ALAN writes:

One day recently I reread your remembrance of a woman you admired in your childhood.

There was a Betty in my life, too.  She was there before I was born, as a friend of the woman who would marry my uncle.  The two young women met before World War II when they worked at an industrial plant in St. Louis.  Betty married a Navy man sometime in the 1940s.  But he died unexpectedly of natural causes.  They had no children, and Betty had no siblings.

I first became aware of Betty in 1952 or ’53.  Her name was Elizabeth, but no one ever called her that.  She was always “Betty” to us, plain and simple.  She was of average height and had black hair.  There was nothing pretentious about Betty.  She was as honest and down to earth as they come.  A snapshot from the mid-1950s shows Betty and me sitting on the floor by our Christmas tree.

She drove a mid-1950s maroon Ford.  When I knew she was coming to visit us, I would sit by a window and watch eagerly for her car to come into view.  She chain-smoked cigarettes and helped sustain the Coca-Cola company by drinking countless Coca-Colas in the popular 6½ green-glass bottles. (more…)

  "THERE is no one more rich, no one more free, no one more powerful than he who can forsake himself and all passing things and truly hold himself to be the meanest and lowest of all." --  Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

NOTHING is sweeter than repentance. Nevertheless, many people in the modern world think that Lent, which begins this week, is about wallowing in guilt. They see it as a grim, masochistic, uncharitable season if they think about it at all.

They know nothing of the relief that comes with revealed guilt and true repentance. They don’t understand that Lent is the exact opposite of wallowing in guilt. It is the unburdening of guilt. They know not the beauty of repentance.

But it’s hard to believe in Lent if you don’t believe in the concept of sin.

I read somewhere recently — I can’t remember where — that all we need to do in order to be good and happy is trust in our own consciences. Did the author know anything about human nature? We are so good at lying to ourselves. We are so good at deflecting pangs of conscience.

The Rev. Franz Hunolt wrote in the 18th century about the many ways in which we deceive our own consciences. His essay, “On the False Peace of a Sinful Conscience,” includes the sort of pious language that is off-putting to cold, modern sensibilities, but Fr. Hunolt makes perceptive observations about the psychology of self-deception:

It is true, my dear brethren, that at first conscience cries out in that way to every one who is guilty of sin; but what can one do to silence this voice of conscience, and to free himself from the tortures of remorse? Self-love supplies all kinds of pretexts and false arguments to pervert a man’s judgment and to persuade him that there is nothing wrong in what he is going to do, that it is even good and praiseworthy. (more…)

KIDIST Paulos Asrat considers the reaction by the atheist Alt-Right figure Richard Spencer to the Milo Yiannapoulos case. She wonders what grounds Spencer has for being scandalized by Milo’s controversial remarks. If God does not exist, she asks,

Why is pedophilia immoral? What is wrong with loving little children? After all pedophiles can argue that their behavior is a form of love. Unless it is a “rapist pedophile,” most pedophiles are attracted to one (or two or three) children and maintain long term interactions with them. The young children become attached to them.

Legally society can decided that having sex with five-year-old children (who can say “yes” and “no,” and make decisions) is perfectly acceptable and that it is not a crime.

In a related post at The Orthosphere, Kristor writes that individuals who don’t believe in objective moral truth are prone to political rage: (more…)

  THOMAS D. WILLIAMS, PH.D. explains in a few words why the famous saint and theologian would have opposed today's open borders.

M. OLIVER HEYDORN writes at the Clifford Hugh Douglas Institute for the Study and Promotion of Social Credit:

At the very heart of the modern economy we find this thing called ‘finance’. Finance is to the economy what an operating system is to a computer. For it is the financial system which allows an economy’s ‘hardware’ (i.e., its raw materials, labour, machinery, etc.) to be actualized in the service of specific ‘software applications’ (i.e., production programmes). As far as the formal economy is concerned, it is true to say that finance is the essential interface and animating principle.

But the financial system, i.e., the banking and cost accountancy system, is also a purely human artefact composed of institutions, laws, and conventions. This means that it can function more or less adequately. If it is properly designed, it will serve the common good in an effective, efficient, and fair manner. If it is not properly designed, it will tend, instead, to serve the vested interests of those who own and operate the financial system, thus transforming financiers (both national and international) into an economic and political oligarchy.

Social Credit holds that the conventional financial system is not properly designed and that, in consequence, it has become impossible for any economic association operating under its rules to fulfill its true purpose (i.e., the delivery of those goods and services that people can use with profit to themselves with the least amount of labour and resource consumption) to the extent that such a fulfillment is physically possible. In other words, because there is a ‘bug’ in the economy’s operating system, the economy’s hardware is artificially constrained and its activity is misdirected. Chronic dysfunction in the form of poverty, servility, the recurring cycle of boom and bust, constant inflation, heavy taxation, economic waste and sabotage, forced economic growth, ever-increasing indebtedness, and the centralization of wealth, privilege, and power in fewer and fewer hands is the inevitable result. (more…)

  FROM the wonderful little book, Patience, Meditations for a Month, by Richard F. Clarke, S.J., that makes good Lenten reading: On Impatience 1. Impatience is one of the most foolish of all faults. It gains nothing for us; it does not relieve our sufferings, but aggravates them. No one enjoys any peace as long as he is yielding to feelings of impatience; he is discontented, miserable, uneasy. He finds intolerable what he could bear well enough if only he would make the necessary effort, and gulp down the rising irritation or suppress the angry words. He is always in a fever, and is a nuisance to himself and to all around him. Do not I know this by experience? If not, I must thank God for giving me so happy a disposition. 2. Impatience is also one of the most ridiculous of all faults. There is something laughable and contemptible in the fuming of the impatient man over some trifle, in his rage because he cannot overcome some difficulty or have his own way as he desires. An impatient man always makes a bad impression. If I could see myself as others see me when I give way to impatience, I should be thoroughly ashamed and very careful not to make myself so foolish again. 3. Impatience, when voluntarily indulged, is a sort of indirect rebellion against God. It is a practical refusal to bear willingly the trials that He has…

TRUMP has dropped Obama’s federal bathroom edict, provoking the usual temper tantrums. This is a good step by Trump, but the conflict is far from over.

“The consequences of this decision will no doubt be heartbreaking,” said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “This isn’t a states’ rights issue; it’s a civil rights issue.”

“Heartbreaking.”

Get a life, Mr. Griffin. It is heartbreaking when a child gets cancer. It is heartbreaking when a child does not have a normal family life. It is heartbreaking when a child lives without any bathrooms at all. It is heartbreaking when a child is fed toxic hormones because he supposedly identifies with the opposite sex. It is heartbreaking when a child is never taught the purpose of life and is led to believe human existence is an utterly meaningless struggle for achievement and material things.

It is not heartbreaking when a boy has to use the cinderblock school lavatory marked “boys” or has to wear normal boy clothes so that he will not be taunted in cinderblock lavatories marked “boys.”

This country does not deserve sewers. (more…)

THE radioactive weapons used by the U.S. in its attacks in Syria are likely to cause cancer, birth defects and other illnesses for many years to come. See the report by Daniel McAdams. (more…)

THE INVENTIVENESS that HoloHoaxers bring to the art of propaganda is truly unparalleled.

DUE to illness, I can’t post much today, but I want to say a few words about the repulsive Milo Yiannopoulos, a major celebrity in the Trump Cult. I will refrain from posting Yiannopoulos’s Cooler-Than-Thou visage. It is all over the Internet and news already. If you are not familiar with why this political performance artist and false opposition figure is in the news this week, you can catch up here.

Yiannopoulos is a change agent who, like Trump himself, receives substantial financial backing from powerful people.  How do we know the former is well-funded, aside from his already extensive visibility and the gobs of free publicity he has received for quite a while? Immediately after his resignation from the website Breitbart, Yiannopoulos announced that he would be starting his own news platform and had another publisher (Simon and Schuster canceled) already lined up for his new book. Wow! That’s quite an instantaneous comeback for someone who has been nationally disgraced by his comments about adolescents and pedophiles. Seems that he was prepared for this orchestrated controversy to happen, doesn’t it? That suggests planning. (more…)

FRANCE makes it illegal to protect its own children with a new law criminalizing the dissemination of negative information about abortion.

THE woman who was the chief plaintiff in Roe vs. Wade said her participation in the case was “the biggest mistake of my life.” She died last week at the age of 69.

She also said:

“I long for the day that justice will be done and the burden from all of these deaths will be removed from my shoulders.” (more…)

SO MUCH fake news out there.

The Christian Mommy blogger who marries a female athlete just reeks of staging.  Manufactured news for the gullible.

We’re supposed to get all upset and say, “But that’s not Christian!” rather than say, “These two play actors are being shoved down the throats of the public for obvious reasons.” (more…)

THOMAS F. BERTONNEAU writes:

Speaking of pizza rolls, here is Stan Freberg’s brilliant 1970s ad for Jeno’s Pizza Rolls.

In case the pizza rolls give you digestive problems, here is Stan Freberg’s brilliant 1970s ad for Sunsweet Pitted Prunes.

Apropos of absolutely nothing, I have a simple recipe for what I call un-pizza.  Slice two very firm Roma tomatoes as close to paper-thin as you can get.  Arrange the slices on a plate.  Salt and pepper them to taste.  Then add shavings of Pecorino Romano.  Dribble the best olive oil that you can find over the tomato slices with cheese and then shake malt vinegar to taste.  Let the result sit for five minutes in the refrigerator and then – enjoy! (more…)

PENELOPE writes:

I had to write you on this topic of Pit Bull Discrimination.

In 2012, I was attacked by an “American Bulldog,” which is a type of pit bull. I was walking in my neighborhood. It was a gentrifying area and the Hispanic owners apparently left the dog in a confined room all day, but it had gotten out.

I turned a corner and the dog left its property; jumped in the middle of the street; bit me on my rib cage; and then locked onto my right forearm while pulling me down in the middle of the road. It would not let go. This is what these dogs do. The owner’s brother came and tried to pull the dog off of me as it shook my entire body. It took about a full minute for it to release me. If the owner had not been there, I may have been killed. (more…)

I WAS having coffee with a friend in a café last week when my friend mentioned that her son, who is in his twenties, has acquired a pit bull. The dog is a puppy and is reportedly charming and lovable.

By coincidence, at the next table, a group of young people in their twenties were at that very moment working on a related project. A nice young man perked up when he heard the mention of a pit bull and volunteered some information.

He and his friends were starting a non-profit coffee company, he said. The proceeds will go to finding homes and “companions” for abandoned pit bulls. Yes, abandoned pit bulls, of which I am sure there are many.

“We hope to put an end to breed discrimination,” he said.

I thought perhaps he was joking or that this was a live skit put on by The Onion.

But it was obvious from his earnest expression that he was not joking. He showed us on his friend’s laptop a photo of the coffee bag they were designing (they were going to be using the coffee roasted at this café.) The logo was an artistic (well, sort of) rendering of a pit bull’s face (ugh!) in rainbow colors.

“Ooh, that looks scary,” my friend unthinkingly said.

The young man seemed a little put-off. But he recovered quickly and said, “Thanks for your honest input.”

My friend obviously needs to shed some conditioning. (more…)

THE SAKER reflects on the forced resignation of Gen. Mike Flynn, Trump’s National Security Advisor:

Frankly, my heart goes out to all those who sincerely hoped that Trump will be the man to free the US from the Neocons and restore the power of the “basket of deplorables” over the many minorities and special interests.  Some will now indulge in a lot of “I told you so” but they will be wrong.  To hope for the best was the right thing to do.  Those who voted for Trump did the only thing in their power to prevent Hillary from occupying the White House.  That was the right decision, they did the right thing, both morally and pragmatically.

But now we also need to gather our courage and accept the reality of what has taken place.  Minimizing the implications of this deep state coup makes no sense whatsoever, neither morally nor pragmatically.  And the reality is this:

It took the Neocons and the US deep state less than a month to overturn the results of the Presidential election.

See more analysis here by Robert Parry, who writes:

Flynn’s real “offense” appears to be that he favors détente with Russia rather than escalation of a new and dangerous Cold War. Trump’s idea of a rapprochement with Moscow – and a search for areas of cooperation and compromise – has been driving Official Washington’s foreign policy establishment crazy for months and the neocons, in particular, have been determined to block it.

Though Flynn has pandered to elements of the neocon movement with his own hysterical denunciations of Iran and Islam in general, he emerged as a key architect for Trump’s plans to seek a constructive relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Meanwhile, the neocons and their liberal-interventionist sidekicks have invested heavily in making Putin the all-purpose bête noire to justify a major investment in new military hardware and in pricy propaganda operations. (more…)