Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1414

My Musician Brother Found This Hilarious

Peace on Earth

It appears both Israel and Saudi Arabia have been pushing for us to attack Iran.

I only let myself get snookered into one geopolitical catastrophe per decade and my time limit has not expired on the last disaster from the preemptive warmonger crowd. So put me down as a "No" who thinks this is a WWI magnitude bad idea.

If you are looking for something to pray for this Advent, then pray your heart out that Obama is not such an empty suit that he caves to this folly.

The indefatigable Binks...

...chronicles Mark Steyn's health issues and his own as well as lots of other stuff. Strong suspicions that Splenda and Aspartame (courtesy of Dick "Evil" Cheney) are behind it. (It's safe(ish). There's money for a giant corp to make! Approved! I'd expect nothing less from the great man.)

Prayers for Binks would be appreciated. Especially as he fights the soft tyranny of Soviet Canuckistan for the free speech rights that we take for granted when we observe that men like Dick Cheney are a blight on the Republic.

G.E.M Anscombe rocked the house

Here's a little piece on her and on Julianne Wiley, who is trying to alert more Catholics to this treasure of our communion of saints.

Prayer Requests

Please continue praying for Lorna, who is suffering greatly from back pain and who is afraid she may require surgery. Pray that she not need it and can begin her rehab.

Also, a reader writes:

May I request prayers for a friend's baby grandson named Jude who is very ill and may have menengitis.

Father, hear our prayer for Jude and grant that he be healed swiftly and restored to health of body, mind and spirit through Christ our Lord. Mother Mary and St. Luke, pray for him and all who love and care for him through Christ our Lord. Amen!

Steve Greydanus Crushes the Notion...

that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 is anything like the equal of The Empire Strikes Back.

Warning to non-nerds: The Nerd Toxicity Rating of this discussion is so high that prolonged exposure to it could result in nerdy children down to the tenth generation. Exercise caution before clicking the above link.

Me: I thought the piece was great, but I'm a lost cause in the nerd department. I not only know the name of James Tiberius Kirk's brother, but how he died.

I even *like* the latest Harry Potter film, despite its flaws, and will patiently await the climax, even though I know what will happen. Pray for me.

Hey New York and Environs!

Reader Stephen Haliczer, creator of the Explore Church History site, writes:

I wanted to let your readers know about the fascinating exhibition now on show at the main branch of the New York Public Library. The exhibition is entitled "Three Faiths; Judaism, Christianity , Islam" and it seeks to demonstrate how the three great Abrahamic religions can be defined by several basic commonalities. In putting the exhibition together, the New York Public was inspired by a 2007 exhibition held at the British Library and entitled "Sacred: Discover What We Share".

As in the British Library exhibition, the visitor is exposed to some of the rarest works of sacred worship and scholarship in the world. Works on display include: The Gospel Book of Landevennec a Breton biblical manuscript from before 917, a Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) from 1294 and Qur'ans of a rarity hard to believe. I have launched an extended essay taking up the major underlying themes of the exhibition on my facebook "Explore Church History" page at .

The exhibition Is on view at the library until February 27, 2011.

Check thou it out!

An Extraordinary Parish Grows in Brooklyn

Sherry Weddell sez:

In all my travels, I've never encountered a parish like the one I taught at last weekend in Brooklyn. Make the time to check out this link and pray for them. I think you'll be inspired and have even more to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

What is too difficult for Commonweal...

...isn't too complicated for Jonah Goldberg.

Amazing how easy it is to understand something simple when you want to do it.

Reason to Homeschool #9833490309385039043249827432923948733

Your kid will never be punished for bringing a pencil to school by a bureaucrat frightened of her own shadow.

According to UPI: 'A Massachusetts school district superintendent said a memo banning sixth graders from carrying pencils was written without district approval. North Brookfield School District interim Superintendent Gordon Noseworthy said Wendy Scott, one of two sixth-grade teachers at North Brookfield Elementary School, did not get approval from administrators before sending the memo to all sixth-grade parents, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported Thursday. The memo said students would no longer be allowed to bring writing implements to school. It said pencils would be provided for students in class and any students caught with pencils or pens after Nov. 15 would face disciplinary action for having materials 'to build weapons.'