Links for 05/31/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Trump is a patsy. If it was not clear before today, it is now. He seems to make decisions based on whether his feelings are hurt, like any fascist.
His Eminence can't catch a break, even when talking to the Trads and waxing poetic about the past. Of course, if he really is talking about the future, this is either a trial baloon or a Cardinal who is about to retire.
Only by going through Benedict is there any continuity to the Pope who was the living embodiement of resistence to change at Vatican II when he attended and Francis, who is bringing the Spirit of Vatican II back. Sadly, most of Francis' generation of priests and bishops have already retired. I suspect that half of the John Paul priests and theologians will go along to get along, like Rocco, but there is a core that won't that no amount of equivocation or supposed continuity will ever convince. Even if someone came back from the grave speaking the truth, they would not listen to anything beyond their perceptions.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Obama's speech at Hiroshima | National Catholic Reporter
Obama's speech at Hiroshima | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Bombing civilians because your enemy has is not a moral act. It is simply relying on blame to justify your actions. It can be wholesale or retail. Retail is a fighter pilot straifing the ground in Japan as ordered. That is what my recently deceased uncle Kermit did in Japan. He never flew again after the war. Drones are what allow pilots not to do such things up close and personal so that they are no longer at risk. My uncle's brother-in-law, my father, designed the autopilot for the latter. He died in 1998, blissfully unaware that his solution for pilot safety would be used to make Yemeni, Afghan and Pakistani civilians hate Americans - although Trump would double down on that strategy.
As for Obama's moral center, it is his business, although I suspect he is too easily influenced by his generals and diplomats, including Mrs. Clinton. Still, one does not know, nor can we for decades, what operations he vetoed for moral reasons. That he did no mention Christ in a non-Christian nation was entirely appropriate, especially when confronting a tragic act by a Christian nation. As a nation, we leave these questions of the morals of war with our presidents, even though we are sovereign and morally culpable for what is decided. Think about that in November.
As for Hiroshima, there is a very thick history of the decision to do it and the morality of it - and whether it was about Japan at all. Read the tome by Gar Alperovitz if you are seriously interested in this topic. Of course, as a socialist and a Jew, he won't be citing Christian theology on the subject - he reveals the history and some of the ethics, which is not the same as the theology.
There are many who say that the Christian theology of nuclear war is unilateral disarmament due to what such a war would do to the planet. Seemed about right to me when I was in college and we were debating such things. Going back to Obama (and Clinton), there is a multi-billion, I dare say trillion dollar nuclear maintenance plan being proposed. It seems that you can't just let nukes sit without refreshing them occassionally with certain gasses and that this is expensive.
Carter tried a 90% disarmament when he was inaugurated. Everyone talked him out of it. Given the time, his advisors were likely correct, although the Soviets were starting to come apart even then. By the way, he was the President who gave us both the B-2 bomber and drone prototypes. I think the conclusion must be that no one is innocent here. Even I had my three years as cold warrior in the Department of the Air Force, including time working on the B-1B and ICBM modernization. So much for college optimism.
Monday, May 30, 2016
Memories and thoughts for Memorial Day | National Catholic Reporter
Memories and thoughts for Memorial Day | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: This will be the fourth Memorial Day column of MSW's that I have responded to. I was surprised I never wrote one myself in the DC Examiner, but there is none recorded on either my Facebook page or my blog.(I was more of a Labor Day blogger). I have previously remarked that Memorial Day was formerly Decoration Day, where Civil War graves (and really all graves) were kept up. Now, perpetual care makes that a thing of the past, so we have opted for parades in small town America.
There are lost cemeteries. Enon, Ohio, where I was a boy scout, had one. For some reason we decided that the winter was the time to reclaim it. I don't think we counted on 17 degree temperatures, but we did find and clear a Civil War grave. In prior days, I am sure the entire town would have turned out annually to clear this cemetary, but a new one was built and this one was forgotten in favor of a parade.
Of course, in DC the big parade is Rolling Thunder, where vets on bikes parade at a faster pace then most boy scouts can keep up. Anyone driving near the Pentagon on Sunday morning will not the lane closures and the noise - and will take a second to think about the soldiers lost in war.
Cities have big events while small towns, or neighborhoods in small towns, opt for the smaller scale. Ward 3 has a patriotic parade on the Fourth of July that attracts the politicians from the entire city (especially the ambitious ones) - I remember marching in that parade with Council Member John Ray when he was running for mayor and with Mayor Barry, who beat him, when I was his ward healer.
There is also a July 4th parade downtown, there used to be a large concert (with and without alcohol) and huge fireworks the rival New York City (which I have also gone to).
We also have Arlington Memorial Cemetary - and believe me that there are many events there on Memorial Day. There also used to be an event that I participated in remembering those people killed for non-service injuries that had to do with the war so they could not make it onto the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Washington has plenty of events, however they are truly national in scope - and I recall knowing quite a few of the participants on a first name basis. You have to care to plug in and Washington and environs will seem like a small town too.
Washington has another tradition of not burying African Americans in the District proper. This practice has not stopped with the end of segregation. Just outside the D.C. line, Prince Georges County has a huge African American Cemetary that is still the destination of a different kind of memorial parade as funerals go from Anacostia to the outskirts of the city. In DC, we even die separately. There are few black faces in the huge crowd for fireworks on the 4th, but if you are lucky enough to tour Anacostia that night you will see neighborhood fireworks bright enough to light up the night - from pinwheels to small rockets.
Of course, small town America is still there, but it is dwindling and in some places becoming a bit angry as Donald Trump stirs the worst in us all. Luckily it is only a one year deal.
There are lost cemeteries. Enon, Ohio, where I was a boy scout, had one. For some reason we decided that the winter was the time to reclaim it. I don't think we counted on 17 degree temperatures, but we did find and clear a Civil War grave. In prior days, I am sure the entire town would have turned out annually to clear this cemetary, but a new one was built and this one was forgotten in favor of a parade.
Of course, in DC the big parade is Rolling Thunder, where vets on bikes parade at a faster pace then most boy scouts can keep up. Anyone driving near the Pentagon on Sunday morning will not the lane closures and the noise - and will take a second to think about the soldiers lost in war.
Cities have big events while small towns, or neighborhoods in small towns, opt for the smaller scale. Ward 3 has a patriotic parade on the Fourth of July that attracts the politicians from the entire city (especially the ambitious ones) - I remember marching in that parade with Council Member John Ray when he was running for mayor and with Mayor Barry, who beat him, when I was his ward healer.
There is also a July 4th parade downtown, there used to be a large concert (with and without alcohol) and huge fireworks the rival New York City (which I have also gone to).
We also have Arlington Memorial Cemetary - and believe me that there are many events there on Memorial Day. There also used to be an event that I participated in remembering those people killed for non-service injuries that had to do with the war so they could not make it onto the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Washington has plenty of events, however they are truly national in scope - and I recall knowing quite a few of the participants on a first name basis. You have to care to plug in and Washington and environs will seem like a small town too.
Washington has another tradition of not burying African Americans in the District proper. This practice has not stopped with the end of segregation. Just outside the D.C. line, Prince Georges County has a huge African American Cemetary that is still the destination of a different kind of memorial parade as funerals go from Anacostia to the outskirts of the city. In DC, we even die separately. There are few black faces in the huge crowd for fireworks on the 4th, but if you are lucky enough to tour Anacostia that night you will see neighborhood fireworks bright enough to light up the night - from pinwheels to small rockets.
Of course, small town America is still there, but it is dwindling and in some places becoming a bit angry as Donald Trump stirs the worst in us all. Luckily it is only a one year deal.
Friday, May 27, 2016
Links for 05/2016 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/2016 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Congratulations to the bishop on his retirement.
Bravo to Archbishop Cupich on taking the right side of this issue. Usually when institutions are claiming religious freedom, what they are seeking is religious power and this is no exception. While unionization of adjuncts is welcome, there is an argument to be made that they are not really employees but instead are independent contractors. Their relief should be from IRS and HHS, who should reclassify them as employees first and require that they get the same level of benefits as assistant professors (indeed, they should be considered part time assistant professors with at least consideration for tenure). Where unionization is truly needed is for university staff - and for the staff of university contractors, such as Service Master.
Professor Faggioli gets it right. The Church is moving under Francis from certainty to collegiality (note that the Trumpsters in the Church want certainty) and practicality. Hopefully the bishops will go forward this and not confuse a lack of absolutism with the teaching being optional. Here is the money quote. "I would make it clear that not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium. Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it."
Bravo to Silberstein for keeping the issue alive, although until shareholders demand that CEO and executive candidates bid against each other in open auction, with easier entry into the bidding for CEO, including all subordinate managers, I fear this won't go very far. Indeed, I think that the thing that will move the needle on this is not shareholder power but selling those shares to the employees and let them vote on these issues (and elect the CEO if there is a tie in low bids).
Thank you for posting the link to the performance of Soussa's The Washington Post. Nowadays, I prefer the march to the newspaper.
Bravo to Archbishop Cupich on taking the right side of this issue. Usually when institutions are claiming religious freedom, what they are seeking is religious power and this is no exception. While unionization of adjuncts is welcome, there is an argument to be made that they are not really employees but instead are independent contractors. Their relief should be from IRS and HHS, who should reclassify them as employees first and require that they get the same level of benefits as assistant professors (indeed, they should be considered part time assistant professors with at least consideration for tenure). Where unionization is truly needed is for university staff - and for the staff of university contractors, such as Service Master.
Professor Faggioli gets it right. The Church is moving under Francis from certainty to collegiality (note that the Trumpsters in the Church want certainty) and practicality. Hopefully the bishops will go forward this and not confuse a lack of absolutism with the teaching being optional. Here is the money quote. "I would make it clear that not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium. Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it."
Bravo to Silberstein for keeping the issue alive, although until shareholders demand that CEO and executive candidates bid against each other in open auction, with easier entry into the bidding for CEO, including all subordinate managers, I fear this won't go very far. Indeed, I think that the thing that will move the needle on this is not shareholder power but selling those shares to the employees and let them vote on these issues (and elect the CEO if there is a tie in low bids).
Thank you for posting the link to the performance of Soussa's The Washington Post. Nowadays, I prefer the march to the newspaper.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Links for 05/26/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/26/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Jared is realist and is hoping that neither the Freedom Caucus or the Sanders wing will try to change the deal. It is probably a sensible strategy, although I think the right wing has more to lose by P.R. standing up for a better control board. As it is, the Hastert rule will need to be suspended to pass the deal. In for a penny...
MSW actually mentioned the Bosnia landing yesterday too, but did not include the very old link. As I said yesterday, she would have known what the pilot announced about the landing precautions they passengers had to take. They may well have been taking live fire precautions.
I agree with Sullivan the same way MSW agrees with Berkowitz. In this case, Sullivan is relying on survey data that shows that most American citizens have a very low opinion of the civil rights of their neighbors (whether it is matter of right decisions on property to how free speech can be). Trump's band of hooligans are the worst of them and Trump is not far behind. In general, this is not a problem because the electoral class has usually had enough grounding in law or at least political science to not let the great unwashed go too far. Trump has no such education, which means either OJT or more mistakes than can be corrected with lawsuits against the United States. Luckily the latest polls are designed to prove their is an election to be waged - when the reality is that an Electoral College landslide is likely (unless Clinton really puts her foot in it - but that has not hurt Trump).
MSW actually mentioned the Bosnia landing yesterday too, but did not include the very old link. As I said yesterday, she would have known what the pilot announced about the landing precautions they passengers had to take. They may well have been taking live fire precautions.
I agree with Sullivan the same way MSW agrees with Berkowitz. In this case, Sullivan is relying on survey data that shows that most American citizens have a very low opinion of the civil rights of their neighbors (whether it is matter of right decisions on property to how free speech can be). Trump's band of hooligans are the worst of them and Trump is not far behind. In general, this is not a problem because the electoral class has usually had enough grounding in law or at least political science to not let the great unwashed go too far. Trump has no such education, which means either OJT or more mistakes than can be corrected with lawsuits against the United States. Luckily the latest polls are designed to prove their is an election to be waged - when the reality is that an Electoral College landslide is likely (unless Clinton really puts her foot in it - but that has not hurt Trump).
EWTN: The legacy of Mother Angelica | National Catholic Reporter
EWTN: The legacy of Mother Angelica | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: EWTN is not neo-conservative. It is reactionary. Its seeks a Church that will give the faithful certainty and consistency with the past. To a great extent, that Church died with Vatican II. although St. John Paul and Pope Benedict tried to bring it back Francis has returned us to that spirit of reform which includes a little adult uncertainty, as the Joy of Marriage indicates. Could there be a main stream equivalent? Anything is possible, although with the number of reactionary bishops, it is not likely.
What about radicals? That could prove interesting and I would love the job, but it would be hard to find serious money to support it. It would also attract some theologians who really are out in left field as far as agreed upon doctrine is concerned - and that would attract active retaliation from the CDF - especially if there were Masses offered by women (or wymen) priests. The other problem with the left is that the cutting edge has more of its share of the nones, aka committed secularists. Such content would be more Marxist than Catholic. A Catholic radical network would keep the left divided, which is exactly what the left does not need.
What about radicals? That could prove interesting and I would love the job, but it would be hard to find serious money to support it. It would also attract some theologians who really are out in left field as far as agreed upon doctrine is concerned - and that would attract active retaliation from the CDF - especially if there were Masses offered by women (or wymen) priests. The other problem with the left is that the cutting edge has more of its share of the nones, aka committed secularists. Such content would be more Marxist than Catholic. A Catholic radical network would keep the left divided, which is exactly what the left does not need.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Links for 05/25/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/25/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Putting Cornel on the committee is like putting the late Marion Barry on it. It's meant to be an in your face gesture. If Hillary really wants to claim fellowship with African American voters, she should let him take the ball and run with it.
In some respect, anything other than ignoring idiots like Mr. Williams is helping them spread their error. Sadly, the bishops will take their lead from Crux rather than Franics on whether immigration should be a litmus test issue for Catholics. Certainly not abortion (since there are no actionable options, especially not those involving the Supreme Court - George W. Bush took that one off the table when he appointed Roberts and Alito, who will do nothing to change Roe.
The Bosnia-under-fire lie is eight years old - and for all we know the flight may have been taking precautions as if it was. Unless she was flying the plane, not being able to tell the difference is an honest mistake - not even a lie.
In some respect, anything other than ignoring idiots like Mr. Williams is helping them spread their error. Sadly, the bishops will take their lead from Crux rather than Franics on whether immigration should be a litmus test issue for Catholics. Certainly not abortion (since there are no actionable options, especially not those involving the Supreme Court - George W. Bush took that one off the table when he appointed Roberts and Alito, who will do nothing to change Roe.
The Bosnia-under-fire lie is eight years old - and for all we know the flight may have been taking precautions as if it was. Unless she was flying the plane, not being able to tell the difference is an honest mistake - not even a lie.
Politicians and the lies they tell | National Catholic Reporter
Politicians and the lies they tell | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Donald Trump is a loud mouth authoritarian and he appeals to authoritarians. The truth is not necessary for them. They want a consistent narrative (like Curia and natural law) rather than the truth. Authoritarians are hard to beat because to do so you have to insult the base as stooges. Its a judgment call to just let him flame out on his own or attack him as a fascist who is unqualified for office. As for her clumsiness about questions of the truth, its why I supported Sanders and why Sanders beats Trump by higher margins in national polls. The core Democratic establishment at all levels want Hillary and now they have her. If their turnout machine can win the swing states and she can beat Trump in the debates we will forget this discussion.
Monday, May 23, 2016
Links for 05/23/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/23/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Trump has suggestions, not proposals. While I agree with bringing the troops home without much greater financial support by our allies, the idea of Trump as commander in chief is scary. Voiding many of our trade agreements is also a good idea, but once he gets an earful from his fellow capitalists, I don't believe he will go through with this suggestion. His populism reflects more a return to white privilege and a shame culture about sex (at least homosexuality) than it does an economic revival. As for the Sanders proposals, hopefully they will make it into the Democratic Platform. Even if they don't, they are likely the backbone of the coming New Left in the Democratic Party.
Chanting "Bernie or Bust" gets people to rallies. People will stop saying it soon enough. Let's see if Hillary as adult enough to offer the needed olive branch, say 100 delegates from now. As for the Congressionally apointed control board, he has a point. The President should have all the appointments. This provision was a poison pill that Obama swallowed anyway. Whether Sanders is right or not depends on who is on the board and what staff director they appoint. To resist what Sanders is trying to do - let the Senate in on the negotiations - is coming from fear. If you act based on fear, someone is surely taking the upper hand on you.
As of this writing, the server for RCP is unreachable, but I will guess that Berkowitz is apologizing for Israel again (as in Apologia, not contrition) and that its one sided. Until Zion shows soom contrition for how it has treated its brother Semites (sons of Ishmael are sons of Sem), there is no hope for peace. Early in the nation, Israel promised compensation to the relocated. To my knowledge, not a dime has been paid. Instead, houses have been destroyed over suspicion of terrorism - hardly what Torah says about treating the alien within with justice.
Chanting "Bernie or Bust" gets people to rallies. People will stop saying it soon enough. Let's see if Hillary as adult enough to offer the needed olive branch, say 100 delegates from now. As for the Congressionally apointed control board, he has a point. The President should have all the appointments. This provision was a poison pill that Obama swallowed anyway. Whether Sanders is right or not depends on who is on the board and what staff director they appoint. To resist what Sanders is trying to do - let the Senate in on the negotiations - is coming from fear. If you act based on fear, someone is surely taking the upper hand on you.
As of this writing, the server for RCP is unreachable, but I will guess that Berkowitz is apologizing for Israel again (as in Apologia, not contrition) and that its one sided. Until Zion shows soom contrition for how it has treated its brother Semites (sons of Ishmael are sons of Sem), there is no hope for peace. Early in the nation, Israel promised compensation to the relocated. To my knowledge, not a dime has been paid. Instead, houses have been destroyed over suspicion of terrorism - hardly what Torah says about treating the alien within with justice.
Can we avoid the 'bathroom wars'? | National Catholic Reporter
Can we avoid the 'bathroom wars'? | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: As I understand it, accomodations for transgender students in bathrooms were regulated decades ago. No one noticed then - and it is not really much of an issue now (bullies will still terrorize transgendered kids, but the bathroom is the cliche place to do it, hence the rules) - it has been resurrected as a way for the right-wing to hit back, not against Obama but against the judicial system which eagerly and quickly struck down Bush era prohibitions on marriage equality. Looking back on how easy it was, the gay community should have acted more quickly - except victory hurts fundraising. ENDA should be number one on the agenda, but the conservatives hitting back will simply lead to more lawsuits by people for whom moral scorn is part of their freedom of religion. It is not, by the way - moral scorn is the equivalent of yelling fire in a crowded theater. This is pure demagoguery on the right - there will be no transgender men in little girls rooms. Schools almost universally have adult bathrooms for staff to use. As for the unnecessary pot shot on Sanders, we already have policies on health insurance, minimum wage and college finance. He simply wants to make them more effective. In for a penny, in for a pound.
Friday, May 20, 2016
Links for 05/20/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/20/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Donald Trump may not be a fascist (although most CEOs have a nasty authoritarian streak that is endemic in capitalism), but he certainly plays one on TV, especially in this campaign. The troubling thing is less Trump as the people who so enthusiastically support him and how they want him to act. One look at his rallies is all one needs. These are the people who are dissatisfied with the social progress of the last half-century and they want someone who will undo it. Of course, no President can really do that and a fairly socially liberal judicial system would not let him if he tried. The danger is the kind of unilateralism Trump expects in business will be expected in government (he won't get it) and how Trump would react to that. The danger is not his incipient madness but what he may ask his supporters to do. As I watch the evening news, I am also reminded of how much he lies. The Big Lie is a primary tool in the fascist tool box.
The troubling thing about that Murray thing is that he probably thinks that Cardinal Dolan will back him up. Murray should be afraid - because Amoris does not rely on legalism or magisterial pronouncements. If Francis no longer claims such authority, it is not available to authoritarian priests and bishops.
Senator Cotton does not likely believe the crap he says. It is for voter consumption. That he has such a low opinion of his fellow Arkansans is truly sad. Of course, his state is fascist central, so no one is particularly surprised. I am sure this is a safe state for Trump.
The troubling thing about that Murray thing is that he probably thinks that Cardinal Dolan will back him up. Murray should be afraid - because Amoris does not rely on legalism or magisterial pronouncements. If Francis no longer claims such authority, it is not available to authoritarian priests and bishops.
Senator Cotton does not likely believe the crap he says. It is for voter consumption. That he has such a low opinion of his fellow Arkansans is truly sad. Of course, his state is fascist central, so no one is particularly surprised. I am sure this is a safe state for Trump.
President Obama's and Speaker Ryan's deal to help Puerto Rico | National Catholic Reporter
President Obama's and Speaker Ryan's deal to help Puerto Rico | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The keys to this deal will be how well the Oversight Board works with the resident commissioner (congressional delegate) from Puerto Rico, a Board more committed to Puerto Rico's long term fiscal and social health than to bond holders and above all a chief of staff who is both smart and committed (and who speaks Spanish). DC had such a control board and staff director. Hopefully P.R. is as lucky.
The precident the Vulture Funds fear the most is not bankruptcy actions in the various states and cities, but whether success denying them in P.R. leads to efforts to deny their rights to full payment on other overseas debt. They fought hard to give U.S. Courts jurisdiction in ordering payment of overseas debt, but what the court can enforce, the court can forgive. P.R. is a nice place to start.
The precident the Vulture Funds fear the most is not bankruptcy actions in the various states and cities, but whether success denying them in P.R. leads to efforts to deny their rights to full payment on other overseas debt. They fought hard to give U.S. Courts jurisdiction in ordering payment of overseas debt, but what the court can enforce, the court can forgive. P.R. is a nice place to start.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Links for 05/19/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/19/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: There is orthodoxy and then there is orthodoxy. For those things that are only knowable by faith, the way to truth is by agreement. There is no proof of the divinity of Christ or the dynamics of the Trinity, so the Church settled on what seemed like the likely story. We may be totally wrong, but its the story we agreed to. Of course, theologians sometimes propose changes, but that would take an ecumenical council of both the Eastern and Western Churches, including the orthodox Protestant sects. Other things can be known by reason and evidence, as well as common belief. While I am sure there is unorthodoxy on matters of agreement due to bad cathecises, much of the picking and choosing is going on because the culture is changing and the Church is not (and science is backing the culture). In that case, picking and choosing shows intelligence, not a lack of faith.
Richard Doerflinger is probably the person most responsible for the lack of room between the bishops and the Republican Party on abortion and many other things. Indeed, it was apparent from his published biography until it was scrubbed because people were noticing. That he identifies so much with the decision to upend pro-life Democrats who supported the ACA shows pure partisanship, even if he is now seeking to atone because the pro-life Democrats are more likely to be off the reservation in calling for more social spending. The inaptly named Susan B. Anthony Fund simply lied and the Church went along with the lie. Indeed, they championed it, especially in vengeful actions against the Sisters, up to and including the inquisition of the LCWR, which has recently been ended.
Bravo to Bishop and Ryan for coming to an agreement with the Administration. While I am still leary of how the oversight board is being appointed, Obama seems to be fine with it. Oversight boards tend to gravitate toward what is necessary (unless they are staffed with bondholders). This one should be no different (and will likely be very much under the influence of the Island's congressional delegate - just like in DC with its board. As for the bondholders, I suspect it is the hedge fund managers who are driving the opposition because they will be the ones losing commissions and customers. Capitalism means that you put in your money and you take your chances. If you could never lose, then capitalism becomes simple authoritarianism, which cannot and should not be sustained.
Richard Doerflinger is probably the person most responsible for the lack of room between the bishops and the Republican Party on abortion and many other things. Indeed, it was apparent from his published biography until it was scrubbed because people were noticing. That he identifies so much with the decision to upend pro-life Democrats who supported the ACA shows pure partisanship, even if he is now seeking to atone because the pro-life Democrats are more likely to be off the reservation in calling for more social spending. The inaptly named Susan B. Anthony Fund simply lied and the Church went along with the lie. Indeed, they championed it, especially in vengeful actions against the Sisters, up to and including the inquisition of the LCWR, which has recently been ended.
Bravo to Bishop and Ryan for coming to an agreement with the Administration. While I am still leary of how the oversight board is being appointed, Obama seems to be fine with it. Oversight boards tend to gravitate toward what is necessary (unless they are staffed with bondholders). This one should be no different (and will likely be very much under the influence of the Island's congressional delegate - just like in DC with its board. As for the bondholders, I suspect it is the hedge fund managers who are driving the opposition because they will be the ones losing commissions and customers. Capitalism means that you put in your money and you take your chances. If you could never lose, then capitalism becomes simple authoritarianism, which cannot and should not be sustained.
Time for Sanders to grow up | National Catholic Reporter
Time for Sanders to grow up | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: MSW, your biases are showing. Nevada was rigged. Sanders had won the second tier in the delegate selection process and their votes were thrown out for the predetermined result by the state party. As for Ms. Wasserman-Shultz, his beef is about the allocation of delegates to convention committees. Though he has at least a third of the delegates, he was given a token amount of representation on each committee, especially platform. It's inappropriate, unless the platform is being rigged for his advantage, which is doubtful but will be necessary if he does not get his third of delegates on the committee.
Sanders is not getting out of the race now because people won't go to rallies for a candidate who has conceded. Eight years ago, though HRC had no clear path, she stayed in the race until the end (even without a clear message). The battle is for electoral votes. Officially, the Blue Wall is 245 EVs. Its actually more like 300, but no one will cover a race that HRC has clearly already won. Treating Sanders and his supporters with respect at this stage is the essential feature of turning us out in November, especially on the platform. Bernie or Bust is really $15 minimum wage or bust. HRC should sign up to that and see what happens.
Sanders is not getting out of the race now because people won't go to rallies for a candidate who has conceded. Eight years ago, though HRC had no clear path, she stayed in the race until the end (even without a clear message). The battle is for electoral votes. Officially, the Blue Wall is 245 EVs. Its actually more like 300, but no one will cover a race that HRC has clearly already won. Treating Sanders and his supporters with respect at this stage is the essential feature of turning us out in November, especially on the platform. Bernie or Bust is really $15 minimum wage or bust. HRC should sign up to that and see what happens.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Links for 05/18/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/18/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Interestingly, Henry George and his followers objected to Rerum Novarum - they wanted all land taxed instead and did not like unions because they see it as a form of privilege. Of course, the unions liked the mention, but ignored at prohibition on striking - and with good effect. The encyclicals that follow from it have been very good and more universal than teachings on sex - so universal that Senator Sanders could be invited and give a speech worthy of a theologian on these topics. Leo felt the Bern before the Bern was born. Of course, the source of all of this is the Gospel, which is considerably older than 125 years.
Ferguson is only dangerous to cops who want to act out. Oakland has its bad neighborhoods that I would not visit without an escort by a local who knows which colors to wear in particular pleces.
Much of the entire state of Florida will likely be lost to warming. Of course, the right wingers will blame legal gay marriage and Obama rather than global warming.
Ferguson is only dangerous to cops who want to act out. Oakland has its bad neighborhoods that I would not visit without an escort by a local who knows which colors to wear in particular pleces.
Much of the entire state of Florida will likely be lost to warming. Of course, the right wingers will blame legal gay marriage and Obama rather than global warming.
Que Sarah sera: The Nat'l Catholic Prayer Breakfast | National Catholic Reporter
Que Sarah sera: The Nat'l Catholic Prayer Breakfast | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The problem with natural law theology in the Curia is that the Curia believes that it, through the Pope, has a monopoly on natural law reasoning, especially on pelvic issues. The results have not been stellar and included a cardiologist, who was also an ethicist, writing pronouncements on contraception. An embryologist would have been more appropriate for the task, but that would have put existing doctrine at risk, which is more important to Rome than seeking the truth - the ultimate end of natural law reasoning.
Modern morality on the right has its own problems, especially in regard to those in attendance at the breakfast, who feel justifiably smug in their money and power, thinking like the Temple priests that because they tithe generously, their wealth is theirs to do with it as they want. They forget that with that wealth they manipulate people as assets and that doing so is entirely against what Francis is talking about. Morality comes from God, even if the person behaving morally is not acknowledging God. That those who believe in marriage equality are sure they are acting morally (and they are right) should give the Curia pause on natural law grounds. Morality is for people, not for God and certainly not for Rome.
I found the bit about the founders and original settlers a bit weird as well and for the same reason. I promise you that my ancestors who came in on the HMS Hull were not only anti-Catholic, but thought that the Church of England was growing too Catholic again. My ancestor, Col. John Allen and his cousin, General Ethan Allen, did not fight for a more Catholic America. They fought for a free Vermont.
Modern morality on the right has its own problems, especially in regard to those in attendance at the breakfast, who feel justifiably smug in their money and power, thinking like the Temple priests that because they tithe generously, their wealth is theirs to do with it as they want. They forget that with that wealth they manipulate people as assets and that doing so is entirely against what Francis is talking about. Morality comes from God, even if the person behaving morally is not acknowledging God. That those who believe in marriage equality are sure they are acting morally (and they are right) should give the Curia pause on natural law grounds. Morality is for people, not for God and certainly not for Rome.
I found the bit about the founders and original settlers a bit weird as well and for the same reason. I promise you that my ancestors who came in on the HMS Hull were not only anti-Catholic, but thought that the Church of England was growing too Catholic again. My ancestor, Col. John Allen and his cousin, General Ethan Allen, did not fight for a more Catholic America. They fought for a free Vermont.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Links for 05/17/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/17/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I am not at all surprised that Verizon is offshoring as much as possible (Marx predicts such labor flows) or that the U is trying to limit that in the contract. Of course, until the U. actually starts accumulating massive telecom shares (and is allowed to do so by repealing Taft-Hartley), this struggle will go on.
Keystone Pipeline and the filth it moved was always a function of oil prices that were artificially high, with some government consent. Dodd-Frank stopped the artificial floors in the market and Keystone is gone (except where it keeps prices up to run). Of course, a union owned energy company is still an energy company, but such things could transition to fusion, which is still big industrial.
I wonder to what extent the rise in ordinations, which is not enough for demand, corresponds to a lessening emphasis on weeding out gay seminarians? I wonder what gay marriage (and private priestly blessing of it) will do to these numbers? Of course, we could still have gay married priests, but then the heteros would want it to - and their wifes and the lesbians. The question is not if but when.
Keystone Pipeline and the filth it moved was always a function of oil prices that were artificially high, with some government consent. Dodd-Frank stopped the artificial floors in the market and Keystone is gone (except where it keeps prices up to run). Of course, a union owned energy company is still an energy company, but such things could transition to fusion, which is still big industrial.
I wonder to what extent the rise in ordinations, which is not enough for demand, corresponds to a lessening emphasis on weeding out gay seminarians? I wonder what gay marriage (and private priestly blessing of it) will do to these numbers? Of course, we could still have gay married priests, but then the heteros would want it to - and their wifes and the lesbians. The question is not if but when.
Review: 'This Economy Kills' | National Catholic Reporter
Review: 'This Economy Kills' | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: This book may make it onto my reading list, but I am already convinced - and I generally use my own arguments to justify a Catholic cooperative/democratic socialism. Indeed, rather than the Austrain economists (who are considered fools by the main stream of academic thinkers), the Popes should seek out people like me for advice - not on doctrine but on what it is possible to actually execute, given the right mindset. It still takes some convincing for workers to seek maximum workplace democracy - including electing supervisors - and the diversion of social insurance taxes into employee ownership. Of course, believers in multi-sector democracy note its absence in the Church as well but have high hopes that this pope will lead the Church in that direction.
Monday, May 16, 2016
Links for 05/16/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/16/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: There are other ways to form a sample frame. The Internet is the most obvious (I am on a Gallup panel where contact is strictly via eMail).
Chicago PD is a tough one, since I am sure the South Side community returns the hate of the police. This kind of thing is said to start at the top, but in this case the top means the sergeants and the people who rate them. Get officers who give a down check to any sign of racism and no mercy for officer involved shootings where there is no ambiguity (these are murders, regardless of whether the family is bought off) and you might make a start.
St. Dymphna, pray for Chicago and all of us who would solve its problems. Happy Feast Day to one of my patrons.
Chicago PD is a tough one, since I am sure the South Side community returns the hate of the police. This kind of thing is said to start at the top, but in this case the top means the sergeants and the people who rate them. Get officers who give a down check to any sign of racism and no mercy for officer involved shootings where there is no ambiguity (these are murders, regardless of whether the family is bought off) and you might make a start.
St. Dymphna, pray for Chicago and all of us who would solve its problems. Happy Feast Day to one of my patrons.
Biden and Boehner at Notre Dame | National Catholic Reporter
Biden and Boehner at Notre Dame | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The reason LifeSiteNews, et al, are so nasty is that they need to constantly do something to make it look good to their funders. They are the cheapest of whores who besmirch others at the drop of a hat. They only have influence if we hear what they have to say. Therein lies the way to defeat them. Quit mentioning them by name. As for Biden and Boehner, they came up in the era where Tip O'Neil and Ronald Reagan could make a deal over a drink. The House Freedom Caucus came after that time and because majorities are so slim, can't really be disciplined like in the old days for violating the norms of the House. Pity that.
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Links for 05/13/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/13/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Most abortions occur before week 13. Attaching an embryo to an artificial placenta may solve the need for abortion when the fetus is healthy but the mother cannot carry it, but that is extremely rare. The real problems are social and economic (including conservative parents who force daughters into abortion to hide their sexuality). There are no abortion laws, by the way. There are abortion court decisions that say that laws regulating abortion are not allowed. Pro-lifers consistently get this fact wrong and think they can vote their way out of legal abortion. No such luck, unless you get really generous with families and pregnant teens (at which point the conservatives call foul and say you should not pay people not to sin). What the pro-life movement wants, more than ending abortion, is a return to the good old days of apparent chastity (as if teens did not have sex before 1968).
Happy Birthday to Mark Silk and congratulations for raising such fine sons. Now that economics has become the chief issue to many, Pandora's Box is now open. The issues Bernie represents are not going away - they are the issues I have been working with when gay marriage was just a scary part of Scalia's dissent in Lawrence v. Texas. I was able to work on both the culture war and economic revolution and it looks like there is an audience for what I have written. Sadly, politics is about money and influence. Bernie got the money but not the influence this year. Organizing all that energy seems to be what is next.
The Pope is really stressing the year of Mercy. I still maintain that Mercy should be linked with Truth, so that unmerciful teachings, such as those on homosexuality, should be denounced. Mercy is about more than just forgiveness. Its about gleaning on the Sabbath and having a nice scallop wrapped in bacon.
Happy Birthday to Mark Silk and congratulations for raising such fine sons. Now that economics has become the chief issue to many, Pandora's Box is now open. The issues Bernie represents are not going away - they are the issues I have been working with when gay marriage was just a scary part of Scalia's dissent in Lawrence v. Texas. I was able to work on both the culture war and economic revolution and it looks like there is an audience for what I have written. Sadly, politics is about money and influence. Bernie got the money but not the influence this year. Organizing all that energy seems to be what is next.
The Pope is really stressing the year of Mercy. I still maintain that Mercy should be linked with Truth, so that unmerciful teachings, such as those on homosexuality, should be denounced. Mercy is about more than just forgiveness. Its about gleaning on the Sabbath and having a nice scallop wrapped in bacon.
Friday, May 13, 2016
Trump and Ryan have 'shared principles' | National Catholic Reporter
Trump and Ryan have 'shared principles' | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Paul Ryan is not a movement conservative, he is an acolyte of Ayn Rand. If you wish to compare principles, start there. I suspect that if Trump said anything, it was something positive about Ayn and probably let Ryan go from there. As for Trump's principles, there is a case to be made that on both immigration and Muslims, he is pandering to the lowest common denominator of the GOP, so that the trouble is not Trump at all, its the xenophobic racists who support him. The main principle of the Conservative movement is to keep people like that in the GOP as the shock troops of reaction, for they are certainly reactionaries. The only Conservative in the race is Clinton, but the Reactionaries would only vote for Palin because, like Trump, she is all reactionary symbolism, with no substance.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Links for 05/12/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/12/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Vice President Biden has been very gently with the pro-life movement. He is a good enough lawyer to explain why Roe is settled law and the pro-life movement is a scam for focusing on it. Of course, I think he should give them both barrels, if only to inform the bishops of their error in associating with these people.
Sister Carol is very good at speaking for herself on this, especially in pointing out how many of these suits (all of them) have been dismissed. That said, they should still do late term induction terminations rather than let the butchers in abortion clinics do them - then adopt out the kid if it survives.
Health care is both a consumer good and a right, but it is not what we call a normal good in most cases. Save for optional medicine, like botox, the doctor, not the patient, dictates what medicine is necessary. Until doctors can figure out a way to provide cost effective health care, don't blame either the patients or the government for not doing it. Of course, letting the insurance companies in is totally optional and profit-taking - which is why Single Payer and Employer Payer are such good ideas.
The evolutionary scientist who thinks that religion will die out because it was a way for rich people to subdue the lower classes is simply trying to legitimate the arguments of Dawkins. It does not take into account that the eventual revolution of the proletariat will have chaplains and a religious tone. The entire civil rights revolution was religious. Doh!
Sister Carol is very good at speaking for herself on this, especially in pointing out how many of these suits (all of them) have been dismissed. That said, they should still do late term induction terminations rather than let the butchers in abortion clinics do them - then adopt out the kid if it survives.
Health care is both a consumer good and a right, but it is not what we call a normal good in most cases. Save for optional medicine, like botox, the doctor, not the patient, dictates what medicine is necessary. Until doctors can figure out a way to provide cost effective health care, don't blame either the patients or the government for not doing it. Of course, letting the insurance companies in is totally optional and profit-taking - which is why Single Payer and Employer Payer are such good ideas.
The evolutionary scientist who thinks that religion will die out because it was a way for rich people to subdue the lower classes is simply trying to legitimate the arguments of Dawkins. It does not take into account that the eventual revolution of the proletariat will have chaplains and a religious tone. The entire civil rights revolution was religious. Doh!
Bishop McElroy's Synod | National Catholic Reporter
Bishop McElroy's Synod | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: More important than the situation before God is the situation with both the former and current spouses. Are there bad behaviors in the first marriage that were taken into the second? Is their violence, drunkenness or infidelity? Have these faults been dealt with? Was there simply abandonment or was the other spouse at fault? Who needs to forgive whom to move on or has the right to withhold forgiveness? Is the former spouse still a friend who was not a good marriage partner for that person? Did the former spouse go to the second wedding? If so, the Church has no business judging or even commenting on how things worked out. We have had quite enough of the Church as a surrogate for forgiveness that should have been granted face to face with another person.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Caveats about polling | National Catholic Reporter
Caveats about polling | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The Blue Wall still has 245 electoral votes behind it. If Pennsylvania goes to Clinton, its all over. Whether Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida are in play or not pretty much depends on whether the people paying for the poll want to show whether there is even an active election. Fudging the number of white working class voters is an easy way to do that. If you start off with the 2012 final electoral vote result and see what Trump can take away from Clinton, the general election looks less like a horse race. How you sample women is also a way to make it look like we have an actual campaign going on. Of course, the big event will be the debates. If Trump continues to go stream of conciousness, he loses and the Democrats might breach the GOP's Red Wall of 145 sure electoral votes. I suspect polling firms knew in 2012 how things were really going to go, but no one wants to predict that the campaign does not matter. It's not good for ratings.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Links for 05/10/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/10/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The Blue Wall of electoral votes is still 245. Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Iowa and Pennsylvania are all battlegrounds. Unless Trump wins all the battlegrounds, Clinton wins. I don't believe Sanders really thinks he can win, but he is broadcasting the possibility of doing so in order to keep people coming to his speeches. Hopefully he will make some promises in DC that will force HRC to commit to statehood.
Trump is selling Reaganism to the extent that Reagan scored well on strong and decisive leader. However, Trump is no Reagan, neither is he a Goldwater. I knew Barry Goldwater. Barry and I used to ride the Senate subway together (he was always very nice). Trump is not in the same class as Barry. Not even the same school. There is a difference between speaking authoritatively, which Reagan did, and being an authoritarian. That's Trump. Trump can only sell so far. For most Americans, Obama made things better. Indeed, he could run on a Morning in America ad campaign. Only the Obama haters think there is anything that needs to be restored.
LifeSiteNews is slanted, but I am sure they are telling the Republican/Pro-life line accurately. Of course, they are all symbolism and have no real proposals on how to protect the unborn, other than doing unconstitutional things to women like Trap laws. Its time to realize that the movement is a scam (starting with the lie that the Supreme Court is in play this election).
Trump is selling Reaganism to the extent that Reagan scored well on strong and decisive leader. However, Trump is no Reagan, neither is he a Goldwater. I knew Barry Goldwater. Barry and I used to ride the Senate subway together (he was always very nice). Trump is not in the same class as Barry. Not even the same school. There is a difference between speaking authoritatively, which Reagan did, and being an authoritarian. That's Trump. Trump can only sell so far. For most Americans, Obama made things better. Indeed, he could run on a Morning in America ad campaign. Only the Obama haters think there is anything that needs to be restored.
LifeSiteNews is slanted, but I am sure they are telling the Republican/Pro-life line accurately. Of course, they are all symbolism and have no real proposals on how to protect the unborn, other than doing unconstitutional things to women like Trap laws. Its time to realize that the movement is a scam (starting with the lie that the Supreme Court is in play this election).
'Not two Crises, but one' | National Catholic Reporter
'Not two Crises, but one' | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I actually wrote a book about this. It is on my various blogs and parts are on oocities, including the summary. Its called Musings from the Christian Left. Very Googleable. It predates Laudauto Si' by more than a decade.
Work is important, even if it is growing your own hydroponic vegetables, recycling your own waste water to grow hydroponic grass and produce fresh water and your own stem cell meat (including bone for taste and blood for color and taste). You can round that out with voluntary social action, the arts or anything you want to do - all of which can happen after an early retirement. Of course, until these benefits are available world-wide, they really aren't stable, which is a main area of exclusion now - the ability to move jobs and fire more expensive workers Marx taught us that.
What Marx never got was consumerism, which is why the hard core bureaucratic authoritarians states failed or adapted (China is now a consumer culture). One of the laws of economics (and they are natural law) is that for factory work to occur without revolution, there must be some kind of consumer surplus. Democratic socialist countries understand that and thrive. MSW does not seem to have gotten the memo, however. Because of that surplus, the government can provide social benefits for families and regulate business. Its why Scandanavia is a decent place, aside from the long winters and short days therein (which is a huge suicide risk).
Basic gauranteed income supporters won't like this line of teaching. They believe in income without work, mostly by either taxing land or creating money and depending on automation to do what workers used to do. Of course, like Marxists, they don't understand that most work has moved off of the factor floor and into retail. Consumerism again.
Work is important, even if it is growing your own hydroponic vegetables, recycling your own waste water to grow hydroponic grass and produce fresh water and your own stem cell meat (including bone for taste and blood for color and taste). You can round that out with voluntary social action, the arts or anything you want to do - all of which can happen after an early retirement. Of course, until these benefits are available world-wide, they really aren't stable, which is a main area of exclusion now - the ability to move jobs and fire more expensive workers Marx taught us that.
What Marx never got was consumerism, which is why the hard core bureaucratic authoritarians states failed or adapted (China is now a consumer culture). One of the laws of economics (and they are natural law) is that for factory work to occur without revolution, there must be some kind of consumer surplus. Democratic socialist countries understand that and thrive. MSW does not seem to have gotten the memo, however. Because of that surplus, the government can provide social benefits for families and regulate business. Its why Scandanavia is a decent place, aside from the long winters and short days therein (which is a huge suicide risk).
Basic gauranteed income supporters won't like this line of teaching. They believe in income without work, mostly by either taxing land or creating money and depending on automation to do what workers used to do. Of course, like Marxists, they don't understand that most work has moved off of the factor floor and into retail. Consumerism again.
Monday, May 9, 2016
Links for 05/09/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/09/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I wonder whether Moss dislikes the vile performace art that is the Trump campaign or whether he suspects that Trump's pro-life credentials are less than stellar. Then again, he supported Romney, so that is not the likely issue. Oddly enough, it seems his firing from the Executive Committee was for authoritarian grounds (not knuckling under to support Falwell, Jr. in supporting an authoritarian candidate). It seems fitting.
Whether the crisis in Puerto Rico gets worse or better in the near term depends on whether Puerto Rico defaults entirely on its debt or just partially and how Wall Street and Congress respond. If I were P.R., I would stop any payments to bondholders and dare them to set up a Control Board.
That returning Vets are committing suicide is a comment on the mental health system's inability to intervene early - and the military ethos against using it. Assisted suicide is not the issue - although it does track that not punishing suicide as a crime would stop its mitigating effect. Of course, punishing attempted suicides or those that assist them is as sick an idea as promoting it. Not everyone sees suicide as a tragedy - it usually those who believe that God is a Ogre that do (yes, its an ad hominum argument, but it is also true). Attempted suicide is a cry for help for PTSD and depression. Treating these things without stigma is the answer - and initiating treatment without imminent danger must be part of it as well. Peer groups are great, but they are not a replacement for therapy and medication.
Whether the crisis in Puerto Rico gets worse or better in the near term depends on whether Puerto Rico defaults entirely on its debt or just partially and how Wall Street and Congress respond. If I were P.R., I would stop any payments to bondholders and dare them to set up a Control Board.
That returning Vets are committing suicide is a comment on the mental health system's inability to intervene early - and the military ethos against using it. Assisted suicide is not the issue - although it does track that not punishing suicide as a crime would stop its mitigating effect. Of course, punishing attempted suicides or those that assist them is as sick an idea as promoting it. Not everyone sees suicide as a tragedy - it usually those who believe that God is a Ogre that do (yes, its an ad hominum argument, but it is also true). Attempted suicide is a cry for help for PTSD and depression. Treating these things without stigma is the answer - and initiating treatment without imminent danger must be part of it as well. Peer groups are great, but they are not a replacement for therapy and medication.
The Washington Post's Bias on Abortion | National Catholic Reporter
The Washington Post's Bias on Abortion | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: In 1832, midwives provided abortion services in the home of the patient. Catholic healthcare was not an issue because there was no political stance on abortion. Indeed, it is quite possible that Catholic midwives, like all others, provided the service when necessary (and it was never for economic reasons, because children were work machines in 1832).
The issue of Catholic hospitals refusing abortion services is not a new one, but the fact that they buy failing hospitals in rural America magnifies the lack of abortion services there, including in cases where an abortion would terminate an already doomed pregnancy, which is better for the mother than waiting for the child to die and be stillborn.
The lack of providers is a defacto, not a dejure, abortion ban. If economic policy made abortion decline to just its 27% non-economic base (and if the 10% of necessary abortions were performed without squeemishness - because non-Catholic hospitals use more gruesome procedures), then there would not be enough business to keep most abortion clinics open. Of course, that is nothing to sue over. The Constitution allows abortion, it does not mandate its availability - which is the difference between being pro-choice and pro-abortion. The ACLU has no case. Its an overreach on their part going beyond the intent of the 14th Amendment.
Good reporting would have gotten these nuances, however they did not ask me for my views either.
The issue of Catholic hospitals refusing abortion services is not a new one, but the fact that they buy failing hospitals in rural America magnifies the lack of abortion services there, including in cases where an abortion would terminate an already doomed pregnancy, which is better for the mother than waiting for the child to die and be stillborn.
The lack of providers is a defacto, not a dejure, abortion ban. If economic policy made abortion decline to just its 27% non-economic base (and if the 10% of necessary abortions were performed without squeemishness - because non-Catholic hospitals use more gruesome procedures), then there would not be enough business to keep most abortion clinics open. Of course, that is nothing to sue over. The Constitution allows abortion, it does not mandate its availability - which is the difference between being pro-choice and pro-abortion. The ACLU has no case. Its an overreach on their part going beyond the intent of the 14th Amendment.
Good reporting would have gotten these nuances, however they did not ask me for my views either.
Friday, May 6, 2016
Links for 05/06/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/06/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: I like Latimer's #12, which is an Emily LaTella move (Never mind). Unless Trump looks presidential in the debates, there is little chance he will be like Nixon in 1972. If he performs as expected, he will be more like McGovern.
The ACLU story is old. Whomever is working on that case should work on overturning Trap Laws instead. I actually favor Catholic hospitals doing early terminations, but only by induction and only with a priest on hand to baptize the dying newborn. The Catholic moral fastidiousness on this issue is what has condemned the late term unborn to a variety of grisly abortion measures that I would rather not think about as my noon meal settles. And yes, they are responsible for what others do because of their own moral priggishness.
The USCCB video shows more what is wrong with the Conference, both bishops and staff, than with Administration policy. The bishops want the right of moral scorn, not free religion, which is the moral equivalent of yelling fire in a theater. The days of Catholic religious power are decidedly over, even among Catholics. It is time for the reactionaries to shut up and follow Francis.
The ACLU story is old. Whomever is working on that case should work on overturning Trap Laws instead. I actually favor Catholic hospitals doing early terminations, but only by induction and only with a priest on hand to baptize the dying newborn. The Catholic moral fastidiousness on this issue is what has condemned the late term unborn to a variety of grisly abortion measures that I would rather not think about as my noon meal settles. And yes, they are responsible for what others do because of their own moral priggishness.
The USCCB video shows more what is wrong with the Conference, both bishops and staff, than with Administration policy. The bishops want the right of moral scorn, not free religion, which is the moral equivalent of yelling fire in a theater. The days of Catholic religious power are decidedly over, even among Catholics. It is time for the reactionaries to shut up and follow Francis.
The moral challenge Trump poses | National Catholic Reporter
The moral challenge Trump poses | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The basic problem is not Trump but those who support him. They were socialized that way in what you could call "culturally conservative" households. Of course, this poison lasts less and less with each generation - which is why the Trumpers really dislike College education as a concept because it almost always frees you from your native beliefs, at least nowadays. How do we respond when the problem is not the politician but the people he represents. In 1972, they had an electoral landslide. Fortune would have it that this is not possible this year - although we must energetically challenge and overturn Voter ID laws that attempt to keep minorities and students from voting, lest some surprise breach in the "Blue Wall" turn tragic. Of course, Trump will likely embarrass himself in the debates with Clinton, but we cannot be overconfident. We must vote this year and in 2018.
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Links for 05/05/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/05/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: If we are engaging rather than simply voting than I would suggest to Prof. Taylor Coolman that we advocate that Mrs. Clinton pick the VP candidate closest to Catholic Social Teaching - Bernie Sanders. We also need to realize that the pro-life movement has been a con for all these years and disregard abortion (and who is on the Court - it is currently 7-1 pro Roe with multiple GOP justices) as an issue because there are simply no proposals on the table that have any chance of implementation.
I am glad their are still good Catholics in the GOP. Hopefully they will vote for that Clinton-Sanders ticket, following conscience over party.
Bravo to Archbishop Cupich for standing up for the Church without going into culture warrior mode. As for Nienstedt, although he could not help a situation he did not know about, finding out about it should have changed his views rather than confirmed his participation in the clerical culture that is so responsible for covering these horrors up. Leave it to Weigel to be tone deaf to the difference.
I am glad their are still good Catholics in the GOP. Hopefully they will vote for that Clinton-Sanders ticket, following conscience over party.
Bravo to Archbishop Cupich for standing up for the Church without going into culture warrior mode. As for Nienstedt, although he could not help a situation he did not know about, finding out about it should have changed his views rather than confirmed his participation in the clerical culture that is so responsible for covering these horrors up. Leave it to Weigel to be tone deaf to the difference.
Trump Takes Reins of GOP: Everything Gets Weird | National Catholic Reporter
Trump Takes Reins of GOP: Everything Gets Weird | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Trump could still fake a health crisis and get out of running, although I expect not. I am not sure what would be scarier - his continuing to give us his authoritarian fascist shtick that his culturally conservative (read racist) followers love or whether he plays the role of the mainstream candidate (which would make me believe that his shtick was all an act - which would make him even more dangerous). Funny thing is that making Europe pay more for its own defense and renegotiating trade deals which privilege capitalists over countries are good ideas - but Trump should have given money to someone who would implement them rather than trying to do it himself.
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Links for 05/04/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/04/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The Conference needs Blaise Cupich to get a red hat and be elected President - and then clean out the staff - who are complicit in egging on the Republicanization of the Conference.
The Church provides education and social services and the facilities to do this should not pay property taxes. The sanctuaries can be taxed or not taxed - as long as in the South they don't leave the Catholics taxed and the Baptists exempt because they think the papacy is anti-christ (and they still do). Rectories and convents, like all residences, should be taxed and the exemption on paying Social Security revoked. Many religious seniors are poor (as in destitute, not spiritually so) because not paying taxes seemed like a good idea at the time.
Silk is right, but let me add that the GOP is caught in the kind of authoritarian extremism that John Dean warns about in his books, particularly Conservatism without Conscience.
The problem with the developing world is that the nations are too small with too many concentrated elites. Anglo North America would have been just like modern Africa had it not been for a Constitution that united many smaller polities into a larger union of differing cultures where totalitarianism is that much harder (although we are certainly testing that with Trump).
The Church provides education and social services and the facilities to do this should not pay property taxes. The sanctuaries can be taxed or not taxed - as long as in the South they don't leave the Catholics taxed and the Baptists exempt because they think the papacy is anti-christ (and they still do). Rectories and convents, like all residences, should be taxed and the exemption on paying Social Security revoked. Many religious seniors are poor (as in destitute, not spiritually so) because not paying taxes seemed like a good idea at the time.
Silk is right, but let me add that the GOP is caught in the kind of authoritarian extremism that John Dean warns about in his books, particularly Conservatism without Conscience.
The problem with the developing world is that the nations are too small with too many concentrated elites. Anglo North America would have been just like modern Africa had it not been for a Constitution that united many smaller polities into a larger union of differing cultures where totalitarianism is that much harder (although we are certainly testing that with Trump).
The USCCB religious liberty video | National Catholic Reporter
The USCCB religious liberty video | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The old joke about the Catholic Church and religious liberty before Vatican II was that it insisted on the liberty of Catholics in secular and Protestant Catholics and the rights of the Church as an institution in Catholic countries and kingdoms. Indeed, Ireland is still suffering from the latter attitude, although courage by Irish patriots is making headway.
The ultimate point of Dignitas Humanae is that human dignity is not served when religious belief is forced, whether it is forced by the government or by the Church. If one is honoring human freedom and dignity, one cannot forcibly restrain contraceptive options or sit by while bigoted shop owners are allowed to use hate speech against gays and lesbians under color of law.
Freedom is the individual right of the Will to choose the Good presented to it by the Intellect. If the intellect tells you that your are gay, then you are violating your own Good by pretending likewise. If the Church insists that it knows better than the individual on this, then the Church is not only wrong, but is doing violence to its own members, employees and priests - all of whom have a right to be happy. The Church needs to give up on the idea that it is seeking religious freedom while the rest of us can plainly see that it seeks religious power. Those who are strident on this will lose, because the faithful have gay kids, siblings and parents who are getting married in droves and will want these marriages blessed by a priest. In this case, the faithful are right and the bishops are wrong (while the priests are busily fulfilling the demands of their parishioners.
The ultimate point of Dignitas Humanae is that human dignity is not served when religious belief is forced, whether it is forced by the government or by the Church. If one is honoring human freedom and dignity, one cannot forcibly restrain contraceptive options or sit by while bigoted shop owners are allowed to use hate speech against gays and lesbians under color of law.
Freedom is the individual right of the Will to choose the Good presented to it by the Intellect. If the intellect tells you that your are gay, then you are violating your own Good by pretending likewise. If the Church insists that it knows better than the individual on this, then the Church is not only wrong, but is doing violence to its own members, employees and priests - all of whom have a right to be happy. The Church needs to give up on the idea that it is seeking religious freedom while the rest of us can plainly see that it seeks religious power. Those who are strident on this will lose, because the faithful have gay kids, siblings and parents who are getting married in droves and will want these marriages blessed by a priest. In this case, the faithful are right and the bishops are wrong (while the priests are busily fulfilling the demands of their parishioners.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Links for 05/03/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/03/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Andrew Sullivan hits a home run. Both Plato and the Cultural Theory of Douglas and Wildavsky show that when egalitarianism or populism run amok, (including the libertarianism of gay rights), that a strong leader will arise. People are flocking to Trump out of a desire for a strong authority to make things better. Sadly, the kind of leader that is attracted is no elitist wonk but a thumb fingered authoritarian with big lies and easy answers. Andrew predicts what everyone is talking about, Republicans for Clinton.
Cruz was hoping for a religious revival in Indiana. He got boilermakers for an authoritarian Trump. The white evangelicals, some of whom are more white than Christian, also voted for the Donald.
I suspect the God gap is bigger than we think because men lie about ditching Church and the women are voting for Hillary. Sadly, Catholics are going for Trump because of his authoritarianism. It certainly is not because he supports Catholic doctrine. That would be Sanders, the secular Jew.
I would hope that every worker who wants to stick it to the boss will see Trump in that role and vote Democratic. Of course, as Andrew Sullivan would no doubt agree, Hillary is not exactly free of the taint of capitalist authoritarianism either. That's the argument Sanders will make with the Superdelegates (who sadly like that Capitalist money quite a bit).
Cruz was hoping for a religious revival in Indiana. He got boilermakers for an authoritarian Trump. The white evangelicals, some of whom are more white than Christian, also voted for the Donald.
I suspect the God gap is bigger than we think because men lie about ditching Church and the women are voting for Hillary. Sadly, Catholics are going for Trump because of his authoritarianism. It certainly is not because he supports Catholic doctrine. That would be Sanders, the secular Jew.
I would hope that every worker who wants to stick it to the boss will see Trump in that role and vote Democratic. Of course, as Andrew Sullivan would no doubt agree, Hillary is not exactly free of the taint of capitalist authoritarianism either. That's the argument Sanders will make with the Superdelegates (who sadly like that Capitalist money quite a bit).
Cardinal Wuerl on Amoris Laetitia | National Catholic Reporter
Cardinal Wuerl on Amoris Laetitia | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Mercy must come from a place of humility, on both sides, and if the Church were really practicing humility, it would understand that some doctrinal change is necessary. his is not bad faith on the left - it is simply truth. That the majority of bishops did not want to get into such a discussion does not imply that such a discussion is not appropriate, especially when the people are going there on their own. As for Burke, I agree with him in part - the magic word of Magisterium were not used, but that does not invalidate the Exhortation - it invalidates the hubris of the concept of an infallible Magisterium. If the term dies out, it won't be too soon.
Monday, May 2, 2016
Links for 05/02/16 | National Catholic Reporter
Links for 05/02/16 | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Presidents are more victims than authors of events. We have no idea what will come up. The best they can do is to enact their tax policies. She needs to get herself briefed on the available options, pick them, run on them and push them through. Indeed, Obamacare was mostly about tax changes to fund it (which in truth is what the GOP hates about it) - as well as making the Bush cuts for the bottom 98% permanent. I would suggest to her to raise the top rates on the wealthy, take the cap off the Social Security employer contribution (and credit it equally rather than as a match to the employee levy) - which would also take care of the Buffett rule, and consider the proposals by Michael Graetz to shift tax payment by most individuals to a Value Added Tax, so that only the rich have to file. Yes, that is my tax plan, but it is a solid liberal plan regardless.
Archbishop Cupich's tribute to his friend is wonderful. He is one of the few American prelates that deserves a red hat.
Puerto Rico's problems were much like those of the District of Columbia, who had a penion obligation imposed on it without the accompanying assets as part of Jimmy Carter's personnel reforms - one which forced asset accumulation - assets that were turned over to the Feds as part of a bailout, and promptly sold by Bill Clinton to balance the budget. Bill also refused to regulate derivatives - something that likely is having an impact on Puerto Rico (as well as many nations who the vulture capitalists are holding to the fire). Why is it that we are electing his wife president? Regardless, its time to bail out Puerto Rico. If it does not happen this year, Mrs. Clinton should make it job one for her administration (with a control board and yet another statehood vote - something DC never got).
Archbishop Cupich's tribute to his friend is wonderful. He is one of the few American prelates that deserves a red hat.
Puerto Rico's problems were much like those of the District of Columbia, who had a penion obligation imposed on it without the accompanying assets as part of Jimmy Carter's personnel reforms - one which forced asset accumulation - assets that were turned over to the Feds as part of a bailout, and promptly sold by Bill Clinton to balance the budget. Bill also refused to regulate derivatives - something that likely is having an impact on Puerto Rico (as well as many nations who the vulture capitalists are holding to the fire). Why is it that we are electing his wife president? Regardless, its time to bail out Puerto Rico. If it does not happen this year, Mrs. Clinton should make it job one for her administration (with a control board and yet another statehood vote - something DC never got).
The church and labor on the Feast of St. Joseph, the Worker | National Catholic Reporter
The church and labor on the Feast of St. Joseph, the Worker | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Catholic religion teachers like to talk about Joseph as a tradesman, as if Nazareth were some sort of Kibbutz. In reality, it was a pretty wild place where workers in Sepphoris let off steam. Joseph was likely one of those workers, not operating his own shop, but working, with his sons, as a day laborer like those Latino workers you see early in the morning in front of 7-11 that the neighbors complain about so much.
The just wage is a crowning achievement in Catholic labor thought, because it implies that one is not working only for oneself, but for one's family. Of courses, the labor market does not make allowances for family size, so some type of subsidy is required from the state to provide fully for one's children, lest the childless have an advantage in the labor market while families starve. Here, gauranteeing the ability to consume goods is essential - it is not a dysfunction or a sin. Indeed, consumerism is what keeps workers from radicalizing for class warfare on Marxian lines. Marx did not count on what we call the consumer surplus that keeps workers happy.
There is ultimately only one way to get rid of class warfare in the labor market - and that his to make workers the owners of the operation, which allows them to elect or hire rather than serve management and executives. Workplace democracy should be about more than deciding how to improve the shop floor - it must be about putting the workers in control (and not just the workers on the factory floor - as these are being automated out of existence). If the Church is serious about what it says on the dignity of workers, it has to go to employee democracy - or as some of us call it, cooperative socialism. This type of socialism also takes consumption out of the market and places it in the cooperative - so that as much as possible the workers make what they consume, from houses to food to banking services. It is time to quit nibbling around the edges and go all in for reform - and not just on the Distributist idea, but with large cooperatives. Sometimes small is not beautiful if economies of scale are required to do (almost) everything a cooperative must do, including government services
The just wage is a crowning achievement in Catholic labor thought, because it implies that one is not working only for oneself, but for one's family. Of courses, the labor market does not make allowances for family size, so some type of subsidy is required from the state to provide fully for one's children, lest the childless have an advantage in the labor market while families starve. Here, gauranteeing the ability to consume goods is essential - it is not a dysfunction or a sin. Indeed, consumerism is what keeps workers from radicalizing for class warfare on Marxian lines. Marx did not count on what we call the consumer surplus that keeps workers happy.
There is ultimately only one way to get rid of class warfare in the labor market - and that his to make workers the owners of the operation, which allows them to elect or hire rather than serve management and executives. Workplace democracy should be about more than deciding how to improve the shop floor - it must be about putting the workers in control (and not just the workers on the factory floor - as these are being automated out of existence). If the Church is serious about what it says on the dignity of workers, it has to go to employee democracy - or as some of us call it, cooperative socialism. This type of socialism also takes consumption out of the market and places it in the cooperative - so that as much as possible the workers make what they consume, from houses to food to banking services. It is time to quit nibbling around the edges and go all in for reform - and not just on the Distributist idea, but with large cooperatives. Sometimes small is not beautiful if economies of scale are required to do (almost) everything a cooperative must do, including government services
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