The Rockin' Traddy

Obama driving the debt car

2009-07-15T13:07:00.001-04:00

Awesome video illustration on the federal budget deficit and the shrieks about Bush and the shrugs over Obama. Who says math can’t be fun?

Hellbound seek to block motto

2009-07-14T19:27:00.002-04:00

Have you seen folks this? These people toast my muffin....

Father Shelton

2009-07-14T13:49:00.002-04:00

Father Shelton has a nice new blog you all should check out. If this is the kind of priest that's coming up through the system these days, thank God! Go check him out, tell him I sent you.

A Miraculous Medal?

2009-07-10T15:27:00.005-04:00

My friend Fr. Bechtel got me all fired up writing to me about Communion in the hand just now. So I was going to post something on that, (one of my favorite topics!) when I remembered I was going to write something about another fine Catholic devotion: The Miraculous Medal!

So I'm gonna stick with the Miraculous Medal.

In Paris, on the night of July 18, 1830, a 24 year-old novice of the Daughters of Charity was awakened by her guardian angel, in the form of a beautiful child about 5 years old. The novice, who would later be known as Saint Catherine Laboure, heard the tiny angel softly say, "Come to the chapel; the Blessed Virgin is waiting for you."

As they entered the chapel, Catherine saw that it was brilliantly lit with candles, as if for Midnight Mass. She was led into the santuary and knelt by a chair. Soon after, Our Lady entered and sat down in the chair. The angel told Catherine, "This is the Blessed Virgin."

Our Lady spoke to Catherine, "My child, the good God wishes to entrust you with a mission." She pointed to the altar and said, "Come to the foot of the altar. Here favors will be shed on all who ask for them. Favors will be shed especially on those who ask for them." She then told Catherine that her mission would be made known to her in the future.

Catherine's mission was revaled to her on November 27, 1830. While attending afternoon prayers, she was visited by the Virgin Mary again. Catherine learned that she was to introduce the medal of the Immaculate Conception to the world.

On that glorious day, the Blessed Virgin appeared standing on a globe and holding another globe in her hands. Her fingers were covered with rings, some of which sparkled brilliantly and showered down rays of light on the globe beneath her feet. Catherine heard a voice say, "The ball you see represents the world...and each person in it. These rays symbolize the favors I shed upon those who ask for them. The Jewels that give no rays symbolize the favors that are not given because they are not asked for."

After a moment, the apparition changed. The Virgin Mary was now standing on a globe with a serpent beneath her feet. Her arms were outstretched. An oval shape framed the Blessed Virgin, and on it were written the words in gold: "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." This was to be the front of the medal to be made.

Then, the vision revolved to reveal the reverse side of the medal. Catherine saw a cross with a bar at its feet that was intertwined with the letter "M." Beneath the letter were the hearts of Jesus and Mary, both surmounted by flames of love, one having a crown of thorns and the other pierced with a sword. Encircling all of this were 12 stars around the oval frame.

Catherine heard the voice tell her, "Have a medal struck after this model. All who carry this medal will recieve great favors...Favors will abound if this medal is worn with devotion." Saint Catherine Laboure now knew that her mission was to ensure that this "Miraculous Medal" was made, and to spread our Blessed Mother's message of love and compassion for all God's people.

Death throes?

2009-07-09T10:21:00.003-04:00

It must be sad to see yourself become obsolete.

So it is with SDACT and Michael Milz, it's president.

Pope Benedict has released a new encyclical titled “Caritas in Veritate”, translated means “Charity in truth”. His Holiness spends much time writing about things such as marriage and abortion, and touches briefly on, for whatever reason, labor unions.

Ever the straw grasper, Milz released a statement “It seems that no matter what the Holy Father or his brother bishops (who only last week gave a ringing endorsement of the rights of church employees) have to say about workers rights, Bishop Joseph Martino will not relent in his harsh opposition to grant these very same basic human rights to those who work for him,”

Ok, Milz. Life is a basic human right. Not a labor union. You guys have obviously lost the fight, move on. Choose something new you can oppose, like abortion maybe. Work with the Church instead of against it, and maybe you can have relevance again.

Legos Explain Obamacare

2009-07-07T13:35:00.001-04:00

Going through old emails...

2009-07-05T08:07:00.000-04:00

and found I misssed letting you in on this:

Peter Singer is a Princeton professor who believes it is okay for parents to kill their kids until their offspring are 28 days old. He also believes in bestiality: dogs, he says, can convey to their master whether they consent to intercourse. Now he is pushing clam rights.

In today’s New York Times, Nicholas Kristof writes that because Singer is uncertain about the capacity of shellfish to suffer, he tends to avoid eating them. Which means that Singer apparently believes that newborn kids who are knifed to death don’t suffer, but clams on the half shell might. Whether clams can consent to sex, Singer does not say.

The Rumor Mill And Assorted Stuff

2009-07-03T15:32:00.004-04:00

Heard today that Bishop Martino may very well be exiting our Diocese stage left.

Keep your ears to the ground and let me know what you are hearing, or what you may already know.....

Spent 1 1/2 hours today helping the economy by purchasing a new HDTV and stand. I won't go into the painful details, but needless to say WalMart should begin the distribution of IQ tests before they hire these dolts...

I am happy to hear Father Wilfredo Comellas is coming to Saint Aloysius in Wilkes-Barre. He said the Extraordinary Form in his Hazleton Church. I am looking forward to meeting him.

Whats with all this stupid rain? My garden is inundated with sogginess. I'm never gonna get my corn in at this rate. I may have already missed my window of opportunity as Fall will most likely begin the day after Labor Day...

That's all I have for now, I think. God Bless!

Some good news here.

2009-07-02T13:59:00.001-04:00

Bishop Joseph Martino announced extensive appointments of clergy throughout the diocese, with substantial shuffling in Luzerne County. Here is how the changes affect area churches.

Rev. Mark Balczeniuk will leave his post as pastor of Transfiguration in West Hazleton and become Eastern Pastoral Region Vicar, living at the Villa of Our Lady Retreat House, Mount Pocono. Rev. David Betts will leave his residence status at Sacred Heart of Jesus/St.John in Wilkes-Barre to become administrator at Transfiguration and St. Francis of Assisi, West Hazleton. Current St. Francis Pastor Rev. John Ruth will become administrator of two Scranton churches.

Monsignor Francis Beeda will change from pastor to pastor emeritus at St. Joseph and St. Stanislaus, Hazleton. Rev. Richard Cirba will leave his post as pastor at Holy Trinity, Swoyersville, to replace Beeda as pastor in the Hazleton parishes, and will be joined by Rev. Balireddy Ponnapati as assistant Pastor, who will leave St. Nicholas, Wilkes-Barre. The current assistant at the to Halzeton churches, Rev. Bryan Wright, will leave for a Mount Pocono parish. Rev. William Karle will leave his post as pastor at Holy Saviour, Wilkes-Barre, to become pastor at Holy Trinity and Holy name/St. Mary in Swoyersville. Current Holy Name pastor Rev. Louis Grippe will become pastor at Most Precious Blood, Hazleton. Current Most Precious Blood administrator Rev. Wilfredo Comellas will become assistant Pastor at St. Aloysius and St. Casimir, Wilkes-Barre, and Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Hanover Township. Rev. Kenneth Seegar will come from a church in Susquehanna County to be administrator at Holy Saviour.

Rev. Vincent Dang will move from pastor of Holy Family, Sugar Notch, to Pastor, Saint Frances X. Cabrini, Carverton, replacing Rev. James Shimsky who has been administrator. Shimsky is being assigned to two parishes north of Scranton. Rev. Joseph Kakareka will leave his post as administrator of Ss. Peter and Paul, Avoca, to take over as pastor at Holy Family. St. Mary, Avoca, Pastor Rev. Phillip Sladicka will also be pastor of Ss. Peter and Paul.

Rev. Joseph Evanko will leave his post as pastor at St. John Bosco, Conyngham, and Good Shepherd, Butler Township, to be pastor at St. Jude, Mountaintop. Current St. John, Stroudsburg Pastor Rev. John Lambert will be pastor at St. John Bosco and Good Shepherd. Current St. Jude administrator Rev. Michael Quinnan will be pastor in a Monroe County church.

Rev. Gregory Finn will leave his post as pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Pittston, to be pastor, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Harleigh, St. Gabriel, Hazleton, St. Nazarius, Pardeesville, and St. Mary, Lattimer The pastor at those parishes, Rev. Peter O’Rourke, will become pastor at St. Patrick, Scranton. Current St. Rocco, Pittston, Pastor Rev. Daniel Schwebs will be administrator at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. The four Hazleton area churches will also get two assistant pastors, Rev. Johnson Kochuparambil from Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Pittston, and Rev. Victor Leon, from Nativity of Our Lord, Scranton, and lose current assistant pastor Rev. Gregory Villaescusa to parishes near Towanda. The two Pittston churches will get Rev. Jackson Pinhiero as assistant pastor, from the St. Joseph’s Oblates Seminary.

Rev. Richard Fox, pastor at Holy Family in Luzerne, will move to St. Eulalia, Elmhurst. Rev. Michael Zipay will take over in Luzerne, arriving from a South Williamsport parish.

Rev. Duane Gavitt will leave his post as pastor at St. Aloysius and St. Casimir, Wilkes-Barre, to be pastor at Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Freeland, where current pastor Re. John Melnick is leaving for the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas. Eastern Pastoral Region Episcopal Vicar Rev. Andrew R. Sinnott will replace Gavitt at the two Wilkes-Barre churches and at Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Hanover Twp., where the current administrator, Rev. Paul Pudhota, will leave to become administrator at Holy Trinity, Wilkes-Barre and Holy Cross, Hanover Township. The current pastor there, Rev. Theodore Obaza, will become pastor emeritus.

Rev. Joseph Kearney, current pastor at Blessed Sacrament, St. Francis and St. John the Baptist in Wilkes-Barre will also be pastor at S. Dominic in Wilkes-Barre, where current pastor Rev. William Culnane will be pastor emeritus.

Rev. William Langan will leave his post as pastor at St. Francis of Assisi and St. Joseph, Nanticoke, to be pastor at St. John the Evangelist and St. Mary Magdalen, Honesdale. Rev. James Nash, current pastor of four other Nanticoke Parishes, will add St. Francis and St. Joseph to his list.

Rev. Michael Marchetti will leave a Montoursville parish to be pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows, West Wyoming, and St. Joseph, Wyoming, where the current pastor, Rev. James Walsh, will leave to be administrator of St. Francise of Assisi in Scranton.
Gate of Heaven, Dallas, pastor Rev. Kevin Mulhern will leave to be pastor at Our Lady of the Abingtons, Dalton. Rev. Daniel Toomey will leave a post in Montdale, to be pastor at Gate of Heaven and Our Lady of Victory, Harveys Lake.

The diocesan list of changes is here

Random thoughts on the news of the day...

2009-06-11T18:48:00.002-04:00

The left sees an opportunity in the tragic death of Stephen Johns to score some political points. They are claiming that the suspect, 88 year old James von Brunn is a "right-wing religious whackjob" Why didn't they refer to Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad who killed Pvt. William Long in Arkansas as a "militant muslim jihadist"? Gotta wonder where their priorities lie.

Since the murder suspect of Stephen Johns was a WWII veteran, maybe DHS should add all of the surviving WWII vets to their latest watch list. I know I'd feel a whole lot safer.

Obama's New CEO of GM: "I don't know anything about cars. I do know about business and I know about big business. And, you know, employees and all that sort of thing."

Yesterday The Weekly Standard reported that our troops are are reading Miranda rights to suspected terrorists. Reading Miranda rights to non-American citizens. By the way, Sarah Palin told us this would happen last year: "Al-Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America, and he's worried that someone won't read 'em their rights."

Forcing a Pro-Choice Crisis: What About Third Trimester Abortions?

2009-06-09T20:09:00.000-04:00

Forcing a Pro-Choice Crisis: What About Third Trimester Abortions?

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life

What do LeRoy Carhart, Warren Hern, and George Tiller have in common? They are among an unknown number who perform abortions in the third trimester of pregnancy (the third trimester being the seventh, eighth, and ninth month!)

For two decades I have been proclaiming from the pulpits of America that abortions happen in the third trimester. Many Americans find it hard to believe. Now, in the aftermath of the death of George Tiller, this fact is getting a bit more attention.

The Associated Press reported on June 2 in an article by Eric Olson that physician LeRoy Carhart of Nebraska wants to continue performing abortions at this late stage, but he, as well as Warren Hern, also want to make sure enough physicians are trained in how to do so.

How many are we talking about? The AP story reported, "Carhart said 75 to 100 of the "several thousand" abortions he performs annually are in the third trimester."

Stanley K. Henshaw, a senior fellow at the Guttmacher Institute, the research division of Planned Parenthood, and the best source of these statistics, is quoted in a June 5 Washington Post article as saying, "The information just isn't available...This is an area that we just don't know much about."

The Guttmacher Institute does report in its official statistics, however, that some 13,310 abortions each year are at 21 weeks or more of pregnancy (that is, 1.1% of the 1.21 million abortions per year). Of the 40 states that reported in 2005 to the Centers for Disease Control, 32 states reported abortions of babies 21 weeks or older.

This means that every day, 37 babies the size of a large banana are dismembered and decapitated - and these include healthy babies of healthy mothers...and it's happening legally.

These are babies that the mother can already feel moving. According to MedlinePlus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, these babies are storing fat on their bodies, their heartbeat can be heard with a stethoscope, they can hear, they have eyebrows, eyelashes, fingernails and toenails. Incidentally, MedlinePlus calls them "babies." (See www.nlm.nih.gov/MEDLINEPLUS/ency/article/002398.htm ).

Many people wonder how they can get some traction in the seemingly intractable abortion debate. How can they get people to listen, or make pro-choice people believe that pro-life people have good reason to be against abortion?

My suggestion: start by discussing the facts I just mentioned.

It's morally legitimate to focus on late-term abortion; that doesn't deny that all abortion is wrong; it's simply a way to get the ball rolling, a pedagogical method of going from the most obvious to the less obvious, of starting with what people know and leading to what they don't know.

When people are astonished by these facts, as they will be, they are forced to re-evaluate just how much priority "privacy" and "choice" have over life. If they are "pro-choice," they are forced to figure out when in pregnancy the line is drawn - and why.

And now you're talking.

The text and audio of this column can be found online at www.priestsforlife.org/columns/columns2009/09-06-15-pro-choice-crisis.htm

Fr. Frank's columns are podcast. Click here for more information.

Comments on this Column?
Priests for Life
PO Box 141172
Staten Island, NY 10314

Indian priests fill void

2009-06-08T07:59:00.002-04:00

From the Citizen's Voice.

The Rev. Rayanna Narisetti did not eat for three days after he arrived at the Church of the Epiphany in Sayre in November 2006. Six months earlier, he had been instructed by his bishop in Southeast India to prepare to move to America. He left his role as the steward of a small Roman Catholic congregation and a 105-acre farm sown with sunflowers and black lentils.

In Sayre, he stared at a salad he was served in a restaurant.

“I said to myself, ‘Oh these leaves, I think the goat and sheep eat them in our country,’” he remembered. “I was longing, longing for the rice.”

One of 11 Indian priests currently working in the Diocese of Scranton, Narisetti had to adapt to an American diet, the Pennsylvania climate and a long distance from home even as he assumed responsibility for ministering to congregations facing a shortage of priests here.

For at least a decade, the Diocese of Scranton has partnered with the Diocese of Nellore to bring priests from two rural districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to serve in local parishes. Dozens of the Indian priests have worked in churches in the Scranton Diocese for periods of two to four years before returning to their home diocese.

The program is part of a larger trend in American Catholic dioceses of recruiting priests from other countries to make up for a dearth of homegrown pastors. According to the 2006 study “International Priests in America,” one in six priests serving in American parishes, or about 5,500 priests, are foreign-born. Between 380 and 400 international priests enter the country each year and only about 100 of those return to their home dioceses.

The Scranton program, which was initiated by former Bishop James Timlin, began as an experiment to help mitigate the declining number of priestly vocations locally while giving the growing number of Nellore priests exposure to the world church. The bishop of Nellore at the time would make an annual visit to the diocese to ask for donations and he and Timlin began to discuss the idea of a temporary exchange.

“We didn’t have enough priests here and he had a superabundance of priests over in Nellore,” Bishop Timlin said. Read more

A question

2009-06-07T23:24:00.002-04:00

Why the rush to beatify JPII just a few years after his death, when Pius XII who died in 1958 sits unbeatified?

I'm just askin'...

Congratulations!

2009-06-07T21:00:00.003-04:00

Congratulations are in order to my friend and fellow blogger Dan over at the Mass of the Ages.

He has been accepted at the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.

Go pay him a visit and wish him well. Also some prayers for this future traditional priest are certainly in order.

Deus, Qui ad maiestatis tuae gloriam et generis humani salutem, Unigenitum Tuum summum atque aeternum constituisti Sacerdotem: praesta, ut quos ministros et Mysteriorum suorum dispensatores elegit, in accepto ministerio adimplendo fideles inveniantur. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

O God, Who hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son to be the eternal High Priest for the glory of Thy Majesty and the salvation of mankind; grant that they whom He hath chosen to be His ministers and the stewards of His Mysteries, may be found faithful in the fulfillment of the ministry which they have received. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

What's in a language?

2009-06-07T20:02:00.002-04:00

On June 28th, Saint Nicholas in Wilkes-Barre will have a bi-lingual Mass (English and Spanish) as they welcome their new Hispanic parishioners.

The new parishioners are coming to St. Nicholas as their current parish Holy Rosary is closing. They will bring the Our Lady of Guadalupe statue with them from the closing church.

That's nice.

But my question is this, how open would Saint Nick's be to having the Latin Mass?

If they can have a bi-lingual Mass, which must be followed by a Mass in Spanish like they did at Holy Rosary, why not Latin?

Go on, say it. "But Traddy, they speak Spanish. That's their language."

True says I.

But Latin is the language of the Church.

Why must we be sensitive to the Spanish, but not sensitive to our own traditions?

Feel free to chime in.

My thoughts

2009-06-07T13:45:00.003-04:00

I was away from blogging while that piece of shit baby killer Tiller was gunned down.

I found it interesting that when Obama was asked duirng the election about abortion he said it was "above my paygrade."

But when a scumbag who murders children FOR A LIVING is shot dead Obama is "shocked and outraged".

BHO, you are a sad little man.

And as far as Tiller is concerned, there is this little saying you reap what you sow. I fear there's a whole lotta reapin' going on...

The wait is over

2009-06-07T13:10:00.000-04:00

There you have it, someone finally said it, Obama is god.

My laugh for today

2009-06-07T13:07:00.000-04:00

When that thing opens, it must be like a zit popping...

State of the Mass Report

2009-06-07T11:51:00.002-04:00

6/7/2009: St Nicholas, Wilkes-Barre.

I should have known as I entered St. Nick's, when I was greeted by a "communion babe" handing out bulletins, I was in for a rough morning. Then when I glanced through the bulletin, I noticed a reference to the "Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier". God is all those things to be sure, but that particular misnomer is used today in certain circles wishing to remove the masculine from God. He is not the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. That shows us he is a man, and certain folks can't stand the fact that God could ever be a man. Go figure. They prefer an "earth mother" type who wears a wreath of fresh flowers on her head and skips lazily through the flowery fields Marty Haugen dreams about.

Well to continue, as I knelt in prayer before the start of Mass I noticed not many people were in attendance at what was once a grand Church, before the Vatican II people stripped her of her high altar, moving the Eucharist to the side, replaced by the "presider's chairs".

Then something caught my eye, a young girl in a mini skirt and heels made her way down the aisle towards the piano. She was to be our cantor. I would think one of the priests in residence would take the initiative and speak with the parishioners about the modesty of dress in the hotter months of the year. Especially at Holy Mass.

I felt as I do when I take my yearly vacation to Rehoboth Beach, the whole thing felt very laissez faire, people just strolling in at every conceivable point once Mass had begun. Some people came in during the Gospel, and most looked as though they were headed straight for the picnic table or beach afterwards.

Today being the Feast of the Holy Trinity, I expected a nice sermon about the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. We would receive an explanation I thought perhaps, about the Blessed Trinity, something not often touched upon in the modern era of the Church. And it certainly wasn't going to be brought up at St. Nick's either, I learned.

Instead we heard about how people strive to belong to something. Monsignor Rauscher mentioned sports teams, a talking frog, and getting along with other people. All important topics to be sure, but lacking any true Catholic sensibilities, as do most sermons in this Diocese.

During the Prayer of the Faithful, there were no prayers with any substance, but they did make sure to pray that the United States would lead the fight against "Global Climate Change", and they asked God to make sure our children enjoyed their summer.

No really. That's what they prayed for.

And one of my pet peeves is the use of the golden communion bowls instead of the beautiful ciboriums real priests use. Of course, they had the golden communion bowl. *sigh*

The highlight of the Mass was the "20 foot dash" of the communion babes to see who could get to the altar first. That was entertaining.

The only liturgical dance in sight today was my 18 month old who was bopping her head to "How Great Thou Art".

All in all, it wasn't a total disaster, but if this is the typical state of the Mass in the diocese, it is no wonder people are leaving.

But I don't think people are really leaving for a lack of orthodoxy, that's not a ceoncern for them. The Church has become for most people a true mystery. They don't know what she teaches, and when they discover the Church doesn't believe what they do, they go. Or they stay and try to change things from the inside, doing much damage because for some reason priests seem powerless to stop them.

As for Saint Nick's?

I certainly hope that the incoming "Hispanic Ministry" can bring some true Catholicism over there. Theyseem to need a booster shot.

From Michael Steele

2009-06-05T08:43:00.000-04:00

Thirty-eight years ago, the federal government nationalized passenger rail lines, creating the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, better known as Amtrak.

At the time, it was expected to be profitable within three years. Almost 4 decades later, the original $340 million investment of public funds has grown to $30 billion, with no profitability in sight.

On Monday, General Motors was forced to declare bankruptcy.

No matter how much the President spins GM's bankruptcy as good for the economy, it is nothing more than another government grab of a private company and another handout to the union cronies who helped bankroll his presidential campaign.

President Obama will now own 60 percent of GM, and his union buddies will own almost 20 percent. And what do we -- the American taxpayers --get? We're stuck with up to a $50 billion tab for the taxpayer dollars Obama is using to pay for his takeover of GM.

General Motors needed restructuring, and it has been clear for months that bankruptcy was inevitable. But instead of letting the company cut its losses, the Obama Administration has strung the process along, politicizing it at every step.

With an Administration with almost no business background and with zero experience in the auto industry calling the shots, Obama has seized the opportunity to feather his UAW supporters' nests and dictate the type of cars GM will now build -- not consumer desired, profitable vehicles, but tiny, "eco-friendly" cars whose lack of safety will endanger Americans' lives.

Now, instead of emerging leaner and meaner, GM has fallen into the same trap as Amtrak -- all to benefit the Big Labor bosses who helped Obama into the White House with union workers' dues.

Since when does the American government choose the market's winners and losers? Since when does the White House decide what model of car Americans must buy?

Britain nationalized its automotive industry in the 1970s to disastrous result -- the government-run, union-saddled companies were finally sold off again under Margaret Thatcher after years of dismal performance.

But Barack Obama and his henchmen have no desire to learn from the past -- they are too eager to get government control of America's means of industrial production -- regardless of the consequences. Were Karl Marx alive today, he couldn't be prouder.

First it was the mortgage and banking industry, then automobile manufacturing. Next up are health care providers and energy producers. What's next? Whose businesses will they takeover next? Where does it end? The Democrats want to control every facet of your life.

Americans shouldn't be fooled. This is the real 'change' President Obama has in mind for America -- government ownership of our economy financed with irresponsible and reckless government spending and debt and no jobs to show for it.

This is a very sad day for the autoworkers and their families whose financial well-being will be directly affected by this clear act of an overreaching UAW and overbearing government.

That is why I'm again asking you to continue your support of the Republican Party. We are determined to resist the Obama Democrats' socialist takeover of our free markets and erosion of our economic liberties.

Out and about!

2009-05-15T08:22:00.001-04:00

Sorry, I have been busy lately. Next week I am most likely not going to be around either. I will not have online access, so don't miss me too much!

Shirtless Biden Washes Trans Am In White House Driveway

2009-05-09T22:19:00.005-04:00

WASHINGTON—Taking advantage of the warm spring weather Monday, Vice President Joe Biden parked his 1981 Trans Am in the White House driveway, removed his undershirt, and spent a leisurely afternoon washing the muscle car and drinking beer.

"This baby just needs a little scrub down," said Biden, addressing a tour group as he tucked the sweat-covered top into the belt loop of his cutoff jean shorts. "Gotta get her looking good so I can impress the chicks when I'm cruising down Pennsylvania [Avenue]."

White House aides said that Biden pulled into the driveway shortly before noon, the chorus of Night Ranger's "(You Can Still) Rock In America" blaring from his car's stereo. According to witnesses, Biden spent several minutes maneuvering the Trans Am into the perfect spot, and was observed drumming his fingers on the steering wheel until the song came to a close.

The shirtless 66-year-old then entered the executive residence and greeted employees with a round of high fives and a variety of nicknames.

"Hey, hot stuff, looking good," Biden told a passing aide. "Would you know where I could get a little bucket and sponge action? My mean machine needs to be cleaned."

After acquiring the necessary washing materials, the bare-chested second-in-command returned to the driveway, where he spent several moments staring in apparent awe at the firebird decal on the hood of his car.

Biden, who purchased the white Pontiac in 1983, has made an annual tradition of taking time off each spring to wash and tune-up his vehicle. In 2008 alone, the veteran politician reportedly missed two dozen Senate sessions in order to spend some quality time "taking care of [his] baby."

"He does this every year and it really seems to rejuvenate him," Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) said. "Back in 2001, the car was up on blocks in the National Mall, and he was so busy rotating those tires that he bailed on the confirmation hearings for secretary of state."

"What're you gonna do, though?" Dodd added. "That car rocks."

As Biden gently applied a sponge to the hood and moved it in small circular motions across the car's contours, a number of White House interns walked by and caught the vice president's attention.

"She's a real beaut, ain't she?" said Biden, popping open a wide-mouth can of Coors Light and tilting back his head to take a long drink. "Back when Smokey And The Bandit came out, everyone wanted the black paint job, but looking back now, I'm thankful the dealership didn't have it in stock."

"Oops, looks like I got a little brewha in the flavor-saver," added Biden, referring to his wispy, four-day-old mustache. "Any of you girls care to join me for another tallboy?"

Biden then spent the next 15 minutes boasting about the features on his Trans Am.

"They don't make kick-ass T-tops like this anymore, sweetheart," said Biden, shaking his head in exaggerated disappointment. "And check out these gold snowflake rims. They're a real bitch to clean, but they're totally worth it."

"Back in the day we used to call 'em panty-melters," Biden continued. "One babe caught a glimpse of those rims after a Cinderella concert in '86 and she couldn't get into that backseat fast enough. If any of you girls wanna take a ride, just let ol' Joe know."

For the remainder of the day, Biden occupied himself with hosing off his car, giving the side doors an extra coat of wax, and throwing out a variety of items from beneath its front seats, including crumpled-up fast food wrappers, a number of soft packs of Doral kings, an issue of Cheri magazine from 1991, and Senate bill S. 486.

According to White House officials, Biden was still hanging out in the driveway long after dusk, revving the engine at passersby and explaining the intricacies of a turbocharged V-8 motor to anyone within earshot.

As of press time, Biden had convinced Jennifer Britmore, a 41-year-old mother of four visiting from Indiana, to let him show her around D.C.

Thank you to The Onion

"Evil is on the Offensive"

2009-05-09T20:21:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Catholic Family News.

On Friday May 8, Alan Keyes was arrested at Notre Dame protesting the university’s decision to honor President Obama with the commencement speech and an honorary law degree.

Obama is scheduled to be appear at Notre Dame on May 17.

Dr. Keyes arrived at Notre Dame with a sizable cadre of pro-lifers, many pushing strollers containing baby-dolls smeared red to indicate the blood of the unborn slain daily in abortion. Others held signs saying,“I regret my abortion”.

The protestors peacefully walked onto Notre Dame’s campus praying together the Rosary.

Upon entering the campus, Keyes was arrested for trespassing by Notre Dame University police.

Keyes held his rosary as he was handcuffed from behind. About 15 others were handcuffed and arrested with him.

One woman, who was off to the side praying the Rosary, and not formally part of the protesting group, was thrown off the campus by University police.

Dr. Keyes states his intention is to witness to the truth, and urges many others to join the protest at Notre Dame “until the South Bend jail is filled to overflowing...”

I spoke with Mr. Keyes shortly before he entered the campus.

He expressed to me his belief that we are now in a great winnowing where the wheat will be separated from the chaff. “Evil is on the offensive,” he said, “and when that moment comes, we are called upon to make a choice.”

He gave the example of Obama’s aggressive plan to remove conscience-protection from health-care workers who oppose abortion, so that those who object to abortion on moral grounds will either have to participate in these procedures or leave the profession.

“If he is able to fulfill that intention”, said Keyes, “then every single person in the medical community will have to make a choice to stand with Christ or against Him.”

“At the end of the day”, said Keyes, “I think Obama is just part of the truth that the law of God and the truth of Jesus Christ is as a sword. It divides.”

He noted many modern Christians, Church leaders and academies are “living a lie”, in that “they pretend the Christian does not have to choose. But Christ said you are either with Him or against him. There is no middle ground.”

Local resident Michael Chabot explained his reason for taking part in the protest.

“As long as Our Lady is on the dome at Notre Dame, she is being publicly dishonored.” said Mr. Chabot. “And as long as Notre Dame tries to hide under the veneer of a Catholic identity or character, then I join these protests to do what Pope Leo XIII said we should do, tear the mask off and expose them.”

Last week, Keyes issued a statement giving his reasons for traveling to Notre Dame.

He noted that Notre Dame “will welcome to the university campus a man who represents the most abominable and extreme commitment ever known in US politics to destroying the God-given right to life of innocent human offspring.”

“With their actions and the ‘honor’ they confer upon Obama,” said Keyes, “they will actively promote the lie that it is possible to dishonor God blatantly and unashamedly, yet be somehow ‘honorable’ in the eyes of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ.”

Noting pro-life leader Randal Terry’s recent arrest at Notre Dame, Keyes said the university has “declared it an offense to peacefully demonstrate the evil of abortion. They have declared it an offense, prayerfully to bear witness to truth on a campus supposedly guided by and subordinate to that truth.”

He then declared his intention to protest.

“I will go to South Bend. I will step foot on the Notre Dame campus to lift up the standard that protects the life of the innocent children of this and every generation. I will do it all day and every day from now until the Master comes if need be, though it mean I shall be housed every day in the prison-house of lies and injustice that Obama, Jenkins and their minions now mean to construct for those who will never be still and silent in the face of their mockery of God and justice, their celebration of evil.“

Urging others to join him, he said, “If this be trespass, then forgive us our trespasses and join us in trespassing until the South Bend jail is filled to overflowing with witnesses to truth; filled beyond capacity; filled until we break the most onerous shackles of all the ones that bind the heart and mind to evil and our nation to the path of its destruction.”

The protests at Notre Dame have being going on for the past three weeks, and continue to escalate as we file this report.

To date, 71 Bishops have spoken out against Notre Dame’s invitation to President Obama.

To learn more, go www.stopobamanotredame.com

Happy Prayer Day!

2009-05-08T23:22:00.000-04:00

Father Corapi Rocks!

2009-05-08T22:59:00.000-04:00

I wish I could be like this guy: