Catholic School Shows Spine

SDG here.

MSNBC runs a story about St. Luke’s Catholic school in Brookfield, Wisconsin, where they decided to drop a fashion show/fund raiser with an American Girl™ theme.

For those of you who haven’t heard of them already, the popular American Girl™ dolls are costumed to represent girls of all walks of life from various periods in American history. The fashion show would have featured girls carrying the dolls and wearing matching outfits.

My wife and daughter have happily collected American Girl™ dolls, along with the books and other items marketed with the dolls, though we are now boycotting the company (owned by Mattel, Inc.).

It’s a shame, because I thought the dolls’ designers tapped in to a neglected market, allowing doll collecting to become a lesson in American history. I actually picked up one of their books and found it surprisingly well-written. I had expected pure drek, but it was not too far off from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House™ books.

You might figure that the American Girl™ folks would know a good thing when they had it, and would give anything that might bring unnecessary controversy to their enterprise a wide berth. This is especially true considering that collectors of a doll line called American Girl™ might tend to run to the conservative side.
But American Girl™ recently decided to endorse a charity called Girls, Inc., and there the controversy began. They actually offered in their catalog some of those rubber bracelets you see so much nowadays, with proceeds going to Girls, Inc.

The charity itself is actually not mentioned until the very last paragraph of the MSNBC piece, and is described in glowing terms that sound as if they might have been lifted from the group’s promotional material:

“Girls Inc. offers a wide range of programs and resources to help
educate and encourage girls in everything from science to health. That
includes information about abortion and contraception along with sexual
abstinence. The organization also affirms lesbian sexual orientation.”.

The folks at American Girl™ just don’t see what all the stink is about, and are befuddled that anyone might be upset at their innocent support of a charity that, after all, is just trying to help girls.

St. Lukes’ pastor, Fr. Frank Malloy, summed up the reason for dropping the fashion show:

“It’s a bargain we’ll just have to pass up. The cost is too high. Our integrity isn’t for sale.”

I voted in the online poll, but support for the school predictably lagged behind on the site. You can read the story and vote in the poll HERE.

Plucky Anti-Murder Student EXPELLED!!!

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.

SOURCE.

BACKGROUND.

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!

You Get What You Pay For

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!"

Baseball And Church Bells

Soxlogo

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."

GET THE STORY.

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.

Halloween Spooks

Jackolantern

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.’"

GET THE STORY.

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.

New Computer

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.