Playing Catch-up

Memorial of Pope St. Fabian
Memorial of St. Sebastian

I'm still looking to regain the blogging rhythm I lost when the house was flooded in October. This week's priorities have been five basketball practices (three that I coached for Troglotykes #'s 1's & 3's teams), 'Tyke #1's game (coached), 'Tyke #2's history fair project, and, oh yeah, two presentations today for work. Not that I'm complaining. Unlike last fall, I haven't been unplugged and have even noted a few items that I'd like to post, it's just that I haven't yet figured out how to carve the time consistently to write. Anyway, here are some short takes on just a handful of (mostly political) items:

1. It seems my streak of missing entertainment awards shows continues with the Golden Globes. No matter because the results were fairly predictable. Go figure.

2. Sen. Ted Kennedy continues his self-imposed cockshy ways, including the exposure of his membership in Harvard's Owl Club after his grandstanding over Judge Alito's membership in Concerned Alumni for Princeton. Go figure.

3. The Democrats, in their zeal to take political advantage of the Abramoff scandal, are failing to recognize that the "ethics arms race" they've launched with the "culture of corruption" bit holds little sway because the backroom deal mentality is presumed to be like catnip for politicians and already baked into the calculus for outrage by the populus, i.e., the phrase, "A pox on both your houses," isn't going away anytime soon. Go figure.

4. "I think a lot of people in film and the arts themselves feel kind of helpless..." Apparently the Sundance Film Festival is running short of soapboxes. Go figure.

5. The NFL has confirmed that it wanted Peyton Manning, Tony Dungy, and the Indianapolis Colts to win the Super Bowl by choosing not to fine Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, Joey Porter, for saying, "The whole world wanted Indy to win so bad, they were going to do whatever they had to do." While players are not often fined for criticizing officials, the high profile nature (playoffs and all) would have made it appropriate in this case, unless he was right. Go figure.

6. In other words, "Osama Bin Laden has fleas." Yeah, OK, go figure.

7. Hey, anybody want to go in with me on a hockey team?

New Look at hangingontonothing

Judd has made things more readable.

No Nonsense Country Music

Memorial of St. Anthony of Egypt
Happy Belated Birthday to Troglotyke #5

Last Friday night, the Troglodytrix and I were given tickets to the George
Strait concert. Since it has been only about three years since my complete
conversion to country music, I must confess that I am not that familiar
with his work, i.e., I recognize readily maybe a dozen, or so, of his
songs. Holy smokes! The man can sing and his Ace in the Hole band can play.
I'm almost always pleasantly surprised by the musicianship of groups on the
road, but this was to a different level. There is no glitz and glam with
Mr. Strait and his band--they don't need it.

The square stage was set in the center of the arena with a microphone on
each side, and he just rotated his way around the stage, with the group
behind him in the center. It was like watching a station-to-station
baseball team hit nothing but screaming line drives for about 20 runs. Or
maybe 29 because that was how many songs they performed in a near two-hour
set, with nary a waver in his voice, nor a hitch in a bridge, as they
covered a wide range from ballads to blues to old school to rock-a-billy to
contemporary. What a show!

[posted by e-mail]

USCCB Issues Statement on Transition in Iraq

Memorial of St. Hilary

Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando and chairman of USCCB Committee on International Policy released a statement offering some moral reflections from the Conference to help guide our nation along the difficult road ahead. While remaining skeptical of the concept of preventive war, the bishops recognize the US is bound to execute a "responsible" transition, including fostering increased international cooperation in the region. To their credit they even outline a framework to evaluate progress (something I wish the president would do). Read the whole thing for instructive context. Here's the truffle passage:

Our nation's military forces should remain in Iraq only as long as it takes for a responsible transition, leaving sooner rather than later. We welcome recent news reports that suggest that troop levels will be reduced as Iraqis assume more responsibility for their own security. But it is important for the United States to send even clearer signals that the goals of U.S. policy are to help Iraqis assume full control of their governance and not to occupy the nation for an indeterminate period. As one example, our government should declare that the presence of U.S. military personnel and bases in Iraq must be an Iraqi decision that respects the needs and sovereignty of the Iraqi people. ...

A responsible transition in Iraq means establishing a series of basic benchmarks, including:

-- Achieving adequate levels of security;

-- Establishing the rule of law;

-- Promoting economic reconstruction to help create reasonable levels of employment and economic opportunity; and

-- Supporting the development of political structures to advance stability, political participation, and respect for religious freedom and basic human rights.

Of course, the trick is defining "adequate," "establishing," "reasonable," and "supporting."

Benedict's First Encyclical is Due This Month

Since word leaked that he was working on it, I have been looking forward to the new pope's first encyclical. Traditionally, the first encyclical is programmatic, which is of particular interest to me because I had made a prediction before the conclave as to what we could expect from the next pope(s) by looking at the Church's 150-year renewal project in the analytical context of a system for integrating disruptive change, such as Vatican II. Some of what may be in store:

Deus Caritas Est is reportedly a document of about 40 pages. By tradition a papal encyclical takes its title from the first words of the text; thus it appears that the Pope begins with a quote from the Epistle of St. John (4:8). The document is said to be a deeply theological meditation on the centrality of Christ, divine love and human love; but the text also speaks at length about the concrete expression of love in charitable action.

(cap tip: Catholic Report)

Democrats Attempting to Slow Alito's Likely Confirmation

My apologies. This isn't news.

I've noticed that, in general, personally I seem to get along with (and like) orthodox Catholics and Jews (probably capital "O" Orthodox, too) and evangelical Christians. This isn't hard and fast because there are plenty of Protestants and heterodox Catholics on the list, too. But here's a question: Leahy, Kennedy, Biden... Is it the idea of a more conservative majority, or a majority of more (than they, anyway) orthodox Catholics on the bench that they can't stand?

Out of Crisis and Into Happiness, Or Happy Marriage, Happy Sex

Acton's Jennifer Roback Morse was interviewed recently by ZENIT on how the cure for many social ills lies in authentic sexuality. Here's a truffle passage as to why marriage is in crisis:

The marriage crisis is really a sex crisis. The modern world completely misunderstands the meaning of human sexuality. In spite of all our sex education and overtly sexual entertainment, we don't really understand what sex is all about.

We have the idea that sex is a private recreational activity, with no moral or social significance. If that's true, our sex partner becomes a commodity that may or may not please us. And in a consumer society, when we are no longer satisfied with a product, we get rid of it. I call this Consumer Sex.

The basic problem with Consumer Sex is that no one wants to be treated like an object. No matter how much we enjoy our casual sex while we're doing it, the truth is that no one, male or female, wants to be on the receiving end of being discarded. All the problems and disappointments that people experience in their college coed dorms and in dating can be traced to this one point.

We have created a culture in which it is socially acceptable to use people. The implicit agreement is this: You can use me as a sex object, if you allow me to use you. Instead of mutual love, we think sex is about mutual using.

This is why marriage is in crisis: We know that marriage needs sex, but we don't see that sex needs marriage. We realize that sex is necessary to a good marriage, but we don't seem to grasp the connection between marriage and having good sex.

And another on the key to a good marriage:

One of our problems is that we don't really understand love. We think that love means, "I like the way I feel when I'm with you." But every adult knows that feelings change far too much to form the basis of a lifelong marriage.

The Thomistic definition of love is "to will and to do the good of another." This formulation accents the fact that love is a decision. We can make a decision to do the good of the other person, even if we don't feel like it.

John Paul's emphasis on self-donation helps to highlight this deeper and more sustainable understanding of love. I describe it as "self-giving, rightly understood," as an analogy with Alexis de Tocqueville's famous description of Americans as embracing "self-interest, rightly understood."

Self-giving is an act of self-valuing because it presupposes that the person is valuable enough to be considered a gift.

Self-giving is inherently more social than self-interest, even rightly understood. Self-interest, rightly understood, has an element of reciprocity to it, but the reciprocity is added after the fact. We are taught to say, "I am valuable. Oh, by the way, so is everybody else."

With self-giving, there is no "by the way" about it. Giving presupposes a gift, a giver and a recipient. Community is at the center of the self-giving way of life.

The practical importance of this point is that our personal philosophy directs us to cultivate some attitudes and avoid others. Self-interest tells us to ask, "What's in it for me?" Self-giving tells us to ask, "How can I help?"

The self-giving philosophy of life has a far higher likelihood of producing a happy marriage.

Confirmation of a Reformation

In Thursday's Minneapolis StarTribune, Katherine Kersten relays the situation of blogger Michael Brodkorb in what could be a portent for other members of the long tail of the blogosphere:

... Brodkorb is one of the dozens of enterprising bloggers in Minnesota who keep the major media empires on their toes, sometimes beating them at their own game.

Last week, however, he found himself in a media-related battle royal.

The dispute started with a Brodkorb post Dec. 28 reporting that Hubert (Buck) Humphrey IV had solicited business from Coleen Rowley's congressional campaign on behalf of New School Communications, the public relations firm of veteran DFL political commentator Blois Olson. Brodkorb alleged that Olson began criticizing the Rowley campaign after it declined Humphrey's overture.

Olson fired off a rebuttal, which Brodkorb posted on his blog within minutes of receiving it. Olson said Humphrey was not acting for New School Communications: "Your story is ABSOLUTELY FALSE." In addition, he criticized the erstwhile anonymity of the blog and closed with a plug for his own political newsletter.

A week later, Olson pulled out the American weapon of choice: He filed a lawsuit, alleging defamation...

Instead of backing the little guy in the name of Free Speech, the Strib editors responded predictably, showing that despite recent content and format moves designed to co-opt the new media trend, they still don't get it:

Instead, the Star Tribune's Blog House column dismissed partisan blogs such as Brodkorb's as unworthy of the name, while the newspaper's opinion page gave Olson prime, above-the-fold space on Sunday to tell his side of the story.

But Kersten leaves no doubt as to where this will end, regardless of what happens in Brodkorb's case:

Blois Olson... is co-publisher of Politics in Minnesota, an e-newsletter that, like Brodkorb's blog, covers the political scene.

Annette Meeks, a former colleague of mine at the Center of the American Experiment, thinks publications such as Olson's are hard-pressed to compete today.

"The world is 24/7 now," she said. "Politics in Minnesota publishes a weekly report and a daily news compilation, and it charges for the information. Michael Brodkorb usually posts multiple times a day on his blog and provides his information for free. Brodkorb is beating his competition. It drives his opponents crazy that he's generally been spot-on, with all the little scoops he gets."

Have political blogs changed the environment for newspapers? "Many reporters tell me that they've been going to Brodkorb's blog for months," Meeks said.

2^30,402,457-1

That's the value of the new record for the longest known prime number, 9.1 million digits long, discovered recently by a team (not of mules) led by Curtis Cooper and Steven Boone of Central Missouri State University after nine years and using hundreds of computers. The effort is part of the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search competition that is seeking the first discovery of a prime number longer than 10 million digits. Sure the computing for this exercise resulted in a number of hardware and software improvements, or the number could be useful in some data encryption scheme, but why mention it? Because this is an illustrative example of the level of work I think the actual science part of intelligent design (ID) is, the attempted classification of specifically (irreducibly) complex evolutionary anomalies that could convincingly demonstrate the gaps in the neo-Darwinist model and possibly provide a framework for an alternate theory; derivative, incremental, and legitimate.

As long-time readers could expect, I agree with the result of the ruling in the Dover panda trial (it's too cute a turn not to use) that found that ID should not be introduced as part of the local school disctrict's science curriculum, although not necessarily for the same reasons. Perhaps with this result, the ID scientists will divest themselves from the movement's media marketing machine to focus on their own mind-numbing, esoteric quest, like Messrs. Cooper and Boone, and come back in a decade, or so, with the goods.

Joe Biden was Right

Happy Birthday to the Troglomatrix

At least when he said we should forego hearings and just focus on the public record of SCOTUS nominees. However, not even Katie Couric on Today could give him a pass when she cited the birth of the post-modern dance that is a confirmation hearing as a consequence of "Bork" becoming a verb. Now, I understand from the few minutes I heard of Hewitt on radio this evening that today's session was better in terms of there being some actual constitutional law discussed--I'll have to check the C-Span transcript--but if the complainer himself brings us his hate Princeton/love Princeton buffoonery after having months of preparation time and spends more time talking than the nominee he's "questioning" by what, 5-to-1 or 10-to-1?, then I heartedly agree that we shouldn't even bother.

Big Wheels Keep on Turnin'

Dave Hartline gives us another example of the Church on the rise, his encounter with successful, young women turning away from the material and to the holy by joining a rapidly growing order of nuns, namely the Sisters of Mary, with an average age of 28.

Many are wondering how this could be. Aren’t many orders becoming full of elderly nuns whose average age is somewhere around age 65? How could a community like this be growing and full of so many young women? Perhaps the first clue came from my wife after we talked to Sister Ave Maria. “They all seemed so happy and easy going; Sister Ave Maria was so down to earth and seemed so heartfelt in her excitement about what she’s doing.” There’s been a growing chorus in Catholic circles that many religious communities have become hotbeds of activism, some even challenging much of what the Church stands for and believes. This is not the case with this order of sisters. They are focused on their mission. ...

I have heard it said by some that lost unsuccessful women turn to these community because they can’t fit into society and have no skills to offer. One only needs to look at how well educated and successful some of these women are before they make that unsubstantiated charge. There are nurses, teachers and various kinds of other professional women in the order. Many had become successful in college or in the working world and still felt something was missing.

He goes on to relay a couple of scenes that undoubtedly have been played many times across the country (and the globe):

A couple of years ago, I was sitting at a table attending a Catholic convention when a group of nuns walked by in traditional habits. One of the women at the table said, “O God who would want to join that order in this day and age.” I voiced the opinion that I had read that those are the only orders that are growing. Another woman at the table chimed in saying she had heard the same thing to which the first woman replied. “If that’s true God help us all. We don’t need to go back in time we need to go forward.” The woman that first chimed in with me responded. “What does going forward mean? It sounds like you are talking about slogans and political agendas and I don’t think that is central to the Church’s message.” The other woman responded,” I think it is.” Both women left the table looking completely baffled as to what the other had said. ...

Over a few drinks late that night a couple of other convention attendees and me tried to count all the liberal sons and daughters of liberal Catholic parents who still practice their faith. We couldn’t come up with any. It seems the children of liberal Catholic parents end up in one of the following groups 1. They either attend a very liberal church, like the Unitarian Church or for the most part they attend no church at all. Some end up becoming agnostics. 2. They become quite conservative compared to their parents and often attend a more conservative parish than their parents attend. 3. They become conservative and attend an Evangelical church.

Now I am on record as preferring "heterodox" (see the reaction you get if you use that word in mixed company) to the more common "progressive," or "liberal" as Dave uses here. Regardless, he has put his finger on the button by taking a spin around the most famous thing Chesterton never said. Here's the truffle passage:

The message seems to be that people want their leaders to believe what they are saying. Would any sports fan trust the head coach of a team where few players, coaches and fans really seemed excited about being there? Would anyone go to a movie or play if the director seemed to be questioning his or her's involvment in the whole experience? I am not saying that all established orders are full of women challenging what the Church believes. I am certainly grateful for the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati who taught me. However, as evidenced by the growing numbers in traditional orders. The universal answer seems to be, people want to believe in what they are being told and want to be told it by people who truly believe it. Otherwise, they find something else to believe in and in the worst case end up believing in nothing at all. Surely, this is not what Jesus had in mind.

Hmmmmmm

[Original posted 1:48 PM, January 9, 2006]

I've seemed to have lost the formatting and links to my last two posts. Corrections forthcoming--but probably not until tonight.

Update:

They are now fixed.

The Truth Might as Well Go Eat Worms

The AP has reported:

An investigative Web site has alleged that James Frey's best-selling memoir
about substance abuse, A Million Little Pieces, wildly exaggerates his
past, with inflated claims about his criminal record and about his involvement
in an accident that killed two high school students.

"Police reports, court records, interviews with law enforcement personnel,
and other sources have put the lie to many key sections of Frey's book,"
according to an article posted Sunday on http://www.thesmokinggun.com/.

This follows Dr. Hwang's human cloning claims being shown to be fraudulent (although it appears his claims of cloning a dog are still legitimate).

And then there's last month's story that parts of Nicole Helget's critically acclaimed The Summer of Ordinary Ways, particularly some of the most compelling sections, are fabricated. One thing that is discomforting about this case is the response by Greg Britton of the Minnesota Historical Society Press, the publisher:

"It doesn't surprise me that there are people who disagree with Nicole's
memories," Britton says. "But they are her memories; she gets to own them.
Memory is a delicate thing. It's not necessarily about what happened. It's all
about the perception of what happened."

OK, I might agree that there may be some value in a memoir of the false memories of a 29-year old woman from a fairly typical middle class upbringing, but should it be published by a state historical society?

Beyond that, is it me, or is something going on here? It seems increasingly the truth can't get a dog to play with it wthout a pork chop necklace. But how much of this is old fashioned fraud, how much of this is being just plain wrong, and how much is innocently remembering differently? Or how much of it is something else?


technorati tags: James Frey

Kicking the Cohabit

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

In an uncommon display of backbone, the University of St. Thomas has told two professors that it will not sponsor their cohabitating "lifestyle choice" during a planned trip to Australia on the school's nickel. This follows an earlier incident when the university refused similar travel arrangements for a music instructor and her female "partner." The couple has since opted out of the trip rather than live such a, ummm, deceit. That both a Catholic university actually acting (however benignly) to uphold Church doctrine is news and that there is a debate that has been "playing out" for weeks on campus are predictable (and similar to many happenings at other Catholic schools). What really got my eyes rolling from this story, however, are the knock-your-head-upside-a-stalactite stunners from St. Thomas theology professor, David Landry.

If sin and vice become disqualifying factors for university employees, then
students might have to start teaching themselves.

Disqualifying factors for employees? They weren't fired, or threatened, or even censured--the university said it would not pay for a single room for an unmarried couple. There wasn't even a plan for bedchecks. Please, professor, can't we do without the goose-stepping hyperbole?

Landry, the theology professor, recently asked the question, "What would Jesus do?" and noted that in the Gospel of John, Jesus did not judge an unmarried Samaritan woman with a partner.

"He does not seem excessively concerned about the bad example she sets for her hearers, only that she is doing good and bringing others to faith," he wrote. "I thought I worked for the kind of institution that followed the example of Jesus."

I'm reminded here of a talk not-yet-then-Fr. Shane Tharp once gave for Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist at St. John the Baptist in Edmond, OK during one of his breaks from seminary. At one point, he addressed the fad of wearing "WWJD" bracelets. "'What would Jesus do?' is a fine question," he said, "as far as it goes." To illustrate, he went on to note that while many people are concerned correctly about feeding the hungry, when faced with a throng of 5,000 hungry people, Jesus responded specifically in a way we never could, namely the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

In the story of the Samaritan woman at the well (John, chapter 4), contrary to the professor's claim, Jesus is not concerned "only that she is doing good and bringing others to faith." After pointing out her sin out to her, He tells her that the Father is seeking those who will worship Him in truth (as revealed by God). In contrast, her people worship what they do not understand. She then went out and proclaimed the truth and brought others to the truth (and the way and the life), which, by the way, is distinctly different from faith. Here, the university couldn't reveal truth (that task belonging to God) and didn't even ask the couple explicitly to embrace truth, but only that they keep up the appearance of truth for a limited time, thereby only pointing out in a subtle way that the couple is, in fact, not married (although I suppose they could be in law, if they so chose). I wonder to what sort of plaint Professor Landry would be reduced if there were more imitation of Jesus by the administration.

Landry wrote in an e-mail that the response to his essay from faculty and staff has been overwhelmingly positive:

"There are a lot of people who are worried and/or angry about this."

I don't doubt it. And therein lies the rub.

Additional:

The Strib has its own report, and a Tommie undergrad chimes in predictably.

Laundering Abramoff's Money

Political strategist Rich Galen rightly calls Tom DeLay "the first political casualty of the Abramoff affair" after the former House majority leader announced he would permanently step aside and not seek to be reinstated after resolving indictments against him for money laundering and conspiracy related to financing of Texas state political campaigns. That DeLay agreed to this action after pressure from colleagues is probably significant, see Hugh Hewitt, Michelle Malkin, Captain Ed, etc. for ongoing analysis. Another point of Mr. Galen's with which I agree is this business of donating "contaminated" contributions from Abramoff to charity:

... If there was nothing wrong with the donation, then keep it. If there WAS something wrong with the donation - when was that something discovered and why did it take until now to decide the money was dirty?

Finally, we should keep in mind these are campaign donations. Elected officials are attempting to purchase decency by sending campaign donations - other people's money - to charities. I guarantee you that the accountants who oversee those campaigns will claim a charitable deduction from Federal income taxes next year to offset the taxes the campaigns have to pay on earned interest.

If the officials were serious about this, they would match the contaminated donations with a similar amount from their own checkbooks.

[emphasis added]

I don't think that this proves Nancy Pelosi's bald assertion that there is a Repbulican-bred culture of corruption in Washington, but politicians who pull such shenanigans need to be held to account, including the president.

New Jersey Legislature Puts Brakes on Stem Cell Bills

Memorial of St. John Neumann

It appears that New Jersey's acting governor, Richard Codey, will not meet one of his administration's core objectives. Citing concerns about legal challenges to the distribution of stem cell research grants in California (an ongoing story often tracked by The Troglodyte), the Assembly no longer has plans to consider more than a half-billion dollars of funding approved by the senate for stem cell research, including human embryonic stem cells. A bond bill that would ask voters next November to authorize $350 million for stem cell research grants over seven years and a $230 million capital spending bill with earmarks for Rutgers' New Brunswick campus and the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark are set to expire January 9 with the end of the current legislative session.

This, of course, is not the end, as Governor-elect John Corzine's transition office was quick to highlight his support as he takes office later this month. Barring a change in the next few days, the legislature would have to reintroduce and pass the bond measure by June 30, when the legislature recesses for the summer, to get it on the ballot this year.

Final - The Troglodyte Top Twelve

The ESPN.com tease for its immediate post-game Rose Bowl story

AUSTIN POWER

USC failed to make history. But the Rose Bowl lived up to the hype, as Vince Young's eight-yard touchdown run with 19 seconds to play (left) beat the Trojans 41-38 in a classic BCS title game. Young, who ran for 200 yards, passed for 267 yards and scored three times, guided Texas to its first national title since 1970.

highlights why since the Ohio State game, namely Vince Young, I had Texas #1 all year (recall as a matter of anti-hype priniciple I refuse to begin ranking until most teams are set to begin conference play). For the record, that game also is why I had Ohio State ahead of Penn State despite the Nittany Lions' head-to-head win at home.

Before the final season rankings, I must stand to account for my five leading questions heading into the bowl games:

1. Is the SEC as strong as I think it is?
Answer: "No, definitely no," with losses by Georgia, Auburn, and South Carolina and closer games than I expected by Florida and Alabama.
2. Is the Big Ten as deep as I think it is?
Answer: "No" with losses by all of Michigan, Iowa, Northwestern, and Minnesota (I expected at least two wins, possibly three wins).
3. Is the Pac Ten as weak as I think it is?
Answer: "Yes," see Oregon/Oklahoma, California/Brigham Young, Arizona St./Rutgers, and even UCLA/Northwestern (on paper should have been a wider margin).
4. Will we finally have the convincing evidence the Big East has no business with a BCS bid?
Answer: Clearly "no" with West Virginia's win over Georgia and Louisville's respectable showing against Va. Tech. Rats.
5. Will I be able to stomach the Paterno vs. Bowden hype?
Answer: "Yes," until the game started.

Now for the final rankings. Note that generally I do not "punish" teams for losing games they should lose according to the rankings, which explains why the rankings for USC and Notre Dame are unchanged this week despite their BCS-game losses. West Virginia and Wisconsin, both of which have been on the bubble for weeks, have finally been included, and Oregon and Miami have been dropped. I have again broken the rankings into tiers--now down from four to three. Let the arguments begin.

Rank. Team (Previous)
1. Texas (1)
2. USC (2)

3. Ohio St. (3)
4. Penn St. (4)

5. LSU (9)
6. Notre Dame (6)
7. Virginia Tech (10)
8. Alabama (11)
9. West Virginia (--)
10. Georgia (8)
11. Wisconsin (--)
12. Auburn (7)

Pope Benedict's Prayer Intentions for January

Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

General prayer intention:

That the effort to bring about the full communion of Christians may foster reconciliation and peace among all the peoples of the earth.

Mission prayer intention:

That Christians may know how to welcome migrants with respect and charity, recognizing in each person the image of God.

For more info, see the Apostleship of Prayer.