my VW bug), and people who say "we can't legislate morality"

2. Favorite Sounds: PapaC coming in the front door, Zteen laughing at Jay Leno's headlines on Monday nights, McBaby yelling, "That's MY Terry" at everyone in the grocery store as we pass them

3. Biggest Fears: despair, hell, PapaC losing his job

4. Biggest Challenges: staying within my WW points (again); loving my neighbor AT ALL, much less as much as myself; really meaning that THY will be done thing

5. Favorite Department Stores: Target, Target, Target!!!!!!

6. Most Used Words: Well, I, Mine

7. Favorite Pizza Toppings: Pepperoni, sausage, hamburger (no green stuff on my pizza, thank you very much--if I wanted to eat healthy, I'd eat a salad)

8. Favorite Cartoon Characters: Pepe Lepew, Mike (from Monsters, Inc.), Roadrunner

9. Movies Recently Watched: (OK, this is embarrassing) Mean Girls, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, and some other teen-aged girl movie that I can't remember at the moment. It also had Lindsay Lohan in it.

10. Favorite Fruits & Vegetables: Apples, corn on the cob, bananas

from the AFA

Procter & Gamble actively seeks out individuals who practice the abnormal and destructive homosexual lifestyle to come to work for the company. It is the only group P&G seeks to employ based on their behavior. P&G recruits from this group because they practice the homosexual lifestyle.

The company is currently running a promotion on the homosexual website GAYWORK.COM seeking employees whose sole distinguishing characteristic is sex with same-sex partners. Click here to see the Gaywork.com listing.

In addition, P&G is a major sponsor of Out & Equal, an organization that bills itself as one that "offers LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgendered) diversity training to companies that want to delve deeper into the special workplace issues faced by LGBT employees." [emphasis mine]

What kind of diversity training are P&G employees forced to attend? Here is a note from a P&G employee recently sent to us. "I'm a P&G employee at their (city) plant. I had to go to the captive audience Diversity class. The movie on homosexuals was very offensive to Christians. It showed a man in a collar (Catholic priest?) saying 'there is nothing in the Bible which says that homosexuality is wrong.'"

Why would P&G actively recruit those who engage in homosexual sex and force employees to attend a class that presents those who oppose the homosexual lifestyle in a negative light? Because P&G is committed to promoting the homosexual agenda.

For more information on P&G's promotion of the homosexual agenda, click here.

American Family Association is asking individuals to:

(1) Boycott three products of P&G — Crest toothpaste, Tide detergent, and Pampers diapers. (Many are boycotting all their products, which we encourage. Click here for a complete list of P&G products or look on the back of the product.)

2) Call Chairman A.G. Lafley at 513-983-1100 and politely let him know that you are participating in the boycott and will ask others to do the same.

(3) Click here to register your support for the boycott.

Oh really?

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The memo, by ABC News' Mark Halperin to ABC News staff, notes that the "stakes are getting very high for the country and the campaigns" and states that the responsibilities of the news media have "become quite grave." Halperin then tells staff members of recent stories in the New York Times and Newsweek which claim that the current Bush attacks on Kerry "involve distortions and taking things out of context in a way that goes beyond what Kerry has done."

Halperin concedes that Kerry "distorts, takes out of context, and [makes] mistakes all the time," but justifies these actions by saying that Kerry's tactics are "not central to his efforts to win." In ABC's version of journalistic integrity, Halperin says that his organization has a "responsibility to hold both sides accountable to the public interest," but goes on to explain that this responsibility "doesn't mean we reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable."

From the newsletter GOPUSA--I'll do a little more research later, during McBaby's nap time, perhaps.

I'm doing some thinking...

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I'm stepping out on a limb, here, because I know that many St. Blog's folks probably read and enjoy the New Oxford Review. The magazine budget around here only stretches so far, and I enjoy First Things, Touchstone and crisis enough that there has never been a reason to drop one to pick up another. I have occasionally had the opportunity to read an issue of NOR here or there, courtesy of a friend who has a subscription and would toss me a back issue or two when she was in the midst of cleaning and organizing.

Before I go further, let me say that I have long seen their advertisements in National Review and have thought them funny, in a dark sort of way. Mama T is NOT without her dark side.

But I just finished looking at the September issue. Or as finished as I will ever be with it. It is the oddest feeling. While sharing many of the same basic beliefs as the writers in this publication (particularly the article about "When You Get a Letter from the Diocese"--sorry, McBaby's asleep in the other room, I can't get the magazine for the exact reference), I have never felt so, so, so....I don't know--slimey? soiled? something. The whole experience of reading it was just.......eeeeeuuuuuwwww.

Maybe it's a "girl thing." Maybe men, or better women than I, can read the magazine and react simply intellectually to the arguments. But I found it so very adolescent in its adamant conviction of its own righteousness and truthfulness. And I'm not a stranger to being adamant in the conviction of my own righteousness! I don't, however, think that those are my best moments--the ones I will be most proud of when I stand before Christ. But then maybe that's just me.

In praying the daily office lately, we have read through some of the OT prophets--who had harsh messages to give Israel. Unsugar-coated to the extreme. But it didn't seem like those OT prophets took any delight AT ALL in giving Israel the message. In fact, their response was almost the opposite. "Please, don't make me say this. I don't WANNA!"

Perhaps that is what seems missing to me in what I read in NOR. The sense of broken-heartedness over the message. "Oh, how I wish I didn't have to tell you this." It seemed, at least to this Mama, that any broken-heartedness had morphed into some sort of angry glee over pointing out the failures of others....

Anyway, it caught me by surprise. I truly didn't expect to have such a visceral reaction to a group of folks with whom I probably share more beliefs in common than not.

Then, last night as I was reading in bed, I came across something that seemed appropriate. It's from Fr. Groeschel's book A Still, Small Voice: A Practical Guide on Reported Revelations. I'll post it later, as morning prayer calls for me now.....

And an extra prolife link...

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since I was out of commission on Friday:

Life Matters!

This is the blog for CURE: Citizens United to Resist Euthanasia.

Read. Pray. Help however you can.

Today's pro-life link:

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GabProLogoImproved.gif

We just had two training sessions at our church for Project Gabriel. Here's a link to their web page. In fact, our parish will have a sign going up outside very soon to tell the world we want to help mothers and unborn babies.

so, what's your sign?

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NOTE: z
No smoking around the smock. Thankyou for your co-operation.

Username:
From Go-Quiz.com From Go-Quiz.com

a quiet thank you to the potentially volatile mrs. vonhuben.

i loathe the term generation x

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and counter anyone who ever clumps me in with *that* generation and tell the (usually) unsuspecting offender that i prefer to be referred to as "a child of the eighties" ... until now.

take a look back over the last, oh, 75 years and you get an idea of what each decade has contributed to the daily lives of countless Americans.

the 30s gave us xerography, teflon, and (lest mr. luse have to remind us) nylon.

the 40s afforded us penicillin, flouride and LP records. how cool is that?

the 50s introduced caridac surgery, DNA structure, the interstate highway system and the polio vaccine. thanks, guys! you've saved a lot of lives!

things started downhill, as you might have guessed, in the 60s which gave us the birth control pill, the feminine mistake -- oops! -- mystique, and "big box" discount stores. they also started food stamps, the motor vehicle air pollution and control act, and invented the granddaddy of what we today call the microwave oven. at least it wasn't all bad.

then came the 70s with hip-hop music, roe v. wade, and title IX. need i say more? okay, okay, to be fair, they began the personal computer revolution, without which i wouldn't have this here forum in which to vent my angst.

then, there is the 80s, my so-called decade. apparently all we've had to offer is MTV and prozac. ohhhkay.

and, of course, the 90s offered genetically modified food and cloning. uh-huh.

at the rate we're going, well, golly gee, i can't wait to see what the next decade brings. i'm betting dollars to doughnuts it'll be armageddon.

apparently a "liberal" old bitty bashed a poor little ol' lady bearing BUSH buper stickers in the badooby. it just goes to show you, even old democrats can be big old hypocrites.

the "compassionate party" my eye.


nods to papa-lu for the heads up.

Here's mine:

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The University of Blogging

Presents to
Mama T

An Honorary
Bachelor of
Self Portraiture

Majoring in
Whingeing
Signed
Dr. GoQuiz.com
®

Username:

Blogging Degree
From Go-Quiz.com

Oh, and by the way, in case you didn't know what "whingeing" meant (I didn't), here is the definition:

whinge: U.K. grumble peevishly: to complain annoyingly or continuously about something perceived as relatively unimportant ( informal )

Well, then, I'd say that's about right.

Today's pro-life tidbit:

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Comes from the Lifesite.org website. The original story was posted in May(before the Olympics), but I hadn't heard this:

UK Athlete Gives Up Olympic Hope for Unexpected Child

One of Britain's brightest Olympic hopes, the 400-metres hurdler Tasha Danvers-Smith, spoke of both her joy and devastation over an unplanned pregnancy that has dashed her chances of an Olympic medal at Athens.

The newly-married south London athlete, who now lives in Los Angeles, admitted she was so shocked that she even briefly considered an abortion, before deciding she could not terminate the pregnancy.

"I had high hopes. I thought I had a good chance of getting a medal, if not a gold one. So it was quite devastating for me to find out I was pregnant" she said. "But now I feel so happy," added the 26-year-old athlete, who married her American coach Darrell Smith, 33, in November.

Now 10 weeks pregnant Mrs Danvers-Smith, from Camberwell, South London, who was ranked sixth in the world last year, said all her hopes had been centred on the 2004 Olympics.

"I was in the shape of my life. I was more focused than ever before," she said. "Then things didn't feel quite right. I was feeling tired all the time, feeling flat for no reason." Pregnancy never occurred to her because her cycle seemed normal, she said, and she suffered no morning sickness. "I was still training for my life".

"The timing could not have been worse. If I had run at Athens it would have meant greater financial security, more recognition. There is nothing negative that can happen when you have a shot at an Olympic medal.

"I cannot lie, I considered an abortion. On the one hand you look at the situation and say, 'I can have a baby and incur more costs, more problems.' We don't even have a house yet, we are staying with Darrell's parents. And I am the major breadwinner.

"When my body is my business, then if my body is not functioning, there is no business.

"So the thought did cross our minds as an option. But this line from the Scriptures kept coming into my head: 'For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?'.

"For me, the whole wide world was the Olympics. At the same time, I felt I would be losing my soul. It just wouldn't fit well. It would be a forced decision. I would have had to have forced myself to do something I didn't want to do. Even though, as much as I would love to go the Olympics and everything, it would be something that wasn't going to make me happy at all.

"Even the thought of it depressed me. I cried thinking about it as I tried to convince myself this is what I should do, because it wasn't the right time, and we didn't have the finances. It just made me so upset.

"So then I knew. For me it was not going to be an option. And as soon as I decided that, I felt so happy. Even though I know it is going to be a struggle financially and that I am sacrificing my medal hopes."

Now that really is something!

smockquote de jour

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i overheard ann coulter on fox this morning:

oh please! like who watching girly senator edwards, with his girly voice and his girly little hands, really believes, yes! this man is going to protect me from terror.

preach it, sister.

so listen carefully the first time.

The University of Blogging

Presents to
the smock

An Honorary
Bachelor of
Survey Science

Majoring in
Gossip
Signed
Dr. GoQuiz.com
®

Username:

Blogging Degree
From Go-Quiz.com

with a nod to our sweet sleepy mommies

The slap in the face I needed:

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The Person Who Cannot Despair
Thomas Merton

Despair is the absolute extreme of self-love. It is reached when a person deliberately turns his back on all help from anyone else in order to taste the rotten luxury of knowing himself to be lost...Despair is the ultimate development of a pride so great and so stiff-necked that it selects the absolute misery of damnation rather than accept happiness from the hands of God and thereby acknowledge that He is above us and that we are not capable of fulfilling our destiny ourselves. But a person who is truly humble cannot despair, because in a humble person there is no longer any such thing as self-pity.

Thank you. I needed that.

Sometimes you just shake your head

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Walter E. Williams: Believe it or not

This is a link to a column by Walter Williams about Benedict College in Columbia, S.C.

In a student's freshman year, 60% of the final grade in any course is give for EFFORT, 40% for subject mastery. So, if you try really hard, but fail algebra, you can still get a C!

For sophomore year, the percentage changes to 50%/50%, and in junior and senior years, effort is not graded at all.

The professors are generally a'gin it--and good for them. (I didn't expect that.) But the thought that the president of the college could have ever thought it was a good idea? Remarkably dumb.

Look, I have a good friend who is a college professor. She says effort is what you use to give a hard-working student a bump from 89.3 to an A at the end of the semester. I can see that. But 60% of the grade? Not a chance.

Today's pro-life link

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Democrats for Life of Texas - Homepage

In the interest of trying to be as apolitical about the issue as possible, here is a link to the Democrats for Life of Texas page. These folks are fighting an uphill battle in their party. If'n you sympathize with them, go and check out their site.

Having been raised in a place and time when conservative Democrat was NOT an oxymoron, I can understand how people can feel like their party up and left 'em.

Woo Hoo!

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minntwins.jpg

Twins win, 2-0. THE HATED YANKEES LOSE!!!!!

(I know, I know, it's only one game. But a girl can dream, can't she? I DESPISE the Yankees.)

non sequitur

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what_the.jpg

wow! looky what i found at the planned parenthood website, where they point out the little tidbit that "October is Gay and Lesbian History Month. The fight for LGBT rights is one that began long ago, but still continues today — from King Henry VIII's passage of anti-sodomy laws in 1533, to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas last year that invalidated such laws. "

a. henry wasn't the first person to pass anti-sodomy laws in merry ol' england. that would have been God in nasty 'ol sodom.
b. who the devil decided to make october gay and lesbian history month? the fact that they chose RESPECT LIFE month is so overtly obvious and repulsive it makes me want to vomit.
c. there are a lot of lesbians getting abortions, are there?

visit papa's site

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did you know that the susan g. koman breast cancer foundation (you've heard of race for the cure?) supports planned barrenhood parenthood? did you know that the founder of the susan g. koman foundation, nancy brinker, is on the advisory board of texas planned parenthood?

when you consider the significant evidence linking abortion to breast cancer, wouldn't you agree that this is a disgusting breech of integrity?

eve sanchez silver, my new heroine, was a charter member of the susan g. komen foundation's national hispanic/latina advisory council. that is, until september 20, when she stepped down saying, "i don't believe that the komen foundation can uphold and support and affirm life with one hand, and then give money to an organization that is responsible for killing people on the other."

i emailed the foundation, which is located right here in my neck of the woods, detailing my utter dismay at the hypocrisy of the foundation. i received a reply from one cheryl l. perkins, m.d., rph, the senior clinical advisor to the foundation. she started her letter pleasantly enough, explaining the foundations desire to find a cure. well gosh, m'am who doesn't want to find a cure? there was a lot of poopy in the middle of this crap sandwich and then she ended her response thusly:

"we do not discriminate based on age, gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability or decisions people have made in their lives." [emphasis mine]

hmmm...i wonder what she is implying. what do you think?

i won't bore you with my entire reply, but here's a snippet:

...the fact that the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation allows any monies for any reasons to filter into Planned Parenthood is still unacceptable. And while there is still some controversy surrounding the facts concerning the link between abortion and breast cancer, there is simply too much at stake to compromise our ethics in this matter. The end absolutely does not justify the means.

...and most importantly...

Thankfully, there are other foundations that do not compromise on this issue. I look forward to the day when the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation publicly announces that they no longer associate with such a controversial institution as Planned Parenthood...


more discussion on this subject can be read at the catholic answers talk forums here.

On the nightstand now!

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bookstack.jpg

Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss. Funny, funny, funny!

Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith. The third of the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency books.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I'm loving this one so far, and I'm about 1/4 in.

Black Robe by Brian Moore. It's a future book club book, so it's in the on deck circle.

I was given a copy of Goodbye, Good Men, but that's the kind of book I have to wait to read until PapaC is back. Otherwise I tend to despair.

Books #34, 35 & 36 of 2004

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I have had to reshake my reading list, because PapaC is working out of town for 6 weeks. When he's gone, I don't let myself read anything too depressing, because it's hard for me to pull myself out of the funk without him! I need his even-handed presence to put it in perspective: "Right. Put that down, and let's watch football."

So, I've finished the following:

#34: The Miserable Mill: Book the Fourth by Lemony Snicket. More silliness and laughs in the series of "Unfortunate Events."

#35: Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith. The second book in the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series. I love these books. Precious Ramotswe is a lovely addition to the Miss Marple, Mrs. Pollifax genre of books. Less about the "mystery", more about the characters and Africa itself. I just read an interesting article from Christianity Today about the series. I'll find the link and post it later.

#36: The Happy Prince & Other Stories by Oscar Wilde. First, I didn't know he wrote any fairy tales. Second, I didn't know he had sons to write them for. Third, I didn't know how terribly SAD fairy tales could be. Love leads to the ultimate sacrifice--giving up one's life for the beloved. Many are overtly Christian in theme. I was surprised by them.

Oh, I hope this is true!

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CBS News | Fat Can Be - Stem Cell Source! | October 2, 2004 15:00:33

Wouldn't it just be GREAT if this panned out???? Imagine--we've got all the raw materials we would ever need!

Something worth looking into

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Pro Life Insurance Agency Life, Health, Dental, Travel Medical

They aim to give 25% of GROSS to pro-life causes.

A link to an anti-euthanasia group

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ndyresistance.gif

Gotta love that "in your face" name and graphic. Here's a link to their website. They have a store where you can support them by buying bumper stickers, etc. The most touching? The lapel pin with "T4 Never Again" on it. T4 was the name of the Nazis' plan to exterminate people with disabilities.

They have some important things to say about living with disabilities--and they speak from experience.

October is also Respect Life Month

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grandmababy.jpg

So, the Summas will also be posting Pro-life info all month!

To begin with, let's highlight again the case that is breaking all of our hearts:

Please contribute what you can. And if you absolutely can't spare any extra bucks, please make a commitment to prayer. And to a few emails or telephone calls if needed.

From one of my favorite women:

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.....courtesy of the Bruderhof's Daily Dig:

It Begins at Home
Mother Teresa of Calcutta


The world is upside down because there is so very little love in the home. We have no time for our children; we have no time for each other; and there is no time to enjoy each other. That is why there is so much suffering and so much unhappiness in the world today. Everybody seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for what is bigger and better and greater, and mothers and fathers often do not have time for each other, let alone their children. In the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world.

think pink

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pink_ribbon.gif

we all know how much the summa mamas love pink and we all know how big the smockmomma is on breasts...so join us as we "think pink" throughout the month of october -- breast cancer awareness month. we'll also be bringing you breast news and information.

killing wives

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is it just me or has anyone else noticed that an awful lot of blankety so-and-sos are killing off their wives? in utah; in california; in oklahoma; in florida -- oh yeah, and in florida. of course, one man in ohio had a really good reason -- his wife was really really fat.

I've plugged this before....

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.....but now they also have a set of lessons for ADULTS! This sounds like such a good idea, that I may check it out for myself: CatechismClass.com

Oh, I wish I'd written this!

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From Fr. Rob over at Thrown Back (link to the right):

Ellen Goodman is like a clown on fire: kind of funny, kind of sad.

Stealing a page from Donna....

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......over at Quiet Life (link to the right, and if you haven't been, go!), here is something from Elisabeth Elliot. I, too, have always loved Mrs. Elliot, and used to listen to her on Christian radio every morning. I liked what came in my Elisabeth Elliot devotional today:

When you take the risk of obedience, you find solid rock beneath you--and markers, evidence that someone has traveled this route before. "The Lord your God will cross over at your head... he will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not be discouraged or afraid" (Deuteronomy 30:19, 20; 31:3, 8, NEB).

"Risk of obedience." I love that. It's something that has always felt like a big risk, the ultimate leap of faith. To actually agree to "obey." Hey, we live in a culture that thinks that obedience is the stuff of mindless automatons. And for many, many years I bought into exactly the same cultural mindset. Most of the time without even realizing it!

But it remains true that every time I have stepped out in faith--to obey before fully understanding--I have always found the sure rock beneath my feet. When we came into the Church, we satisfied ourselves on a few big issues, and left the rest up as a matter of obedience and assent, trusting that we would find the rock when we had enough time to look. And it's there.

Thanks be to God, it's there.

Here's a little hymn I thought of when I read the devotional. You can sing it to lots of tunes (Adeste Fideles, Lyons, St. Denio). Go to Cyberhymnal to hear the tune if'n you don't remember it.

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

"Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

The soul that to Jesus hath fled for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake."

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