Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent

Walking the Razor's Edge

Soros: I Can’t Stop a Republican ‘Avalanche’

Got that right, hoss."

Not Even Close To Apocalyptic Enough

Conversion may come under many shapes, and it may be brought about in many ways. With some men it needs a cataclysm, as a stone may be broken to fragments by the fury of a torrent; but with some it comes gradually, as a stone may be worn away by the ceaseless fall of a drop of water.

 Photo source: NOAA

According to NOAA, there are approximately 5.7 million recreational fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico region and 25 million fishing trips took place in the region in 2008. Commercial fishermen in the Gulf harvested more than one billion pounds of fish and shellfish in 2008.

On July 12, NOAA expanded the closed fishing area in the Gulf of Mexico to include portions of the oil slick moving beyond the area’s current northwestern boundary, off the Louisiana federal-state waterline. This boundary was moved westward of Holly Beach, La., and is approximately 17 statute miles from the Louisiana-Texas border. The closed area represents 83,927 square miles, which is approximately 35 percent of Gulf of Mexico federal waters.


While many are anxiously waiting to learn if BP's latest efforts to cap its broken Deep Horizon well are successful, Sabin and others, at the Front Porch Republic, see cataclysm.

The Triumph of Decency

Helen Thomas has "retired."  Truth be told, she was effectively dishonorably discharged. Good riddance.

A HUGE BIT OF WISDOM . . .

from Richard Fernandez at Belmont Club:

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Video: Fr. Barron comments on "Agora"

Fr Robert Barron comments on the new film, "Agora". Note well that Fr Barron portends that the wave of anti-Christian sentiments has, as evidenced in this film filled with misinformation, now moved into popular culture and may, in fact, bring on active persecution of Christians.

His normative? "Stand fast" and "set the record straight." ~ Althos

Ride the Bronc

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 Connie Reeves taught me to ride a horse when I was 10 years old.  Her motto was, "Always saddle your own horse."

The summer Connie taught me ride is also the summer I learned to fence, canoe, and shoot a bow & arrow. Two years later I earned my NRA Sharpshooter medal.  

Sarah Palin, who seems to be an expert bronc rider,  reminds me an awful lot of Connie Reeves.

Whip, crack - Morgan take it away!

Stewards of Reality Practice Gratitude

It is an old saying, and one of fearful and fathomless import, that we are forming characters for eternity. Forming characters! Whose? our own or others? Both--and in that momentous fact lies the peril and responsibility of our existence. Who is sufficient for the thought? ~Elihu Burritt

Gratitude, properly conceived, implies action. To be sure, it is a disposition, but the disposition of gratitude creates a sense of respon­sibility toward one’s benefactor. If one receives a gift, for instance, gratitude would include taking care of that which has been given. If the receiver of a gift carelessly discards it, we would accuse him of ingratitude. To be a steward is to be a caretaker of that which has been entrusted to us. This may be a piece of property, an idea or a concept, or a way of life. Stewards hold something “in trust,” and to be a good steward is to faithfully fulfill that trust.

If gratitude, properly conceived, entails stewardship of that which has been entrusted, then ingratitude implies a failure to steward the gifts one has received. How is ingratitude manifested today? Let’s consider four objects of gratitude that have steadily eroded in our modern world, leaving four debts of gratitude unattended, four aspects of reality unstewarded.

Excerpt from an essay published in the newly released book, New Threats to Freedom.

Full essay continued here.

A government of disordered souls who only increase political disorder is actually a real evil

“Unlovely as they are, the Greek rioters are the logical end point of the advanced social democratic state: not an oppressed underclass, but a pampered overclass, rioting in defence of its privileges and insisting on more subsidy, more benefits, more featherbedding, more government.” ~ Mark Steyn

Exhibit A

Backstory on la foto

So Who's Left to Fight for Freedom?

Nations rise and fall. We are no exception. And the rise and fall usually have rather much to do with the internal moral condition of the souls of the citizens.

Melanie Phillips on a World Gone Mad

The British author on Princess Diana, Barack Obama, Israel, and pathological projection.

The Art of Living: It's not for the faint of heart

The Anchoress has posted a wonderful essay, "The Wussification of the Workplace." It addresses The Reason why I retired early from teaching art in public school.

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Reason #11 Why I'm Glad I Left Austin, Texas

Meanwhile, the majority of Texas is still home to some men with brains and spine.

Judge Daniel Burken in Limestone County responds with wit and wisdom to a complaint from The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Great exit question: ". . . sneaking over the border and peeing on endangered flora should be on the level of an oil spill or something, doncha think?