Archive for March, 2021

Flash! The Catholic Church and Francis are Still Catholic

Posted: March 16, 2021 by datechguy in Uncategorized

There is a half century old management concept called the “Peter Principle” that states that a person will get promoted until they reach a level where they are not competent for the job they have been raised to.

When dealing with the current occupant of the Vatican one might call it the “St. Peter Principle” where Francis skills and approach might be effective as a parish priest or even as a Bishop or Cardinal are not that effective in the top chair. He may be personally holy and may believe but his skill set has not been all that effective as Pope.

However despite these skills or lack thereof there are still times when the Catholic Church under Francis reminds the world that they are still in fact Catholic: To wit:

Responsum of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to a dubium
regarding the blessing of the unions of persons of the same sex

TO THE QUESTION PROPOSED:
Does the Church have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex?

RESPONSE:
Negative.

This statement included an explaination:

For this reason, it is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage (i.e., outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open in itself to the transmission of life), as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex[6]. The presence in such relationships of positive elements, which are in themselves to be valued and appreciated, cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing, since the positive elements exist within the context of a union not ordered to the Creator’s plan.

And in fact it goes further (emphasis mine)

Furthermore, since blessings on persons are in relationship with the sacraments, the blessing of homosexual unions cannot be considered licit. This is because they would constitute a certain imitation or analogue of the nuptial blessing invoked on the man and woman united in the sacrament of Matrimony, while in fact “there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family”

In an age where people are afraid to define “woman” the affirmation that you can’t bless a relationship in sin (hetrosexual OR homosexual) this is an earthquake.

But the left / media can take comfort in the knowledge that this is in fact coming from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and not from Pope Francis himself…

…oh wait:

The Sovereign Pontiff Francis, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Secretary of this Congregation, was informed and gave his assent to the publication of the above-mentioned Responsum ad dubium, with the annexed Explanatory Note.

In other words Pope Francis gives his blessing to this statement.

Now it’s worth nothing that this doesn’t preclude a blessing to Gay individuals who as the document states” manifest the will to live in fidelity to the revealed plans of God as proposed by Church teaching, but this didn’t stop CNN from twisting the words of the statement nor making blatantly false statements concerning the teaching of the Catholic Church vs certain Protestant denominations Then again given CNN being CNN if they managed to report it straight and accurately it would be a real manifestation of God miraculous works.

But the bottom line is that despite all their collective faults, the Catholic Church in General and Pope Francis in particular remain Catholic.

The left and media hardest hit.

Can’t wait to see the administration of that faithful practicing Catholic Joe Biden’s comment on this.

Report from Louisiana: Stubborn People, Spring Break, and Shreveport Violence

Posted: March 15, 2021 by Pat Austin in Uncategorized
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By:  Pat Austin

SHREVEPORT – Last week I was unable to post as I had to drive my son to have his wisdom teeth removed and I failed to get a post together ahead of time to schedule. I appreciate Pete’s patience with me when these things happen. But, let me tell you, my son is the epitome of hard-headed and by, oh….say…..noon last Monday I was complete over this wisdom teeth adventure.

The oral surgeon of course told him no eating solid food for three to five days in order to allow healing and so not to disturb the protective blood clots. Literally nothing I could name for a meal was satisfactory. He wouldn’t listen to any directions, and even wanted to go outside and shoot the basketball literally three hours after the procedure. After reminding him that his post-procedure directions said no exercise or strenuous activity (to control bleeding), he went out anyway.

I was so exasperated by then, I reminded myself that he’s an adult, I left the gauze out for him and told him if he starts to bleed out to call 911. Whatever. People have to make their own mistakes. I left and went to the grocery store and pharmacy.

When I came back, he wasn’t feeling so great but now that we are a week out, everything is back to normal.

Stubborn!

It’s been a big week for me on other fronts: I’ve put in retirement papers and will be leaving the classroom after twenty-five years. I received confirmation and “approval” of my papers this week. I’m already clearing things out of my classroom and emptying files. We are on Spring Break and I’m heading back down to south Louisiana for the week. I need to unplug and recharge for the last nine weeks of school.

I am anxious to get out of Shreveport, not just this week, but after retirement. I don’t know if it is the times in which we live, and perhaps it is this way everywhere, but there is not one single day that goes by in this town when there isn’t a murder or at least a shooting. Every.Single.Day. This past week, some poor guy from Texas was just driving through town on I20 when someone pulled up next to him and started shooting, killing him. To be fair, I don’t know if they knew each other, but good grief. I’m tired of the violence.

We don’t live in a bad neighborhood; we live in an older neighborhood, but it’s considered a good part of town, and I often hear gunshots when I take my dog out at night. They’re usually in the distance, not right near me, and sound travels at night, but it’s enough to make you want to get out of town. When we go to our place down south, we are in the country, basically. It’s a small town of about 1,000 people. You can hear some traffic noise, wildlife or fish splashing in the bayou, church bells on the hour, half hour, and quarter hour, but never gunshots.

Our police force tries, but they are woefully underpaid and outnumbered. It appears to be a losing battle, and our novice, young, Democrat mayor who has higher political ambitions, has no idea how to fix things. It’s time to move on.

At any rate, there you have my random musings for the week. Be safe, be kind, and take care.

Pat Austin blogs at And So it Goes in Shreveport and is the author of Cane River Bohemia: Cammie Henry and her Circle at Melrose Plantation. Follow her on Instagram @patbecker25 and Twitter @paustin110.

The NBA’s Vanderbilt Moment

Posted: March 15, 2021 by datechguy in Uncategorized

The public be damned! I am working for my stockholders!

attributed to William Henry Vanderbilt

There has been a copious silence from the NBA concerning slave labor camps in China, concerning a judge’s ruling that claiming homosexuality is a mental illness is a valid opinion and an ad by a Chinese laundry detergent company where a black man is given a tablet of the cleaner put in a washer and comes out “clean” (that is Chinese).

Now you can make the case that the ad is a joke and NBA players can take a joke and you can make the case that people have the right to an opinion particularly one that was the case the official opinion of the American mental health experts until the early 70’s and defend both of free speech grounds although the NBA would never do so if these took place in America, but rationalizing slave labor while at the same time your political allies are pushing reparations for slavery, that’s pure unadulterated capitalism.

China has recently announced that is will again broadcast NBA games and with few or no fans allowed in the arenas and US rating way down despite lockdowns where people would presumably be at home the NBA players who like the ability to make six to eight figures for playing a game rather than $7.50 to $15 an hour for manual labor jobs where being able to reach the top shelf is useful where most of said players would be without the game are not inclined to be all that particular about slavery in China if it hurts their bottom line.

In other words it’s capitalism totally divorced from morality. If the goal is to maximize profits for the league as long as laws are not broken (and none of those actions are in violation of Chinese law, they are at worst down with it or at best silent.

If that’s how they want to justify it, that’s fine, it’s on them, but I don’t want to hear a single word about “social justice” or how the NBA cares about right and wrong because the reality is these guys to a man care about their bottom line and making what they can while they can that’s it. That’s their prerogative but spare me the false moral high ground narrative.

Oh and a small note to Coke and all those folks campaigning against “whiteness” it’s worth noting that this position makes them morally inferior to the almost completely white textile workers of England during the Civil War who despite hardship due to cutoff of their cotton supply vital for their employment by the Union Blockade of Confederate ports stood united against slavery and either recognition or intervention in the Civil War.

High inflation will make Illinois’ pension crisis less severe

Posted: March 14, 2021 by John Ruberry in economy, News/opinion, politics
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By John Ruberry

Will high inflation offer benefits? In Illinois and other states burdened by woefully underfunded pension plans, it just might.

Boss Michael Madigan, the man behind Illinois’ financial debacle, is finally gone. Hard work by the Illinois Policy Institute, some Republicans, local radio hosts, and yes, bloggers, made the Madigan name toxic. The tipping point against the longtime chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party and the speaker of the state House for all but two years since 1983, was a disappointing 2020 general election. He’s now enjoying a comfortable retirement.

How comfortable? Madigan, 78, contributed just $350,000 to his retirement, an amount he’ll collect as a state pensioner in just three years, according to the Illinois Policy Institute. Over the next 17 years, of course if he lives that long, the Chicagoan will collect $2.9 million from his pension. Not that Madigan is poor. Presumably he’s made a lot of money from his law firm, Madigan & Getzendanner, which specializes in property tax appeals. How much money? We’ll never know because Madigan has never released his income tax returns. 

In 1989, Governor James Thompson, a Republican, signed into law a bill that gave Illinois retirees a three-percent annual cost-of-living increase raise in their pensions. Which means after twenty years their pensions double. Madigan was the House speaker when the pension COLA bill passed through the General Assembly. 

Over thirty years later Illinois’ pension plans are among the worst-funded among the 50 states.

Short of default–pension benefits are protected by the state constitution–or a federal bailout, there is no way out for Illinois in regards to these obligations. It’s that bad.

But then there is inflation. Joe Biden’s stimulus package, most of which is not related to COVID-19, has many economists, including Lawrence Summers, Treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, worrying about higher inflation. A basic explanation of how high inflation occurs is too much cash chasing too few goods. And Biden’s stimulus is more than double that of Barack Obama’s stimulus of 2009.

Here’s what Forbes’ Elizabeth Bauer said two years ago about inflation and pensions:

If the United States were to hit a period of high inflation rates, sustained over a long period of time, these liabilities would shrink considerably — and I’m not even speaking, snarky photo aside [the article contains a photograph of a Zimbabwean $100 trillion bill], of hyperinflation. Based on my calculations (and yes, these are real calculations, using real data for this plan collected for another project, not merely back-of-the-envelope estimates, however unlikely the very even numbers make it appear), an inflation rate of 10%, and assumptions for interest rate/asset return rate and salary increases over time which reflect the same net-of-inflation rates as at present, would halve the pension liabilities of the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System.

Crisis solved? Kinda sorta. Public pension debt in Illinois will be less of a financial burden if 1970s-type inflation returns. And of course it’s easy to chuckle about the over 100,000 retirees who last year were collecting over $100,000 annually in their pensions, unless you are a member of this fortunate caste.

But what about the retirees collecting half of that–after years of seeing large chunks of every paycheck deducted for retirement? They’ll lose too.

When I was in college an economics professor explained to me and my classmates that inflation is a zero-sum game; he used the example of a five-person poker game. When the first cards are dealt there is, let’s say, $500 placed in chips, $100 per-player. When the final hands are played there is still $500. Some leave the table richer, others poorer. 

High inflation–and hyper inflation–will reward some, which is why, for my largely self-funded 401(k) plan, I recently moved some of my funds into real estate. Let’s hope I made the right decision.

Among hypothetical inflationary losers will be Illinois pensioners, and presumably other public-penioners, unless their plans are tied to the annual rate of inflation. 

Of course don’t expect the public-sector union bosses to quietly accept their fate if inflation deals them, excuse me for not letting go of the poker example, a bad hand. Among the lessons learned from the COVID-19 lockown is that teachers unions are very powerful and they have the ears of Democratic politicians, despite what the science says about the virus and how it spreads among younger people.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

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