Billy Joel: The Downeaster Alexa

I was a bayman like my father was before
Can't make a living as a bayman anymore
There ain't much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain't no island left for islanders like me


News12 Long Island is doing a series on why young people are increasingly leaving Long Island. The easy answer is this: HIGH COST OF LIVING. Even an educated, successful person can find it difficult to live here. The houses are too expensive, taxes too high, and the price of everything from milk to gas to car repair is higher than most other places. Besides the economic factors, Long Island used to be a great suburb to grow up in, with low crime, ample parklands, and pretty towns, but increasingly is nothing more than a collection of ugly stripmalls and Uber-Marts. We used to snobbily look down our noses at Queens and Brooklyn for more than just their high crime rates. They also had constant traffic, noise, limited parking, and streets lined with garbage blowing in the wind. With the exception of crime, which is still very low on Long Island, we can't claim those other things are "city problems" anymore. Much of Long Island is starting to resemble the city with graffiti everywhere and constant traffic. So many Long Islanders are moving to Florida for the lower cost of living and better landscape. I see myself someday moving elsewhere as I just don't see the Island as being as unique and special as it once was. I actually grew up across the street from a small farm - it was sold and two houses were built when I was young. I loved to drive around when I was 18 and just got my driver's license but today I find driving here a chore I avoid. We don't have too many nice villages either and it is too difficult to get to the ones that exist, such as Huntington. Many people moved here from Brooklyn and Queens to escape the problems of citylife but now Long Island is not the promised land anymore. One can only move east to a certain point before one ends up in the ocean. I hope Long Island can stem the tide long enough to redevelop and plan its growth out so it remains a good place to live. Ironically NYC can show us some ways, since it has turned around in many positive ways.

Bishop Murphy Announces Marianists Will Direct St. Martin De Porres Elementary School

Wow, this was a surprise! I have mentioned this community of religious brothers and priests several times on this blog as they educated me at Chaminade High School. I am sure they will infuse new life into this elementary school but hope their community is not being stretched too thin. It will be interesting to see if the falling enrollment will be reversed as a result of the brothers running this school, as this is what happened when they took over a diocesan high school and created Kellenberg High.

Ted Kennedy's name was on the No-Fly List in error. I guess it should have been on the No-Drive List instead.

It's My Blog And I'll Link To Myself If I Want To....

Suit says Tassone cut 178 checks to pay about $1.1M in bills and, as arrest loomed, tried to hide $300G

This is the latest on the Roslyn school district chief who embezzled millions. Since this blog is mostly about Catholic stuff, I refer readers to my previous post on this scandal and the similiarities with the Catholic Church's scandals.

Cool! I did not know this but Dappled Things mentions the Blogger Navbar that is suddenly at the top of all blogs. It seems the search box is tied to the current blog so you can search for something on Gen X Revert, i.e. if you put in "Jimmy Breslin", three previous posts regarding this bigot will be displayed. Note the correct spelling is "Breslin" not "Old Drunk".

I need to go to confession.

America's top party schools named

Where are Steubenville? Christendom? Thomas Aquinas? Are these not the ultimate party type schools?

I have added e-skojec and Catholic Ragemonkey to my blogroll.

Mother Angelica celebrates 60th Anniversary of entering religious life

Julie of The Theoscope enters religious life

Music for The Passion of The Christ via Church of The Masses

"The album features newly recorded original songs sparked by the experience of seeing the film, andfeatures the diverse lineup which includes tracks by Steven Curtis Chapman,MercyMe, Third Day, Kirk Franklin featuring Yolanda Adams, Charlotte Church, former Creed singer Scott Stapp; Lauryn Hill; P.O.D.; Brad Paisley& Sara Evans; Third Day - MxPx featuring Mark Hoppus and others."

I had no idea Scott Stapp had left Creed -why is it that good bands always seem to break up? Anyway, the CD sounds good and you can hear Stapp's song from it on his website. The lyrics are especially interesting. Notice the attitudes of the artists that this movie has inspired are not of the anti-semitic type envisioned by the movie's ranting critics?

Bob Murphy memorial service at St. Patrick's Cathedral

"A man who said the movie "The Passion of the Christ" prompted him to confess to strangling his girlfriend pleaded guilty Wednesday."

One arrogant and nasty blogger who has bashed the Passion movie and its "supporters" once posted about this man when he originally went to court and pleaded innocent. Since said blogger believes the movie is dangerous and will lead to violence, the idea that the movie had only positive effects blew his fragile mind. Therefore when the guy pleaded innocent in court the blogger implied that this meant the movie did not really affect this person, and the movie's supporters were all wet. Of course, pleading innocent is a standard defense move - if a defendant does not plead the judge will usually enter his plea as innocent. I wonder if this blogger will print this latest development. I doubt it. This blogger once posted a clergyman's criticism of the Passion movie months after it was written in which the clergyman predicted violence. I commented that posting this prediction months after the movie was out just made the prediction look more foolish. After all, there was no violence associated with The Passion of The Christ. This comment vanished from the site.

(I think the Catholic League should update their Body Count - it is now 6 months after the Passion and the body count is : 0)

Culture of What?

"In a particularly chilling revelation, Peterson told Frey he never wanted children of his own and planned to get a vasectomy, Frey said. "

IRS to scrutinize pay of charities' execs

"The U.S. Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday some 2,000 charities will be reviewed under a new IRS enforcement effort to see if they're overpaying their executives. "

I support any review of how charities operate but I don't understand exactly how the IRS can say a charity is overpaying their executives? How much is too much? I suspect this will lead to a media expose on the pay of charity execs and possibly even resignations. I recently happened to be checking out some things on Guidestar and was amazed at how much a leader of one Catholic organization made. Even though this leader does an excellent job, the salary may still raise eyebrows among even the group's most supportive supporters. I also fear such a high salary, even if justified, may leak out to the press and just plain look bad.

Fr. Groeschel on EWTN tommorrow

EWTN Global Catholic Network has announced that Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, will be a special guest of Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ, host of EWTN Live, on his next program, airing Wednesday, August 11th. Father Groeschel will appear on the program via satellite from his residence in Larchmont, NY.

A New Era of Christian Persecution

If it were another group being slaughtered rather than Christians, then the media would be covering it extensively.

Archbishop serves up passionate defense of faith

This story, discovered via Seattle Catholic, is about Archbishop Dolan speaking at Theology on Tap in Milwaukee. He sounds like he is perfect for this type of event:

"I’m here (at the pub) all the time anyway … now I can write it off on my taxes"

And

"If our faith was in priests, we wouldn’t have survived Holy Thursday. Less than a couple hours after Jesus ordained the first priests, one of them sold him for 30 pieces of silver. One betrayed him three times. And eight ran off when he needed them most ... one of the first 12 stuck with him. That ain’t a good rate … less than 8 percent, less than two hours after the church began."

Our local version of this type of thing is Faith on Tap and it has been going well. Our next session is August 30th at 7 PM and is about everybody's favorite novel: "Decoding the DaVinci Code" with speaker Dr. Jane Gilroy. We also hope to have our Bishop Murphy speak this year. I think he will come across well just like Archbishop Dolan.

Cacciaguida linked to this Newsday article:

"Conservative Catholic groups share reverence for doctrinal orthodoxy"

He is right to say the article is surprisingly better than it might seem from the headline. But there was this jawdrop from a "theologian" Paul Lakeland:

"With the Latin Mass, you had people praying rosaries and reading about the saints because they couldn't follow along," said Paul Lakeland, a theologian at Fairfield College in Connecticut. "The new Mass was created for participation -- to keep people's focus on the Eucharist."

I have attended the traditional Latin Mass many times and have never seen people praying rosaries or reading about the saints during the Mass, but I have seen this before the Mass or afterwards. Perhaps things were different before the 60's but I doubt that things were as bad as some say they were. I have noticed people reading the parish bulletin during the novus ordo Mass which I think is worse than praying a Rosary or reading about the Saints. The next part of this quote is something traditionalists would jump on and with good reason: "The new Mass was created for participation". I thought the Mass could be developed naturally over centuries but that no one, not even the Pope had the right to "create" a Mass? And if the Mass was created to "keep people's focus on the Eucharist" then so far it has failed miserably. I don't like to nitpick one quote from somebody but a Google search will quickly show what Lakeland's agenda is:

"keynote speaker Paul Lakeland, professor of religious studies at Connecticut's Fairfield University, told the Newton gathering that Catholics were "suffocating from structural oppression" and advocated the abolition of the College of Cardinals, the ordination of women as deacons and lay participation in the election of bishops.
And, Lakeland predicted, future priests would consist of "some married, some not; some straight, some gay, some women, some not."

Shame on me!

I have had the pleasure of attending several events run by Dr. Joseph Varacalli and his Center for Catholic Studies at Nassau Community College. He does an excellent job running a Catholic studies program at a secular college. I have failed to mention two published articles of his-

The Pertinacious Papist summarizes his article "Policy Suggestions for the Church" taken from the June 2004 Homeletic and Pastoral Review which is not online.

The talk he gave at the local Faith on Tap group is available online at the top notch website Catholic Educator's Resource Center - "The Cultural and Political Impotence of Catholics in Contemporary American Life"

Some reason from Reason Magazine:

"The world has never been overpopulated with humans in any meaningful sense. It seems, though, that it is overpopulated with theoretical fears of overpopulation."

CIA Asks Bush To Discontinue Blog

I was glad to read El Camino Real and see that I am not alone in finding it hard to get upset over illegal immigration. I find most immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean are good people (and very Catholic) and just looking for work. If we are going to push to deport people, lets try to make it these types of people. Meanwhile some sort of legalization, such as a worker program is needed. Reading this article was great:

"When about 60 Peruvian immigrant victims of human trafficking were discovered in three Suffolk County houses earlier this summer, the Church on Long Island responded.

"Catholic Charities arranged for them to have medical examinations, mental health counseling, and provided items like clothing. While federal officials were doing background checks, we needed to find temporary housing for them,” Mrs. Maquilon said. She found great openness among families and institutions, including the seminary."

“In June, I received a call from Catholic Charities to ask if we would take some of the refugees,” said Msgr. Francis Schneider, rector of Immaculate Conception Seminary. “I replied that we would do the best we could to help as many as we could.” They took in 23 men for three weeks.“Each one had a private room and we had a lounge area set up for them where they could watch TV and talk,” Msgr. Schneider said. “They joined us in the dining hall for meals, eating with the seminarians, students in the master’s degree program, and the seminary faculty and staff.

“Many of them also joined us for daily Mass,” Msgr. Schneider said."

From the Long Island Press:

Newsday Writes Tribute On Judge Who Will Hear Its Case

Newsday wrote a real nice piece on Leonard Wexler who got a purple heart 60 years after he was wounded. This is all good, however:

"What Newsday's story failed to mention, however, is that Wexler is the judge set to preside over the $600 million lawsuit filed against the paper on behalf of advertisers claiming circulation fraud. Wexler's name is clearly stated on the first page of the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court. The document is available to the public. Newsday's editorial staff, which is conducting its own investigation into the paper's circulation misdeeds, almost certainly has a copy. "


This is why Long Island needs another daily newspaper - Newsday is anti-Catholic, biased in its reporting, and can't be trusted. But if you want to know what is going on here, you have no choice, and when Newsday is good, it is real good. I am a reader, and the other NY papers just don't cut it. They have more pictures of Britney Spears than informative articles. The Long Island Press is a free Village Voice wannabe that occasionally has some great stories, but is generally a paper for finding out what local band is playing in what local watering hole. Hopefully it will grow to become real competition for Newsday. Bill Donohue lays the smackdown on the paper in a recent press release: NEWSDAY SCANDAL REVEALS HYPOCRISY . Awesome thing is that much of it sounds like it could have been written by the bigot Jimmy Breslin (although unlike his writing this stuff is true):

"Here’s the way they do business at Newsday: they count dead people as subscribers; they deliver papers to burned down houses; they drop off bulk copies to dealers who have said they don’t want them; they cook their internal corporate reports; and they even alter affidavits by distributors to pump circulation figures. The extent of corruption is so common that they have even developed their own jargon: ‘Code 51’ means to continue delivering newspapers to customers who have cancelled their subscriptions or have stopped paying.

“The person in charge of the business side of Newsday, Ray Jansen, has been forced to retire early. James Klurfeld, editor of the editorial page, said today of Jansen that ‘nothing missed his gaze.’ Nothing? It gets better. Klurfeld then says of Jansen that ‘His power of observation was almost uncanny, as if he had X-ray vision.’ To make matters worse, Klurfeld tells us that Jansen ‘rose through the ranks of the advertising department’ and that his ‘talent was on the business side.’ He obviously doesn’t connect the dots—he has just indicted Jansen. "

**I dropped my subscription to Newsday months ago, but continued to receive the paper every Friday free of charge for a time.

Update: I just saw on Drudge that the Dallas Morning News also inflated their circulation and an executive there has resigned.

JIMMY BRESLIN'S DAUGHTER IS DEAD AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT

Jimmy Breslin: Caught in a lie again

Muchas gracias to commenter AZ, who gave me the above link about the anti-Catholic, bigoted, angry, foul-mouthed, drunk, childish Breslin and his horrible writing. I recently posted about Breslin's lies when he was caught printing something about what a minister said, only to have it publicly admitted by Newsday that the minister had not said such a thing. I first posted about Breslin the first week of blogging when I stumbled upon an old story about him calling an Asian woman a "yellow, slant-eyed c---". Nice guy huh? The interesting thing in the current article is that Breslin brings up the recent death of his daughter. I posted about the death of his daughter recently also because I found it ironic that the man who called an Asian "yellow slant-eyed c---" would have a daughter who received a degree in Asian studies. I heard a priest say (and this is true, not made up) that Breslin was upset with the Church back when his first wife died, and the priest prayed the prayer at the funeral, "forgive her her sins". Obviously, he can't deal with death, first his wife, now his daughter. How exactly the Catholic Church is to blame for these deaths, I don't know. But no Jimmy, people will not leave you the "----" alone as you ask, because you are a bigot and just because you aren't mature enough to handle the fact that people die, does not mean you can lie. Deal with it. In the meantime, perhaps your current wife (the one you use to drive you around since you can't drive) would also help you write since you can't seem to get things straight.

Vatican Sets Up Sports Department

If their baseball team were made up of all Cardinals over 80, they could still beat the Mets.

Scandal, what scandal?

"Investigators - using cell-phone records and stakeouts - also uncovered 17 inappropriate relationships between students and school staffers, up from 13 the year before."

RIP

Mets announcer Bob Murphy died - I have great childhood memories of summer ball games on the radio with Murphy's "It's a beautiful day for baseball!". He was a great radio announcer who actually described the game rather than spout out opinions like many of the announcers do today.

The Statue of Liberty opened for the first time since the September 11th attacks, but you can only go as high as her feet.

Diogenes at Off the Record has been posting an interesting series regarding Catholics and their charitable giving. This time, he/she posts about the head of a Marianist University and what she did with $1,500. I think it is a good time to remind readers that the Marianist community that operates Chaminade High School and Kellenberg High School here on Long Island, broke away from the New York province in 1976 and formed their own province. I believe they did this to remain focused on operating schools locally. I don't know all the details but I do know that their community has flourished since then. Vocations have been steady and they remain a young, vibrant community. They still focus on operating schools and they do this well. The schools are solidly Catholic, although the most hard core traditionalists might not appreciate them entirely. Their ability to break away from the Marianist structure and still remain Marianists helped to inspire the founders of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, who attempted to do the same type of thing without luck. The Friars ended up having to form a completely separate community and today they have a good relationship with the Long Island Marianists.

German leader acknowledges Polish suffering

"Schroeder became the first German chancellor to attend an anniversary of the two-month uprising, which ended with 200,000 Warsaw residents dead and most of the city systematically destroyed by the Nazis.
He bowed on the steps of the Warsaw Uprising Memorial as a lone trumpeter played taps. Just before, sirens sounded across Warsaw at 5 p.m., the hour the uprising began on Aug. 1, 1944. "

Muslim fundamentalists take note - what you do today, such as attacking Churches, will haunt your granchildren 60 years from now.

Clerical Family Ties

One of the great shows of the 80's was Family Ties. The original concept was brilliant: married hippies end up with a son who is supremely conservative. The parents and son, Alex P. Keaton, have a love for each other that transcends their ideology. Their different outlook on life lent itself to comedy -(when the show got serious it bombed - remember Alex's torment over the death of a friend that had never been mentioned before?) Well, perhaps the time has come for a similiar show based on the situation in rectories today. (See the article A New Breed of Priest (via ut unum sint), or the classic Young Fogies by old priest Fr. Greeley)
The show would take place at a suburban rectory and show what happens when a recently ordained 20-something is assigned to a parish with an aging ex-hippie type priest. Look at how each deal with engaged couples, Liturgy, busybody parishioners, finances, politics, etc.. This show could have potential if it were done correctly - both priests would have to be stereotypes but still be good guys. They couldn't hate each other but simply see things differently, and each would learn a bit from each other.

Jones Beach is 75 Years Old

Newsday, the anti-Catholic rag, is at its best when it covers local stuff like this. I live just a 15 minute drive away from this great treasure. I am not much of a beach person, but I can remember going to Jones Beach at night as a child, walking with my family along the boardwalk. The hot summer nights were bearable thanks to the cool ocean breeze. There was live music, dancing, ice cream, and miniature golf. There was one summer when I would have weekdays off and I spent some time at the beach walking a mile or two on the sand, and then laying out in the sun. It is quite nice there during the week, the weekend can be a bit too crowded. I still will ride my bike or rollar blade on the bike path that terminates at the beach. The beach also provided employment for my grandfathers on both sides - one worked there on the maintainence crew and one worked building the beautiful water tower, a works progress gem. I hate to sound too cynical, but with the traffic, high cost of living, and endless series of strip malls, Long Island is losing some of what makes it special. At least we still have Jones Beach, a world class beach that has maintained it's beauty.

The Buttafuocos, Amy Fisher, and Forgiveness

Remember Amy Fisher, the Long Island teenager who shot Mary Jo Buttafuoco (wife of her lover Joey) in my hometown of Massapequa years ago?  Well, she has written an autobiography.  I will wait for the snickering of my few readers to quiet down.  Most people have thankfully forgotten the sordid details, but once in awhile Joey Buttafuoco makes the news, usually by being arrested.  I grew up in Massapequa and while Joey is not typical of the guys in this town, his type is not too difficult to find.  (I don't mean Italians mind you, I mean stupid, obnoxious, uneducated morons.)  Anyway, Amy Fisher has actually been writing a column for the Long Island Press for awhile now.  I have read it occasionally and it does not impress me but a couple of times it has given me more of a positive impression of Mrs. Fisher.  She once wrote an article that was so good I tried to find it in the online archives of the newspaper.  The article came out a little after Joey was once again arrested for something or other.  Amy Fisher wrote about how stupid she was as a teenager to be doing anything with this jerk.  She mentioned, without sounding self-centered or arrogant, that since the shooting and her time in jail, she has turned her life around.  She is married, with children, and working steadily.  She has never been in any trouble and has apologized to Mary Jo.  She has worked to try to steer young girls away from the path that she went down.  She mentioned, without sounding smug, that Joey has done nothing good since his time in the sun.  He was arrested for insurance fraud, arrested for soliciting prostitutes, been divorced, “acted” in cheap films, and tried to take part in a celebrity fight against a woman.  The article was so good, it actually made me feel a bit for Amy Fisher, not sorry for her, but feel that she was a good person who made some awful and stupid decisions.  I am not one to “forgive” easily.  I don’t have a particularly rosy outlook on people and their “mistakes”.  But I agree with Mark Shea who has stated on his blog that the most scandalous dogma of the Church is never mentioned in the press:  FORGIVENESS.   I know it is up to Mary Jo to forgive the woman who shot her, but I believe she already has.  Usually when you hear Amy Fisher's name, there are usually some nasty adjectives and rolls of the eyes.  I have heard people say they won’t buy or read The Long Island Press because Amy Fisher writes for it, and I don’t claim she is a model person for Catholics, or anyone else.  But if we really believe in redemption and penance, then Amy Fisher (not a Catholic) would serve as a pretty good example.  Believe it or not.

Amish in the City

"That, of course, sets up the premise of "Amish in the City," which is to see what happens when a bunch of narrow-minded, shiftless, materialistic ignoramuses are brought together under one roof with people who live a life characterized by deep faith and strong tradition.
 
Good review, I may watch this show after all. 

Tragic!

Edwin Hernandez, a Suffolk County police officer died in a car crash while driving home from work.  He was the cousin of WKTU DJ "Vic Latino", and he had two children and two grandchildren.  Please pray for him and his family.

Good job!

I just happened to pass St. Raphael's parish on the way home from work tonight and decided to stop to see their new Church.  I was impressed as I pulled into the parking lot, it looked like a Church from the outside!  When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was the large crucifix right behind the altar.  There were a few people inside and I spotted the tabernacle to the right, in a small chapel with clear windows all around it.  The tabernacle is visible from all around the Church which is good, and it wasn't until I sat in a pew and looked at the sanctuary for a minute that I noticed the monstrance on the altar with the Blessed Sacrament exposed.  I just noticed on the parish website they have Adoration from 1-7 pm on Tuesday.  The back wall of the sanctuary looks like some kind of stone.  There is a statue of Mary off to the left side, with nice blue stained glass behind her.  The stained glass windows are nice too.  Overall, not a bad job at all!  I wish their website had some more pictures of the Church, especially inside photos, but I will post the link once I see them. 

Move to make 9/11 day of service

"One Day's Pay, a nationwide non-profit organization that facilitates volunteering in memory of the Sept. 11 victims, has launched a campaign to recruit 2 million volunteers to go out on the next anniversary of the attacks to read to the blind, cook for the homeless or tutor children."
"To support the program, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) introduced resolutions in Congress last week to ask President George W. Bush to declare Sept. 11 a day of national service."

I would like to see this happen -  it is the best way to remember this vicious attack and respond.   I would like to add that the President should start a trend of pardoning criminals on this day (after the Justice Department investigates each case and recommends the pardons).  Let us remember this day by showing mercy to our own people and give them an opportunity to rejoin society and help make America stronger.  This day should also be a day of cleaning up parks, planting trees, restoring monuments, etc..  It goes without saying it should also be a day of prayer. 

Fr. Groeschel

The retreat this weekend was good.  I will blog later about it.   One of the highlights had to be this morning when we were just about to start eating breakfast, Fr. Groeschel comes walking down the hallway towards the dining room.  He was walking with a cane and had a bump on his head and a glove on one hand.  Other than that he looked pretty good.  Everyone got up and went to the door and started clapping.  This was the first teaching retreat weekend without him giving the opening talk.  After the clapping died down, he said, in a hoarse voice but with perfect timing:  "Living proof that only the good die young!!!!".  He then told us how one of the Friars was told in the hospital to make the funeral arrangements because they did not expect him to make it.  Someone said yesterday was Fr. Groeschel's birthday so we all sang happy birthday to him.  He said he came to Kellenberg for the Youth 2000 Mass (he was supposed to give the homily) and he just wanted to stop in and say hello to us.  He then did something I never saw him do before, he got a little choked up. 

 

Update:  The amazing thing about this weekend was that you had two totally different retreats going on at the same time and on the same high school grounds and everything seemed to go smoothly.  We had a lovely teaching retreat, with about 25 people, which is about half the normal size, perhaps due to Fr. Groeschel's absence this year.  The Youth 2000 New York had 600 young people and there was a giant tent set up on a field with the Blessed Sacrament exposed for adoration.  This Diocese is slowly on the way to repairing the damage of the past by hosting events such as these.  (See "McGann's Mess" by Dr. Thomas Droleskey for a very pessimistic view of things, I see things improving steadily).  As one priest said, who would have thought 20 years ago, that a traditional Latin Mass would be offered in the school's chapel, while outside hundreds of young people were adoring the Blessed Sacrament?  I got to eat at a dinner table with Msgr. William Smith and hear a bit of his wonderful humor.  Fr. Pereda, who celebrates the traditional Mass I sometimes attend, gave an interesting and inspiring talk on the Latin Mass.  I wasn't sure how he would come across and I think he was very impressive to the group.  He was intelligent, interesting, and very funny.   I had no idea he had such a great sense of humor since his personality is thankfully not on display while celebrating Mass.  He celebrated the traditional Mass in the school's very modern chapel, meaning that perhaps for the first time in years (?) there were two approved traditional Masses offered in this diocese on the same day.   I did not stick around long enough to hear the responses of the people to this Mass.  These are good faithful Catholics that attend these retreats but not necessarily traditionalists.  I would have liked to have heard some of the reactions, but I stupidly left right after the Mass. 

Speaking of Retreats

As I pack to go on a retreat weekend as posted, I see today's Long Island Catholic article on the various retreat houses in the Diocese.   

"What we’ve done here is focused our work through the lens of the new cosmology,” explained Dominican Sister Honora Nolty, executive director of the retreat center. “We’ve become an eco-spirituality center."

 

Fr. Groeschel used to have a popular annual retreat at a retreat house on Long Island (not one mentioned in the article)  but stopped because he did not like what was going on there.  It was his desire to see an orthodox retreat center on Long Island that led to the Lay Preachers establishing an adult program at Kellenberg.  I go to nights of recollection and retreats there and would highly recommend them to anyone.  Unless of course you are into the new cosmology.....

Requiescent in Pace

'Selfless' constable mourned

"More than 2,000 attended Brooks' funeral Mass at St. Martin of Tours in Amityville yesterday morning. The retired New York City police officer, 44, was shot to death Friday while working his one-day-a-week job as a Babylon bay constable."
 

A Tale of Two Retreats

I will be on retreat this weekend - a teaching retreat at Kellenberg Memorial High School's retreat facility.  This retreat is run by a couple of retired NYC police officers who started an adult retreat program with the help of Fr. Benedict Groeschel.  (For the whole story, see A Spirituality for Police Officers .)   This is the first time that Fr. Groeschel will not be giving the opening talk at this unique type of retreat.  The retreat is geared towards learning stuff instead of spirituality and the teaching is all solid.  The speakers are:  Msgr. George Graham, Msgr. William Smith, Fr. Andrew Apostoli, Mr. Tom Cook, and Mr. John Moreno.  In a separate part of the school's beautiful campus, there will a Youth 2000 New York young people's retreat.  The homilist at the closing Mass at the young people's event will be Fr. Groeschel!  I will have to see if I can sneak over to the event on Sunday morning to see if I can say hi to him, but chances are he will spend the time with the kids and rightfully so.  What a blessing to be able to see Fr. Groeschel again though.   And this may be the first time he is out and speaking since the accident?? 

But, as the commercial says, Wait  - There's More!!  This teaching retreat I will attend will include a final talk by Fr. James Pereda, who will speak on the traditional Latin Mass.  He asked for and received permission to offer the traditional Latin Mass after the talk on Sunday.  So I will be attending a traditional Latin Mass at the same time and almost in the same place as Fr. Groeschel will be giving a homily at a Novus Ordo Mass.  On the grounds of a large high school that is unapologetically Catholic.  Things are looking up in this diocese!

A commentator in the Scandal Time post below calls me an [nasty name].  I liked that because sometimes I enjoy being an [nasty name].  But today, I realized I am an ungrateful [nasty name], and that is not cool.  Here I am posting on horrible things in the Church and I just realized today how lucky I have been since my reversion (and before)  Here is why:  I spent a good amount of time at the bookstore today skimming through two books: 
 
Father Joe:  The Man Who Saved My Soul
 
The Miracle Detective:  An Investigation of Holy Visions
 
I like to skim books at the bookstore because if I bought every book I was interested in I would need a warehouse to keep them in.  I still have many books on my shelf that I have not had the time to read, so I skim.  In skimming Father Joe, I found the story to be funny and heartwarming.  The author, Tony Hendra is a writer, known for his work at National Lampoon.  Hendra was 14 when he groped a married woman, whose husband then insisted he see Father Joe.  Hendra was so impressed by this Benedictine monk, that he trained to become a monk himself.  He was encouraged to go elsewhere though, but he kept visiting and writing with Father Joe throughout his life.  Through failed marriages, agnostic periods, and substance abuse, the author was wisely and lovingly counseled by Father Joe.  He takes his son to visit Father Joe when the priest was dying of cancer.  I was imagining how this might make a good movie.  The scene of Tony Hendra visiting the monk's grave and singing the Salve Regina for him almost made me tear up a little.  (I am not emotional at all).  How wonderful this book would come along at this time when Catholics need stories of great priests to refresh our confidence!  The thing is that I have never met any "bad priests".  The priests and brothers and nuns that taught me were wonderful, so I should be grateful, as is Hendra.
 
Skimming The Miracle Detective really hit me hard though.  The book itself is interesting as an agnostic author who writes for Rolling Stone investigates various Marian apparitions and how the Church "handles" them.  He is respectful and even drawn to the faith in the process of writing the book.  But for me, the author's interview with Fr. Benedict Groeschel at the end of the book really made me realize how lucky I have been.  He is informed about Fr. Groeschel by two priests at the Vatican who speak very highly of the priest.  One calls him a saint, one calls him "Groucho Marx in a habit".  (I think they are both right).  The author writes about how difficult it is to get in touch with the friar.  He is told he only answers phone calls about 2 hours every other week, so he calls several times.  He recounts attempting to speak to someone in Fr. Groeschel's office who doesn't seem able to carry on a conversation.  (He later learned Groeschel ministers to the mentally ill and they act as his assistants).  When he does meet him, he learns that his reputation as a funny, brilliant and holy man is well-deserved.  The author is impressed by Groeschel and I realize that I have had the opportunity to hear this great priest speak several times.  I have even been on two weekend retreats with Fr. Groeschel giving almost all the talks and celebrating Mass the whole weekend.  The book makes Fr. Groeschel out to be one of the most impressive priests (intellectually and spiritually) in the Church today and here I am (me!) able to meet and learn from him.  
 
 
This weekend I will be attending the "teaching retreat" run by Lay Preachers that Fr. Groeschel helped establish at the Kellenberg High School retreat house.  This is the first time that Fr. Groeschel will not be giving the opening talk for the retreat.  Fr. Pereda, the priest who celebrates the weekly traditional latin Mass in the diocese, will be speaking on the latin Mass.  He asked for and was given permission to celebrate the Mass at the end of the retreat.  How fortunate I was to come back to the Church at this time, and in this place. 

Fiend robs nun's rosary
 
"A nun wearing her white habit was viciously mugged on a Brooklyn street yesterday morning by a thug who knocked her to the ground and stole her purse and rosary beads, cops said."

Tell me if any of this sounds familiar to Catholics: 
  
Former school chief's mixed message  

   
The Roslyn school district on Long Island has quite the scandal on its hands.  It started out in 2002 when the chief financial officer Pamela Gluckin was discovered to have stolen money from the district.   Did the school district notify the police or the DA?  No.  They allowed her to quietly retire after she paid $250,000 back to the district.  They thought this was the amount she stole, but it turns out to have been much more than that.  Why would the school district do this and keep it secret?  Because an outside attorney told them they had no obligation to notify anyone.  How did the school superintendent and school board explain Gluckin's sudden departure?  They told parents she was ill.   This year an anonymous letter was sent to the Nassau District Attorney's office and other officials that exposed the 2 year old theft and the district's coverup.  What was the reaction of the school superintendent to this letter?  He dismissed the allegations and accused the letter writer of sloppy accusations.  The superintendent,  Frank Tassone, was believed by parents because you see, he was very charismatic.  But some people were concerned because Tassone was more concerned with finding out who sent the letter rather than addressing the accusations it contained.  Eventually it was discovered that Tassone had billed $800,000 to a company that was owned by his roomate, Stephen Signorelli.  It turns out that Tassone was using school district money to live a posh lifestyle.   He even bought a home with a 32 year old man, Jason Daugherty in Las Vegas.    The superintendent has now been arrested for allegedly stealing more than $1 million over 27 months. 
 
 Some more things about the situation that seem familiar to me come from this New York Times article:   Shattered Impressions of a School Superintendent.  In it I learned that: 
 
"Until several months ago, many people in this affluent village said, it would have been unthinkable to imagine Dr. Tassone in such a context. He was a progressive leader who spoke of social justice, made condoms available in the high school and built a community service program founded on the concept that the privileged class should give something back. " 

"Dr. Tassone's fall from grace has unleashed a torrent of anger in Roslyn"

" 'Call me Frank,' " Paul Burros, a Roslyn resident, recalled Dr. Tassone saying when he met him at a school district gathering four years ago."

Idiots
 
Television network admits it lied about unauthorized biography
 
"The Sci Fi Channel admitted that it lied last month in claiming it was at odds with filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan and was making an unauthorized biography about his "buried secret."
 
This article does not say if M. Night was in on the hoax.  There was a great Crisis magazine article about the Catholic element in Shyamalan's films but I can't find it, but he is my favorite movie maker around today.   And of course, he is a Gen-Xer!

WOW   
 
Blogger has added some nice features to the basic blogspot!  Now I can choose different colors, change the font, or pick a different size!      
 
 

Scandal Time
 
1)  Roman Catholic Faithful strikes again - a priest they exposed has finally been removed from his parish.  (Link via Open Book)  Once again RCF has done a great service to the Church and once again, they have had to fight against bishops and parishioners in order to accomplish this service. 
 
2)  The Catholic Church's Abu Ghraib   (Warning:  graphic and disgusting pictures that would make Howard Stern puke) - Michael S. Rose has once again been proven right - seminaries do have a serious problem with corruption.
 
3)  Investigators charge father flimflam spent money on luxuries
 
4)  Charges vs. priest grow  - a priest in Scranton accused of sleeping with a teenage boy, again from Open Book.
 
The priesthood needs to be completely gutted to make sure to get rid of these corrupt, evil men.  The Bishops such as John Steinbock, Kurt Krenn, and Reggie Cawcutt should be the first to go.  It is not enough to throw these men out of the priesthood, they need to be completely removed from any financial support from any diocese.  Let them avail themselves of the Church's many soup kitchens and thrift shops and halfway houses and live out the rest of their lives in true poverty.  Mercy can be shown but so can tough love! 

Nab L.I. man in beating of Sikh

"A Long Island man who emerged from his daughter's christening party to allegedly taunt and beat a Sikh priest was arrested yesterday in what police say was a bias attack.

"Yesterday, Maceli was defended by his stepfather, Vic Cosentino, who said the Sikh men were "defiant and arrogant."

Cosentino, 58, said about 180 people had attended the party for Maceli's 3-month-old daughter's christening. As guests spilled out, Cosentino said, one tipsy guest slurred the Sikh pair, prompting an angry retort. Maceli, who was still inside the hall, was told there was a confrontation and went running outside."


Here is my take: Many of the people I have met in my life who call themselves Christian are not real Christians. They are cultural people whose Christianity is as deep as a puddle. The desire to be connected to a culture with rituals such as Baptisms, Weddings, etc.. is so great that they go for the parties but the religious aspect is not even an afterthought. Although this may spiritually and theologically incorrect, I sometimes think the Church would just be better off without these people. It is hard to belong to a Church with phonies and dopes in it, but as the saying goes: The Catholic Church is for sinners and saints, for respectable people the Episcopal church will do.

More on Anti-Catholic Newsday

"Newsday was hit with a one-two punch yesterday, when it was publicly censured by an industry watchdog for inflating figures and slapped with additional allegations of fraud in a lawsuit by angry advertisers."


Read all about Newsday in my archived post.

Answered Prayer?

There was an insert in the Sunday bulletin at my parish that informed us the sanctuary was basically falling apart. Our small country Church had been given a much needed expansion and renovation in 1981 and the sanctuary was made of plywood covered by carpet. The pastor has wisely decided to solicit suggestions as to what else could be done with the Church. There is a survey to fill out and I intend to make the following points:

1) The sculpture of the risen Christ should be replaced with a crucifix.

2)The tabernacle should be moved to the center in back of the altar and placed on an altar instead of a wood stand.

3)The carpet should not be replaced but a floor of marble or some good material should be put down.

4)The two blank white walls on either side of the tabernacle would be perfect to have artwork depicting Mary and Joseph. Mary is currently relegated to a side alcove and Joseph is nowhere to be found.

5)Artwork depicting saints should be placed along the (bare) walls of the Church.

6)Our parish had 9 members killed on September 11th. Some form of appropriate artwork should be installed in the Church to encourage prayers while remembering these attacks.

7)The sanctuary should be unmistakeable Catholic and also beautiful. No expense should be spared to make it so (if this had been done the last time, this current work would not be necessary).

Years ago my brother was married in a "old-fashioned" Church in Pittsburgh. My relatives attended from various states, and to this day will comment on how beautiful the Church was. My sister was married years before my brother and her wedding was in my parish Church. To this day no one has ever commented on the Church. It is not as bad as some wreckovations but it is not particularly Catholic and not at all beautiful or inspiring. I hope that this new renovation works out well!

Hamilton vs. Burr (again)

Rival clans to relive Hamilton-Burr duel

How Then Shall We Live?: One

Excellent post at man with black hat. Read the whole thing which ends with a question about the Catholic town and University being planned in Florida.

"Would a banker be willing to see a bricklayer as his neighbor? Or will Ave Maria simply become a suburban retirement village (This is Florida, remember?) for 20,000 frustrated Republicans, who want to drive their SUVs a few blocks to daily Mass?"

Update: I just read the rest of the blog and this is the first installment in a series on Ave Maria. I find the idea of building a town revolving around Catholicism to be fascinating. There was of course the disaster of the traditionalist project in Shohola, PA where the Society of St. John tried to build a Catholic hamlet. A good Catholic Long Islander, Vincent Cioci, was originally involved in the planning of this town until he found out about financial improprieties. Then it turned out the priests behind this project were child molesters. Now, there are questions about Ave Maria from good, orthodox Catholic such as Janet Smith and Michael S. Rose. The whole fiasco with the Giant Greenhouse/Church shows that even good intentions do not always equal good results. Still, the idea of putting Catholic principles into action is one that excites the imagination and heart. Perhaps it is just as well to think of the entire Church as a city. We have to treat each other as neighbors, resolve disputes, and strengthen our various apostolates, while still making sure the roofs don't leak.

Crackdown on sex fiends

"Within the past year, federal agents have rounded up 3,247 sex offenders as part of a sweeping Department of Homeland Security crackdown targeting pedophiles, international sex tourists and Internet predators, officials said yesterday."

"Ficke urged anyone with information about child predators within the United States or U.S. residents who travel abroad to have sex with minors to call 1-866-DHS-2ICE."

Discourage Dissent

This letter was printed in the paper of my Diocese, The Long Island Catholic:

"Editor: The June 30 edition of your paper included a Catholic News Service report on a recent meeting of the Catholic Common Ground Initiative at Catholic University of America. John Allen, Catholic correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, spoke. He reportedly advised that Catholics should begin dialogue among themselves on such issues as women priests and birth control, saying also that “such conversations are not going to start with the Vatican.”

Those remarks encourage dissent from authoritative teachings of the magisterium of our Church and are especially harmful at this time. We’re in a crisis augmented in large measure by dissenters who confused both priests and laity. When the American bishops met with the Pope as misdeeds of prelates and priests were recounted daily in the media, our Holy Father advised them to “return to your dioceses, confront dissent, and teach the full Catholic teaching on morality, especially sexual morality.”

Keep in mind also the teaching of Vatican II in “Lumen Gentium,” the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, that “the faithful … are obliged to submit to their bishops’ decision made in the name of Christ, in matters of faith and morals and to adhere to it with a ready and respectful allegiance of mind. This loyal submission of the will and intellect must be given in a special way to the teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff, even when he does not speak ex cathedra.”

After all we’ve been through, let’s stop tolerating those spreading dissent and confusion."

Denis Dillon
Rockville Centre


Is this the same Denis Dillon who is the Nassau County District Attorney?

From East London skinhead
to internationally-known Catholic author

"Twenty years ago he was a radical activist, a skinhead, and the editor of two hate-filled, extremist magazines. Today, Joseph Pearce is the author of several critically acclaimed, best-selling biographies of great nineteenth- and twentieth-century Christian authors. He is also the co-founder and co-editor of an international magazine dedicated to reclaiming Catholic culture, and is writer-in-residence and assistant professor of theology at Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida."

Joseph Pearce is one of my favorite authors and his conversion story is wonderful. I have all his books except for the latest one on Oscar Wilde, which I will purchase soon.

Bizarre

"Now, a Brooklyn pastor, his wife and a church deacon are going to trial, charged with conducting a bizarre ritual that called for slicing up the deacon's wife's feet and setting them on fire."

HAPPY JULY 4TH!!

I had hoped to get my Cardinal Ratzinger Beer Stein in time for the 4th, but it will probably arrive on Tuesday. Oh well, I am still looking forward to quaffing a few beers and putting some hot dogs and hamburgers on the bbq. The family will converge here from out of state which will be great.

Update: Got the Stein on 7/7/4 but have yet to break it in.

Prayers answered


"Some of them had not been allowed to attend Mass in four years. On Sunday, Msgr. Thomas Molloy of St. Luke's parish in Brentwood presided over a religious service in Spanish for them in the hallway of a hotel in Suffolk County. As tears trickled down the faces of many of the immigrants lining the walls, they and immigration service agents, who are guarding them, were overcome with emotion.

"I never thought I would see an INS agent cry," Molloy said. "But they were, too."



Yes they came here illegally, and illegal immigration does cause problems in the US. But I hope the people of Long Island will open their hearts for these people and give them whatever they need. I am glad to see Catholic Charities helping these Catholics.

Teacher Accused of Sleeping With Student Not Anomaly


"Lafave is not alone, according to the study, "Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature June 2004," prepared for the U.S. Department of Education (search) by Charol Shakeshaft of Hofstra University and Interactive, Inc. Huntington, N.Y."

This Long Island professor was mentioned by the Catholic League in their special report on Sexual Abuse in Social Context: Catholic Clergy and Other Professionals. I especially like the quotes about her report from this World Net Daily article:

"She notes the recently released study by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops found 10,667 young people were sexually mistreated by priests from 1950 to 2002.

She compares that with her extrapolation from a national survey for the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation in 2000, which would indicate roughly 290,000 students experienced some sort of physical sexual abuse by a public school employee from 1991 to 2000."

"That is a single decade, she points out, compared to the approximately five decades covered by the Catholic report."

And here is the kicker:
"Initially, Shakeshaft understood the report was to lay the groundwork for a broad national study on sexual abuse in schools, but last May she was told to retool the report and officials say they have no more plans at the moment to study the issue."

A few things need to be said:

- the problems within the Catholic Church should have led to a real national push to end abuse of children, but some prejudice was involved that kept people from seeing how much wider a scandal child abuse really is in society.

- Priests are held to a higher standard, either because of prejudice or because people understand the nature of the priesthood. For Catholics, Priests should be held to the highest standard.

- I don't believe that the coverups, and shifting around of abusers was as great in schools as it was in the Church.

- I thought the national study going to 1950 in the Church was overkill but anything to clean out the rot is fine. The same should be done with the public school systems.

- The Church is better today because of the two year and ongoing "enema" so let the public school system, athletic organizations, military, and other groups experience some of this cleansing.

Tom Monaghan and Fr. Fessio do the right thing and scrap the plans for a Giant Greenhouse in Ave Maria, Florida. I was so disappointed to see such a dumb idea attached to what sounds like a wonderful, orthodox University, I just had to express my displeasure by sending them an email. Apparently I was not the only one. I am glad to see that Fr. Fessio and Mr. Monaghan woke up and realize this was not a great design for a Catholic Church. Ok, we have all seen much, much worse, but this was Ave Maria we are talking about.

Cardinal Arinze strikes again!

I found this article from the Heart, Mind, and Strength blog. In the Jubilee Year I attended a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Arinze and was impressed by his humor and piety. Since then, I have been even more impressed by quotes I have seen in the papers. He always sounds intelligent, blunt, humorous, and orthodox. I wonder if the Ratzinger Fan Club will consider adding a mug with Arinze's mug on it. Or perhaps we will see the Cardinal Arinze Fan Club established! Better yet, maybe we should wait....

"Young women do not want to join a group of old women who seem to be confused [about their mission]. Young men do not want to join a diocese where the priests seem to be angry."

"He compared nuns who did not want to wear religious garb to a flight attendant for Alitalia who wanted to wear the uniform of American Airlines. "What do you think Alitalia is going to say? Let's dialogue?" he asked, to laughter from his audience."

Maine Catholic and Beyond

I just reluctantly removed this great blog from my blogroll. I like to keep the list down to a small number of blogs and use it to browse through St. Blog's. If I use Gerard's list I end up spending way too much time online. I kept this blog on the right for months even though it has not been updated since April 19th because the blog was great and Chris was my age and his interests were similiar to mine.. A couple of times his comments or posts caused me to rethink my sometimes harsh view of people in the Church. His last posts talk of serious difficulty and I hope and pray he is well. I will pray for him and ask that anyone reading this does the same.

Sisters of Life

I just saw the last few minutes of the Solemn Mass of Establishment for the Sisters of Life at St. Patrick's Cathedral. EWTN was replaying this but it took place on March 25th, 2004. This order of sisters was established by Cardinal John O'Connor in 1991 and are devoted to the protection of all human life.

Reno 911!

I was just given the DVD of the first season. This is currently my favorite show on tv. You can only get a small sense of why from these quotes (warning: lots of comedic cursing). The show is a takeoff of the Fox show Cops and involves lots of improv. Because of the improv, the show is kind of uneven, with some of the jokes and skits falling flat. But when it is funny, it is side-splitting. All the actors are talented and funny, most of them play several roles (and they are fellow Gen-Xers).

Deputy Travis Junior: "I actually wanted to be in the FBI for about 20 minutes after I saw that movie with Jodie Foster and that guy who eats people in his basement, but I was really stoned at the time. And to be honest with you, for about 20 minutes, I also thought about making a dress out of people's skin."



Deputy Trudy Wiegel: "If I'm addicted to anything, it's sparklers."



[the cops are in a doctor's office in their underwear]
Doctor: Uh, none of the tests required you to disrobe. I'm not sure why you're all sitting here in your underwear.
Deputy S. Jones: Dangle was in his underwear when we all got here.
Deputy Travis Junior: Yeah, what's the deal, Dangle?
Lt. Jim Dangle: I don't feel the need to explain myself.

Act One's goal to offer support for Christian filmmakers

I had no idea that Barbara Nicolosi of Church of the Masses and Act One was "recently" in my backyard giving a talk for Legatus. I am glad to see Legatus is on Long Island.

Self-Righteous Punks

I have had to suffer for the past several years listening to a blowhard who is also an anti-Catholic bigot. You can imagine what this person thought of the whole scandal thing in the Church. Recently, I read in the NY Daily News about a Navy sailor who videotaped himself raping young girls (1 as young as 8). The name sounded familiar and I asked the blowhard if this was the friend he had mentioned before. He admitted it was and I realized why he hadn't been so vocal about child molesters in the Church as he once was. This was his friend since high school and he had no idea he was a child rapist. I have to admit it was somewhat satisfying to see the wind taken out of the windbag! I think he finally realizes that he is not the genius he thought he was, at least not smart enough to recognize evil when it was right in front of him.

Recently, the same kind of satisfaction is being felt by many Long Islanders who read about the situation at Newsday. This is the paper that the Catholic League calls the most anti-Catholic newspaper in the country. For one thing, the paper is trying to get older employees to leave in what can only be described as massive age discrimination. One Newsday columnist wrote:

"Thank goodness that I, for one, am not losing her to a buyout being offered to all in this workplace aged 53 and older."

At the same time, it seems the self-righteous anti-Catholic windbags at Newsday have been committing fraud for years against their advertisers by inflating their circulation figures. When a lawsuit was filed against the paper by a few small businesspeople, Newsday denied everything and dismissed the plantiff's accusations. Now it appears they have admitted their circulation numbers were inflated but are saying the actions they have taken have nothing to do with this lawsuit. They are trying to have the lawsuit thrown out even while the Nassau County DA opens a criminal investigation. Of course the anti-Catholic bigots like Paul Vitello try to sound like they are above this whole thing, but it is nice to see them a bit deflated! Of course, I once temped at Newsday, actually scanning the returned bar codes of unsold newspapers that came back from vendors, so I can personally attest that Newsday attempts to keep track of these things. However, the article below in the Long Island Press shows that Newsday has not been reporting the whole truth about this scandal:

The Tip of The Iceberg

Read it and get some satisfaction in knowing that the Newsday that hates the Church also has its skeletons to hide:

"Newsday has finally admitted to lying about its circulation, and it's a lie that has cost Long Islanders millions.
After four months of adamantly denying any problems with its circulation figures, the paper announced on June 17 that it would reduce its reported circulation for the 12-month period ending last September by approximately 40,000 for the daily editions and 60,000 for the Sunday editions."


For one thing, Newsday is smarter than the Catholic bishops who tried to cover up the homosexual scandals in the priesthood. The paper tried to make it seem like they were the ones who discovered the fraud, and are attempting to show themselves as fully disclosing the truth. The Long Island Press article begs to differ:

"In making the announcement, Newsday said its findings were based on its own in-house audit. It did not acknowledge the Feb. 10 federal lawsuit brought against Newsday by advertisers, which first brought the practices to light. Nor did the paper credit the ongoing audit being conducted by ABC for discovering the problems."


Newsday is not the champion of the little guy as it would have you believe, but is rather the bully:

"The paper initially reacted to the lawsuit by threatening to cut off advertisers who sued; one of the plaintiffs dropped out of the suit because of that threat."

"Obviously they're going to go with the lowball figure," surmises John T. Anderson, a Lindenhurst deli owner who was cut from Newsday's distribution route when he complained the paper was shortchanging him."

Now the Long Island Press is somewhat competition for Newsday so you might figure they have an agenda. (It is a free publication that is not really in Newsday's league) But Newsday, and any anti-Catholic windbags have an agenda as well, and it is good to see them lose some wind from their sails.

Remember what I just posted about the whole culture of the Middle East? Well, American "culture" is not much better-

Amityville slave horror

"Cruel smugglers masquerading as a suburban Long Island family held dozens of illegal aliens as virtual slaves, seizing their wages and forcing them to live in squalor, officials said yesterday."

Priest's haunting requiem

"The Rev. Marcelo Navarro first heard the screams, he told the 200 anguished mourners at Billy Pearson's funeral yesterday.
Then he walked to the rectory window and saw two teens giving the beloved homeless man the beating of his life - his body laid to waste at the foot of Navarro's church in Brooklyn."


Mystery gunman on bike shoots, kills L.I. teenager

"A 15-year-old Florida girl visiting friends and family on Long Island was killed by a gunman riding a mountain bike through a Freeport neighborhood, police said Tuesday."

Inmate with prosthetic limb at large

I have never understood how jails are designed, built and supervised in a way that allows inmates to escape, use drugs, rape or riot. How difficult a task is it to keep a couple of thousand men under control? Apparently, even guys with fake legs and feet can get out. My high school had a better system for keeping the inmates within the walls!

Muslim Terrorists behead yet another "infidel". The whole of the Middle Eastern culture is one of violence, failure and hatred of "others".

SHARK IN THE WATER EVERYBODY OUT OF THE WATER!

It was just a basking shark, though, nothing to worry about.

I just ordered this Beer Stein from the Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club! I already have the coffee mug, but there is something about a beer stein featuring the great Cardinal on it that is irresistible.

"Imagine working in a print shop where a large image of the Blessed Mother and her Divine Son greets all patrons. There are Catholic periodicals on the table in the lobby, and business cards for the local crisis pregnancy displayed as work samples. A crucifix is visible in every room throughout the production area, and a Padre Pio holy card greets everyone who uses the fax machine. Obscene language and immodest dress are forbidden, thereby removing several more obstacles to daily sanctification. Employees are retained not only for their technical competence, but also for their honesty and willingness to honor the values of their employer. When mistakes occur, they are acknowledged and repaired instead of lied about. Customers know they are not being cheated and that ultimate accountability is just a phone call away."

Jeff Culbreath at El Camino Real owns this family printing business, and if anyone has any printing needs, click here to learn more.

I started collecting books on the faith and culture a few years ago. I hope to someday help start a parish library or something to that effect. I feel like I have some great stuff that is just collecting dust on my shelves. Here is a list of the 243 books:

1984 George Orwell
3 BY FLANNERY O'CONNOR Flannery O'Connor
A CENTURY OF CATHOLIC CONVERTS Lorene Duquin
A GUIDE TO THE PASSION Tom Allen
A HANDBOOK ON GUADALUPE Christopher Rengers
A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH SPEAKING PEOPLES (Vols. 1-4) Winston Churchill
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS Robert Bolt
A MAN OF THE BEATITUDES Luciana Frassati
A MOMENT OF GRACE John O'Connor
A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN James Joyce
A SEARCH FOR MEANING IN LOVE, SEX, AND MARRIAGE Hugo Hurst
A SPIRITUALITY FOR POLICE OFFICERS John Moreno
A THIRD TESTAMENT Malcolm Muggeridge
A WOMAN'S LIFE Giuliana Pelucchi
ACTS OF FAITH Faith Abbott
AMAZING GRACE for those who suffer Jeff Cavins
AMAZING GRACE for the Catholic heart Jeff Cavins
AMERICA'S BISHOP Thomas Reeves
AN INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN PHILOSOPHY Russell Coleburt
ANOTHER SORT OF LEARNING James Schall
ANY FRIEND OF GOD'S IS A FRIEND OF MINE Patrick Madrid
APOLOGIA PRO VITA SUA John Henry Newman
ARCHITECTURE IN COMMUNION Steven Schloeder
ARISE FROM DARKNESS Benedict Groeschel
AUGUSTINE Benedict Groeschel
BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM Glenn Olsen
BERNADETTE SPEAKS Rene Laurentin
BLESSED MIGUEL PRO Ann Ball
BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS Paul Thigpen
BOYS TO MEN Tim Gray
BRIGHT PROMISE, FAILED COMMUNITY Joseph Varacalli
BRIGHTEST AND BEST George Rutler
BROTHER ASTRONOMER Guy Consolmagno
C.S. LEWIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH Joseph Pearce
C.S. LEWIS FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM Peter Kreeft
CAMILLO DI CAVOUR Frank Coppa
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH John Paul II
CATECHISMS AND CONTROVERSIES Michael Wrenn
CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY Peter Kreeft
CATHOLIC COLLEGES AND FEDERAL FUNDING K.D. Whitehead
CATHOLICISM & ETHICS Edward Hayes
CATHOLICISM & LIFE Edward Hayes
CATHOLICISM & REASON Edward Hayes
CATHOLICISM & SOCIETY Edward Hayes
CATHOLICISM AND FUNDAMENTALISM Karl Keating
CATHOLICS AND THE NEW AGE Mitch Pacwa
CATHOLICS IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE Thomas Melady
CHALLENGES OF LIFE Ignace Lepp
CHARACTERS OF THE REFORMATION Hilaire Belloc
CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY IN THE CATHOLIC TRADITION Jordan Aumann
CHURCH AND STATE IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY Hugo Rahner
CHURCH HISTORY John Laux
CONCEIVED WITHOUT SIN Bud Macfarlane
CREDO Hans Urs Von Balthasar
CREDO Louis Evely
CROSSING THE THRESHOLD OF HOPE John Paul II
DAILY LIFE IN THE RENAISSANCE Charles Mee
DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH IN WORD AND DEED Charles Connor
DEFENDING THE PAPACY Gerard Morrissey
DEGAULLE Francois Mauriac
DISSENT FROM THE CREED Richard Hogan
DISTINCTIVENESS OF CHRISTIANITY James Schall
DOES CATHOLICISM STILL EXIST James Schall
ECUMENICAL JIHAD Peter Kreeft
EDITH STEIN Maria Scaperlanda
ELUCIDATIONS Hans Urs Von Balthasar
ESCAPE FROM FREEDOM Erich Fromm
ESCAPE FROM SCEPTICISM Christopher Derrick
ESSAYS OF A CATHOLIC Hilaire Belloc
FAITH OF THE FATHERLESS Paul Vitz
FATHER JAMES ALBERIONE Luigi Rolfo
FATHER, FORGIVE ME, FOR I AM FRUSTRATED Mitch Pacwa
FLAWED EXPECTATIONS Michael Wrenn
FOR THE LOVE OF MARY Gerard Morrissey
FROM SCANDAL TO HOPE Benedict Groeschel
GOD AT THE RITZ Lorenzo Albacete
GOD'S HUMAN FACE Christoph Schonborn
GOOD NEWS NEW TESTAMENT American Bible Society
GOODBYE! GOOD MEN Michael Rose
GREAT CATHOLICS IN AMERICAN HISTORY Theodore Maynard
GUIDE TO CONTENTMENT Fulton Sheen
HEALING THE CULTURE Robert Spitzer
HEARTS ON FIRE Michael Harter
HOMOSEXUALITY AND AMERICAN PUBLIC LIFE Christopher Wolfe
HOUSE OF GOLD Bud Macfarlane
IDYLLS AND RAMBLES James Schall
IN THE PRESENCE OF OUR LORD Benedict Groeschel
INTRODUCTION TO ST. THOMAS AQUINAS Thomas Aquinas
IRRATIONAL MAN William Barrett
JOAN OF ARC Mark Twain
JOHN CARDINAL O'CONNOR Nat Hentoff
KOLBE Francis Kalvelage
LEAD KINDLY LIGHT Michael Davies
LEARNING TO LOVE Thomas Merton
LET'S READ LATIN Ralph McInerny
LETTERS OF FLANNERY O'CONNOR Flannery O'Connor
LETTERS TO A YOUNG CATHOLIC George Weigel
LIFE IS A BLESSING Clara Lejeune
LIFT UP YOUR HEART Fulton Sheen
LITERARY CONVERTS Joseph Pearce
LIVING MACHINES E. Michael Jones
LOOKING AT LITURGY Aidan Nichols
LOVE'S SACRED ORDER Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis
MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING Viktor Frankl
MASS CONFUSION James Akin
MEETING THE LIVING GOD William O'Malley
MILESTONES Joseph Ratzinger
MISSION 2000 Arthur Link
MORE BROTHER JUNIPER Justin McCarthy
MOTHER TERESA Kathryn Spink
MOTHERHOOD THE SECOND OLDEST PROFESSION Erma Bombeck
MY BROTHER PIER GIORGIO Luciana Frassati
MY EARLY YEARS Adrienne Von Speyr
MY WAY OF LIFE Walter Farrell
OLD THUNDER Joseph Pearce
ON THE TWO CITIES Saint Augustine
PEACE OF SOUL Fulton Sheen
PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY J. F. Donceel
PHYSICAL EXERCISE AND SPORTS Robert Feeney
PIERCED BY A SWORD Bud Macfarlane
PRAYING IN THE PRESENCE OF OUR LORD Benedict Groeschel
PRAYING IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD Michael Dubruiel
PRODIGAL DAUGHTERS Donna Steichen
QUIET MOMENTS Benedict Groeschel
RECOVERY OF THE SACRED James Hitchcock
RESONARE CHRISTUM John Wright
RETURN OF TRADITION Francis Thornton
ROBERT KENNEDY AND HIS TIMES Arthur Schlesinger
ROME SWEET HOME Scott & Kimberly Hahn
RUN TO THE MOUNTAIN Thomas Merton
SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI G.K. Chesterton
SAINT JOHN FISHER Michael Davies
SAINTS OF AFRICA Vincent O'Malley
SALT OF THE EARTH Ratzinger Joseph
SALVATION OUTSIDE THE CHURCH? Peter Stravinskas
SEEKING A CENTER Otto Bird
SHOWS ABOUT NOTHING Thomas Hibbs
SOLANUS CASEY Michael Crosby
SPIRITUAL COMBAT Lorenzo Scupoli
SPIRITUAL PASSAGES Benedict Groeschel
ST. FRANCIS AND THE FOOLISHNESS OF GOD Marie Dennis
ST. THERESE Francis Mary
SURPRISED BY TRUTH Patrick Madrid
SURPRISED BY TRUTH 2 Patrick Madrid
SURPRISED BY TRUTH 3 Patrick Madrid
TERESA OF AVILA Cathleen Medwick
TESTIMONY OF HOPE Francis Van Truan
THE 33 DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH Christopher Rengers
THE ALBA HOUSE GOSPELS Mark Wauck
THE ART OF LOVING Erich Fromm
THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS AND THE HOLINESS OF BEAUTY John Saward
THE BIBLE AND THE MASS Peter Stravinskas
THE CASE FOR CLERICAL CELIBACY Alfons Stickler
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AT THE END OF AN AGE Ralph Martin
THE CATHOLIC LIFETIME READING PLAN John Hardon
THE CATHOLIC SOURCE BOOK Peter Klein
THE CATHOLIC WRITER Wethersfield Institute
THE CHARITABLE ANATHEMA Dietrich Von Hildebrand
THE CHRISTIAN IMAGINATION Thomas Peters
THE CHURCH AND THE CULTURE WAR Joyce Little
THE CHURCH IMPOTENT Leon Podles
THE CLOISTER WALK Kathleen Norris
THE COMFORTER Andrew Apostoli
THE COMPACT HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH Alan Schreck
THE CONFESSIONS OF ST. AUGUSTINE Saint Augustine
THE COURAGE TO BE Paul Tillich
THE COURAGE TO BE CATHOLIC George Weigel
THE CRISIS OF DISSENT Gerard Morrissey
THE CROSS AT GROUND ZERO Benedict Groeschel
THE DIVINE COMEDY OF DANTE ALIGHIERI Dante Alighieri
THE EARLY CHURCH IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES Enrico Galbiati
THE EVERLASTING MAN G.K. Chesterton
THE EVIDENTIAL POWER OF BEAUTY Thomas Dubay
THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH Mike Aquilina
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING J.R.R. Tolkien
THE FIFTH WEEK William O'Malley
THE FOUR LOVES C. S. Lewis
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PEANUTS Robert Short
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE SIMPSONS Mark Pinsky
THE GREAT FAÇADE Thomas Woods
THE GREAT HERESIES Hilaire Belloc
THE GREATEST FAITH EVER KNOWN Fulton Oursler
THE HEART OF VIRTUE Donald DeMarco
THE HISTORY OF SALVATION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT Enrico Galbiati
THE HOBBIT J.R.R. Tolkien
THE HOLY BIBLE Ignatius Press
THE JOURNEY TOWARD GOD Benedict Groeschel
THE JUBILEE GUIDE TO ROME Andrea Braghlin
THE LAMB'S SUPPER Scott Hahn
THE LEGACY OF POPE JOHN PAUL II Geoffrey Gneuhs
THE LIFE OF BLESSED MARGARET CASTELLO William Bonniwell
THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN Paul Elie
THE LITTLE FLOWERS OF ST FRANCIS E.M. Blaiklock
THE LITURGY AFTER VATICAN II Denis Crouan
THE LORD Romano Guardini
THE MIND AND HEART OF THE CHURCH Wethersfield Institute
THE NAVARRE BIBLE ST MATTHEW St. Matthew
THE NAZARENE Eugenio Zolli
THE NEW MEN Brian Murphy
THE PARADISO Dante Alighieri
THE PASSION FROM WITHIN Adrienne Von Speyr
THE PERSISTENT PREJUDICE Michael Schwartz
THE PLAGUE Albert Camus
THE POLITICS OF PRAYER Helen Hull Hitchcock
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LOVING Ignace Lepp
THE REFORM OF RENEWAL Benedict Groeschel
THE RETURN OF THE KING J.R.R. Tolkien
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR Gordon Napier
THE SECRET ARCHIVES OF THE VATICAN Maria Ambrosini
THE SEVEN CAPITAL SINS Fulton Sheen
THE SHADOW OF HIS WINGS Gereon Goldmann
THE SIZE OF CHESTERTON'S CATHOLICISM David Fagerberg
THE SOUL OF A LION Alice Von Hildebrand
THE SPIRIT OF CATHOLICISM Karl Adam
THE TWO TOWERS J.R.R. Tolkien
THE VATICAN AND COMMUNISM DURING WORLD WAR II Robert Graham
THE WAR AGAINST POPULATION Jacqueline Kasun
THE WHIG INTERPRETATION OF HISTORY Herbert Butterfiield
THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS Benedict Groeschel
THERESE OF LISIEUX Jean Chalon
THEY CALLED HER THE BARONESS Lorene Duquin
THOSE TERRIBLE MIDDLE AGES Regine Pernoud
THREE WOMEN & THE LORD Adrienne Von Speyr
THROUGH THE YEAR WITH FRANCIS OF ASSISI Murray Bodo
TIMES TO REMEMBER Rose Kennedy
TO QUELL THE TERROR William Bush
TOLKIEN MAN AND MYTH Joseph Pearce
TRANSFORMATION IN CHRIST Dietrich Von Hildebrand
TRIUMPH H.W. Crocker
UGLY AS SIN Michael Rose
UPON THIS ROCK Stephen Ray
WAY TO HAPPINESS Fulton Sheen
WELCOME HOME! Victor Claveau
WHAT IS SECULAR HUMANISM? James Hitchcock
WHAT WERE THE CRUSADES? Jonathan Riley-Smith
WHERE GOD WEEPS Werenfreid Van Straaten
WHY CATHOLICS CAN'T SING Thomas Day
WISDOM AND INNOCENCE Joseph Pearce
WITH GOD IN RUSSIA Walter Ciszek
WITNESS TO HOPE George Weigel

I am going to post this because I can't help comment on it, although it might come across as tacky or cold. Jimmy Breslin, the anti-Catholic writer for Newsday, had a daughter who tragically died this week at the age of 47. The obit said "she graduated from ... Hamilton College in upstate Clinton, where she received her degree in Asian studies." Ironically, Jimmy Breslin once was suspended for making anti-Asian slurs against a fellow writer. I would imagine that Breslin's bigotry did not rub off on his daughter, may she rest in peace.

PURE EVIL

"Two teenage thrill killers savagely beat a homeless man to death outside a Brooklyn church yesterday - hurling bricks at him as he lay helpless by a statue of the Virgin Mary, cops said."

Newsday under investigation after reporting inflated circulation numbers


"The Nassau County District Attorney's Office is investigating Newsday after the company admittedly reported inflated circulation numbers.
Newsday officials say an internal audit showed its weekday daily circulation was approximately 40,000 less than previously stated, and its weekend circulation was approximately 60,000 less than reported."

Not only is Newsday a bunch of anti-Catholic bigots, they are also criminals.

Madonna at midlife

You knew it had to happen sometime: Madonna's new album is not selling that well and her tour is not sold out.

In the post below on the National Catholic Register movie poll, a couple of comments mention Moonstruck. This is one of my favorite movies. It is true that the movie is more about the Italian family and not Catholicism, but it contains my favorite depiction of confession. The screen opens and you just see the priest's hands, Cher is kneeling behind the screen, but the priest knows who she is.

"Loretta Castorini: Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been two months since my last confession.
Father: What sins have you to confess?
Loretta Castorini: Twice I took the name of the Lord in vain, once I slept with the brother of my fiancee, and once I bounced a check at the liquor store, but that was really an accident.
Father: Then it's not a sin. But... what was that second thing you said, Loretta?"

Good News!

Monika Hellwig, President of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, is retiring. Anyone who wants to see Catholic higher education actually be Catholic will rejoice at this news.

Hooray for Hollywood!

As you can see from the sarcastic ticker I added to the right, Hollywood has put out a film that mocks Christians. They spent $5 million dollars making Saved! and it has taken in less than a million dollars so far. Mel Gibson spent $30 million making The Passion of The Christ, a film that takes Christians and Christianity seriously and respectfully, and he has made $370 million. (The figures for both movies are only domestic-worldwide TPOTC has made over $603 million). Of course, Saved! has only been out a week, but the ticker on my blog updates each day, and I doubt Saved! will do well. Do you think anyone in Hollywood will do the math??