Books.

Sadly, I've fallen behind on my reading. My work is partly to blame. Unfortunately, I am one of those individuals who must spend eight (and sometimes 16) hours a day -excepting weekends- working at a job I am not crazy about. Some of you might be saying that I should be thankful I have a job during the Obama recession, but that is a subject for another day.

Another reason I haven't spent as much of my free time reading as I think I should can be placed upon my love of the Internet...... too much time going over the news......too much time reading my favorite (and not so favorite) blogs.

For what it's worth, I'm posting a list of what I'm currently reading along with a list of what I'll be reading next.

1) The Story of a Soul (L'Histoire d'une Âme): The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux [Kindle Edition]
This particular Kindle edition is free. If you don't have a Kindle, you can get Kindle for PC - also free.

2) Rick Santorum's It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good. I blogged on that earlier.

3) If Protestantism is True by Devon Rose. (also on Kindle).
I discovered this book via a book review at The Impractical Catholic.

I had originally thought of posting a list of the books I have on Kindle. I'm not going to do that now. There are beaucoup books that can be downloaded for no charge available for Kindle. I've downloaded nearly eighty already.....impossible to say when I'll dive into that library.

Another Misguided Atheist.

The Foxnews story of atheist A.C.Grayling's new book, The Good Book: A Humanist Bible, lead me to do a Google search on the British philosopher. The search produced an opinion piece by Grayling at The Richard Dawkins Foundation website entitled God and Disaster.

Written in response to the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the earlier earthquake in Christchurch in New Zealand, Grayling's argument against the existence of God can be summed up quite simply - the fact that bad things happen (like earthquakes and such) people die and life is not a bowl of cherries proves that there is no God. Grayling contends that if there is a God, It (Grayling can't bring himself to refer to God as He - or even She) is either powerless or uncaring.

According to Grayling's "logic", the world is not perfect in his eyes, so there is not - and never has been - a creator.

What would be the point of creating a universe where nothing happens? Would would be the point of creating a world where a handful of creatures live in eternal, blissful happiness?

If God had created a world where no one dies, it would certainly be pointless for we humans to reproduce.

In Grayling's world, there would be no hunger because an all caring, all powerful God would provide us with all our needs and wants. Seriously? God might just as well have created creatures that don't get hunger in the first place. If God were to provide us with all our desires, what would be the point of desiring anything?

The fact that God does not do things the way Grayling would like things to be does not prove that God does not exist. It merely proves that, if there is a God, He doesn't do things the way Grayling likes.

Everyone Has Their Say.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the Catholic blogosphere has been abuzz over recent activities of the Rock Star formerly known as Father John Corapi.

Everyone has had their say:
The CMR brothers-
LarryD-
Lisa Graas-
Jimmy Akin- to name just a few.

RealCatholic TV's recent video is more about the reaction of the Catholic bloggers rather than Corapi himself.

I certainly don't want to come across as someone like this guy, but I am a bit taken aback by Mark Shea's comments on the Corapi/Black Sheep Dog situation. After a post saying we should all stop obsessing over Corapi, Shea has continued to write about him.

Yesterday, Shea had this gaping hole in Fr. Corapi's story. Very interesting post. But (there's always a but) I have no way of knowing the truth about Corapi's military record; it hardly seems relevant to what's going on now.

Another problem I have with Shea's handling of the issue is his decision to disable comments on his Corapi posts. It reminds me of Neal Boortz' refusal to allow callers to discuss abortion.

Late-night update:
Sadly,this latest Mark Shea posting doesn't change my opinion.

Dave Knows Cool.

When questioned about the perception that Obama was no longer 'cool', the ultimate King of Koolness himself, David Axelrod assures Obama's admirers that "It's Cool To Be An Obama Supporter".

Yeah, I'm so sure.

Eye Roll.

An Update.

My copy of Rick Santorum's book, It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good, arrived Thursday......faster than I expected, considering I ordered the book online Saturday (6-11-11).

I've read just a small portion of it. I won't delve into it until I finish reading St. Therese of Lisieux' L'histoire d'une âme (The Story of a Soul) on my Kindle.

As I mentioned on an earlier post [Santorum.] I picked up my hardcover copy of Santorum's book from Amazon.com for just $1.96 plus $3.99 shipping. As I write this, the lowest price has gone up to $3.00 plus shipping. (My copy actually came from The Book Fair). I guess I bought their last copy. I can't imagine my blog post generating a sudden increase in the number of purchases of Santorum's book.

If you're really hard up for cash and $6.99 is a bit much, you can get a used copy for only 1¢ plus $3.99 shipping.

Two If By Tea.

I was listening to Rush Limbaugh's program yesterday when El Rushbo announced his latest venture - his very own bottled iced tea, Two If By Tea.

The tea comes in two flavors "original" sweet tea and raspberry. Both flavors are also available in diet. As for now, the tea can only be purchased at the Two If By Tea website. The price is $23.76 for a 12 pack of 16oz bottles. Shipping is free within the lower 48 ....... shipping to Alaska and Hawaii is extra.

As big a fan as I am of Rush, it is extremely unlikely that I will purchase his tea. In spite of the fact that his tea probably "tastes just like my mother used to make iced tea when I was growing up" and in spite of the fact that I love iced tea, you can buy a heck of a lot of Luzianne tea bags (or Lipton for that matter) for $23.76. I'd much rather make a gallon of tea myself - the old fashioned way - rather than purchase a bottle of high priced tea.

I know there are some who might refuse to even drink a free bottle of Rush's tea simply because it's associated with Limbaugh. I'm not one of those. There are probably some who will buy the tea just because it has Rush's name on it. I'm not one of those folks either.

I understand that a portion of the money will be donated to The Marine Corps - Law Enforcement Foundation which is certainly a worthy cause. That still is not reason enough for me to buy the tea. Should one wish to donate to the MC-LEF that can be done via the charity's website, mc-lef.org.

I wish Rush the best of luck with his new project. He won't be getting any of my money, however.

Santorum Two.

In Saturday's post, I named 3 Catholic bloggers who support Rick Santorum as a Presidential candidate. Today, I'll link to one who who doesn't care for him.
I'm not sure if this blogger is Catholic,but she's unhappy with Santorum as well.

Santorum.

Catholic bloggers Lisa Graas,Stacy Trasancos and Thomas Peters have persuaded me to take a closer look at Rick Santorum as someone I could support for POTUS in 2012.

Previously, I was one of those that Thomas refers to when he says -
"Most people who have heard of Rick Santorum’s political history and reputation have already made up their minds about him."

But, as Thomas also points out, most of what I thought I knew about Santorum came from misinformation from the mainstream media.

According to his website, Santorum is a Champion of Faith & Families - a Defender of the Taxpayer and a Believer in American Exceptionalism.

A New Hampshire TV station has a 30 minute conversation with the candidate that is certainly worth watching.

Those of you who are, like me, fiscally responsible and want to learn more how Santorum thinks can purchase a hardcover copy of his book, It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good, from amazon.com for $1.96 plus $3.99 shipping. I ordered one today.

Feeding The Homeless.

The headline was certainly provocative - Three arrested, accused of illegally feeding homeless - and like many news headlines designed to provoke us, this one was also designed to mislead. Even Mark Shea appears to have been blind sided. Shea writes,

"One of the main effects of our increasingly draconian security/entitlement state is that normal, healthy mediating institutions such as the Church and local charities get shoved out and the state tries to horn in and do the work of dealing with those suffering from our proliferating social pathologies. This generally boils down to a) jail and b) throwing money at them. Meanwhile, the people closest to the problem and best equipped to help are treated by the state as competitors and enemies of the state. So it's jail for them too. "

The story -
Members of the Orlando chapter of Food Not Bombs were arrested Wednesday when police said they violated a city ordinance by feeding the homeless in Lake Eola Park.
The three where charged with violating an Orlando city ordinance restricting group feedings in public parks.

According to the Food Not Bombs website, "Food Not Bombs shares free vegan and vegetarian meals with the hungry in over 1,000 cities around the world to protest war, poverty and the destruction of the environment."

Feeding the homeless is, without question, noble. I don't understand, however, the group's insistence that the food be distributed in a public park. It would seem to make more sense for the group to either establish a "soup kitchen" or otherwise donate money and/or food to an already existing shelter or food bank.

An established shelter or food bank would also be able to address other needs confronting the homeless....perhaps even helping them find a place to live, a job or helping them obtain SSI if they qualify. A once a week breakfast (on Mondays) and a Wednesday dinner in a public park isn't what these folks need.

The people involved in Food Not Bombs may have good intentions, but it appears to me that they are more interested in protesting the "establishment" rather than truly helping the homeless.

Number One Quote of the Day.

Of the 'lamestream media' and their 'relationship' with Sarah Palin and her “One Nation” bus tour, Monica Crowley writes,
"They hate her so much, and yet they’re forced to chase her like 12 year old girls running after Justin Bieber."

PETA: "Fish aren't Swimming Vegetables."

Completely misunderstanding the purpose of the Friday Fast, PETA's Vice President for Policy, Bruce Friedrich writes for The Huffing and Puffington Post -Catholic Bishops Should Include Fish in 'Meatless Fridays' .

Learning that Catholic Bishops in the U.K. have reinstated the Friday abstinence of meat, Friedrich sarcastically notes, "They still seem to think that fish are swimming vegetables."

In a piece from June, 2009, cathnews.com mentions that Friedrich is a pro-life Catholic who acknowledged that PETA's membership also includes people who are "pro choice."

OK, so Friedrich isn't one of those Pro Abortion Vegans I wrote about recently, but he seems to be a bit flippant about the subject:

From Lifesitenews -

"What can you do about abortion?" asked Friedrich. "You can tell people not to do it. Some people will listen some people won't. You can go to demonstrations, you can write letters. There are a lot of things that we could do but it's all indirect. Every time you sit down to eat you're paying people to deny God's creatures everything that's natural to them, to slit their throats open while they're still completely conscious."

I think it's admirable that Friedrich opposes the mistreatment of animals headed to our dinner tables. However, his notion that If Slaughterhouses Had Glass Walls We'd All be Vegetarians isn't realistic. I once worked on an egg farm; I've slaughtered chickens and helped my wife's father slaughter a pig. I'm still an omnivore.