Sacking is going on at Krispy Kreme, and it’s not just the doughnuts that are being bagged:
"Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc., on Tuesday said six officers have left the company under pressure from a board committee that is looking into accounting practices that are the subject of a federal probe.
[…]
"Krispy Kreme, a one-time Wall Street darling, has been hard-hit by probes into the way it accounted for franchise buybacks as well as by sagging sales of its signature doughnuts."
There’s a nice commentary piece over yonder at RealClearPolitics about the costs associated with trying to eliminate risk from life.
The author notes that Tony Blair recently grasped the nettle and brought it onboard by declaring:
"We cannot guarantee a risk-free life."
True enough! Life involves risk, and the attempt to utterly eliminate it causes more problems than it solves.
"Like what?" you ask.
The author of the piece turns his eyes homeward for examples, noting:
We in the United States are well aware of the dangers of being over-regulated. Businesses labor under unnecessary federal regulations, and litigious attorneys compel them to slap silly warnings on virtually every product.
That’s the summary, but the examples he provides are just the tip of the iceberg. America is suffering huge burdens as a result of the attempt to live (or impose on society) a risk-free life.
Blair, though, has the chutzpah to say something that few American politicians would be willing to voice:
"We also need a far more rational, balanced and intelligent debate as to how ‘risk’ is debated. Not every ‘scandal’ requires a regulatory response," he says, sensibly. Unfortunately, that approach hasn’t yet reached across the pond.
There’s a nice commentary piece over yonder at RealClearPolitics about the costs associated with trying to eliminate risk from life.
The author notes that Tony Blair recently grasped the nettle and brought it onboard by declaring:
"We cannot guarantee a risk-free life."
True enough! Life involves risk, and the attempt to utterly eliminate it causes more problems than it solves.
"Like what?" you ask.
The author of the piece turns his eyes homeward for examples, noting:
We in the United States are well aware of the dangers of being over-regulated. Businesses labor under unnecessary federal regulations, and litigious attorneys compel them to slap silly warnings on virtually every product.
That’s the summary, but the examples he provides are just the tip of the iceberg. America is suffering huge burdens as a result of the attempt to live (or impose on society) a risk-free life.
Blair, though, has the chutzpah to say something that few American politicians would be willing to voice:
"We also need a far more rational, balanced and intelligent debate as to how ‘risk’ is debated. Not every ‘scandal’ requires a regulatory response," he says, sensibly. Unfortunately, that approach hasn’t yet reached across the pond.
I don’t normally blog from work (all my blogging is done from home during the evening), but a work-related question just came up.
We just had a meeting to see about how we can push forward making Catholic Answers Live available in .mp3 format and a couple of questions came up that I thought pitching to y’all on the blog might be good given folks’ experience of different players and how they behave.
So here goes:
1) We have a decision to make on the calendar pages at Catholic.Com having three or four links per show. If we have four the links would be:
We’re wondering whether link (c) is really needed. Whaddya y’all think?
2) Is anyone aware of compression rates that could cause problems for us if we use them? Alternately, are any compression rates especially desirable?
Thanks, folks!
Michael Schiavo couldn’t resist the temptation to inscribe his version of his late wife Terri Schindler-Schiavo’s passing into her final resting place. CNN reports that he has created a self-serving tombstone to mark Terri’s final resting place:
“Michael Schiavo, who said he promised his wife he would not keep her alive artificially and waged a long legal battle to remove her feeding tube, had the words ‘I kept my promise’ inscribed on her bronze grave marker.
“The marker also lists February 25, 1990 — the day she collapsed and fell into what most doctors said was an irreversible vegetative state — as the date Schiavo ‘departed this Earth.’
“Schiavo actually died March 31 [2005], nearly two weeks after her feeding tube was removed by court order. The marker lists that date as when Schiavo was ‘at peace.'”
Michael Schiavo continues to prove that he has only a great yawning hole where his conscience should be.
In other news, former L.A. detective Mark Fuhrman has written a book on the case, which is scheduled to be released June 28 and titled Silent Witness. If there is to be any human justice in this case at all, we might hope that Fuhrman’s book does for Terri Schiavo what his book Murder In Greenwich did for murder victim Martha Moxley and all those who despaired of human justice in her case.
A reader writes:
I have heard it mentioned that in the Latin Mass the
response to the priest’s statement "The Lord be with
you" was actually "and with your spirit". It seems to
me that "and also with you" makes more sense, but I
think I’m missing something. What does "and with your
spirit" really mean?
Not only does it say "And with your spirit" (Latin, Et cum spiritu tuo) in the Latin version of the Mass, it’s going to say this in the forthcoming new English translation of the Mass as well, if things go as currently planned. This was one of the items that the Vatican wanted fixed in the new translation.
To answer your question, the meaning of "And with your spirit" would depend on the context in which its used. Since there is no express subject for the phrase, that has to be filled in by context. In the liturgy (the only place one encounters this phrase typically) the context is, as you note, as response to "The Lord be with you." "And with your spirit" is thus an abbreviated way of saying "And [the Lord be] with your spirit." It’s a way of wishing the priest the same thing that he just wished us: that the Lord would be with us.
If one were to give a dynamic equivalence rendering of this–one that seeks to preserve meaning without worrying about giving a literal translation–"And also with you"would be an acceptable rendering of the phrase. They mean the same thing.
The problem is that the translators of the current rite of Mass went crazy with dynamic equivalence and totally steamrollered the sacred style of the Mass, making it seem far more banal and blasé than it is in the original Latin. Even if it requires a bit of education to help folks understand what is being said when the Mass is translated in a way that better reflects what the original says, the Holy See has judged that this will be offset by the gain in reverence and appreciation of the richness of the language of the Mass–it’s poetry and art, if you will.
What the previous translators did was the equivalent of taking Shakespeare and paraphrasing it so that ten year olds can understand it without effort. That flattens the art and dignity of the text.
Ultimately, it’s better to teach people to understand and appreciate the elevated style rather than dumbing down the text so they don’t have to learn anything new. The former, educational strategy ennobles the people; the latter, style-squashing strategy dishonors the text.
A reader writes:
I have heard it mentioned that in the Latin Mass the
response to the priest’s statement "The Lord be with
you" was actually "and with your spirit". It seems to
me that "and also with you" makes more sense, but I
think I’m missing something. What does "and with your
spirit" really mean?
Not only does it say "And with your spirit" (Latin, Et cum spiritu tuo) in the Latin version of the Mass, it’s going to say this in the forthcoming new English translation of the Mass as well, if things go as currently planned. This was one of the items that the Vatican wanted fixed in the new translation.
To answer your question, the meaning of "And with your spirit" would depend on the context in which its used. Since there is no express subject for the phrase, that has to be filled in by context. In the liturgy (the only place one encounters this phrase typically) the context is, as you note, as response to "The Lord be with you." "And with your spirit" is thus an abbreviated way of saying "And [the Lord be] with your spirit." It’s a way of wishing the priest the same thing that he just wished us: that the Lord would be with us.
If one were to give a dynamic equivalence rendering of this–one that seeks to preserve meaning without worrying about giving a literal translation–"And also with you"would be an acceptable rendering of the phrase. They mean the same thing.
The problem is that the translators of the current rite of Mass went crazy with dynamic equivalence and totally steamrollered the sacred style of the Mass, making it seem far more banal and blasé than it is in the original Latin. Even if it requires a bit of education to help folks understand what is being said when the Mass is translated in a way that better reflects what the original says, the Holy See has judged that this will be offset by the gain in reverence and appreciation of the richness of the language of the Mass–it’s poetry and art, if you will.
What the previous translators did was the equivalent of taking Shakespeare and paraphrasing it so that ten year olds can understand it without effort. That flattens the art and dignity of the text.
Ultimately, it’s better to teach people to understand and appreciate the elevated style rather than dumbing down the text so they don’t have to learn anything new. The former, educational strategy ennobles the people; the latter, style-squashing strategy dishonors the text.
A reader writes:
I am a Catholic was married in a civil ceremony several years ago. I have
since realized that I needed to be married in the
Catholic Church in order to receive Communion. My wife agreed that we
would get our marriage blessed even though she is not Catholic.We asked the priest about having
sexual relations and he told us that since we weren’t going to get it
blessed for another year (gave ourselves plenty of time to plan) that
it is not expeced that we hold off for that long.
Okay, what the priest told you on this point is wrong. He was trying to make things easier on the two of you, but he was wrong. If two people are not validly married then they should not be having sexual relations until such time as they are.
My wife and I agreed
on several months but overstepped it ….on the last time
however she has gotten pregnant.At the wedding she will probably
not be showing yet.
Is there any issues with going ahead with the wedding. Do we tell the
priest that she is pregnant?
You should go to confession about this, but I’m not seeing any other issues. I also don’t see any need to tell the priest about the pregnancy at this time since it is not relevant to the wedding. You will want at some point talk to the parish about making arrangements for the child’s baptism, though.
I want to be able to receive our Lord in Communion but I want to do it
the right way and not be in mortal sin.
The way to do this is to resolve to live continently until the wedding and go to confession. Then you’ll be able to receive Communion immediately, even before the wedding.
Just a curious question…..is masturbation or contraception still a
mortal sin when ones wife is already pregnant??
Masturbation is always gravely sinful, and the fact that one has a pregnant wife does not change this. I don’t understand why one would want to use contraception with a pregnant spouse since the purpose of contraception is to prevent conception, and this is not at issue while she is pregnant. Some forms of contraception (e.g., condoms) also damage the unitive aspect of the sexual act and so couldn’t be used for that reason. Others might pose a danger to the child.
In your case, though, since the two of you are not yet validly married, you shouldn’t be engaging in sexual relations until the wedding. Once that happens, though, you’d be able to engage in them the same as any other married couple during pregnancy, provided it isn’t posing a danger to the child.
I know that this may not all be what you were hoping to hear, but you deserve the truth, and I want to be straight with you. You also should be commended for your willingness to do what is needed to follow Christ and rectify your marital situation. You wife also is to be commended for her willingness to help you follow your conscience even though she is not Catholic. God will bless you both for your efforts.
Hope this helps!
20
Today, June 21, is the summer solstice, which in the northern hemisphere means a really, really long day (and, in the southern hemisphere, a really, really short one)–your latitude may vary.
Pagans often make a big, sacrilegious deal out of the summer solstice, but I don’t think that ought to stop Christians from taking note of the day. After all, God set up the Earth to have a summer solstice, and it’s a day of note in the planet’s annual cycle. We just don’t have to attribute any magical significance to the day.
The day is also known as Midsummer, which is totally kitty-corner to the way we in the U.S. commonly reckon summer as beginning on the day.
Maybe I’ll listen to an audio book of Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM tonight.
Pleasant dreams.
