Only The Military And Police Should Be Allowed To Own Cats

Woman attacks boyfriend with family cat, deputies say

The Media Would Have Us Believe That We Live In hell

These may offer an antidote of sorts:

We live in the best of times, so don't buy the media gloom

and

The Golden Age Is Now

Ascension Day

The story of the ascension is found in both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles [also written by Luke].  As we know, Jesus appeared to many of his disciples during the 40 days following his resurrection and, on the 40th day, returned with the Apostles to the Mount of Olives where he instructed them to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit. In their presence he ascended into the clouds. Two angels then appeared and declared that Jesus would return in glory.

According to Augustine of Hippo, one of the early church fathers, the Feast of Ascension originated with the Apostles and, thus, is one of the oldest feasts practiced by the Church. 

The lections may be found here.

If You Think This Is Getting To Be A Cause For Me, You're Right

There was a time when people looking for intellectual debate turned away from politics to the university. Political backrooms bred slogans and bagmen; universities fostered educated discussion. But when students in the 1960s began occupying university property like the thugs of regimes America was fighting abroad, the venues gradually reversed. Open debate is now protected only in the polity: In universities, muggers prevail.

Unfortunately, This Is Now The Trend

Gone are the days when campuses served as places where unpopular ideas could be given voice; now, universities purge ideas from the public square if they don't fit their infantilizing sensitivity models.

This Is What She Did Before She Became Oprah's Favorite Poet

To be honest, I never cared for her poetry.  But her calypso music was sublime, as you can hear above.  Sometimes, late at night, those odd channels will show the movie "Calypso Heat Wave".  It's worth seeing if only for her two song performances.

He Was Merely Following Procedure

Aldi's Security Guard Shoots Meat Thief After Pepper-Spraying Himself in the Face

The Benefits Of Unsettled Science

Sweet revenge comes in many delectable forms, among them the receipt of accolades for work long scorned. And then to get to tell the whole story at length and without a single interruption — small wonder that the Nobel laureate Dr. Stanley B. Prusiner, a renowned neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco, writes with a cheerful bounce. Once disparaged, his scientific work is now hailed as visionary, and his memoir takes the reader on a leisurely and immensely readable victory lap from then to now.

Archaeological News

Medieval Monastery Excavated in Sudan

Christians In Trouble [Again] For Following Gospel Teaching

Devout couple outraged after they are fined and threatened with jail for FEEDING Florida homeless

Surf Cars

Obesity Problem Solved!

CT Votes to Ban Chocolate Milk from School Lunches

That's great.  Here, kid, have some more carbs.

The Feast Of St. Augustine Of Canterbury

I have to confess that I find Augie of Canterbury an uninteresting subject.  I know, I know.  He was the first Archbishop of Canterbury; a representative of the Roman, rather than Celtic Christian, tradition and was charged by Pope Gregory the Great to abide in peace with the other Christians in Britain who were already part of an established church.  Remember that Christianity came to the British Isles at the same time it was being preached in Rome, and was well established among the Celts a couple of centuries before the Roman emperor converted to Christianity.

Instead, he insisted on imposing Roman rites on the Celts, a move which was not only contrary to Gregory's advice, but established the first fissure in the eventual breach between the Church of Rome and what would become, centuries later, the Church of England and, eventually still, The Episcopal Church of the United States.  [Although, to be historically accurate, the Episcopal Church owes its identity not to the Church of England as much as it does the Scottish Episcopal Church, bishops of which consecrated the first bishop of the American church.  It's from the Scots that we get our name, too.]

More can be read of him at this site.

[Above is a photo of the first parish I ever served as vicar/rector: St. Augustine of Canterbury in Edinboro, Pennsylvania.]

A Liberal Writer Ponders Contemporary Religious Regard

Don't bother trying to make sense of what beliefs are permitted and which ones will get you strung up in the town square. Our ideological overlords have created a minefield of inconsistency. While criticizing Islam is intolerant, insulting Christianity is sport. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is persona non grata at Brandeis University for attacking the prophet Mohammed. But Richard Dawkins describes the Old Testament God as "a misogynistic … sadomasochistic … malevolent bully" and the mob yawns. Bill Maher calls the same God a "psychotic mass murderer" and there are no boycott demands of the high-profile liberals who traffic his HBO show.

Archaeological News

LOST MAYA CITY OF NOH KAH HAS BEEN MAPPED

I know this place well.

The Feast Of Jackson Kemper

Jackson Kemper was born 24 December 1789 in Pleasant Valley, New York, attended Columbia College, and was ordained a priest in 1814. In 1835, the Episcopal Church undertook to consecrate missionary bishops to preach the Gospel west of the settled areas, and Kemper was the first to be chosen. He promptly headed west. Having found that clergy who had lived all their lives in the settled East were slow to respond to his call to join him on the frontier, he determined to recruit priests from among men who were already in the West, and established a college in St. Louis, Missouri, for that purpose. He went on to found Nashotah House [an Episcopal Church seminary, noted for its 'high church' practices - ed.]  and Racine College in Wisconsin. He constantly urged a more extensive outreach to the Indian peoples, and translations of the Scriptures and the services of the Church into Indian languages. From 1859 till his death in 1870, he was bishop of Wisconsin, but the effect of his labors covered a far wider area.

Lord God, in whose providence Jackson Kemper was chosen first missionary bishop in this land, and by his arduous labor and travel established congregations in scattered settlements of the West: Grant that the Church may always be faithful to its mission, and have the vision, courage, and perseverance to make known to all peoples the Good News of Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.

Welcome To The 20th Century, England. Perhaps You'll Join Us Soon In The 21st.

Church of England approves of female bishops

For the record, while the C. of E. is sentimentally recognized as the "mother church", we have, for reasons that are clear to anyone familiar with U.S. history, not been under their leadership since...oh...1776 or so.  Still, we are siblings within the world-wide Anglican Communion.

We first elected a woman as bishop in 1989, so this really isn't big news for us.

It's Time For Strict Gig Bag Control Laws

Man arrested after musician gets mandolin case in face

Apps: The Marvel Of The Age

People who are worried about climate change emit far more carbon dioxide in their daily lives than the average American, according to data gathered by a new app that can track one’s carbon footprint.

An Unfortunate Change

Today's feminism teaches British women to see themselves as victims and victims cannot exist without a villain, in this instance – men. In order for this thesis to have any kind of logic, feminists have made sweeping, inaccurate judgments about an entire demographic, based on nothing more than their gender. Ironically, the exact practice they claim to be fighting.