The riots are not nice. The riots are violent and destructive. But here is some clear, informative coverage of what is going on in Port-Au-Prince. Includes some quotes from peaceful protesters that sums up the situation.
(At least one bloody photo, but it isn’t all that bad. This guy can take some good photos. How come mainstream news coverage is always so . . . I don’t know . . . distant? When you have guys like this on the ground?)
[Grumpy would be me, not the long-suffering soul to whom I am wed.]
December is our month to send in charitable donations. We do all gifts in one big batch, because it makes the deciding and record-keeping that much easier.
So the other night the SuperHusband and I sit down for our evening couple time after kids are in bed, and I’m roving through the topics, mostly just exercising my not-so-inner curmudgeon. No lofty goals intended. I mention this blog post about expat parties in Haiti. My conclusion is this: But really, we’re the same way. I feel bad for all those poor people, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have my beer.
And SuperHusband, who is a generous and charitable person, says: I’m not sure aid to Haiti really helps.
I concede that there are no doubt problems in Haiti that no amount of aid will fix, but that certain projects, especially certain Christian humanitarian mission projects, are helping.
SuperHusband brings in North Korea. If you send money to North Korea, it only supports the corrupt regime, and no starving people are saved.
I suspect he is probably correct, but point out that we talking about Haiti tonight, not North Korea.
SuperHusband says that UN aid to Haiti is helping maintain the status quo.
I agree, but observe that for all a UN water truck might discourage the local government from building its own water treatment plant, for the person who will be dead tomorrow without clean water, it might be nice to live long enough to agitate for reform. But in any case, I am not proposing we send money to the UN. I would like to send money to some Christian missionaries.
SuperHusband says that he does not believe change can happen from without. That people must decide for themselves they want change. Therefore, outside aid is not helpful.
Yes, I say. I have discovered that every time I try to work through a major policy problem, I keep coming back to how the answer is Jesus.
Yes, he says.
And isn’t it interesting, I say, how the New Testament doesn’t tell us to send extra money to government aid programs. But curiously, it does tell us Christians to provide for the poor ourselves. Pure religion is this: providing for the widow and the orphan.
And he says okay. Send some money to missionaries.
My eldest informs me that I am an Evil Dictator. Evidence I am making much progress. If I can just keep it up until nightfall, I’ll consider it a success.
I wanted to quick post these, because they would make great gifts. Both available from your favorite local Catholic Book & Gift Store:
Everyday Catholic Prayer by Angela Tilby (Paraclete Press 2006, originally published 1998.) This was our DRE’s gift to the catechists this Advent. Lovely little book. Opening chapters are very encouraging for those of us who struggle with our faith — the author lays bare her own struggles with belief, and invites us to grow closer to God even when we don’t feel good enough. Even when we don’t really understand how it can work.
Middle section is a ‘little office’ – a small set of prayers you can make into a 5-minute variation on the divine office. Psalms, canticles, gospel meditations, close with an Our Father. Nothing weird. 100% solid prayer power. This would make a great daily prayer regime if you are looking for one; designed for people whose vocations do not leave long expanses of time for liturgical prayer.
Final section is a compendium of other stalwart prayers — all the big ones — so you can build up your daily prayer routine, or you can grab a needed prayer when the occasion merits. No groovy namby-pamby. Think: Te Deum, Anima Christi, and the like.
This is a small book — made for carrying around and using when you can. Would be handy for catechists, by the way, because you can easily access all kinds of good stuff for use in class. (Go figure: Gift from the DRE. She knows we’re busy, knows we need to pray, and knows we need ideas for class. Have I mentioned how much I love my DRE?)
And although it is called Everyday Catholic Prayer, it would be comfortable for protestants. There are exactly two Marian prayers, both quite mild, plus a mention of the Rosary. Otherwise all the rest is protestant-friendly, per the mission of Paraclete Press. So handy for ecumenical purposes, where you want something more formal-liturgy-like, but that sits firmly on common ground. Everyone can feel all ancient and happy praying St.Patrick’s Breastplate or Psalm 67 or whatever suits, and no guests need squirm.
Great little book. Sized for a stocking. Would be a decent confirmation or older-godchild gift.
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2nd Book, and I’m out of blogging time but wanted to toss it out there, is my latest Catholic Company review book: Why Enough is Never Enough: Overcoming Worries about Money – A Catholic Perspective by Gregory S. Jeffery (Our Sunday Visitor, 2010).
Awesome book.
It is not about managing your money. It is about managing your soul. The focus is money-topics — greed, generosity, trusting God, fighting envy, rooting out sin, etc. etc. If you struggle with money issues, this will not teach you how to budget or pay off your credit cards. It will teach you to deal with some of the underlying causes that may be feeding your financial problems.
–> If you actually find the money thing not so difficult, this book is a great spiritual guide for seeing your way through other besetting sins. You’ll understand what he’s saying re: money (because you understand money), and realize that hey, there are other areas of my life that I do struggle with, that stem from the same types of problems — generosity, trust, envy, selfishness.
Good stuff. Official review coming after I work through the backlog elsewhere. But I give it a ‘buy’ recommend. Maybe not as a gift to someone else, because what kind of message does that send. But to yourself. Yes. Very Advent-y.
2nd day in the series is up: Can Sitting Too Much Kill YOU?
The answer is yes. But this was the alarming one – death by television:
These findings linking sedentary behaviour with poor health are far from isolated. For example, a similar longitudinal study from Australia reports that each hour of daily television viewing is associated with an 11% increase in the risk of all-cause mortality regardless of age, sex, waist circumference, and physical activity level.
I’m feeling quite superior right now, since I’m not much of a TV person. But heaven help me if ever they ever do a study on the dangers of reading.
The slightly mis-named blog Obesity Panacea has put up the opening post in a week-long series on Sedentary Physiology. Good blog. Written for normal people, and covers the intersection between body weight, fitness, and health, from a what-does-the-research-say perspective. Where “what the research says” is still a developing topic.
From a homeschooling perspective, the opening article validates one of my reasons-I-like-homeschooling: School kids sit still an awful lot. And that doesn’t strike me as all that healthy. Referring here to the school schedule as it stands today, where kids spend more hours per day and days per year in class than they did in early years of public/town schooling. It’s not a contrast of home-versus-school anywhere and everywhere, but homeschooling versus how school is being done right now. No reason the school situation can’t change.
–> And in my neck of the woods, no one is walking five miles each way, either. Or even half a mile. When a new school was built by MIL’s house recently, within ball-throwing-distance of five or six neighborhoods, the road was rebuilt and expanded to handle the car traffic, but no sidewalk or crosswalk to be seen. (In my case it wouldn’t help though — we live half a block from our nearest school, and must-drive distance to the next two options. So the commute wouldn’t increase my kids’ exercise amounts.)
Funny story: This past Saturday at the “ADVENTure” parish program, by midday I had a kid ask if he could please stand through our class period, because he was “tired of sitting”. I let him stand up front, near me, where he wouldn’t block anybody’s view. Worked great. He was calm and not distracting and both of us were happy.
More personal: Wow has it been annoying dealing with the new sedentary lifestyle of the foot injury. Even with eating much less. I remember the same problem when I went from grad school to working full-time as an accountant. All that sitting. Not easy to keep a body healthy that way.
(A little something cheerful to offset my venom below).
Mrs. Darwin has gone and had another birthday. Which means another round of “I remember Mrs. Darwin”. Go play. Lots of fun.
http://www.ieb-eib.org/fr/bulletins/bulletin-de-lieb-29-novembre-2010-41.html
(Article in french. H/t to Wesley Smith.)
Okay these types of cases tick me off. I’m about to become a nasty ranting machine. Skip on to some other blog now.
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The baby is born with birth defects. The parents sue for ‘wrongful life’, on account how if the physician had properly informed them ahead of time, they would have killed the kid and been done with it.
Okay sure. So what is the remedy? Do you just give the parents a .45 and show them a nice spot out back where they can shoot the kid? Because that’s what they’re saying they missed out on. Not real expensive. One round and loaner weapon. Slightly bigger hole to dig.
Yeah. I’m being harsh. You are suing because you *failed to kill your own child*. Excuse me?
No. No. Not sane.
But what really really infuriates me about these cases are all the parents who accept their children just how they are, and get no help. Lovely, isn’t it, how the people who would rather their child were dead get a big court settlement, but nothing for the parents who actually want life and hope and good things for their baby.
It is evil.
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And yes I read the original article. The specific question being ruled on by the courts in this case was: Can the parents file a ‘wrongful life’ civil action on behalf of their child. You do the math. Insanity. Complete insanity.
Imagine you are a catechist. Imagine that tomorrow from 9am – 3pm you’ll be manning the “St. Nicholas Room” for your parish’s ADVENTure Day. You might want to visit here. Soon.
Or if you just want coloring pages, crossword, word-search puzzles, and the like, click ahead to here.
The Saint Nicholas Center. Our friend.
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Three things you might be wondering:
I thought this one was cool enough to deserve a cross-post. And I couldn’t very well pester Julie again. So I figured I’d better put it up myself:
Enjoy.