Non-goose Michaelmas

No goose to be had around here, so I made one of the easiest, cheapest, yummiest crockpot dinners tonight...

Brookside Bistro proudly presents....

Crockpot Chicken, with its companion leftover recipe, Chicken Pastina (con Verdure, if you want to get fancy.)

Kasia - you can do this one!

Here's why I love making this meal - aside from being VERY yummy:

whole, fresh chicken = $5
broth = $1
soup mix = $1.50
pastina = $2.50
veggies = $2.00

So we've spent about $11.00 and change to feed our family of 4.25 (he's still little!) for two nights. Not bad, and they love it!

I slammed out some homemade bread, too - felt the urge to knead today - and topped off the experience with some honey butter. Oh yeeaaaahhhh....

Happy Michaelmas!

Today is the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, or Michaelmas, as our friends across the pond will tell you, and one of my favorite feast days of the year. Let's face it - St. Michael is a rockstar - he cast Satan into Hell!

I pray the shorter, modern Prayer to St. Michael each week at Mass for a variety of reasons, both general and personal requests for intercession, as well as praying privately as I sort out the day during bedtime prayers.

It seems like I've been pestering him a lot more in recent years - certainly since 9/11/01 and the onset of the war, the ever-increasing number of child predator cases on the news, and a spate of unsavory characters we've come across in our professional and personal lives - pretty much any time I'm confronted with inexplicably evil people or situations. My oldest told me recently that she's been praying to St. Michael since her problems began with the wretched female bullies she's [still] contending with at school. So today we're saying the prayer as a family, and I've posted it in Latin down in the kitchen for the girls to decipher during breakfast:


Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.


Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in praelio. Contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur. Tuque princeps militiae caelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen.


Some Michaelmas trivia: Michaelmas daisies (asters, really) are named due to their ability to thrive in the autumn/Michaelmas season weather...quite pretty in the fall garden:
Michaelmas is also known as "Goose Day" - it is an Elizabethan tradition to eat goose on Michaelmas, as she received good news of a successful battle while eating goose on Michaelmas - and thus many "Goose Fairs" took and still take place on this date in England. It is also a traditional date to pay quarterly rents, and for school and Court terms to begin.

And finally, legend says not to eat blackberries (another hardy fall plant) after Michaelmas, as the brambles of the blackberry bush are where Satan landed - and bled - when St. Michael cast him out and he fell to Earth.

On that note....time to wake the girls. Have a great day!

Obama is not Lincoln

No. He is Stephen A. Douglas. <-- Click and read this article - Mr. Stackpole puts to paper a thought that has been flitting through my head since I heard BO make this latest fradulent claim of greatness. He's a lot more like that OTHER gifted orator in the 1860 election.
To summarize: Stephen A. Douglas was the "pro-choice" candidate of 1860 - he believed that existing and new States entering the Union should be allowed to choose whether or not slavery (another intrinsic moral evil) should be allowed, as opposed to tightly limiting slavery to the states that already permitted it in the hopes that it would die out, which was Lincoln's position. Had he won, slavery would have expanded and remained legal for generations, and the ultimate conflict and war between the states would have been even more widespread and catastrophic. It was an election billed as one that would change the course of history...

Award season is underway...

...and our dear Angela has given me the following:...with a sneaky embedded tag for the awardees, as follows:

First you must answer the questions below with ONE word answers as all the awardees must also do. After that follow the directions on the bottom of the post.

1. Where is your cell phone? briefcase

2. Where is your significant other? work

3. Your hair color? undecided

4. Your mother? IL

5. Your father? AZ

6. Your favorite thing? dessert

7. Your dream last night? sad

8. Your dream/goal? retirement

9. The room you're in? boudoir

10. Your hobby? blog

11. Your fear? rejection

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home

13. Where were you last night? Wegman's

14. What you're not? complacent

15. One of your wish-list items? roof

16. Where you grew up? suburbs

17. The last thing you did? child-related

18. What are you wearing? jammies

19. Your TV? 52"

20 Your pet? recovering

21. Your computer? laptop

22. Your mood? exhausted

23. Missing someone? You?

24. Your car? Volvo

25. Something you're not wearing? makeup

26. Favorite store? H&M

27. Your summer? fading

28. Love someone? sure

29. Your favorite color? red

30. When is the last time you laughed? today

31. Last time you cried? Sunday

Now, for you recipients of this award, here's the deal:

* Display your award.

* Link back to the person who gave you the award.

* Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

* Put links to those blogs on yours.

* Leave a message on the blogs of the people you've nominated.

* Enjoy your award!

I award:

1. The highly entertaining Larry

2. My dear Clam

3. Digi....

4. ...and Karen, my CA transplant homies

5. Jackie, because she needs to get back to work on such things

6. Dymphna - it will be well-thought-out

7. [tie] Joe and Cathy....to tempt them back into the blogging fold.

Hee hee! Enjoy!

Half a second too late

Quick Jack update:

He is so happy to be home! The second we let him out of the cage he got thoroughly inspected by the hounds...as if his manliness hadn't been violated enough over the past week, getting rolled around and tag-team-butt-sniffed by two massive dogs all night had to be the absolute limit...but he purred and rubbed noses with them anyway. He traveled back and forth between my lap and the beloved's until bedtime, when he came upstairs with us and curled up in the down blankies. The girls each reported feeling a warm gray lump on their feet in the night, and then this morning, I found him in the baby's room, asleep at his station on the rocker near the crib, with his head resting on a pair of socks he'd brought in to feed his "furless kitten." Yep, our heroic provider is back. I grabbed the camera but the creaky wood floor ruined the moment and woke him up.

He's still moving a bit slow, but is eating and doing his business, as it were, in a proper manner.

Still reviewing my French for my subbing gig, which starts tomorrow morning. I am so glad I took this week off for the conference I decided not to go to!

Mon Dieu!

Okay, the more evil parents among you, especially those beleaguered by teenaged females, will appreciate this one...

Got a call from the quasi-Catholic HS principal today, asking me to sub for the rest of the week. Given some prep time, I can teach just about anything not math or science involved (past, say, 4th grade). Apparently someone let fly that I had some game in French & Spanish. (NB: I volunteered ONLY for the liberal arts and religion). So I'm covering 5 periods of beginner through AP French and one beginner Spanish class. I do have a little bit of experience - I'm understandable in 4 languages, and was a TA in Writing and in French 101 back in the day at U of I.

Yeah. 20 years ago.

Other than a few trips to Europe and Canada over the years, I have not had occasion to speak much French. So after I hung up the phone, I had a moment of "HOLY CRAP! What did I just agree to do?" But then it dawned on me. My daughter will be in my first period class. And she doesn't know I'm the sub. She just knows her teacher's great-aunt passed away. BWAHHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!! I can't wait to see the horror on her face when she walks in the door and sees chere Mamman at the desk.

But then there's the rest of the day to get through. So I've got to bone up and start praying for guidance....alors:

Saint John Baptist de La Salle, b. Apr. 30, 1651, d. Apr. 7, 1719, was a French educator and the founder of the Institute of the brothers of Christian Schools, popularly known as Christian Brothers. Ordained a priest in 1678, he was a canon of the cathedral at Reims until 1683, when he resigned to devote himself to organizing schools for poor children. In 1684 he founded a religious order devoted to teaching. Distinguished as a pioneer of training colleges for teachers and in the use of the vernacular in teaching, he ranks among the outstanding educators of modern times. Canonized in 1900, he is the patron saint of schoolteachers. Feast day: April 7.

Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle...

Priez pour moi!

Hey Chicago, whaddya say...

....those Cubbies clinched a spot in the playoffs [yester]day!

Yessss!!!

YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!

YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

(please?)

Like poking a bruise...

...but I guess bruises on your soul don't fade.

A family member sent me this article from the NYT written by the father of a baby who died in utero, I suppose in solidarity, or maybe to say "I finally get how you've been feeling all these years."

It is a very powerful and moving story, but given the fact that there were tears trickling down my chest by the time I got to the end (you'll see why), I guess I wasn't ready for it.

The Phantom of Obama

Photo and transcript from Rush Limbaugh's website - someone who knows of my Princess' love of the show sent it to me. LOL!!!

Barack Obama wants the public to think he's Mr. Nice Guy, soft-spoken, erudite, a new kind of politician, new, fresh, unique, uniter. He's going to come around and he's going to just wave his hand and all of these partisan feelings of rancor are going to vanish. He is inciting partisan feelings of rancor; he is inciting hatred; he is inciting racism; he is using every tactic he can to make people as mad as he can make them, all for the
purpose of manipulating them for their support. He's Mr. Nice Guy while his thugs are in Alaska looking for dirt on Sarah Palin, hacking into her personal e-mail account while he runs race-baiting ads and lies about what he's done and lies about what Senator McCain has done. He's running a two-tier campaign. Chicago tactics behind the scenes, new politics imagery in front of the cameras, Barack Obama, a man whose mask has been removed. There can be no mistake who he
is now. There can be no conclusion other than he is just an average Chicago thug, typical liberal Democrat politician when you strip everything else away. [. . .] You know, we could call this The Phantom of Obama.

The mask is coming off, and the view is not pretty.

Calling all Jack fans...

UPDATE #3: 9/22/08: Jack is home! $700 and a th0roughly distressed bladder later, we are on a "wait and see" regimen. Thanks so much for all your prayers and warm wishes for our furry little baby-sitting, sock-slaying kittyman.

UPDATE #2: I have no idea what has happened, but update #1 from yesterday has disappeared! Anyway, Jack's still in the kitty hospital. He managed to remove his own kitty-catheter overnight last night, so was in rough shape again this morning. When the vet put it back in, Jack took it right back out. (Take THAT, Foley!) He is on 3 types of sedatives (anti-spasmodic, anti-anxiety, and a tranquilizer) to prevent a repeat, as well as IV antibiotics. The problem is not crystalline, it's blood clots and there could be permanent scarring and even more narrowing...which makes him very susceptible to these in the future.Poor, poor kittyman. We may bring him home Sunday or more likely on Monday.



...my poor Jackie is in emergency kitty surgery right now. He was fine and did his 5 am "wake humans up for breakfast" ritual yesterday morning, followed by the normal "sleep all day" regimen, but failed to show up for his usual "romp all evening with humans and doggies" routine. Happens every so often. Instead, he remained in the basement all night, throwing up, and when we found him curled up in a pile of laundry this morning, he could barely walk. So far, they are thinking some sort of intestinal blockage coupled with a UTI.


The vet was astonished at the rapid onset, could not catheterize him without really hurting him, and so they whisked him right away to knock him out, empty him out and see what's going on.


The Beloved, for all his USMC bravado, is a very tender vittle when it comes to the livestock. He's texting me about every 30 seconds. I am so worried...

Moron Barack and the BAIPA

Oops, typo. I meant "more on" Barack and the BAIPA. (Ri-i-i-i-g-g-gh-t....)

Some more backstory - the BAIPA was introduced at the state and federal level in 2001, when BO was an IL state senator. BO chaired the committee responsible for steering it through the IL legislature, spoke out against it, and singlehandedly struck it down. In other words, he saw to it that the bill did not make it out of committee to a vote in the Legislature. Meanwhile, a virtually identical version of the BAIPA came before the US Congress and was unanimously passed - not one US Senator from either party voted against it. Yet BO would have done so, had he been there, if his action in the IL Senate is any indicator. So here's the question:

Does Barack Obama support infanticide?

This has become a hot topic and subject of some scorcher emails between warring political factions in the Beloved's family. I usually ignore the leftists and stay out of it, but I came to blows with the "other" lawyer of the same last name who claims (as Barack did at the time) that the language of the statute defining what "born alive" means was "fuzzy" and left room for a lot of doubt about when babies deserved protection - thus placing Roe v. Wade in jeopardy. So I put together some facts and emailed them back to everyone. Now I ask you, non-lawyers and otherwise, to check it out and tell me what's so confusing - these are short laws and I've linked to them, but here's subsection (c) of each:

The IL BAIPA:

A live child born as a result of an abortion shall be recognized as a human person and accorded immediate protection under the law. [emphasis added]

The Federal BAIPA:

Nothing in this section shall be construed to affirm, deny, expand, or contract any legal status or legal right applicable to any member of the species homo sapiens at any point prior to being "born alive" as defined in this section" [emphasis added]

Here are some quotes by BO during the debate on the IL bill in 2001, with my comments thrown in:

"I just want to suggest ... that this is probably not going to survive constitutional scrutiny. [or is it "scruti-neh?" His Jesse Jackson-esque Southside accent/patois has conveniently gotten much thicker since 2001]

Number one, whenever we define a previable fetus [did you read the statute? What part of "live" and "born" don't you get, Senator?] as a person that is protected by the equal protection clause or the other elements in the Constitution, what we're really saying is, in fact, that they are persons that are entitled to the kinds of protections that would be provided to a - child, a 9-month-old - child that was delivered to term....

I mean, it - it would essentially bar abortions, [WTF? How? Did we read the same bill?] because the equal protection clause does not allow somebody to kill a child, and if this is a child, then this would be an anti-abortion statute. For that purpose, I think it would probably be found unconstitutional."

And this guy is a friggin' Constitutional Law professor? I'd want my money back. To steal his own line: "He Doesn't Get It!"

It seems he just flat-out did not understand the plain meaning in the bill's language. It is very clear that the protections of this bill are specifically afforded to a BORN child who has emerged from the womb with discernible signs of life (see subsection (b) of the IL BAIPA). Either that or he was being deliberately disingenuous to court favor from the left-wing and/or pro-abortion segments of his constitutency for political reasons.

As to the feared infringement on Roe v. Wade, even NARAL didn't oppose the BAIPA. When this debate was raging on, NARAL's spokesperson stated the following:

"We, in fact, did not oppose the bill. There is a clear legal difference between a fetus in utero versus a child that's born. And when a child is born, they deserve every protection that the country can provide them." [emphasis added]

And incidentally, the BAIPA has never faced constitutional attack.

One of my chief annoyances with Obama is how he slithered into the US Senate in the first place. His opponent was beating him 70-30% in the polls until he got an "October Surprise" - a sex scandal, courtesy of divorce documents forwarded to the press (the ex-wife is Star Trek actress Jeri Ryan). And now how many investigators does he have combing through documents and digging in the dumpsters of Alaska? His lack of experience and his radical left positions were absolutely killing his chances of making it out of Springfield. He was not qualified either by experience or intellectually, as just this one issue shows.

But anyway, even though it was too late to get another competitor on the ballot, one of my favorite conservative Catholic thinkers, Alan Keyes (go ahead, laugh, but I've seen him speak live and he's brilliant), attempted to run against BO via a write-in campaign, and they had some fierce debates...which Alan won handily, in my opinion. Here's a quote from the debates on this subject:

"Christ would not stand idly by while an infant child in that situation died. ... Christ would not vote for Barack Obama, because Barack Obama has voted to behave in a way that it is inconceivable for Christ to have behaved."

Which leads us back to the fundamental question: Does Barack Obama support infanticide? Maybe not "actively"- but now you've seen the actual language that he refused to support FOUR TIMES OVER. I believe that he he tacitly condones it. He has lied to anyone who has asked him about his conduct and his position any time this subject has arisen since that time. He's tried to hide behind the Constitution with specious claims that the "right" to an abortion might be at risk. As you now know, his argument was, is, and always will be a farce. Can we entrust our nation to someone who either does not feel any compunction about lying or does not understand the import of our Constitution?

But again, let's get back to basic humanity and mercy. By far, the saddest thing is that this man has held his own newborn children in his arms - undoubtedly he has felt that sense of fierce paternal protectiveness over the tiny miracle he's helped to create- and he yet can sleep at night knowing that by his failure and refusal to act, untold thousands of Gianna Jessens have gone to cold, lonely deaths through callous neglect after being born alive.

Gianna Jessen on Fox News

Take 5 minutes to watch this interview. Such moving witness.



And then send Alan Colmes a nasty letter for attempting to fight with her, interrupting her, and trying to cut off the truth. She did an amazing job. I have seen her before (on EWTN, of course) and am usually in tears by the end of the first minute of her story.

The bottom line for me is this: How anyone could vote for a person who puts an agenda over basic humanity - providing comfort and care to a living infant - is beyond me. It is pure evil. If hearing this story (one of untold thousands) does not convert the heart and mind, or at least move a person off the absolutism of their political convictions, something is terribly, terribly wrong and broken about that person.

Fr. Joan is crowned

...and two more parishes in the DOR suffer white martyrdom. Rich has the photos and footage here. Just sickening.

Happy Re-Birthday!

To the TLM, courtesy of last September 14th's official issuance of the Summorum Pontificum....we're celebrating one year of liberation from suppression! (I know I'm a little late, but hey, we can still party!)

(Graphic shamelessly stolen from our dear Thorn)

When the winds of Ike hit NY last night and I was lying awake listening to doors slamming on the 3rd floor and tree limbs cracking, I watched EWTN's coverage of the Pope's Mass at Lourdes and then the special Mass on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, said by priests of the Institute of Christ the King in the Extaordinary Form. It was beautiful! And don't get me started on the quantity and quality of the man-lace. It was pure eye and spiritual candy. But as I watched, I half-wished I could turn on subtitles so I could follow along substantively (I'm pretty good on the form - i.e., the order, the basic prayers and responses).

.

This got me to thinking - wouldn't it be great if EWTN did that in their rebroadcasts? Just to help get people reacclimated or in the case of those under 40, to introduce and familiarize them with the TLM. Maybe even some commentary (this is why the dude on the left keeps kissing the middle guy's hand, this is why they're adjusting their vestments, putting on and taking off the biretta) to help de-mystify certain aspects.

For now, I'm just going to dust off my handy-dandy TLM handbook/translator and keep it at the bedside for future late-night viewing.

Oh NO, he did!!!

YESSSS!!!!! (Photo credit: AP)

For the first time since the Nixon Administration, a Cubs pitcher has thrown a no-hitter. Congrats to Carlos Zambrano!

I am now finding myself slightly more able to forgive you for looking (and occasionally acting) a little too much like ......the wacko president of your native land.


It would be nice to make it to the World Series on our 100th anniversary...

GO CUBS GO!!!

New Posting Category

For stupid, senseless sh*t like the "Mime of Passion" post below:

Feel free to apply liberally at your own blog when "TSTL" doesn't quite capture the moment....

Oy friggin' vey!!!

Is it wrong to punch a mime?

Ok, well, how 'bout in CHURCH?

I'll give you one guess as to the Diocese in which this "Passion of the [Mime]" was allowed to take place.

Thanks for that, Bishop Clark. Thanks a lot.

H/T to Rich at Ten Reasons

I don't like Ike

UPDATE: We had some pretty righteous downed tree limb issues (including one 12' spruce log that mercifully missed structures on the neighbor's side of the fence), lost power and downed lines. Now Ike's up in New England and heading for the N. Atlantic. Good riddance!

The havoc in Texas is incredible. My family and friends back in Chicago had a few flooded basements and one newly-discovered leaky roof - not good when you get six inches of rain all at once.

Even here in the middle of nowhere NY, some 1200 miles from Ike's landfall, we are slated to get tons of rain, it is sultry and positively tropical outside (90* at its hottest today, and still in the 70's at 9pm), and the wind gusts are getting up into the 30-40 mph range. The scope of this storm is amazing. Will check back in after we get past our share of the scary weather.

The Born Alive Infant Protection Act

Laura[thecrazymama] has a great post that puts into words the horror I can't express about what we're in for - and more importantly, what the innocent unborn will continue to subjected to - with BO in the White House. As I said to her - awesome post.

Mary, Mother of the Unborn - pray for us!

(Click on image at sidebar for more info)

"Who Hates Sarah Palin?"

According to many in the media, we truly have discovered someone worse than Hitler — and it's Sarah Palin.

Read the entire article here - Greg Gutfeld is pretty amusing.

My Alma Mater, My Tribe...

...my head is hanging in shame for both. Here's why. There has been such a resurgence of faith and vocations coming out of there in recent years (a far cry from my wild Big 10 days in the '80s).

Sheesh. I guess now we know where at least a little bit of that extra energy was coming from...

(Oh yes I did. I went there. *snark*)

In Remembrance - Patriot Day

Today is September 11, 2008.

Manhattan

The Pentagon

Flight 93 in Shanksville, PA

Seven years since we awoke to terror hitting us squarely in the face, at home - and all three locations became home to us all.

Those 19 homicidal maniacs and their sponsors caught our country with its pants down. Never again.

Where were you?

Where I Was.

The Beloved, kids and I had just returned to our home in San Diego, fresh from a 30-day leave, visiting family and househunting in NY - he'd just submitted his retirement package the day before we left town. He decided to head in to Miramar a little bit early (0500) to catch up on paperwork. A little after 0600, he called me, told me to wake up and turn on the news.

.

"We're under attack, babe."

.

I flipped on the TV just in time to see the second plane hit the WTC. We both cried out in disbelief and sat, riveted, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Then the first tower fell.

.

"Oh no. Oh my God, no...oh, dear God..."

.

I could tell he was choked up and not able to say more. That alone made me start to cry. At first I didn't quite understand. Selfishly, I thought maybe he was worried that he'd be deployed someplace. (That came later). But no, his anguish was not about him, or us.

It was about them. His brother firefighters. He knew instantly that many brave men were storming those buildings, going in while everyone else was running out, trying to help, to rescue, to give aid and comfort. And he knew a lot of them were not going to make it home.

As the next few, surreal days wore on, we remained stunned but did our best to resume our daily lives. The news in San Diego was grim, between the Navy and Marines who we knew would be heading out to fight enemies as-yet unknown, and as experts warned that a chemical attack on San Diego would be so easy...a boat full of poison, an onshore flow...for the first time in my life, I was scared of forces and things I could not see. I was depressed, scared for my family and for my country. But I was also in the midst of expert depositions a big construction defect case 63 miles from home, up in Temecula, CA. So I had to leave home at dawn each day, wondering if the Beloved and girls were going to be safe. Then, in the middle of a very contentious exchange (it was me for the plantiffs vs about 15 defense attorneys who were piling on every time I tried to ask a question), my cell phone started vibrating.

It was the Beloved.

I asked for a recess, my hands shaking, and a few of the guys in suits said "No!" and insinuated that I was stalling or trying to coach my expert. My expert, who knew me well and knew what the Beloved did for a living, launched out of his chair, went up over the table, and lunged for someone's throat. I stood up, yanked him back, swore rather viciously on the record (it was left off the transcript, thankfully) and said we were taking a break, and f*** 'em if they didn't like it.

I ran into an adjoining conference room, took the call, and got the news. "I'm leaving in 30 minutes. We're loading the plane. Kuwait, and then someplace called Tajikistan, I guess." I sank to the floor. I was a mess.

I am fairly sure I said all the right things, love, goodbyes, and all that. Then I looked up and saw several of the defense attorneys looking in at me through the conference room windows. The worst a-hole among them came in, kleenex in hand, and helped me up. "I'm sorry. Pete just told us what's going on. Is your husband leaving? ("Yes, in less than an hour.")We've postponed the depo. Go see if you can catch him. And tell him we're proud of him." He was no longer an a-hole, he was an American.

I flew, at about 90 mph, all the way back down to Miramar. (I should not have been driving, really.) I got there 45 minutes after the call...only to wait in line for an hour to get on to the base. I was hoping against hope that the Marines were operating on Marine time, and I might get lucky. I got to the 3rd MAW buildings, and they were deserted. I sat in the car, head on the steering wheel, and sobbed. Then I looked up and saw a lone figure in cammies walking briskly toward the car.

My Beloved.

"Hi. What're you doing here? Why didn't you answer your phone?" (Oops, conference room floor...) All the guys had parked their cars in the storage lot, and then got called in for a briefing, which ended right when I got there. The deployment was postponed, based on new intelligence, for at least 30 days. Then another 30. And then...well, that's another story.

I know all of you out there reading this are prayerful people, so I know without asking that you will pray for all the lost souls of September 11th and for all of those lost in the war and chaos since that time. But please take a moment to say an extra prayer to St. Michael the Archangel for all the lost first responders...98% of whom were our Catholic brothers and sisters, living out their vocations of love and service to their fellow man.

Saint Michael the Archangel,defend us in battle.

Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;

and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -

by the Divine Power of God -

cast into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits,

who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

One last prayer request - for the repose of the soul of Mari-Rae, a classmate, who was on the flight that hit the Pentagon. Click here for her remarkable story.

God Bless America and keep her free.

Thoughts on Lipstickgate

After the clip of Obama making his pig-in-lipstick comment came out last night, people on both sides of the political spectrum came out in defense of him, stating that it's an old saying, a figure of speech, something commonly used in Washington - it was an unfortunate choice of words, it wasn't targeted at Sarah Palin.

To which I say....Bullsh*t.

Barack is nothing if not slick, he's a gifted, natural speaker, and he's an accomplished wordsmith. Every speech he gives is exquisitely crafted, every nuance and inflection in his delivery is carefully planned. There was no accident here, no double entendre. He knew exactly what he was saying, the people in the crowd knew it (you can seem them starting to cheer before he even delivers the punchline) and everyone at that event knew just who he was going after. "Innocent" - my size 12 butt. This is down and dirty Southside Chicago politics - just gender baiting instead of race baiting - at its best.

But for the sake of argument, let's say he really didn't mean to take advantage and capitalize upon the new buzzword of this campaign. Let's pretend we believe it was a "rookie mistake." It strains credulity to believe that he thinks, in this 24/7 news cycle with cameras rolling every second, that the media isn't going to pick up on every little thing he says and dissect it. It is a reality in this day and age, and if you believe him, you must come to the inevitable conclusion that he is unprepared to handle the intense scrutiny that awaits him, and that he lacks the tact and thus the ability to handle the fact that the world is literally hanging on his every, publicly spoken word.

As I tell my clients and my kids when I see them devolving into exaggeration and hyperbole, "words matter." Say what you mean, mean what you say, and be prepared to back it up.

Can we afford this kind of mistake in the current geopolitical climate? To steal a Hillaryism: Is this the guy we want answering the phone at 3 am?

This is a very revealing moment in his campaign, and it demonstrates his utter hypocrisy - remember when he said he wanted to "elevate the political discourse" and pledged not to get into old-school personal attacks and smears in the campaign? It was all illusory, there's no "change" involved when you resort to dirty politics as usual. Wait - what was that thing about lipstick on a pig?

Psssssst: Barry, you've got lipstick on your teeth. Oink, oink.

Oh.No.He.Dih-in't.

Update #3: Thanks and h/t to Vincenzo for the early-morning find!



From his appearance in VA today:

"You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig" (<-- link to article)
(Update #1: H/T to Digi on the YouTube link)
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Wow. Okay. That's a new low, even for the Demoncrats. How desperate is he? Can you imagine the outcry if someone said the same of Michelle? Or if he had said the same of Hillary this past spring? The gloves are off. Ladies and gentlemen, are you with me?

(P.S. Vincenzo - you know what to do!)

Update #2: Vincenzo, the Photoshop Rockstar, comes through again! A+ LOL!!!

G** Damn who?

Ahhhh...a little treat for you on the eve of Patriot Day, September 11th, the Reverend Jeremiah "We Had It Comin" Wright is such an honorable man.

I wonder if he's gonna hike his speaking fees now, too?

NB: Obama is not Jesus!!!

Just got a huge-group email (from one of my favorite leftists) containing the following one-liner :
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Sarah Palin needs to be reminded that Jesus Christ was a community organizer, and Pontius Pilate was a governor!
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Oh, the joys of the "Reply to All" feature...my rejoinder:
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[Sender] needs to be reminded that OBAMA IS NOT JESUS CHRIST!
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I will not sport with your intelligence by posting some of the nasty replies I've gotten from others on the group list - use your imagination - but suffice it to say, it's the first time in the last 10 days that my "smile muscles" have gotten such a workout.
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Liberals are so easy...

Many thanks, friends

Well, I have been wanting to type this thank you note out for several days for all of the love, prayers, and support you've sent my way since my September 1 post, but it's hard to do without getting a little teary. Here's a little update:

It's been a rough "inner" week, but with the kids starting back to school, after school practice taxi service, and the first football game for terrified cheerleader, who has also had to deal with confronting her little pack of foes (they just. need. to. let. it. go....), it's been a busy exterior week. This has been good, I've kept up appearances, but it's been very tough in what little quiet time I've had.

Speaking of appearance....so much for all the dieting and primping I did this summer. After partying my way through the first part of August, I gained back 4 of the 17 I lost, and I'm sure this week of indulging in self-pity has not helped, either. My hairdresser refused to give me highlights when he saw how badly I'm shedding - it's falling out by the handful every time I run a brush through it, and when I wash it - ick - you can't even see the drain! My skin has gone back in time....to 1984 or so, but I didn't break out like this, even back then. Fun, fun, fun! Going in for bloodwork tomorrow - probably a thyroid or adrenal freak-out of some sort.

So that's the bad and the ugly. The good has been the humbling realization that there are people out there who've never met me pulling for me. For all of that, for stopping by to check in on me, and especially for your prayers, I thank you all, so much! You are all in my prayers as well.

@->--
Kit

Madness: today's homily and its revelations...

Fresh from Mass. Pondering what the substitute priest said:

• Church isn't here in this big fancy building, it's at your house. God said so.
• You are the church, you the people. Not me, the priest. That's where my bosses, the bishops and the popes, are wrong. Their priorities are all messed up.
• The only reason we come here is because we can't all fit at one person's house, it would be too crowded.
• People are too attached to old drafty buildings with statues and paintings because we are materialistic.
• God doesn't live in the tabernacle, He lives at your house, and my house, and black people's houses, and Muslim's houses, and Buddhist's houses, because the Holy Spirit breathed life into everyone, and that continues after the body is dead. Why do we even have bodies?
• God doesn't care what religion you are. He made us all in his image. He doesn't only care about Catholics, we don't have an exclusive relationship with God because we call ourselves Catholics.
• There are as many, if not more, bad Catholics as good Catholics.
• People get too hung up on what is said and what is done or not done at Mass.
• We are racists and bigots if we think it's ok to have fenced yards or build walls to keep people out of anywhere they might want to go to find a better life, and if we live in a nicer house than anyone else but don't invite them in or give them enough of what we have so that they can live in just as nice a place as we do.
• We, as Americans, as Catholics, sponsor terrorism right here at home in America because we do these things to the less fortunate. We don't help them enough, so we help keep them down.
• No one will tell you the truth about these things. Not our Bishops, our Popes, or Mother Angelica, because it is too uncomfortable for them, so they focus on the materialistic and ritualistic, which is meaningless.
• If we leave the building today unwilling to share all that we have, we are sinners, because we are racists and bigots and we are not following God's commandments.
• As racists and bigots, we're in for a big shock on election day, one way or another.
• The issue on election day boils down to one issue. We have to pick between a woman...and a black man who has experienced racism and bigotry all his life, but is an example of overcoming and transcending all of those things to bring his message to the world. "Sound familiar?"
• You can do what is most comfortable at the consecration, the Our Father, and the Lamb of God. Sit if you want, you don't have to kneel, just be comfortable [about 1/4 of the people - of all ages - were thrilled with this advice and stayed on the pews]. AND:
• (this is my own query) Is there an annotated version or one with commentary to be recited during the consecration? "This is my body...you know, the one that God gave me here on earth...that I'm now giving up for you. Because that's what God sent me here for." And so it continued.

What has he loosed on the parishioners today?

I don't think I went to Mass today. Maybe a Unitarian Universalist meeting or a Communist political rally? The Beloved, the Princess and I kept looking at one another, jaws dropping, wondering what the heck was going on. We did one of my pet peevey things - we took off out a side door after Communion.

It's not so much a matter of validity or licit-ness of the Mass. The form was [loosely] followed, but the substance wasn't there - just a lot of leftist ranting. The new ponytailed deacon did not concelebrate - he and his wife did the guitar, handclappy and swaying thing (which the priest swayed along with) in place of the atrocious but well-meaning choir, which usually starts back up after Labor Day.

I have had such an emotionally, physically, and now spiritually draining week. I just want to curl up and hibernate with my tea, my vast collection of Brit Lit DVD adaptations, my Butler's and my breviary for the foreseeable future.

Sarah Palin's Doppleganger

Sarah Palin..........

............Tina Fey

You just know this is going to be a show stopper on Saturday Night Live...

Sarah

Tina was a very vocal Hillary supporter on the show this past spring.....it's gonna be interesting to see how she treats Sarah, if they have them do a side by side (as Amy Poehler did with Hillary), or if they just go nasty.

September starts out somber

Well, friends, I thought I'd have a tiny bit of good news for you to start off the month...but sadly, I will be heading to the OBGYN later today to confirm the bad news.

We were just about to tell the girls, too. At least I can hold off on that for a few days until I can do so with some semblance of equanimity.

Please remember our family and all our little angels in your prayers.

I'll be back soon.