For Insufferable Clods Who Hijack Conversations with Their Political Potherings

(Or Who Visit Our Blog Shocked There Has Been Not a Single Word Mentioned About Iran), some sage advice from our local patrician:

Once one begins messing about with blogs, it takes approximately thirty seconds to discover the only two topics anyone is interested in, politics and sex. (Sadly in that order) This I do not understand, I mean heaving bosoms are enticing and granted there is some biological evidence for this, but politics…And the worst part is that most of those that spew (around 99.9%) have not one intelligent thing to say on the matter. Why argue about politics? I mean, my old Gram still tries to argue with me about the Abdication Crisis, but I will have none of it. I do not care that Mrs. Simpson was a tart. There are other things with which one can take up their day (such as heaving bosoms). It is not as if anything you say will matter in the least…It is wasted effort and what’s worse, you might spoil a trowser crease [or, in our case, a skirt pleat] in the process. And unless you are unfortunate enough to have been elected to public office (and dumb enough to have accepted) are a member of a royal family, or, are being paid to talk, then why? Oh yes, ‘I want to share my asinine political opinions with all and sundry and then conduct a nasty commentkrieg with those who disagree’, and they all will. Not only will they smite your opinions hip and thigh, they will also go after your spelling, grammar, syntax, clothing, haircut, dog, cat, etc. etc...

Aptly put, Sir Basil. (Thanks for resurrecting the quote, Mrs. P.)

(And, since you mentioned it, aren't those yowling now over Ahmadinajad the very same lot who cheered him on when he spoke at Columbia?)

St. Cross College Ball

This year's theme is Casablanca:

St. Cross College will be transformed into a North African paradise. Think exotic foods, belly dancers, casino tables and of course a stellar crowd. There will be live jazz and arabian acoustics and enough entertainment to keep you going until the early hours.

Mandatory dress code: white jacket and tie for the men, vintage gowns for the ladies. For the exotic menu, see here (it includes moorish standards like tagine, falafel, and couscous--but Oxford being British, after all, a selection of cheeses and aged port finish off the repast).

A toast to the graduates!

Schadenfreude

Oksana Grigorieva, the Russian singer bearing Mel Gibson's love child, has released a new single, with lyrics penned by Gibson himself, and the popular verdict so far is not good. One phrase is making the rounds: "Shows love is blind... and deaf, too."

In my opinion, the song starts out with promise, only to descend into an overly breathy piece with strained, near-hysterical, high-pitched vocals that have the effect of tensing the nerves. That's bad enough, but when one considers the fact that the sung lyrics are about Gibson's so-called love for his new lady friend, it's enough to trigger nausea. Who wants to hear a traditional-Catholic-gone-wild gushing about his new girlfriend, while his wife of 29 years and mother of his 7 children is in the background quietly nursing her wounds?

Gibson's crush is hardly convincing in any case; as a Catholic, he should know that true love is concerned above all with the welfare of the soul. Instead, by his actions he is blithely dragging her soul along with his into Gehenna.

Ah, l'amour!

Vinh Son Orphanages

Run by the Sisters of the Miraculous Medal, the two orphanages care for 450+ children, who daily rise at 4:15 a.m., promptly attend Mass, and then attend classes that teach skills appropriate to their gender and age. One hundred percent of all donations go directly to the orphanage, and to prevent the Vietnamese government from secretly biting off a share, Dennis Coyne (Viet Nam vet and Catholic, and member of the board of trustees of Friends of Vinh Son Orphanage) ensures all donations are received directly by the sisters.

For the price of a pizza, one can clothe, shelter, and feed an orphan for a month.



Donations may be made here.

"I have never experienced in my life, such tragedy, nor such grace."

"My daughter walked into that abortion facility healthy and she left dead," says the mother of Laura Hope Smith. Smith died in 2007 on an abortion clinic table in Hyannis, Masachusetts, at the hands of Dr. Rapin Osathanondh, who has since been indicted by a grand jury for manslaughter. Smith's mother met with the abortionist in a private setting.

I met with the doctor who aborted my grandchild, and who saw my daughter take her last breath. He would only meet me in a public place, without my husband. We talked for an hour and a half. Based on that meeting I believe I know what happened to Laura. He denies doing anything that caused her death. When we were done talking about Laura, I prayed, and asked God if there was anything He would have me say to the doctor. This is what I said next.... "The blood of my daughter is on your hands; the blood of my grandchild is on your hands; the blood of every life you have ever taken is on your hands," and I went on from there. He was silent with his head hung low. When I was ready to leave, I asked him if he would think about my daughter, and consider not doing any more abortions. He said he would think about it. When I left there I was praying, and said to God, "Can You stop this man from doing abortions? Is this what You have in mind, that he might even stop doing them?" I was thinking too small. I thought if one girl changed her mind, I could find some comfort. I then realized that the Lord had much bigger plans. I have never experienced in my life, such tragedy, nor such grace.

Of course, the media has largely ignored Smith's death, its double standard only highlighted by the flood of press regarding abortionist George Tiller's murder. Kill an abortionist--it's news. Kill an abortion victim? It's nothing.