Category: links elsewhere

Blogging Against Disablism Day

Guilty again of meaning to blog and not getting to it.  (Not a disability, just a vice.  Enabled by meat life.)

But today is the day, and h/t to Katja for reminding me and the rest of us forgetful types.  Headquarters site is here.

And for blogging against disablism every day, I keep meaning to mention that William Peace has been on a tear lately.  Chock full of good threads — scroll down in look in particular for his observations about assisted suicide and euthanasia.  From a secular perspective, FYI.  It isn’t only we right-wing religious extremists ™ who think human life is worthwhile, no special qualifications required.

Someone remind me to add Catholic Free Shipping to the sidebar.  And where to put it — humor?  General Catholic? Reputable Vendors?  Thanks to the Ironic Catholic for pointing out vocabulary entries such as this one:

“Mandatum”

What I thought it meant: A survey or questionnaire that by law one is required to truthfully complete, as the census.

When Father Rick saw the part in the mandatum inquiring how many children he had, he thought he ought to write down the two thousand people he  serves in his parish.

What it really means: The new commandment Jesus left with the Twelve Apostles at the Last Supper, to love one another as Jesus loved them (John 13:34-35); it also refers to the priests’ washing of his parishioners’ feet during Holy Thursday Mass.

If it were possible for every single one of his flock to be honored during the mandatum, Father Rick would have washed each foot with great humility.

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Meanwhile, speaking of reputable Catholic vendors, my new Catholic Company review book is Sex Au Naturel by Patrick Coffin.  So far so good, though I’m afraid it is not nearly as racy as Dark Night of the Soul.  Or, say, the Bible.   On the other hand, it seems to fill a different need.  And plus, married ladies should be made to read something a little tamer every now and then.

In other catholic vendor news, I’m sorry to see that Requiem Press is closing.  Would some technically-knowledgeable person please beg Jim Curley to make the titles available via e-book going forward?  Sad to see good books going out of print.

causes for rejoicing

Two links that are no help at all to those of us who lack a little in the Lenten Spirit department:

Ed Peters explains why you can eat meat this Friday.  (Hint: Solemnity of St. Joseph.)

And then Ruth of Wheelie Catholic fame has a blog to make NBC blush — paralympic coverage better than you got last month for the other olympics.  You can click on the link in her sidebar to watch live.

[Sadly, there was neither sound nor captioning when I tuned in to a hockey game, so I do not know the story behind the player being rolled off the ice in a stretcher.  Am I consoled or discouraged with  yet more evidence that hockey is basically rugby for cold places?  I do not like the cold, but I sure would like hockey.]

BTW, book review coming soon.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

So many vices, so little time . . .

 

And a couple more links

Long overdue:

St. Xavier Society for the Blind – provides Catholic literature in braille & audio format.  Free service, available for anyone whose disability interferes with reading printed material.

Universalis – the Liturgy of the Hours (aka The Divine Office).  Free online, or you can download to your various devices at a relatively affordable price.

Enjoy.

Blog Maintenance

Added a couple links:

The Lewis Crusade is written by John C. Hathaway, who can transform wading-pool duty at a parish picnic into an intellectual feast for the busy catholic brain.  Great guy who has a thing or two to say to you.

Uncommon Adornments & Phos Hilarion are the twin businesses of jewelry-maker Ann Rinderknecht Miko.  Very nice work, take a look.   (And if  John’s not available, she’s right up there in the entertaining-conversation department.)

Thanks to Julie at Happy Catholic for pointing readers to Unhappy Hipsters.  I actually like modern architecture, and have no particular bias against literary fiction, either — but it’s still pretty funny.  Adult humor in the proper sense of the word — parody it takes an adult to appreciate.

Just so you know, I’ve been sneaking in other links here and there and forgetting to tell you.  So if you are a feed-reader, you might want to click on the blog and peruse, one of these days when you are hard-up for reading material.

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Speaking of reading material, I just finished Saint of the Day.  So expect a review soon.  (And yes, it did take me a mighty long time to finish it.  But hey, I read a year’s worth of saints in less than one year. How many years of saints have you read this winter?  Hmmn?  People smarter than me don’t answer that.)

Just added the Baby Name Wizard to the links.   Which to my knowledge I do not need for nine months from anytime, but did need to check on a character name.  Pulls name data from the Social Security Administration, so you can find out, for example, whether anyone was naming their daughter “Erica” in 1914.  (They weren’t.  We went with Erna.)  Handy for historical fiction.

BTW for the new readers, I happily take link suggestions for anything that remotely fits with the theme of the blog, and if you read here, I’ll gladly link you.

Now off to go continue getting my rear whipped at the writer’s conference.  Aria’s finger is doing great, and now has two fewer paper clips stainless steel surgical pins than it did a week ago.  Yay!

Interesting article re: witchcraft, the church and the state.  Quick, readable, specific enough to be useful.  Can’t comment myself, but gives you some fodder for further study.  Will say that the info Mike Flynn gives does seem to coordinate with what I have read elsewhere.  (H/T to Mark Shea for posting the link.)

torture, surgery update

Entirely unrelated tidbits:

The Coalition for Clarity has two historical quotes of interest posted here. The first is St. Augustine, writing at the end of the Roman Empire of course; the second is Pope Nicolas I, writing in 886.

So many times history books try to sum up an entire society by what happened most.  Peering into the detailed lives of individuals gives a more accurate picture.

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And our other topic: For those who are looking here for an update: Aria is doing great, little finger is pinned back together and she’s a happy girl.  Especially since this whole event has been associated with the aquisition of new clothes.  Prayers for good results at the follow-up appointment Feb 8th much appreciated.

Made a section in the sidebar for Haiti blogs, including a few extras I didn’t have on my list the other day. The Pye’s write about their work distributing emergency food aid:

We talked with World Food Program and they said we could use their food if each pastor wrote their name, their church, a phone number, and each person’s name that would receive the food. So we did and we were given hundreds of list; from 14 people to 2,000 people on them. Saturday we started calling pastors. We would get a pile of food together that would feed the number of people on their list. They would come in a vehicle and pick it up. On Saturday we were able to give to 20 pastors food and water for the needy in their congregations.

I think this is a good response to the WSJ op-ed the other day questioning the role of foreign aid.  Using the Pyes as a distribution-point, World Food Bank is getting food into the hands of specific individuals.  There is a mechanism in place for accountability and transparency.  (On the topic of corruption and graft, see Mary Anastasia O’Grady’s  WSJ column today.  Chilling.)

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On another note, I signed up for the Coalition for Clarity.  I’m not usually the joining type, but I make an exception for this worthy cause.  Because you know, torturing people is just plain wrong.  FYI, you don’t need to be catholic to join.   Just as you don’t need to be catholic to know that torture is evil.