Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1352

For a rationalist

...this guy is sure irrational. Last week, he was explaining how much Christians relish the thought of non-Christians going to hell. This week, The Master explains that Christians love hell more than heaven.

Still no word on why we should worry about what is, after all, a non-existent place according to this guy, but not worry about the very real death camps that atheist regimes tend to build. I don't spend a lot of time dreading the underworld of the Vikings. But I do think it advisable to dread the systems of murder that militant atheists create every. single. time. they get power. Perhaps this highly evolved mental type genius could pause briefly from fretting about things he doesn't believe in to ponder the consequences of the things he does believe in.

Beck vs. O'Keefe

You know there are problems when even Glenn Beck says your Lying for Jesus tactics are fishy.

A reader writes:

Please say a prayer for little baby Andrej who is about to be pulled off life support. He was born with unforeseen brain damage and is near death, and his parents and our whole family are devastated. He is my cousin's firstborn and what should have been a joyous moment has quickly turned to tears.

Please ask your readers to say a prayer that baby Andrej may find eternal rest in the arms of Our Lady and her Son, and that our family finds healing in what will undoubtely be a very difficult time.

Father, hear our pray for baby Andrej that he will find, as he surely will, eternal joy in the arms of Mary and Jesus and that this tragedy will be turned to gladness on the That Day when we all meet merrily in Heaven. Mother Mary, pray for Andrej and all who love him that they would find healing, grace, strength and consolation in the Holy Spirit. We ask all this through Christ our Lord. Amen!

Global Warming is a Religion

You knew it was coming. Some "climate change experts" are claiming that the Tsunami was due to global warming global climate change global climate disruption. An angry Gaia has no choice but to take out her fury on Japan for the failure of the Kyoto treaty, apparently.

Global warming: is there *anything* it can't do? Even plate tectonics are due to you and your car. Feel guilty, dammit!

The longer I look at American culture, the more I get the sense that so much of how it regards world events is almost entirely through the lens of narcissism. It's a bit like the self-absorbed child with no sense of perspective. He assumes that everything that happens, happens because of him, whether good or bad. The team won because his positive thinking up in the grandstands willed them to victory. Mom and Dad divorced because of me. The notion that he is not the center of human history never occurs to him. And so we get this kind of revolting Generation Narcissus filth from Chris Matthews, who looks at the devastation of Japan and can only think, "This is a chance for my man crush Obama to get back at those Birthers":



Attention American Members of Generation Narcissus: It's not all about you.

The Son of Man and the Miracle of the Transparent Presidency

"The Obama administration censored 194 pages of internal e-mails about its Open Government Directive that the AP requested more than one year ago."


Many of you may remember all that bushwah about "change". I wonder how the suckers who voted for this fraud are doing.

Liturgical Music Suckage

I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the role of music--especially non-traditional--during the liturgy, or know of any writers who have addresed this. To wit: I went to Mass in a neighboring parish the other day, and all of the music was organ, choir, and a drummer. And by drummer I mean it sounded like Keith Moon was up there. I found this especially troubling during communion, when he was literally pounding on the drums like this was a rock concert, all while people were trying to pray. When the hymn was done, there was a round of applause. Now, I know that the Mass is the Mass is the Mass, but I just found this offputting, especially when afterwards my 7-year old daughter was asking me why we don't have music like that in our church. Anyway, just wondering if you had any thoughts or could recommend some reading.

As a resident of the Soviet of Washington, I have endured my share of "Hey! Check me out! I'm a MUSIC MINISTER!" "ministry". We all have, no doubt, our horror stories. I figure there are two basic ways to approach such matters. One is to lose your Christianity and call it "righteous anger" (a favorite approach of the anger addicts so often found in the reactionary dissent wing of the Church who snort bitterness like crystal meth and tell themselves they are thereby accomplishing some great good for the Kingdom of God). I have never seen any good--any good whatsoever--proceed from this approach. All it does is corrode and destroy the life of grace in the soul, alienate people who might otherwise have been attracted to the faith, and ensure that harried priests and music ministers who might otherwise be open to reason are frightened off by that pissed-off guy in the back pew who does nothing but murmur, grumble and complain.

My own approach, since I don't know nuthin' 'bout music, has been to regard my musical sufferings at the hands of the incompetent, the vain, the deliberately distracting, the Liberal Improver, and the sheerly dreadful as a very minor form of white martyrdom. In short, on the whole, this form of suffering is generally preferable to being hung upside down and slowly drowned in human excrement like the Hiroshima Martyrs. If this is the biggest problem I have facing me as a Catholic, I'm sitting pretty.

That said, of course, there is, as well, the fact that some music comes close to (and some music actually constitutes,) if not sacrilege, then at least an assault on the ears, on good theology, and on the prayers of the people (as in your case). Reactionary dissenters are often very quick to leap to 'sacrilege' as the charge. I'm not so convinced. Often music ministers are doing the best they know how with a willing heart of praise. To spit on their efforts too swiftly may put you in the position of spitting on the widow offering her mite: something I would not advise having on your resume at the Pearly Gates. But other times, you may really be dealing with the raw insertion of ego into the liturgy (I remember a woman in our parish who just could not refrain from jamming in a like from Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" at the end of the (admittedly dreadful) "Sing of the Lord's Goodness" (both are in 5/4 time). All it did was shout "Hey! Look at me! Aren't I witty?"

The first recommendation of the tradition to such little mustaches being painted on the Mona Lisa of the Mass is prayer. If we feel anger (and emotions will do what they do) then our task is to turn it to action, not just sit there stewing. A quiet and supportive word to the pastor--mainly emphasizing that you appreciate his hard work, while sandwiching in some positive way of directing the music toward its focus (i.e. God, and not the music ministers or our celebration of our Usness), with another slice of living bread again thanking him for his hard work and pledging what support you can give him--can go a long way. It's more or less what you want to hear on your job, right? Do you want to hear "You suck, you incompetent moron! Do better!" or do you want to hear "I'm with you all the way. Here's a place I think could improve the already fantastic job you are doing so that you will rock even more!"

One thing our parish did was simply: hire a fantastic liturgist, the awe-inspiring Jesson Mata. But, alas, guys like him don't come along every day. Still, it is a hopeful sign that, if we can get people like this in the barren desert that is the Soviet of Washington, then there is hope anywhere.

40 Days for Life: Seattle

A friend writes me a couple of days ago:

For those interested, there is a 40 Days for Life underway in North Seattle at the Planned Parenthood near Northgate Mall.

I've been getting updates on what's happening at the vigil site (see below). Della O'Halloran has been organizing this effort and it's been pretty impressive so far.

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "North Seattle 40 Days For Life"
To: "North Seattle 40 Days For Life"
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 4:24:04 PM
Subject: Day 4 News

Greetings on Day 4!

Today Is Adopted By North American Martyrs Church: All Saturdays during our vigil have been adopted by area churches. Today is of course our first Saturday. North American Martyrs, a Catholic church in Ballard, has adopted today. Fr. Saguto, their pastor, is praying the 4pm hour, and they have a whopping 50 parishioners (plus an unknown number of children) scheduled to pray throughout the day (8am-8pm). Think of all that prayer, and many who have never prayed outside a place of death are doing this for the first time today!

A Rare Incident at the Vigil: Occasionally, we can experience a bad incident while praying at the vigil. When you bring prayer to a place of evil, the devil sometimes stirs things up. We had such an incident on Thursday morning. A pretty young woman came towards me, grabbed our 3-ft sandwichboard sign and the supply box that weighs it down, and flung/kicked them onto Northgate Way. Fortunately for her and all concerned, her action did not cause an accident on that busy street or otherwise hurt anyone or damage property. She also yelled at us, and grabbed signs from some of the other three women at the vigil. I spoke with her, hoping to calm her down, but she soon left, yelling some more. My thought was that she was hurting from an abortion experience, either her own or that of someone close to her. Please pray for healing for this young woman.

In 300 hours praying outside various abortion facilities over the years, I have not encountered an incident like that, so I don't want you to think it is typical. Note that we have a right to contact the police. If you are physically threatened, please call 911 right away (and then please let me know). With an incident like Thursday's, in which no one was hurt and no damage was done, it is a judgment call whether to report the incident to the police. In some cases, you may be able to deescalate the situation if just one of you talks to the person, while the others resume your prayers. Whether you choose to report the incident to the police or not, please let me know. Also let me know if you have any questions.

A Wonderful Save at Everett's Vigil: I thought you might like to know that on Friday, the 40 Days For Life vigil in Everett had a "save." Two prayer volunteers had the opportunity to pray for, and talk with, a woman who was going in for an abortion. They told her about the help available at Next Step pregnancy resource center. The woman went there and had a free ultrasound and heard the beating heart of her unborn baby instead of going through with the abortion appointment. Please keep her and her baby in your prayers.

23 Lives Saved Across National Campaign: Nationally, just 4 days into the spring 40 Days For Life vigil, an astonishing 23 babies' lives have already been saved. Please pray for those babies and their families.

Weekly Signups Still Open: Since my earlier email, a few of the weekly slots have filled or half-filled. Here's where we still need your help to take a weekly slot (ie, where you come at the same hour each week):
Red, no one has signed up
Mondays 3pm, 4pm
Wednesdays 1pm
Thursdays 5pm
Fridays 3pm, 7pm

Yellow, only one person has signed up
Mondays 9am, Noon
Tuesdays 1pm, 3pm, 4pm, 5pm
Wednesdays Noon, 3pm
Thursdays 1pm, 2pm, 6pm
Fridays 10am, 1pm

Tomorrow (Sunday 3/13): We're also looking for people to come tomorrow (Sunday)... for future Sundays, we are hoping more churches will adopt the day, but tomorrow is open for one-time signups.

God bless you for standing in the gap in North Seattle!

Go team!

Hey San Francisco and Oakland!

Fr. Brendan McAnerney, OP is going to be presenting to workshops this Summer and the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology on "Icon – Sacred Image" (June 6-10) and "Introduction to Icon Painting" (June 13-17). There are no prerequisites for the class (i.e., you don't have to know nuthin' about painting) and (I speak from experience) Fr. Brendan is slathered in awesome sauce when it comes to teaching not only the technique but particularly the theology and spirituality of the icon. If I were you, I would drop everything and sign up for these classes!

You can help a struggling student for Lent

And even get something back on the deal, so it's not even quite almsgiving!

A reader writes:

My youngest daughter is struggling to pay her monthly FUS tuition payments. Somehow with our piddling help she's only two months behind....... Last week she informed me that she's running out of her cafeteria points, to save $ this year she opted out of the more expensive meal plans, work study is cut way back, her older sister could get 25 plus hours before the economic fall, now this one is lucky to get 10, so many families are struggling now, that had plenty before. And today she got the tuition/r&b rate increase mailing for next year. I was really praying it wouldn't happen this year! So I'm doing something I've never done before, plugging a book.

This summer OLIVIA hatched a plan to make MILLIONS, yes MILLIONS. She has a little book of poetry on Lulu, but who has time to market? She's sold several dozen and every bit helps. Could you ask your readers to pray for a future starving artist in the making. She has done everything from singing at weddings, to scrubbing toilets, to get through. If any one is moved to take a chance on a tiny book of poetry from a youngster it goes toward her monthly tuition payment at FUS where she is a Sacred Music Voice and Theology double major. She hopes to be able to get a CD maybe this summer. But that takes more bucks.

Find "THE SOUL SINGS" here, it costs $10.50. (Don't ask me if it's good, I'm the mom who holds in tears when looking at art, listening to poetry and watching ballet. And that's not even for my kids.)

Olivia blogs about her book last summer on her blog Splendid and Delicious here.

This may be pathetic request when so many others need so much more but here goes. If you have the time and inclination to post a little blurb to send them to her lulu account or her blog she would be grateful.

Keep up the great work. Your sense of humor has brightened some not so great days.

C'mon folks! We're talking two cups of Starbucks here and you help a young faith-filled Catholic get her education so she can serve God and his Church with might and main. Plus, you get some beauty in return! How Lenten is that? What's not to love? Unleash the power of the blog!

A reader who works at a Nuke Plant in Michigan sends this along

American Nuclear Society Backgrounder:
Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami; Problems with Nuclear Reactors
3/12/2011 5:22 PM EST

To begin, a sense of perspective is needed… right now, the Japanese earthquake/tsunami is clearly a catastrophe; the situation at impacted nuclear reactors is, in the words of IAEA, an "Accident with Local Consequences."

The Japanese earthquake and tsunami are natural catastrophes of historic proportions. The death toll is likely to be in the thousands. While the information is still not complete at this time, the tragic loss of life and destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami will likely dwarf the damage caused by the problems associated with the impacted Japanese nuclear plants.

What happened?

Recognizing that information is still not complete due to the destruction of the communication infrastructure, producing reports that are conflicting, here is our best understanding of the sequence of events at the Fukushima I
‐1 power station.

• The plant was immediately shut down (scrammed) when the earthquake first hit. The automatic power system worked.
• All external power to the station was lost when the sea water swept away the power lines.
• Diesel generators started to provide backup electrical power to the plant's backup cooling system. The backup worked.
• The diesel generators ceased functioning after approximately one hour due to tsunami induced damage, reportedly to their fuel supply.
• An Isolation condenser was used to remove the decay heat from the shutdown reactor.
• Apparently the plant then experienced a small loss of coolant from the reactor.
• Reactor Core Isolation Cooling (RCIC) pumps, which operate on steam from the reactor, were used to replace reactor core water inventory, however, the battery‐supplied control valves lost DC power after the prolonged use.
• DC power from batteries was consumed after approximately 8 hours.
• At that point, the plant experienced a complete blackout (no electric power at all).
• Hours passed as primary water inventory was lost and core degradation occurred (through some combination of zirconium oxidation and clad failure).
• Portable diesel generators were delivered to the plant site.
• AC power was restored allowing for a different backup pumping system to replace inventory in reactor pressure vessel (RPV).
• Pressure in the containment drywell rose as wetwell became hotter.
• The Drywell containment was vented to outside reactor building which surrounds the containment.
• Hydrogen produced from zirconium oxidation was vented from the containment into the reactor building.
• Hydrogen in reactor building exploded causing it to collapse around the containment.
• The containment around the reactor and RPV were reported to be intact.
• The decision was made to inject seawater into the RPV to continue to the cooling process, another backup system that was designed into the plant from inception.
• Radioactivity releases from operator initiated venting appear to be decreasing.

Can it happen here in the US?

• While there are risks associated with operating nuclear plants and other industrial facilities, the chances of an adverse event similar to what happened in Japan occurring in the US is small.
• Since September 11, 2001, additional safeguards and training have been put in place at US nuclear reactors which allow plant operators to cool the reactor core during an extended power outage and/or failure of backup generators – "blackout conditions."

Is a nuclear reactor "meltdown" a catastrophic event?

• Not necessarily. Nuclear reactors are built with redundant safety systems. Even if the fuel in the reactor melts, the reactor's containment systems are designed to prevent the spread of radioactivity into the environment. Should an event like this occur, containing the radioactive materials could actually be considered a "success" given the scale of this natural disaster that had not been considered in the original design. The nuclear power industry will learn from this event, and redesign our facilities as needed to make them safer in the future.

What is the ANS doing?

ANS has reached out to The Atomic Energy Society of Japan (AESJ) to offer technical assistance. ANS has established an incident communications response team. This team has compiling relevant news reports and other publicly available information on the ANS blog, which can be found at ansnuclearcafe.org.

The team is also fielding media inquiries and providing reporters with background information and technical perspective as the events unfold.
Finally, the ANS is collecting information from publicly available sources, our sources in government agencies, and

There was also a pretty good article on Slate as well.

All this nuclear illiterate can do is keep praying for the people of Japan. Our Lady of Akita, pray for them and us that we will hear and heed your message and that this disaster may find swift healing from God with the help of the international community for our stricken brothers and sisters.