It’s all about the kids

Posted: August 23, 2022 by chrisharper in baseball
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By Christopher Harper

The Little League World Series, just a few miles up the road from my home in central Pennsylvania, provides a wonderful sense of sanity amid the chaos and controversy throughout the country. 

For two weeks in Williamsport, once a thriving lumber town, the focus is on the crack of the baseball bat until the end of the month, offering a celebration of Americana that is difficult to surpass.

The players between 10 and 12 years old come from some of the smallest towns in the United States, including Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania; Bonney Lake, Washington; Hagerstown, Indiana; Pearland, Texas; Santa Clara, Utah.

The 20 teams also include groups from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; Aguadulce, Panama; and Bologna, Italy. 

Whatever their language or background, the games are all about the kids, the parents, and the city of Williamsport. 

As ESPN put it: “Williamsport is the happiest town in America for nearly two weeks starting in the middle of August. It opens with The Grand Slam Parade the night before the games begin, the kids riding down the street with their team, next to other teams that have come from thousands of miles away. They don’t all understand the same language, but they know a party and a parade when they see one.”

In 1939, Carl Stolz started Little League baseball in Williamsport because he enjoyed playing baseball with his two young nephews and ultimately decided that he wanted to create an organized league for them to play in. There were just three original teams in the league: Lundy Lumber, Lycoming Dairy, and Jumbo Pretzel. See https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/05/sports/carl-stotz-82-founder-of-little-league-baseball.html

Little League baseball eventually expanded to 12 leagues in Pennsylvania in 1946. Today, there are an estimated 180,000 teams throughout the world. 

The first official Little League World Series occurred in August 1947 in Williamsport. This year’s event, which can be seen on ESPN, will continue until August 28, when a champion is declared. Or, you can drop by to see a game for free. 

According to the Little League website, the World Series has featured some participants who had notable sports careers in the MLB, the NFL, and the NHL, including Yankee third baseman Todd Frazier, Stanley Cup winner Chris Drury, and Tennessee Titans quarterback Matt Cassel. 

This year brought Yankee Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera, former President George Bush, and Rachel Robinson, the widow of Jackie Robinson. 

It just doesn’t get much better than that. 

This Screams “I’m running in 2024”

Posted: August 23, 2022 by datechguy in elections, politics, Uncategorized
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A few days ago I was a tad surprised to see California Governor Gavin Newsom do something sane, namely attempt to keep the remaining Nuke plant in California open:

The draft legislation — which would be attached to the state’s budget as a trailer bill — would help extend the power plant’s operations for an additional five to 10 years beyond its scheduled shutdown dates in 2024 and 2025.

The forgivable loan, if authorized, would be lent by the state’s Department of Water Resources.

Diablo Canyon — California’s last remaining nuclear power plant — generates about 8.6% of the state’s total electricity supply, according to the Governor’s Office.

Now of course I’m not a fan of a “forgivable loan” to a big Utility, which is another way of saying it’s a payout so one might dismiss this a giving in to the reality of not kneecapping the power grid while making some friends with taxpayer money at the same time but with the energy crunch in California keeping that 8.6% of the power supply up is vital even if the left has done all it can to reduce demand by chasing people away.

I figured he was being mugged by reality, but then I saw this

Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed pilot programs where people could use drugs under the supervision of trained staff in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles, a blow to a long-fought battle to tackle the cities’ overdose crises.

In his veto letter, Newsom said he has “long supported the cutting edge of harm reduction strategies” but said the unlimited number of sites allowed by the bill “could induce a world of unintended consequences.” He did not go into detail about what those consequences could be.

John Sexton at Hotair, where I saw the story has it pegged:

It’s probably safe to assume the “unintended consequences” Newsom is most concerned about about are the ones that could damage his run for president in a couple of years. … And while “safe injections sites” are an easy call in deep blue California, the idea would be a non-starter in many states. 

Now a broken clock can be right twice a day but an ultra liberal California governor making two sane decision in less than two weeks? Yeah he running in 2024

Five Slow Under the Fedora Thoughts, NFL, What Arson? Demographic Destiny, Fauci Farewell and Looking for Adorers in Fitchburg MA

Posted: August 22, 2022 by datechguy in Uncategorized

The NFL has made a bit of a deal about their managing to get the suspension of Deshawn Watson up to 11 games from 6.

Of course their faux outrage is amusing given that they could have imposed a harsher penalty right at the start but they had no interest in it.

It’s all rather amusing, the reality is they want Watson to play games because there’s money in it and they don’t want a lot of debate or trouble with the players union, and given the owners records in this regard the idea that this is anything more than just a big theatrical production is a joke.

The continuing violence against churches and pregnancy centers and the continual apathy of leftists in authority concerning said violence keeps taking us closer to the advent of actual violence in return.

Of course once that happens the left and the media will have no problem at call condemning it.

That the public has been so willing to go along with all of this has been one of the biggest cultural changes in my lifetime.

Yesterday I noted that some feminists are figuring out they’ve been sold a bill of goods, In researching for that piece I spotted this from Stacy McCain’s site that expands on the subject:

What we are witnessing in the 21st century are the late-stage effects of cultural decadence, where children raised in chaotic environments — with divorced or never-married parents, no religious influence, surrounded by drug abuse and other social pathologies — grow up to become dysfunctional adults who exercise toxic influence in the lives of others. Institutional commitments to “inclusion” and “diversity” make it difficult to avoid these dysfunctional people, and we are forced to tolerate deviant behavior in our midst. Whether it’s riots on university campuses, drug addicts encamped on the streets or deranged lunatics threatening violence against us, citizens are expected to adapt to the increasing prevalence of antisocial behaviors, which become normalized.

Stacy wrote that four years ago and it’s only gotten worse. Of course as the left has now turned to spaying and neutering their own kids the gap between the birth rates of believing religious and ardent feminist leftist will continue to increase to the point where stealing election will be considered a necessity for them to retain any power outside the bluest of blue zones.

Unexpectedly of course.

The only thing sadder then the fact that Dr. Fauci will retire without any consequences for the havoc that he has wrought on this nation and perhaps the world is the fact that he may in fact believe that he has no done so.

If you had to find someone who could be the model of Sir Humphrey Appleby in the US Fauci is it.

I’d close this section with a vulgarity but as I noted a few days ago Fauci is only one good confession away from being right with God.

Finally speaking of getting right with God my church St. Bernard’s Parish at St. Camillus Church is looking for adorers who wish to spend an hour with the Blessed Sacrament.

We used to have a 24/7 Adoration chapel but COVID did away with that. For now we are looking at Mondays 8:30-7 and Tuesdays 8:30-4 in the main church but come Advent we hope to have the Chapel open one day a week from about 9 AM to 7 PM.

If you live in the Fitchburg/Leominster area and have an interest let me know via comments.

Report from Louisiana: Mary on the Bayou

Posted: August 22, 2022 by Pat Austin in Uncategorized
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By:  Pat Austin

SHREVEPORT – It was my intention to post last Monday from the Fete Dieu du Teche but I have to say, I got all caught up in that event that I just wasn’t able to.

I’ve posted before about this annual Eucharist procession down Bayou Teche each year on August 15, on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. In Cajun Country it also coincides with the 257th anniversary of the arrival of the Acadians in south Louisiana. This all-day event begins in Leonville with a Mass in French by the Bishop and ends in the early evening in St. Martinville with some six or seven stops in between where the boats stop, and the procession comes ashore to say the Rosary in each town.

It is just incredibly moving to me to see the entire community in prayer and reverence like this and I love hearing the ceremony in French.

I am not a real believer in coincidences. My husband and I are not Catholic but are Episcopal. They are fairly close; close enough where we can follow the services. On Saturday, two days before the Fete event, we were shopping in an antique store and found “finger rosaries.” We’d never seen one but thought they were very pretty so we each picked out one. We have Anglican rosaries, and I figured I could sort of use this in the same, or similar, way. The one my husband picked had a “Miraculous Medal” of Mary on it. Neither one of us had ever heard of this medal so when we got back to the house Steve did a little research on it.

At the Fete Dieu du Teche, as we were walking down to the bayou bank for the procession, Steve saw a lady in a van trying to park. She was with Radio Maria, and she was having trouble wedging into a parking place, so Steve helped her. After the ceremony, she sought him out to thank him, and she said, “Oh wait! I want to give you something!”

She handed him an American flag with a Miraculous Medal of Mary dangling from it and a card that said it had been blessed.

Kindness begets kindness.

I have so much love and respect for the Cajun culture and not to oversimplify things, but their love of Church, family, and community is incredibly admirable.

Living in three hours away from the area is just too far for me and I can’t wait until we can relocate there. I’m not Cajun by blood, but I had someone down there tell me, “but you are by heart!” I’ll take that incredible honor and I’ll mark my calendar for August 15 next year!

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