Month: April 2006

The Patriotic Association, the state-controlled Church in China, has ignored the Holy See’s wishes and ordained a new bishop, the BBC reported. . . .

The Holy See had called for a delay in the appointment over concerns the bishop is inexperienced and too closely aligned with China’s communist regime, the BBC said.

China also has an “underground” Church that is loyal to the Pope.

Link.

I thought everything was getting better.

Diplomatic relations with the Chinese in hopes of reform is like bedding a slut in hopes of making her chaste. You’re just giving them what they want.

That’s my hunch, anyway. … Read the rest

Well, it finally happened: I have a teenager under my roof. Alex turned 13 today. Shaggy hair, a little sassy, and getting a bit big for my strong-arm liking, he’s a teenager and enjoying his new status.

So far, he’s been a great kid. If the next 13 years go as joyously as the first 13, I’m a blessed man. … Read the rest

B16 had some words yesterday that hit pretty close to my thoughts about the childless and near-childless:

The Pope opined that “the lack of such creative and forward-looking love is the reason why many couples today choose not to marry, why so many marriages fail,and why birth rates have significantly diminished.”

“Instead of feeling loved and cherished,” he said, children and young people often “appear to be merely tolerated.”

“Merely tolerated.” That’s an interesting way of putting it. Instead of unconditional love toward children and an acceptance of them, children come into the world on command. They are things acquired (by our choice), not blessings received (often not by our choice). How many adults have children “for the experience” or out of fear that they’re “missing out on something” or because their friends are having babies? Plenty. I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of people have babies out of such sentiments. In this, children have become kind of like commodities. When they turn out to be a lot of work as well, parents tolerate them, but they often don’t invite any more into the house.

It kind of reminds me of annoying house guests. You tolerate them (you can’t be rude), but you don’t cherish them, and you certainly don’t invite them back. … Read the rest

On Monday, I mentioned a claim that shaving cream is a racket and that a man just needs warm water, after he first toughens up his skin a bit.

Well, I put my face on the line all week, and the results are in: the claim is correct, subject to two caveats and a piece of further advice.

Caveat 1. I shave in the shower. Something about the constant spray of water makes shaving much smoother. But both tests were performed in the shower, and I didn’t notice much difference between no shaving cream and shaving cream. I assume the same results would hold at the sink.

Caveat 2. I broke out a brand new razor for the experiment. That being said, I didn’t notice that Day 6 was any worse than Day 1.

Advice 1: Use ordinary soap. A problem with no shaving cream: the razor tends to stick and it’s a tad uncomfortable. A friend pointed out that he uses ordinary soap. I tried it, and it was perfect. Lather the face up for five seconds with Dial soap, then shave away. No sticking, and the results are smooth.

Conclusion: I will now start saving $8 a year on shaving cream and about six hours a year in shaving cream-application time.… Read the rest

More great weather. It’s been a stunning spring so far.

But if the recent pattern holds, it means we’re heading for a dismal late spring or summer. Consider: We got hit real hard with snow and cold in November and December. Come January, things got incredibly mild and downright nice at points. Then March came, and it was nasty again; spring fever cooled off and we lamented a parade of 30-degree days. And now April is warm and dry. I’m guessing we’ll have a cool summer. But that’s just a wild guess. I’m not Ben Franklin and I don’t watch the Weather Channel.

And you know if I’m blogging about the weather, I don’t have much to say. Last night was dry, meteorologically and alcohologically. My wife and I went to the drinking club Thursday night for dinner and tall ones, and I have two parties to attend this evening, so I didn’t feel like drinking Friday. Instead, I sat outside and read Ong and Gheon.

I also did a little research about the fall of the Roman Empire. Two mainline sources say de-population was a major cause, but neither of them mention the possibility that falling birth rates–accentuated by abortion and contraception–contributed to the reduced population. Instead, they say war and plague did it. But we know from Cicero’s writings that abortion and contraception had become prevalent at the height of Roman power. I thought Roman families continued to be small after Cicero, at least compared to Roman families during Rome’s rise. Oh well. I’ll keep my eyes open. There’s a great article there, though I suspect it’s already been written. If anyone knows of such a piece, please email me. This isn’t esoteric stuff, so I gotta believe the issue has been addressed and probably even hotly debated.… Read the rest

Some bad ones to use at the bar tonight:

A man walks into a bar holding a slab of asphalt and says, “A beer please, and one for the road.”

A neutron walks into a bar and asks for a beer. The bartender says, “For you, no charge.”

A jumper cable walks into the bar and asks for a bar. The bartender says, “Okay, but don’t start anything.”

Shakespeare walks into a bar and the bartender says, “You’re still bard here.”

A dyslexic alcoholic walks into a bra.

Courtesy of the most-recent issue of Gilbert Magazine.… Read the rest