Top Twelve Indicators Economy Is Bad

Received this humourous list in the mail this morning from Lou, the Banana Man, a conservative Californian. Yes, Virginia, they do exist.

The top twelve indicators that the economy is bad:

12. CEO's are now playing miniature golf.

11. I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

10. I went to buy a toaster oven and they gave me a bank.

9. Hotwheels and Matchbox car companies are now trading higher than GM in the stock market.

8. Nobama met with small businesses - GE, Pfizer, Chrysler, Citigroup and GM, to discuss the Stimulus Package.

7. McDonalds is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

6 People in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and are learning their children's names.

5. The most highly-paid job is now jury duty.

4. People in Africa are donating money to Americans. Mothers in Ethiopia are telling their kids, "finish your plate; do you know how many kids are starving in America ?"

3. Motel Six won't leave the lights on.

2. The Mafia is laying off judges.

And my most favorite indicator of all.

1. If the bank returns your check marked as "insufficient funds," you have to call them and ask if they meant you or them.

Classic Twiterature

The Sun is providing a few twitbits into Tom Collins' new book, "The Little Book of Twitter." Synopses of all the great books in literature like The Canterbury Tales and some not so great books like Bridget Jones' Diary are condensed down to Twitter's frustrating 140 characters. Here are some of my favs:

HAMLET- williamshakespeare Danish guy's mum marries his murdered father's brother. He sees his dad's ghost. Everyone dies. Fail.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS -charlesdickens Orphan given £££ by secret follower. He thinks it's @misshavisham but it turns out to be @magwitch.

THE GREAT GATSBY-fscottfitzgerald Jay Gatsby <3> Daisy Buchanan. Makes $$$ throws parties and looks at green light. They get together. Gatsby and American dream die.
THE DA VINCI CODE-danbrown Professor of symbology tries to solve a murder by following clues around touristy locations in Europe. Very few paragraphs are longer than tweets.

BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY -helenfielding Woman meets man called Darcy who seems horrible. He turns out to be nice really. They get together.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS-emilybronte: Catherine Earnshaw marries Edgar Linton but really loves Heathcliff *sigh*.

THE BIBLE -god I created the universe, sent my carpenter son to earth, you killed him, but he's coming back soon. I've got 2 billion followers ;)

THE CANTERBURY TALES-geoffreychaucer Pilgrims tell each other stories while walking from London to Canterbury. Includes f*rt jokes. LOL!

ULYSSES-jamesjoyce Man walks around Dublin. We follow every minute detail of his day. He's probably overtweeting.

Want to know what to read when you're not reading other tweeps? "Little Book of Twitter" is the book to get. It's all the classics - short and tweet.

Twip of the hat to PutrPrsn

This Memorial Day

Deep gratitude, tremendous pride, and eternal thanks to all the military veterans living, and to the patriots and soldiers who gave their lives for our great country's freedoms. To all the current troops here and around the world fighting, God keep you safe and bring you home soon.



Previous Sma' Talk Wi' T posts on Memorial Day.

Egeria's Travelogue

Father Augustine's sermons are always rejuvenating. It never fails that I always learn from his insight and historical references. It's like sitting in a compelling Biblical theology class on Sundays. Today, Father spoke on Egeria's travelogue (page 2) which he studied while at Oxford. I'm sure the majority of priests have already heard of Egeria... but I hadn't. She sounds like quite a character and she's spoken of in correlation with the Feast of The Ascension. This well-traveled and exuberant pilgrim (c. A.D. 381-384) is cited as Egeria/Etheria/Aetheria depending on who is writing. Her daily journals were the first translations to describe the early Church's liturgical worship and creation of feast days like Christmas and Ascension Thursday.

Here is Egeria's travelogue. Another translation

Holy Sepulchre Article has pictures from the Church of the Ascension.

Women Pilgrims: Egeria

Finally this is the Wikipedia detail on Egeria that I find fascinating. (And yes, I know Wikipedia isn't a reliable source for citation but it's a good place to start.)

Egeria's record of her travels to the Holy Land also provides a late 4th century account of liturgical worship in Palestine. The liturgical year was in its incipient stages at the time of her visit. This is invaluable because the development of liturgical worship (e.g. Lent, palm or passion Sunday) reached universal practice in the 4th century. Egeria provides a first hand account of practices and implementation of liturgical seasons as they existed at the time of her visit. This snapshot is before universal acceptance of a December 25th celebration of the nativity of Jesus; this is very early and very helpful in cataloging the development of annual liturgical worship.

Reference: Connell, Martin (2007). Eternity Today: On the Liturgical Year. New York: Continuum Publishing. pp. 16–18. ISBN 9780826418715.

To learn more about the 4th Century Church and Egeria's sightseeing pilgrimages, I have ordered the following book. Looks like a good read for my summertime pilgrimage - I'll let you know. Wandering Monks, Virgins, and Pilgrims, Ascetic Travels in the Mediterranean World, A.D. 300 - 800

Telegraph Sends The Right Message

I couldn't be there today nor could I listen to it on television but reading it, I felt like I was right there! I'm speaking of the excellent analysis of the NØbama-Cheney fight in DC today by Toby Harnden, Telegraph US editor. Some of Harnden's key points were:

• "...the very fact that Obama chose to schedule his speech (Cheney's was announced first) at exactly the same time as the former veep was a sign of some weakness."
• "The venues for the speeches said something. Obama showily chose the National Archives, repository for many of the founding documents of the US, and spoke in front of a copy of the Constitution - cloaking himself in the flag, as Republicans were often criticised for doing."
• "The former veep's speech was factual and unemotional and certainly devoid of the kind of hokey, self-obsessed, campaign-style stuff like this, from Obama's address today: "I stand here today as someone whose own life was made possible by these documents. My father came to these shores in search of the promise that they offer. My mother made me rise before dawn to learn their truths when I lived as a child in a foreign land."
• "As Cheney said this, sarcasm dripped from his lips. Obviously "fine speechmaking" but no real substance is not a new charge against Obama and it hits home. And Cheney successfully mades the point that much of the rhetoric from the Left tends to suggest that if only the US did not waterboard people, if only the US was viewed as Obama rather than Bush, Venus rather than Mars then it would be universally loved and al-Qaeda would wither away. Unfortunately, that's not the real world."

Read Harnden's entire column counting down the ten knock-out punches by Cheney delivered to the Messiah. NØbama is weak. It's must read for all conservatives especially for those of us who were working to pay off NØbama's 4 trillion dollar debt and couldn't watch Cheney. Keep on talking, Mr. Cheney!

Full text of Cheney's Anti-Obama speech.

British Empire Sun Shines No More

At one time in history, the sun never set on the British Empire. There was a time that Great Britain would never bow in fear. Sadly, Winston Churchill, the great British Prime Minster who proudly intoned: "We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."

Churchill must be turning over in his Westminster Abbey's grave because today, the UK has all but surrendered. The British sun has set - its' light has been dhimmed. Or I should say dhimmified. Daniel Pipes, an Islamic expert who has been called a prophet, speaks up about the next country to have Islam culture rammed down their throats: Great Britain.

Pipes writes about BMI, the British Midlands Airlines. BMI has succumbed to pressure by Muslims in anti-Semitic business practices, including firing of employees for not kow-towing to Islamic culture and displaying maps that inaccurately wipe Israel off the maps.

It [BMI] fired Lisa Ashton, 37, a stewardess, in April 2008 because she refused two directives concerning her time in Saudi Arabia: in public areas there she must wear the abaya, the black robe that covers everything but the face, feet, and hands; and she must follow behind her male colleagues. When Ashton turned down flights to Saudi Arabia, claiming discrimination, BMI dismissed her. Ashton brought suit against BMI. Describing her case, she said that "It's not the law that you have to walk behind men in Saudi Arabia, or that you have to wear an abaya, and I'm not going to be treated as a second-class citizen. It's outrageous. I'm a proud Englishwoman and I don't want these restrictions placed on myself." Ashton lost the first round when an employment tribunal ruled that BMI was justified in imposing "rules of a different culture" on its staff and cleared the company of sexual discrimination. Ashton may seek a judicial review of the decision.

Its [BMI] digital maps on the airlines' twice daily flights from London's Heathrow Airport to Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion Airport, the kind that passengers watch while on the plane, marking the flight's progress, did not show Israel. Mel Bezalel explains in the Jerusalem Post: "Instead of viewing Tel Aviv or other Israeli cities signposted on screens, customers flying on two BMI-owned Airbus A320 airplanes have instead been exclusively shown Haifa, spelled 'Khefa' - the Arab name of the city before 1948." BMI apologized and proffered an excuse: namely, that the digital maps were inherited when BMI bought British Mediterranean Airways (BMED) in 2007. BMED flew primarily to the Middle East and tailored its maps to the many Muslim passengers on its flights. BMI spokesman Phil Shepherd said that the "old maps" were due to be deactivated and new maps, which do mention Israel and Tel Aviv, will appear on screens in two weeks.

The digital map on BMI writes Haifa as "Khefa" and does not name Israel.

BMI isn't better for business. Its' only interests seem to be keeping the Middle East pacified with anti-Semitic management practices and lies.

If you have not heard of Daniel Pipes or receive his daily updates, please click here. You'll be able to read the most current articles and posts on Muslim terrorism.

Previous posts on Sma' Talk Wi' T:

• Obama States Christianity, Judaism, Islam Have Same Goals
• Legal Pluralism, Sharia Law Spreading
• Islamic Beach Chic
• Sharia Law Gets Foot In the Door of United States

Obama Man

H/T and a lollipop to KimQuilts2

NØbama Are You Listening?

My hero of the week.

Daniel Hannan, member of the European Parliament is my patriot hero of the week for castigating Gordon Brown, the United Kingdom's Prime Minister.

"...And when you repeat, in that wooden and perfunctory way, that our situation is better than others, that we’re ‘well-placed to weather the storm’, I have to tell you that you sound like a Brezhnev-era apparatchik giving the party line. You know, and we know, and you know that we know that it’s nonsense! Everyone knows that Britain is worse off than any other country as we go into these hard times. The IMF has said so; the European Commission has said so; the markets have said so – which is why our currency has devalued by thirty percent. And soon the voters too will get their chance to say so. They can see what the markets have already seen: that you are the devalued Prime Minister of a devalued government."

Here! Here! Mr. Hannan! Well done spanking for the incompetant Labour party.

NØbama, are you watching our allies across the Pond as they sink into the depths of bankruptcy with corrupt policies like you are imposing on the United States economy? Your destruction of our country with your socialist/facist/liberal/anti-capitalism will be your legacy.

British Facism: Echoes of Germany

Catholicism's Shame - Islam's Culture

Wendy Sullivan, aka Right Girl, conservative blogger and radio talk show host makes an excellent point against MSM's persecution of the Catholic Church's paedophile scandal.

When Catholics do it, it s nation-wide scandal that has to be apologized for over and over again, with money flowing out of the Vatican like it’s a damn ATM.

But when Muslims do it, it’s their freakin’ culture.

Brilliant and cohesive observation that the seems to elude the GCD-affected "Go-Forth and Foam" liberal estate.

Where is the outrage against Islam for its misogynistic and paedophilic practices by UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch, NOW, Code Pink, Planned Parenthood, and other anti-American organizations?

Oh yeah... they're protesting the George W. Bush Administration. How childish.

Disney Prediction Comes True

Walt Disney is famous for his prognostication abilities with forecasting future trends. EPCOT - Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow" - which I visit as part of my work, is a great example of his success rate. But did you know that Walt Disney predicted how popular Twitter would be?



More Sma' Talk Wi' T posts on Disney World

The Land Of Human Sexuality

Some people have too much time on their hands... (cough, no pun intended)

Found this framed artwork today while strolling through a very interesting Internet nouveau gallery by blogger Jason Theodor. It's a map of the "Land of Human Sexuality" by Franklin Veaux with interactivity website. It does pass for reading time on a rainy day. Definitely not for viewing at work or with kids around.

If you like eclectic galleries, take a step into Jason's blog. You'll find all sorts of interesting serendipity (and they are not sexually-themed).

Two Mile Anti-Abortion Protest At Notre Dame

Jill Stanek provides incredible coverage of two miles anti-abortion protesters enroute to the University of Notre Dame's main entrance. How I wished NØbama could have seen these posters of life! The coward took a different route to avoid the protesters.



NØbama's evil speech about dialoguing about how to "reduce" abortions was disgustingly smug when he as a Senator is one of the reasons that we have a culture of death in this country!

Go to Jill Stanek's blog for five other excellent posts and more videos on today's protest at the now secular University of Notre Dame.

Protesters interrupt NØbama's speech while Catholics boo and yell "yes we can [kill babies]"



Previous Sma' Talk Wi' T posts on NObama and abortion.

Cutest Baby Hedgehog

H/T To Binkowski

Saul Alinsky In The White House

Connecting the driving force of Socialism behind the White House administration.

Saul Alinsky's Rules To Divide And Conquer.

More Evidence Of Green Religion Growing

Environmentalists try to evoke more participation in the green movement by gardening the human soul. Liberals' know their efforts to secularize the globe must appeal to humans' inate need for spirituality. Without appealing to emotional spiritual healing of humans through stewardship of Gaia, the green movement can not maintain adherents' interests. They don't hide this tactic.

The big publicity surrounding Michelle Obama and children taking a rake and hoeing the soil to plant a garden was seen by millions. The view wasn’t lost on the churches, who have decided to get in on the worldwide accent on community gardens. For churches taking care of a garden is part of good stewardship. One takes care of the earth, the body, and consequently the soul in a round of activities especially designed to do that.

Using the First Family as a model as well as specific teachings, including the Bible and books written by various Christians involved in going green, Christian churches and synagogues are working together with local community groups in planting activities. Going green is more than just planting; it is doing it using ethical principles, with the goal of helping the poor and focusing on local gardeners as opposed to large corporations.

Wendell Berry spells out what it means to plant using ethical principles. His books are increasingly popular with Christian groups because he combines going green with faith principles, practical and spiritual advice combines. He talks about buying food locally and using a good plan of eating to build spiritual understanding in his “Pleasures of Eating.”

Previous Posts on Green Religion:

• Green Fervour: The New Paganism
• Gore's Increasing Spirituality
• The Environmental Anti-Christ Is Coming
• Bless Me Father For I Have Not Composted

For The Love Of Money

Clio Award Winner (warning - sexually explicit Origami) (yes... Origami characters doing the nasty)

"The goal was to create a world completely made out of banknotes and explicit characters that stood for themselves. So we spent many days and nights doing a lot of research finding the right objects such as furniture, buildings, bridges, certain landscapes, clothes, etc.

This procedure was followed by style frames in 2D to evoke the right feeling, tone and look for the film while having a special origami look in the back of our minds. After we were done creating rough animatics, we could start to fine tune our characters, as well as the different scenarios of the spot. Our final task was to blend all the scenes, camera tracks and sounds together.
All characters (Lincoln, Mao and the unknown lady) were created as 3D characters in Softimage XSI. Therefore, our designing team engaged in a lot of origami studying. To get used to the technique, we spent a lot of time with uncountable folding sessions. We took dollar and pound notes and folded Origami figures until our hands bled.

Then we were able to start with the digital modeling. Each character received an individual animation rig. With this digital skeleton we defined positions, rotations as well as the movements of the particulars."

A ten-spot to my brother for sending.

Ozzie Surprises Japanese Protégé Guitarist

Ellen Degeneres showcases 9 year old guitarist protege, Yuto Miyazawa rocking out to Ozzie Osbourne's Crazy Train.

Thanks and a hat tip to Doug Preston.

Previous Sma' Talk Posts on child musicians:
More Angelic Voices
Another Incredible Voice

Notre Dame: Just Another Secular Institution?

Reading the University of Notre Dame's Mission Statement, the religious academic institution throws the word Catholic around frequently as if it meant something to the faculty and administration.

This statement speaks of the University of Notre Dame as a place of teaching and research, of scholarship and publication, of service and community. These components flow from three characteristics of Roman Catholicism that image Jesus Christ, his Gospel, and his Spirit. A sacramental vision encounters God in the whole of creation. In and through the visible world in which we live, we come to know and experience the invisible God. In mediation the Catholic vision perceives God not only present in but working through persons, events, and material things. There is an intelligibility and a coherence to all reality, discoverable through spirit, mind, and imagination. God's grace prompts human activity to assist the world in creating justice grounded in love. God's way to us comes as communion, through the communities in which men and women live. This community includes the many theological traditions, liturgies, and spiritualities that fashion the life of the Church. The emphasis on community in Catholicism explains why Notre Dame historically has fostered familial bonds in its institutional life.

A Catholic university draws its basic inspiration from Jesus Christ as the source of wisdom and from the conviction that in him all things can be brought to their completion. As a Catholic university, Notre Dame wishes to contribute to this educational mission.

How does this mission statement jive with pro-abortion policies? This is not the first time Notre Dame, a parochially-founded school has openly honored secular leaders who champion against Catholic dogma. The University of Notre Dame's faculty has routinely offered and promoted anti-Catholic abortion, homosexual, and birth control information along with anti-Catholic organizations.

This is confirmed by the Sycamore Trust Organization in today's press release:

In his second statement, Bishop D'Arcy firmly disposed of Father Jenkins's palpably infirm contention that his action does not collide with the bishops' statement. An argument that rests, as Father Jenkins's does, on a supposed ambiguity in the title of a document rather than upon the plain words of the provision itself is simply an embarrassment. But that aside, Bishop D'Arcy points out that it is the local Ordinary who is to interpret episcopal documents - and it is the local Ordinary whom Father Jenkins pointedly avoided consulting. Instead, he inquired of an unnamed number of unnamed university presidents who told him of communications with an unnamed number of unnamed bishops.

The Obama episode, it should be noted, was foreshadowed by two events last year that we have previously described: First, fifty bishops moved their conference away from Notre Dame because Father Jenkins refused to cancel The Vagina Monologues, and then Dr. Marye Anne Fox, a leading proponent of embryonic stem cell research (and member of the ND Board), gave the Graduate School commencement speech and was awarded an honorary degree.

The importance of the "terrible breach between Notre Dame and the Church," as Bishop D'Arcy described it, is highlighted by Pope John Paull II's description in the foremost papal document on Catholic universities, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, of the necessary relationship between a Catholic university and its bishop and the Church:

"Every Catholic university has a relationship to the Church that is essential to its institutional identity. . . . [It] is to maintain communion with the universal Church and the Holy See; it is to be in close communion with the local bishop. Each bishop has the right and duty to watch over the preservation and strengthening of their Catholic character. This will be achieved if close personal and pastoral relationships exist between University and Church authorities characterized by close cooperation and dialogue. Bishops should be seen not as external agents but as participants in the life of the university."

In what surely must be an unprecedented chorus of episcopal criticism of the action of a Catholic university, sixty-six bishops to date, including three Cardinals and several archbishops, have united in condemnation of this bestowal of honors on President Obama. Many have spoken in strikingly stern and worrisome terms. One, for instance, has indicated he would "discourage local students from attending" the University. The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy has joined the condemnation, while Fr. Jenkins has been praised by the Presidents of the Jesuits institutions who have led the secularization movement and who are attempting to persuade bishops to remain quiet.

Honorariums for secular leaders, especially anti-religious political leaders, need to stay in the secular realm. Catholic faculty administrations should remember their founding fathers' reasoning for creating such parochial educational academies is so that Catholic doctrine could be fostered and taught to Catholic families. They are not secular institutions.

Honorariums are legacies that are used to promote one's career and life's work. When it is bestowed upon someone who's life work is to advocate for the destruction of human life - what does that award say about the person or institution bestowing the honor?

Meditating about this difficult issue, I wondered if Reverend Jenkins thinks about the words he says during the Hail Mary?

"...and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus."

Does Jenkins truly believe the prayer? What part of the pregnancy phase was Jesus the fruit of Mary's womb? Was it only in the last trimester? The middle trimester? The first few weeks when Jesus leapt in Mary's womb as Mary visited her cousin, Elizabeth?

Obama would say no. Notre Dame, a Catholic university, is honoring a leader who denies Jesus in everything he does.

Previous posts on Sma' Talk Wi' T:
JMJ What Is Wrong With Notre Dame?

UPDATE: Notre Dame Scandal To Break?

UPDATE: Catholic Church to tell the Messiah Wannabe "Let My People Go?" After two months of American Catholics all across the country screaming, could it be that prayers really do work and that the USCCB and the Vatican are starting to clamp down on secularism at Catholic universities? Will Father Jenkins be fired or forced to resign for the deliberate attempt at honoring an abortion advocate?

Breaking news: "We’re not at liberty to release details, but it appears that events are taking shape aimed at correcting the abuses at Notre Dame. These plans may include the canceling of Obama’s appearance at the commencement.”

JMJ What Is Wrong With Notre Dame?

Update: Notre Dame Scandal Petition

The paedophile scandal thrust across the pages of the secular MSM's (even though paedophila crimes statistically are higher in schools and Protestant churches) hurt the Catholic Church around the world. The moral authority of the Church was attacked. Sadness and disillusionment grew silently resulting in attendance declining as Catholics struggle for spiritual and moral leadership in a secular world. Parishes close alienating more Catholics and disappointing even cradle Catholics that no longer attend mass.

In the last election, we should have been a clear cut voice for conservative family values. There should have been no division among Catholics but Obama won with 54% of the Catholic voters. Entire parishes were confused as to who they should or should not vote for. Pro-abortion Catholic politicians and government officials defied church authority and the threat of 'latae sententiae' excommunication to force their beliefs on faithful Catholics. Some parish priests advocated for Obama and others rallied against Obama's anti-life rhetoric. Recently pseudo-Catholic theologian Nancy Pelosi embarrassed herself and millions of Roman Catholic Americans by visiting Pope Benedict XVI and clearing her conscience about what the Catholic Church teaches.

Now will we see even more confusion, disillusionment among good Catholics struggling for moral leadership from the Church? Outrage may be more of the emotion vocalized. Despite the Catholic Church's own teachings of the evils of abortion and fatal stem cell research, the Catholic University of Notre Dame will be giving the pro-evil Barack Hussein Obama an honorary degree May 17th at their commencement services.

Who in their God-given intelligent mind would think that Obama deserves an honorary degree after signing away the lives of millions of infants with partial birth abortions and feticide?

Why did the USCCB ask all the parishes to send a postcard to Congress to stop the passage of the fatal stem cell research? Were they just trying to keep Catholics passified that they were doing "something?"

What good Catholic with God-ly principles and family values will not rethink the Catholic Church's purposes in honoring a man for acts that will kill more humans in one year than all the military deaths in American wars combined.

Okay, I'll say it: What the hell is the University of Notre Dame thinking? The academic school named for Our Lady, Mary the Mother of God? The Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. An unwed mother of God who could in this day and age get an abortion with the gracious funding from Barack Obama.

Notre Dame prides itself as an "independent, national Catholic university" - as noted on Google search pages - I guess that means the institution really is independent from the Vatican.

We need to raise holy hell and stop this blasphemy of recognizing non-Catholics and pro-abortion politicians as role models and characters of good faith. Catholics around the world should pound on heaven's doors with prayers to give the USCCB spiritual strength to do the right thing. After all they ask Catholics to do the right things.

As with the pedophilia scandal, Catholics made their outrage known by not funding the Catholic Church's lawsuits through the Bishops Appeal. Catholics need to take it a step further. The Vatican needs to state that the USCCB and the University of Notre Dame are Catholic institutions and demand that they act like it.

Reverend Jenkins, find an excuse. Change the date of the Commencement and don't tell the White House. Just be gone when Obama arrives. Don't give Obama a stage to make a mockery of Catholicism!

Make your voices heard. Send a postcard to the Vatican.

His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI
Apostolic Palace
00120 Vatican City

Archbishop John Patrick Foley, President,
Pontifical Council for Social Communications
00120 Vatican City State

Vatican Switchboard: +39.06.6982

The following organizations are responsible for this sinful honorarium:

United States Council of Catholic Bishops
Pro-Life Activities
3211 4th Street, N.E.,
Washington DC 20017-1194
(202) 541-3000
prolife@usccb.org

Catholic Diocese of Peoria
Spalding Pastoral Center
419 NE Madison Ave.
Peoria, IL 61603-3719
Phone (309) 671-1550
Fax (309) 671-1576

Most Reverend Daniel Jenky C.S.C., D.D. Bishop

Father Stanley L. Deptula
Vice Chancellor

Mr. Chris Kreps
Assistant to the Bishop

Office of Finance
Sheen Pastoral Center
412 NE Madison Ave.
Peoria, IL 61603
Phone 309-671-1550
FAX 309-671-1597

John Bannon Director

Jim Stolt Associate Director

Office of Respect Life and Human Dignity

Spalding Pastoral Center
419 NE Madison Ave.
Peoria, IL 61603
Phone 309-671-1550
Fax 309-671-1595

Mrs. Lynn Grandon
Director

University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
Phone: (574) 631-5000

University of Notre Dame

400 Main Building
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Phone: 574.631.3903
Email: president@nd.edu

Reverend John I. Jenkins C.S.C. President-Elect

University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees

Phone: (574) 631-5000

• Board of Trustees
  John F. Affleck-Graves, Ph.D.
  Rev. José E. Ahumada F., C.S.C.
  David M. Baron
  Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C.
  Robert F. Biolchini
  Cathleen P. Black
  Stephen J. Brogan
  Thomas G. Burish, Ph.D.
  Raymond G. Chambers
  Holly A. Colman
  Robert M. Conway
  Fritz L. Duda
  José Enrique Fernández
  James F. Flaherty III
  W. Douglas Ford
  Kathleen M. Fox
  Marye Anne Fox, Ph.D.
  Stephanie A. Gallo
  F. Michael Geddes
  John W. Glynn Jr.
  William M. Goodyear
  Nancy M. Haegel, Ph.D.
  Enrique Hernandez Jr.
  Carol Hank Hoffmann
  Douglas Tong Hsu
  Rev. Peter A. Jarret, C.S.C.
  Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.
  Most Rev. Daniel R. Jenky, C.S.C., D.D.
  John W. Jordan II
  Thomas E. Larkin Jr.
  The Honorable Diana Lewis
  Patrick F. McCartan(Chairman Emeritus)
  Ted H. McCourtney
  Terrence J. McGlinn
  Andrew J. McKenna(Chairman Emeritus)
  Martin Naughton
  Richard C. Notebaert(Chairman)
  Joseph I. O’Neill III
  Anita M. Pampusch, Ph.D.
  Percy A. Pierre, Ph.D.
  Cecilia H. Prinster
  Philip J. Purcell III
  William F. Reilly
  J. Christopher Reyes
  Phillip B. Rooney
  Shayla Keough Rumely
  Shirley W. Ryan
  John F. Sandner
  Rev. Timothy R. Scully, C.S.C.
  William J. Shaw
  Kenneth E. Stinson
  Phyllis W. Stone
  Rev. David T. Tyson, C.S.C.
  Arthur R. Velasquez
  The Honorable Ann Claire Williams
  Trustees Emeriti
  Kathleen W. Andrews
  Rev. Ernest Bartell, C.S.C.
  Roger E. Birk
  Rev. Thomas E. Blantz, C.S.C.
  John Brademas, Ph.D.
  John H. Burgee
  Thomas P. Carney, Ph.D.(Chairman Emeritus)
  John B. Caron
  Arthur J. Decio
  Alfred C. DeCrane Jr.
  Anthony F. Earley
  Rev. Carl F. Ebey, C.S.C.
  Philip J. Faccenda, Ph.D.
  Charles K. Fischer Sr.
  Sister Alice Gallin, O.S.U.
  Roland D. Grimm
  J. M. Haggar Jr.
  Bernard J. Hank Jr.
  Philip M. Hawley
  Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C.
  John A. Kaneb
  Donald R. Keough(Chairman Emeritus)
  The Honorable George N. Leighton
  Ignacio E. Lozano Jr.
  Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C.
  Donald J. Matthews
  Newton N. Minow
  Timothy O’Meara, Ph.D.
  Jane Pfeiffer
  Ernestine M. Raclin
  John M. Regan Jr.
  John A. Schneider
  Rev. Richard V. Warner, C.S.C.
  William K. Warren Jr.
  Robert J. Welsh
  Robert K. Wilmouth

University of Notre Dame Alumni Association

University of Notre Dame Alumni Association Board Members and email addresses.

God forgive them all.

Thinking Of You Today, Momma

Belated Mother's Day thoughts.

Mama by Il Divo. More by Il Divo

Although I had a Scottish momma, I would love to have her with me today and let her watch this beautiful Italian video.

I love you, Momma, with all my heart. Happy Mother's Day every day to all the wonderful, loving Mothers out there, including my daughters. Thank you for our grandchildren.

Previous Sma' Talk Wi' T posts honoring my Momma:
Grandma's Hands
I'm a Lonely Little Petunia In An Onion Patch
Do The Right Thing
Blair Creating A Nanny State
People Who Are Disgusted By Breastfeeding Are Boobs
Inspiration To Wake Up Your Imagination
Enjoy Mother's Day

Thank you Erica for sending.

Where Is The Moral Condemnation?

UPDATE: Pope walks out of interfaith meeting after anti-Israel tirade by sheikh. Thanks to the BCast.

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In this day and age of blatant and ignored anti-religion bias, not even a papal visit to a Holocaust Memorial can be admired without complaint. In the Jerusalem Post, Pope Benedict XVI's historic tour on May 11th to famous Yad Vashem memorial was publically denounced because the German Pope did not apologize personally to the Jewish people. Pope Benedict did not mention the Nazis or the Holocaust as he prayed somberly:

"I have come to stand in silence before the monument erected to honor the millions of Jews killed in the horrific tragedy of the Shoah."

"They lost their lives, but they will never lose their names. These are indelibly etched in the hearts of their loved ones, their surviving fellow prisoners, and all those determined never to allow such an atrocity to disgrace mankind again..."

"I reaffirm - like my predecessors - that the church is committed to praying and working tirelessly to ensure that hatred will never reign in the hearts of men again."

The pope's thoughtful speech was not enough for some Jewish leaders who hoped they would hear an outright apology for the horrors committed and the lack of Allied countries to stop the atrocities in time.

"We're talking about the pope, who is also a representative of the Holy See, which has a lot to ask forgiveness from our people for," Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said during an interview on Israel Radio on Tuesday. "And he is also a German, whose country and people have asked forgiveness. But he himself comes and speaks to us like a historian, as an observer, as a man who expresses his opinion about things that should never happen, and he was - what can you do? - a part of them."

Pope Benedict XVI was a 'part of them' as in Nazis? Is that what Rivlin was implying? He was a boy, a young man during the Holocaust. He had no part in the efforts of the genocide evils. It is not the first time that Catholic popes have been condemned. In 2000, Pope John Paul II encountered the same criticism for his speech that brought Jews and Christians to tears when he laid a wreath at Yad Vashem. But it was not enough.

With the hue and cry over the need for the Catholic Church to prostrate themselves before the world in atonement, there was no admission from Rivlin that under Pope Pius XII Catholic Church and European Catholics secured safety for over 92,000 Jews. There was no reference to the thousands of Catholics, including clergy, while not targeted for their faith, but because they spoke out against the Germans were also murdered.

The Catholic Church has pursued strong interfaith relations with Judaism since the 1960's when it rejected anti-Semitism in all its forms. Jewish leaders need to recognize that the Church has apologized and come to the table for true dialogue. The real moral condemnation belongs towards the terrorist dictatorships, liberals, and the White House administration that supports dialogue with true anti-Semites.

More:

Anti-Semitism in Obama's Administration.
Obama's Signal To Israel: Submit
Barack Obama Proves His Anti-Semitism

GOP's Campaign To Save The Florida Panderer

RINO Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's Senate run announcement today along with endorsements by Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and National GOP Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (R-TX) makes me feel like walking. Crist is mistaken when he says "We work together to solve problems and do what's right for the people of our state. The people are the boss. And I think, that regardless of party, that we have to work together to get things done."

Gov. Crist, do you mean like working with the Florida taxpayers in spending over $430,000 Florida taxpayers dollars to take your newlywed wife on an European head of state tour ala Obama?

Are we talking about the 'working it' tag team of Crist and Obama in Ft. Myers to support the Democrats devastating stimulus bill and economy that will cripple our country for generations to come?

Are McConnell and Conryn talking about the Governor Crist - nominated by Humanevents - as RINO of the Year 2009 for kowtowing to liberal media pressure and not nominating a conservative Hispanic Supreme Court Justice but instead the weakest candidate that satisfied the leftwing camps?

Florida GOP's campaign to save the Florida Panderer will not bode well for the Republican party. It will shove conservative Republicans already on the edge to get out of the mealy-mouthed bipartisan 'working together' party fused with Obama rhetoric of "can't we all get along" while asking conservatives to bend over.

I will be supporting financially and going door to door for 37-year old Cuban conservative FL Rep Speaker Marco Rubio for the Senate. It will be the obligation of every conservative in the country to support other conservatives, Republican and Independents, running for office in and out of their state. Find out who's running and financially support their candidacy. Michael Steele, Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, John McCain, Olympia Snowe, Patricia Collins, take notice. The time may be right for a third party: a true Conservatives party.

For me, the door is open and I'm free to walk out when I've had enough. With the GOP support of Crist, will that be my last straw? Do Republicans want conservatives to leave the GOP flopping in Senate aisles impotent while Democrats destroy our country? Moderates and RINOs may not have reached the painful bottom with the 2008 election. They have not learned yet why they really lost the election.

I'm not going to fight for the Republicans anymore. They don't deserve to lead this country. My "Save" campaign will be for conservative principles and the motto will be: "RINO's don't tread on me."