Call to Action for Australians

Louise at Purcell's Chicken Voluntary raises a clarion call to Australian politicians about the dangers of the RU486 abortion pill for women ... and gets politely fobbed off. If you're Australian this is the perfect time to join Louise in asking these politicians to look closer at the scientific evidence before making this dangerous drug available.

A Shallow Look at an Intriguing Future

DOWN AND OUT IN THE MAGIC KINGDOM by Cory Doctorow

Doctorow's got an interesting idea of where we are headed in the Bitchun Society ... backed up memories that can be dumped into newly cloned bodies so death is gone, money has been replaced by Whuffie which is based on how much others like you, and a Disney World where you can live full time. It makes an intriguing idea of the future but ultimately this fast pace, quick read comes to no conclusions about what all this technology does for the human condition. It has about as much depth as one of the rides at Disney World that is being fought over for much of the book.

HC grade: 2 out of 4 bookmarks.

This is #11 of books read in 2006.

So True

The Movie Of Your Life Is An Indie Flick

You do things your own way - and it's made for colorful times. Your life hasn't turned out how anyone expected, thank goodness! Your best movie matches: Clerks, Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

Via Psyguy.

The 24 DVD is Here! Woohoo!

At last! Thanks Julie O ... what a pal!

Now we can finally get started on that thing we really don't need ... another television show. But how can we resist? Because as we all know, Jack is the man!

UPDATE
Just finished a marathon session of the first four hours. I only have two things to say.

I know President Palmer. I would have voted for President Palmer. President Logan is no President Palmer. What a wuss!

And ... when Jack gets shot he must bleed in red, white, and blue. What a guy!

Bring It.

You Are a Warrior Soul

You're a strong person and sometimes seen as intimidating. You don't give up. You're committed and brave. Truly adventuresome, you are not afraid of going to battle. Extremely protective of loved ones, you root for the underdog. You are picky about details and rigorous in your methods. You also value honesty and fairness a great deal. You can be outspoken, intimidating, headstrong, and demanding. You're a hardliner who demands the best from themselves and others. Souls you are most compatible with: Old Soul and Peacemaker Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Via Catholic Fire.

"Dude, is my face OK ? I think you melted it off."

Dewey Finn: God of Rock, thank you for this chance to kick ass. We are your humble servants. Please give us the power to blow people's minds with our high voltage rock. In your name we pray, amen.

Two stages with face melting rock and gut busting drum solos, a lounge with acoustic music ... something for everyone in the youth group when we went to The Door. Fashion tip ... if you want to blend, wear black.

Rose, who usually isn't interested in anything to do with a youth group, was along for this trip. We started in the acoustic lounge but when the other bands started up you could hear high voltage rock coming from outside. She said, "Every time the door opens it sound like two dogs fighting. I'm gonna like it." She was serious. And she was right, she did like it. They all did.

For my part, I had a really great time watching the kids. I have never seen so much black clothing and swatches of dyed and spiked hair in my life ... but they were all having a great time, in their disaffected way. My favorite band was the most original ... ska with a horn section (way to make all that band practice pay off, guys). Kind of a Green Day meets a marching band thing going on and it all wound up having a touch of Caribbean flavor.

It's a great idea and I salute the guy who made this happen. Every kid who went really liked it and the club was very discreetly run in a safe way. Every room had several people who were keeping an eye on things. When one band forgot where they were and let a bad word slip, they got a definite Look from Management which led to an immediate apology, "Woah, uhhh, sorry man..." Same thing for talking about a cigarette break. A Look was given. "Not that we'd smoke man. That is definitely uncool," stammered the unfortunate culprit.

I'd have no qualms about dropping Rose and a group of trustworthy friends off for an evening and picking them up later. It was worth a little face melting to find such a great place.

Doing the Texas Two-Step All Over St. Blog's

Erik compared the map of Texas to an oddly-cut Porterhouse steak, on a certain well-known Texan blog, and when Mama T didn't speak up ... he turned up the heat.

So she's making sure he gets the grand tour: Bob Wills, Greater Tuna, rattlesnakes, the Alamo (let us remove our hats and bow our heads for a moment of silence in tribute to those great Texas heroes), a real live Watermelon Thump, and barbecue. Sure makes a gal proud to be a Texan (even if an adopted one like me).

I'm not sure but I think I hear faint cries of "uncle" wafting on the breeze from California...

Word From Rome on the Encyclical

John Allen weighs in on Deus Caritas Est. After summing up the encyclical, he talks about what it tells us about Benedict XVI.

First, he will not, as some feared, lead the Catholic church to collapse in on itself and become preoccupied with its own internal business. One can hardly imagine a theme of more universal human concern than love.

Second, while he possesses vast erudition (in the first 20 pages of Deus Caritas Est, he manages to cite Nietzsche, Descartes, and Plato), Benedict expresses himself as a pastor. He treats a core theme of Christian faith, and for the most part uses terms that don't require a license in systematic theology to grasp. While history will remember John Paul II as a great evangelist, Benedict XVI may go down as the most classic example of a "teaching pope" in modern times.

Third, for all the talk about Benedict as an Augustinian pessimist, he actually believes there are still people in the world who can be influenced by unadorned argument, shorn of theatricality or grand symbolism. In its own way, it's a remarkably optimistic stance.

Fourth, Benedict grasps the old bit of wisdom about governing the Catholic church expressed by John XXIII, who once said, "I have to be pope both of those with their foot on the gas, and those with their foot on the brake." Deus Caritas Est reflects an obvious concern for balance. He warns Catholic charitable groups they must not forget about Christ, yet understands there are times when this faith must go unspoken, so charity workers don't give the appearance of "proselytism"; he stresses the "vertical dimension" of prayer and worship, yet also writes that "a Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented."

Finally, the encyclical shows that Benedict's determination not to impose his personality upon the papacy will sometimes mean we don't get what some consider the "real" Ratzinger. One senior Vatican official, for example, told me that he felt Deus Caritas Est could have been a courageous encyclical on sexual morality, but the pope's collegial willingness to pick up the threads of a pre-existing document on charity prevented that. The reaction is analogous to frustrations that the pope is not moving fast enough to "shake up" the Curia, to reverse "business-as-usual" in the appointment of bishops, or to bring dissenting forces into line. For good or ill, his approach seems to be patient, gradual, and articulated in a "still, small voice" rather than bellowed from the rooftops.

For example, prior to the release of Deus Caritas Est, Benedict submitted his text to examination by Vatican doctrinal consultors, an act of humility that even Archbishop William Levada, the pope's successor at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, admitted Jan. 25 that he found "a little bit surprising."

In an age when public figures normally distinguish themselves by shouting and showboating, it is a fascinating management style to watch.

And on the copyright issue.

... the most one can say is that from the very beginning, there have been two impulses in the church that often rest in uneasy tension. The first is the evangelical desire to give without asking anything in return, since that's the nature of grace; the second is the institutional reality that churches too have to pay the light bill. This appears to be one of those cases where the right balance is tough to strike.

Obviously, these are excerpts. The Word From Rome is always a good read and especially so this week. Check it out.

On the "Other Side"

From my inbox. Thanks Cyndie!

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side."

Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know."

"You don't know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?"

The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing... I know my Master is there and that is enough."

Meanwhile, in the Rest of the Blogosphere...

While most Catholic bloggers are snuggling up to the Pope's encyclical, there is a big, wide world of blogging that cares little for such things.

The 2006 Bloggies weblog award nominees have been announced.

I'm familiar with Chocolate and Zucchini, Cooking Diva, Waiter Rant (notice any food-related trend here?) and a few others among the nominees. Awards nominations are a great way to check out some of the best among those other blogs out there, so swing by. Oh, and if you vote for Waiter Rant in the Best American Weblog category, it wouldn't hurt a bit. (my favorite among all those I've seen nominated)

A Delightful Book of Essays

PEOPLE I HAVE LOVED, KNOWN OR ADMIRED by Leo Rosten

I have posted a few excerpts from this book but they in no way are truly representative of the wide range of people that Leo Rosten wrote about. From dime-a-dance girls to I AM worshippers ("Arcturus, we greet thee!"), Groucho Marx to Leonardo, there is no end to the sorts of interesting personalities which fascinated Rosten enough to chronicle.

My personal favorites were both soldiers. Private Coby Clay could not be coerced to make his bed while in the Army because that was something that wasn't fitting for a grown man to do. Your mother should do it for you was his reasoning. Harry Miller's story is told first from the point of view of a small Japanese boy, encountering for the first time an American "warrior" for the first time. The soldier encouraged him to perfect his English and go to America, which became a goal that changed the boy's life. When Miller is tracked down by Rosten for his point of view it is simple and touching and quite perfectly American.

Much thanks to The Anchoress for recommending this.

This is #10 of books read in 2006.

UPDATE
The author of SC&A was kind enough to send me this link to wonderful article about Leo Rosten. Well worth reading, I am including this snippet because it tickles me.

Although it was also Rosten’s habit to ignore reviews, he was so touched by [Evelyn] Waugh’s interest in a work so foreign to everything that Waugh himself had written, that he wrote to thank him and invite Waugh and his wife to have tea with the Rostens in the flat they had taken temporarily in London. “I got back a postcard,” Rosten recently told this reporter. “The postcard read: ’From E.W. to L.R.: Alas, impossible. E.W.”’ I thought for a long time how one should answer so economical a communication. What I finally sent back to the man I consider one of the greatest writers of our time read like this: ’From L. R. to E. W. Quite. L. R.”’

The Anchoress on Confession

Finally, finding myself in an unfamiliar church during Confession hour I said, “this is it…” I poured it all out to a wonderful friar who listened intently and understood. He spoke consolingly for a few minutes, no big harangue (I know there are bad confessors out there, and shame on them, but I have always been blessed with good priests) and then he said, “Let this be an end…” It was precisely what I needed to hear.

We are body, mind and spirit. Confession - like other Catholic and Orthodox practices - serves not just the soul but the mind, and yes, even the body. Sometimes you need to physically hear it all - the sin, the consolation, the prayer, the absolution. I wonder, sometimes, if the “victim mentality” we have seen grow over the last few decades, and the dependence upon therapists haven’t grown so large, so quickly, simply because so few take understand or take advantage of the release and freedom that comes from the Sacrament of Confession, and the grace the sacrament provides in helping to avoid those sins in the future.

She's always good but this is brilliant. Go and read it all.

We Interrupt This Blog to Announce...

Quite a lot of troll activity sighted in the Happy Catholic vicinity this morning. Droppings are everywhere and I hope you haven't accidentally stepped in any before I got the place tidied up.

Thanks for your patience.

At Last ...

"The new phone book's here!"

Ummmm, I mean Pope Benedict's new encyclical is here. Print out, sit back and enjoy. As noted everywhere in St. Blog's parish.

If Only Everyone Were As Wise

It is a pleasure for me to salute [this] benefactor of our inhuman race:

J. Irwin Miller, chairman of the board of Cummins Engine Company, whom I watched in a television "talk" show as he patiently tried to explain his views to three condescending panelists, indubitable highbrows, who insisted on demolishing points Mr. Miller had not made, and persisted in ridiculing policies Mr. Miller had never propounded.

When he saw that he could not persuade the deep thinkers to desist from their eloquent irrelevances, the deadpan businessman finally cleared his throat and sighed, with exemplary kindness: "In my house, we all try to follow a rule I have once suggested to my children. The rule goes like this: "You can disagree with a man's position as much as you want -- after you have been able to state it, to his satisfaction."

I consider this dictum, which belongs in all anthologies of great quotations, the best statement ever made about the basic rule men of reason ought to follow during an argument...

People I have loved, known, or admired by Leo Rosten

I concur.

If Jack Bauer was gay, his name would be Chuck Norris.

Forget the Chuck Norris list, y'all. Jack Bauer rocks harder. But we knew that already, didn't we?

I couldn't pick a few favorites. I loved them all so have reprinted the entire list below from this comments box. Much thanks to The Anchoress for pointing me to this list. She totally rules ... the cloister, that is.

Some random facts about Jack Bauer:

1. If you wake up in the morning, it's because Jack Bauer spared your life.
2. If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.
3. Upon hearing that he was played by Kiefer Sutherland, Jack Bauer killed Sutherland. Jack Bauer gets played by no man.
4. Jack Bauer's favorite color is severe terror alert red. His second favorite color is violet, but just because it sounds like violent.
5. Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
6. Jack Bauer got Hellen Keller to talk.
7. Jack Bauer killed 93 people in just 4 days time. Wait, that is a real fact.
8. Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.
9. 1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight.
10. Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.
11. Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
12. Let's get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.
13. When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jack Bauer jumps out.
14. If Jack says "I just want to talk to him/her" and that him/her is you -- well amigo, you're f****d.
15. Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.
16. When life gave Jack Bauer lemons, he used them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer f*****g hates lemonade.
17. In grade school, a little boy punched Kimberly Bauer, and Kimberly ran home to tell her dad. That little boy's name? Stephen Hawking.
18. Jack Bauer does not sleep. The only rest he needs is what he gets when he's knocked out or temporarily killed.
19. No man has ever used the phrase, "Jack Bauer is a p***y" in a sentence and lived to tel-
20. In kindergarten, Jack Bauer killed a terrorist for Show and Tell.
21. Jack Bauer literally died for his country, and lived to tell about it.
22. As a child, Jack Bauer's first words were "There's no time!"
23. Jack Bauer's family threw him a surprise birthday party when he was a child. Once.
24. If you are still conscious, it is because Jack Bauer doesn"t want to carry you.
25. If you get 7 stars on your wanted level on Grand Theft Auto, Jack Bauer comes after you. You don't want to get 7 stars.
26. Guns don't kill people, Jack Bauer kills people.
27. Everytime Jack Bauer yells "NOW!" at the end of a sentence, a terrorist dies.
28. Jesus died and rose from the dead in 3 days. It took Jack Bauer less than an hour. And he's done it twice.
29. If you send someone to kill Jack Bauer, the only thing you accomplish is supplying him a fresh set of weapons to kill you with.
30. Jack Bauer could get off the Lost island in 24 hours.
31. If Jack Bauer was gay, his name would be Chuck Norris.
32. After arguing over what was the better show, 24 or Walker Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris went to attack Jack Bauer with his trademark roundhouse kick. Jack Bauer caught it.

UPDATE
Disputations throws down over Jack's coolness.

For this to work first you have to have a hero that anyone has heard of lately for this to work, so I think he may be at a slight disadvantage. Now, if we are going for old-timey heroes that never are outdated I'll take The Avengers.

But let's not fool ourselves ... Jack's the man.

FURTHER UPDATE
More Jack Bauer Facts. Thanks Buckley!

It's a Guy Thing

Hannah has been watching the second season of 24 on DVD over at her friend Michael's house. They watch with another friend, Addison, who lives across the street and Michael's older brothers and his father. She says that half the fun of watching it is seeing the guys' reactions to Jack Bauer's heroics. He pulls off some outrageous stunt and the air is full of, "Jack's the man!" They love Jack.

Michael was over tonight and I mentioned that I quit watching the second season after the episode featuring a chain saw and then a head in a bowling bag. He laughed, and said, "Oh that's because you don't have a house full of boys. We loved it!"

That was real revelation for me. It tied in exactly with watching Jurassic Park a couple of weeks ago (can you believe Rose had never seen it? We had to remedy that hole in her cultural education as soon as we heard it). Every time something gross happened the little girl was disgusted and the little boy loved it.

I'm not sure of the demographics watching the show but I'd bet it is definitely being enjoyed on two different levels. The women are enjoying the plot and action. As for the guys, they have that and Jack, the proto-hero, ratchets it up a notch.

I'm sure it must be equivalent to the way women reacted to Sydney Bristow in the first two seasons of Alias (these are the only good seasons). Tom would watch occasionally and complain about the giant plot holes. We didn't care. It was all about Sydney.

I like getting that little window into the guys' world. Thanks Jack. You are the man.

UPDATE
This tells much the same tale of Alias versus 24 differences.

Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen...

... you can find a Cream Cheese and Jalapeno Tart recipe and a link to the winners of the 2005 Food Blog Awards. Check it out.

Daniel, We Hardly Knew Ye

Friday's fourth episode of The Book of Daniel went virtually unsponsored, forcing NBC to fill commercial breaks with a veritable festival of in-house promotions for attractions ranging from the Olympics to daytime soaps.

"The Mattress King has stepped up and he's going to sponsor the entire hour," Mr. Reilly cracked. "And God bless him."

The Book of Daniel, about a dysfunctional family headed by a Vicodin-addicted Episcopal priest, has drawn heavy fire from the American Family Association, which urged advertiser, station and viewer boycotts. After his press conference, Mr. Reilly said he didn't know if Book of Daniel would be back this Friday. Lack of advertiser support and diminishing audiences might well be a fatal combination, he said.

Dallas Morning News

Capitalism has spoken. And, I'm really ok with that.

Is it Hot in Here?

Or is it just him?

Thank you Lion Brand!

Thanks also to Terri for sending this choice photo my way!