The End is Nigh

I know the end must be near when I disagree with Rush and Hannity. 

I’m not a total cool-aid drinker (as the left calls people who listen to Rush and Hannity) but when I read both sides of the story on any given issue I tend to agree with Rush and Hannity and think the evidence on this or that issue tends to weigh on their side on of most issues in my opinion.

BUT, they are totally wrong about the Housing Bubble.  Both were blaming the media for the doom and gloom on housing and touting today’s housing report.  I listen to them both every day and while I know there is an election coming up and they are on the Republican side of the aisle I think they really need to personally check out the Housing Bubble blogs, here, here and here.  Seriously.

This is not personal to me.  I can’t afford to buy in the D.C. area even if prices drop 50%.  Sooner or later I’m going to have to move and I’m getting additional education (PMP) to boost my earning potential wherever I go so don’t think I’m rooting for people to lose their equity, I’m not.  Everyone else in my family are current homeowners, I don’t want to see them lose their equity.  I just see a train wreck coming and don’t want any CSGs out there to buy when the market may crash.

Specifically check out the following posts.  The first relates to the housing reports of today.  The numbers may not be as rosy as the initial sound-bite indicated. 

Also go here (credit to Housing Panic.)

And the mother-load of all bomb-shells, go read this site.  This is the site of a former mortgage broker (WARNING bad language here) who posts less frequently now that he has found a new line of work.  When you see what’s been going on it gels with what I experienced personally.  The most important thing about this site is to note the math.  He does a really good job of that and pointing out the cost of borrowing in the short and long term in various loan products.  It’s very enlightening.

One of the things Rush and Hannity always tout is that people should  think for themselves.  Please do so CSGs.  I’m not saying at all that they are trying to mislead anyone, I suspect that they have not dug into the issue.  They need to do so.  The confluence of factors that have an impact on this market is jaw-dropping.  Go read for yourself and form your own opinion but I know I’m convinced.

I must also point out one other thing.  Hannity chewed a guy out on the phone for saying that he made 50k and his wife 30k.  The guy said that they could not afford a home and they were having a hard time getting by.  Sean shot back with, in essence, ‘get a second job’.  For the first time since I have been listenening to him I thought, WHAT A JERK. 

Here is why.  He talked about firefighters and cops taking those jobs knowing they would settle for less.  He states that they adjust their lives accordingly and don’t pile on debt for things they can’t afford. 

Sean could be an older brother to me.  I think very fondly of him because we have similar roots and background.  The problem with housing is that in the last three years, in order to afford escalating out of control prices, the firefighter, cop and teacher have to resort to risky loan products  and are convinced to do so because the mantra was, “real estate never goes down.” 

Everyone wants to own a home. 

The other mantra of the last 4 years was, “Buy now before you are priced out.”  The ordinary Joe and Jane of course want to provide a roof and yard for their family so who wouldn’t react to those mantra?

The problem is that when you stretch your financial situation in response to such mantra you may end up in the hole if the real estate cycle doesn’t continue as promised.  Fiscal conservatives tout that you should be financially prudent.  How is the current housing market (considering it applies to all firefighters, cops and teachers because you need them in every locale) financially prudent?

I guess my question to Rush and Hannity would be:  how does this make fiscal conservative sense for the firefighter, teacher or cop?  Please explain it to me like I don’t know anything because I can’t make sense of it when considering the prudent, financial decisions a fiscal conservative is supposed to make.  Especially if I’m a firefighter, teacher or cop trying to support a family.  You tell me.

CSGs read those blogs for a while and draw your own conclusions.  You have to read them over a period of time to get the full picture.

My goal on this blog is to give some useful advice to CSGs.  Hope this helps.

(I’m sure I’m going to get hammered on email because of this.)

CSG

CSG to Admire

Peggy Noonan.

Her writing after 9/11  was unbelievable and described what many people were feeling/experiencing.  At that time my best friend (still a NYer) and I would have Peggy Noonan Fridays.  She has three children and I would call her up and read Peggy’s  WSJ editorials to her.  We would always cry because she always hit the nail on the head.  Some things and events stay with you forever, her narrative and editorials of that time will stay with me forever.

I love her writing.  She also doesn’t compromise the faith. 

She recently has called the Republican party to task.  Excellent. 

Sometimes you read a person’s work who better than you could ever express it or write it, puts your thoughts and feelings into words.  She does that in spades (as my Irish grandmother would say.) 

Thanks Peggy. 

CSG. 

CSGs and Pets

I got blasted once for caring about my dog more than I care for the poor in third world countries.  I didn’t like that too much.  But once I prayed over it and considered even the basic cost of my dog Dante, I could understand why someone would say that.

So that leads to the following question:  is it selfish for a CSG to have a pet?

In my opinion it depends on two things.  One, do you sacrifice your giving because of the cost of your pet?  And two, does your pet help you in your struggle to stay in a state of grace?

In my case the second question is easy to answer.  Yes he does.  The first, well that’s where I can give some useful advice because the answer is yes and no.

I have a great dog Dante. 

I decided to get a dog in 2000 when I moved to Virginia.  I had wanted one since I was a kid but living in NYC and working all the time doesn’t lend itself to being a good dog owner.  So once I moved and my schedule changed I took the plunge.

The first mistake was that I answered a random ad in the Washington Post.  I took a drive down just north of Richmond a found a lady with at least 40 Standard Poodles that were a variety of ages in pens in the woods.  Amongst them were five puppies that were five weeks old.  I thought, none of these dogs are going to do well and I can get one out.  Stupid sentimentality.  I agreed to take the runt of the litter and went back and picked him up two weeks later.

He has been a great joy to me and has curbed the ticking clock baby craving in a big way.  He needs me to take care of him and I love doing that.  Not to mention that it’s great to come home every day to a wagging tail.  For me, dogs give in a way that cats don’t.  But I’m a dog person.  Dante helps me in my struggle to maintain a state of grace because there is love in my house and he needs me.  It was and is a thrill to nurture him and watch him grow and learn.  I can’t imagine what parents feel watching a child grow and learn.  It must be unbelievable. 

Now to the no portion of the first question.  If you get a pet be smart.

I was not.  As I mentioned above, he came from very bad breeding.  I should have known better as my family had a SP and it came from similar breeding circumstances.  He was the “Bermuda vacation” dog because that much was spent on keeping him healthy for the nine years he lived.  The vet informed us that his parents must have been bred too close together for him to have the problems he had (kidney problems).  Eventually he became resistant to all of the antibiotics and we had to put him down (still makes me shudder to this day.)  I cried for two days straight after that and I still dream about him.

So on to Dante.  From the beginning was not exactly right.  He had bowel issues.  At approximately 18 months he developed ear infections.  In the course of this treatment I would notice him crying out really bad but I attributed it to his ears which eventually cleared up and the crying ceased.  About a year ago when I sold the house and we moved his bum issues got much worse.  After the move happened the bum issues were followed by howls of pain.  He was diagnosed with mild IBD by endoscopy in February of this year.  His internist was mystified because his biopsy indicated “mild” but we had a hard time getting him under control. 

The pain epidsodes got worse.  I kept telling his internist about this but he exhibited no pain in her presence (adrenilin was later determined to be the reason.)  I remembered that he had a weird pain episode in 8/2005 and I had rushed him to the emergency clinic because in addition to the pain he was having problems walking and getting up.  I met a nuerologist there who located the pain but could not explain why.  He gave me pain meds and a muscle relaxer and in two weeks time the pain was gone.

Fast forward to this last spring and I called the nuerologist again.  To make a long story short he had to have an MRI which resulted in a diagnosis of Arnold Chiari disease or Syringomyelia.  It results in severe spinal pain with a myriad of other symptoms.  When you read about this disease in humans it’s heartbreaking.

So Dante had surgery on 9 May 2006.  It was a really rough road which can be read about here.  It’s my journal of his surgery and recovery written for other dog owners facing a surgery/no surgery decision.  This process was ugly and costly. 

The good news is now,  just in the last three weeks, he is his old self.  I think the surgery worked.  We have determined that the IBD was caused by the pain he was in because of the SM.

But he is the “take the summer off and tour Europe” dog.  Or better yet, feed and entire family in India for 5 years dog.  I still struggle with that.

So, prospective CSG pet owners, do your research regarding breeders and get pet insurance.  I looked into it when I got Dante but it didn’t cover anything at the time.  I think if you get a good breeder or get a mutt with good pet insurance, you’ll be fine and all the wiser compared to me.

I have never stopped giving as much as I did before I got Dante but my investment and savings have suffered as a result and I’ve cut back in other ways to care for him.

He’s cleaning out a marrow bone right behind me as I write.  He also saved my life in the old neighborhood I described in a previous post on the housing bubble when a loaded up guy tried to grab me.  He didn’t see the dog and I have a slight hearing issue so I didn’t hear him coming up behind me because I was whistling while Dante was doing his thing in the shadows.  Dante did hear him and attacked him.  Good dog.   

I will tell you that I have no regrets having him, but I’d advise others to make better decisions that I did.

Last, here’s a golden tip for pet owners:  Pet Health Pharmacy, 1-800-742-0516.  Dante’s IBD medicine cost went from $120 to $18.  Not to mention the savings in pain medication because of the SM.  If you are a pet owner with pet health issues, talk to your vet and have the vet call in any prescriptions there.  You will save a lot of money.

Dogs rule!
CSG

Designer Babies

Having nothing to do with CSGs, but I had to write a post on it.  Here we go. 

What next?  What if they discover a gene that shows a person has more of a chance at being fat or having a low functioning thyroid?  What if they discover a gene that shows a person has more of a propensity to be an introvert?  Good grief, what next?

The new decision expands that policy to include some genes that significantly increase the odds — but do not guarantee — that a person will get cancer. The policy also for the first time includes diseases — primarily breast, ovarian and colon cancer — that do not strike until adulthood and often respond to treatment.

News flash to prospective parents:  we’re all going to die.  Say you have a child in a test tube that MIGHT get breast cancer when she is in her 30s or early 40s and die from it; the first part of that child’s life doesn’t count?  That the child might have a wonderful life and provide you with tremendous joy doesn’t count?  That the child itself might have a great 40 years doesn’t count?   

The sad part is that this type of thing is not about what’s best for the child, it’s about what’s best for the parents, or so they think.  No one wants to see their child die.  It’s the worst thing imaginable, but to deny them life?  I just don’t get it. 

A friend from high-school died from breast cancer this year.  She was a wonderful person and did a lot with her life.  She left behind two daughters that her parents are raising now. 

If she were screened today by people other than her parents she might never exist and her two daughters wouldn’t either.

It reminds of how I was once arguing about abortion with a much younger colleague of mine.  It was a friendly debate, she noticed my pro-life bumper sticker on my car.  In the end I said to her, “So it’s o.k. with you that if your Mom had decided that it was not the right time for her to have a baby, that you would have not been born?”  And she nodded and said yes.  That’s insane!

For a CSG this is heartbreaking in the sense that I would love to have a family, that’s the part about being unmarried that breaks my heart the most, no babies.  So now only perfect babies are acceptable?  Who decides what’s perfect?

Lord please have mercy on us.

CSG

What Made CSG Believe There is a Housing Bubble

In my earlier housing bubble post I mentioned I’d tell my story about housing and why I came to believe there is a huge housing bubble in the U.S.

In 2001, after 15 years of saving, I bought my first home in Sterling, Virginia.  I was thrilled!  A two bedroom, 2 and 1/2 bath, end-unit townhouse!  I thoroughly checked out the neighborhood, checked with the local police and stalked the place late at night and on the weekends and while it seemed more in the category of lower middle-class it seemed fine to me.  It was very diverse which I’ve always loved.  I’m not comfortable in snotty neighborhoods.  When I lived in NYC I always lived in very diverse neighborhoods and it was terrific.

Things began to change about a year after I moved in.  My immediate next door neighbor moved  and a young family moved in next door.  Three kids at the time and they rented the basement out to a woman and her three teenage kids.  None of it bothered me at first.  People have to find a way to get by, right?  In NYC often 4 young coworkers would share a 500 square foot studio.  It really was no different in my mind.  Slight worry crept in when the wife told me her husband didn’t have a green card but got a loan anyway and they had to rent the basement in order to afford the mortgage payment.  But I thought, whatever, people have to get by.  That’s what I was doing, I was just further along in life then they were, made a little (and I mean a little) more money and had less mouths to feed.  Good enough.  But I did wonder:  how did an illegal immigrant get a loan from the bank?  I practically had to give a DNA sample to get the loan I did a year earlier.  Still I didn’t give it much thought.  More power to them, they were much younger than I and with that house they could get ahead in the game and do well for themselves.  The American dream.

Sadly the neighborhood became overrun by similar financial situations.  Time after time young couples would tell me that their realtors would give them a worksheet that detailed how they could afford the payment:  they could get into an interest only mortgage, rent the basement out and sell in a couple of years for up to 100% profit!!  “Real Estate never declines in price”  they were told.

I must admit I was thrilled when my house increased value.  I figured that with those kind of increases the bad elements of the neighborhood would be weeded out and I would live there forever.  It had everything I needed, most importantly a comfortable room with its own bathroom for my Mom and Dad should they need to come and live with me and I had a bit of equity built up.  Great!

Unfortunately the neighborhood got worse.  To try and get more involved and change things for the better in my community, I became a member of our HOA board.  I found out that a large majority of the town-homes were now owned by investors.  These investors didn’t care who they rented to.  Most of the homes were packed with people.  Again I have no problem with people doing what they need to get by, but when you pack a home with people who don’t know one and other and the place is just a place to crash and take a shower, you can imagine the care that is not taken as far as cleanliness and general regard for the overall environment.

What is worse the notorious gang MS-13 moved into my neighborhood.  We had a horrendous situation with the county zoning board when they moved into a rental on my cul-de-sac.  It took eight months to get them evicted.

Back to my immediate neighbors who I mentioned earlier.  What a nightmare.  I’m not going to go into too much detail except to say that when you can’t afford to pay the monthly nut on your own financially that puts you in the position of compromising in one way or another.  In their case it was not fixing the broken down AC (not a big problem if you are clean and take care not to let mold build up in your house) or the broken sump pump in your basement (which will lead to further mold and structural problems because of moisture build-up.)  This couple was young and had a bunch of kids (a fourth was born during their tenure there) and really hated one and other in the first place.  The fights were non-stop and after about three months of their living there the cockroaches came.  I had to have my house sprayed monthly to keep them out.  The neighbor on the other side of them experienced the same problem.  I paid for them to have their house sprayed.  My bug guy (Bill the bug guy) told me that the filth in their house was so horrific that he would have to spray their house every two weeks for a year to kill off the bugs.  I would have to have my house sprayed every two weeks for the first two months (to prevent the bugs from flocking to my house because of him spraying in the neighbor’s house) and then monthly after that.  I paid for their first three months and told them they would have to pay for it after that.  They didn’t follow through.  Bill the bug guy advised me to get out.  But I kept thinking that prices were going up and the neighborhood would get back at least to the state it was in when I moved in.  I also thought for sure that my neighbors where not long for home-ownership as they were constantly in trouble with the HOA for not paying their dues.  I figured they would be out sooner rather than later.  It only came to a head shortly after I put my house on the market in ‘05.  The big fight occurred and he kicked her out.  His mother is very religious, an Evangelical, and a realtor from her Church floated him the $$ to clean-up the house.  They had to use bug bombs that required me and the neighbor on the other side of them to get out of the house for two days.  They had to do this THREE times!  He told me there was urine, feces and blood everywhere in the carpets and on the walls.  We could all smell the stench emanating from the house.  It really was the most horrible situation you can imagine.  This realtor was an answer to MY prayers.

So how does all of that relate to my epiphany about the housing bubble?  My neighborhood became one of the worst in Northern Virginia because of loose lending standards.  That first dawned on me with my immediate neighbors.  They never should have been given a loan because he was not a legal resident and she didn’t work.  They were raked over the coals by a gross interest rate so they couldn’t even afford the mortgage in the first place.  Thus neglect (although I think their problems were bigger than just that) of the property.  This happened all over my ex-neighborhood and was not the only reason for the real estate run up.  Investors flipping homes were part of it also.  They would buy, rent for a year, and flip for a huge profit.

This was confirmed to me not only by dealing with my neighbors but by being on the HOA board.  I knew how many people were behind on their dues and what the sales and turnover rate was.  I saw a majority of homes bought and sold three times during my time on the board; all for a new coat of paint, some new appliances and a promise of bigger profit.  It was unreal.

In early 2005 my Dad really pushed me to sell.  He has seen real estate bubbles before and had witnessed the state of my neighborhood deteriorate yet the prices skyrocket.  It didn’t pass the smell test for him and he put strong pressure on me to sell.  The neighbor/neighborhood situation became so unbearable I finally did.

Prices in that neighborhood, shitty as it became, went up 200%.  Does that make any sense at all? 

Further, the house that I am renting, based on what I am paying to rent it, would have to be priced at 1/2 of the price that my landlord purchased it for last year for the mortgage to be equal to what I rent if for.  Does that make any sense at all?  Fundamentals are completely out of whack and affordability is at an all time low.

My Dad has always said that you should never spend more than 30% of your income on your rent or mortgage payment.  In D.C. you’d have to be making 150k to live in my old, crappy neighborhood.  Believe me, no one there including myself made even half of that, not even close to half of that in my case.  Does that make any sense at all?

This is just my take based on what I’ve learned.  Do your own thinking CSGs but I’d recommend a couple of sites to follow, here, here and here (this one especially for DC people.)

CSG

Moderate Muslims Speak Out

Amen.

Amy Welborn details this.  Read all of her posts regarding the Pope and Islam.  Specifically as it reflects on the title of this post, read her entry “Merci.”  She really hits it out of the park on this issue and no other comment is necessary from CSG.

I would also suggest this site and post.  It’s provocative and makes CSG wonder how deeply Pope Benedict XVI has stepped in it.  God’s Will? 

Go read.
CSG

“I forgive, I forgive”

(credit:  Reuters)

Sister Leonella, 65, muttered the words “I forgive, I forgive” in Italian after being shot by gunmen Sunday, the Rev. Maloba Wesonga told The Associated Press at a memorial Mass for the nun in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

And this:

Fr. Santoro was a priest of the diocese of Rome who was serving in the city of Trabzon, Turkey, as part of a Vatican missionary program called “Fidei Donum” (Gift of Faith).  The 60-year-old priest had been ministering in Turkey for six years where, from all reports, he was a man deeply committed to fostering understanding between the east and west, as well as peace among religions.  He also served the poor and was notably active in the fight against sex trafficking of Christian women, a practice common in the region.

At Fr. Santoro’s funeral, which was attended by thousands including political and Church leaders, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, Vicar for the Diocese of Rome, affirmed that he intended to open the priest’s cause for canonization.  He also reported, “With all her heart the mother of Father Andrea forgives the person who armed himself to kill her son, and she feels great pain for him because he, too, is a son of the one God who is love.”

I’m sure most people remember this as well:

In response to the Pope Benedict XVI’s apology we have this:

Iraqi jihadists issued a video of a scimitar slicing a cross in two, intercut with images of Benedict and the burning Twin Towers.

The website run in the name of the Mujahedeen Army, used by extremist groups who have claimed responsibility for attacks in Iraq, was addressed to “You dog of Rome” and threatened to “shake your thrones and break your crosses in your home”.

In a reference to suicide bombing, it said: “We swear to God to send you people who adore death as much as you adore life.”.

What else to say but to call moderate voices within Islam to condemn the actions of those who threaten as above and encourage them to accept the apology of the Pope.

CSG

Pope Benedict XVI and Islam

 

 (credit:  yahoo AP)

There has been much furor over the Pope’s remarks while in Germany regarding Islam.

In my opinion George Weigel is right in this article when he says:

George Weigel, author of “God’s Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church,” said the pope expressed regret over the way his words have been twisted and misunderstood, but did not back away from them.

“The over-the-top reaction in the Muslim world simply underscores the truth of what he said at Regensburg, which is that unless Islam develops the capacity to be self-critical — unless Islamic leaders take responsibility for saying to their extremists that violence in the name of God is wrong — then there can be no genuine interreligious dialogue,” Weigel said.

“There has been not the slightest backing off of that, and there can’t be, because it’s true,” he added.

This has not been proven, but there is some speculation that a nun may have been killed in Somalia as a result of the Pope’s remarks.

Moderate Islam must stand-up and accept the Pope’s apology and demand a stop to the violence.

When the scandal in the Catholic Church came to light, the most fierce critics were Catholics themselves.  See here, here and here.

This all gets a bit deeper if you read Michelle Malkin’s post linking to Gerald Augustinus’ blog which describes a Turkish book that is a novel about the killing of BXVI. 

Rod Dreher believes that this is a watershed moment for Catholics and Christians alike in understanding what it is we are facing and getting over pc speak and stating our enemy for who they are.  I hope so.

If any good is to come out of this mess that began with Pope Benedict’s speech, it will be that fewer and fewer ordinary people will be gulled by political correctness, and will start to understand exactly what we’re all up against. And when I say “we,” I include in that number truly moderate Muslims, who are ashamed of the reaction of their co-religionists, and who realize that the cowardice of the West in confronting the militant intolerance and fanaticism running rampant through worldwide Islam at this moment is as much a threat to freethinking Muslims as it is to Christians, Jews, secularists and everybody else who refuses to submit.

In any case, Benedict’s speech will go down as a defining moment in this conflict. A Catholic priest friend remarked to me this afternoon, “This is a real teaching moment — if they don’t blow us up first.”

I pray that moderate Islam will call for and end to the violence and take the Pope to be a man of his word.  To see what the Pope really has to say about Islam go look here for his remarks at a meeting with various Muslim groups at WYD in Cologne in August of 2005.  Hat tip to Amy Welborn’s blog for pointing it out.

CSG

O.k. Enough of My Political Rantings: On to Spinsters

Catholic Spinsters Find Their Calling In The Single Life.

This is a great article and is representative of what I and other Catholic old-maids I know find to be the case as an unmarried Catholic who believes she has a married vocation.  In part: 

A spinster’s life is less secure and more challenging than that of a nun, but it is “more rewarding and satisfying” when accepted as “a special call from God,” says Judith Mascarenhas, 74.

That’s really true and most CSGs I know volunteer heavily.  Whether it be at Crisis Pregnancy Centers or other apostolates.  There is no lack of dedication there.  And as to the spinster life being less secure, that’s a definite, although it’s easier here in the U.S. than other CSG locales.

This part reminds me of a sermon a priest in my Staten Island parish gave:

Typically, according to Rohini, the eldest and the most educated girl in a family is the one who opts for spinsterhood, which she does as a sacrifice for the family’s advancement.

He gave his homily on a woman who desperately wanted to become a nun but couldn’t because her she was expected to care for her elderly parents.  This is something that is going to be my call also, taking care of my elderly parents, and I feel blessed for it.  I had an slight thought of being a religious sister but discerned it be a passing infatuation.  Taking care of my parents will be a gift and I will feel good about being able to give something back to them.

I have only one question about the model mentioned above in India:  what about the sons?

Mascarenhas told UCA News she opted for spinsterhood as a vocation and not in response to any social or family pressure. To remain single requires a special call and grace, she said, and “those who can, must respond to it.” She added that Saint Paul inspired her belief that it is better to stay unmarried, if one can, so as to live the Gospel better.

However, she cautioned that only the economically sound should opt for a single life, since “we are not backed by any institution, not even the Church.” Others can join a convent, which offers better security, she said.

Mascarenhas, who wears a rosary around her neck, attends Mass daily and is involved in several social activities in Mangalore.

Another Catholic spinster involved in social work is Juliana Lobo, due to turn 80 in December. “I have no time for myself; God takes care of me,” the former teacher told UCA News. She spends more than eight hours a day visiting the old and sick in hospitals, homes for the elderly and houses.

Unlike Mascarenhas, Lobo opted to stay single to support her six siblings and mother, after her father died when she was a child. The eldest child, she accepted her spinsterhood initially as a vocation to serve her family. Later, she took up social work full-time.

“I have never regretted being alone, but enjoy good social support and security,” said Lobo, who maintains that her “single life” has helped her come closer to God and others.

Typically, according to Rohini, the eldest and the most educated girl in a family is the one who opts for spinsterhood, which she does as a sacrifice for the family’s advancement.

The researcher said she has observed that spinsters have a special status among Christians. “I have seen more spinsters among teachers, which means they view their profession as a mission and vocation to serve people.” This has helped them become “great missioners,” said the Hindu woman, who added that Catholic spinsterhood has inspired and impressed her.

Some Catholic spinsters manage NGOs after their retirement.

Celine Arahna, 74, founded Shubath (betterment), an NGO that works for women’s development, after retiring from teaching. Speaking with UCA News, she said she has “never felt alone” because she is busy with her social work.

Known as a feminist, Aranha said she chose to be single to work for the liberation of women, whom she found enslaved by oppressive social systems.

Another spinster “married” to social work is Rita Noronha, who is a lecturer at Roshni Nilaya (house of light), a school of social work. She manages Kiran (ray), an NGO for street children and the poor.

Mascarenhas and some other Catholic spinsters meet regularly as members of the secular Franciscan Third Order to share their experiences. But Mascarenhas has a complaint about the Church. Parish priests do not reach out to people like her in their parishes, she said.

Hmmm.  Maybe that’s something we CSGs should think about.  A special ministry dedicated to social work whose membership specifically consists on CSGs…  Food for thought.

CSG

Rick Santorum’s Challenge to the Senate and to Us All

Rick Santorum gave a sharp rebuke to how Democrats responded to the speech of President Bush last night.

He gets to the heart of what I said last night.  In part:

I stand here in just — in just sadness. The President of the United States gives an address about the condition of our country five years after the events of 9/11, gives an address and lays out the scope of the problem that we are confronting. The people all across this world who subscribe to a radical, perverted form of Islam want to destroy everything that we believe in; that is the enemy that we are confronting. We are in an active war with our military against them in Afghanistan and Iraq. That’s the reality. The minority leader just referred to it as sectarian violence. Sectarian? Hmm… What is that word? Religious. Religious violence, radical Islam violence. Some Sunni, some Shia, but both radical in its nature. That’s who is fighting us. That is the reality of who the enemy is today. The very people that planned the attacks are the people who are in Iraq — Al Qaeda — in Iraq causing that sectarian violence. Should we ignore that I would ask the senator from Nevada? Should we just ignore that? That doesn’t exist? Just pretend that they’re not there, not talk about that last night, pretend that Al Qaeda is not in Iraq, this is not part of the mission that we are trying to accomplish? It’s sad. We’re at war against an enemy that I happen to believe is the most dangerous enemy ever to confront this country. We play petty politics constantly here on the floor of the Senate, even after a solemn day of remembrance for the valiant people who died on September 11. This is chilling.

Read it all. 

What is it going to take to get people to wake up to what we are facing, another attack on our soil? 

No matter what the media may want us to believe there is progress in Iraq.

But it seems the constant bad spin from the media is weakening our resolve as a nation.  I know it is an election year and I have learned that most all politicians will say whatever they feel their voters want to hear to keep themselves in power.  So, if this is the message Republicans need to feed their voters, what does  that tell you about what their internal polling tells them?

This concerns me more than anything else. 

Last week on The Mclaughin Group Elenanor Clift stated that we are living on borrowed time and that we will get hit again.  She’s right.

Then what will we do?  Pull our troops out of Iraq and cede the Middle East to the terrorists?  Will we pull a Spain?  I hope not. 

CSG