Among this knowledge appears to be what is best for people like you and me.

I have oft chuckled at a White Liberals conclusions about what is best for an inner-city, low income Black. You know, those Small People. Those ignorant and helpless former-slaves.

Likewise, Liberals never tire of telling Women what is best for them. Parents what is best for their children. Blue Collar Workers what is best for them. It leaves one to conclude that they really have sussed the whole thing out. That this gnostic insight to which they and they alone can discern is "settled science".

I am one who is a real fan of opinionated people... even when they are wrong. But with this caveat: they must be willing to be intellectually-honest. I've no time for Truth-benders.

A prime example of Truth-bending would be Mr. Gingrich and the MSM purposefully distorting the spirit of Romney's comment relating to the "Poorest of the Poor". Anyone who listens to the interview in question can clearly hear what Mr. Romney intended to convey. He didn't mis-speak as much as said something that could be seized upon by his enemies. But his sentiment was not, as Newt knows full-well, as Newt has twisted it to be. I am no fan of Romney outside of the fact that I would vote for him (or practically anyone) as a no vote to Obambi. But apparently Newt need not bother with Truth. What he is concerned with is the ends he is after. The means be damned.

Progressives (Socialists, Marxists, Statists all) are precisely the same. They do not give a damn about how they attain control (which they swear with words is not the Ultimate Solution). They do not give a damn who is offended (though they are offended by anyone who challenges their secret knowledge). The worst part about their pursuit of power - their desire to impose their religion on those heretics who dare to oppose their instruction and faith - is that they will stoop to any method of achieving the secular humanist caliphate for which they long. Any who fundamentally disagree with the teaching of the Church of State - any who cannot be "reasoned with" or "see the error of their ways" must be brought into compliance by other means. And those other means, if need be and in their perfect world, will be the Law of the Land (where none must bother to convince anyone of anything whatsoever). The heathens will learn or comply... either of which achieves the end Goal of Absolute Power.

All of this these supreme truths which they advance - for which only their clerics (and incredibly sharp East Coast Libs) can understand in totality - are camouflaged most often in sentimental garb. Of course, the sentimental garb is just a means to the end. "It is what's best for women's health" after all, that the Catholic Church must compromise its Principles (after all, Catholics are very superstitious people - but they are just stupid enough to take the bait if we appeal to that Social Justice thing).

It gets a bit better listening to Members of the Church of State - such as Mika Brzezinski - defend the Unholy See's New Dogma. To see her speak on the issue reveals 3 things: 1) she is completely in over her head as it relates to the Church Militant and its Teachings, 2) she underestimates the Church's staying power (now clocking in at 2012 years), 3) she is willing to be willfully ignorant.

Dog is my co-pilot.

What this means is that she is willing to purposefully miss the point altogether. Since I don't take her as intellectually lazy, I must conclude she is intellectually dishonest. And if she is dishonest as it relates to this major issue, then is there any issue of significance that could compel her to be less than a water carrier for the Church of State?

But again, given as I am to giving people who are ignorant of Catholic Teaching the benefit of the doubt as they complain and wax on about that silly Straw Man - at once over there and then bilocationally over here at the same time - I have come to realize this is precisely the mode of "charity" that now finds the Bishops with knives in their backs.

I must stop being so charitable. Because the enemy will stop at nothing to achieve their ends.

Or, maybe, I should just take the soup from Daddy. I mean, these are wise, thoughtful and caring people who only want what's best for little ole me. You don't think these same people would ever wish me harm? Right? I mean, that's all in my head, right?

Daddy knows best. I may not agree with him. But really, he knows what's best for me.

Now, be a good Dog.

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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And here is the difference: speak to someone who has next to nothing as it relates to assets and worldly possessions. If they are a Conservative, they will speak convictions that have little or nothing to do with their station in life.

Liberals cannot understand a man who has nothing but the clothes on his back defending such things as smaller government and professing reductions in social services. The simple reason is that the Liberal votes with his pocketbook... what is best in his mind for his particular situation. He cannot grasp a man of tenuous economic status who promulgates limited government. It seems illogical, if not insane, to him.

Conservatives, on the other hand, seem to have an ability to support what is Good & Right, without regard for their specific personal welfare.

These are distinct worldviews. One is focused on the self. One is focused on what is objectively right and what is objectively wrong without regard to self.

There is something to this. Ironic though it may seem, perhaps, the Conservative is by definition more concerned with the General Welfare than the Liberal... whose opinion usually hinges on his calculation of what is best for himself.

I used to think it was a simple situation of Envy. But as I grow older, I see that it is Envy and Selfishness that drives the Mainline Liberal.

An example. In witnessing the recent happenings in Wisconsin, it is clear that the Liberal Unionistas and Teachers have shown us their real colors: they don't give a damn about the Children, the State of Wisconsin, or the amount of Services they can provide... they care about what is in it for them... budgets and taxes be damned.

That there are perhaps 10% of Teachers that are of the opposing point of view - who, despite what is seemingly best for them personally - are willing to concede that the State of Wisconsin cannot sustain the incredibly lush provisions they have enjoyed throughout the last 30 years - defies complete sanity in the minds of the Mainline (Liberal) Teachers.

"How can you vote against your own personal benefit?" they ask.

The Conservative replies, "How can I not?"

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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Says Newt Gingrich, former GA Congressman and current presidential hopeful,

"Look. What happened in Italy is a tragedy. Here we have several people who lost their lives and we have survivors who did not. How is that fair? It's not. It's shameful and wrong."

When pressed on this bizarre stance and the even more bizarre insistence by Italian authorities that the survivors return to the doomed vessel, Gingrich added,

"The Italian Authorities have made the right call here. If that ship is doomed, we must get those survivors back onto the ship before we commit a flagrant act of choosing winners and losers."

He went on to add,

"That a ship could run aground in this day and age is unforgivable. I bet we'll find that when the Captain knew the vessel was in trouble, he started getting lifeboats ready to evacuate the passengers. But if he was aware he couldn't get ALL of the passengers off the vessel safely, he should have ordered his crew to scuttle the lifeboats instead."

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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The famous author, James A. Mitchner, in “The Fires of Spring” announced authoritatively:

“For this is the journey that men make: to find themselves. If they fail in this, it doesn’t matter what else they find.

Money, position, fame, many loves, revenge, are all of little consequence. And when the tickets are collected at the end of the ride they are tossed in a bin marked FAILURE.

But if a man happens to find himself – if he knows what he can do; the limits of his courage, the position from which he will no longer retreat… the secret reservoirs of his determination, the extent of his dedication, the depth of his feeling for beauty, his modest and unpostured goals – then he has found a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life.”

Inspirational, striking words; but allow me a few criticisms.

One does not just “happen” to find the code of conduct chronicled. Mitchner does not tell the reader how to achieve these virtuous characteristics.

Fortunately for you, beloved grandchildren, Grandpa will explain what tools and resources are at hand to build your Mansion.

Of course the most essential is the Foundation: hence the name, and in life the Foundation is Moral Truth. The Truth is essential to all Human endeavors. First, you must find it. Then, you must defend it and be faithful to it.

Let’s start our search with “Natural Law”, a concept that spans from the ancient Greek philisophies, honored by the Church, acknowledged by the founder of the Republic. Philosophers recognized that things of nature had characteristics that were inherent, essential to their function and could not be removed (ie. water freezes and boils at fixed temperatures). Humans also have rights and moral knowledge. These were listed in the Declaration of Independence as unalienable; “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”.

According to Catholic teachings, you are created “in the image and likeness” of God and since God is Pure Love and All Good, He has engraved this knowledge on your heart and conscience.

The other unalienable rights, “Freedom and Pursuit of Happiness” (ie. private possession are to be “ordered” (ie. dependent on Tuth)). Blessed John Paul II states “Authentic, ordered freedom is ordered to truth”. (Veritas Splendor Enciclical) Truth is ONE, what is philosophical and theologically true will not conflict with schientific truth. Truth is now a matter of consensus; Truth is Truth even if no one believes it; and false is false even if everyone believes it to be true. It’s not enough to have a hunch or possible, probable, or even beyond a reasonable doubt. You must have certitude: Truth is unchanging.

So, starting with Natural Law, add Reason and Scripture, the inspired word of God indirectly given through Prophets and directly through Jesus who is Truth. Reason validates the Ten Commandments but accepting the Truth of the Beatitudes because of their paradoxical confrontation of worldly values requires the final Finishing Fool: Wisdom. The Sapiential Books (Books of Wisdom) of the Bible proclaim “Fear of the Lord is the first step to Wisdom”; God’s plan of conduct that allows us to “live life more abundantly”. Fear does not mean “subservient slave-like fear” but a healthy awareness of God’s awesome power as manifested all around us and how inconsequential we would be except for His magnificent, majestic, unending, unconditional Love.

This will not only lead you to the Mansion portrayed by Mitchner, but to one that will reduce it to a birdhouse or a toy in a box of Cracker Jack.

We hope you will understand we write of these things not only out of our love for you, but also as a responsibility as stated in Psalm 78.

3 What we have heard and know;

things our ancestors have recounted to us.

4 We do not keep them from our children;

we recount them to the next generation,

The praiseworthy deeds of the LORD and his strength,

the wonders that he performed

5 God made a decree in Jacob,

established a law in Israel:

Which he commanded our ancestors,

they were to teach their children;

6 That the next generation might come to know,

children yet to be born.

In turn they were to recount them to their children,

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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Essay by Daniel P Collins, Sr. - Naples, Florida

My dad was a fireman in downtown Chicago for forty-three years. His rise from fireman to Division Marshall over the politicians determined obstructions was aided by the prayers of his favorite charity; The Little Sisters of the Poor. Sister Bertha and Sister Brigid would show up on pay day and dad would "encourage" all to contribute.

On a freezing Winter day, the nuns came in and Dad told them to warm their feet at the glowing pot belly iron furnace. When they put their feet out to warm their toes, Dad noticed each had large holes in the soles of their shoes. He called his Jewish friend Harry Gold... "Harry, I've got two nuns over here with holes in their shoes. If I buy one pair, will you pick up the other?"

"Bring them over, Chief", said Harry the shoemaker.

This inaugurated a bi-weekly tradition. The nuns would visit the firehouse, Dad would ask what happened to their new shoes. The nuns would reveal they had given the new shoes to "someone who needed them more". Dad and Harry would split the cost. And Harry never hesitated.

Do I think this son of Jacob "has a place in Heaven? You bet. I think he's a "shoe-in"!

Enoch_Root

Person with kids,a beautiful wife, a job. Catholic of the Latin Rite.

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Walter Isaacson’s authorized account of Jobs’ life goes on sale Oct. 24. The book is based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs and over 100 additional discussions with family members, friends, adversaries, competitors and colleagues. Isaacson chronicles “the roller coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing and digital publishing,” according to a Simon & Schuster summary of the book.

Jobs: “You’re heading for a one-term presidency.”

According to the Huffington Post, Jobs’ warning to Obama came during a meeting in San Francisco that Jobs took five days to agree to attend. He told Obama the U.S. wasn’t business-friendly enough, citing over-regulation and unnecessary costs. Jobs also said the U.S. education system was “crippled by union work rules” and school principals should be allowed to hire and fire teachers based on merit. Schools should also stay open until 6 p.m. and be in session 11 months of the year, an extensive blog post stated.

Isaacson also relates that Jobs was not very impressed with Obama and said the president’s focus on the reasons things can’t get done infuriated him. Despite this seemingly fractious relationship, Jobs offered to help create Obama’s 2012 political campaign ads.

Jobs on Bill Gates

The book excerpts published by the Huffington Post also indicate Bill Gates was fascinated by Jobs but found him “flawed as a human being” as he was “either in the mode of saying you were shit or trying to seduce you.”

Jobs was equally caustic in relation to Gates, saying: “Bill is basically unimaginative and has never invented anything, which is why I think he’s more comfortable in philanthropy than technology. He just shamelessly ripped off other people’s ideas,” the Huffington Post article stated.

Jobs on Dying

Jobs’ recent death was attributed to a rare form of pancreatic cancer that ravaged the Apple CEO’s body. After an initial diagnosis, Jobs waited nine months before surgery because he felt homeopathic remedies would cure him. Isaacson touches on the late days of Jobs’ life and regrets he had regarding the illness.

In a 60 Minutes interview, Isaacson said he thought Jobs felt if something was ignored it would go away with “magical thinking.” Of Jobs’ pending death, Isaacson said, “He wanted to talk about it, how he regretted it… I think he felt he should have been operated on sooner.”

Dona Collins

There are few things more important to Dona than computing and entertainment. She writes about both to share her favorites and new discoveries for anyone with a pop culture bent. When she’s online, you can find her browsing through Canada 411, eBay and, yes . . . Facebook. She's not nearly related to the two scoundrels of the same name who post here, as far as she knows.

(By the way, I was warned yesterday of an Occupy Hartford "event" that was occurring around about rush hour, and I was concerned I was going to have an issue getting out of work. I needn't have been worried. The pathetic gathering could barely fill up one block, on one side of the street, on one city sidewalk. There was a smattering of UAW signs, but evidently the bus to bring them to CT's capital must've been very small. Or people had better things to do.)

So I see this bitchery in the NYT:

WHEN Bank of America told its customers recently that it would start charging them $5 a month to use debit cards, it argued that it was forced to make that change because of regulations that altered the economics of the cards. Other banks agreed. The chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, put the effects of the regulations this way: “If you’re a restaurant and you can’t charge for the soda, you’re going to charge more for the burger.” Both banks were responding to the Federal Reserve’s actions to limit the interchange fees banks charge stores each time a debit card is used for a purchase.

But the banks’ simplistic statements are merely an attempt to rationalize and obfuscate one of the largest illegal transfers of wealth from consumers to banks in American history.

No, it's not illegal, dumbass. You don't like debit card charges? Fine. Don't use a debit card, then. No one is forcing you to. No one is forcing you to have a bank account, even. Heck, some of the toniest places in NYC accept cash only, no debit cards, credit cards, checks, or money orders.

I've used a debit card in the past 20 years a sum total of: once. And the only reason I had used the debit card was because it had a smaller use fee than a credit card for the particular transaction I wanted to make (it was paying quarterly estimated federal income taxes, if you want to know). I had a choice. I made it.

Interestingly, after that "illegal" start to his op-ed, the author ends it with this:

Retail customers of Bank of America and of any other bank that follows its lead should swiftly move their business. I am certain that other banks will welcome the competitive opportunity that Bank of America has given them with its arrogant and disingenuous action and justification.

Exactly. People can move their business elsewhere. Nothing illegal is going on, and both retailers and customers can decide what they want to do.

I remember this sort of blather over ATM fees a while back. Funny how I don't hear about that any more, though ATMs definitely still charge fees. The main difference is that I'm explicitly told the fee before I complete the transaction, and I decide if I want to continue. Well, there's no hidden fees here, either, so you make a decision whether you want to be hit with it or not.

OWS: Free the bathrooms!

Panini and Company Cafe normally sells sandwiches to tourists in Lower Manhattan and the residents nearby, but in recent days its owner, Stacey Tzortzatos, has also become something of a restroom monitor. Protesters from Occupy Wall Street, who are encamped in a nearby park, have been tromping in by the scores, and not because they are hungry.

Ms. Tzortzatos’s tolerance for the newcomers finally vanished when the sink was broken and fell to the floor. She installed a $200 lock on the bathroom to thwart nonpaying customers, angering the protesters.

“I’m looked at as the enemy of the people,” she said.

Meep

Meep is a member of the Irish Catholic mafia, having a suspiciously high number of green-eyed, red-haired friends. While she doesn’t have red hair herself [except when she goes into the sun (rare for any vampire)], she does have green eyes. She’s a raving Papist and is a life actuary on the side [i.e., she counts dead people]. An amateur pain-in-the-ass [willing to go pro!], she likes covering retirement, mortality, math, and education issues.

The Blaze's Meredith Jessup also discovered the story behind this piece of guerrilla theater:

Turns out that Robert, who describes himself as a Bolivian Marxist, is indeed a student at Georgetown Law, and does have parents.  After that, though:

According to the Daily Kos, Robert should be commended as “a patriot” for spelling out the reason people are protesting.  “If you can watch it without being affected, you are as heartless as Dick Cheney,” the site notes.

There’s just one problem: Robert Stephens’ story is (surprise!) completely bogus.

Phone inquiries into the county property records & taxpayer services office reveal that the Stephens family home is not and never has been in foreclosure, that property taxes had been paid in full this year and the remaining balance on their mortgage for the half-million dollar home is less than one year’s worth of tuition+fees at their son’s law school.

The nail in this empty protest‘s coffin is a delightful phone conversation I just had with Robert’s mother, Marquita, where she admitted Chase Bank indeed was not “taking” their home from them. Instead, due to a recent “reduction in income,” they’ve decided to hold a “short sale.”

When I asked Mrs. Stephens if she and her husband planned to stay in their suburban St. Paul, Minn., surroundings after the sale, she told me they weren’t too keen on the idea.  The area is “a bit too conservative,” she said.

Much more fun at Conservative Commune, where I also have up a bleg that so far has netted me $5, in case any of you remembers me.  I've been en fuego on Solyndra/LightSquared there, if I do say so myself.  So . . . in your orisons.

I'm going to reboot this blog, too, as I'll have time on my hands after work in Wisconsin, as soon as I can get out there.  Hope to see you around.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis says Mayor Rahm Emanuel “exploded” at her during a conversation in his office about his signature longer-school-day effort, pointing his finger at her, yelling and telling her, “F--- you, Lewis.”

“I just want to call it immense disrespect for me and the Chicago Teachers Union,’’ Lewis told the Chicago Sun-Times Friday. “I didn’t appreciate the way he talked to me.

“My father never talked to me like that. My husband’s never talked to me like that.”

Emanuel — long known for his salty rants — would not go into specifics Friday about the exchange, and said the meeting weeks ago ended with a hug from Lewis.

“I’m not going to get into a he-said, she-said. We had a good meeting. It was not a long meeting. We talked about a longer school day and we talked about focusing on elementary kids,” the mayor said.

So, let me understand this. You want better treatment from the mayor of Chicago than from your own family members? How, exactly, does that work?

I don't know about you, but I got (and get) the best treatment from my dad and my husband.

In any case, this seems like a desperate ploy to garner some sympathy for the teachers union, because nobody is feeling all that sorry for them having to work marginally longer hours. The retort on that is likely: "You still have summers off. And you have a job."

It's a weak ass attempt to get sympathy, though.

Rahm cursed you out? Congrats. You're now part of the club.

Meep

Meep is a member of the Irish Catholic mafia, having a suspiciously high number of green-eyed, red-haired friends. While she doesn’t have red hair herself [except when she goes into the sun (rare for any vampire)], she does have green eyes. She’s a raving Papist and is a life actuary on the side [i.e., she counts dead people]. An amateur pain-in-the-ass [willing to go pro!], she likes covering retirement, mortality, math, and education issues.

Ay-yi-yi:

Summer's Eve pulled three videos off its website and YouTube on Wednesday following claims that they were racially insensitive.

The videos (scroll down to watch them), part of the feminine-care company's new "Hail to the V" campaign by The Richards Group in Dallas, featured talking hand-puppets representing women's vaginas. Two of the spots in particular, featuring black and Hispanic characters, were criticized by some viewers, who complained that the voice work was racially stereotypical.

The black woman is "Pam Grier and Lil' Kim all wrapped in to one," wrote one online critic, while the Latina woman opens with the cry, "Ay-yi-yi."

Under pressure, agency and client stood by the videos last week, with agency founder Stan Richards saying they were meant to be "relatable," not stereotypical. But on Wednesday, Richards PR executive Stacie Barnett told Adweek that the criticism had begun to overshadow the message and goal of the larger campaign—to educate women about their anatomy and break down taboos in talking about it—and that the online videos had to go.

"Stereotyping or being offensive was not our intention in any way, shape, or form," said Barnett. "The decision to take the videos down is about acknowledging that there's backlash here. We want to move beyond that and focus on the greater mission."

Yeah, well . . . get back to that mission.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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