ADVENT is traditionally a time of fasting and penance. It's also a good time to consider the subject of gluttony. The sin of gluttony does not just involve eating too much food. It can also entail thinking too much about food or being too fastidious. You can usually find thin people who are gluttons in natural foods markets. Drinking to the point of inebriation is also a form of gluttony. A worthwhile sermon on the subject can be found here.

  WOULD you like a Christmas TV special wholesome enough for the whole family? This 1953 episode of the detective series Dragnet may fit the bill. I recommend it for families with children over the age of eight. (There's nothing salacious in it for younger children, but the topic of crime is not appropriate for them.) In this episode, detectives Joe Friday and Frank Smith investigate an important case on Christmas Eve in Los Angeles. The statue of the Baby Jesus has been stolen from the manger of a local church. They want to recover it by Christmas Day. The famously stone-faced Friday and Smith take the case so seriously that they devote the entire day to the investigation despite other pressing cases. I won't spoil it for you by revealing the results of their investigation, but I will tell you that the crime is happily solved. Note: * The politically incorrect banter about differences between the sexes * Acting that is so bad it is good * The Brooklyn accent of the Hispanic priest * The respectfulness of the two hard-boiled detectives * The joke about how priests and detectives would be out of business if there were no thieves * The bums at The Golden Dream Hotel who know the true meaning of Christmas Do you wonder why more shows like this are not made today? Catholics were a major, organized force for decency in movies and TV when this show was made.…

  SHE IS one of only two women in history conceived without sin. The other is Eve. She is the Immaculata, patroness of the United States, the Mother of humankind, the Queen of Heaven. She reigns with humility, tenderness and compassion. God willed from the beginning of time and the moment of her conception that she would crush the head of the serpent, the cause of Eve's downfall and the source of all evil. We honor and praise her Immaculate Conception today. May she help us through her intercessions to love our enemies, deliver us from our faults and embolden us in battle: Thou art the ark of salvation; the one creature unwrecked in the universal deluge; the white fleece filled with the dew of heaven, whilst the earth around is parched; the flame which the many waters could not quench; the lily blooming amidst thorns; the garden shut against the infernal serpent; the fountain sealed, whose limpid water was never ruffled; the house of the Lord, whereon His eyes were ever fixed, and into which nothing defiled could ever enter; the mystic city, of which such glorious things are said. We delight in telling all thy glorious titles, O Mary! for thou art our Mother, and we love thee, and the Mother's glory is the glory of her children. Cease not to bless and protect all those that honour thy immense privilege, O thou who wert conceived on this day!…

PLEASE donate to this blog. Thank you!               

  SHOES are everywhere -- not just because of common rudeness. This photo (above) of a Paris street near the Bataclan massacre is one of probably thousands of similar shoe pictures, allegedly photos of the shoes of the victims or those fleeing the event, that have appeared in the media after reported vehicle and gun massacres. Typically the shoes are Nikes. However, these shoes from the Las Vegas attack do not appear to be Nikes: Here in the San Bernardino attack, one of the atttackers allegedly -- and absurdly -- fell out of his (or was it her?) shoes: Oddly enough, human beings who are shot with modern weapons or struck by vehicles do not normally fly out of their shoes. People who are running away from danger do not typically sail out of their shoes though it does sometimes happen. (Check with police officers or rescue workers to verify this.) Why then are we so often shown pictures of empty shoes at the scenes of alleged terror attacks? These shoes are part of a code. The planners of these events are communicating with each other. If you would like to understand exactly why these shoes are there, and why photos of abandoned shoes (and sometimes still occupied shoes such as here and here) appear prominently in the media after these events, I highly recommend this interview with Ole Dammegard. (I'm sorry about the macabre photos but the truth is, they are probably every…

  WHEN out in the world, occasions may arise when we are tempted to give in to impatience with the almost incredible rise in bad manners. We should hold our temper, and remember that boors are made, not just born. Our ancestors would be astounded at the level of common incivility today, but bear in mind that many people have never been taught otherwise. My husband has a way of keeping his cool. When he comes across people on trains and in cafes who put their feet up on the furniture -- this is common practice today, he wants to go up to them and say, "Get your feet down now!" But he doesn't. It's just not a good idea. Instead he discreetly takes a snapshot of the offender. He has acquired extensive documentary proof that many people today think the world is their bedroom. You might say, they "have no boundaries." Here is a picture he took yesterday on a commuter train. This spoiled brat should have been tossed out the door and onto the platform, but most likely he will be leaving his footprints on walls throughout the region. These photos will never solve anything. But they are evidence, taken at the scene of the crime. And somehow that makes things better.

  A NOTE TO READERS: Almost every week, I receive requests from advertisers to place paid posts on this website. I never accept these offers. The income would not be very large, but more importantly, I'd like to preserve this small, out-of-the way space as an ad-free zone. Advertising makes it hard to think. And that is the purpose of this blog, to inspire you to persevere in the hard work of reflection, especially about the ideas and news stories you come across elsewhere. If I have helped you question an idea you took for granted, and headed you in the right direction, that is success. Talented writers make a living doing what they do at major publications. But there are things they don't dare question. This blog has been in existence for almost ten years. That is a remarkable fact given that it receives no significant financial backing. I am entirely independent from all who are pushing an agenda, and so are the others who write posts for this site. Many writers on the Internet use pseudonyms, often very weird ones. I write under my own name, and I take full responsibility, as hard as that may be, for what I say. People have gone to jail for some of the truths and opinions expressed here. I hope you will consider that. It has kept me awake once or twice! When you visit a museum, you may spend $25 to…

  RedSilverj tells it like it is.

  FROM The Wall Street Journal: Abortion is legal in most of Europe, but its proponents are bent on suppressing efforts to change the minds of mothers considering it. Witness France’s ban on a television commercial showing happy children with Down Syndrome (DS). Produced to commemorate World Down Syndrome Day, the commercial showed several cheerful children with DS addressing a mother considering abortion. “Dear future mom,” says one, “don’t be afraid.” “Your child will be able to do many things,” says another. “He’ll be able to hug you.” “He’ll be able to run toward you.” “He’ll be able to speak and tell you he loves you.” Read more here. So many women, with legal abortion used as eugenics, have lost the opportunity of a lifetime.

  THE fish is made for the sea and the hawk is made for the open sky. But the human soul is made for eternity. We were made to swim in changelessness, to soar above the little things. And yet here we are. In the wilderness of time. Can we put our feet nowhere and stay? We look inside and see chasms of bewildering nothingness. When a small child goes to a rocky beach, he has an instinctive urge to pick up a pebble and throw it in the water. He likes to toss things around. But he is fascinated by the 'plunk' of the little stone in the water. It is the sound of depths. We throw ourselves into life. As we do, we hear mysterious depths. They are within ourselves. An ocean within. Or an infinite sky. We only feel truly ourselves when we are soaring in it. If this vastness is truly nothing, or an impersonal infinitude, then all is meaningless. If it is something, then everything is possible. The founder of only one religion said that everything is possible -- on the condition that we love Him.  How odd. Moses didn't command people to love him. Muhammad didn't say his followers must love him. Neither did Confucius or Martin Luther. But Jesus said we must love Him.  Only an egomaniac -- or God -- would demand that sort of devotion. Infinitude and finitude -- can we fathom these…

SALWA BACHAR at Tradition in Action looks at the cult of ugliness in fashion: [I]t seems that society has completely lost its sense of beauty. Even with immodest fashions, there were always some elements of aesthetics, charm and refinement. Now, all beauty is thrown out the window and the goal becomes to look as ugly and devilish as possible.