Vatican Wants One World Government!!!

OMG!!!  The Pope says that ALL Catholics must support a One World Government!!!

@#$%!!!  The Vatican wants just One Bank for the Whole World!!!!

WHAT!?!?  Benedict XVI supports the Occupy Wall St protesters!!!

Deep breath.  One more time.  Now, OK. . .so, if any of your friends, family, co-religionists have expressed any of the above or some version of one of the above, sit them down, give them a beer, let them catch their breath, and ask them a simple question:  have you actually read the recently published document on economics and finance that has upset you so?

Betcha they will say, "Um, no."  Good.  Get them a copy and give them about 30 mins. to read all 18 pgs.  Once they are finished, roll up a newspaper and swatch them briskly across the nose three times while saying in a firm voice, "Bad, bad Catholic!  Bad Catholic!  You never believe a word that the media say about the Church! Never!"

If they are sufficiently contrite and promise to never do it again, make the following points about the document:

1).  The document was NOT written by "The Vatican" or "The Pope."  It's a product of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.  Not the Secretary of State.  Not the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  Not the Congregation for Bishops.  A pontifical council.  In terms of magisterial authority, that's somewhere near a Christmas postcard from your pastor.  'Nuff said.

2).  The document says nothing new about economics or economic theory nor does it promote one model of economics over any other.  The focus is placed squarely on the current difficulties in the monetary market, arguing that some sort of international control needs to be established over these transactions so that we might avoid another global bank collapse.  There is a pointed critique of what the document labels "economic liberalism and utilitarian thinking," that is, unregulated free market capitalism.  This is nothing new either.  The Church has been suspicious of unfettered capitalism since at least the mid-nineteenth century.  

3). The "world authority" proposed in the document is placed within the context of all the usual Catholic caveats about human dignity, morality, respect for cultural and national traditions, the authority of the nation-state, subsidiarity, etc., etc.  In other words, Global Governance advocates will dismiss this proposal out of hand.  It's too religious/ethical and not nearly powerful enough. Oh, and there won't be enough opportunities for politicians to steal us all blind. 

4).  Yes, Church-haters and Prog Catholics will cover themselves with this document and proclaim a divine victory for the Occupy Wall St. type non-sense.   Nothing we can do about that.  Just don't be pulled into the whole Benedict Is Calling For A One World Bank framing of the issue.   

Bottomline:  a little note from a minor curial department expressing the opinions of some Italian economist. 

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Bowl Browsing

Conspiracy theorists will love this. . .the lesson for high school/college students is more obvious:  don't trust the internet as an accurate source for your research.

Speaking of editing history. . .WaPo scrubs its hit piece of Mario Rubio. 

The racist history of gun control. . .Gun control advocates dismiss this history as irrelevant to current efforts to control access to guns.  Fine.  But gun control still has racial (if not racist) consequences.

The Workers' Paradise of OWS is starting to fuss and fight over $$$.  This is what happens when bong-induced undergrad philosophizing collides with the realities of human nature.

Some loon burns a bible during the Papal Mass in Rome.  I bet it was a Protestant version.

Wow.  More "smart diplomacy" from B.O. & The Amateurs:  Billions of American dollars spent, thousands of American lives ended. . .and the prez of Afghanistan promises to ally with Pakistan in a war against. . .America!  

What are the whiners in the OWS movement really "raging" against?

Speaking of OWS whiners. . .here's one.  (NB. strong language) 

Cathy rants about classes in "yoga, the enneagram, tai-chi, labyrinth, channeling, reiki and other New Age" stuff being taught in Catholic parishes.  Rant on, sister!

Steve Jobs goes to heaven. . .and gets his wish.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Bowl Browsing (73% Funny Edition)

A report on the upcoming inter-religious meeting in Assisi.  The Vatican is going out of its way to avoid anything that even looks like syncretism. 

OWS creating another failed Socialist Paradise in Zuccotti Park. . .be sure and read the New York magazine piece about the growing fascism of the Occupy Elite.

And check out this post on how the Occupy Baltimore camps are bickering over sexual harassment, internal violence and dissident, and whether or not Occupiers should involve the police.

A Shakespeare Insult Kit. . .read this, you goatish elf-skinned flap dragon!

A visual depiction of the definition of the phrase, "impending doom."

It's like a horizontal bungee. . .I'd try it.

Normally, I'd say that this is a false dilemma. . .but it's So Right.

Objects on the rear-view mirror may appear more simian than they really are. . .or not.

Philosoraptor asks a really good question. . .of course, he's making a Wittgensteinian assumption about the relationship btw language and thought.

Stare Dad on the proper way to parent during those sibling rivalry years.

Good advice. . .from GOD.

Yikes. . .creepy.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Occupy Movement --> Lord of the Flies

From the Oakland Tribune (h/t: Verum Serum):

[. . .]

One Oakland police officer, who asked to remain anonymous for reasons of police protocol, described the scene in tent city as akin to a scene from "Lord of the Flies." And, indeed, the on-the-fly rule-making can often veer into an oppressive, anarchic mood.

Journalists are routinely shooed away and told off by angry residents. One Oakland police supervisor said that the participants first appeared to him as "freethinking activists" but have since devolved into something more sinister. He said it was "interesting for a group that claims to be against current civilization and rules to set up a far more oppressive society than our own."

[. . .]

Anyone who's paid the least bit of attention to the current state of leftist politics in America will not be surprised to learn that these free-thinking, free-love, anti-capitalists are swifly turning into run-of-the-mill fascists.

The lesson to be learned here is quite simple:  no civilization can be absolutely tolerant and expect to survive beyond a generation.

Certain ideas and behaviors produce and nurture a free civilization and some ideas and behaviors inevitably cause its destruction.

These OWS protests are only possible within the political framework of a western, liberal democracy that has been built and maintained by some form of free-market capitalism.

Note:

--the abundant use of technology in the protests (corporations) and the decidedly middle-class fashion sense of the occupiers, including their pricey accessories. . .

--the charitable contributions of food and money to the protesters (someone had to own it before it could be given to them). . .

--the protesters depend of the lawful behavior of those who oppose the OWS ideology, or have just been inconvenienced by their antics. . .

--the protesters rely almost entirely on a western, liberal, democratic sense of what is right and wrong within their occupations zones. . .

--the restraint shown by business-owners, the police, politicians, and the media in criticizing their goals (whatever those are). . .

The fact that these occupation zones are becoming hotbeds of criminality and reactionary fascism should be a bleak warning to all of us who hope to thrive in free society.   

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Bowl Browsing

Which presidential candidate is wholly owned by Wall St.?  

While the rest of the country suffers economically, gov't salaries place D.C. at the top of the heap.

The Noose of Diversity and Tolerance tightens around the Church's neck.

Looks like the adults are in charge in Greece. . .maybe they could lend the U.S. a few politicians.

Back when protests really meant something.   

What happens when we let Oprah direct the Zombie Apocalypse?  The Walking Dead.

For a really brainy Zombie movie, check out Pontypool.   French post-structuralist linguistic theory has never been this creepy!

Comparison chart for various editions of the new English Missal.  Most of the illustrations are beautiful!  The Liturgical Press editions' pics leave much to be desired.  Can you say, "1973."

Some OWS protesters are a little miffed that their fellow protesters won't get off their rear-ends and help clean up.  Apparently, these Nazi Clean Freaks don't understand the psychology of the dependent class.

Rape, assault, theft, gun-toting felons, racism, riots, indecent exposure, media fraud, Trust Fund Baby freak-outs. . .yea, this is a perfectly sane political movement.

B.O. energy dept. caught editing its press releases from months ago.  Why?  To cover up its ties to yet another failed eco-trendy solar power company, SunPower. 

Costs for Public School Students vs. State Prisoners in MN. . .yea, but the prisoners don't have to suffer with teachers' unions.

Pope Vader?  No, more like Patriarch Vader of Upper East Bogsolvania.

This is what joy looks like. . .(Link deleted)

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Anti-Catholic thugs in Rome

Here's a video of thugs in Rome smashing a statue of the BVM.   I can't tell where he gets the statute from.  Doesn't look like a Church, but it could any one of a number of side chapels or shrines. 

It looks like some in the crowd chase the guy down, but it's hard to tell.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Bowl Browsing

Witches vs. Zombies!  A no contest fight in my mind.

Coalition of charity and minority groups pressure the L.A. teachers' union for change.  This should be interesting.

Yet another reason to dismantle the U.N.:  the hierarchy of the Church of Global Warming caught hiding evidence of their scheming. 

The gates of hell shall not prevail:  persecution of the U.S. Church?

On docility and obedience:  how "magisterial minimalism" hardens the heart.

OWS protesters stealing from one another. . .well, how does one "steal" from another when everything belongs to everyone equally?  NB.  one protester had her $5,500 Macbook stolen!  

On the economic ignorance of those who would solve our economic problems. . .

Fortunately, your average American voter isn't buying what OWS is selling.

400 allegations of sexual abuse at religious schools in the U.K. . .but it's OK b/c they are Muslim schools.  Expect wide media coverage. . .

The Arrestables at the OWS protests. . .apparently, organizers pick and choose among the protesters who will be arrested that day.  Geez, this whole thing is One Big Theater Performance.

That's one way to dry your dogs. . .

Terrorists are starting to specialize.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Ceci n'cest pas une sign. . .(UPDATED)

Gotta love a little postmodernist political irony. . .

The caption on the pic above reads, "This is not a sign."  This refers to Rene Magritte's (in)famous painting of a tobacco pipe, La trahison des images.  

The sign in the top pic seems to be a snarky comment on the shapeless and impotent rage of the Occupy Wall St. protesters. . .a bit of too-clever mockery maybe?

The picture of the sign and its Margrittesque caption seems to be a wry comment on the careful media manipulation of OWS's public image.  The message from the media to us is:  "You are not seeing what you are seeing.  Let us show you what you are seeing."

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Bowl Browsing

Bipartisan support for Occupy Wall St. . .both the Communists and the Nazis give their seal of approval to the OWS!  They must be so proud.

And now B.O. is signing on to the Temper Tantrum.  How much longer 'til we can get the adults back in charge?

Leaked emails reveal that MSM "journalists" are colluding with the Occupy Wall St protesters to craft a positive media message.   So much for this being a Grassroots Uprising.

OWS video star is a Columbia Univ grad student with a trust fund.  NB.  the video is funny, but the language is NSFW.

The Pope goes mobile!

Catholics Do Not Worship Idols; Or, The Bible Does Not Forbid the Use of Images.

Speaking of "these hands were made for chalices not calluses". . .

You'll want one too. . .when the Zombies start to roam.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Leaving Mass early. . .or not.

 

When you decide to leave Mass early, be sure and run in a zig-zag pattern.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Roman riots. . .

"Rioting" in Rome is like professional wrestling in the U.S. . .fake but still dangerous.  

How is it fake?  You have to keep in mind that Italy is a wholly owned subsidiarity of labor unions.  So, when the transit workers' unions "riot," they are met by the public safety workers' union (i.e. the cops). In some ways this is a good arrangement b/c the violence btw Rioters and Cops tends to be relatively low-key.  Watch a few videos of recent Roman riots and notice that the cops go out of their way not to get too rough.  The same courtesy is extended from the other side. Usually you get some tear gas, a few night-stick injuries, some minors cuts. . .nothing too serious.  Back in Dec. 2010 it was obvious from news video that neither the protesters nor the cops were much interested in a clash.  Both sides advanced and retreated when necessary to avoid excessive violence (02:00).

Despite the unspoken agreement not to let the violence get too serious, individuals and radical groups do cross the line and people get genuinely hurt and even killed.  Yesterday's violence in Rome is an example of this.  An otherwise routine Saturday protest was infiltrated by the so-called Black Bloc Guerrillas (those guys in the black masks and helmets).  This group's only purpose is property destruction.  Burn a few cars, break a few windows, dump garbage on the street.  Yesterday some of them got inside St John Lateran and made some noise.  They broke a statue of the Blessed Mother outside (00:30).  I doubt that they set out to kill anyone, but burning cars in the street often has unintended consequences.  

Professional wrestlers in the U.S. often get hurt and sometimes even killed.  But the whole performance is carefully choreographed and managed.  Before the manifestazioni take place, notices are placed in all the major newspapers letting folks know when and where things will likely get rough.  Lists of potentially stalled bus and metro lines are published.  The police are out early to block streets and corral pedestrians.  Helicopters are sent up to watch over the protests.  Media types are given notice so they can get their pics and vids for the news.  It's all very civilized. 

So, what's my point?  Protests and riots in Rome are a form of public performance art.  A distraction that sometimes gets a little out of hand.  They do not express a general unhappiness with the State nor do they lead to fundamental political change. 

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

A preacher's sloth?

Q:  Father, why no homilies lately?

A:  Licensed philosophers don't write homilies.  Heh.  Just kidding.  Since I left Blackfriars I haven't been the principal celebrant at Mass.  We have about 70 friars here at the Angelicum.  I never preside at the conventual Mass b/c it's in Italian.  And the English Mass schedule is well-stocked with American and Indian priests.  Sooooo. . .until I get back to the US and start presiding again. . .

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Bowl Browsing

B.O.'s A.B.C. Rule:  Anybody But Catholics.  B.O. won't give the bishops' a grant to fight human trafficking.  Why?  Because the bishops refuse to sacrifice a few kids to Moloch, of course.

Tea Partiers feed and clean up after themselves.  Occupy Wall St. Circus relies on food handouts and government sanitation workers.  Says a lot.

10 Things Every Catholic Ought to Know. . .and be able to explain at a moment's notice.

The de-Italianization of the Vatican's Bishop Factory.  Well, that explains why episcopal appointments have been happening so quickly lately.

Credit where credit is due:  PBS airs Fr. Robert Barron's series, Catholicism.  This will be a serious, faithful presentation of the faith.

Marxist prof a little shocked when students push back against her ridiculous claims about the Tea Party.  Watch the vid all the way to the end and hear how our Betters treat opposition.

Why are so many professional politicians rallying to the Occupy Wall St. Circus?  "Everything they believe in has failed, so they are turning nihilistic."   Once you dump the possibility of knowing objective truth, nihilism is only other option.

Meanwhile in Boston:  the Lefty Circus spits on a uniformed female Coast Guard officer and forces the cancellation of a small business food drive.  Yup, just like those Tea Party nutcases.

Ummmm. . .OK. . .uhhhhhh. . .I dunno. . .sorry, this is just wrong.

This will take three seconds to process:  one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi.  There it is!

400 uh?  I'm behind by 399. . .'nuff said. 

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

There's probably no Dawkins. . .

What's Dawkins afraid of. . .my guess:  a face-to-face beating by a professional philosopher who has demonstrated again and again that Dawkins knows diddly about Christian theology, logic, or common courtesy. 

From the article:

Something is afoot in Oxford. The Christians are fighting back. To herald the 'Reasonable Faith Tour' with William Lane Craig, Oxford's buses are carrying the slogan: There's Probably No Dawkins. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Oct 25th at the Sheldonian Theatre.

The advertising campaign follows Richard Dawkins' refusal to debate the existence of God with philosopher William Lane Craig as he visits the UK this month. He has an open invitation to debate Professor Craig at Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre on 25th October. The Oxford bus campaign echoes the 2009 London atheist bus advertisements: 'There's Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying And Enjoy Your Life.' 

[. . .]

Dr Dawkins preaches the need to seek truth, question everything, and to not become duped by emotions or wishful thinking... yet he has used his website (the "clear-thinking oasis") to hurl ad hominem attacks at 'Dr' Craig (as he calls him, on the rare occasion that he acknowledges his title), complaining that his ideas are 'unpleasant'. This was the precise strategy he used against His Grace a few years ago, labelling His Grace 'nasty' (quoted in the 'honours and citations'). Academic responses and counter-arguments? Zero.

Dr Dawkins' hypocrisy is pure and undiluted.

Read the whole thing.


Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Bowl Browsing

America's Educational System Presents:  Entitled Narcissist.   This guy is what happens when we abandon the western tradition of rational-critical thinking and replace it with the idol of self-esteem.

Dems embarrassed by B.O.'s rather authentic imitation of W.'s "war criminal" record?  Don't you need a conscience before you can be embarrassed? 

Why do teens leave the Church?  None of these reason is all that surprising.  All we can do is teach and preach the gospel with the mind and body of the apostolic Church and let the Spirit do His job.

Two US dioceses move toward not offering the Precious Blood at communion.  Not sure what I think of this; I mean, I understand that Christ is fully presence in the host, but I'm not sure that the reasons being given for withholding the Chalice are convincing.

Killing children for money.  No, it's not a story about abortion. . .it's about another form of human sacrifice for $$$.

Pretty lights. . .oooooooooo. . .

This is what happens when you wait until after the Zombie Apocalypse to get married.  Told ya.

I'd need one of these alarm clocks. . .if I didn't already leap out of bed at 4.30am all perky and bright.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Lefty Hypocrisy or Suicidal Tendencies?

Limo Liberals who support the Occupy Wall St Circus:

#1 Yoko Ono Net Worth - $500 million.

#2 Russell Simmons Net Worth - $325 million

#3 Roseanne Barr Net Worth - $80 million*

#4 Deepak Chopra Net Worth - $80 million

#5 Kanye West Net Worth - $70 million

#6 Alec Baldwin Net Worth - $65 million

#7 Susan Sarandon Net Worth - $50 million

#8 Michael Moore Net Worth - $50 million

#9 Tim Robbins Net Worth - $50 million

#10 Nancy Pelosi Net Worth - $35.5 million

* The linked article notes that Barr publicly called for the execution of all those worth more than $100 million.  Now we know why she set the beheading limit where she did.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Calvin gets it right. . .

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Bowl Browsing

A postmodern version of Nero fiddling while Rome burns?  E.U. nannies ban children from blowing up balloons.  Europe is sliding into the abyss and E.U. bureaucrats are legislating who can and can't inflate a party favor.  

Lawyers who wrote memo arguing that B.O. has the authority to kill an American citizen w/o trial are the same lawyers who blasted Bush for doing the same thing. 

Hypocrisy Alert:  "Why Isn’t the Working Families Party Paying Its Employees a Living Wage?"  NB.  The WFP is one of the many lefty groups currently "occupying Wall St." 

Though not as prominent or loud as the Pelvic Dissidents, there is an increasingly worrisome rise in the number and volume of those who place Real Catholic Folk Heroes above the magisterium.

Occupy the Vatican?  Fordham "theologian" calls for protests against the Church.  I say, "Go For It!"  It's just the nail the Church needs to seal the coffin of the Professional Ecclesial Left.

“They expect everything, everything for free, nothing to pay."  Of course they do.  Making them pay for stuff does violence to their self-esteem.   Wards of the State don't pay.  Sheesh.

Coptic Christian martyrs in Egypt.  "Arab Spring" not such a great thing for Christ's own.

Another Episcopal parish escapes the suicidal destruction of the Anglican Communion.  Welcome!

Server's down. . .achhhkkkk. . .sunlight!!!

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Greatest American Catholic Intellectuals

The Georgian Institute at Benedictine College in KS posts a useful list:  "10 Greatest American Catholic Intellectuals."  I've added links to each for more information.

Orestes Brownson (1803–1876)

John Courtney Murray (1904-1967)

John Senior (1923-1999)
 
Avery Dulles (1918-2008)

James Schall (1928-)

Ralph McInerny (1929-2010)

Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009)

Mary Anne Glendon (1938-)
 
George Weigel (1951-)

Robert P. George (1955-)

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Calling all nerdy Thomists. . .

I need a little help with a question about Aquinas' definition of truth in the Summa.

In my thesis I used what I thought was the definition of truth given by Thomas in the Summa: "Veritas logica est adaequatio intellectus et rei" (ST.I.21.2).  Because I had seen this definition quoted in Maritain, Lonergan, the Catholic Encyclopedia, and the recent Davies/Leftow translation of the Prima pars, and a couple of other places, I didn't check the Latin text of the Summa to verify it (mea culpa!).  

One of my inquisitors. . .ermmmm. . .I mean, examiners pointed out that this definition never appears in the Summa.  The problem is the addition of the word logica in the definition quoted above. 

Any ideas/suggestions/explanations out there about how the word logica got inserted into these sources?

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Bowl Browsing (OccupyHancAquam Edition)

OccupyWallStreet:  "anarchists for Big Government."  Heh.

On creating your own dragons to slay:  Challenge violent Islamic hegemony?  Too dangerous.  "Better to create a dragon that can only be slain with performance-art zombie metaphors.”

Occupiers & Tea Partiers:  "Scrape off the 31 different kinds of Marxist mold growing on the surface of the 99 Percenters, hose off the stench of urine, bong water, and failure, and you’ll find a complaint that many Tea Partiers can appreciate. . ."

Boston officials (all Dems) let Occupiers occupy their city w/o permits.  Not so much when the Tea Partiers were in town.

"Down with evil corporations," he wrote on his iPhone while balancing a Starbucks' venti latte on his Edie Bauer backpack.

Good morning!

Don't ask.   Just accept it and move on.

Hairy Captain Picard cradles a log.  No, seriously.

Rockin' goats.

She saw the whole thing!  And now she can't unsee it.

I can actually smell this picture.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Editing as propaganda

Under the title, "Cops beating people up at occupy wall street," the blog masters of the protesters' site posts an interesting video:

What you don't see in the video above is what happened about few seconds before the cops start waling on people. Here's the unedited video:

Can you tell the difference?

Just in case: in the top vid we see Evil Corporate Stooges assaulting poor peace-loving citizens. In the unedited video we see these same peace-loving citizens counting down and then rushing the police en masse.

Wonder why the OccupyWallStreet folks edited out that part? Hmmmmm. . .




Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

DoneDOneDoNEdOnE!!!!!!

I passed.  One word:  "Hallelujah"





Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Finished (almost)

Finished the first part of the license exam!

My topic:  the metaphysical constitution of finite being. 

 Piece of cake.  Finite cake, that is.

Tomorrow is the presentation and defense of the thesis and an exam on my topics outlines.

Then. . .(drumroll, please!). . .I.WILL.NEVER.HAVE.TO.TAKE.ANOTHER.TEST.IN.MY.LIFE.

Never.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Bowl Browsing

Palin isn't running. . .Deo gratis!  I like most of the things that make the Barracuda the whipping-girl of the MSM, but I can't imagine her as Prez.  I was cheering for the Fat Man. . .but he's out too.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs.  I remember the day in 1987 when Ole Miss got 50 Mac 512K's for our brand spanking new Writing Center--one of the first such centers in the U.S.  Unfortunately, we used our Mac's for Evil by teaching writing according to the Marxist theories of Pablo Freire.

A point by point response to the Occupy Wall St. demands.  His basic point is that these Rainbow-Unicorn delusionists utterly fail to understand human nature.  It looks to me like they want everyone in the U.S. to become subsidized full-time university undergrads majoring in Peace Studies. 

CCHD is still funding dubious lefty "community organizing" groups that explicitly oppose Catholic teaching.  Remember this when the plate comes around in November.

The Dallas Charter used as a tool of vengeance.  For all practical purposes, that's what it was designed to do.

The Mass is an infinitely malleable celebration designed by each succeeding generation of Catholics to satisfy contemporary needs. . .until we get it the way we want it then it's a fixed, unalterable text.

Ah, the ambitions of youth. . .

This is funny.  I don't know why.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

A few questions. . .

Lots of questions from y'all about the No-Philosophy-Doctorate-for-Fr-Philip News.  

Most of these questions are some version of:  where will you be assigned?  Don't know yet. Suggestions?

The next is:  what happened?  Nothing happened.  After reporting in to my Provincial and Regent and asking them for some clarification on my Roman Mission, they decided to call me home.  I think they miss me.  :-)

A couple of you asked whether or not I will get to teach philosophy.  Very likely.  There are a number of places where this could happen.  In fact, not doing the PhD probably makes it more likely that I will end up teaching philosophy somewhere.  Ph.L.'s are cheaper to hire than Ph.D.'s.

So, you're still gonna need all those philosophy books, uh?  Yup. 

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Bowl Browsing (Sorta-cranky Edition)

Heh.  Even their "revolutions" are market-tested, campaigned, and financed.  No wonder no one takes any of this leftist dribble seriously.

Their reality-challenged "demands."  It's about what you'd expect from a generation whose members were incubated as Wards of the State and graduated into the warm, comfy totalitarianism of the academic alter-verse.

A letter to the Brats in Manhattan:  "You know what [real working folks] don't worry about, ever? Smashing patriarchy and capitalism."

More on the dramatic decline in violent crime in Chicago after gun ban is ruled unconstitutional. 

Fast & Furious Lying:  Oh my, AG Holder lied to Congress about selling guns to Mexican drug cartels.  Gov't officials lying???  What's next?  Cheerleaders cheering?  Firefighters fighting fires?

Anti-Catholic Nannies in Canada fine a Catholic group for celebrating Mass.  It's the Frog in Boiler of Cold Water, folks.  Feel the water getting hotter.

Military archbishop rules out same-sex weddings at West Point's Catholic chapel.  Prediction:  some Pentagon bureaucrat is going to pull an arcane administrative rule out of his. . .ermmm. . .nose and close the chapel.

B.O. waives penalities against countries who use children as soldiers.  Still waiting for Leftist Outrage™.

First World Problems:  a fat tax in Denmark.

Pumpkin carving ideas. . .

Jim Jones' cult was a "social gospel" project.  The "Peoples' Temple" was actually a communist front.  Learn something new everyday. . .

LOTS of creepy Wikipages. . .

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Thanks. . .

Thanks to Jenny K. and D.J. for the Kindle Books!

I am well stocked for the months ahead.  Be assured of my prayers. . .

God bless, Fr. Philip, OP


Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Arrivederci Roma!

I rec'd news yesterday morning that I am to finish the philosophy license and return to the U.S. for reassignment.

IOW, no philosophy Ph.D. for me. 

I wasn't expecting this bit of news at all.  There are a number of reasons for this change. . .let's just say that I am needed at home.

I am not at all unhappy about this change.  From the beginning I've been deeply ambivalent about starting another doctorate at 47 y.o. and about my ability and commitment to complete the work required.  I've been more or less a full-time student since 1982, and I am tired of taking exams, writing papers, etc. . . I know, I know:  Dominicans are always students. . .but Dominicans are not always enrolled as students in an academic institution. 

No word yet on where I will be assigned or what I will be doing.  Please pray for my provincial, Fr. Chris as he discerns our needs and how I can help meet them.

God bless, Fr. Philip

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

On being cranky, flying monkeys, and mashed toes. . .

I've been in an uber-cranky mood all day. . .more on this later. . .

And then I saw this on facebook:

 And laughed so hard I smashed my toe on the underside of the desk. 

Not cranky anymore. . .but my toe hurts.


Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee BOWL Browsing

Headline you'll never see:  When He Was a Democrat, Perry Owned Ranch Named with a Racial Slur.  Yea, doesn't really fit the narrative.

TX Dems defend Perry.  Oddly, I never heard much about Perry one way or the other when I was in TX.  By design, TX's governor is relatively weak.

Don't visit this site if you think gov't is the solution to all of our problems.  

Looks like all those "Occupy _____" protests are really just fronts for public-sector unions. 

U.N. economist on Climate Change:  “One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy.  This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore. . .one must say clearly that we redistribute de facto the world’s wealth by climate policy.”

 

Pics and video of B.O. marching with black supremacist group, the New Black Panthers, in 2007.  Imagine Bush or Perry or Newt marching with the KKK. . .

Did Jesus die for the Klingons?  "Christians, in particular, might take the news [of the existence of extraterrestrial life] hardest, because the Christian belief system does not easily allow for other intelligent beings in the universe. . ."  This is nonsense.  There is nothing in Christian doctrine that precludes the existence of extraterrestrial life, or their inclusion in salvation history.

Hysterical predictions of local pols prove to be. . .well. . .hysterical.  Dramatic drop in Chicago's violent crime rate after the Supremes overturn the city's gun ban. 

Feds inflate census figures for same-sex couples by 160%.  Now, why would they do that?

May Catholic get piercings, tattoos, etc.?  Generally speaking, I think tattoos are a bad idea for Catholics.  This is not a hill I'm willing to die on.  Piercings--other than ear piercings--also strike me as a bad idea.  Not gonna die on this hill either.  Discuss.

Great story on America's only pontifical seminary:  the Josephinum.

The Procrastinator's Creed!  Nos. 4 and 11 are my personal favs.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Prayer request

Just a quick note to say THANKS for the travel prayers and the exam prayers. . .

I realize how many HA readers keep me in their daily prayers. . .as I pray daily for y'all!

When (and if) I pass the license exams, I will be poised to start the PhD.  What happens after that is a mystery.

Please add an intention to your prayers for me:  to know what I must do and for the strength to do it.  

NB.  That sounds cryptic, I know. . .there's nothing strange or monumental going on.  Just normal stuff.  

Mille grazie and God bless. . .Fr. Philip

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

A Lovely Mistake. . .

Made it to Rome!

Good trip. . .I made a mistake on my seat selection when I checked in on-line Friday afternoon.  Got to Heathrow this morning and saw that I was seating in the middle way up front.  No, no, no.  Ample Friars are not made to sit in the middle.  So, I told the nice lady at the counter that I had obviously made a mistake and could she help me fix it.  (I may have shed a small tear. . .actually, it was sweat but I sniffed a few times and she bought it. . .).  Anyway, she told me to present myself at the gate counter to see what they had available.  AND!  AND!  She didn't charge me for my ridiculously oversized bag o'books/clothes/etc.  When I got to the gate counter, another nice lady told me that the first nice lady had reassigned me to business class!  And not only did I get business class, but I got all three seats on my row. . .and since we were on a British Air jet, we were served Afternoon Tea.  As the Brits says, "Lovely."

And just in case I didn't get the message that God loves me best. . .I was met at the gate of the Angelicum by a young friar named Juan Carlos who insisted on hauling that 80lbs. bag of books/clothes/etc. up the stairs of the university.  

Now, if only someone would bring me a scone and some tea. . .

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Volo a Roma!

Headed to London this morning to catch a plane back to Rome.

License exams take place next Friday (8th) and Saturday (9th).  Please keep all the students in prayer.

God bless, Fr. Philip

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Cup Browsing

10 Things Catholics Should Know about the New Mass Translation. . .we've been using the new translation for about month here in the U.K.  No exploding heads, no pew riots, no increase in domestic violence, no cats and dogs sleeping together. . . IOW, none of the disasters predicted by the dino-left.

(NB.  One criticism of the new setting for the Gloria. . .it's almost unsingable. Every time we've tried it here, it's pretty much been a disaster.)

The probability of you existing is about as close to zero as you get!

Reason #6,589,362 to dissolve the U.N. and use that ugly building in NYC as storage.

The South will rise again!  "Americans, black and white alike, are moving in record numbers to a part of the country where taxes are low, unions are irrelevant, and people love their guns and their faith."

Christian pastor condemned to die in Iran b/c he refuses to recant his faith.  (NB.  The B.O. White House has denounced the sentence.  Score one for B.O.!)

P.C. multi-cultism ain't the future:  "Vigilant Americans must restore the founders’ vision before multiculturalism forever eclipses our last vestiges of liberty."

Speaking of P.C. multi-cultism:  more evidence that our universities have become "nurseries of nonsense." 

Very interesting. . .though I don't plan on getting arrested anytime soon, if I do I'll remember to keep my big mouth shut.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Belated D/L's and Grazie's. . .(UPDATED)

Speaking of the Kindle Wish List. . .mille grazie to Glenn S. and "HomeBirth Mom" for their contributions to my Kindle collection. . .

Kindle Wish List motto:  Books To Keep Me Sane While Doing Philosophy.  

:-)

P.S.  Per Lynn's suggestion from the combox:  all but one of the books on the Kindle Wish List are under $3.50.  

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Cup Browsing

Historic levels of distrust in the gov't among Americans. . .well, given what a gigantic screw-up the gov't is, we'd be foolish to trust it, right?

Dem governor suggests that we suspend Congressional elections. . .

87% of doctors do not think that the AMA represents their views.  What happened?  ObamaCare. 

Fr. Schall on the legal persecution of the Church in the U.S. 

Excellent piece on the difference btw The Documents of Vatican Two and the often sneering, dismissive commentary of Pro Progs who commune with the "spirit" of Vatican Two.  

Science proves driving gender stereotypes to be true; i.e. Women Really Are Bad Drivers.  (ducks/runs).

Time to abolish the DHS?  Hmmm. . .abolish another way for our politicians to dole out our money to keep themselves in office. . .doling out our money???  Nawwwww. 

Cartoon insights into the question:  why do Catholics who hate the RCC stay in the RCC?

P.S.  Since the response to my last Kindle Wish List Update was so good. . .thought I'd try it again.  :-)  <-- cheesy grin. . .

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

License Update. . .

License News. . .

The 20 page "themes schema" is done and sent.  The T.S. is a collection of 2 page outlines/biblio of 10 themes assigned according to your section (anthropology, history, Aquinas).  The hard part of me was keeping the outlines/biblio to just 2 pages each.

Also, got the Lost Thesis recopied, rebound, and shipped to Rome.  Only cost me $80!   Still wondering why my lost thesis is my problem given that I didn't lose it. . .

Speaking of Rome. . .my flight back to the Eternal City leaves Saturday.  License exams, etc. take place Sat., Oct 7th.  Keep us in prayer, please. 

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Prayers, please: thesis missing

The Devil is after me again. . .

I've been working feverishly this week to put the final touches on the last piece of the license process:  the Theme Outlines, i.e., 10 themes from the history of philosophy outlined in two pages each with a short bibliography.  Sounds easy!  Just two pages!  Easy-cheesy.  Yea.  Try stuffing the history of the ontological argument for the existence of God--all 12 versions--and all the criticisms of each version into two pages.  Fun, fun. . .

Anyway. . .while I am busy cruising the history of philosophy and outlining stuff, I learn from the dean of my department in Rome that the secretary's office of the university has lost all three copies of my license thesis.  Way back in June of 2010, I asked one of the brothers to hand the thing in for me b/c I needed to catch a plane and the university office was closed when I went to hand it in. 

Now, it's lost.  So. . .send those prayers to St Anthony for me!!!

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Cup Browsing

Brit Lefties won't understand the Tea Party.  Yup.  I can attest to that fact from personal experience.  

With the predictability of a Swiss clock:  anti-Don't Ask Don't Tell group agitates for expanded "rights" after winning the repeal of DADT.  

Another reason to dissolve the U.N.:  ". . .the fate of the peace process and of American influence in the Middle East fell to Gabon, Nigeria, and Bosnia, the way any smart, sane international assembly would want it."

$16 million for muffins?  "I know you’re angry, but don’t forget that DOJ made some extra cash this year selling AK-47s to Mexican drug cartels. Those muffins are paid for, dude."

Ironically, it's the Diversity Industry in the universities--allegedly devoted to including the disadvantaged--that's pricing the poorest out of a college education.

FBI analyst:  Islam is the problem not individual terrorist groups who happen to be Muslim.  I don't know enough about Islam to know if he's right about this.  His assertion strikes me as overly broad.

Catholic campus ministry wins suit against UW!  Congrats!

Catholic Charities in IL would lose half its funding b/c of the state law allowing same-sex couples to adopt kids.  More evidence that SSM is all about hurting the Church.

Fr. Robert Barron on the supernatural elements in Catholicsm. . .part of his new PBS series on the faith.  PBS?  Yes, PBS.  Hmmmmmm. . .

Foreign aid, the U.N., and a $16,000 a night hotel suite for the Prez of Rwanda.  NB.  which country at the U.N. has the best record for paying NYC parking fines?

When pigs fly. . .

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

FR. Lew!

 

Br. Lawrence Lew, OP is now FR. Lawrence Lew!

He was ordained priest on Sept 17, 2011 at Blackfriars, Oxford by Archbishop Joseph Tobin, C.Ss.R.

The two friars next to the bishop were ordained deacons that day as well:  

Rev. Br. Haavar Nilsen, OP and Rev. Br. Robert Verrill, OP

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Cup Browsing

Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus admits that they'd be protesting the W.H. if B.O. weren't President.   Does make them racists?

Anti-capitalist Day of Rage was a massive fail.  Of course it was.  For all its problems, capitalism is still the best way to raise folks out of poverty and Americans know it.

Speaking of Massive Fails:  "green jobs."

Hollywood hates Mississippi.  I wrote a research paper in seminary showing that the largest number of Klansmen in the 1920's lived in NY and OH. 

Nanny State punishes couple for holding a Bible study in their home.  Yes, folks, you need a permit from Nanny to study the Bible at home.

From Canada:  ". . .the press gave the great American republic an untried, unknown and. . .incompetent figure as President."  And their professional standing has suffered thus.

Radical lefty group tries to charge the Holy Father with "crimes against humanity" in the International Criminal Court.  Yet another reason to dismantle these Globalist institutions.

How Classical Liberalism devolved into Coercive Liberalism.

No comment.  (Hey, you gonna eat those peanuts?)

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Cup Browsing

UnGoodThink in the U.K.  30,000 kids a year labeled "racist" and "homophobic."  I say tattoo the little snots so we'll all feel safer. . .oh, and let's make sure that their kids get tattooed as well. . .ya never know, UnGoodThink could be genetic.

Yawn.  German pols pitch a hissy-fit about Pope's visit.   

Latest Stab to the Heart of Anglicanism:  canon of Church of Ireland cathedral enters civil union with his boyfriend.

Cabbies in NYC have the right to refuse racy ads. . .Good.  Would they have won this right had they been Christian? 

The B.O. White House is ". . .a genuinely hostile workplace to women.”

The federal gov't has a higher standard for what counts as a Catholic university than the bishops do!

Muslims banned from praying in French streets.  Let the rioting begin!

Must remember this. . .might need it one day.

Local police conduct a physics experiment.  Result?  Two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time. . .even with the sirens going.

Hey!  Don't toss that fan. . .I can use it.

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Kindle Wish List (Update)

I've updated the Kindle Wish List!  (hint...hint)

After wading through some Plato, Aquinas, and Heidegger. . .I long for a bit of dungeons and dragons.  (NB.  No, Jesus didn't make me to be a philosopher!)

NB.  Mille grazie to Glenn S. and Matthew R. for the Kindle Books. . .you guys made my Saturday morning!

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Coffee Cup Browsing

Facts Under Construction. . .the latest paranoid theater piece from the B.O. campaign.  LOL!

Dem Congressman:  "You don't deserve to keep all of [your money]. . ."  Now there's a campaign slogan if I've ever heard one.  Definition of "gaffe"?  When a politician tells the truth.

A Confederate flying machine?  Too late to save the South during the War of Northern Aggression.

Hate crimes against Christians on the rise in Europe. 

The Holy See says the SSPX must accept the teachings of Vatican 2 if they want to rejoin the Church.  I wish the Vatican would say this to our more "progressive" brothers and sisters!

Abortion stats for NYC:  60% of black babies aborted.

Does the science of evolution debunk the faith?  Short answer:  No.  Nor can it.

My new favorite site:  Lifehacker.  Along the same lines:  Instructables.

Two B.O. appointed federal appeals court judges get the dates wrong.  They threw out a VA lawsuit based on an easily verifiable fact.

I'd do something like this.   No.  Seriously.

7 Reasons Why the Zombie Apocalypse will fail.  Yea, whatever.  I still want my Zombie Machete.


Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Military rule for America?

A recent survey of America's institutions is very bad news for Congress and very good news for the military.

Only 8% of those polled trust Congress.  Fifty-four percent trust the military.  At first I thought that this was an excellent result.  Congress doesn't really deserve our trust and the military does.  

However, a second and third thought gave me pause.  Is this healthy?  I mean, is it healthy for a nation's citizens to trust its military more than its democratically elected representatives?  

Don't get me wrong here:  I agree with these results!  America's military is a top-notch, professional organization stocked with well-trained, dedicated men and women who risk their lives daily for the maintenance of our nation's security.  Can we say the same for Congress?  Hardly.

So, what's the problem?  The military is not (and should not be) a democratic institution.  What does it say about the nation's direction that we trust an authoritarian organization more than a democratic one?

For a minute or two there I had visions of Americans welcoming military rule.  Is such a thing possible?  Of course it is.  Probable?  No.  But the level of anger and frustration with Congress, the President, and the Courts increases the chances of seeing some sort of authoritarian rule in the future.  

Natural disasters, economic collapse, terrorism, etc. push us toward longing for the kinds of decisive, non-political solutions to our nearly overwhelming problems that the military could provide.  I am confident that our military men and women would resist taking on the power and responsibilities that martial law would require. . .

Sadly, religious institutions rank  slightly below our public schools as trustworthy.  Frankly, this is the spot we deserve. 

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Strange miracles?

St. John Chrysostom

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

Blackfriars, Oxford U.

A strange miracle. Is the phrase “strange miracle” redundant or oxymoronic? Are you repeating yourself when you label an event not only “miraculous” but “strangely miraculous”? Or are you contradicting yourself? Writing against the heresies of Marcion in the second century, Tertullian uses Jesus' miraculous resuscitation of the widow's son to a make a point about Christ's relationship with his Father. In the process of making his devastating point, Tertullian quickly summarizes the scene from Luke and notes, almost off-handedly, “This was not a strange miracle” (Against Marcion, IV.18). Not a strange miracle? Correct me if I've misunderstood something here but Luke is reporting that Jesus has just brought a dead man back to life? Out of compassion for a widow whose only son has died, Jesus tells the woman not to weep, and then touches the dead man's coffin, and says, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” And he does. Now, Tertullian is telling us that it is not strange that a dead man rose from his coffin and started talking? Nothing odd about that at all. Nothing unusual in the least. Well, I am most confident in declaring that Tertullian and I have very different definitions of the word “strange.” To be fair to Tertullian, he's making a fairly broad point by using this Lucan miracle. His broader point is that the revival of the widow's dead son is not at all strange when viewed in the longer history of prophetic miracles. He asks, if God's prophets can perform miracles of such magnitude, why not His Son? Especially when the miracle bears the burden of revelation: “. . .they glorified God, exclaiming. . .'God has visited his people.'” 

Just a day or two before reviving the widow's son, Jesus had healed the centurion's servant. In both cases, Jesus showed compassion and exercised great power. In both cases, his interventions gave witness to his ministry and glory to God. And in both cases, news of his words and deeds spread like wildfire over Judea. There is one interesting difference btw the two events. In the case of the sick servant, Jesus acts on a request for healing. No such request is made in the case of the widow's son. What's interesting is that the power and glory of God are revealed in both cases, whether those most directly involved in the miracle ask for God's help or not. Where Christ goes—preaching, teaching, healing—so goes the most exacting revelation of God possible. The truth of that revelation—God's Self-revelation—is not contingent upon the need, the desire, the faith, or the credulity of those to whom He reveals Himself. To those with eyes to see and ears to hear, He is uncovered, unveiled, and all there is to do is give thanks and praise! For others, strangeness abounds when a miracle occurs and there is nothing to do but seek an empirical explanation.

Let's ask a somewhat difficult question: do we need a strange miracle to occur before we can say with the utmost confidence: “God has visited His people!”? Do we need a man several days dead revived? Do we need a sick servant healed from a distance? If so, if we, if you need a strange miracle to believe, ask yourself why. Why do I need such thing? And consider: God visits His people daily in the Eucharist. In the breaking of the bread, a great prophet rises among the people. God's mercy; His healing touch; His cleansing spirit; all the gifts necessary to come to Him in the perfection of His Christ. . .all freely available right here in His Church. Think of them as miracles. . .strange little miracles, if you want. Regardless, strange or not, miracles or not, in the Eucharist, all of the sacraments, Christ touches you and says to you, “Arise!” Arise from death. Arise from sin. Arise from disease, doubt, distress, worry. Arise, speak, bear witness, and be yourself a revelation of God the Most High!

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->

Exaams

Received word about the comprehensive philosophy license (Ph.L.) exams. . .

The three hour written exam will take place on Oct. 7th.  The oral exams on the themes paper and the license thesis will take place either on the 6th or the 8th.  

Please pray for me and all those taking the exams!

Follow HancAquam & Check out my Wish List --------->