Category Archives: Uncategorized

We only get a few channels here for around $13 a month–it is the most basic cable package we can get. EWTN disappeared from the package recently, or so we thought. We recently purchased a VCR/DVD Recorder with a digital tuner so our old TV can show digital programs. In setting it up, I found EWTN is one of the digital channels!

I now record the news on DVD (hi-def news, that is), and I can either watch it while it is recording or watch it afterwards, and skip right past the commercials with the “CM SKIP” button. We can also rewind and watch news stories again, which sometimes helps to reveal a bit of misinformation here and there. Sometimes it just clarifies what was said. This certainly gives us more control over the programs we watch (and, more importantly, the return of EWTN).

There is a serious lull in Steubenville now that the semester is over. The prospect of freezing rain overnight doesn’t concern me too much because we can have Mass here in the house Sunday.

Most recently watched TV show: “The Loretta Young Show,” Episode 51 from Season 2: “Evil for Evil.” It’s the story of a rural doctor who is threatened by a man who blames the doctor for the death of his wife. The doctor is innocent, and proven so, but the man still wants (a false) revenge.

It was a decent little show, which is more than I can say for most TV being produced these days.

I was watching some TV tonight. We don’t get too many channels (around 26).

I knew TV was getting worse and worse, but I didn’t realize how much worse it is getting.

Wow. It’s REALLY awful.

Tonight, ABC was PARTICULARLY lousy.

The box is staying off for the most part.

I haven’t found a lot of sources for the following statement, but I’ve heard it over the years:
St. Elizabeth Seton (c1800s) had a vision she did not understand. She saw a black box in every American home, through which the devil would enter.

I’ve also heard that she understood that people would have control over it, but wouldn’t exercise it much.

It’s easier than ever to turn off, folks.
Speaking of turning things off, it’s time to turn off this thing.

I never noticed before that Jeff Cavins has a blog. Nice style.

I found it via a link back for a Danielle Rose YouTube video. Here is that video. It’s a rehersal for a song she recorded for her new CD, I Thirst.

Asking prayers for Jadyn Eckert, an 18 month old girl with sepsis. She is in the pediatric intensive care unit at a hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. A website about her: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jadyneckert.

Some of the things I like to read. Very “Young Fogey” sort of stuff.

Three potential miracles are to be sent to the Vatican for investigation.

Could it be that there will soon be a “blessed” born in Wisconsin? That’s my home state!

A look at what is going on with 40 Days for Life.

A little video on the Eucharistic Apostles:

My retreat is done, and so is the Bike for Life.  It’s too late at night as I write this to go into any details, but part of the retreat was self-discipline focused, and blogging seems less important.  If I blog, it should be done to glorify God.  May the name of Jesus be praised more throughout the earth.

I have returned to Washington, DC.  We will be on retreat for a week, so don’t expect any new blogging.  Meanwhile, I continue to pray for the Bike for Life, which will end here the same day our retreat ends.

I’m actually in Steubenville for a little while, although I plan on a short trip at the end of next week to the Chicago area.

Heard a reading (from the LP mentioned earlier) of The Cop and the Anthem by O. Henry.  It’s quite a neat little piece of ironic story-telling.

The ol’ stomping grounds:  our Scholasticate.  I spent five years here… one as a postulant and four as a seminarian.  The place hasn’t changed all that much.  There are some furniture moves here and there, but overall, it’s as I remember it.

There is a new superior, however:  Fr. Mark Baron.  He’s just a bit older than me.  The word is that he’s doing well as a brand new superior.

According to Scorecard: The Pollution Information Site, Jefferson County, Ohio, which I happen to live in, was among the dirtiest/worst 10% of all counties in the U.S. in terms of total environmental releases in 2002.

I could have guessed that. I suspect it is still in the top 10% and maybe even in the top 5%.

It is interesting to try to compare the problem of abortion with the problem of slavery.

If one does so, then one has to compare the “slaveowner” to the “unborn one.” I use “one” in order to get some common ground on a term here.

It is the “unborn one” that holds the woman in slavery. The question becomes, can she be freed from this “slaveowner”? As a matter of fact, both sides say “yes.” It is just a matter of timing.

For those who argue for “choice,” they are really arguing for “choice during pregnancy.” In this case, the “unborn one” can be done away with (“terminated”) at any time, but it must be prior to the end of pregnancy, at least from the perspective of many who take this side. Some will go farther, but they don’t have the law backing them… yet.

Those who argue for “life”, argue that a woman can put the “born one” (baby, now most would agree) up for adoption and thus be “free” of the “slaveowner,” but that the “slaveowner” has the right to life, so she has to agree to carry the “unborn one” to term.

In fact, taking the argument to its logical conclusion, anyone who has been a slaveowner can be done away with at any time. From the 19th century slaveowning time perspective, this is tempting, but not Christian. In fact, all of us were “slaveowners” of our mothers in the womb from this perspective, and thus, well, you get the point.

Alan Keyes can take over from here, and much more eloquently.