25 October 2010

Coffee Bowl Browsing

Do your consumer brand choices match your partisan politics?  The top ten brands for the Dems and the GOP.

Bees beat computers. . .shows you how far we still have to go on the road toward artificial intelligence.

The New Elites and the Tea Party. . .self-affirming ideological homogeneity among our "Betters."   For the N.E.'s diversity is only skin deep. 

The Tea Party is more of an "attitude movement" than a strictly partisan, political organization.

Those leaked WikiLeak documents from the DoD reveal that Saddam did have weapons of mass destruction

Back when universities were first invented (by the Church, btw!), professors were paid directly by their students.  If a prof wasn't doing his job, he had no students and no income.  Maybe we should consider returning to this model of higher education.  Oh, and there was no such as tenure!

Astute observation on the faux tolerance of NPR:  Conservative FOX had no problem with Williams working for liberal NPR; yet, liberal NPR couldn't tolerate him working for conservative FOX.  My own experience in academia and religious life bears this out:  liberals are very tolerant of those who believe exactly as they do.

Catholic bloggers "aim to purge dissenters" from the Church?!  Wow. . .I had no idea that bloggers had so much power. . .I feel lightheaded, kinda woozy and warm!  There's no need for Catholic bloggers to purge dissenters from the Church. . .Mother Nature is doing it for us.

Undercover vid of New Jersey teachers' union bosses partying hearty.  If this goes viral, be sure to put yourself near something large and solid. . .it's gonna get messy.  (NSFW:  strong language)

Excellent news out of Dallas:  Bishop Farrell getting high marks for turning the listless diocese around!  Vocations are up, thanks to Fr. Rudy Garcia, vocations director.  U.D.'s School of Ministry gets a mention. 

Middle East Synod turns into anti-Israel rally.  I had breakfast with a member of the synod yesterday morning.  He spent the whole time regaling me with stories about Israel's mistreatment of Arabs in general and Palestinians in particular.   The final document of the Synod contains condemnation of Israel's West Bank occupation.

Notre Dame post-B.O.:  drop of $120m in donations.


Hey, whaddya know?  Jesus does save!



Job application. . .I'd hire him just to keep things interesting.

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10 comments:

  1. I don't believe that consummer brand study: where are Volvo and Subaru on the Dem side?

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  2. Anonymous12:59 PM

    Saddam did have weapons of mass destruction.

    Only remnants of stockpiles a dozen years old and more. Probably unreliable by the time we invaded. And NOT nuclear weapons, contrary to the Bush administration's fear-mongering suggestions. None of this is news. None of this justifies our invasion and occupation.

    Romulus

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  3. Ha! The English department was in the black. I couldn't raise a family on an adjunct's wages and had to go into the corporate world to make a decent living.

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  4. "There's no need for Catholic bloggers to purge dissenters from the Church. . .Mother Nature is doing it for us."

    Is your assumption here that dissenters are old and will die soon, thus leaving only faithful Catholics in their wake?

    If so, two things are wrong with that thinking. 1) Unfortunately Mother Nature will also be taking the majority of old Catholic folks who are quietly and faithfully practicing the Catholic faith in the footsteps of such great saints as St. Therese of Lisieux, the saint of the Little Way. 2) There are plenty of dissenters among the young, not to mention those who have rejected the faith altogether and embrace secularism and hedonism.

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  5. Ruth Ann, most of the institutional dissenters (chancery staff, profs, etc.) are in their mid to late 60's. My smarty-alecky comment was a nod to what Fr. Z. calls the "biological solution" to the dissident problem. Of course, dissent will not end when the last Spirit-of-Vatican-Two'er goes to his/her eternal reward...there will be other, younger dissidents to take their places, but these folks won't be around in the same numbers nor will they be in positions of institutional power and influence.

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  6. Anonymous11:55 PM

    Regarding the 45 year-old Clown Show presentd by the Spirit-of-Vatican-II-dissenters: I figure that at the most, we'll have to put up with these people for about ten more years. It will, of course, take far more than ten years to correct the calamities they will have left behind.

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  7. Anonymous10:52 AM

    Of course, dissent will not end when the last Spirit-of-Vatican-Two'er goes to his/her eternal reward...there will be other, younger dissidents to take their places, but these folks won't be around in the same numbers nor will they be in positions of institutional power and influence.

    Indeed. Where is the new Hans Kung? There is no one willing to inherit the dilapidated and intellectually bankrupt estate that progressives have created.

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  8. templariidvm11:55 AM

    In my parents' parish (in the Midwest), the dissenters are definitely the older crowd. In my home parish (Seattle Archdiocese), there is a blend of old and young. I am hoping that our new archbishop will use his pastoral skills to shepherd the flock towards orthodoxy.

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  9. Anonymous3:35 AM

    The long list of confusing episodes you've gone through to understand, let alone fulfill your program requirements at the Angelicum, is the best argument
    I have ever heard in my life for avoiding an institution! Sounds like the place is run by a confederation of dunces! Is there any hope on the horizon?

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  10. Anon., a lot of the problems have been my faulty...my Italian is not up to snuff. Also, religious are notoriously bad at communication within the community. Add the Italian tendency to let things slide and you have a deadly mix. The degree requirements were changed the year before I entered and I didn't know this. The univ's website description of the requirements is an exercise in vagueness and the terminology is nothing like we use in the US.

    Bottomline: I'm working on rewriting the philosophy dept's English version of the website.

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