The Pope today released the second encyclical of his pontificate: Spe Salvi, which translates as "Saved in Hope"
More to come!
...about Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee. Except I'm leaning even more towards Paul because he was the only candidate to vocally oppose preemptively nuking Iran in the June Republican debate. The only real problem I have with Paul is that he's a little too isolationist for my taste (though admittedly, the absurdity of nearly every single foreign policy statement from both parties' candidates gives Paul's position more and more credibility).
I'm glad to see the Democrats taking up the concerns of the working class, but they remain the party of The Unlimited Abortion License and the Unrestrained, Government-subsidized Libido. The Republicans, on the other hand, can't decide whether they want to be the party of Pillage and Burn Capitalism or the party of Killing All the Damn Arabs We Can. Paul is the only candidate who avoids both of the unconscionable extremes. That doesn't mean I favor legalizing prostitution or that I'm a gold-standard fanatic*, but the harm Paul can do where I disagree with him is far outweighed by the fact that voting for him doesn't mean I have to determine which is "better": nuking Persia or the more than one thousand abortions permitted in our country every day.
* - Even here, I think most people don't understand Paul's position -- he doesn't say the gold standard is the single best money we can have, but that we should have our government backed by something besides... er.... nothing, and that unless we amend the constitution, that something has to be gold or silver.
Yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI created 23 new Cardinals. The liturgy was especially notable for being the public debut of the Pope's new Master of Pontifical Ceremonies, Guido Marini, who aided some flair with an old-school cathedra and some luscious vestments. For Catholic Nerdalicious coverage, check out Rocco, Fr. Z (liturgical commentary), Zadok, John Allen, the Vatican's homepage for the event (presumably English translations will be available there soon), Zenit (for unofficial -- and faster -- translatons), and a blog by the hometown newspaper of one of the new Cardinals: Daniel DiNardo, Archbshop of Galveston-Houston, Texas.
Here's a snip from one of Allen's posts:
While people typically joked with most of the new cardinals, or simply expressed their good wishes and posed for photographs, those who took Delly’s hands were often in tears, pouring out their concern and expressing their solidarity. Delly was gracious and consoling, but also obviously moved by the experience.
...when you're all alone on a Wednesday night with no work the next day and you're trying to watch all three extended version Lord of the Rings movies:
ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz.......
So, um, this should be a fun drive to catch up with the family for Thanksgiving.
Cardinal George is elected! John Allen is filing regular reports (I'm sure he'd hesitate to call it live-blogging, but well... there's that URL again)
Look at this map (second item down the page) entitled "Projected Growth of Senior (Age 65+) Population by State 2000-2030)."
Note that the range of expected growth starts at less than 100%, with that lowest rate encompassing less than half of the states. So in the next 22 years, most states will have at LEAST twice as many seniors as they did at the turn of the millenium. As a wise man once said, a good way to prepare for retirement would be to have lots of kids then tell them to get the spare room ready 'cause you're movin' in.
Alternate title for this post: "Why a National Sales Tax is Coming"
Some Catholicish stuff from around the web:
This weekend's Chicago Tribune Books section was dedicated mostly to books on schools and the challenges of teaching. Here are the three reviews: 1, 2, 3.
An excerpt from the second review:
"I lifted cackling Tayshaun Jackson's desk above my head and wham! smashed it to the floor. 'SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!' My voice shook with convulsive intensity. The room went dead silent and motionless at my paroxysm, like a record scratching to a halt in some terrible game of Freezedance."
The school, which "looks like a prison," demanded that Brown prepare his 9-year-olds for systemwide tests that would help determine the school's funding. Teaching a history lesson, he discovered his students didn't understand that George Washington, having led the Revolutionary Army in 1776, must now be dead:
"I explained that very few people live to be a hundred. When only Sonandia and Seresa could tell me that 1904 was one hundred years before our current 2004, I realized . . . that these kids did not understand elapsed time, be it in minutes or decades. As a litmus test, I asked what time it would be sixty minutes from now. No hands. What time will it be sixty minutes from now. No hands. What time will it be one hour from now? Four volunteers. Thus, my hopes for in-depth, history-based lessons were banished to make way for my new, deceptively simple-seeming campaign for 'Time.'"
