Archives for July 2014

7 Quick Takes Friday (set #143)

7 Quick Takes Friday

This week: The latest issue of New Evangelists Monthly is ready and calling you. NOW adds The Little Sisters of the Poor to their Dirty 100 list. The adult life of one downs syndrome man. A pro-abortion representative speaks frankly with those supporting life. Dinesh D’Souza’s America is in theaters now and has been very well received by audiences. Costco fashions a yarn explaining why their (solidly liberal) management initially removed the best selling (now #1) book of the same name. Costco’s executives are amateurs compared to the whale of a story being told by the IRS.

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New Evangelists Monthly

Issue #19, July 2014, of New Evangelists Monthly is ready for your enjoyment! Scores of faithful Catholic bloggers have contributed their very best pieces from June. This month brought these great topics: seek Him, holy events, infant spirit, mystical songs, real truth, what you do, Esheth Yahil, ABC disasters, still en route, one body, several things, bird day, of the winds, discussing sex, phileo and agape, Italy lessons, love song, evolving world, make symbols, awesome stories, the path, God inside, religious liberty, evangelization, beginning again, rock and net, ember week, transitions, sharing steps, Lord’s day, procession, grieving, Ignatian way, justification, first martyrs, outward sign, Catholic sex, daily joy, perspective, prayer pillar, presence, Samson, thirst, the mandate, sacraments, lifeguard, David’s tears, piety, barnyard analogy, our heroes, lucky penny, good advice, rhythm, praying, enchanted, opening doors, Sacred Heart, silence, NABRE, miscarriage, arisen, judging, publishing, Corpus Christi, Bread of Life, ragamuffin, listen, Facebook, gay and Catholic, fully fed, parish hopping, unbelievers prayer, book reviews, Jerzy Ciesielski, Sola Scriptura, Uganda, end times, enthroning hearts, what things, treasure and heart, son Father, which religion?, salt / light, watchers, no worries and waywards.

This monthly “meta-magazine” showcases faithful Catholicism from theology to family life and “everything in between.” Enjoy it now at NewEvangelists.org.

Read Now

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We learned this week that the Little Sisters of the Poor are DIRTY. I never knew that, but this is the finding of the National Organization for Women. The sisters have been named to NOW’s Dirty 100 list. Here are some of the dirty sisters, being their usual dirty selves:

Here, Patricia Ireland (former NOW president), comments on these dirty sisters:

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About 90% of women given a Down syndrome diagnosis for their baby abort that child. That child’s life has just as much value as any other (which is immense). Here is how one such fetus (clump of cells / Tim Harris) turned out:

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Yet despite the irrefutable science of when life begins and the equal human dignity of every person, many people staunchly support abortion. Here, one representative of that position eloquently offers carefully reasoned arguments in support of her side.

(FAIR WARNING: language that would make a sailor blush is liberally used. I am not kidding. BE FORWARNED.)

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Dinesh D’Souza’s new patriotic film America has opened (in time for Independence Day) and been extremely well received by viewers:

“True patriotism is not loving your country just because it is yours, but because it is good.” The film refutes, point by point, the liberal contention that America is a society based on theft.

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Costco Logo

Speaking of the new America film, it was based on a best selling book of the same name (currently #1 on the Times best-seller list). The book was being sold by Costco until their management (huge Democratic supporters, BTW) had it pulled. After public outcry, they reversed course claiming it was all just an innocent mistake.

The facts, told well by Bob Adelmann in Costco Pulls, Then Restores “America” to Its Bookshelves tell a somewhat different story. Why couldn’t Costco just be honest? They didn’t have to go into detail, but could have said “we made a mistake, have corrected it and are sorry.” Instead, they fashioned this story, much as the IRS fashioned their lost e-mail story. You just have to be really gullible to believe some of this stuff.

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Irs Email Scandal

Speaking of IRS lost e-mail brings us to the topic of joint probabilities. That is, what are the odds all 7 hard drives of key IRS leadership failing in the same month? Answer: if they are very unreliable drives with an average failure rate of 36 months, then the answer is 1 in 78 BILLION (36**7). Let’s compare these odds to other possibilities:

  • 1 in       22,957,480 – odds of winning the Florida state lottery
  • 1 in     175,223,510 – odds of winning the Powerball
  • 1 in     258,890,850 – odds of winning Mega Millions
  • 1 in 78,364,164,096 – odds 7 critical IRS hard drives failed the same month

Put another way, what is more likely than this Obama administration fabrication:

  •    300 times more likely to win Mega Millions with 1 ticket
  •    450 times more likely to win the Powerball with 1 ticket
  • 3,400 times more likely to win the Florida lottery with 1 ticket

Not only must the gullible accept this happened, but they must also believe (1) the failures were a complete and total loss with no chance of any data recovery whatsoever (the “failed” drives were quickly recycled so we have to take their word on this) and (2) that the IRS does not backup their data.

This is not politics. This is a criminal conspiracy and an insult to intelligence. I remember a time when political criminals at least worked for plausible deniability.


Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

New Evangelists Monthly – July 2014, Issue #19

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7 Quick Takes Friday (set #142)

7 Quick Takes Friday

This week: Happy 4th of July! Food City has a wonderful, word-free advertisement for the occasion. We in America (and all the Western world) owe so much. An info-graphic overview of the Supreme Court Hobby Lobby decision. Chris Koch was not aborted: this is how he turned-out. Father Barron takes-on the shallow, anti-religion arguments of Bill Maher. Healthcare for small businesses – how it is working out. Kale…   Jim Gaffigan is strongly opposed! Those who cannot remember the past…

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Food City made this wonderful Independence Day commercial. No words spoken, no words needed:

Spotted by Fr. Z

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The Becket Fund has a helpful info-graphic to explain the recent Supreme Court Hobby Lobby decision:

Hobby Lobby Decision

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Almost exactly 4 years ago, I wrote about Nick Vujicic in another quick takes item. This week brings a similar story of Chris Koch from Nanton, Alberta. Many believe that people like Nick and Chris should have been aborted. If not, they should live in institutions as completely disabled. How sad.

Spotted by my friend Tom.

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Bill Maher specializes in attacking religion. He “mixed it up” recently with Ralph Reed, the founder and former head of the Christian Coalition. Unfortunately, Ralph was ambushed and did not do all that well. Father Barron (who calls Maher “by far the most annoying anti-religionist on the scene today”) picks-up the ball:

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The reality of Obamacare is beginning to be felt. As more phases in (carefully scheduled for after the mid-term election, of course), the impact will be felt upon more and more Americans. Here is how it has already impacted one small business trying to do right by their employees:

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Where do you stand on Kale? Jim Gaffigan is opposed!

Spotted by Marcel

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Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it (George Santayana).


Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

Elsewhere: Hobby Lobby wins

Elsewhere

Yesterday the Supreme Court, voting along their usual ideological lines, voted 5-4 in favor of Hobby Lobby. This is wonderful news for religious freedom, but still very far from rolling-back the numerous, unprecedented attacks on it by the current administration.

The good news in the Hobby Lobby decision is that (in at least some circumstances) people do not give up their religious rights simply because they operate a for-profit business. Hobby Lobby is a closely held corporation by a single extended family. The Greens are Protestant Christians who object to abortifacient “contraceptives” (e.g. “Plan B”) in their insurance policies as mandated by Obamacare.

Other cases are not directly effected unless they match the profile of this case. Exactly how closely held a corporation must be or how large it can be before religious freedom rights of its owners evaporate is unclear. Also unclear is how this will effect Catholic owned companies and non-profits who object to paying for any contraception. The Little Sisters of the Poor (for example) might not be helped at all.

As you know, there is little unbiased journalism any more so do not expect to find a completely fair analysis in the mainstream media. The conservative side claims the ruling means more than it does. The liberal side claims the sky is falling with this conservative success in their war on women. For sanity, try not to read what any politician of either side says.

With that disclaimer, Politico has as good coverage as anybody:

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby on Monday that employers with religious objections can opt out of providing contraception coverage under Obamacare.

The ruling deals directly with only a small provision of Obamacare and will not take down the entire law but it amounts to a huge black eye for Obamacare, the administration and its backers. The justices have given Obamacare opponents their most significant political victory against the health care law, reinforcing their argument that the law and President Barack Obama are encroaching on Americans’ freedoms.

“We doubt that the Congress that enacted [Religious Freedom Restoration Act] – or, for that matter, ACA – would have believed it a tolerable result to put family-run businesses to the choice of violating their sincerely held religious beliefs or making all of their employees lose their existing healthcare plans,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the opinion, which was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy.

The court’s four liberal justices called it a decision of “startling breadth” and said that it allows companies to “opt out of any law (saving only tax laws) they judge incompatible with their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

The court appeared to reject, 7-2, the Obama administration’s argument that for-profit companies cannot assert religious rights under RFRA. Only Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined the portion of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissent that argues companies do not have such rights. Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan did not join that section and did not explicitly state their views on the point.

The decision could open the door to other closely held corporations seeking to withhold coverage for other medical procedures at odds with firm religious beliefs. It marks the first time that the Supreme Court has allowed companies the ability to declare a religious belief – a decision that could reverberate far past the Affordable Care Act to other laws and issues.

In the short term, the ruling appears to allow the owners of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties to opt out of the health care law’s requirement that they provide all Food and Drug Administration-approved forms of birth control in their health plans.

Read the whole piece: SCOTUS sides with Hobby Lobby on birth control.

To get a sense of (completely unwarranted) panic of the left, The Federalist has collected tweets in 6 Stupid Arguments About Hobby Lobby From Dumb Liberals. Obviously not an unbiased piece, but the tweets are quoted verbatim.

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