09 April 2014 News

Here’s a good way to take advantage of our overload of lawyers. Sue the schools that abuse our children.

If there is only one thing you read today, read about these amazing, heart wrenching efforts to save children from sex slavery rings.

[While we’re on the subject, let me just note that I hate the term “Human trafficking”. Even if it’s technically correct, it seems to me to be a politically correct softening  of the term “Slavery”. That’s what this is, plain as day. We should name it with the ugliest terms we have. We should be absolutely clear what we’re talking about. This is slavery. The people who do it are slavers. Those who support it in any way are supporting the slave trade.]

My favorite actor of Lucifer calls out Obamacare over its attack on freedom of conscience. Turns out, he’s a bit of a libertarian. Who knew?

Also inappropriate: Strippers at nursing homes. Really? Ugh. Like Mrs. Scalia, I’m not comfortable with strippers in general as it is, for pretty much the reasons  she notes. How crass and insensitive do you have to be to call them into a nursing home?

This is gonna make my job even more tedious. Let’s just add more red tape. That’ll help women. . .

 

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Magnetosphere having an interesting day today . . .

Our Lady of Vailankanni

Meandering through the Crypt Church under the Shrine, I was thinking a lot on my friends Grunt and Shalini. One little chapel in particular really brought Shalini to mind– the Chapel for Our Lady of Vailankanni.

Standing just outside the chapel of Our Lady of Vailankanni

Visiting The Shrine

Around these parts, when a Catholic like yours truly talks about going to the Shrine, what they mean is “I’m going to visit the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.”

I was down there all last night because they were taping the masses for shut-ins, and my church choir was the choir for those two dates (3rd and 5th Sunday of this upcoming Lent). They have the masses in the Crypt Church, which is one of my favorite places on the planet. If the upstairs is all Majesty, the downstairs Crypt Church is all Mystery.

I took some pictures with my cell phone of some of my favorite things. A friend was taking some others, and I’m hoping she emails me copies to add.

Oh, and there will be another post coming up right after this with a set that goes together.

Pictures after the break ^_^!

Oh, Can’t you see what Love has done?

I think this is my favorite music video ever. Naturally, from my absolute Favoritest Rock Band EVAR!!!, U2.

A lot of people don’t realize that very early in their career, U2 albums tended to be filed by record sellers under “Christian/ Gospel”, because their lyrics were so very religious– even in Latin for one song (That would be “Gloria”, from the October album). Well, at the time, “Christian” music meant a very limited audience, and the band wanted to be heard by more people than that. They realized that if they replaced “Jesus” with “You”, or even “Love”, suddenly they were listed under Rock. All while the meanings remained the same, especially if people took the time to examine the lyrics. I don’t know how many other rock bands write songs about the Holy Spirit (Mysterious Ways), or the Last Supper from the point of view of Judas (Until the End of the World), but there you go.

What makes this video so touching, aside from the song, is the tribute it pays to so many other musicians and artists, across genres and times. Very, very nice.

Something Ain’t Quite Right

Ok, ok . . . let me first say that I believe that Osama binLadin is Dead, for realsies. He is an ex-terrorist, he is no more, he has gone to meet his maker, to wonder why his virgins are so ugly, and why it’s so goddamn hot in Paradise.

And, I admit, I’m quite pleased and happy at the notion. To every servince man and woman who was part of bringing this rabid dog down, THANK YOU! May God Bless and Smile upon you and your way.

Now to the part where I prove, once and for all, that I am a total KillJoy.

Something here ain’t right. I can’t put my finger on it. I know it’s rooted in the fact that I don’t trust this administration any more than I can throw them. Not only is there no trust, there is a lot of distrust. So yes, much bias to begin with.

My first thought, when I heard they buried him at sea was “Really? Well, I hope they got some good pics, or kept some essential parts behind for DNA purposes . . .”

Timing is questionable as always.

And my intuition is pinging me like sub on crack.

Let me explain a few things, first. Back in college, I went to school in New Orleans. I and a bunch of other out of state kids got to be good friends. We used to sit around in common areas and talk about the coming storm that would drown the city, and we all swore to each other that we’d be out of the area before it came. This was 1998-2002. The last of us left New Orleans for good three months before Katrina hit.

A little after Katrina, I started getting those feelings again, that lingering, approaching doom, ticking on me like the 24 clock. tick-thunck, tick-thunk, tick-thunk. My eyes were drawn to economic matters, and the feelings just mounted and mounted. It felt like the world was spinning out of control. I discussed this with my old college friends, many of whom felt the same thing. In Dec 2008, one called me, and I remember telling her I felt like we’d tipped off the edge, just didn’t know it yet. “It’s going to get bad out there,” I said. “It’s gonna get so much worse before it gets better. . .”

Witness the last several years economy, and various political issues, and the strain our society is experiencing.

Understand, I only recently studied economics, finance, all that. I didn’t know any of these things at the time. I was a Music major, with a love for theory and a talent for Tarot.

Interesting, that it’s these latter talents that, I believe, inform my intuition to such a degree. I have training in recognizing patterns, in stringing together signs to form larger pictures, in analyzing rhythm and harmony.

The news of Saddam’s Capture was a major chord, played by shining brass and snappy drums.

The news of Osama’s Death is a minor chord, a cadence signaling a shift of key, played by low strings and piccolo. That piccolo is trying to draw our attention, but what the hell are the cellos and basses up to? Where are the brass? The percussion?

My intuition, that warned me years in advance of Katrina and the economic collapse, is telling me that something here ain’t right.

Moreover, the other manifestation of intuition is that I get suddenly ill before major Badness happens– with no explanation. I was suddenly very sick the night of 9/10/2001. Likewise before Mumbai and Ft. Hood. Last night, at 9:30 pm EDT, I was suddenly very nauseated. I was able to forestall illness by dosing myself liberally with ginger, but there was no cause for me to be feeling this way. Nothing has been “going around”, dinner was perfectly cooked. No cause for illness.

Then I awoke to the news this morning, and my first reaction was not the jubilation I expected, but wariness.

Look, right now, I admit, this is all baseless. I just want it written, for the record. Something ain’t right.

UPDATE: Ann Barnhardt hits on my concerns re: timing:

Call the Sheriff, Run The Scum Out!

Well-a-day! Sometimes, when pondering the mighty battles before us, when contemplating their complexities and vagaries, we forget the basics. Sometimes, these basics are thing that we didn’t learn in school, but learned from the culture– from movies— because the tellers of those tales knew things, important things, that we didn’t know.

Every American child knows that when the bad guys come to town, it’s time to call out the sheriff. Wyatt Earp will come and sweep those no good, yella bellied, damn fool cowards out, don’t you worry none now, chile. . . A cultural stereotype. And image of our youth.

Based in real, Supreme Court Supported Law. Lawd Almighty! It was the Valiant Ann who has brought this to my attention. Since her place doesn’t link to individual posts, I’ll just borrow her words and hope she doesn’t mind (and be sure to click on the link and read that. Very good stuff to know!):

Question: What is the most powerful law enforcement office in the United States? Who has the power and authority to arrest Obama? Who could override the Secret Service?Answer: The County Sheriff of any county that Obama is physically inside. The single most powerful office in the United States, even more powerful than the President, is your friendly, local County Sheriff. This dynamic was built into the fabric of this nation by the Founding Fathers, and has been VERY recently affirmed by the SCOTUS.

Click here for a very detailed article on the topic with citations.

This is the principle of governance called “subsidiarity”. Subsidiarity is the principle of governance taught by the Magesterium of the Catholic Church – no matter how many Marxist bishops there may be, and no matter what lying Marxist filth they may spew. Subsidiarity means that the most power lies with the sovereign individual. The next highest level of power is LOCAL (and there’s your friendly county sheriff), the next most powerful level is the state, below that is the federal level, and the weakest level of governance is INTERNATIONAL (such as a body that would arbitrate trade disputes). The further away governance gets from the individual, the weaker it becomes. Golly! That kinda makes sense, huh? This principle can be applied to different governmental structures, from representative republic to parliamentary constitutional monarchy and even to hereditary monarchy. This is why Jesus didn’t call out a SPECIFIC form of government – because there are multiple possibilities that can totally work SO LONG AS subsidiarity is observed. And how did Christ identify subsidiarity as the true governmental principle? He did it by dying on the Cross for us personally. The Most Powerful Ruler there is submitted Himself UNTO DEATH for the sake of, and in service to the individual.

For anyone who might be interested, this is how the Catholic Church works, too. A priest is in charge and has authority over his parish. It is his responsibility. The bishop calls the shots in his diocese, and the Pope is a suffering servant, who is tasked with the BIG PICTURE issues, such as setting down in official writing the Church’s teachings on matters of faith and morals as needed. But in terms of the day-to-day stuff, the governance is definitely a matter of subsidiarity. This is why Rome had such a slow and admittedly not aggressive enough response to the sex scandals. They were trying to let the bishops assert their own power – but they didn’t fully appreciate how infested the bishopric had become with Marxist homosexuals. Rome understands that now. But I do wish they would be even more aggressive. It is now a matter of wolves attacking the flock. The shepherd needs to come out swinging.

But I digress.

Isn’t it interesting how this stuff is all tied together? Yep. Mighty interesting indeed.

So what we need to do is get Obama to go to Maricopa County, Arizona for a campaign fundraiser and then have Sheriff Joe Arpaio arrest his felonious, forgering, treasonous @$$. And guys, I’m not really kidding. This is a VERY viable tactic.

 Well, Boy Howdy! Who would have thought that, at the moment of our need, Providence would have programmed in us the very answer we sought? That when the outlaw posse comes to town, you call the Sheriff! That symbol mixed between Knight and Cowboy, the man who stands against the agents of chaos to protect the towsfolk from those who would do them harm!

Now that said, I believe my local sheriff is absolutely useless for this particular job. I live just outside the 9th ring, which is to say, I’m in the DC suburbs. Ain’t no sheriff ’round these parts with the desire, much less gumption, to do what’s needed. Simple fact, that.

But across this fine nation of ours? We need to remind the Sheriffs of who and what they are. They have the authority–recently upheld– to do what must be done. To see this through to the end, and to defend our Constitution when no one else is in the position to do so.

Classic, Metal

Yesterday, AceofSpades linked to this wonderful article, wherein a classical voice teacher critiques several metal singers. I loved this article because it so delightfully breaks the artificial boxes people place around their favorite music genres. It’s refreshing. It’s somethign that has irked me for years.

I majored in Vocal Music Education, and the thing about the vocal music world, especially in universities, was the attitude that the only music worth studying was classical “Art Music”. I spent every moment I could challenging this view. When other girls were studying Scarlatti and Donizetti, I was tossing Gershwin and Carmichael into the mix. When in Theory people were analyzing Handel, I tossed some U2 into the ring (and very publically threw the curve, much to my classmates’ ire). When in Orchestration people were  orchestrating folk songs, I threw in some Linkin Park. When my classmates had recitals along the lines of “A Night of Italian Songs and Arias” (All ruffles and lace), 3/4 of my recital was written post 1900, angsty and dark and, yes, ending with some U2.

Every semester I insisted that my voice teachers allow me one sing from my Billie Holiday Sings the Blues songbook. They indulged me, as I generally allowed them to choose everything else. So long as I had the one jazz piece.

I realized the flaw early, I think, when listening to the Pavarotti and Friends benefits for charities like WarChild. Meatloaf, Sting, Bono, Simon leBon, they all sounded fairly decent when singing opera. Pavorotti singing outside his genre sounded ridiculous. Him singing Duran Duran just. . . Mm, not quite. It’s why, I think, Bono and Edge wrote a part in Miss Serajevo specifically for him, for an operatic voice– because while a rock star can do a passable job at Nessun Dorma, and Opera singer shouln’t even try Stairway to Heaven.

This vexed me– that the so-called “pros” were less versatile than the “untrained, ignorant ‘pop-stars'”. . . The Bel Canto method was, while good, clearly incomplete. If all your years of vocal training means you only sound good in Italian, what good is it? If Ella Fitzgerald’s virtuosity taught no one anything, we’re useless. Yes, Bel Canto is important, it teaches projection, focus, support, beautiful legato. But . . . if it ain’t got that swing, what’s it mean?

Not a thing.

So happy to see someone breaking out of these false barriers. Metal and Opera should be lovers, not rivals.

8-28 Was Quite Something!

[Note: I have pics to go with this, ut I’m having trouble uploading them, so I’ll add them later]

It’s taken a few days to process my thoughts on the 8/28 Restoring Honor Rally on the Mall. I feel as though a duty has been laid upon me, while at the same time my spine has been stiffened against the brainwashing of my youth.

Snape and I left the house around 0630, arriving at the Mall about 0800. We were well prepared, with plenty of water, GORP, granola bars, first aide kits, N95 masks, journals, iphones, cash, and other supplies for “just in case.” This is because we are firm believers in Thatcher’s Law: The unexpected happens, so be ready for it. Likewise, we further propose that if a thing is expected, it won’t happen.

There was a crowd at the Metro station we started at, almost all of them headed to our same destination. Getting off at the Smithsonian Station was a steady stream of people leaving and turning left, toward the Washington Monument. People the whole way there were cheerful, pushing strollers and carrying fold-up lawn chairs.

We stopped a moment at the Washington Monument, taking a picture of it from the bottom, and then at the vistas around—the rising sun behind the Capitol, the White House, the Jefferson Memorial.

People were respectful of the WWII Memorial, setting up their places all around, not on, the Memorial. Snape and I worked our way around to the right (the north side of the Reflecting Pool), eventually finding a place on the hill in the trees, close to the first jumbo-tron in from the Memorial.

From my journal: It is packed here. I and [Snape] are among the trees, northside, closer to the WWII Memorial than the Lincoln. Neighbor peeps say more here than 9/12 last year. People like sardines the whole way, and beyond, still streaming in. People wearing T shirts w/ G. Washington kneeling in prayer, or the Founders’ Virtues Shirts, or Beck shirts. Everyone seems happy, upbeat. Some Gadsden and US Flags about. Flag purses. Uncle Sam hats.

[Snape] just mentioned that we should have brought popcorn, we are sitting on a hill, after all. [This is in reference to a funny Apocalypse dream I had in college.]

People around us from FL, MA, NY, ME. We’re apparently in the East Coast Contigent.

Weather is pleasantà low humidity, relatively low temp.

[Snape] opines: “Wish we had these numbers for March for Life”

Canada Geese, flying in formation over the Reflecting Pool get applause. . .

I’ll not go through blow by blow, as my journal does. Glen started by talking about the scars of America, saying that yes, America has done some terrible things. But she has also done marvelous things. We must learn from those horrible things and move on, not wallow in them until we become so sickened be wither away. Today, he said, “we focus on what’s good about America!”

It was quite something hearing Mrs. Palin speak about Marcus Luttrell, James Eddie Wright and Tom Kirk. So touching and inspiring. I confess I didn’t know about any of the award winners, but they too were quite something: Rev. CL Jackson, Albert Pujoles, and John Huntsman.

Hearing Dr. Alveda King speak was quite something, as well. She and Sarah both got standing ovations—much more than Mr. Beck himself. Dr. King reflected on the problems of America today, and what has and hasn’t changed since her Uncle (Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) spoke at that same place 47 years ago. She also led us in singing “Life Every Voice and Sing!”, a sing we sing from time to time at Church.

At the end, Glenn addressed the crowd. There are, at this moment, no transcripts available, and I was unable to scribble much down at the time. He spoke of the 40 day pledge he had people make in July, which was structured on the Cardinal Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity. For Faith, people were to pray, on their knees, at least once a day, and let their children see them do it. People needed to have the physical reminder of their relationship with God. For Hope, people were to remove all lies from their life. Stop lying to others, stop lying to themselves. Seek the Truth, and then follow it. “The truth will set you free,” he said “But it will make you miserable first!” For Charity, he considered that Charity begins at home. So, he had people pledge to do one loving thing for someone in their family each day. Start with these things, he said, in preparation for Restoring Honor.

In his speech, then, he issued the challenge anew, this time framing it in the context of the final sentence in the Declaration of Independence: “. . . with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” The first part, about Providence relating to Faith, Hope relating to “our lives”, Charity to “Our fortunes”, and that these together can preserve and uphold “our Sacred Honor.”

He spoke of the coming troubles, which I have been sensing for several years, so I’m afraid I cannot describe this knowing to someone who doesn’t have it. Just as we knew the storm was coming to drown New Orleans back in 2002, so too I have known about this storm. Either you can listen to the wind or you cannot, I suppose. The only quotes managed to snag from the air around me were: “The storm that is coming is not just an American storm . . .  it is a human storm . . . it is a global storm.” and  “God doesn’t choose the able, He enables the chosen”

If I get a hold of a transcript, I shall correct a quoted errors, and perhaps add more excepts in the future.
[I’ve posted a round up of other writings on the event, here]

Praying for World Bees

A fabulous article from Busted Halo: On Not Praying for World Peace

This pretty much sums up how I feel everytime someone, wanting to seem good and deep, prays for World Peace, instead of something more useful like “And end to useless hostility.” Which is not quite the same thing. . .^_^