tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86264746133173205842024-03-20T02:57:16.347-07:00carolina publicanAnd the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast, saying: O god, be merciful to me a sinner.Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.comBlogger143125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-9054728364786096622018-10-03T17:49:00.001-07:002018-10-03T17:49:39.069-07:00Scheisshaus Economics III - The Social CostsChange Happens.<br />
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It is an inevitable part of existence. The passing of time is marked by change, some big, some small, but changes all...<br />
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We, as human beings adopt well - almost terrifyingly well - to change. In fact, I don't imagine it is too much of a stretch to say that we are here because we can adapt so well to change. We would have died out as a species millenia ago otherwise.<br />
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But just as economically speaking there are costs to changes, socially there are costs as well. There are (to borrow from economics) Micro costs and Macro costs. The micro costs we are all very familiar with, all it takes is to watch the news to see them. The sad casualties of the tumult. Lost homes, broken families, broken lives in so many ways. Of course, all the economic despair leads to a lot of personal despair as well, just google "opioid crisis" and you can read thousands of tales of the endless hopelessness. <br />
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All it takes is a little imagination, a car, and a couple tankfuls of gas to appreciate this. The procedure is simple. If you fill up the car, fire it up and drive through the countryside of this once great nation, and avoid most of the Interstate highways, you'll see it almost immediately. Keep driving from town to town until you are about on empty, then fill up the tank, and make your way back home. In that trip you'll pass through cities and towns big and small, filled with so many hulks of dead and dying businesses, each of which was the livelihood of people - real, actual people with lives and hopes and dreams and aspirations. True, their lives were different than the typical upscale urban millennial, as were some of their dreams and aspirations, but they were there and they were real. The key is to try to imagine those lives and think about how their whole existence - their whole reason for being - was ripped out from under them. Not in a slow gradual fashion either, but in a generation. When you live through a situation like that, the micro and the macro merge to become one complete hell-hole of a life. The only way to survive is to escape, and that is what happened. The best and brightest - and most connected - escaped physically to a different town and a different life, far from the despair. That left the others - unable to physically escape - to effect their escape in the only ways they had left available. The lucky ones to subsistence living and digital distraction, the less strong to the only other option - the bottle, or the needle, or pipe, or bowl. Any chemically induced haze to dim the reality of their emptiness and dull the pain that comes from facing the fact that they have no chance - none.<br />
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The question is: How could a a huge part of a society go through such a complete foundational collapse and have it go largely unnoticed by popular culture? The Micro costs are inevitably tied to the Macro costs, period, but the relationship is not rigid at all. It is, as economists would say, an elastic relationship. This delay allows one to continue to enjoy the benefits of certain things long after the overt presence of those things fades away. In other words, if you have been lucky enough to have some economic wherewithal (meager though it may be), you can continue to live a good life even though the productive basis for that life no longer exists. <br />
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The de-industrialization of our culture has done just that. It has allowed the development of a hollowed-out economy, and a hollowed out culture. The fact that the upscale coastal set has not figured that out is simply because they are insulated from the reality of it - remember <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108778/">Friends</a>? <br />
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But those on the receiving end of the destruction teventually become open to thinking outside the box, and look for something or someone to see things from their perspective. That is how we wound up with President Donald J Trump. He told those people that he knew their lives had become shit and he told them that it didn't have to be that way, and that it could change for the better. They knew that change happens, because they lived it, but this time, they've bet that it can be good change for a change. About two years into it, and it looks like they're going to clean up on that bet.<br />
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<br />Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-22917784003878572482016-05-11T16:28:00.003-07:002016-05-11T16:28:44.873-07:00Musical Time TravelTime and technology marches on, but there are things about how are mind works that seem to be universal. One of these things which has fascinated me for years is that there are certain songs from the past which bring back memories of certain times and experiences when I hear them. Of course, I know that this phenomenon is not unique to me at all. In fact, Clint Black <a href="https://youtu.be/5SYbSPO6iqE">had a hit song</a> based on on it! I have dozens on those in my mental filing system, and each one brings back a memory of some time or event. When I hear them I smile, or frown, or whatever.<div>
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The phenomenon I am talking about here goes beyond simple memory recall. What I mean is, there are a few - very few - songs which bring back not only a memory, but bring back a whole complete set of emotions and attitudes. I not only remember the song from it's time, but I am psychologically transported to the mind-state of the point in my life the song represents. For instance, when I hear <a href="https://youtu.be/ewhM7I9gD4U">this</a> I suddenly find I am 15 again. It's like all of the psychological changes of the past 4 decades are not only forgotten, but cease to exist entirely, like they never happened. It of course brings back vignettes - maybe screen caps is a better term - of my life at that time, but the overwhelming sensation is that of, well, being 15. With all the freedom from worry and optimism that entails.</div>
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There are two or three others, and every time I hear them it is always the same. And every time I hear them and experience the sensations I find myself wondering about it, why it works the way it does, and why just with those songs. Or why <a href="https://youtu.be/c4OS17lqHiE">this song</a> transports me to (in a sense remember) an age before I can even remember. I was only 5 when it was popular, but it causes that same kind of thing, only without any "screen caps" to go along with it. No memories, no real associations, just the sensation.</div>
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The old commercial tagline was <a href="https://youtu.be/x5V632Uv5JY">"A mind is a terrible thing to waste"</a>, and it as true today as it was then. (probably needs to be said more today than then, but that is for another post!) But things like the above phenomenon reminds us that, even though we know how valuable our minds are, and thus would never want them wasted, we understand them - really understand them - very little indeed.</div>
Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-58489224468027700072016-02-22T12:34:00.000-08:002016-02-22T12:34:03.845-08:00Understanding The DonaldI have been a political animal for my whole life - thanks Dad. I have seen a lot, and while I make no claim to being a genius, I am amazed that people in the media who should know (or be able to know) why Donald Trump has hit such a chord with the American public have so badly missed it. <br />
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So, folks, here it is, in simple terms that the folks who live both outside the top 1% income bracket and outside the northeast corridor can understand, but which the media apparently cannot.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">People are tired of being pissed on and told that it's raining.</span></b><br />
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They have been pissed on by NAFTA, by GATT, by Open Borders, and by every third-world country with the presence of mind to grease the right political palms in Washington, DC and get a deal for themselves to maximize both their own growth and the political war chests of those who do their bidding. All of that crap served one purpose and one purpose only - to maximize the wealth of the very top level of society at the expense of the rest. I mean, how many abandoned factories does one have to see to realize that this has happened??? Of course, the media rarely ventures out into the hinterlands to actually see any factories - abandoned or otherwise.<br />
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No hard feelings against those countries, and those immigrants. They saw an opportunity to better their situation and they took it. Those hard feelings (maybe hatred is a better word) are now being manifested against The Bushes, The Clintons, and everyone else of that ilk. Those hard feelings include their sycophants in the media, BTW. Those being, of course, the same sycophants who can's see why the masses haven't fallen in love with Jeb Bush, or Hillary Clinton. <br />
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P.S. This post is written about Donald Trump, but the same reasoning applies to Bernie Sanders, the Democratic equivalent of Trump, who is striking the same chord on the other side of the aisle.<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-58419781159738601312016-02-22T11:58:00.002-08:002016-02-22T11:58:54.485-08:00How Did We Get HereSome time ago, I went out to take The Dog on her nightly walk around the neighborhood. It was late September, and a perfect, warm, clear North Carolina evening. I rounded the corner, and headed up the street. A few steps later my ears were treated to the most pleasant sound - back-door neighbor, sitting on his screened in porch in the dark, softly strumming his guitar. The chords made a nice tune - though not one I could recognize - so I walked quietly and slowly, stopping to let The Dog sniff the ground profusely. It was all so perfectly pleasant that I began to think about it and reflect on the difference between hearing Honest-To-God music, played live by a human being, and hearing a recording thereof.
All that reflection got me to thinking....
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<b>HOW DID THE WORLD GET SO SCREWED UP?
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How did we get to the point where we were willing to accept a cheap, mass produced reproduction of music instead of the real thing? I could see the utility of recordings in some circumstances. For example, were it not for that technology vast numbers of people would never get the chance to be exposed to Beethoven. Recorded music (on any medium) allows us to experience a breadth of music few could ever even come close to experiencing live. But how did it get so far afield of that? Why were we ever willing to abandon the pleasure of a few friends or family playing (on guitar, mandolin, piano, accordion, concertina, saxophone or fiddle just to name some instruments from my personal, very limited, experience) and/or singing a tune? Was it just easier? Or was it that the professionals we heard on the radio or recordings were so much better technically that they made our home-grown music seem inadequate?<br />
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Whatever the reason, we are here now. But the game is not over yet. We, as a culture, having made the jump from listening to real music to listening to a<i> recording</i> of real music (<i>important semantic distinction between music as it is being played and a recording thereof</i>), we now seem to be ready to accept<i> LIVE</i> music which is so post-processed that it is essentially a digital construct and not a human product in any realistic sense - think autotune.<br />
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Now I recognize that there are those who actually appreciate and prefer the synthetic version of music (and other things as well) to the real, human-made live honest-to-God version, and, if that is a well informed decision, i.e. they have been well exposed to both versions and have chosen one over the other, then I have to respect that. Truth be known, I like Velveeta more than Cheddar. But I am saddened that so many people willing accept "post-processed" entertainment. Saddened, that is, but not surprised at all because that is all they have ever had the opportunity to hear and learn to love.<br />
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I have always had a certain distaste for the term "developing a taste for", as it carries with it a certain level of condescension, but in this case I think it to be exactly the right term - no condescension intended. I cannot condescend without condescending upon myself (if that is a real term), for I have been there, and learned from my own prejudices. You see, once upon a time I hated - h a t e d - old time Country & Western music. I was a lifelong hatred that I held until one day, out of the blue, my friend invited me to a Nanci Griffith concert. I had never even heard of Nanci Griffith, but, upon seeing her live, I fell in love with her music - hard. Within a day or two, my friend had "burned" me a couple of cassettes, and I could not listen to them enough. Hell, I still listen to them (though Cassette players are hard to find nowadays), along with other CD's and MP3's I have purchased over the years. Nanci's country sound was the gateway drug to classic country, bluegrass, old time music, etc. I still love it and still listen to this day. I am notoriously bad at having to learn the same lesson over and over again, but that one lesson I took to heart. <br />
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<b>Writ Large...</b><br />
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Music was, however, only the inspiration for this diatribe, not the sole expression of the phenomenon being addressed. The phenomenon, though focused mainly in the entertainment industry, exists in many facets of our society, and is in fact nothing new. In earlier times (damn that makes me sound old) they were the exception to the rule though. For instance, I remember occasionally eating <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_dinner">TV Dinners</a>, but home cooked - often home grown - food was the rule. Now it seems most everything is synthetic, from clothing to foodstuffs to music to relationships. How many films are produced that are not CGI'ed to death? How many images are not polished and spiffed up by photoshop or some other such package? What is real? <br />
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The argument could be made that it is <i>all</i> real, but is it? Does it not warp our sense of reality when a beautiful woman - more beautiful than any human has a right to be - is <i>still not good enough</i> for a magazine cover? Does it not warp our sense of how the world works when it's not good enough to show <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq9kPPMMekQ">a car being driven at (or beyond) the limit</a> in a film, but rather to have she big screen insanity which we are fed of late?<br />
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<b>Hope?</b><br />
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Is there hope that somehow someday things will be appreciated for what they are in the purest natural sense, and not as synthetics? Thank God it is happening in other areas of life, witnessed by everything from local beers to local fresh food. On a personal note, I took my daughter to a live Shakespeare performance and she was floored. Loved every minute of it, and can't wait to go again. Sure it was The Bard, but it was the live theater performance with real people that was the real selling point. I figure if a tween who lives on a steady diet of pop music and anime can fall in love with The Real Thing, then pretty much anyone can. If the horse is thirsty, and you lead him to water, you don't <i>need</i> to <i>make</i> him drink - he'll drink on his own.<br />
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<br />Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-77113261102175537402013-01-20T08:14:00.001-08:002013-01-20T08:14:25.209-08:00Looking ForwardThroughout my life, I have noticed the phenomenon wherein people who are deeply involved in something personally or professionally begin to lose perspecitve on their pursuit, ant take things in an extreme direction to the point where outside observers - even interested sympathetic ones - are puzzxled or disgusted at the behaviors of the "true believers". I have seen this phenomenon in ever field from animal breeding to zoning and development ordinance writing, and being the type of person who has little compunction about pointing out the emperors lack of clothes have oft found myself recieving the wrath of those "true believers". It turns out that Aesop was only partially right in his fable. In real life, when someone points out the emperor's lack of clothing, the naked one doesn't get embarrased - he lashes out at the one who had the temerity speak the truth.<br />
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Watching the ongoing, intemittent, saga of the attempted reconciliation of the Society of Saint Pius the Tenth (SSPX) and the rest of the Catholic Church one can see that phenomenon coming to light on both parties to the process.<br />
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On the side of "The Vatican" there is a sincere and concerted attempt by the Holy Father to move things forward. Witness by His Holiness in the letter accompanying Summorum Pontificum wherein he said "Looking back over the past, to the divisions which in the course of the
centuries have rent the Body of Christ, one continually has the impression that,
at critical moments when divisions were coming about, not enough was done by the
Church’s leaders to maintain or regain reconciliation and unity". Yet there are also, within the curia, a lot of those "true believers" I mentioned above. In this case the object of their obsession is their irrational love and dedication to Vatican II - or rather their own personal interpretation of what Vatican II meant. To this group, any mention or even slight implication that anything related to or attributed to "Their Council" was less than perfect, right, and God's Will will bring upon the offendor scorn, critcism, banishment, imprisonment, excommunication, artillery fire, aerial bombardment, and whatever else they can conjure up. To one for whom The Church was "born" in 1964 and the previous 19 centuries were merely some sort of ecclesiatical gestation period any suggestion that anything significant happened "in utero" is an anethema. To this batch of "true believers" the SSPX is the embodiment of all they deplore. <br />
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On the side of the SSPX, things are not quite as bad. Not because of the strength of the beliefs but because the focus of that belief - certain aspects of Vatican II - are relatively small and discrete items. By and large the SSPX loves The Church completely. They have certain problems with the happenings - many of the happenings - of the last 50 years, but they love The Church. The problem the SSPX faces is that there is a core of "true believers" who seem to let their focus on the problems of the last 50 years spill over into their assessment of everything that has happened in those same years. Their logic is as follows: Vatican II was in some way diabolical. Everything that happened after Vatican II is tainted in some way by it. Therefore, everything that came after Vatican II is in some way diabolical. Having lived through the turmoil of the past 5 decades I know that it has been terrible for The Church in so many ways, but at the same time throughout it all there have been legions of good, holy priests trying to keep the faith in a situation where it isn't easy to do. To this group even the most positive statements by the most faithful orthodox Bishop are subjected to a fusillade of snark and disdain - as seen in some of the comments <a href="http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/01/bishop-athanasius-schneider-discusses.html">here</a>. I know there is a difference between the comments of a random person on a blog and the comments of someone in the curia, but that is beside the point. Be they an outsider, pewsitter, priest, bishop, or cardinal the attitude is the same.<br />
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Unless and until the people in charge of how things proceed sit down together and cast aside all of the extra junk which has been layered unnecessarily on top of the few - but important - real differences, this reconciliation will never be consummated and will remain bogged down in the mire which has been heaped upon the core of the problem over the past 50 years.<br />
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Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-15144401695891045062012-12-09T07:14:00.001-08:002012-12-09T07:14:10.885-08:00Thinking About the UnthinkableAs the days pass, I am finding myself increasingly distraught over the prospects for the political future of our nation, and the absolute irrationality and irresponsibility of those both sides of the arguments over dept, taxes, spending, etc. I read this column this morning and it is so far the only intelligent thing I have read which offers some prospect - even an unpleasant one - of addressing the core issues at hand.<br />
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<a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/12/07/thinking_about_the_unthinkable_116363.html#.UMSnhHbcr20.blogger">Thinking About the Unthinkable</a><br />
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I was livid in 2011 when the "debt deal" was struck because I saw it for what it was - a highly political maneuver to avoid responsibility. The fact is - and every rational adult knows this - that we either need to shrink the government drastically to meet our tax revenues, or raise revenues drastically to fund the level of government we have. The argument can be made for either course - though I much prefer the former. There is, however, no rational or intellectually honest case to be made for the status quo of taxing like the former and spending like the latter.<br />
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So, I believe that the time has come for the Republicans in Congress to go "all in" and just say no. No more borrowing - not one dime - until the core issues are addressed.<br />
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Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-8152172249771920932012-10-24T17:16:00.000-07:002012-10-24T17:16:45.135-07:00Requiescat In Pacem, Vincenzo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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He was a Good, kind man. <br />
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He was as loving as he was brilliant and funny.<br />
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He was tough as steel when he needed to be, but understanding and kind when I needed him to be.<br />
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He Was My Dad.<br />
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And I miss him more than I ever knew I could miss anything or anyone.<br />
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Arrivaderci, My Friend.<br />
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Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-81053998367058158032012-07-11T11:31:00.001-07:002012-07-11T11:31:40.667-07:00Casino Capitalists Playing With FireThe always impressive Pat Buchanan has summed up perfectly the horrendous funk of a situation we as a culture and as a nation have allowed to develop. A system where "wealth creation" is largely detached from productive work.<br />
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<a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/07/10/casino_capitalists_playing_with_fire_114739.html#.T_23_U6E9Do.blogger">Casino Capitalists Playing With Fire</a><br />
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As Jacob McCandles so rightly said: "You decided alone. Now live it alone"..<br />
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God Help Us.Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-2614100591113536682012-07-07T05:51:00.000-07:002012-07-07T05:52:00.663-07:00Old Pickup TrucksI Love Old Pickup Trucks.
In fact, I have a great fondness for old vehicles in general, but there is something unique and special about old pickup trucks. The stark, simple functionality of them appeals to me. In fact in the same way, I find that old horse-drawn farm wagons - the pickup's direct ancestor - have the same effect. I suppose it is that are really the essential vehicle for hauling around a man's goods and produce. And if you look closely, their evolution over the past 100 or so years draws a pretty good parallel with our evolution as a society. In fact, even in the past 60 years the size, complexity and overall fanciness of the vehicles has grown incredibly. Especially the size! A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1946_Ford_V8_Pickup_DSY635.jpg">1946 Ford Pickup</a> was positively tiny compared with even a <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8626474613317320584">regular-cab new Ford F-150</a>. Leaving out entirely, of course, the fact that there are now crew-cab versions as well as larger heavier duty models. I suppose we just have so much more stuff to haul around - not to mention fatter asses - that we need bigger vehicles to do the job. Oh, and bigger egos too! But I digress.<br />
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The thing is, that while so many of my generational peers love old pickups, they love them in a different way. While I like them to be the way they were, be used the way they were meant to be, and enjoy them for that, pretty much everyone else sees them as a vehicle (no pun intended) to creating their own preferred ego (and falling testosterone) driven ideas. It is nearly impossible to find one that has not been made into some sort of hot rod. Bigger motors, bigger wheels and tires, loud exhausts, souped up motors, and interiors partially (or wholly) transplanted from some late model sedan. All in some baby-boomer youth obsessed attempt to produce - decades after the fact - an ideal representation of their teenage dreams. Yet in the very process of producing their "ideal truck" they are in fact destroying the essential beauty of what was there before.<br />
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It occurred to me this morning the similarities between this and the evolution and changes and conflict within the Church over the same time period. The traditionalists want the Catholic Church and her liturgy to be exactly the same as it was in 1946 - they are loathe to take the truck out of the museum or garage lest something happen and it would "never be the same". The modernists want to take the 1946 Model, strip it to the bone, and transplant everything on their wish list into it until it is nearly unrecognizable, yet are never really satisfied with the finished product, and so are always willing and ready to "do it over" when they see a cool trick that some other "hotrodder" has come up with. This updating process must take place every few years or the truck will begin to look "dated". <br />
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I prefer the same approach to the liturgy as I do with old pickup trucks. Keep them the way they are, yes. But keeping them essentially the way they are does not mean that you should not use modern lubricants (to make the parts work better or last longer) or modern tires (instead of old blowout-prone designs), or even newer better paint when it becomes time to repaint. These things do not change the essence of the truck, they merely enhance its functionality. And so keep the Mass the way it was, but don't be afraid of a few changes every now and then, as long as the essence of the Mass is the same. Let the readings be in the vernacular, for example, but not the prayers themselves. Add new saints as needed, but don't wipe out the whole calendar. Add more and diverse readings, but only where it will enhance the mass. In other words, to the casual observer the Mass and the pickup truck should both look the same. If they don't, they are ruined.Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-41516900503976772232012-06-02T06:25:00.000-07:002012-06-02T06:25:54.866-07:00SMALL ( Liturgical) CORRECTIONSSmall Corrections, a term I keep repeating to myself when "flying" my flight simulator program. It's also a practice drilled into me by my flight instructor brother-in-law on those wonderful nights in a Cessna 152 so many years ago. The basic concept being that to stay on a smooth and level flying path one must use the controls smoothly and not too radically. Start yanking things around a lot and you get yourself in to trouble really fast. I have found the concept useful in many aspects of life - and equally hard to follow. When we see things going wrong our human instinct is to "yank on the controls" to get back to where we think we need to be. <br />
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The same rule applies to the Liturgy and Liturgical Reform in general. After the rapid, inconsiderate, and disastrous changes that occurred in the late 1960's when so much changed so rapidly, the importance of the Mass, properly celebrated, was largely forgotten. To be sure there were pockets here or there where people remembered the breathtaking gravity which the mass is, but there were great swaths wherein it became the religious equivalent of Thanksgiving Dinner ... "Happy are those who are called to His supper" ... it was even made to sound like Thanksgiving at Grandma's. <br />
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It was in that atmosphere where the celebration of the Mass more or less settled into a slow spiral down of sentimentality and sappiness. Vapid lyrics set to mediocre (at best) melodies. Homilies which didn't go much beyond the concept of "Jesus loves me this I know, 'cause the bible tells me so". Architecture less inspiring than a supermarket. An atmosphere in church less reverent - by far - than a movie theater. I could go on, but the point is that there was much that needed fixing.<br />
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It was also into that atmosphere that a whole generation of new priests were born - and continue to be. BUT these priests seem without exception to know that things are, shall we say, less than ideal. They also seem to know that Catholicism and Catholic Identity are important and needed in the world. That the Church is THE CHURCH and not just a big social program with Crucifixes in the offices. And they are smart - very very smart. They know what needs fixing and they are setting about to fix it, slowly, methodically, fixing it - using Small Corrections.<br />
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I have watched this evolution taking place over the last 6 years at <a href="http://olgchurch.org/">Our Lady of Grace</a> parish in my hometown. When the current administration took over it was not a great situation. The church building itself was the most inspiring and beautiful I have ever seen, but pretty much everything else was generic post 1970's blandness. BUT then, after a few months, the Small Corrections started. They continued slowly but relentlessly. The parishoners were allowed to "grow into" each change before another came. It has taken years - but it has taken hold. I have seen it. And it works, for example, at 10:00AM Sunday Mass last week, I witnessed the most dignified, inspiring Novus Ordo Mass I have seen in my entire life. The music was traditional hymns - good ones. The young Priest sung much of the Mass. The congregation sang their parts well and with passion. The homily was inspiring and germane to the occasion. And the whole atmosphere was just so... <i>catholic</i>.<br />
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In the traditionalist-catholic world, there are many who are ready to go in with torches and pitchforks and axes and "fix" the rest of the Catholic world. But that isn't a Small Correction, that is a huge yank on the wheel. The kind of yank which spins you out of control and into the ground. That is not what the Church needs. She needs Small Corrections.<br />
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AND, Thank God, She is getting them.Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-71205017431872719942012-02-20T17:48:00.000-08:002012-02-20T17:48:02.676-08:00Scheisshaus Economics IIPerhaps this post should be called "Scheisshaus Socio-Economics" but the combination of the unwieldy size with the desire for a tie-in with my previous post made for the change. Plus, I suppose it's just a subset of economics, so its just as well. The basic motive for the post is sort of an attempt to examine the "science" of economics and help describe how its development in the vacuum of academia has resulted in a long series of macroecomic decisions that are the root cause of so many of the societal woes the western world is experiencing about now.<br />
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Economics as a predictive science is highly effective. The evolution of economic theory has allowed us to understand much better how the systems of the world operate. Note that I say much better - no perfectly. Economic prediction is much like weather prediction in that it is subject to huge amounts of error at times, largely because of our limited ability to know, track and understand all of the data that go "into the mix". Nonetheless the modeling and widespread knowledge has allowed us to allocate resources in such a way as to increase the overall wealth of the world (or a country) astronomically. <br />
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The problem is that we are not countries, or nations, or states, but individuals and families. To a man who is newly laid off it is no comfort to know that the country overall is better off with his steel mill being relocated to the Pacific rim. All he know is that the family is depending on him and he has no work and no prospects. If you were to ask the economist about him the answer would be that he should be retrained to work in "the service economy", or learn to work in an "intellectual innovative environment" or some such drivel. THAT is where the vacuum in which the economist lives and works is such a problem. There are several fundamental problems with that. <br />
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<u>First:</u> Because of the economist (and economic) driven changes in the world (together with their co-conspirators on Wall Street and the accompanying Washington DC based enablers) there is likely no job for which he can be quickly retrained. <br />
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<u>Second</u>: Even under the best of circumstances, the retraining for any position of consequence - or comparable income - is going to take two years at a minimum. That is two whole years of a productive life just thrown away for nothing. Economically speaking he will be no more productive at the end of the retraining than he was at his old job at the steel mill. So FIVE PERCENT of his 40-year working life has been discarded needlessly.<br />
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<u>Third</u>: Chances are that, if there is any level of professional pride in him, that he will have been much more productive in his previous job as he will be in his new one - simply because of his level of expertise and experience. If you have any doubt about that think about the next time you hire a professional and ask yourself if you would rather hire the rookie or the one with the proven track record.<br />
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<u>Fourth</u>: With the changes in the world, economically speaking, being so many and so rapid, it is highly likely that the worker in question will have to go through the lay-off - retrain - relearn - gain proficiency cycle several times in a working life. And each cycle is accompanied by the associated loss of productivity. Add two more cycles and you have turned 40 VERY productive years into 31 somewhat productive ones.<br />
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All of this tumult - along with the not inconsiderable social costs - is ignored completely in the current world of economics. It is all simply written off with the statement that "he is better off in the end" ignoring the fact that the data is simply not there to support that. <br />
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I can appreciate that the social casts of this disruption are hard to measure and are in fact outside the economists area of practice - but the direct economic costs I have listed above are ignored completely as well. The reason for this I can only guess. The fact is that these (the economists) are VERY bright people. Sadly based on the evidence presented above, it appears that they are either blind to any facts which do not fit the models for which they have been trained, or they intentionally ignore the facts simply because those who patronize their profession have their own motives for continuing to proceed as we have.<br />
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You Decide...<br />
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NEXT INSTALLMENT: THE SOCIAL COSTS<br />
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NEXTTom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-49389680691135870642011-09-26T17:31:00.000-07:002011-09-26T17:31:14.033-07:00Scheisshaus Market AnalystWith the current economic fiasco slowly unfolding around the world, what is needed is the perspective and understanding to hepl the uninitiated cut through all of the fog and misinformation surrounding the news with which we are inundated on a daily basis. So this post is to offer just that - the quick and dirty truth to what is going on.<br />
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The First Rule to remember is this: <i>The daily ups and downs of "the market" have absolutely nothing to do with he economic health of the country or the world</i>. The stock markets or commodities markets are merely a vast money making machine used to "score" monies from the many (us) to the few (insiders) - period. It has absolutely nothing to do with raising capital or any other honorable endeavour. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying or stupid or more likely both. This concept was more eloquently stated by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in <a href="http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/daily-take/201108/did-mark-cuban-predict-market-crash">this interview</a>. I know little of Mr. Cuban, but when a man is right, he's right. I have know and understood this for some time, so it isn't an idea I stole from him. It is only the fusillade of "business news" which overwhelms us every day which keep our common sense at bay and tries to keep us in the game. Just think of the excitement around a "hot" craps table, which only serves to keep the other players putting down their chips to understand this media and Wall Street driven set up.<br />
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The Second Rule (or maybe corollary to the first) is this: <i>Once Upon A Time, businesses were run by people who cared about their long-term success, the first rule did not apply</i>. Stock prices (and thus the markets) were driven by a clear understanding of long term stable growth. Great investors got wealthy by picking, buying, and holding good, sound stocks and holding them long term. Stock prices were based on that expectation - not on whether they could be "flipped" in a day - or minute - for a quick profit. As a result, the aggregate stock prices, reflected as "the market" was a relatively accurate reflection of the health of the business and industrial base - and the economy at large. No Longer.<br />
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The Third Rule is: <i>Since the markets are now truly disconnected from the economy at large, they are able to assume any value</i>. These values have <u>no relationship to reality at all</u>. As a result, over a period of years they have assumed astronomical values, as every trader was constantly on the prowl for someone to whom he could "flip" a stock for a quick turn. Like a mad bidding war at an auction, the items were selling for many many times more than they were worth. Now we find ourselves in a situation where we have a worldwide work of fiction in place of sound economies. This is why the markets, and the economic news lurches from one crisis to another - because there is no truth to any of it, it is subject to the least rumour or hint or tease of information.<br />
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The Fourth Rule is: <i>Until the fiction of the current stock and investment market are replaced by sound economic forces, policies, and information, nothing else will matter</i>. That means that all of the crap you read about "euro-zone bailouts" or stimulus, or bull markets, or "opportunities" is just that - crap, feces, poop, choose your personal favorite fecal slang. That is because until then, capital is just "chasing the flip" for lack of a better term. And the misallocation of capital is the prime issue behind the funk we are in and until that is fixed, nothing else matters. Think of this as a deathly sick hospital patient, whose treatment options are all but gone. All that can be done is to "make them comfortable" and hope against hope that they will recover. That's where we are now, in a worldwide, government-driven quest to "make us comfortable". That's because that's all there is for them to do. When the markets slow down and the prices and volumes stabilize, then and only then can any economic health begin to take hold.<br />
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Well, there you have it. The First Four concepts in my version of Real Econ 101. <br />
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<br />Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-45549254773870727852011-09-11T07:00:00.000-07:002011-09-11T07:00:27.237-07:00New Series!!!The whole point of a blog (or any writing really) is to say something that the writer feels needs to be said. This blog started of with a focus on the liturgy and the Church. Both good and important subjects - but there are other things that in fact, the author feels need to be said. In the past I have rambled on about various subjects not Church related, but now I intend to focus more on some things and in a more organized and systematic fashion. So allow me to introduce: <div>
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<b><i>The Scheisshaus Series!</i></b></div>
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A series of essays and observations on human nature, civilization, society, and life in todays world.</div>
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The name is a adaptation in German of "S**thouse Philosopher" a term of derision my father used to use years ago to describe an individual who holds forth on a subject about which he may or may not technically have any knowledge but desperately wants to be perceived as having such. In my case, I have NO pretense about my expertise or qualifications and am in no way trying to come across as such. I am just a man who observes things, thinks about them and then sometimes, comes up with something that simply needs to be said.</div>
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So stay tuned to these pages over the next few weeks. Because this has been building up in my head for a while now, but the time wasn't there to hammer it all out. But now I have been moved to start, and there is a backlog of "mental essays" that need to make it out onto the ether.</div>
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Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-43543086675529939532011-07-26T09:22:00.000-07:002011-07-26T09:48:56.427-07:00It's All Just a Matter of TrustAmid all the blathering on in the press and the political world about the ongoing budget / Debt Limit battle, the essence of the problem at hand is (predicably) overlooked completely.<br /><br />Ther real problem has nothing to do with taxes, spending cuts, entitlements, etc. Those could all be dealt with with little problem. All it takes is the motivation to do so. The problem is that those in charge on both sides of the aisle have over the past generation condcuted an all out campaign to discount and demonize the other. And by all out, I mean ALL-OUT. The mantra has been "there is no terrible way to win, there is only - winning"* No lie or distortion was seen as to much. Nixon, with all his dirty tricks, was little league - or a T-Ball league - by comparison to the deceitful, lying pack of coyotes that run things in D.C. now.<br /><br />BUT... Time moves on, and sooner or later the game is up. Or rather NOW the game is up. NOW we need leadership, NOW we need men who, in spite of their differences, can trust each other to make a deal work. But those men (and women) are long gone. The Honor that the old ones carried is gone - for good - and the newcomers, some of whom still have Honor, are kept as far away from any real power as possible. So, the leadership, being small, deceitful, selfish men, the current batch of selfish idiots lack the abuility to fix themselves and the situation.<br /><br />THEY CANNOT TRUST EACH OTHER BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT THEY ARE NOT THEMSELVES TRUSTWOTHY AND THEY EXPECT THAT THE OTHERS ALL ARE TOO.<br /><br />So like the mutinous crew on a ship of old, they threw the Captain overboard so that they could enjoy the power. But now they have discovered that the Captain was the only one who could navigate, and they are lost at see. The bright young scrawny kid swabbing the deck has some idea how to navigate, and could save them, but to put him in charge would make them all seem like the weak, bombastic, selfish fools that they are. Better, think they, to remain lost and die at sea with your ego intact, deep in denial, than to have accept your own miserable failure.<br /><br />God Help Us All...Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-54056087629474514032011-07-07T19:02:00.000-07:002011-07-07T19:22:48.912-07:00Oldie But Goodie...Several Years Ago, I became dismayed by the almost pathological fixation that the traditionalist community had with the externals of the Mass. I wrote a post about it, <a href="http://carolinapublican.blogspot.com/2007/04/clowns-to-left-of-me-kooks-to-right.html">Clowns to the Left of Me, Kooks to the Right</a> wherein I vented my spleen on such pettiness and the perpetrators thereof.<div><br /></div><div>Of course, over the years, little has changed in that regard, at least on the part of the "old hands". Interestingly enough, the newbies, those who only recently (often post Summorum Pontificum) began to experience the Extraordinary Form don't seem nearly as obsessive about vestments, or who the music arrangement was by, etc. They are more than happy to appreciate the holiness and beauty just as it is - to take it as it comes and thank God for it.</div><div><br /></div><div>That is a GOOD thing. Yes, the externals matter - look at a gothic cathedral - but they are only useful to expand on the beauty of the truth of The Mass. When the externals become THE important part, you have lost the meaning - period.</div><div><br /></div><div>This all comes to mind because of the comments on a <a href="http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/07/quaeritur-hymns-at-low-mass-extraordinary-form/#comment-283967">post by The Great Father Z.</a> wherein he asked about the presence or absence of music in a Low Mass. In my opinion, it has no place at all, but I accept that other opinions vary, and I respect that. What galls is the implication by so many that a Mass without Music is somehow lacking.</div><div><br /></div><div>GOD HIMSELF IS PRESENT ON THE ALTAR!!! </div><div><br /></div><div>If anyone thinks that is somehow inadequate because there is no singing, then maybe they have an understanding of the Church, and of Catholicism, that needs serious help.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-32384103118641405572011-06-12T06:38:00.000-07:002011-06-12T07:33:22.394-07:00ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTSRecent economic news about the problem brewing of a "Lost Generation" prompts me to write on a subject which I have been contemplating for some time now - or is at least closely related thereto. The problem, as described in some detail <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/political-connections/our-upside-down-workforce-20110609">here</a> and <a href="http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/06/10/a-lost-generation-in-the-making/">here</a>, that the older generation of workers in this country isn't going anywhere - thus "plugging the system" and not leaving any job openings for the youngest (entry level) generation.<div><br /></div><div>It is time to examine the whole concept of <i>retirement</i> - or at least the modern version. It is obviously understandable that as we age, our abilities change, especially in more physical endeavors. Yet that would seem to lead on toward <i>changing</i> jobs over a lifetime - <i>not</i> quitting entirely. But what has developed in the US (at least) is the idea that, in the middle of a productive life, one should just give up and enjoy 100% leisure for the remaining part of your life. Worse yet, given modern life spans and pension plans, that may amount to 25% or more of a productive life. This leads to things like the "30 and out" process I see among some colleagues, wherein, having finished college at - say - age 22, they put in their 30 years and at the ripe old age of 52 years old, retire and spend the next 30-plus years doing nothing other than "killing time" and playing. </div><div><br /></div><div>Any objective reading of the situation has to show the insanity and absurdity of such an arrangement. First, in many fields, the 50-some years old are the best, most educated, valuable part of a work force. To take a 55 year old engineer, or manager, or teacher, etc. and put them "out to pasture" is to discard 15 years of their most knowledgable, productive time. To be replaced by a 20-something "greenhorn" who will need years of learning to be as productive as the old-timer they replaced.</div><div><br /></div><div>Economically speaking, a society - or civilization - cannot succeed where <i>one fourth</i> of the productive value of each (or most) member is simply discarded. It unsustainable - period. THe only reason is has worked out this way for the past two generations is that they have been the beneficiaries of the unbelievable economic growth and thrift which was produced by their ancestors in the past 100 years. They are the ones who have been standing on the shoulders of giants. But as the markets tank and the economy stagnates that model simply no longer works. This system will have to be discarded - sooner rather than later. And when, here in the United States, millions of "baby boomers" are facing the reality that they may actually have to work years longer than they thought, <i>sooner</i> may actually be <i>now</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The tantalizing side story is centered around the fact that the "boomers" are completely oblivious to the fact that they ARE "standing on the shoulders of giants". They think THEY did it all! And more than anything, that reality, which they by-and-large refuse to face is about to be thrust upon them - aggressively - by the generation under 40 who are about to refuse to "pay the freight" for their insanely wealthy parent's generation. I may be wrong - and I hope that I am - but this is going to get ugly.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-13421602544424141562011-06-08T15:31:00.000-07:002011-06-08T16:02:48.974-07:00The Town Where I WorkYesterday, I was broke - dead flat broke. Yes I had a bit of money in the bank, but none to spare, and certainly no cash to spare. But it was Tuesday, the day of my bi-weekly trip with my boss to get spaghetti at the eatery a few hundred feet up the street. My lack of cash for the $5.25 lunch special of salad, spaghetti, and garlic bread, combined with the availability of some two-day-old leftovers prompted me to beg off and eat in my office. I never mentioned my impecunious state to my boss, or he would have insisted on buying my lunch, and I'd look like a beggar - something that I did not want.<br /><br />So I ate my lunch - happily. But then, around 2:00, I got the need for a cold drink and caffeine dose, so I scraped around in my car, desk, and pockets, and came up with the princely sum of $1.38. Not quite enough for the big iced tea I wanted ($1.50 including tax) but I decided to go up the street (to the same eatery) and see if thay let me owe them the 12 cents.<br /><br />Now this place is small, old, unpretentious as they come, and has a general air of happy-to-get-by comfort. Hard-working waitresses and cooks, healthy portions of good food. So, I went in, and immediately they got my tea. I met the waitress at the register, and sheepishly handed over my four quarters, two dimes, two nickels and eight pennies, explaining that it was all I had. She waved me off thoughtlessly as if to say "don't even worry about that". Then she inqured as to my absence from the "ritual" spaghetti lunch and I explained that I was broke.<br /><br />At that point she became upset, as did the other waitress who overheard the conversation, and said "<em>Don't you EVER</em> skip a meal here because of that!! We know you are good for it and know you'll pay us when you can." The manager heard the conversation and affirmed the statement.<br /><br />I love the town where I work. It is basic, blue-collar, honest, and true. It's funny how hard working honest people without a lot of money are wiling to help out when needed. That's the way I was taught to be. I am saddened by the fact that the world is corrupt and so different than that ideal, but I am even more heartened by the fact that that ideal is out there, still surviving, in places like the town where I work.Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-72882661908172205332011-01-17T07:40:00.000-08:002011-01-17T11:02:52.598-08:00Brick by Brick (or... God is pretty bright!)Looking at the way The Church is changing, and reflecting on how it is all unfolding, gives me cause to see clearly the hand of God in all the various facets of the situation as it exists now.<div><br /></div><div>Most every day Catholics have been isolated (intentionally or not) from their heritage for 40 years. For years, the frame of reference has stopped at about 1964 - as if to discount everything before then. This attitude has permeated everything and most everyone. Think of the way the term "the council" is used! It (Vatican 2) is referred to as "The Council" - implying that said council constitues some sort of Omniscient and Omnipotent Force which exists as a prima facie Magisterium in and of itself. The typical context brings to mind once popular bumper-sticker cliche - "Jesus Said it, I Believe it, That Settles it". Substitute "The Council" for Jesus, and you get the idea.</div><div><br /></div><div>But now, The Church is in the process of a renaissance. An awakening to the idea that we, as 21st century Catholics, are just the latest generation. The latest of hundreds. That we are the heirs to a tradition spanning many centuries. The being Catholic <i>means something</i>. And that that heritage carries with it the responsibility of treasuring it and passing it on. </div><div><br /></div><div>There are numerous aspects of this unfolding as we watch: </div><div><br /></div><div>Summorum Pontificum has awakened - even in the non-traditional - a certain awareness of tradition. Even those uninterested see it in the news (both secualar and Catholic) and bit-by-bit become aware of it's significance. And they get to see what Mass should look (and sound) like.</div><div><br /></div><div> The Holy Father, with his kind and pointed guidance and example, is constantly reminding us of who we are. And I believe that his example of leadership, and selection of Bishops has over the past few years allowed Priests to explore more confidently (and thus rediscover) a more Catholic way of celebrating the sacraments. Slowly, the cabinet doors are opening and vestments and prayers and thuribles nearly forgotten are seeing the light of day. </div><div><br /></div><div>The new (corrected) translation is coming up in only a few months. And the dignified prayers therein will also, slowly, permeate the way people <i>experience</i> Catholicism. <i>Lex Orandi Lex Credendi</i> indeed!</div><div><br /></div><div>NOW, back to my first point... Any of the changes mentioned above, happening at any other time, would have been a flop. Summorum Pontificum would have been in the dead-letter file (just like Ecclesia Dei Adflicta). The Papal trend toward tradition (if even allowed by the likes of Piero Marini) would have been ignored completely as the eccentricities of "some old man in Rome". The new translation would have been killed in the womb by the likes of those who tried so hard (and unsuccessfully) to kill it by infanticide. </div><div><br /></div><div>BUT, THAT DID NOT HAPPEN! God Himself has seen that each step is happening at EXACTLY the right time and in EXACTLY the right order. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Extraordinary form is attracting people who never even heard of it, and is being experienced (even unintentionally) by those who looked upon it as something akin to snake-handling. The slow trend to more traditional practices is becoming "normalized". And the new translation is not only being seen for what it is (the chance to hear and say the prayers of the mass as intended), but seen as an opportunity to connect up to our catholic foundations!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>I Thank God it's all happening. And I Thank God I am here to see it.</div><div><br /></div>Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-2353238218946269522011-01-17T07:15:00.000-08:002011-01-17T07:35:18.776-08:00Extraordinary Mass Number FiveSeveral Months ago, <a href="http://carolinapublican.blogspot.com/2010/08/extraordinary-mass-number-four-thoughts.html">I blogged about the beauty of the Low Mass</a>, based on my experience at that time. Well, Sunday Last (9 January) I was able to again experience the EF in is High Mass form.<div>For Days thereafter, one word kept going through my head:</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><i>Glorious...</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>I have been around for many years, and seen many things in this world, but I can honestly say that Mass was the first thing I have seen that truly rated that adjective.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> <i>Glorious...</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Now I understand the meaning of the phrase "The most beautiful thing this side of heaven".</div><div><br /></div><div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span> <i>Glorious...</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Now I understand why Catholic churches evolved into the form they traditionally assume - the magnificent High Altar, the stained glass, the pipe organ, the choir in the loft, the inspired architecture. They evolved that way because it's the only earthly venue worthy of The Mass.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span> <i>Glorious...</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>And, sadly, now I understand why the modernists and the reformers were so committed to emasculating The Mass as it was meant to be. How on earth could they otherwise convince people to rebel and wander off? How do you keep them focused on earthly things when they have peeked through the door and seen a bit of heaven??? They HAD to make it less moving - less heavenly - otherwise there would be no way to lead the faithful to believe that The Church was "just another denomination" and therefore not all that special, and therefore able to be rejected or at the very least ignored. </div></div>Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-15990909817387405782010-12-23T06:26:00.000-08:002010-12-23T07:15:20.786-08:00The Bear and the DioceseYears ago, back when there was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union">Soviet Union</a>, a massive amount of time and effort was put by western governments (and press) went into reading what news and information was published there. The real point being not so much the factual details of the article, but the message that was being conveyed by the existence and the context of the articles themselves. An article about corruption, for instance, meant that the authorities were watching it closely. Two articles meant they were getting serious, and get honest quickly. Three articles meant if your hand is in the till, get ready for your ass to be in the Gulag.<div><br /></div><div>Now, for years, the dioscean paper of the <a href="http://www.charlottediocese.org/">Charlotte Diocese</a>, <i>The News & Herald</i> has had a pleasant, but unremarkable existence. Then several weeks ago, the format changed and the content became much, much more focused. It seemed like our <a href="http://www.charlottediocese.org/bishopjugis.html">FINE bishop</a> was taking the game up a notch. Putting it in Soviet Watch terms, if I may - pay attention to what is going on here!</div><div><br /></div><div>Then, <a href="http://www.charlottediocese.org/customers/101092709242178/filemanager/CNH%20Docs/Dec_10.pdf">last week</a>, an article about a beautiful and very traditional church renovation in Tryon, NC, featured in <a href="http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2010/12/completion-of-renovations-at-st-john.html">this New Liturgical Movement post</a>. Now, the <a href="http://www.charlottediocese.org/customers/101092709242178/filemanager/CNH%20Docs/Dec_17.pdf">current issue</a> features a spread of yet another renovation - less extensive, but still traditional and Catholic looking. Better yet, this time the spread features traditional (and old) statuary, and prominent blurb about Sacred Art and Vatican II. As Icing on the Cake, these same issues had an article about the importance of - and resurgence of - Altar Boys, as well as a column about Chapel Veils.</div><div><br /></div><div>Again in Soviet Watch terms, the beauty and truth of Catholicism and our external Catholic Identity is important. And, if you think that all of Catholic Tradition was put asunder by Vatican II, you're wrong.</div><div><br /></div><div>Pay Attention. Catholicism is coming. Get ready.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-39986969623619101122010-12-12T06:44:00.000-08:002010-12-12T07:05:20.522-08:00HOPE FOR THE FUTURE<div><span class="Apple-style-span" >This article is, entitled <b>Called to Serve</b> featured in the <a href="http://www.charlottediocese.org/customers/101092709242178/filemanager/CNH%20Docs/Dec_10.pdf">latest issue</a> of our dioscean paper, the <i>Catholic News & Herald. </i> It's hard, I believe to overstate the importance of the content - or the importance of it being published so prominently (teaser on the front page) in the paper! </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" >Called to Serve</span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >CHARLOTTE — <span class="Apple-style-span">Have you noticed more young people wearing </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">albs, cassocks and surplices serving at Mass? </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">It’s not just a fluke – it’s a trend that priests around the Diocese </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">of Charlotte are encouraging. More and more young people in the </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >diocese are expressing willingness to serve their parishes through </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >the privilege of altar serving.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">St. Michael Church in Gastonia particularly has been graced </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">with a growing number of altar servers over the past several </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">years. It is not uncommon for the church to have more than 10 </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">boys every Sunday at the 10 a.m. Mass. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">Father Roger K. Arnsparger, who is St. Michael’s pastor as </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">well as vicar of education for the diocese, welcomes the growing </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">popularity of altar servers and said he hopes to encourage </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">vocations.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">“We have had a great interest from young men wanting to serve </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">at Holy Mass,” Father Arnsparger said. “The young men are filled </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">with a humble appreciation of the opportunity and the privilege </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">of serving Holy Mass. The fraternal bond between them has been </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">a great help to them in their spiritual lives and in their growing </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">love of the Mass and the Church. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">“They show great responsibility, leadership and loyalty. They </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">encourage each other, teach each other, learn from each other and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">enjoy the process. They are a small faith group leading each other </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">in excellence in Catholic worship and in their Catholic lives.” </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Father Christopher Roux also has been stoking the fires of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">service among young men since his arrival as rector of St. Patrick </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">Cathedral in 2008. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">“It is my firm hope that by keeping the boys closely associated </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">to the altar throughout their early years, if they have a vocation to </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">the priesthood, the call will be awakened and encouraged,” Father </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">Roux said. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">At St. Ann Church in Charlotte, Father Timothy Reid has the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">same intention.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">“The Church has looked upon altar serving as a means of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">generating vocations to the priesthood for many generations </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">precisely because it introduces boys and young men to the most </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">important aspect of priesthood: offering the holy sacrifice of the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">Mass. So the more often our altar servers </span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">have a chance to serve, the more exposure </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">they are given,” he said.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Canon law and Church teaching also allow </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">girls to serve at the altar, because altar </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">servers assist at Mass in much the same way </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">that readers and extraordinary ministers </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">of holy Communion do. Even if vocations </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">are not the primary aim, for both boys </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">and girls serving at Mass can be a way of </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">becoming involved as lay people, particularly </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">in smaller churches or where there is a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">pastoral need. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Altar servers act as cross bearers, acolytes, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">incense bearers and torch or candle bearers. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">Some servers also assist the priest by </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">holding the sacramentary at Mass as the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">various prayers are read. When serving </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">Mass for a bishop, even more servers (called </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">“vimps”) are assigned to hold his crozier and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">his miter.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; " ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">In most parishes, altar server training </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">is overseen by a deacon. If you know of a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">young person interested in becoming an </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">altar server, contact your parish’s office for </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">details.</span></span></div></div>Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-14399911414366213002010-09-21T11:32:00.000-07:002010-09-21T11:47:34.038-07:00Middle class running as fast as it can Rex Nutting - MarketWatch<span style="font-family:courier new;">I am completely aware of my own limitations as a writer - painfully so at times. </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Painful because there are so many times when I observe things which I desperately feel need to be expressed on paper (or LCD), but can never quite make the words I spit out express the meaning I am trying to convey. And because of that, when I see a "real" writer put out something that expresses so well what I am seeing or thinking, I really appreciate it...</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">This column does just that. Enjoy</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/middle-class-running-as-fast-as-it-can-2010-09-17">Middle class running as fast as it can Rex Nutting - MarketWatch</a>Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-85450756716317101962010-09-06T06:10:00.000-07:002010-09-06T06:24:16.949-07:00More thoughts on MusicHaving witness so so much mediocre to just plain awful music at mass, I have to wonder...<br /><br />Wouldn't NO music at all be preferable to BAD music barely (it at all) sung???<br /><br />And I have to wonder also if the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-Catholics-Cant-Sing-Catholicism/dp/0824511530/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283778977&sr=1-1">"Why Catholics Can't Sing"</a> isn't dealing<br />with the wrong question...<br /><br />Why catholics DON'T sing is a better question.<br /><br />Or better yet...<br /><br />Why are we constantly TRYING to make people sing who just want to sit (or stand or kneel) and <strong>QUIETLY PRAY TO THEIR CREATOR??????</strong><br /><br />What's wrong with quiet devotion? Why must going to Mass be like <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_Miller#Sing_Along_with_Mitch">Sing along with Mitch</a></em>?Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-47692029969540332612010-09-06T05:35:00.000-07:002010-09-06T06:07:23.034-07:00INSANITY"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and ezpecting different results." So goes the famous quote, attributed to Albert Einstein. Last night, at Mass, I witnessed that insanity. <br /><br />A stunningly beautiful Church with two hundred or more people, with a beautiful pipe organ being played. The makings of something magnificent! But makings is all you got. Because, as the organ wailed away, playing a series of tired old leisure-suit era ditties, virtually the entire congregation simply sat there in silence - or softly mumbled along with the lyrics at best. <br /><br />And witnessing - yet again - this sad phenomonon makes me wonder. How on earth can you explain it??? Perhaps they simply <em>CAN NOT SEE </em>just how dismal the situation is with the mass and the accompaniment??? But since they have eyes and ears, I tend to dismiss this out of hand. Or perhaps they see it and just don't care? Nope. If they didn't care, they'd be at home.<br /><br />It can only be that they see it, but are so absolutely rooted in their belief in doing it the way they have been taught to do it since 1970 that the possibility that they are wrong simply - in their world - does not exist. Their music <em>MUST</em> be just right, because <em>THEY</em> have decided that it is!!!<br /><br />This is simply a microcosm of the mass exodus / decimation of the Church we have seen since we poor souls had the Wisdom and Enlightenment of Vatican II foisted upon us some four decades ago. And both the instigators of and the "true believers" in that "renewal", being know-it-alls by definition, have the same blind spot of all of their ilk. That is they ALL believe - or rather <em>know</em> - that they are absolutely right, so they need not even bother to consider otherwise!!!<br /><br />And it saddens me to sit and wonder....<br /><br />How long this insanity???<br />How long must we suffer???Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8626474613317320584.post-26852432659986283522010-08-16T09:45:00.000-07:002010-08-16T11:30:00.191-07:00Extraordinary Mass Number Four - ThoughtsOn Sunday the 15th, I attended for the fourth time (as an adult) The Mass in the Extraordinary Form - celebrating the Feast of the Assumption.<br /><br />Celebrated as a Low Mass, at <a href="http://www.olgchurch.org/">Our Lady of Grace Church</a> yesterday afternoon, by Father Robert Ferguson of the <a href="http://www.fssp.com/">FSSP</a>. And it was an overwhelming experience - perfect in every way (save for missing a part of the mass having to attend to my 8 year old's bloody nose). And it reminded me of a lesson learned from my childhood. That is - <span style="font-style: italic;">The Low Mass RULES!</span> I am keenly aware of the Church's teaching that the High Mass is the "ultimate expression", etc. But I submit to you that - on a day in day out basis - they are wrong. Maybe at St. Peters or some other grand ediface on some days a High Mass is the best, but for the everyday Catholic - whose faith is simple, sincere, deep, and not wrapped up in Pomp and Pretense - the simplicity and humility of the simple rite reflects <span style="font-style: italic;">perfectly</span> the humble and simple approach we have (or should have) to God our Father.<br /><br />In addition tho the pure simplicity of the rite, there is the added aspect of being able to follow closely and precisely what is going on. In the High Mass, there are many times when the priest is up at the altar doing his thing and the choir is chanting away happily and there is now way at all to figure out what the heck is happening. At Mass one should internally participate and contemplate the enormous gravity of what is happening on the altar. The music should be focused on and supportive of that - not an ostentatious distraction from it.<br /><br />Further it is now clear to me that the trend to highly produced Pontifical High Masses - both live and on television - is a distraction from the ultimate goal of establishing the traditional mass as a regular occurrence in most parishes. Watching one of these (admittedly beautiful) Masses is so overwheming and long that it can only be a turn off to those ordinary "John and Mary Catholics" who have neither the experience or the initiative to know that that is not an example of what having one of their parishes Sunday Masses in the extraordinary form would be like. They see a two-hour production on EWTN and think "no way would I want to have to sit through that every week" -never realizing that the normal parish mass would have virtually nothing in common with what they have seen on TV (or worse yet heard about second or third hand).<br /><br />The two most beautiful Masses of my adult life have been this Sunday's Low Mass, and the Missa Cantata I attended last Easter in a tiny, beautiful church in Winston Salem, NC. If we could transform the average Sunday Mass at the average parish into something as simple and moving and beautiful and holy as those two Masses, the Church would be well along the read to true renewal.<br /><br />Please Lord Let it be so.....Tom S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02598404623048927550noreply@blogger.com3