It's Not Often [Never, in Other Words] That a Nearby High School Makes the Ethicists' Discussion Board

But, here you go:

Then we have Zach Cassidento, a high school senior at Amity High Regional School in Connecticut who was suspended and arrested —arrested!—for posting a picture of his birthday gift, an Airsoft gun, on Snapchat. He was not charged, but was suspended for a day from school….for posting, outside of school, on his personal account, the picture of an entirely legal toy gun (It shoots plastic pellets: my son has several of them).

The people who do this kind of thing to children in violation of their rights as Americans are the same people who cheer on David Hogg while signing factually and legally ridiculous petitions. They should not be permitted to teach, and this kind of conduct ought to be punished.

 Looks like the Libertarians picked up on this as well:

Zach Cassidento was hauled out of class, arrested and suspended by Connecticut's Amity Regional High School for "disrupting the educational process" after posting a photo of a birthday present to Snapchat. Cassidento received an airsoft air gun as a gift. His post contained no threats but it still upset another student, who reported him.

Not only was the young man hauled from class, but five police officers searched his mother's home.

I'm enjoying the trendy and wonderfully retro tradition of people being encouraged to report their fellow citizens for actions that make them upset, uncomfortable, or offended; and then expecting the reported to be punished by authorities.  Such encouragement has a long history, although eventually with outcomes that prove to be socially disruptive.

Here's some fodder for folks so inclined as I share a photo of a rifle [It's a Henry H001, my current favorite at the range]:

I will now await the arrival of the secret police.

A Lot of Catholic Writers are Reading The Coracle...

...and getting ideas from it, apparently.

The first is a review of the works of Ross MacDonald, whom we profiled this year:

He Stands Apart

The second is a review of the works of Thomas Merton, whom we profiled way back in 2012:

Thomas Merton's Contemplative Struggle

Apparently, This is Against the Law

Teen needed to wake up for church on Easter. His mother tased him, Arizona police say

[Hat tip to Jeanne, our most faithful reader.]

The Disintegration of Knowledge

What Happens When You Fire All Your Copy Editors

and

On Good Friday, an NPR report mangles the definition of Easter

It's a Fine Line Between Satire and Reality

HARTFORD, CT—St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church prides itself on staying on the cutting edge of progressive theology and practice. This steadfast commitment is apparent in many aspects of the ministry’s church life, including its recent decision to remove all “toxic” pew Bibles and replace them with “life-giving” adult coloring books.

“I hadn’t seen anyone pick up one of those Bibles in decades, anyway,” Reverend Rachel Schuman said Tuesday. “And thank God for that! Those things are extremely problematic and multi-phobic, in so many ways.”

Let Us Prepare to Meet Our Doom

To be fair, their teachers knew none of this, either.

My students are know-nothings. They are exceedingly nice, pleasant, trustworthy, mostly honest, well-intentioned, and utterly decent. But their brains are largely empty, devoid of any substantial knowledge that might be the fruits of an education in an inheritance and a gift of a previous generation. They are the culmination of western civilization, a civilization that has forgotten nearly everything about itself, and as a result, has achieved near-perfect indifference to its own culture. 

It’s difficult to gain admissions to the schools where I’ve taught – Princeton, Georgetown, and now Notre Dame. Students at these institutions have done what has been demanded of them: they are superb test-takers, they know exactly what is needed to get an A in every class (meaning that they rarely allow themselves to become passionate and invested in any one subject); they build superb resumes. They are respectful and cordial to their elders, though easy-going if crude with their peers. They respect diversity (without having the slightest clue what diversity is) and they are experts in the arts of non-judgmentalism (at least publically). They are the cream of their generation, the masters of the universe, a generation-in-waiting to run America and the world.

But ask them some basic questions about the civilization they will be inheriting, and be prepared for averted eyes and somewhat panicked looks.

A Brief Hiatus

It's been a brutal Lent and Holy Week, folks.  We have encountered mortality, violent happenstance, a large collection of folks truly in need, the loss of a beloved automobile [again, I'm a hillbilly from Ohio and these things matter; thank heaven it wasn't the pick-up truck], four March snowstorms that have destroyed portions of my property and gifted me with a basement "swimming pool", and income taxes.

We know you will understand if we interrupt our broadcast schedule for a few days.  We'll be back, soon.

Speaking As Someone from the Middle of Nowhere, I Appreciate These Observations

The middle of somewhere

Also, Kristol and Clinton can get stuffed.  After nearly forty years in New York/ New England/ Ivy League, I'm fatigued with the casual bigotry of the elites towards me and mine.

Settled Science Sure Can Be Unsettled, Can't It?

Shot: Flashback 2000: ‘Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past’ – ‘Children just aren’t going to know what snow is’ – UK Independent

Chaser: U.S warship trapped in ice in Montreal since Christmas Eve is now free to return home

Dear London Colleagues Who Abhor Our Second Amendment

London murder rate is HIGHER than New York's for the first time ever after TWELVE killings in just 19 days

In the USA, a villain risks bringing a knife to a gunfight.  That tends to dissuade them.

This is Why I Left Academia; I Prefer to Use English Rather Than...Whatever This Is

Good News for Chris. Even Better News is That Christ is Risen.

Happy Easter, everyone.

NBC's Star Reporter Thinks Good Friday is When Christians Strive to Be Good

NBC's star reporter is a bit of a nit, isn't he?

Do you want to serve Christ?  Help our media members learn about basic Christian thought.

The Morning Watch

There will not be a Friday biography this week as we are spending the period from Maundy Thursday's stripping of the altar to the tolling of the final bell at 3pm today, Good Friday, in meditation with the sacrament.

That also means we are surrendering electronic devices and social media.  That alone is a form of spiritual liberation, isn't it?

Wow, It Really is a Special Week: Baseball Starts!

The Magic and Mystery of Baseball

Anatomy of a Grass Roots Campaign

March for Our Lives is funded by Hollywood celebs, it’s led by a Hollywood producer and its finances are routed through an obscure tax firm in the Valley. Its treasurer and secretary are Washington D.C. pros....

None of this has much to do with Parkland. The mass shooting by a mentally ill man who should have been committed and arrested long before he carried out his massacre was a political opportunity.

Now that opportunity is being exploited to the hilt by a professional class of political activists.

I'm deeply troubled that emotionally traumatized young people are being used by this political system to front a well-constructed "mass movement".  Although, I brought that up to a gun control supporter the other day and the response was, "Well, now maybe people will pay attention."

Yes, by all means exploit fragile kids to further slake your anger at a president for whom you didn't vote and those whom you see as a bunch of low-class clowns who don't live in Connecticut who cling to their guns because the world is changing.

Is the world changing that much?  Young people are easy to manipulate and have been used throughout history to carry the desires of cynical and manipulative adults.  Hitler, Mao, and Pol Pot knew that and used it to their advantage.  Medieval Christian and  Muslim despots knew that, too.  Heck, I was easy to manipulate when I was younger by everyone from the U.S. military to the Democratic Socialist Party.  I learned my lesson the hard way and it pains me to see that practice continue.

The Review is Far Better Written and More Sensitive Than the Piece of Offal That is Reviewed

What is Sean Penn thinking? His debut novel is a mess, again. 

Rather like its author.

About Time, Frankly

Deep in the crater of a volcano sits a new memorial to Pacific Theater chaplains

Science is Never Settled. Well, Except for Environmental Science; That's Always Settled Because Shut Up, Denier

Scientists say they’ve discovered a new organ — possibly the human body’s largest — and it was hiding in plain sight, according to a new study.

This Would Help His Worries: Cut Taxes, Cut Small Business Regulation

Connecticut Governor's New Worry: State Workers Hurt Feelings

He still has time for his favorite Manhattan tanning clinic, so it's not all bad news.  The tanning clinic is supposed to be a secret, so keep it to yourselves.