This might come as a shock

But we've been hit with a wave of medical problems over the last few weeks.  Hence my slowness in either posting or responding to comments, which I always try to do.  Hopefully things will slow down soon.  It's almost July and we haven't even finished our herb garden yet (or done much in our yard for that matter)!  This is getting serious.  

But as soon at things slow, I should be back with a couple things.  In the meantime, if I'm not back by then, have a safe and blessed Independence Day and relish that time of year that things begin to come back to us.  

A brief update

As we bundle up against yet more April evidence of Global Warming, I must admit it's been a whirlwind couple weeks.  Sometimes you must think we live in a circus. I would not say it was all bad.  Some of the developments have been wonderful. But, alas, we've also been hit with a couple broadsides, including in the health department, and that has drained the days and hours from me being able to put thoughts together.  I started a post a few days ago and will try to finish it before next week, which I think is more properly spent not fussing about trivial matters like geopolitical events, the global economy, and the latest hellish tricks to trip up the faithful remnant.  Thinking on the victory seems the better way to go.  I'll probably get back to musing on those conversion stories after Easter and all the celebrations thereof.  Otherwise, I hope all are doing well and enjoying the last Lentin push until that glorious day I've learned to love more than I did Christmas as a child.  Till then.  

Still alive

Just thought I'd drop a line.   We're still here.  Blogging has been feather light for a few reasons.  Not the least of which is because it's tough to figure out what is going on.  I've written for years that the press has lost all credibility.  I mean, I'd trust a faith healer who has a hernia, suffers from gout and is nearly deaf before I would take at face value anything coming from the modern press.  

But that's a problem.  Like many bloggers, I often key a post off of a single article or editorial or even social media page.  But before posting, I try to make sure that if I'm making a broader point, that the article in question isn't some fluke, and does represent fairly a given trend.  That is, I try to make sure it is correct and an accurate picture of what someone or some group is doing or saying.

Now it's nearly impossible.  I wrote here, somewhat half joking, that the press was going to go into full blown Venkman mode with the reelection of Donald Trump.  I only meant that somewhat to illustrate where I believed the focus would be.  That once again, with a Republican in the White House, the press would start admitting what is wrong in the country and the problems we all see, for those who actually think there might be some problems nowadays. 

But no.  They've gone into full blown bat crazy hysterics 101, with those on the Left giving up on figuring why they lost and just hunkering down into the insanity, the likes of which I've never seen in my lifetime.  And as has been the trend, more and more of those on the Left are simply blocking and banning anyone trying to point out the obvious.  Meaning it takes a lot of time now to get to the bottom of things, since almost everything reporting on them is beyond unbelievable, and attempts to clarify with those who are on that side are falling flat because of them shutting themselves out from dissenting views. 

And time, right now, is just something I don't have a lot of.  While I can't complain about things, that doesn't mean things haven't changed over the years, and there aren't more daily obligations on my part. It's not some horrible emergency, just the developments that happen in life.  And I'm happy to say, some of it is just the pleasant developments that can happen with the passing of years, and bring new things and new issues to contend with, but in a great way (grandfather observation there).

So I'm still around.  Just trying to juggle the changes in things with the changes in things on a social level to almost unbelievable levels of madness.  I'm reminded of something one of my sons said years ago.  Our big problem is we are led by a generation that believed it would save the world but came to realize it wasn't equal to the task. What we have now is what they have settled for instead, and it isn't doing anyone any good.  

But for now, it will be tough to unpack everything without falling into the trap of skirting the details or sweating the facts, times being what they are.  I still might start posting on more fun and whimsical things, but even then it's tough time-wise.  When I can put my thoughts together and perhaps take time to sort out the hurricane of wackiness, I'll post on it.  Until then, take care and God bless. 

On the bright side of all things, our obligatory and shameless granddaughter plug: 

Ten months seems so many years ago

And another thing that makes us smile.  We don't do all the total family activities that we used to for obvious reasons.  We still try on occasion, but it's usually around a million competing schedules and obligations.  Nonetheless, the boys try to get together, the four of them, at least once or twice a month just to hang out, go over to their home, go to the store and play games, or just spend time with each other.  If nothing else was there to put a silver lining around life's occasional clouds, their insistence on still doing things together will always make me happy. 

The game is called Root, a strange game to be sure

Wo ist das blogging?

As is obvious, I'm just not blogging the way I used to.  Long and short, it's been a pivot year.  A tough one, but also a blessed one. Mixing lots of running ahead of the boulder with events and developments that have been pure joy.  But all of it means time just isn't what it has been in the past.  Sure, Social Media has changed, blogs aren't what they were, things have gone a million miles in different directions since I first stopped by St. Blogs almost two decades ago.  

And again, blogs have changed, and for some reason, Catholics left of center have made blocking and banning people who disagree with their politics their new favorite pastime.  Which means actual discourse over disagreements, especially over the troubling developments left of center, is left for people who agree that they are troubling.  Which does change the nature of blogs from what they were, if you think on it. 

But through it all, it's just tough to say 'I have a thought - quick, to the Bat Blog!'  I've even thought of doing what I suggested in the past, and making it more about reflections, faith things, fun things, hobby things, like blogs in the old days often did.  Leaving all but the occasional hefty topic for others to dissect.  But again, time.  That commodity more precious than gold and rarer than diamonds.  

I'll still put together things when I can.  Who knows, maybe I will post more frivolous things, the days of weighty commentary seeming to fade at this point.  To be honest, my thoughts tend to lean that way, preferring old days of blogs when various hobbies and interests or whimsical musings were as common to see as any take down of the latest political developments or church scandals.  We'll see.  But if it seems things have slowed down, they have. And I doubt they'll pick up again the way it used to be.  

A full rich week

So as weeks go, it's been a week.  As my sons like to say.  Or a year for that matter.  So far 2024 has been less than optimal in the 'Great Year' department.  Almost the opposite.  I told my wife that in the first couple weeks at least, 2024 acts like I ran over its dog. 

Not everything has been some horrible disaster.  But some bumps in the road with a few potholes thrown in just to liven it up.  Which all seemed to be converging on this week for the grand finale.  At least hopefully the grand finale for the year. 

My wife was scheduled for some medical tests on Wednesday.  Nothing too serious, but those tests you get just to make sure all is OK and crossing Ts and everything. But that became the least of the concerns on Tuesday night.  My mom, it turned out, had a stroke at some point during that day. 

Now, that's concerning when you're 93 years old and have suffered from dementia for almost fifteen years.  The good news is, she appears to have bounced back about as well as we could hope.  In fact, when we were told to call 911 and the EMS crew showed up, they made me explain why they were there.  Given her vitals, and that she couldn't remember her name or speak clearly, given her age and dementia, didn't seem to warrant the emergency call.  I had to establish the baseline. 

The most I could say is we knew something was wrong.  We had our little routines, things we did with her every day and night.  Things we said every night before she went to bed.  And suddenly she couldn't say them.  It was a hunch on our part that something was wrong.  So to the ER she went and the scan confirmed our suspicions and fears.  At some point she suffered a stroke.

Nonetheless, they sent her home yesterday.  As the doctor explained, for a woman of her age and the long trail of dementia, having had a significant stroke, she's doing exceptionally well.  Oh, she's had a memory wipe.  She no longer knows my name.  Though as I explained to the doctor, she may have forgotten it some time ago.  Since we were here with her and interacted on a daily basis, it never dawned on us to quiz her.  She knew her name and birthday, something lost to her now.  But she knows us still.  

When my son and daughter-in-law stopped by the hospital, even though I wasn't around, she knew them. Not by name.  But she knew them as opposed to, say, the nurses.  Her reaction to us and interaction with us was clearly different than her response to nurses or doctors and such.  As I said, she may no longer know who I am, but she still knows what I am.  Which is about par for the course with us.  I've stated before that we have a knack for being hit with some of the big things that can hit a family, but almost always in the best ways they can happen.  If that makes sense.   

With that said, she will need a new level of care.  Especially over the next month or two.  We'll have some home care and some therapy and some special monitors in the coming weeks.  They believe that might help improve a little in the communications department while watching over her more closely.   But as they observed, she's already back to speaking and talking and communications well beyond what we could have hoped.  But it will change things, more than they were already changing.  

Hence the sudden drop in blog posts.  I said I would cut down, but didn't mean that much.  I at least wanted to post on fun things.   But it's been a bit busy these last days.  Prayers would be appreciated for my mom.  I think the toughest part is that now she's home, we know it is only the beginning.  Which is fine.  As my wife and I have admitted, this is the path we chose.  And given what my mom did for me through the years - including that whole giving me life thing - I consider it the least we can do.  

I would say kudos to the boys who, as always, stepped up to the plate.  One thing they have learned is how to swing into action when something goes wrong.  But it will probably be a little bit longer before I'm back to blogging unless some crazy thing happens - and that could include crazy good things.  Otherwise, I'll be back when I can.  

Henceforth

As many can tell, blogging has been light recently.  Well, it's been mostly non-existent.  I have no intention of declaring an end to the blog or anything.  I've done that before, and almost every time some crazy 'next step to the abyss' moment happened.  The most recent example being when I pledged to set aside issue based blogging - on the eve of the Brett Kavanaugh kangaroo court.  The noteworthy moment with that fiasco was listening to lawmakers, pundits and even journalists explain that while innocent until proven guilty, due process and burden of proof are fine things for our dusty old courtrooms and legal types, in 21st Century American society they no longer apply. 

Incidentally, has anyone noticed the next step in this?  Donald Trump is being removed from ballots, and as far as I know, he has yet to be convicted in a court of law.  And the ones advocating for this are those legal law making types who roam about in those dusty old courtrooms.  I'm no legal expert, and perhaps there is an explanation.  But it looks to me like we just took another step across another line in the sand. 

Therefore, because you never know what will happen next - like the Left being 'awe shucks' about non-right-winger activists celebrating the worst singled day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust - I won't say no to topical blogging.  I will, however, cut back.  As I have already been doing, if you can't tell. 

Part of it is practical.  A growing number of online news outlets and other forums are becoming 'paywall protected.'  When I started this back in 2010, even those media outlets that had paywalls had a sort of 'ten free a month' type offers.  But now?  Nope.  Not only the big mainline outlets like the NYT or Washington Post or Wall Street Journal, but even others like Fox or some Catholic sites I've visited are having more 'subscribe to read the whole thing' messages.

On top of that Twitter has changed.  I have never (nor will I ever) belonged to Twitter, the scourge of discourse and mature dialogue.  But I could still access imagines of those who are on Twitter. But they've changed something, and now I can't. That means there's just not much left to turn to when it comes to linking to a story or reading up on what is going on.  Unless it's our local papers or a magazine off the shelf, it just isn't that easy anymore.  On top of that, people just don't seem to be interested in keeping up with the crazy the way they used to.  I still get some emails or FB messages about what the latest kookie thing written, but not nearly the way it used to be. 

This includes blogs, BTW.  I seldom link to blogs that are more traditional or conservative, for obvious reasons.  Most who read my blog read theirs.  While there is nothing wrong with what they say, I have always felt it odd to simply repeat what others have written, especially when most are coming to my blog from theirs.  

Beyond all that, here on the home front, it's just tougher to keep up.  Despite the media's propaganda to the contrary, this is not a wonderful economy with our best days ahead.  Our family, too, is under the joy of  Bidenomics, and will have to adjust accordingly.  Plus, certain commitments around the house are demanding more time on our part, and that takes away from the time I can give searching for the odd outlet that has a story to muse on that I can access.

So I'll cut down my 'issue' blogging to about one a week.  That is, a post bouncing off some news story about the country, the Church, the world, whatever.  I won't waste time with liberal Catholics online anymore.  They have retreated behind bans and blocks and no comments sections to avoid confronting dissenters.  No sense posting about something nobody can react to, other than shake fists and say 'told you so.'  But dealing with the latest news crazy, or problem in current events, will occupy about one post a week.  Huge, catastrophic moments always being a potential exception.

That's not to say I won't muse on things.  I reserve the right to post something based on my general assessment of life, faith, or fancies.  But the 'follow this link to a story because of the latest' will be a once a week endeavor.  

Of course I will keep posting on fun, family and other such important ventures.  We have a good priest, an excellent associate pastor, and thus far, a wonderful bishop, and that helps in this maelstrom of Francis era Catholicism.  More on these things down the road.  Beyond that, the latest movies, games and family outings are always fair game. 

But I wanted to update.  Again, once a week I'll try to throw something out based on what is going on in the wider world. Beyond  that, I might post on reflections in general when the spirit moves me.  Hopefully more on the family and fun and faith parts, just to keep active with the blog overall.  If any of that makes sense.  Thanks for the visits, and hope to see everyone soon. 

A Merry and Blessed Christmas

And with that, I'll be off of here until a day or two after Christmas, and then off a bit until after the New Year.  Then I'll come back with a little change going forward.  Have a blessed and joyful Christmas season in the meantime! 

But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  Galatians 4:4-5

So what did last week teach us?

First, that I'm obviously a Beatles fan.  I know.  Given the rot in our society it seems odd to be a fan of something that many consider instrumental in furthering that rot.  But as long as other Christians eat their slice of the worldly pie, and justify it with copious appeals to Romans 14, I'll still like the Beatles (and other musical offerings from the whole sex, drugs and rock and roll era - tens of millions dead from AIDS and drugs being something we apparently have learned to live with rather than give up our playlists).

Second, I'm clearly growing tired of 'Issue Blogging.'  Let's face it, the blogosphere of 20 years ago is dead and gone. Twitter and other similar platforms that distill complex issues into sitcom level one liners are now the rage for Internet discourse.  Many Catholic  bloggers, especially to the left of center, have moved to sites behind digital walls that keep dissenting views from troubling them (I kid you not, find more than a couple leftwing Catholic sites that still have open comments sections).  Meanwhile the shadow grows and the suicide of the West continues apace. 

My boys and I were talking some months ago, as you know we're wont to do.  While discussing America's willingness to let the Marxist assault on our nation win out, we were pondering how these things happen.  Perhaps because we abandoned God?  Let godlessness win out? Were cowards and wimps who looked for slick excuses to avoid actually defending virtue and truth?  Or, as one of my sons suggested, perhaps the whole reason America and the entire era of democracy existed at all was merely to thwart the Nazis in their goal of exterminating the Jewish people.  You know, a lifting up Cyrus sort of thing. 

I thought that was an interesting take.  It certainly isn't non-biblical.  God's ways aren't ours.  Which might be why, at this point, it looks like God has given our nation up to its lusts and impurities.  After all, whatever good the nation had is mostly fading from the historical stage.  The nation so many are desperately trying to save died many years ago.  Young people have been told to believe that the United States and all the West are defined by their unforgivable and unique sins and need only be eliminated.  Cue the Jews now linked with Israel which is seen by the Left as part of the West that has to go. 

In the face of this, continuing to prattle on about the same old same old gets a bit tiresome.  Stress for the sake of stress.  A growing number of Christians are surrendering and giving in.  Many church leaders are making it clear that there is nothing the world can throw at us that we won't find a way to compromise the Faith in order to accommodate.  The media is a propaganda organ that is less concerned about slaughtered Jews than it is pinning a single crime on anything associated with the West.  And young fanatics are getting worse on a daily basis because they are encouraged to do so by the powers that be. 

Therefore, constantly posting on the same thing over and over again is just posting on the same thing over and over again.  It would be like having a blog in WW2 and spending every day fussing about the violence in the news.  I do think we are heading where we are heading: a post-Western, post-democratic world in a post-Christian era.  Back to the old paganism, secular version.  No particular God of worth, guaranteed eternal paradise if that's your thing, physical worldly priorities otherwise. If we have to crush someone, we promise it won't be you. Because what matters most is you, and the World promises to accommodate you accordingly. 

It won't end with that of course.  That's the 'we promise, all animals will be equal' part.  Already we are seeing that modified to some animals being more equal than others.  Which seems fine for so many today.  Even now, Jewish liberals in the face of 'death to the Israeli Jews' chants are trying to twist their concern about being exterminated with their fealty to this post-religious, post  Christian Western movement and utter hatred for its defenders.  All while the alliance to throw down the West that includes, but is not limited to, Muslims, Chinese Communists, and anyone from any group disenfranchised by the West, continues to make significant strides.

Therefore, I'm once again going to back down.  I can't say I won't mention anything in the news.  I've declared that intention before, only to find myself drawn back in when we took another crazy step toward the end (remember me ducking out on the eve of the Kavanaugh circus?).  Same with last week.  Our state made it clear that sex and drugs and the right to abort anything hindering our libidos is our core value.  The typically lame and impotent GOP continued to lose, and even liberal school board candidates seemed to dominate the win column as schools become more open about sex for kids, gender change for teens, and post-Western Marxist propaganda in the curriculums.  What to make of that?  See the paragraphs above.  

In the end, empires rise, and empires fall.  Our is falling.  The Church is floundering because it's not difficult to believe that a substantial number of our leaders just don't believe it anymore.  In Europe and America, except for those rascally Pentecostals, the churches are dwindling along with the civilization they helped build.  In Asia the Faith is strong, and God bless those African Christians.  But like all things, our own progressive fellows have made it clear they'll heap no end of scorn and contempt on those swarthy and dark skinned types when they dare challenge a leftwing dogma.  Just like those slaughtered Israeli Jews who are barely mentioned now in the news or on leftwing sites (compare that to endless weeks and months condemning Kanye West over his statements about Jewish people). 

So now what?  Well, I like the blog.  But sometimes I miss the early days, when it was one part fun and frivolity, about two parts issue and news or commentary just to comment.  Sometimes I added reflections on the Faith or life, like this:

Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:  

Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? 

For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.

The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

Which came to mind in light of the crushing defeats of virtue and goodness we saw last week.  At the end of the day, the majority of us who inherited the West, including our leaders and religious guides, accepted the gospel of the World and have stood by amidst failure after failure to defend our inheritance.  Well, when that's the norm, blogging about it every day won't change things.

So I'll try to go back to the early days.  I won't not comment on the egregious, even as the egregious becomes more and more the norm. I'll try to reference funner things, family things, and just things in general. It may not be what people want (I discovered there is a stunning lack of Beatles fans among my readers), but it will be what I want.  

If I post on issues, I'll try to avoid being shaped by the latest news stories.  My sons often ask why I bother watching or reading the news at this point.  We know it isn't telling us the whole story, and sometimes verges on outright falsehood.  Why take anything the press says as any type of a launching pad for a thought, whether good or bad?  They have a point.  Not that all stories are false or missing important context.  But you never know which, do you?  As the late Michael Crichton explained with his Gell-Mann Amnesia principle: if you know the press got this story so horribly wrong because you know the topic at hand, why assume the next one dealing with a topic you don't know will be any better? 

Again, back in the early days of the blog the point was to sharpen my claws at writing.  I've always been a better public speaker (in certain settings) than writer.  A priest friend suggested the blog for that reason. And though I did reference the odd stupid or wrong or concerning thing coming from the world, I also posted on reflections, fun things, family outings, personal interests or similar topics much more often.  It may not have ginned up the readership, but it didn't feel like running up a down escalator every day either. 

So that is what I plan to do again.  As I said, I won't promise no more issue blogging.  When it finally hits the fan, I want my objections to be on record beyond just family and friends.  When future generations look back at this era and ask why, I don't mind my allegiances being on the public record, no matter how obscure.  I realize God knows, but it's nice to know that those future generations who will suffer for our folly will know who to blame and who not to blame.  But I'll try to find things to blog about that are more fun, light hearted, meaningful to me (and hopefully others) or just plain goofy.  That can only help at this stage in the game.  Goodness knows. obsessing about the latest has done nothing to stop the latest.  So why affirm the age old definition of insanity?

It's about time

My blog is an informal affair.  I don't do it for money.  I don't have fundraisers.  I have, on the rarest of occasions, asked for help when we were torpedoed by the fortunes of life.   But that's about it.  

I started the blog because a priest I worked with years ago made the suggestion.  He wanted me to write a book.  That's not really my cup of tea.  As anyone who reads my blog knows, I'm not a pro writer.  I'm a better public speaker, but only in front of people.  I would do a miserable job talking to a cell phone camera.  Despite that, I went ahead and started a blog because, back then, that's what you did. 

Mostly it has ebbed and flowed over the years. I would like to have a hobby blog, I just don't have hobbies.  At least none I'm singularly immersed in enough to continuously blog about.  Usually it ends up me fussing about what is happening in our world.  With an occasional deviation toward family or fun or quirky things. 

As a result, I have spent little time focused on the actual stats for my blog.  At Patheos we did focus on stats, and I was part of a Patheos Facebook group where everyone watched and evaluated each other.  That's when I was encouraged to comment on Facebook, a decision that ended up losing me several friends of the more tolerant sort. 

When I left Patheos I stopped caring about the stats again.  From the beginning I was content with my readership, whatever the numbers.  Early on I received a boost from none other than Mark Shea, who posted a link to my blog and gave it a shout out over at the old Catholic and Enjoying It.  Those were different times.  I also got a big boost when connected to The American Catholic.  

But a few months ago, without really trying, I noticed that my readership was getting close to a milestone - at least for me.  I realize that for most blogs, such numbers are a pittance.  My blog being a guppy in the vast ocean of Social Media.  Still, I began paying attention and waiting for it to break through that little milestone of 100K monthly views.  Something it has never done, even at Patheos. 

Finally, after several months of almost getting there, only to fizzle out at the end and fall short, I made it:

Heh. Again, I know for most this is small beans.  But it was fun watching the numbers get ever so close. I doubt I'll break any other statistical barriers, so this will suffice.  

Vacation time

Heading out to a much awaited vacation.  There aren't any little trick posts prewritten and ready to publish.  It's been too busy for that.   So things will be quite around here this week.   This journey is a gift from the boys, who gave my better half and I a nice little trip owing to our 30th Anniversary.  We couldn't take it on our anniversary proper because of a million things going on then.   So while my sister helps out and the boys hold down the fort with Mom, we'll be out and about for some rest and relaxation.  I'll be back later in the week.  Until then, thanks for the visits and the insights.  God bless, and TTFN.

The appropriate movie theme intro for such an occasion, courtesy of Lindsey Buckingham and the gang:

Interesting point

I'm back!  It's been a whirlwind to be sure, as the previous posts demonstrate.  Thanks for all the well wishes and comments and emails everyone!  We certainly are blessed.  

As I've said before, I don't intend to keep up with the old pace of blogging, times being what they are, and obligations and family dynamics shifting and all.  Nonetheless, I'll still comment a time or two each week, though I hope to spend more of my blogging time on the finer things of life.  

You know, family fun and games, the latest book or movie, or just being glad about our new bishop who actually makes us think we are important to him.  The previous bishop - Bishop Brennan - also gave us that feeling, but he was sent back to his stomping grounds in Brooklyn before we had a chance to get to know him.  Nonetheless, our latest bishop more than rises to the occasion, and I can't say how nice it is to have a bishop who seems genuinely glad about not just his Catholic Faith, but its traditional roots as well (bonus point: he's also an official exorcist for the Church). 

Nonetheless, I thought I would throw out this little observation that caught my eye and has made me think. It was something that really made sense, is obvious, and yet something I hadn't put together.  It was pointed out that up until WWII, most of humanity believed two crucial things.  One, that there is something very important beyond this physical world.  And two, that there are things in this world that are more important than me.

After WWII, those assumptions began to collapse quickly.  Soon individualism became 'me, myself and I, as opposed to the rest of the world that is dead last in importance'. You can see this in those media psychiatrists who insist we owe it to our kids to put ourselves first ahead of them, or anyone else for that matter.  Heck, you can see it everywhere. 

And the importance beyond this world, which likely was already collapsing in the West among the upper classes before the World Wars, began to unravel fast across the board.  Really.  I wonder how many Christians today believe that one's religious confessions have anything to do with the afterlife.  For that matter, I wonder how many think anything has to do with the afterlife, other than the assumption it happens and we get to see our loved ones and cuddly puppies after we die, because of course we do. 

But those two beliefs, bigger than this world and a world bigger than me, were far from exceptional, even if humans had millions of different ways to unpack those beliefs.  But in the modern age, it's largely me as the center of my world, and nothing beyond this world of terrible importance, if there is anything at all.  The results of these perspectives speak for themselves.  

File this observation under 'solutions to the problem that the media will never cover.' 

Blogging for the next week or two

I  haven't had much time recently.  I'll get to the comments when I can.  Even with cutting down on blogging, these last couple weeks have been a flurry of  activity and deadlines.  For now, we are heading into that week of weeks that's been lurking ever closer for over a year. 

Tonight is our youngest's confirmation.  It was supposed to be in a week, but that was the day of our son's wedding.  Which happens to be the day before our other son's college graduation ceremony.  So we arranged with another nearby parish for him to be confirmed there, though he went through the rest of the time here at our home parish. 

So as you can guess, we'll be mighty busy.  Even now I'm just taking a breather to post this and let folks know what's up.  Thanks for visiting, and again, I'll get to responses when I can.  I appreciate the insights and comments - the best part of blogging.  

Don't know when I'll post next, but probably not much until everything has quieted down again.  Till then, TTFN and God bless.  

A New Year and a new blog

Well, not really.  It's a new year, that much is true.  But pretty much the same blog, with a slight modification.   Fact is, I've grown rather tired out from keeping up with the 'issue' blogging.  I've said many times that I originally started the blog due to prompting from a local priest.  In the day, I did a lecture series in the area on Church history.  It was generally well received and well attended.  When he saw one of the lectures he suggested I write a book.  Because there aren't enough history books in the world.

Problem is, I am no writer.  I can edit others to a degree, but not my own writing.  It's just not something I ever invested in.  I prefer to read, since creativity has never been my strong point.  He suggested I start a blog and practice.  So I did.

In a bit of irony, my new venture was posted on the old Catholic and Enjoying It blog.  Mark felt it was good to promote a new Catholic blog.  Therefore, almost immediately, I ended up with more readers than a new blog like that should have.  It went up from there.  As other sites picked up and would share this or that post, I have to admit, I was happy to see and hear from others regarding my opining.  

Nonetheless, over time I concluded that blogging is a bit like hitting one's head against a brick wall.  Especially if you're on the wrong side of the wall.  I announced I was either quitting, or at least stepping away from, blogging a couple times over the years.  Almost as soon as I did, however, some crazy thing happened that drew me back in.  I believe the last time was the Brett Kavanaugh circus.  When journalists and politicians were saying it's time to get over these old tools of oppression like presumption of innocence, burden of proof and due process, it was hard to stay away. 

Still, as things move on in our family and the direction our society is going becomes clear, I'm pretty sure continuing to rant and rave on a blog is time taken away from things that might be more important. Not that staying in tune with current events and world developments is a bad thing.  But it's not something I get paid to do (with the exception of my stint at Patheos, I've never received money for my blog). 

My sons and I were talking about the state of things a few days ago.  They frequently bring up the futility of discourse in the modern era.  You either agree or you're Hitler.  And since so many of their peers spend so much time 24/7 obsessing over a million triggering topics on social media, that's a lot of chances to be Hitler.   I told them such radicalism isn't new, it's just that today it's universal.  I said that comes from politics becoming the all encompassing everything since love of God, Country and Family have all but been eliminated from society. 

Their response was what set me thinking.  They retorted that certainly we discussed political issues when I was growing up.  To which I responded that yes, we did.  We just didn't do it every stinking day.  In fact, they might be shocked to learn that we went days - sometimes weeks - without debating politics or current events or the latest social issue.  Heck, we even went days without being sexists and racists!  Yes, we did bring such topics up at different times.  And at times those were some pretty heated arguments.  Whether with friends, family, fellow students, coworkers, or whatever, it did happen.  But it didn't happen every day. 

And that was a good thing.  Because in hindsight, if we spent everyday arguing about politics or the latest activist driven issue, I think we'd have gone mad.  We certainly wouldn't have had many friendships.  I'm all for politics, and there was a time that was my college major.  But politics is a bit like a demolition derby.  It's fun to watch, but I wouldn't want to drive in one. 

Problem with today is that politics has become the Alpha and Omega in our nation today.  The beginning and end of everything becomes whether it is politically expedient or not.  I therefore fear that constantly keeping up with it does little more than keep the problem going.  Plus it burns you out.  As I told my sons, it wasn't a daily discussion in my younger years for a reason.  

For instance, my parents were Reagan Democrats (and not because of the rascally Southern Strategy), though my mom's family were staunch Democrats who would never vote for Reagan.  They didn't dislike him - in fact they liked him.  They just wouldn't vote for him (a different age to be sure). As a result, when politics came up it was quite an event.  But here's the thing.  Like my friends, peers, classmates and such, it usually only came up occasionally, perhaps once a visit.  One night they would delve into the political and social debates, but that was it.  The rest of the visit would be reminiscing, discussing Browns football, memory lane and ancient rhymes and such.  The same with my friends.  We might delve into politics (or religion) around a game of cards or at a High Street bar.  But not every day. The rest of the time it was this movie, that rock band, those girls, or whatever.  Even the most opinionated acquaintances I knew didn't spend every day spouting, unless spouting was a career choice. 

Therefore, that's what I'm going to be doing, in tribute to a saner time.  After all, to post every day on some issue means every day I have to delve where my younger, saner self knew not to delve on a daily basis.  Even cutting down blogging to a post a day as I've done  is still a daily delve into the cesspool of political discourse and rhetoric.   

I think it was seeing the collapse of Dave Armstrong that convinced me something has to change.  I like Dave.  We usually agreed more often than not.  Often we would banter about common interests like The Beatles (we're both fans, and we debated the exact degree of influence that their manager Brian Epstein had on their creative output).  We could do so because Dave, like me, was forever against the growing 'I have spoken, now obey or be damned' approach to the social media/punditry age.

Yet look what happened. Rather than end up going there, I decided I would cut back.  I won't 'leave', since I like having the outlet.  Plus it's nice hearing from others on an issue, even when they disagree. And let's face it, with the crazy in the world you can't just walk away.  Also, in the end, the world of social media is the way of modern discourse.  Just like telephones became back in the day.  I just won't do it all the time.  At least do it in terms of focusing on hot button issues and political topics. 

In fact, barring global catastrophe, I will keep 'topic/issue' blogging at once a week. On top of everything else, things are a-changiin' in the family, and time isn't what it used to be.  If I'm going to move mountains to blog, to be honest I'd rather keep it on fun, frivolity, faith or family.  There are certainly enough big family moments coming up this year to keep me busy. 

I figure delving into some big political, social or other ideological issue once a week is about where it was when I wore a younger man's clothes.  Given the relative sanity of that period in history compared to today, I'd say following what worked is a good way to go. 

It won't be one particular day, or even every week.  It wont' be 'Friday Fights!' or such.  I'll just try to keep it to no more than once a week. The rest of the time?  That will be what blogging was meant for: reposting a good article or meme, musing on our latest family fun, big family events, keeping an ongoing record of this or that game (my sons say that's a thing, though often in video form, and it seems fun), or just rambling on about the latest point of interest - as long as it's not hot button.  That will be a random time a week, if that.  

So where have I been?

Obviously blogging has dropped significantly over the last few weeks, as I said it would.  And for the reasons I said.  There are simply more things on the plate than there used to be.  That's because of changing demands of the day, growing and aging family members, and the general shifts in life.  

My wife's promotion is great, but also demands much from her.  And funny thing, but homeschooling one student, even in middle school, is tougher than homeschooling several.  I suppose because when the three were together, they could sometimes turn to each other for help or questions before appealing to mom or dad.  Now, it's him.  It's us.  Usually it's me. 

In addition to that, we're now and only now starting to work to push back the mess that came from the big 2020 floods.  Hard to believe over two years later, but with everything we were hit with over 2021 and into 2022, only now are we beginning to sort things out.  Which is odd, given everything else going on right now.  But then, that is part of what is adding to the list!  It's crazy.

Anyhoo, it will be a few before I can make too much time for the blog.  Even the fun and family posts are sitting on deck waiting to get written.  Hopefully things slow down, but even then, I'm sure they'll be filled with other projects that are also on deck.  So we'll see how things go in the near future.  Again, it's a matter of time.  It's finite.   Therefore it's a case of getting some spare time back when there is little time to spare, and then I can muse and noodle things.  

In the meantime, think The Benedict Option. I don't think Dreher's solutions are altogether spot on, but he sees the problems coming our way, more clearly than most I think.  It may not be new Benedictine communities that are the upcoming model for the remnant.  Instead, it might be the faithful as English separatists for those who aren't willing to throw the heritage of our Faith under the bus to keep up with the latest. We'll see.  Till then, God bless and TTFN. 

Gratuitous Autumn picture, just to set the mood

Busy week!

Whew, that was a week.  Much of it was spent catching up.  First week of school was the big priority:

A walking stick instead of a sword - just right for learning

Yes, our youngest is now in 8th Grade.  One more year and he's a high schooler. Of course he's homeschooled.  He's also going through Confirmation classes. In addition to hammering out the Faith, we hope that will get him back with kids his own age - something that has hit the skids since Covid.  With his older brothers all moving on, and fulfilling their own obligations, he's been doing quite the solo act. 

Things will still be slow here on the blog.  First, because of the pile in my outbox.  Also, partly because I'm noodling blogging and the whole social media shtick that has dominated the world over the last decade or two.  I'm not 100% convinced it's been a net boon for humanity.  It certainly hasn't been a boon for democracy, freedom, the Gospel, the sanctity of life, or the future. 

I saw a reflection on the spiritual pitfalls of commenting on the Internet.  I must admit, if I answer the questions honestly, I would seldom comment on anything.  Sometimes I think that might be the better way.  

Though I'm also mindful of the fact that much of what we're seeing today - the completely terrifying batnuts cockadoody crazy being not only endorsed, but mandated - is the result of the news media weaponizing the crazy that does exist on this platform.  A platform that has become a digital lynch mob inquisition run by psychopaths, usable when convenient by our news outlets, universities, hospitals,  schools, and even churches. 

So just abandon the Internet?  I dunno.  That might not be the best strategy.  But simply rambling on about the same old, same old isn't working either.  For instance, I saw this.  I find that the most significant story I've seen in months.  I wonder if my readers can guess why.  

Anyway, still much to do.  Can't say when and how much I can blog.  This upcoming week is already pretty busy, with the calendar already filled.   I'll stop by when I can.  Appreciate all the prayers and support, especially for the young'uns' bookstore.  Keep up the prayers, and more news to follow.  If nothing else, it will be family and fun blog posts, which isn't a bad way to spend blogging.  Till then!  God bless, and TTFN. 

Busy, busy, busy!

The next few days and into next week are going to be pretty filled around here.  We're wrapping up the reporting for our youngest's homeschool.  He's homeschooled but, like his brothers, is enrolled in a Catholic private school that offers a high school diploma through their program.  The good from this is a classical education that results in an accredited diploma. The flip side is paperwork and reporting and recording on our part, since it has to be in line with their rather lofty standards.   Plus, we are getting all the registration in for the upcoming year.  His eighth.  Whew.  The years do fly. 

With this, along with the usual obligations, I'll be scarce until next week.  I do want to revisit the reactions to the Roe decision.  I at least want to offer a summation of what I noticed between the 'traditional' and the 'new whole life' Christians.  Something I noticed that, to me, was telling. 

But that's for next week.  If I have time I'll post, otherwise it will be next week for anything of substance.  Until then, God bless and TTFN. 

A blog milestone

If I count a post I've scheduled for a later date (I do that sometimes), as of now I have written 10,000 posts for the blog since I began in 2010.  Not bad.  As I've said before, the original reasoning for the blog passed many years ago. Since then it's became an informal setting for me to just spout on about things, but usually not things in my own areas of expertise.  That's so I don't feel pressured to do much more than type off the top of my head, hit spellcheck, and then publish. A sort of 'sit a spell' place to bounce around ideas and observations.  Truth be told, its the comments more than my own ramblings I find the most valuable.  

But something interesting caught my eye.  It isn't that I've published 10,000 posts.  I've actually only published 4,913.  So where are the rest?  Left in mothball for the most part.  Those are posts, some of them quite long, that I had second thoughts about or decided there was a reason I shouldn't hit publish.  Some I've deleted over the years, most I keep around for reference if need be.  But that's over 5,000 posts I wrote out, then chose for reasons not to publish. 

Not sure why that made me think.  I'm conservative by nature, though not necessarily 'a conservative.'  That is, I tend to exercise restraint.  If I write fast and spellcheck fast, I nonetheless will sometimes let a post sit for days or weeks before I decide to hit publish.  And as is obvious, in at least 5,000 cases, I may think the better of it and decide not to hit publish at all. 

For instance, I saw a story about Pope Francis a couple weeks ago. Something about him and education.  It wasn't anything that surprised me.  But after about a half dozen paragraphs of fussing, and hitting save, I went back and figured it would do no good to publish.  One, there was nothing especially new about the complaint.  And two, to be honest, a more charitable take might have given a different spin than the one I took, and I could see how someone could take that approach.  So I decided not to publish.  That's why most of the over 5,000 posts sit there collecting digital dust. 

Just thought that it interesting I've not posted more than I have posted.  Plus, that it was an even 10,000 total was, I felt, noteworthy and fun. 

Commenting

It looks like the Comments Section of my blog has changed a bit. I don't know tech.  I've been informed by more than one reader that they're having trouble commenting. 

If anyone has any clue what is going on or how to fix things, I'd appreciate the help.  Meantime, I suppose you can comment anonymously.  Just post it and then sign your name manually (because multiple anonymous unsigned comments is though to keep track of).

Hopefully it will be fixed soon  Till then, thanks for the comments! 

Still here

Just an update to say I've not fallen off the edge of the world.  I said here that I was going to lay low over the Easter season.  Technically that season, Eastertide for sticklers, lasts until Pentecost.  I didn't really mean for that long. But I've been thinking on things.  I said here that life itself was beginning to push me in new ways as I also wonder about the effectiveness of fussing about things on Social Media. Especially because things appear to have entered a new era.  

Yes, I've watched with some humor the apocalyptic hysterics regarding Elon Musk and Twitter.  It's not surprising.  The problem everyone has isn't that he's some hard right MAGA Trump Conservative Religious Right fanatic.  For all I know, he's Lenny the leftist  and might be as bad for Twitter as anything we've seen.

Then why the outrage?  Because they can't control him.  That's why. He's outside the cabal and the control now demanded, and that has them going unhinged.  Which shows how much and how many are now controlled, that one single out of control individual sets off so much unilateral outrage.   And how many are already thralls of this new order?  Observe:

Note well, Fr. James is pro-LGBTQ and embraces the liberal framework of all minorities against the White Western Majority.  That's typically where his advocacy is aimed.  Deacon Greydanus is among the 'not wanting to align with the Left, but the horrifying MAGA Trump racist sexist Alt-Right types make me do it' clan.  If they're taking to Social Media, it's typically to attack on behalf of this or that minority group, or attack the Trump/MAGA/Right.

Yet Musk is none of these things.  For all I know, he is nothing but liberal about most LGBTQ issues.   He's not a Trump person from what I can tell.  I could be wrong on that.  But MAGA and Musk are not terms I've heard linked.  So why the rush to Social Media by these two in order to lob barbs at Mr. Musk?  I don't see them fuss about money spent by Soros, or Hollywood, or various Social Media moguls.  I don't recall them being worried about Free Speech one way or another regarding what Social Media outlets have been doing to dissenting voices for several years.  So what gives? 

Because the Machine has said so, that's why.  They're simply charging forth because the hysterics demand it. The whip was cracked, they moved into action.  Not because Musk is pro this or that in anything.  But because he is now a threat to the established order.  Yes, Fr. Martin uses the old ploy of 'bad use of money' first floated by Judas all those years ago.  That's a common trick, almost always reserved for people on the opposite side of an issue.  But the reason can be nothing other than the Left has gone into hysterics, and these two Catholic voices have charged forth in complete obedience to the bugle call.  It's no longer about embracing this or that template, or promoting this or that cause. It's about responding when the machine says so.  I find that development very significant. 

It shows just how far things have gotten. It also shows how far we've sunk.  We have long ceased to be the nation, and even culture, we grew up with. That ship has sailed.  This shows how long ago and far away that ship is. 

So during this Eastertide, I'm still sitting back and thinking.  Praying.  Pondering.  Reflecting.  If something catches my eye, or some special prayer request.  I may just post dribble or fun things as always.  

Stepping back

What it feels like blogging about the West's crazy suicide

There comes a time.  I've posted a few times before that I was setting aside the blog.  Yet as soon as I did, some bat nuts crazy thing happened and brought me back to the keyboard.   

I think the last time was the Kavanaugh hearings.  Right about that time I chose to step away.  It was around that time I heard Trump had nominated a fellow many conservatives were none too happy about.

Then came the lynch mob.  The idea that the Dems would try to destroy someone over such allegations was nothing new.  But the accusations themselves were so threadbare it was stunning.  The obvious fact that they had been held in reserve to be exploited on cue was also appalling.

What was most shocking, however, was that for the first time in my adult life, politicians, media pundits and even religious leaders appeared fine with saying it isn't a case of guilt or innocence.  It's about not offending pro-abortion women.  If an innocent man and his reputation must be destroyed, so be it.  Furthermore, we need to stop thinking that worn out concepts like burden of proof, presumption of innocence and due process apply to anything but old, dusty courtrooms.  In the new world, your guilt or innocence is based purely on group identity and the group identity of the accuser. 

That was an eye opener, make no mistake.  It was also a realization that America had already died, we just missed the funeral. Since then, I've kept a fairly consistent blogging schedule, trying to keep up with the crazy and the shadows. That so many conservatives and even conservative Christian leaders threw in the towel and joined the rise of Mordor kept me here.  I watched as our pope and Church leadership made it clear there was a new power in the East, and if we have to burn authentic Christianity to the ground to keep getting high fives at the best parties, so be it. The true enemies will be those who still think Christ has some bearing on the World's salvation and that Christian morality is a thing.

That kept many people paying attention, as it did me.  Nonetheless, times change. At this point it's clear the battle is over.  I've said before that you can tell the emerging order sees the battle won, and is more or less engaging in mop up operations.  The GOP is generally useless.  And those who cling to the historical Christian Faith and the belief that God was working through the course of Western Civilization will increasingly find themselves in the role of a Christian diaspora. 

Nonetheless, I still might have kept chasing cars and yelling at trees if life itself wasn't changing.  As I said, my second youngest is engaged to a right fine young woman - the wedding date being forthcoming.  Likewise, my wife recently got a long deserved promotion to VP at her company.  A nice bump in pay, but with extra cash comes extra obligations.  As my mom needs more direct care, and the boys are moving up and beginning to move on, it's demanding more and more of my time. That's time we want to spend with each other before the long awaited empty nest begins to emerge.  Plus, I'm always in the market for anything I can do to bring in a few dollars here and there while watching over the homestead, and that also puts demands on time.

All of that means I won't be able to keep up the pace I've been running on since the days of the Kavanaugh lynch mob crazy.  Not that it does much good, and I wonder if those who would resist the new world order need to pull away from Social Media since it doesn't seem to work for us as much as for those in alliance with this new order.  The real resistance might need to be outside the modern world of digital and Internet madness.  I don't know.  

I just know it will be tough for me to keep up with things.  If my writing merely consists of typing off the top of my head and hitting spell check, I do spend quite a lot of time reading and researching to find out about what's happening and what to comment on.  I try not to be the type who comments on an article that I clearly haven't read.  Or wade into a topic I've not looked into beyond a FB headline.  But reading and scouring for stories takes time.  It's likely why I've recently settled more and more on just commenting on Twitter posts and FB posts that people bring to my attention.  Which is fine as far as it goes.  But it doesn't really do much but become part of the problem, if you think on it. 

So instead of announcing some big retirement from the blog, I'm merely backing off.  A couple times a week perhaps.  Monday and Friday?  Wednesday and Tuesday?  Once a week?  Or just when I can get to it?  I dunno. Beginning this week I'll will drop the daily output to more manageable levels in order to devote more to the demands of family and changing fortunes. 

I'll still keep up with things to a degree, especially those things which reinforce my gnawing suspicion that our Catholic leadership desperately wants to go the way of Mainline Protestants denominations and ditch this silly old fairy tale of Gods born in mangers and get back to partying with the secular pagan Joneses.  I might try to think on the overall trends, rather than just chase the latest headline or FB post.  Of course I reserve the right to post fun things dealing with the family, friends and other parts of life that make it worth the living.

Unlike those times in the past, this isn't a decision I've made just because I'm tired of the blogging world. This time it's a case of being unable to keep up as life changes.  Again, I'll try to post somewhat , be it once or twice a week, just to encourage myself to keep up with what's happening in the world.  If nothing else, blogging on issues does demand following the news, FWIW.  But that will be that.  As I see so many have backed off from their output from days of yore, I can see why.  So I'll be around, just not as often as before.  I'll see everyone in the meantime.