THE housewife and writer Phyllis McGinley wrote these words in the early 1960s and they are more true today than ever. The phenomenon she discusses — the stress of children being made to excel early, and often, at a whole range of activities, including athletics, music, art and academics — is related, in my view, to other changes in family and community life, especially feminist careerism, materialism and low fertility. But more importantly, a society with no sense of the sacred cannot truly value leisure.

Youth is a perfectly wonderful commodity and far too valuable, as Shaw has pointed out, to be wasted on the young. Yet like all human benefactions, it has its penalties, which in today’s urgent society have frighteningly increased. I don’t think I am merely nostalgic when I contend that being a child nowadays is a tougher proposition than it was when my generation and I compared arithmetic answers between classes or devoured bread-and-pickle sandwiches on the front porch after school. For one thing, it isn’t as much fun.

On the surface this assertion may sound like gibbering nonsense. Never before in history has childhood had so much attention paid to its welfare and its amusement. It is cosseted, pampered, immunized against unhappiness as against polio or whooping cough.

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  "INQUISITIVENESS .... is of the greatest possible value in the education of the child, for, if properly directed, it leads to reverence and awe, and enters largely into the adoration and worship of God." --- Father Alexander, O.F.M.  

VLADIMIR MOSS writes: The question therefore is: is the present-day Putinist regime Leninist in essence? In order to answer this question we have to separate what is essential to Leninism from what is not, and ask whether Putin retains that essence even if in many other ways his regime may be very different… Our thesis is that the essence of Leninism is loyalty to Lenin himself, and that while many things have changed since 1917, devotion to Lenin, and a refusal to condemn him or his reincarnation, Stalin, remains the bond binding together all the epochs of Soviet and post-Soviet history to the present day, as witnessed above all by the continuing worship of his body in the mausoleum on Red Square. Lenin’s teachings are no longer believed in, his party no longer holds power, even his vitriolic hatred of God and Christianity has gone. But he himself remains alive and well in the hearts of the majority of the Russian people. And it is this psychological and spiritual bond, more powerful than any ideological sympathy or antipathy, that makes Leninism a continuing force. Moreover, it is a force that any succeeding leader like Putin can tap into – so long as the idol still remains in place. And why does the idol still remain in place? Because neither in 1991 nor at any other time has there been any thoroughgoing repentance for the sins of the Soviet past or…

  IN 1948, BBC Radio broadcast a debate between Bertrand Russell and Frederick Copleston, a Jesuit historian and philosopher, on the existence of God. Here is Part one; a recording of Part two can be found here. Copleston argued that the existence of God could be proven philosophically, while Russell maintained that neither the existence or non-existence of God could be proved.  

"CONSIDER first, the reason why so many persons become bolder every day in sinning. It is because God is slow to punish. If every time that a man uttered a blasphemous word he felt his tongue suddenly torn by cruel vermin, if his hands were withered as soon as he committed a theft, if whenever he was guilty of deception his intellect were clouded, if when any one falls into some shameful act of sensuality he were instantly covered with a disgusting leprosy, thinkest thou that there would be so many blasphemers, thieves, cheats, and dissolute persons in the world? It is because God is so slow to punish, because He is so longsuffering and silent, because He seems to take no notice, that men become so audacious: 'Because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evils without any fear (Eccles. viii. 11).' What monstrous wickedness; such persons are, indeed, "children of men," and not of God. To sin deliberately because God is good! It is easy to see that such children cannot belong to God, since they are so entirely different from Him. They are children of perdition, for this is the meaning of the expression 'children of men.' 'The Son of Man" is always used in the best sense in the Sacred Scriptures; but 'children' or 'sons of men,' always, or nearly always, in a bad sense. 'O ye sons of men,…

  A 1950s public broadcast warns young men about homosexual predators.

DAVID EWALD writes:

The following is somewhat interesting in light of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex move to Frogmore Cottage and now to North America:

If you open up a copy of the 1623 First Folio to the play, The Merry Wives of Windsor, page 44 you will see George Page asking his wife Margaret: “How now Meg?”. Turn to page 48 and you will see three references to Frogmore (two of them associated with Anne Page). Finally look on page 49 and you will see George Page referring to the “wilde Prince and Pointz” (the Prince of course being Prince Hal/Harry). The only other times that the name ‘Meg’ occurs in the First Folio is twice in Much Ado About Nothing (Margaret) and once in The Tempest, Stephano drunkenly sings a bawdy song (where coincidentally Meg is preferred to Kate; though I personally like them both equally). Frogmore only appears in The Merry Wives of Windsor.

How now, Meg? This question was asked of Margaret Page by her husband soon after she was reading a letter sent to her by Falstaff, when she then pondered the elevation of Alice Ford’s status to Knighthood (Sir Alice Ford?; page 43). Meghan Markle was married in the Chapel where Knights of the Garter are elevated to that status (Prince Harry is not yet a KG). How now Meg, indeed!

Frogmore plays a key role in being the place where peace is brought by the Host of the Garter between Dr. Caius and Sir Hugh Evans in their dispute with each other pertaining to the suit for the hand of Anne Page. The Sussexes desire to retain Frogmore Cottage as their own Haven of Peace while they are living in the UK resonates well with Shakespeare. (more…)

  HERE IS the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show, without the pole dancing, the wagging rear ends, the pelvic thrusts, the black leather, the overpaid striptease dancers, the cute children in cages, the fireworks, the occult symbolism and the lewd, jungle sounds. Phew, that was a lot to edit out! Enjoy!!

    ENGLAND will officially end 47 years in what is known as the European Union later today, more than three years after the Brexit referendum in which a close majority voted to leave. The New York Times reports: Flags will line Parliament Square and The Mall, the ceremonial avenue leading to Buckingham Palace, and government buildings will be lit up in the red, white and blue of the Union Jack. A countdown clock will be projected onto the front of 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s official residence, along with a commemorative light display to “symbolize the strength and unity” of the four nations of the United Kingdom, the government said. But a campaign for a celebratory 11 p.m. chime from Big Ben — the great bell of Parliament’s clock tower, which is currently silenced for restoration work — did not succeed. Congratulations, England! . (Video from Little England is Ours; Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams)  

FROM Chuck Baldwin's latest column: Donald Trump’s so-called Deal of the Century unveiled this past Tuesday is actually a deal with the devil. This so-called Middle East Peace Plan would more accurately be called the “Permanent Palestinian Enslavement Act”—otherwise known as the “Save Benjamin Netanyahu’s Derriere Act.” On the very day that Netanyahu was formally indicted on corruption charges by the Israeli Knesset, Donald Trump rolls out his “Deal of the Century” Middle East peace plan. As with Trump’s assassination of General Soleimani, this is nothing but a ploy to try and save Trump’s partner in crime and fellow Zionist, Benjamin Netanyahu—and to further endear himself to the much beguiled Christian Zionists within America’s evangelical voting bloc. The people who live under the yoke of Israeli oppression in Palestine, however, know exactly what this is all about. And they rightly reject it. [cont.] More analysis of the deal here and here.  

Such, in broad light, is Shakespeare’s testimony to the position and character of women in human life. He represents them as infallibly faithful and wise counsellors, — incorruptibly just and pure examples — strong always to sanctify, even when they cannot save.

—- John Ruskin

FROM John Ruskin’s Sesame and Lilies (1894):

Note broadly in the outset, Shakespeare has no heroes;—he has only heroines. There is not one entirely heroic figure in all his plays, except the slight sketch of Henry the Fifth, exaggerated for the purposes of the stage; and the still slighter Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. In his laboured and perfect plays you have no hero. Othello would have been one, if his simplicity had not been so great as to leave him the prey of every base practice round him; but he is the only example even approximating to the heroic type. Coriolanus—Caesar—Antony stand in flawed strength, and fall by their vanities;—Hamlet is indolent, and drowsily speculative; Romeo an impatient boy; the Merchant of Venice languidly submissive to adverse fortune; Kent, in King Lear, is entirely noble at heart, but too rough and unpolished to be of true use at the critical time, and he sinks into the office of a servant only. Orlando, no less noble, is yet the despairing toy of chance, followed, comforted, saved by Rosalind. Whereas there is hardly a play that has not a perfect woman in it, steadfast in grave hope, and errorless purpose: Cordelia, Desdemona, Isabella, Hermione, Imogen, Queen Catherine, Perdita, Sylvia, Viola, Rosalind, Helena, and last, and perhaps loveliest, Virgilia, are all faultless; conceived in the highest heroic type of humanity.

Then observe, secondly,

The catastrophe of every play is caused always by the folly or fault of a man; the redemption, if there be any, is by the wisdom and virtue of a woman, and, failing that, there is none. The catastrophe of King Lear is owing to his own want of judgment, his impatient vanity, his misunderstanding of his children; the virtue of his one true daughter would have saved him from all the injuries of the others, unless he had cast her away from him; as it is, she all but saves him. [emphasis added] (more…)

  "EVERY single commercial is a dorky white guy made to look stupid. Does that move product?" See many more examples here at "White Men are Stupid in Commercials."  

  PHILADELPHIA rock group Sheer Mag has a message for America -- played at a Bernie Sanders rally last fall. (As if Bernie is anti-establishment! Ha! Ha! Ha!) If Democrats don't win in November, these college grads are gonna get tough! Expect the Bayonet From the sorrow we created A fragile state of blood and whim Made for rich men in their white skin People bolder than I Stood up to the lie That equality has left! (my, my) But it leaves no doubt in my mind I've been reading the news and you'll surely regret If you don't give us the ballot, expect the bayonet! Well, expect the bayonet! (yeah, yeah) Expect the bayonet! Don't say I didn't warn ya 'Cause for every man high upon the hog There's a dogwood forest buried in the fog How naked is your eye? Do you ever wonder why You're being asked to recompense When it's the last sign of your defence? So you better resolve or you'll surely regret If you don't give us the ballot, expect the bayonet! Well, expect the bayonet! (Yeah, yeah, yeah) My hunch is that these kids "in their white skin" have never known a day of hard manual labor and wouldn't know what to do with a bayonet.   When they say "rich men in their white skin" who made a "fragile state of blood and whim" do they mean people like this?   They…

"WHEN you gossip about a person it means that you have removed the person from your heart. But be aware, when you remove a man from your heart, Jesus goes away from your heart with that man." -- Padre Pio  

"BE NOT therefore dismayed or troubled but continue to give thanks to God for all things, praising, and invoking Him; beseeching and supplicating; even if countless tumults and troubles come upon you, even if tempests are stirred up before your eyes let none of these things disturb you. For our Master is not baffled by the difficulty, even if all things are reduced to the extremity of ruin. For it is possible for Him to raise those who have fallen, to convert those who are in error, to set straight those who have been ensnared, to release those who have been laden with countless sins, and make them righteous, to quicken those who are dead, to restore lustre to decayed things, and freshness to those which have waxen old. For if He makes things which are not, come into being, and bestows existence on things which are nowhere by any means manifest, how much more will He rectify things which already exist." --- St. John Chrysostom, in a letter to Olympias    

  IN AN interview on Good Morning Britain today, Anne Frank's stepsister Eva Schloss said that the sensational photos released internationally of Auschwitz when it was liberated from the Germans 75 years ago were fake. She said the Soviets, who released the photos, admitted to her that they were staged later. At minute 4:47 in the interview, she discusses the famous pictures. She lived at Auschwitz for one year. She noticed that the photos [did not] include snow, but there was heavy snow at the time of liberation. Mrs. Schloss said her mother, who later married Anne Frank's father, Otto Frank, was selected to be "gassed" at the camp, but was not. They were also supposed to be part of a "death march," but overslept that day, she said. Auschwitz, located in Poland, was visited monthly by International Red Cross inspection teams during the war, up until the last few months. The teams were permitted to speak to prisoners alone. In a 1650-page report by the Red Cross, there was no mention of gas chambers. (Read more here.) Here is a video tour of Auschwitz. Will the elderly Mrs. Schloss be jailed for her comments that the photos were fake, as was the 91-old-German woman Ursula Haverbeck, who has never harmed anyone or advocated violence and is currently in jail for publicly challenging the official historical record of World War II events? This is not the first time there has…

 A SHY, Italian widow who was always busy tidying up her property and had for years taken care of her husband, who had Parkinson's disease and dementia, lived across the street from us when we were growing up. Whenever there was a big snowstorm, my father or brother would go over to her house and clear her driveway with a snowblower. A huge pot of chicken that she made herself would arrive the next day. It was a traditional Italian recipe for chicken stewed in many cloves of garlic. It was the essence of garlic and was delicious. Here is one version of the dish. You don't have to use exactly 40 cloves of garlic. I often use fewer to save time. Whenever I make this, I think of our neighbor, who had experienced great tragedy in her life. I think of her resilience and her shyness. And, I think of snow. Snowblower Chicken 1 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces, (or eight chicken thighs) at room temperature Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon unsalted butter About 40 garlic cloves, peeled 2 sprigs fresh thyme (if you have it) 3/4 cup dry white wine or dry vermouth 1 1/3 cup chicken stock 1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 2. Dry chicken pieces with paper towel and season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Place a deep, nonreactive pot or Dutch…

"MY WAY is: I consider the poetic sentiment, correspondent to my idea of the musical expression, then chuse my theme, begin one stanza, when that is composed—which is generally the most difficult part of the business—I walk out, sit down now and then, look out for objects in nature around me that are in unison or harmony with the cogitations of my fancy and workings of my bosom, humming every now and then the air with the verses I have framed. When I feel my Muse beginning to jade, I retire to the solitary fireside of my study, and there commit my effusions to paper, swinging, at intervals, on the hind-legs of my elbow chair, by way of calling forth my own critical strictures, as my, pen goes." ----- Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796)