Katelyn Sills writes:
As of Saturday, October 29th, I was given official notice by express mail that I am expelled from Loretto High School.
This was given completely without forewarning, without a meeting, and
without a chance to say goodbye. My family is now seeking legal advice,
and more details will follow.
LEGAL ADVICE: Sue–if at all possible. Loads of pro-life lawyers would do this totally pro bono. Take recourse to the diocese as well.
CHT to the reader who e-mailed!
As in the case of free health advice.
Like this health Q & A that I received by e-mail:
HEALTH QUESTION & ANSWER SESSION
Q: I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that’s it… don’t waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that’s like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.
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Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.
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Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!
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Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
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Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can’t think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain…Good!
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Q: Aren’t fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU’RE NOT LISTENING!!!. Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they’re permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?
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Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.
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Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO …… Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It’s the best feel-good food around!
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Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.
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Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! ‘Round’ is a shape!
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Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.
And remember: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways – Chardonnay in one hand – chocolate in the other – body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"
I’m not much of a baseball or football fan, although hometown pride — and I am one of that rare breed known as the Native San Diegan — occasionally (usually when a rare championship series comes a’callin’) will transform me into a fair-weather fan of the Padres and Chargers. Even so, the past couple of years I’ve thought it nice that the BoSox and ChiSox have finally been rewarded with World Series victories. I wouldn’t have blogged on the White Sox win, though, until I ran across an article on fan reaction that tickled me.
"Loud music blared over the city’s South Side on Wednesday night, and one needed only to look up at the balcony of Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church to find its source.
"The White Sox had won the World Series, and for the Rev. Dan Brandt, it was time to party down.
"Father Brandt jumped with glee from his office in the heart of the South Side, then ran from the room to ring the church bells and play ‘Let’s Go Go Go White Sox!’ — the theme song for Chicago’s 1959 World Series appearance — when the game ended.
"But his main focus was to keep those bells clanging.
"’They’re going to keep ringing for at least several hours, maybe longer,’ said Brandt, as parishioners around him, who had gathered to watch the game together, hugged and smiled."
One of the great things about being Catholic is the ability of Catholics to express joy in the world around us through distinctly Catholic means. Some Christians might be scandalized at the idea of ringing church bells for a baseball victory. For Catholics, celebrating such victories is just one of the reasons why God invented church bells.
Samuel Alito is the new nominee for the Supreme Court.
If you’re a Latin rite Catholic in the United States, that is.
It’s the solemnity of All Saints, so be sure to either go to evening Mass today or make plans to go to Mass tomorrow.
In fact, they want to SCARE CHILDREN AWAY FROM HALLOWEEN.
Jack Chick, for example.
Joe over at Evangelical Outpost has
THIS DECONSTRUCTION OF ONE OF CHICK’S ANTI-HALLOWEEN TRACTS.
Is Halloween too spooky for children? One Penn State psychologist thinks so.
"It is the adults who should be afraid this Halloween. Not of ghouls and goblins, but of permanently scarring their children.
"In a recent study of six- and seven-year-olds in the Philadelphia area, Penn State psychologist Cindy Dell Clark found that most parents underestimate just how terrifying the holiday can be for young kids.
[…]
"According to Clark, who interviewed parents and children after three Halloweens, younger children may be unwilling participants in the whole ritual.
"The key ingredient in the recipe of Halloween fright is, of course, death.
"’Intriguingly, Halloween is a holiday when adults assist children in behaviors taboo and out of bounds,’ Clark writes in the anthropological journal Ethos. ‘It is striking that on Halloween, death-related themes are intended as entertainment for the very children whom adults routinely protect.’"
After reading through this story, I wondered why the results of so many scientific studies seem to point to the solution of simply using common sense. Basically, it boils down to parents making sure their children learn the difference between reality and make-believe, and that they be on guard against well-intentioned people who expose children to more Halloween fright than the kids can handle. Then again, these days common sense is all too often an uncommon commodity.
REINVENTING THE HALLOWEEN LIGHT.
Happy Halloween! (Or, have a happy All Hallows Even, if you prefer.)
JIMMY ADDS: My own theory on the spookiness of Halloween celebrations is that it’s part of the same psychological process that leads humans to watch drama (which always involves dramatic tension–if the drama is any good) and to "play fight" as children. It’s a way of exposing oneself to dangers in a simulated, safe manner and thus learning to cope wiht the emotion of fear that accompanies them so that you’ll be able to handle it when you face REAL dangers. Such simulated danger situations are part of life–and of growing up. That’s not to say that some kids may not find the whole experience too scary. I know that when I was a small boy I was quite scared of some Halloween stuff, though that didn’t stop me from wanting to stay up late every Friday night to watch monster movies on Boo Theater.
The problems with my computer were sufficiently grave that I determined it was time to buy a new one, so I did.
Will try to suck the data off the old one and (if possible) get it repaired to use as a back-up, but I am now back up to speed blogging. (I even have a good chunk of this week’s entries written in advance.)
Am still getting my old programs installed on the new one and figuring out what it’s individual quirks are since it’s a different model than my previous one.
Spent more than an hour Saturday morning trying to figure out what the speakers that had been working the night before were no longer emitting sound.
Did all kinds of troubleshooting. Could see that the unit was trying to produce sound (sound programs were displaying graphical wave formations or otherwise behaving as if they were producing sound), the speakers just weren’t emitting any. All the software seemed to be working. It seemed like a mechanical device problem.
It was.
Turned out that the new computer has a rotating volume control on the front of the unit near the touchpad and my thumb had apparently set it to zero without me realizing it was there.
D’OH!
That’s an hour of my life I won’t get back.
Having a physical volume control on the front of the unit is a handy thing–IF YOU KNOW IT’S THERE.
Steve Dillard of Southern Appeal and Confirm Them has gone out on a limb and made a prediction as to who George Bush will nominate to the Supreme Court.
THE L.A. TIMES THINKS HE’S WRONG.
But in Feddie’s favor, he was right when–just prior to the beginning of the Miers debacle–he predicted that Bush would choose badly.
Now he thinks the replacement choice for Miers may be stellar.
I hope he’s right.
We’ll probably know Monday.
I’m sorry, folks, but my computer was very, very sick last night and I spent all evening babying it, trying to get it well, and so I was unable to do any blogging.
I may be able to do a bit this morning, but can’t promise anything given how ill my computer has been.
I think it caught the flu from someone at Mass.