A brutal review of Bill Clinton's life story in the NY Times...
From The New York Times > Books > Books of The Times: The Pastiche of a Presidency, Imitating a Life, in 957 Pages:
"Unfortunately for the reader, Mr. Clinton's much awaited new autobiography 'My Life' more closely resembles the Atlanta speech, which was so long-winded and tedious that the crowd cheered when he finally reached the words 'In closing . . .'
The book, which weighs in at more than 950 pages, is sloppy, self-indulgent and often eye-crossingly dull -- the sound of one man prattling away, not for the reader, but for himself and some distant recording angel of history."
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Saturday, June 19, 2004
In Cincinnati Today
While attending a talk before the one that Amy is giving here today, I saw a man turn green. He was taking away in an ambulance. When I say that he turned green, I'm talking Martian green. The priest was speaking about Hell. The man's color had returned when he was taken away. Truly strange!
Friday, June 18, 2004
Pope to Make Pilgrimage to Lourdes in August
Will stay with the ailing and pray for a miracle.
From ABCNEWS.com : Pope to Stay with Ailing on August Lourdes Trip:
"Pope John Paul will stay overnight at a special residence for ailing pilgrims when he visits the French pilgrimage shrine of Lourdes on August 14-15, according to French Catholic officials.
The pope, 84 and stricken by Parkinson's disease, wants to make the pilgrimage like any of the other ailing pilgrims who go to Lourdes hoping for a cure from waters in a grotto where the Virgin Mary is to have appeared in 1858, they said.
The Polish-born pontiff wants to mark the 150th anniversary of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, which states that the mother of Jesus Christ was born free of original sin.
"The pope will come as an ailing person making a pilgrimage to Lourdes ... an ill man among the ill," Bishop Jacques Perrier, head of the local diocese of Tarbes and Lourdes in southwestern France, told journalists this week."
From ABCNEWS.com : Pope to Stay with Ailing on August Lourdes Trip:
"Pope John Paul will stay overnight at a special residence for ailing pilgrims when he visits the French pilgrimage shrine of Lourdes on August 14-15, according to French Catholic officials.
The pope, 84 and stricken by Parkinson's disease, wants to make the pilgrimage like any of the other ailing pilgrims who go to Lourdes hoping for a cure from waters in a grotto where the Virgin Mary is to have appeared in 1858, they said.
The Polish-born pontiff wants to mark the 150th anniversary of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, which states that the mother of Jesus Christ was born free of original sin.
"The pope will come as an ailing person making a pilgrimage to Lourdes ... an ill man among the ill," Bishop Jacques Perrier, head of the local diocese of Tarbes and Lourdes in southwestern France, told journalists this week."
Rosary--A Fashion Hit
I noticed that Dontrell Willis of the Florida Marlins was wearing one around his neck as he pitched Sunday against the Detroit Tigers (a game that Amy and I were at). I mentioned it to her and wondered if it had a devotional aspect to it, turns out it probably doesn't, but it is the time to use this as an evangelization tool not an opportunity to blast the half wits who don't know what it means....
From USATODAY.com - Rosary's second coming:
"Rosary beads as a style statement, not a prayer ritual, are hot with stars. 'It has come back again,' celebrity stylist Charlie Altuna says.
In the mid-1980s, Madonna, who was raised Catholic, raised eyebrows and launched a fashion craze by wearing crucifixes and rosaries with corsets. Eventually, the look became 'cheesy' and faded away, Altuna says.
But, like many '80s trends, rosaries 'are cool again' with celebs. It's highly unlikely, however, that the pope will bless the trend this time around, either. Altuna suggests the new fad has roots in the Britney Spears/Madonna connection. "
From USATODAY.com - Rosary's second coming:
"Rosary beads as a style statement, not a prayer ritual, are hot with stars. 'It has come back again,' celebrity stylist Charlie Altuna says.
In the mid-1980s, Madonna, who was raised Catholic, raised eyebrows and launched a fashion craze by wearing crucifixes and rosaries with corsets. Eventually, the look became 'cheesy' and faded away, Altuna says.
But, like many '80s trends, rosaries 'are cool again' with celebs. It's highly unlikely, however, that the pope will bless the trend this time around, either. Altuna suggests the new fad has roots in the Britney Spears/Madonna connection. "
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Vatican Moves to Quell New Age
An illustration of how slow the church moves...it has decided that the "new age" movement presents a threat. Problem is that it has taken them so long to recognize this is that most of the proponents of the new age are now in thier old age.
From Vatican moves to quell 'alternatives' - (United Press International):
"A week-long summit at the Vatican is trying to devise a plan to deal with the rise of 'New Age' religions and fads, The Independent reported Wednesday.
The closed-door conference includes priests and lay people from 25 countries, focusing on a Vatican report on New Age sects last year.
Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, one of the authors of the report, said the greatest challenge may be in England and North America 'where the New Age began ... and where it has become such a part of everyday life that we don't notice it.' That makes it harder to attack, he says: 'Where one sees a threat, it's easier to battle it.'"
From Vatican moves to quell 'alternatives' - (United Press International):
"A week-long summit at the Vatican is trying to devise a plan to deal with the rise of 'New Age' religions and fads, The Independent reported Wednesday.
The closed-door conference includes priests and lay people from 25 countries, focusing on a Vatican report on New Age sects last year.
Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, one of the authors of the report, said the greatest challenge may be in England and North America 'where the New Age began ... and where it has become such a part of everyday life that we don't notice it.' That makes it harder to attack, he says: 'Where one sees a threat, it's easier to battle it.'"
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Coming in September!
In time for the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross!
Because...
God's ways are not ours,
and our plans often are thwarted...
"announcing your plans is a sure way to hear God laugh"
Because...
God's ways are not ours,
and our plans often are thwarted...
"announcing your plans is a sure way to hear God laugh"
Diocese Threatens Bankruptcy
From Diocese of Tucson weighs bankruptcy | The Arizona Daily Star :
"Lawyers for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson say Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas is making plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
If the diocese follows through on what its attorneys say is 'the only viable' way to financially resolve pending lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by clergy, it will be the first U.S. Catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy. Under bankruptcy protection, local Catholic parishioners would be in the unprecedented position of being part of a church whose purse strings are monitored by the courts.
Chapter 11 falls under the federal bankruptcy code and is a way for insolvent corporations and others to reorganize debt. Kicanas predicted Tuesday that filing for Chapter 11 could allow the operations of the diocese and its 74 parishes to carry on normally while it makes a plan to pay costs related to the abuse claims.
He compared the scenario to the way United Airlines has continued to fly its planes since filing for bankruptcy protection in December 2002.
Major business decisions would need the approval of bankruptcy court. "
"Lawyers for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson say Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas is making plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
If the diocese follows through on what its attorneys say is 'the only viable' way to financially resolve pending lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by clergy, it will be the first U.S. Catholic diocese to file for bankruptcy. Under bankruptcy protection, local Catholic parishioners would be in the unprecedented position of being part of a church whose purse strings are monitored by the courts.
Chapter 11 falls under the federal bankruptcy code and is a way for insolvent corporations and others to reorganize debt. Kicanas predicted Tuesday that filing for Chapter 11 could allow the operations of the diocese and its 74 parishes to carry on normally while it makes a plan to pay costs related to the abuse claims.
He compared the scenario to the way United Airlines has continued to fly its planes since filing for bankruptcy protection in December 2002.
Major business decisions would need the approval of bankruptcy court. "
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