Health Care Bites
The limits of civic discourse and modern medical science were tested in Los Angeles on Wednesday when a MoveOn.org protester whose feelings became inflamed over the issue of providing health care to all was moved to bite off part of the finger of a by-standard during the course of an altercation which broke out at a protest. Since the victim was 65, government health care was able to step in (in the form of Medicare) to provide care, but failed to succeed in reattaching the finger, which was severed at the first joint.
One man bit off part of another man’s finger when a health care reform demonstration turned violent.
William Rice said doctors did not reattach the bitten-off part of his left pinky after he got in the middle of a Southern California rally Wednesday night that he said was ”very scary.”
”I didn’t go out to demonstrate my beliefs, I happened to be driving by and I stopped to ask people what their purpose was,” Rice, 65, said in a telephone interview Thursday. ”I had no signs, I was not part of the demonstration.”
About 100 demonstrators in favor of health care reform had gathered on a Thousand Oaks street corner for an event organized by MoveOn.org. About 25 counterdemonstrators gathered across the street.
Rice declined to say Thursday which side of the debate he falls on.
Ventura County sheriff’s spokesman Eric Buschow said a confrontation erupted after the biter crossed from the MoveOn.org side of the street to the counterprotest, where Rice was standing.
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The Wearing of the Green
Something for the weekend. The song that I think should be the national anthem of Ireland, The Wearing of the Green, sung by the Wolf Tones.
Saint Josemaria Escriva Film In The Works
A film based on Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, the founder of Opus Dei, is being filmed in Argentina titled, There Be Dragons. The movie is set in the years running up and including the Spanish Civil War.
There Be Dragons is being directed by Roland Joffe, the same director who filmed The Mission which starred Robert Di Niro and Jeremy Irons about Jesuit missionaries in 18th century South America. The movie will Scottish star Dougray Scott of Mission Impossible II fame as a reporter and English star Charlie Cox as the saint himself.
Father John Wauck of Opus Dei seems to be the adviser to Mr. Joffe. Mr. Joffe rejected an earlier script provided by Opus Dei for one that he wrote and has said he experienced no interference whatsoever from the personal prelature which is funding the film.
The expected release date is Summer or Autumn of next year (2010).
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To read more about the film, There Be Dragons, by The Catholic Herald of Britain click here.
To learn more about Saint Josemaria Escriva de Blaguer click here.
To learn more about Opus Dei click here.
To read more about the film The Mission click here.
For more information on There Be Dragons click here.
Don't Flatter Your Honor Roll Student
I came across this book review last week in the Wall Street Journal, and thought it was interesting:
Now, in “NurtureShock,” Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman survey the newest new findings about child development. Little in the book is all that shocking, but given our enthusiasm for turning tentative child research into settled policy, the studies that the authors discuss are of more than passing interest.
A striking example is the latest research on self-esteem. As Mr. Bronson and Ms. Merryman remind us, the psychologist Nathaniel Brandon published a path-breaking paper in 1969 called “The Psychology of Self-Esteem” in which he argued that feelings of self-worth were a key to success in life. The theory became a big hit in the nation’s schools; in the mid-1980s, the California Legislature even established a self-esteem task force. By now, there are 15,000 scholarly articles on the subject.
And what do they show? That high self-esteem doesn’t improve grades, reduce anti-social behavior, deter alcohol drinking or do much of anything good for kids. In fact, telling kids how smart they are can be counterproductive. Many children who are convinced that they are little geniuses tend not to put much effort into their work. Others are troubled by the latent anxiety of adults who feel it necessary to praise them constantly.
Cardinal O'Malley: Apologia Pro Sua Teddy
Cardinal O’Malley of Boston defends his participation at the funeral Mass for Ted Kennedy here. Erin Manning at her blog and sometimes tea, gives his remarks a fisking to be remembered here. The master of the fisk, Father Z, also puts the Cardinal’s remarks through his patented fisk machine here.
The simple truth of the matter of course is that Ted Kennedy, in so many ways, was a disgrace to the Catholic Church in this country. As a Catholic who received the Last Rites, it was right to give him a funeral Mass. It was wrong to allow that Mass to be transformed into a “Tribute for Teddy” and a Democrat Party infomercial. Archbishop O’Malley sat there and allowed this to take place and now he has the audacity to defend his nonfeasance. One would have thought that silence would have been a wiser course rather than attempting to defend the indefensible.
Obama The Theologian
It’s interesting that during a Ramadan dinner at the White House President Obama mentioned that Islam is a great religion.
Since when is he qualified to make such theological statements when questions of this magnitude are above his pay grade?
Did President Obama mean how the followers of Islam subjugated the Christian lands of the Middle East, North Africa, Anatolia, the Balkans, and Spain?
Enslaved millions of black Africans in the slave trade to Europeans?
Not to mention defiling the Hagia Sophia, Saint Peter’s Basilica, and many, many more Christian shrines and churches.
President Obama you have no idea what you’re talking about.
_._
To go to the RealCatholicTV.com website click here.
To download the Vortex by Michael Voris, S.T.B., on RealCatholicTV.com click here.
Torture: Wrong Regardless of Effectiveness
Jay Anderson of Pro Ecclesia has a post up whose title says its all: Torture … Excuse Me … the Use of “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” Works! And We Should STILL Oppose It.
In light of the CIA Inspector General report which indicates that, at least in the case of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, torture worked pretty well in extracting information, Jay says:
I’ve said before that Catholics (and others) opposed to torture should not resort to arguments against its effectiveness since: (a) when something is intrinsically evil, whether it works or not is completely irrelevant; and (b) those making the argument that torture is ineffective may turn out to be wrong, and then our ethical and moral arguments against torture are thereby undermined. See my comments here, here (agreeing with my friend Paul Zummo), and here for more details.
Continue reading
Obama and the Kiddies
Obama on September 8 is going to have a large audience for one of his speeches. This in itself is unusual in view of the declining TV ratings of his speeches. Even more unusual is the audience: most of the elementary public school kids in the nation. Why is he doing this? The US Department of Education has thoughtfully prepared a study guide for teachers here. It is untrue that it comes bound in a little red book. Continue reading
Pange Lingua Gloriosi
Composed by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the Office of Corpus Christi (see CORPUS CHRISTI, FEAST OF). Including the last stanza (which borrows the words “Genitori Genitoque”—Procedenti ab utroque, Compar” from the first two strophes of the second sequence of Adam of St. Victor for Pentecost) the hymn comprises six stanzas appearing in the manuscripts
Pange, lingua, gloriosi corporis mysterium,
Sanguinisque pretiosi quem in mundi pretium
Fructus ventris generosi Rex effudit gentium.
Written in accentual rhythm, it imitates the triumphant march of the hymn of Fortunatus, and like it is divided in the Roman Breviary into stanzas of six lines whose alternating triple rhyming is declared by Pimont to be a new feature in medieval hymnody. In the Roman Breviary the hymn is assigned to both Vespers, but of old the Church of Salisbury placed it in Matins, that of Toulouse in First Vespers only, that of Saint-Germain- des-Prés at Second Vespers only, and that of Strasburg at Compline. It is sung in the procession to the repository on Holy Thursday and also in the procession of Corpus Christi and in that of the Forty Hours’ Adoration.[1]
_._
[1] (1911). Pange Lingua Gloriosi. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved September 3, 2009 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11441c.htm
Note: For more information click here.
Obama Ditches Youth Indoctrination Program
[Updates at the bottom of this article as of 9-3-2009 AD at 4:39am]
In what is a growing sign that President Obama is showing more signs of incompetence, the White House withdrew the requirement that school children write a paper supporting President Obama and his socialistic policies. This was going to be a requirement after viewing an indoctrination video showing President Obama pushing his plan for socialism to school children nationwide.
President Obama’s plan to inspire the nation’s schoolchildren with a video address next week erupted into controversy Wednesday, forcing the White House to pull out its eraser and rewrite a government recommendation that teachers nationwide assign students a paper on how to “help the president.”
Debate on Armed Protesters at Townhall Meetings
[Updates at the bottom of this article]
Though long (my solution was to download the MP3 and listen to it in the background throughout the day) this BloggingHeads discussion between Megan McArdle of the The Atlantic (libertarian) and author Michelle Goldberg (left-ish) about protesters carrying guns at townhall meetings was very interesting. Michelle takes the position (which I imagine we’ve all heard somewhere) that these open carry protesters are trying to exert political intimidation through threat of violence and are indeed likely to commit violence. Megan explains why she thinks it much more likely that they’re simply gun nuts trying to make a point about 2nd Amendment rights. (In a way, incidentally, which neither McArdle nor I support, but still almost certainly not in fact a violent threat to the nation with whose brush the entire right side of the political spectrum can be tarred by association.)
Movie Review: District 9
MrsDarwin and I grabbed a rare chance to take an evening out last night and went to see District 9, a science fiction movie that came out a couple weeks ago. Contrary to stereotype, it was actually MrsDarwin who had latched onto this as the movie to see, and I’m glad she did as it was one of the more enjoyable SciFi flicks that I’ve seen in a while. (Movie Trailer here.)
Which Comes First, the Church or the Party?
Well, I’ve read and talked more than I ever cared to about Ted Kennedy recently, may he rest in peace. And Darwin has already ably responded to this defense of the late Senator Kennedy from Michael Sean Winters. But something about Mr. Winters response has been ringing in my ears, and I think it’s because it summarizes in a few sentences what I perceive to be the tragedy of Catholic Democrats in the U.S.: they could have taken a stand for unborn life but were unwilling. As a result, faithful Catholics have either been driven into the Republican Party, become independents, or become disconcertingly comfortable with the status quo on abortion. Currently I think both the first and last options are incompatible with Catholic thought – at least without substantial departure from party orthodoxies. Where familiarity (with both parties) should have breed contempt, it has instead yielded unconscionable familiarity and acceptance. And Mr. Winters’ post provides a clear illustration of this reality:
To dismiss his [Senator Kennedy’s] career because of his stance on abortion is to be ignorant of the complicated way the issue of abortion manifested itself in the early 1970s: I think Kennedy got it wrong but I do not find it difficult to understand why and how he got it wrong.
Dueling ObamaCare Videos!
Hattip to Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. Youtube videos for political arguments is one of the more fascinating developments of the internet age. At little cost anyone can become a participant in a political debate, post a you tube video and have it seen by potentially millions of viewers. I like it! It interjects citizen particpation in what had been a big money game. The pro-ObamaCare video is from “Engio”. The video response is from “How the World Works”. Continue reading
Obama Drops Public Option, Showdown With Pelosi Looms
President Obama will be dropping the socialistic Public Option from his government-run health care plan. This will certainly anger the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and make for some interesting showdowns with both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (emphasis mine).
“…Obama’s willingness to forgo the public option is sure to anger his party’s liberal base. But some administration officials welcome a showdown with liberal lawmakers… …The confrontation would allow Obama to show he is willing to stare down his own party to get things done.”
Churchill-Finest Hour
On the anniversary of the beginning of World War II, I recall this speech of Churchill, and his presentation, before the beginning of the Battle of Britain in 1940, of alternative futures for mankind based upon how the war came out. For all our problems since the Allied victory in that war, the mind recoils from what the world would have been like after an Axis victory.
Poland And Russia Battle Over WWII History
Today is the 70th anniversary of the beginning of World War II as Germany bombarded Westerplatte with canon fire. 
Eventually Germany made peace with their neighbors by recognizing the role they played in the devastation of Europe. Since then Europe has experienced only one conflict[1] since the end of World War II.
But Russia remains another matter.
Russia continues to be belligerent in their interpretation of the war. Denying much culpability in their conflict with Poland and even insinuating of Polish-German designs on the Soviet Union.
In the days leading up to anniversary, Russian media has aired a string of accusations against Poland, claiming that Warsaw intended to collaborate with Hitler in an invasion of the Soviet Union, and that Jozef Beck, Poland’s foreign minister in 1939, was a German agent. Moscow broadcasters have also claimed that there was a “German hand” in the 1940 Katyn massacre of thousands of Polish PoWs, an atrocity generally held to have been the exclusive work of Stalin’s secret police.
In fairness, the de facto ruler of Russia, Vladimir Putin, did offer a conciliatory tone relating to Russia’s aggression towards Poland:
“Our duty is to remove the burden of distrust and prejudice left from the past in Polish-Russian relations,” wrote Mr Putin, who went on to describe the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact as “immoral”, and also thanked Poland “from the bottom of my heart” for the 600,000 Poles who fought on the Eastern Front under Red Army command.
World of GeekCraft
From the only reliable source of news on the net, the Onion. I have never gotten into the Massively Multiplayer Online scene, no doubt due to being too cheap and lacking time. I prefer sensible games like War in the Pacific-Admiral’s Edition, where, if you are lucky, you can complete a game in a little less time than the war took. Ah, we computer gamers are a wild and crazy breed, with the emphasis on the last part of the equation.
Ross Douthat on "a different kind of liberal"
With the media participating in adulation of Ted Kennedy, Ross Douthat calls our attention to “a different kind of liberal”, the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver (New York Times August 30, 2009):
Liberalism’s most important legislator probably merited a more extended send-off than his sister. But there’s a sense in which his life’s work and Eunice’s deserve to be remembered together — for what their legacies had in common, and for what ultimately separated them.
What the siblings shared — in addition to the grace, rare among Kennedys, of a ripe old age and a peaceful death — was a passionate liberalism and an abiding Roman Catholic faith. These two commitments were intertwined: Ted Kennedy’s tireless efforts on issues like health care, education and immigration were explicitly rooted in Catholic social teaching, and so was his sister’s lifelong labor on behalf of the physically and mentally impaired.
What separated them was abortion.
Read the rest. (HT: Alan Phipps).
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