Followers

28 February 2010

What could be more British than a tea party? – Telegraph Blogs

What could be more British than a tea party? – Telegraph Blogs

What could be more British than a tea party?

Some British Lefties – and some Americans – are thrown by the idea of a Brighton Tea Party. After all, they point out, the original Boston Tea Party was directed against the British Crown.

Yes, it was. But where do you think its leaders drew their inspiration from? The American patriots didn’t see themselves as revolutionaries, but as conservatives. In their own minds, all they were asking for was what they had always assumed to be their birthright as freeborn Englishmen.

Part of that birthright was liberty from unjust, arbitrary or punitive taxation. The proposition that taxes ought not to be levied except by elected representatives would have been every bit as popular in Great Britain in 1773 as in America. It’s important to remember that there was a more restricted franchise in the mother country at that time than in the colonies. None the less, there are ways to infer public opinion from such data as newspaper circulation, petitions to Parliament (either for Conciliation or Coercion), and extrapolation from the views of that handful of MPs who, prior to 1832, represented a broader section of the electorate. From these sources, historians estimate that public opinion in Great Britain was similar to that in America: on both sides of the Atlantic, only around a third of the population were Tories.

The American Revolution, in other words, was inspired by British political philosophy and – more to the point – by British political practice. American patriots saw themselves as part of a continuing British tradition, stretching back through the Glorious Revolution, back through the agitations of Pym and Hampden, back even through the Great Charter to the folkright of Anglo-Saxon common law.

Naturally enough, once the fighting started, the rebel leaders began to use nationalist arguments, and subsequent historians in the US have tended to play these up. But the idea, in 1773, that Britain was a foreign country would have struck most Americans, patriot or loyalist, as ridiculous. A large majority of the British population sympathised with the arguments of the colonists. So, indeed, did the greatest British parliamentarians of the age.

“I rejoice that America has resisted,” proclaimed William Pitt the Elder setting out the case against the Stamp Act in 1766. “Three million people so dead to all feelings of liberty as voluntarily to submit to be slaves would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest [of us]”

“Let us get an American revenue as we have got an American Empire,” said Edmund Burke in 1775, taking up the cause of no taxation without representation. “English privileges have made it all that it is; English privileges alone will make it all it can be.”

Those British Lefties who now sneer at what they regard as the Americanisation of the British Right would do well to remember their own history. They are the political heirs of Charles James Fox, of John Wilkes, or Tom Paine. I have no doubt that if the heroes of that age – Burke or Fox or Pitt or Johnson or Swift – could be transported to our own time, they would recoil with horror at the level of taxation and state intervention.

To remind you, Labour has introduced 111 tax rises since 1997. It has taken a trillion pounds in additional taxation. And it has still left us with a deficit of 12.6 per cent of GDP.

Enough is enough. I’m not asking you to throw any chests into the Channel, but at least come to Brighton, drink some tea, and let our leaders know how you feel about their squandering of our property and our heritage. Here are the details.

25 February 2010

Trog;opundit- where the fun began!

It begs the question: if you were going to the health care “summit” tomorrow, what animal would you want to be?

And no saying “the elephant in the room,” either. Only I am allowed to use puns.
Pat, in Shreveport, has her choice:
I so wish I could watch the health care summit at Blair House tomorrow, but alas, work beckons. I suppose I could TIVO it (yes, I’m that big of a nerd) but it would be anticlimactic somehow. It is sure to be great theater, however, and what I really wish is that I could just be a fly on the wall (hiding, not one snapped out of flight and squished) in that room.
Okay, but if you have to be a fly, wouldn’t you rather be a fly on the buffet table? Why is the fly always on the wall?
Me, I’m thinking gorilla. Big ol’ mountain gorilla, blowing snot every time I move my head. That would be fun.
More:
Pat has a list of the invitees, and notes that the top Democrat and Republican leaders were each allowed to invite four others. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) was one of those. Here’s his statement, which I received exclusively* via email earlier today:
RYAN STATEMENT ON OBAMA ADMINISTRATION’S “HEALTH CARE SUMMIT”
House Budget Committee Ranking Republican Paul Ryan (WI) made the following statement upon receiving an invitation from House Republican Leader John Boehner (OH) to participate in the Administration’s “Health Care Summit”:
“I appreciate the invitation and look forward to sharing common-sense solutions on fixing what’s broken in health care. I share the concerns of many Americans that tomorrow’s summit will be staged more about showmanship than true bipartisanship. While the cameras roll at the health care summit, we’re told the Majority continues to meet in secret, cutting deals behind closed doors to jam a government-takeover through Congress.
“I hope that’s not the case. I hope we can have a sincere discussion tomorrow – focusing on reforms that actually lower health care costs, instead of exploding our already unsustainable debt and piling more tax hikes on the American people. I stand ready to continue to advance solutions that fix what’s broken in health care, without breaking what’s working. We should scrap this massive bill and start over.
Hear, hear.
* Well, it was exclusive to me in my inbox.
UPDATE – Okay, so far we’ve got one fly, one gorilla, and one sperm whale – that’s Moe Lane, who sent his entry via email. Joy McCann is of two minds on the subject: in the comments, she said giraffe (I’m sure there’s a story behind that somewhere), but on her site, she said a bipart. Which, she says, is something mythical.
So far, though, our leader is Dan Collins, who writes:
A sphynx, I thynx. I would ask them each in turn a riddle whose answer was not “government,” and gobble them up each in turn as they failed to answer correctly. And should one by a miracle do so, I would climb to the top of the Washington Monument and hurl myself off.
I still like my idea of blowing snot all over everybody, but that’s good, too.

7 Comments »

  1. I’d be a giraffe.
    Comment by Little Miss Attila | February 24, 2010
  2. [...] . . at the healthcare summit [...]
  3. A sphynx, I thynx. I would ask them each in turn a riddle whose answer was not “government,” and gobble them up each in turn as they failed to answer correctly. And should one by a miracle do so, I would climb to the top of the Washington Monument and hurl myself off.
    Comment by Dan Collins | February 25, 2010
  4. What?!? No snakes in the grass? No poo-throwing monkeys on their backs?
    Comment by Steve Burri | February 25, 2010
  5. Giraffe was my first choice–and, no, I didn’t make the conscious connection to Moe’s blog. I just think they are beautiful creatures.
    And a bipart is, of course, a legislator with genuine bipartisan tendancies–so rare as to be the stuff of legends.
    I should have said, a parrot: a parrot as dead as the healthcare bill.
    Comment by Little Miss Attila | February 25, 2010
  6. A Dachshund, to nip the Repubs at the ankles to remind them of the taxpayer, and then to have a go at the Dems- Chip can jump up to my chest (I am 5′10) so the Dems may have some trouble there (assuming they have something worth biting)
    Comment by trainwife1962 | February 25, 2010
  7. I got the picture of it.
    Comment by Steve Burri | February 25, 2010

Some fun from Troglopundit and Grandpa John

hursday, February 25, 2010
TrogloPundit & The Health Care Summit
TrogloPundit instigates an 'Alice in Wonderland' Tea Party at the President Obama's Health Care Summit.

Here is a photo of Trog, Moe Lane, Dan Collins, Joy McCann, Pat of Shreveport, Agnes, and me attending a brainstorming summit session:

The elephant was already in the room.

(Of course, TrogloPundit & Little Miss Attila are mugging for the camera rather than paying attention to the discussion!)

UPDATE: Correction... Just Trog is mugging for the camera, LMA is trying to get the bartender's attention to order up a martini. My apologies.
Posted by Steve Burri at 12:26 PM
5 Repartees:

smitty1e said...

Was the mis-spelling of Little Miss Attila's name intentional?
1:05 PM
Steve Burri said...

No! Corrected!
1:27 PM
Attila Girl said...

Well, since you've made a martini crack, I'll have to correct your grammar:

"Here is a photo of Trog, Moe Lane, Dan Collins, Joy McCann, Pat of Shreveport, Agnes, and I attending a brainstorming summit session . . ."

Please change the "I" to "me."
2:11 PM
Steve Burri said...

That's something I would have expected from Pat.

Done!
2:39 PM
Agnes B Bullock said...

LOVE IT- Thanks for including me!!!!
8:53 PM

Rep Ryan- Obamacare is a Ponzi Scheme

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

20 February 2010

Rule 5 Sunday

Mesdames Pence and SMith are VERY lucky women, in this, the Inaugural Rule 5 Sunday- CPAC edition.

17 February 2010

What Does The Prayer Really Say?»Blog Archive » Benedict XVI and Ash Wednesday - live

What Does The Prayer Really Say?»Blog Archive » Benedict XVI and Ash Wednesday - live

Benedict XVI and Ash Wednesday - live

CATEGORY: "How To..." - Practical Notes, SESSIUNCULA — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 10:44 am

The Holy Father has begun his journey from Sant’Anselmo to Santa Sabina for the Ash Wednesday Roman Station Mass.

The Mass to be heard on Vatican Radio and CTV.

I know the liturgical eye-candy folks at NLM will probably be diligent in posting images, so I won’t do too much of that.

Maybe a few.







It is nice to see Archbishop Burke on hand.




The wonderfully preserved Roman Basilica Santa Sabina.



There are Cardinals vested as deacons.


The Holy Father and sacred ministers are vested in the wonderful "Philip cut" of the Roman vestment, which was in use after the Council of Trent. This style shows the organic development of vestments from the fuller version, to the more cut-down Roman vestment in use today.

Note the pontifical dalmatic.



NO CONCELEBRANTS





icon for podpress B16 Sermon for Ash Wednesday 2010 [10:28m]: Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download


A view of an interpretation of the "Benedictine arrangement" of the altar.



Note that the corpus is turned to the celebrant. Also, note the 7th candle.





The Holy Father with the principle clergy of Rome, his cardinals.



In Italy is the custom to sprinkle ashes on the top of the head rather than to trace a Cross on the forehead.



A better look at a dalmatic. Note the tassels from the shoulders.



With Card. Arinze.



Time is running out! « The TrogloPundit

Since Lent is upon us, I am making an effort to assits this poor man, who happens to be a wonderful blogger, have one million hits on his blog by his anniversary tomorrow. Can I help it that he lives in Wisconsin, the Badger State. (May my Dachsies With Moxie forgive me for this)




Time is running out! « The TrogloPundit

ime is running out!

Tomorrow, February 18, is TrogloPundit’s one-year anniversary.

Yes, yes, thanks. Thank you. No, really, thank you. Please, thanks, shut up already. Thanks.

As many of you will have noticed, the past 355 days have not – repeat not - placed TrogloPundit in contention to join the fabled Million Hits in a Year club. That’s why I’m telling you about my anniversary a day short.

See, it’s not too late. All we need is…well…about six hundred and seventy-six thousand hits between now and 11:59 pm tomorrow. That’s it! Okay, a little more than that, I think. Make it six hundred and seventy-seven thousand hits, just to be safe. And that’ll make One Million Hits!

Ooh, you know what would suck? Coming up just a hit or two short. Da-yum.

So anyway. What this all means is: I need links. Every post between now and tomorrow, midnight, should prominently display some incredibly compelling link to any TrogloPundit post. I’m not condoning cheesecake photographs with promises of even greater levels of fleshly exposure on the other side of the click, but I’m not going to argue with them, either. I just won’t look too hard.

I also need hits. If each of you clicks over to TrogloPundit, then cleans out your cache and your cookies, and then clicks again, over and over and over – will that work? I think so. Give it a shot. C’mon, your boss will understand!

With your help, this goal is still within reach. Thank you for your support.

UPDATE - in the comments, Stevegg writes:

…you don’t know Trog like I do. When he gets desperate, he looks like the antithesis of Rule 5.

Yeah. You wouldn’t want me posting pictures of that, would you?

Krauthammer: Obama’s excuses are unbelievable- The Right Scoop

Krauthammer: Obama’s excuses are unbelievable- The Right Scoop

Dems push Fistgate and Buggery Czar in HR 4530- the law of unintended consequences

Gateway Pundit


Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 6:55 AM
Jim Hoft
On January 20, 2009 President Barack Obama promised to “begin again the work of remaking America.” He wasn’t kidding. In his first year Barack Obama and Democrats set all kinds of spending records. They managed to triple the national debt in a year and watched the unemployment rate jump to double digits. President Obama dithered and waffled on national security and joined with Marxist dictators to side against an American ally.
But you haven’t seen anything yet. The democrats in Congress are moving closer to passing the most radical anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-family bill through Congress that we have seen in decades.

HR4530 is a radical Safe Schools Czar’s dream come true.
Forget reading, writing and arithmatic, Democrats have more important subjects in mind for your child. Democrats are working to push HR 4530 through Congress. This bill will force educators to prohibit harassment, violence and discrimination faced by students based on their sexual orientation. That doesn’t sound so bad, but that’s not all it does. The bill will also allows educators and education officials like Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings to push their radical agenda in the classroom. And, if you don’t like the new policies or object to the program, the bill authorizes the federal government to cut off the educational assistance to schools that fail to enforce the new rules. Critics of the bill understand the law would give the controversial Safe Schools Czar, Kevin Jennings, almost unlimited authority to mandate sexual indoctrination in public schools at taxpayer expense. It won’t matter what your child is taught at home, this bill will allow radical educators to push their agenda in public schools despite your possible concerns.
U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) introduced HR 4530 School Non-Discrimination Act of 2010 late last month to prohibit harassment, violence and discrimination faced by students based on their sexual orientation. The bill “prohibits public school students from being excluded from participating in, or subject to discrimination under, any federally-assisted educational program on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity or that of their associates.” The law considers perceived harassment to be a form of discrimination. The bill authorizes federal departments and agencies to enforce these new rules by cutting off the educational assistance of recipients found to be violating them. It allows an aggrieved individual to assert a violation of this Act in a judicial proceeding and recover reasonable attorney’s fees should they prevail. 65 democrats signed on to this bill. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor on January 27, 2010.
According to Metro Weekly:
The bill would require that no student in public schools be “excluded from participation in, or be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance” based on the student’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill also would prohibit harassment based on either characteristic.
It sounds innocent enough until you look at its real intent.
The purpose of this bill is not what is being stated, but is quite simply to mandate in public schools one acceptable viewpoint on the issue of homosexuality, using purported violence or harassment as the rationale, and the power of the feds as the hammer. The goal is to silence those who may warn about or object to student expression of homosexuality or gender confusion… The federal governmental intrusion and sweeping new unregulated powers in what are local and state matters are proposed in this bill. Enforcement will primarily be through federal agencies, which will craft new regulations to back up this bill’s provisions with the President’s approval. Can you spell “czar”?
In other words, if you oppose radical sexual material detailing sex between first graders or promoting S&M but the Safe Schools Czar or some other official believes it is appropriate- tough. If you disagree with books romanticizing child rape or books with pictures of men having sex- tough. If you oppose weekend student-teacher seminars with fisting lectures and gay bar guides- tough. If government officials want to promote this in your child’s classroom then you’ll just have to get used to it.
No one wants to see a child picked on, harrassed or ridiculed, but this bill takes government control to a whole new level. It is a radical’s dream come true. This bill is a direct assault on our nation’s moral fabric.

Ash Wednesday- Lent Begins

Geoff and I will be receiving our ashes tonight at St. Francis Xavier.  We have chosen to abstain from McDonald's, to the dismay of the Dachsies With Moxie.  IN addition, I will be attending morning Mass and saying the Rosary. 

I am putting this out in the blogosphere, as I may need extra help this Lent!

14 February 2010

Rule 5 Sunday- St Valentine's Day

I present to you images of the Roman Catholic Bishop and Martyr whose Feast Day is celebrated today




12 February 2010

No Sheeples Here: Chris Christie—You’re Doing It Right!

No Sheeples Here: Chris Christie—You’re Doing It Right!

Adrienne's Corner: Sarah Palin - The Little Engine That Could

How inspirational and to the point- Adrienne strikes again. My favorite politician and Geoff's love of trains- unbeatable!!!!


Adrienne's Corner: Sarah Palin - The Little Engine That Could

What is it about Sarah Palin that drives the lefty communists of this country so crazy? She spoke for approximately 40 minutes at a Tea Party convention in Nashville almost five days ago and is still making headline news. Robert Gibbs, the official spokesman for the White House, has made numerous jabs at her. Never mind that she is a private citizen being attacked by the government that is supposed to be, if you listen to folks like Lincoln, "of the people, by the people, and for the people."

Creepy people, who earn buckets of money on TV, call her stupid, and the son of Ronald Reagan insists she doesn't have a thought in her head and does not possess any basic principles. People that call themselves "journalists" gather together, similar to what the "cool" kids in high school do, to heap smirking ridicule on her, often laced with thinly disguised vulgarity.

Obviously, they care a lot about Sarah Palin. They hound her, mock her, trash her family, and spend untold hours and amounts of energy in an attempt to discredit her. And through it all she keeps chugging along like the little engine that could.

Sarah Palin is hated because she represents everything these people are not. The further down the cesspool her opponents reach in an effort to harm her, the more they harm themselves. She is a constant reminder of how shallow and awful their lives really are.

She also represents you and me, ordinary people just trying to earn a living, raise our kids, and have a two-week vacation every year. Remember, every time the Robert Gibbs' of the world, the Obama shills that call themselves journalists, and the over-paid TV personalities mock her, they are mocking us. In the end, they will be the ones mocked and marginalized.

Happy Birthday!!!

I was remiss yesterday- America's Sweetheart, Governor Sarah Palin celebrated her birthday yesterday.  Congratulations and many more Governor!!!

In Other Good News

Today is a good day to be from New Jersey.  The new governor, Chris Christie,  has announced that he will be keeping his campaign promises, and froze state spending.  Obviously this went over like a ton of bricks with the Democrat/Progressive/Treason Party, which has run this once fine state into near bankruptcy.  Governor Christie has frozen spending for school districts that have a surplus, which means that they obviously don't need state aid, and is cutting state subsidies to New Jersey Transit, a huge black hole not unlike Amtrak at the federal taxpayer level.  He has the nerve to request that the union contracts be revisited!!!  The horror- union thugs/employees to live like the taxpayer who provides his generous salary and benefits, neither of which are available in the private  sector anymore!!!!!  He had the nerve to do this by exercising his constitutional executive authority, and without the legislature!!!  He has also warned the Legislature that next year's budget will have even bigger cuts in spending!!!!!

Now, I am proud to be a Jersey Girl, by ancestry and for having lived there for 15 years.

Go Christie!!!!!

No Sheeples Here: Have Fedora, Will Travel

Here in the Vast Right Wing Blogosphere, we assist our fellow travellers in their individual quests and their pursuits for justice and the American Way. In honor of that tradition, I am encouraging everyone to hit the tip jar at Da Tech Guy's blog, so that he can attend CPAC 2010. He provided extraordinary reportage of the "Massachusetts Miracle", which has led to the "Rhode Island Miracle"- ie- Patrick Kennedy not seeking reelection and the first time that Congress (both chambers) will be free of the Kennedy stench. He also had the honor of hosting His Awesomeness during the final days of the "Massachsuetts Miracle" and that alone requires monetary funding of his CPAC quest!!!!I am linking to The Goddess of the Photoshop, Carol at No Sheeples Here, so that you can read even more about this fabulous Catholic conservative blogger from Massachusetts. Hit the tip jar hard for him!!!!!

Here is the link:
http://datechguy.wordpress.com/the-ill-do-it-myself-tucker-fund/

No Sheeples Here: Have Fedora, Will Travel

11 February 2010

Grandpa John's: Just a Routine Audit

From one of my favorite blogs (when he isn't attacking Carol at No Sheeples Here, forcing the First Dachshund Army out to roust the Badgers)



Grandpa John's: Just a Routine Audit

Just a Routine Audit

The anti-high tax tea party movement is apparently being noticed by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and his people at the I.R.S.:
They have a tea party, you arm up with riot shotguns. They vote one of yours out of the House or Senate, you send them to jail for not having health insurance. That's the Chicago way! That's the Obama way!

"No big deal, Mr. Burri, (Conservative, tea party attending blogger) it's just a routine audit."

Holy Cards For Your Inspiration: Our Lady of Lourdes..........February 11

Holy Cards For Your Inspiration: Our Lady of Lourdes..........February 11

Adrienne's Corner: Eric Cantor, Dogs, and Ponys

Adrienne's Corner: Eric Cantor, Dogs, and Ponys

Adrienne is back!!! Witty and acerbic as ever, and a great read too!

No Sheeples Here: The Evisceration Of David Broder Begins In 3…2…1

No Sheeples Here: The Evisceration Of David Broder Begins In 3…2…1


Carol cuts to the chase with this post!

Valley of the Shadow: The Four Horsemen of the Ablogalypse: 2010 Version

Valley of the Shadow: The Four Horsemen of the Ablogalypse: 2010 Version

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Four Horsemen of the Ablogalypse: 2010 Version

Since it's snowing out east and raining out west and no major policy is getting done today, let's look again at the Blogosphere.

In 2003, this Blogger defined who were the Four Horsemen of the Right Blogosphere who caused the most damage to the Left.

At the time, these Four did much damage:

Plague: Steven Den Beste
Famine: Charles Johnson
War: Andrew Sullivan
Death: Glenn Reynolds

This is 2010 and except for Glenn Reynolds, the other horsemen fled. Steven Den Beste writes a manga blog, Charles Johnson and Andrew Sullivan (confirmed by Sullivan's own mentor at The New Republic, I was right when I wrote this) went Anti-Semitic and then went Left.

So, who deserves it today?
Here are my choices:

Death: Glenn Reynolds
Famine: Jim HoftWar: Pamela Geller
Plague: Robert Stacy Mc Cain (and co-blogger Smitty)

Why?

Jim Hoft is quoted by talk Radio and his words affect the political atmosphere around the country; Thus he is famine.

Pamela Geller stands up to 3 Liberals on TV and still wins. She is also focused on the Islamofacist threat, and the Honor Killings NOW doesn't care about. And she also fights, she is War.

Robert Stacy Mc Cain and Smitty are Plague because RS is a "connecter" with the Right Blogosphere and Smitty also spreads the word. If some news hits the Right Blogosphere,they are there.

So, Ladies and Gentlemen of Conservative and Republican Politics and Blogging, meet your Four Horseman who fight the Obama administration!

My question: Who are your personal Four Horseman in day to day life?


His Awesomeness and his Eminence Gris are included as the Plague Horseman!!!! What a fitting tribute to suhc great talent!!!!

ZENIT - Vatican Economist: Recession Caused by Low Birthrate

ZENIT - Vatican Economist: Recession Caused by Low Birthrate
nglish > See information

ZE10020801 - 2010-02-08
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-28289?l=english

Vatican Economist: Recession Caused by Low Birthrate


Blames Small Families, Poor Savings Habits


ROME, FEB. 8, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Bankers are not the cause of the global economic crisis, according to the president of the Institute for the Works of Religion. Rather, the cause is ordinary people who do not "believe in the future" and have few or no children.

"The true cause of the crisis is the decline in the birth rate,” Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, said in an interview on Vatican Television's "Octava Dies."

He noted the Western world's population growth rate is at 0% -- that is, two children per couple -- and this, he said, has led to a profound change in the structure of society.

"Instead of stimulating families and society to again believe in the future and have children […] we have stopped having children and have created a situation, a negative economic context decrease," Gotti Tedeschi observed. "And decrease means greater austerity."

“With the decline in births,” he explained, “there are fewer young people that productively enter the working world. And there are many more elderly people that leave the system of production and become a cost for the collective.

“In practice the fixed costs of this economic and social structure increase. How dramatically they increase depends on how evidently unbalanced the structure of the population is and how much wealth it has. The fixed costs however increase: The costs of health increase and the social costs increase."

When this happens, the economist stated, "taxes can no longer be reduced.”

Empty accounts

Gotti Tedeschi went on to say that another phenomena impacting the economy due to the stagnation of the population is a decline in savings.

"Young people who do not have jobs upset the cycle of accumulation of savings that has gone on for years; families are not formed; often families are not formed that have a certain number of commitments to children and so savings are liquidated," he explained.

The Vatican official said a decline in development due to a lack of population growth is worrying.

"An effort is made to compensate for this decline in development through financial activities and above all through de-localization -- we try to move all production to Asia to bring the goods back at a lower cost, and with greater productivity, but greater productivity has its limits," he said.

The economist reflected on the growth of debt in American families over the last decade.

He noted that it was "already quite high" at 68% of the Gross Domestic Product around 1998; and it "went from 68% to 96% of the Gross Domestic Product in 2008, an increase of 28 points."

"If you take 28 percentage points of growth over 10 years and divide it by 10 years, you have a median growth rate of 2.8% per year due exclusively to the consumerism of debt of American households," Gotti Tedeschi said.

Real cause

"In practice," the economist contended, "this was the origin of the crisis, which eventually led to the so-called 'sub-prime' excesses. The financial instrument of debt leverage, the expansion of credit, was used to compensate the lack of growth in the economy caused by the 0% birth rate."

"The origin of the crisis is not in the banks or finance," he affirmed. "The banks and financial firms helped to aggravate the crisis, trying to compensate for problems that were already there, namely, the decline in economic development, which some tried to camouflage through financial instruments.

“If I might, indeed, be quite polemical, I would say that certain government leaders had more responsibility than the bankers since the former pushed, supported and justified the expansion of credit that was used to sustain a growth rate that was recognized as fictitious."

Gotti Tedeschi asserted that debt must be reduced -- in governments, households, financial institutions and non-financial institutions and industrial corporations.

"In developed countries like those of Europe and the United States this debt reduction will take about five to seven years to be re-dimensioned, to return to acceptable criteria," he theorized.

Complex times

The economist further recognized that "the United States, as we know, has also had complex times -- we think of Sept. 11, 2001 -- having to rebuild an attitude with regard to terrorism, as the great guardians of humanity, probably having to notably increase defense spending too."

"Here we see where the demand for growth in the GDP comes in," he pointed out. “Major defense spending for weapons after Sept. 11, which grew in the succeeding years by a rate of 14% [or] 15% per year, had to be sustained by growth in GDP.

"And how was the GDP supposed to be increased? Here we have the American habit: leave it to the individual to take care of; he is given the conditions to do it: low and attractive rates to stimulate consumerism.

"After 10 years the American households became poor, they lost a large portion of their liquid investments, their houses lost a great deal of value -- houses that they had not yet paid for, they lost part of their pension -- which is notoriously private, they built up debt for two or three years and risked losing their jobs."

Now, Gotti Tedeschi confirmed, "the only way to rebuild economic-financial balance is austerity."


© Innovative Media, Inc.

Reprinting ZENIT's articles requires written permission from the editor.

His Excellency, the ARchbishop of San Francisco, gives it to Pelosi

About time Your Excellency!!!!!!!





Catholic San Francisco

Archbishop’s Journal – Free Will, Conscience and Moral Choice: What Catholics believe
January 13th, 2010
By Archbishop George H. Niederauer


In a recent interview with Eleanor Clift in Newsweek magazine (Dec. 21, 2009), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked about her disagreements with the United States Catholic bishops concerning Church teaching. Speaker Pelosi replied, in part: “I practically mourn this difference of opinion because I feel what I was raised to believe is consistent with what I profess, and that we are all endowed with a free will and a responsibility to answer for our actions. And that women should have the opportunity to exercise their free will.”


Embodied in that statement are some fundamental misconceptions about Catholic teaching on human freedom. These misconceptions are widespread both within the Catholic community and beyond. For this reason I believe it is important for me as Archbishop of San Francisco to make clear what the Catholic Church teaches about free will, conscience, and moral choice.


Catholic teaching on free will recognizes that God has given men and women the capacity to choose good or evil in their lives. The bishops at the Second Vatican Council declared that the human person, endowed with freedom, is “an outstanding manifestation of the divine image.” (Gaudium et Spes, No. 17) As the parable of the Grand Inquisitor in Dostoevsky’s novel, The Brothers Karamazov, makes so beautifully clear, God did not want humanity to be mere automatons, but to have the dignity of freedom, even recognizing that with that freedom comes the cost of many evil choices.


However, human freedom does not legitimate bad moral choices, nor does it justify a stance that all moral choices are good if they are free: “The exercise of freedom does not imply a right to say or do everything.” (The Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1740) Christian belief in human freedom recognizes that we are called but not compelled by God to choose constantly the values of the Gospel—faith, hope, love, mercy, justice, forgiveness, integrity and compassion.


It is entirely incompatible with Catholic teaching to conclude that our freedom of will justifies choices that are radically contrary to the Gospel—racism, infidelity, abortion, theft. Freedom of will is the capacity to act with moral responsibility; it is not the ability to determine arbitrarily what constitutes moral right.


What, then, is to guide the children of God in the use of their freedom? Again, the bishops at the Council provide the answer—conscience: “Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment . . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God . . . . His conscience is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths.” (GS, No. 16) Conscience, then, is the judgment of reason whereby the human person, guided by God’s grace, recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act. In all we say and do, we are obliged to follow faithfully what we know to be just and right.


How do we form and guide our consciences? While the Church teaches that each of us is called to judge and direct his or her own actions, it also teaches that, like any good judge, each conscience masters the law and listens to expert testimony about the law. This process is called the education and formation of conscience.


Catholics believe that “the education of conscience is a lifelong task.” (CCC, No. 1784) Where do we go for this education of our consciences? Our living tradition teaches us that “In the formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path; we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must also examine our conscience before the Lord’s Cross. We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church.” (CCC, No. 1785)


Our Catholic beliefs about free will, conscience and moral choice are rooted in the Good News of Jesus Christ’s teaching and his redemptive life, death and resurrection: “For freedom Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1); “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2Cor. 3:17); we glory “in the liberty of the children of God.” (Rom. 8:17). Common caricatures of Christian morality portray believers as living in fear of punishment or concerned only with an eternal reward. Long ago, however, St. Basil the Great, a fourth-century bishop and theologian, taught that the Christian, in living a moral life according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, “does not stand before God as a slave in servile fear, nor a mercenary looking for wages, but obeys for the sake of the good itself and out of love for God as his child.” (CCC, No. 1828)


As participants in the life of the civil community, we Catholic citizens try to follow our consciences, guided, as described above, by reason and the grace of God. While we deeply respect the freedom of our fellow citizens, we nevertheless are profoundly convinced that free will cannot be cited as justification for society to allow moral choices that strike at the most fundamental rights of others. Such a choice is abortion, which constitutes the taking of innocent human life, and cannot be justified by any Catholic notion of freedom. Because of these convictions we commit ourselves to a continuing witness to, and dialogue about, the Gospel values that underlie our understanding of freedom, conscience, and moral choice.


From January 15, 2010 issue of
Catholic San Francisco.


10 February 2010

Faith Of A Convert: Things your burglar won't tell you

Faith Of A Convert: Things your burglar won't tell you


A must read for these times- I was in law enforcement for over ten years and did not know some of these ideas for protecting you, your family and your home from burglars and break ins.

09 February 2010

Aunt Regina

Geoff and I, along with our intrepid Dachsies With Moxie Ginger Chip and Thai, just returned from a weekend dash to South Carolina to say goodbye to my godmother, Regina McKenna.  Aunt Regina is my mom's identical twin, and has always been a part of my life.  Growing up, there were few weekends when we did not see her.  Even though I was the only one of the eight who was her godchild, she NEVER played favorites- she loved and spoiled all of us, and was always there when we needed help.  She took us to McDonald's for the first time, and sat outside in the broiling sun as the kids ate their hamburgers (or cheeseburgers) fries and sodas.  If she took us to IHOP, the pancakes came with a chocolate shake!!!! Christmas was especially magical- her gifts were usually wrapped by the store, and came with the expensive doodads for decoration- I still have my angel from third grade and it still is the first ornament on my tree.  When it came to knitting or clothing, she was right there- She made knitting look so simple- the Aran sweaters and afghans that she knit, literally overnight, put those of us from the Baby Boomer generation and those following to shame- We cannot knit, period.  My favorite was a red vest with a white diamond in which a bicycle was knit- I wore that in sixth grade.  She made my First Communion dress, which I still have, made our costumes for school, and was my sponsor at my Confirmation.  When the girls turned 16, we were taken to the Clinique counter for our first makeup lessons, and makeup.  HER nieces were not going to wear Cover Girl or Maybelline which would ruin our Irish-Scandinavian complexions.  (Aunt Regina is 100% Irish).  No holiday was complete without her famous Jello molds- her cranberry frosted squares are made every year to this day by our generation, and Geoff loves it.  No First Communion or Confirmation was complete without her presence at the Church or the celebrations afterwards.

She and Mom raised the youngest two of their siblings after their mother died of lung cancer just before their 21st birthday in 1949.  (Their father never gave them a dime but ran off with his girlfriend, who he later marreid- completely abandoning his seven children from his first marriage) No college degrees for them- they went ot work as secretaries and paid the tuition at the boarding schools for Aunt Clare and Uncle Eddie.  No complaints either, after all these years- They did what needed to be done, and no whining.  Not what would happen today!!

She spent decades at Grumman Aerospace, and put herself through school at night, first earning her AA at SUNY Farmingville in the late 1970s, her BA from SUNY Stony Brook in the early 1980s, and her MBA  around 1985.

Aunt Regina moved to South Carolina a year or so after my parents did, and was active in her parish, ST. Michael's.

She attended our wedding in 2003, and gave me away.  She and Geoff get along like wildfire and he adores her, and vice versa.

The world will be a lot colder without her, as it is without Dad and Jennifer Amber.

Please keep her in your prayers during this, her final battle.

Tea at Trianon: Mass at Saint Denis

Tea at Trianon: Mass at Saint Denis

Adrienne's Corner: Modern Math

Adrienne's Corner: Modern Math


This is so true, painfully so, I might add.

Long Time, No Post

Back on 22 December 2009, I received a notice from Blogger that this blog was a spam blog and was under review.  Surprising to me, to say the least.  So, while I waited for the situation to resolve itself, I started blogging at wordpress- http://trainwife1962.wordpress.com.  I will now be maintaining both blogs as well as the Dachsies With Moxie blog.   Sometime over the weekend, while we were away visiting my godmother in hospice care, the blog was restored, so we can start anew!!!!

AS such, I just wanted my readers and friend to know of a new favorite blog- http://makosnark.blogspot.com, where the Goddess of the Photoshop, Carol of No Sheeples Here, is providing superior customer service to her fan base.  She continues with her superlative photoshopping, and this new blog is where her work is available for free!!!  Bookmark this site and visit daily!!!!