Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1303

Barbara Nicolosi-Harrington on Euthanasia

In which we look at how the bipartisan push to off the weak will be done in the service of Caesar and Mammon.

It will be much the same dynamic as the bipartisan effort to keep America at sub-Carthaginian levels of reverence for the unborn. That's because what matters to Our Ruling Classes is, at the end of the day, money and power--not the common good or the dignity of the human person.

It's not every day...

you see Liz Scalia at First Things *and* Michael Sean Winters at the National Catholic Reporter speak with one voice. But Maureen Dowd manages to attain such epic levels of stupid that, for one brief shining moment, fusion is achieved.

What do the head of Planned Parenthood and Pope Paul VI have in common?

Both are perfectly aware that artificial contraception leads directly to an abortion culture.

Oh, thanks, Tricky Dick for signing federal family planning into law in 1970. One of your many contributions to the common good.

So our daughter in law, Tasha...

...writes a letter to Stephen Tobolowsky, whose Tobolowsky Files you really should listen to if you haven't.

Long story short, he reads the letter on the air! She's sent me the link (it's about five minute before the end), but I can't get it to work. Maybe you'll have more luck.

Tasha, who used to be a regular-type person is now basking in the papparazzi glow and scheduling her spiral into drugs, madness and rehab, just to get that part of Fame out of the way. After that will come the book tour and the Public Service Announcement urging kids to stay in school, read, get involved in healthy sports activities, and not make the tragic mistakes she made when Stephen Tobolowsky catapulted her into the global spotlight with all its empty glitter, riches, and ennui.

Tasha, come home to us! The plain folks who love you! This one's for you!

Prayer Requests

A reader writes:

You and your readers were kind enough to offer prayers for my wife when she was going through open heart surgery in November (from which she has recovered wonderfully and is happy and healthy, thanks be to God). Now we've had another piece of bad news and I hope we can ask for prayers once more.

Our American Eskimo dog, Snowy, was sick with what we thought was Lyme disease, but is actually a tick-borne nephritis that destroys the kidneys. It can only be treated, we are told; there is no cure, and she probably has only a year to live. Snowy has been part of our family for 6 years, and my wife and I are very sad and anxious. We've both made our vows to St. Francis, but of course, all help is appreciated.

Father, thank you for healing this man's wife through your Son! Hear our prayer for Snowy's healing through Christ our Lord and the prayers of our Lady and St. Francis.

592 Followers!

Today, my minions, I command you to check out the curious work of James Hance, creator of Wookie the Chew:



AT-ore:



As well as sundry other curious artistic mashups and visual puns:


The Dark Starry Night


Force by Northwest


And my personal favorite: "The Meep"


Check thou it out!  That is all!

Urgent Prayer Request

A reader writes:

Early this morning, a deputy of the Oneida County Sheriffs Department was shot and killed during a long standoff following a domestic dispute.  Deputy Kurt Wyman – a 24-year-old US Marine who served in the Middle East – died of one gunshot wound after being taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Utica.  He and his wife Lauren have an 18-month old child, and Lauren reportedly went into labor with their second child this morning.    

Please ask your readers to pray that somehow God's goodness and love will prevail through this saddest of tragedies.  Pray through St. Michael's intercession for the protection of all police officers.  

I live only 15 minutes from where the shooting took place, and my wife and I are expecting our first son in August.  I cannot begin to imagine the unbearable grief that the Wyman family and their closest friends and suffering through right now.

Father, hear our prayer for this man and his wife through Christ Crucified and Risen. Grant eternal rest to him and grace, strength and consolation to her through your Son Jesus and the prayers of our Lady of Sorrows. Send her a beloved disciple who can help her through this dark hour and help her to hold fast to you through the same Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Day 5 of the Tin Cup Rattle

Dearest minions. Many people think that we Dark Lords have it easy. But all those human heads aren't just handed to me on a silver platter. There are skilled professionals demanding wages and threatening to rampage through the village in a berserker rage if I don't pay them. Nor does the power company give the electricity for my experiments, electrodes, and agony booths for free. Plus, you would not believe how much thin gruel has gone up. And don't even get me started on what it takes to heat a perfectly vertical tower carved from pure obsidian. Even with the latest geothermal technology harvesting the subterranean fires from my Volcanic Mountain of Fury we still have to cut back on showers for the shuffling hideous spawn of my perverted science.

So: If you are grateful that I have not used you or anyone you love in my pony/monkey/human gene splicing program, then please consider a gift to this blog and click on the PayPal button to the left so that CAEI can stay on the air and our kids get fed. You can either make a straight donation or, if you like to get something for your money (something beyond this blog that you've come to love and depend on, I mean), you can buy my books, CDs, and DVDs. And if you'd rather not do the PayPal thang, feel free to email me and ask for my snailmail address. I'll happily take a check instead.

Don't think somebody else will do it. Today's your day to step up and say, "GIVE ME MORE TREATMENTS OF CATHOLIC THEOLOGY, CULTURAL COMMENTARY AND, WELL, WEIRD STUFF LIKE THIS!":



And don't forget, I'll come and speak for you on all manner of fascinating Catholic teaching ranging from 101 Reasons Not to be Catholic, to Scripture, to Sacraments, to Our Lady and beyond!

Reason to Homeschool #439857349852239847223098723 and #439857349852239847223098724

Your 8 year old child will not be forcibly used as a weapon against you.

Nobody will grill you on whether you had a C Section and then demand to know why.

The Collection of Atoms Called "Mike Flynn"...

replies to the collection of atoms designated "Sam Harris" and tries to persuade him to stop babbling nonsense.

Someday I hope Flynn gives up this nonsense of writing award winning fiction and publishing one great novel after another and finds his true calling: explaining Thomistic philosophy to materialist New Atheist dunderheads.

Also, how can I ever publish fiction when anything I even dream of attempting pales next to his work? It's intimidating, dammit!