I'm A Convert, Actually a Revert

Last year I watched approximately 75 Boston Bruins ice hockey games on television and I was a confirmed ice hockey addict. I had no money to play or to actually see a real game but, by gum, I was a confirmed addict.

Since this summer, if you haven't noticed, I'm a total futbol head.

I happened to turn to a Bruins game real quick and I just couldn't bear to watch it. There was no room to create anything, too many commercials, too many stoppages in play. This marriage to ice hockey is ended.

Part of all this is related to my kids and part is related to me. I'm too banged up to play ice hockey anymore, but I'm taking a crack at futbol next year. I enquired about starter hockey for my boys: $300 a pop. Futbol: $60. End of debate.

Then it dawned on me that I was a futbol fan first. I remeber on PBS a show called "Soccer Made in Germany" on Saturdays. It featured all these futbol matches from England and Germany. This was the 1970s when futbol was weird, new and kinda hip in the USA. It still is weird, new and hip. So that makes me a revert, not a convert.

Arsenal 0 - CSKA Moscow 1

In some Champions League action my beloved Arsenal lost and not without some controversy. basically, Thierry Henry (pictured at left) scored but the goal was rescinded and Henry was given a yellow card for "handball."

Now referees occaisionally get things wrong but this was flagrantly wrong. Immediately I said to myself, "This referee is on the take, he's a Latin." Then my eyes just scanned the article a little further and sure enough:

Henry himself insists the goal was clean and Spanish referee Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez was behind the play while his linesman was 60 yards away.

Call me a racist, whatever. I'll say this Spanish, Italian and Portugese football is unwatchable. The players dive constantly and the referees cannot tell right from wrong.

Now, Henry is one yellow card away from getting bounced out of the tournament. I smell a rat.

Aging Communist, Unable to Topple Capitalism Economically or Militarily, Takes a Crack at Wacko Environmentalism and Criminal Invasion

How's that communism work out for you? Is life tough on the capitalist talk-circuit paid for by your old supporters: the American Left. Well, I suppose you owe them, they carried your water for years. From my www.WestTexas.com

Gorbachev compares proposed U.S. border wall to Berlin Wall

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev compared the United States' proposed 700-mile wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to the Berlin Wall during a Tuesday visit to Midland. [Texas]

Addressing a Tuesday news conference at UTPB's Center for Energy and Economic Diversification, the JBS Public Leadership Institute Distinguished Lecture Series speaker was by turns serious and flippant prior to a reception with more than 100 people.

"You remember President Reagan standing in Berlin and saying, 'This wall should be torn down,'" said the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize winner. "Now the United States seems to be building almost the Wall of China between itself and this other nation with which it has been associated for many decades and has had cooperation and interaction with.

"Maybe if global warming results in melting the ice in Greenland, there will be an island where those who would like to separate themselves from the rest of the world could live," he quipped. "But then of course we'll have to work this out with Denmark."

That's right, we're building a Wall of China, just like they did to keep the Monguls [like you] out. And it godammned worked, didn't it? The Wall in Berlin was designed to keep people in and was designed to split a nation [Germany]. Get the difference?

By the way, we don't need ice to melt to "seperate" ourselves. Simple door to door searches and social security number checks will do. We're already successful at stealing the best minds on the planet including most of Englands top PhDs. America will decides who she lets in. Now get out Hammer and Sickle Head.

Another Salvo in the War Against Boys

Here in Queer Nation (Massachusetts) the feminization of boys and the masculization of girls continues apace. From the Sun Chronicle:

Tag is now out during recess at Willett Elementary School in Attleboro.

So is touch football and any other unsupervised "chasing" games that are deemed to pose the risk of injury as well as liability to the school.

"It's a time when accidents can happen," said Principal Gaylene Heppe, in her second year at the helm of Willett.

Heppe included the new rule as part of a standardized set of playground rules that were not in play upon her arrival.

In doing so, she joined in a growing movement against traditional games played by young children in school gymnasiums and playgrounds. A few years ago, school administrators in the area, as well as around the country, took aim at dodgeball, saying it was an exclusionary and dangerous game. Modified versions now include softer balls and ways for children to re-enter the action.

"I think that it's unfortunate that kids' lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they'll never develop on their own," said Debbie Laferriere, who has two children at Willett.

"Playing tag is just part of being a kid," she said. "Now, for children not to be able to make those decisions by themselves without interference from adults doesn't give them the opportunity to make their own choices."

Games like tag give children "social skills that transfer to later in life," she said.

Parent Christine McAndrews agreed.

"I think it's a little bit silly," she said, adding that she was not aware the rule was in place.

Willett parent Celeste D'Elia, on the other hand, backed Heppe's decision. Her son, she said, feels safer and enjoys the alternatives to throwing a football around.

"I've witnessed enough near collisions" in the playground area, D'Elia said. "I support anything that makes the playground safer and helps teacher to keep track of them."

Oh my, "near collissions", someone could scrape a knee!

Mind you Willet's "son" could always enjoy the alternatives, but now he has the administration cracking down on anything but the "alternatives." He is probably an uncoordinated dork, now everybody is being force marched down that road.

There will be more on the "queering" of the childrne in Massachusetts, I promise!

Ford Bleeding $$$, Still Supports Queer Nation

Maybe the two are related:

From My Way

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) - Ford Motor Co. (F) said Monday its loss widened to $5.8 billion in the third quarter, weighed down by the costs of its massive restructuring plan aimed at cutting its expenses so it can compete better against lower-cost rivals from overseas.

This is a really funny claim since their truck division is losing the most amount of money and Toyota builds their trucks in Texas and Nissan builds their in Smyrna, TN. Ford shut down their most efficient plant, the one in Atlanta that built my 2005 Taurus. Its replacement, the Ford Fusion is built in Mexico. Perhaps, its a union thing.

Signing on with Queer Nation won't help those F150 sales to Bubba. The American Family Association has fully documented Ford's incorporation as a wholly owned subsidiary of Queer Nation. This is not just about providing some marriage benefits for unmarried employees, that's Ford's business. This is about total espousal of the homosexual lifestyle: sponsorship of "homosexual media awards", activley recruits homosexuals by advertising in homosexual magazine, sponsors homosexual literature that promotes polygamy, sposnors homosexual and "marriage" (at the same time as polygamy!)

I own a Ford but I have signed the boycott. I'm kinda glad that I own a Ford (No homsexual would get caught dead driving a 2005 Ford Taurus, they're more the Volvo types.) Now I can pour salt in the wound as we plan our next purchase. I'll directly write to my local Ford dealer and tell them that I was planning on buying a Ford Freestyle for wifey but we're going with the Chrysler Pacifica or whatever car company gets the worst rating from DiversityInc.

Pro-Life Rita

A post over at Cafeteria is Closed regarding a pro-life write-in candidate in Maryland and a recent Kerry Healy (R) for Massachusetts governor ad got me thinking (again) about the "What's a Catholic to Do?" post from a few days ago. The Healy ad I heard this morning on AM talk radio took pains to emphasize Healy's "pro-choice" (i.e. pro-baby murder) and the "pro-fetal stem cell research" (i.e. growing humans for spare parts and then murdering them) positions.

Lucky for me, millions of Roman Catholics and others have travelled down this road before. From the PA pro-life web site:

In the 2002 election for governor of Pennsylvania, we faced what has become the norm across the country – an election with no pro-life candidate in the major parties. Yes, one was less pro-abortion than the other – if you go by what they say. But the “pro-life” candidate, in particular, said very little. For some time now, the life issue has been a non-issue for the major parties. Unfortunately some “pro-life” organizations always declare one candidate, usually the Republican, to be “pro-life” when they really mean that he is the “lesser of two evils”. It is good to know the lesser of two evils in an election, but to mislabel one as “pro-life” is a great disservice, especially to the average pro-lifer who receives this information and votes thinking he is contributing to the end of baby killing.

Is it moral to vote for the lesser of two evils? Various churchmen tell us so. But the 100% Pro-Life PAC was founded because from our observation of the record for the past several decades, it is almost a total failure. The average pro-lifer probably does not know this. They dutifully take the little candidate cards to the polls and vote for the “pro-life” candidates on them. In my state many, if not most, get elected. But nothing changes. Here in Pennsylvania we regularly have both houses of the legislature controlled by the Republican Party and the governor a Republican and never a word on the Life issue. Silence.

Some of our friends actually think that the “good guys” play down the Life issue in order to get elected and that they will magically become vocally pro-life after the election. Don't hold your breath.

Please note that the people in the 100% Pro-Life PAC are not politically naïve neophytes. Check our advisory board for a start. Most of us went through the “lesser of two evils” stage a long time ago. As we have said before, we do not hate the “lesser of two evils” folks. We know they are sincere pro-lifers, like ourselves. Our argument is that it doesn't work. We do not claim the moral high ground. We have just learned from bitter experience.

read more here .

The bitter experience is that reminder ad from Kerry. She'll never protect the innocent. If Devil Patrick gives drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, latches on to the homosexualist agenda and raises taxes he's just cutting his own political throat and he'll be gone sooner or later. If the Massahchusetts legislature wants to do those things then they will do it no matter what Kerry says.

The bottom line is that Kerry and Devil will always support slitting the throats of babies. I may just vote for Pro-Life Rita.

Hand of Hope

I offer this image for contemplation. A surgeon performed a procedure on a child a few years ago. The child was about four or five months old. As children are wont to do ... this one reached out for a little comfort. The surgeon later explained that he let the little one hold on for a while but tucked him back in after the successful completion of procedure. In this case, the child rode out his post-op right inside of Mommy and emerged at the age of nine months .... good as new.

What's a Roman Catholic to Do?

In Masachusetts, both candidates for the position of Governor are pro-abortion.

Lt. Governor Kerry Healy (R) is pictured at right (she's the blond) with flaks from Planned Parenthood, the giant of the abortion industry. She received a "Republicans for Choice Award." This choice by the way, is murder. The fine website MassResistance has it covered.

Democrat challenger Devil Patrick (pictured at left) has received the endorsement of all the major abortion activists (and the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus.)

So what is a Roman Catholic to do? Skip the vote? There's not even dark horse candidates to which to throw away a vote.

Luckily, then-Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI has provided some guidance:

A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favour of abortion and/or euthanasia, but votes for that candidate for other reasons, it is considered remote material cooperation, which can be permitted in the presence of proportionate reasons.

I'll be voting for Kerry Healy for "other reasons."

According to Il Papa there's two non negotiables for Roman Catholics: abortion and homosexual marriage. In an address earlier this year to European Politicians, he said:

As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, the principal focus of her interventions in the public arena is the protection and promotion of the dignity of the person, and she is thereby consciously drawing particular attention to principles which are not negotiable. Among these the following emerge clearly today: · Protection of life in all its stages, from the first moment of conception until natural death; · Recognition and promotion of the natural structure of the family – as a union between a man and a woman based on marriage.

Vatican to Release Latin Mass from Basement

From the London Times

By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

The Pope is taking steps to revive the ancient tradition of the Latin Tridentine Mass in Catholic churches worldwide, according to sources in Rome. (there have been mutterings for nearly three years, now. I try not to get too excited about this stuff but this seems liek the real deal.)

Pope Benedict XVI is understood to have signed a universal indult — or permission — for priests to celebrate again the Mass used throughout the Church for nearly 1,500 years. The indult could be published in the next few weeks, sources told The Times. Well credit to Ruth, the Mass may be called the Tridentine but it really harkens back 1000 before the Council of Trent....so 1500 years is about right. It has long been a lie that this Mass was invented in 1500. This lie was intended to mitigate the fact that a new Mass was concocted in 1967. From 500 A.D. to 1962 the revisions to the Mass have been absolutely minor and totally "organic."

Use of the Tridentine Mass, parts of which date from the time of St Gregory in the 6th century and which takes its name from the 16th-century Council of Trent, was restricted by most bishops after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).

This led to the introduction of the new Mass in the vernacular to make it more accessible to contemporary audiences. By bringing back Mass in Latin, Pope Benedict is signalling that his sympathies lie with conservatives in the Catholic Church. Actually, many of the "conservatives" love the new Mass ... the Latin Mass devotees are probably more acurately described as traditionalists as opposed to conservatives.

One of the most celebrated rebels against its suppression was Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who broke with Rome in 1988 over this and other reforms. He was excommunicated after he consecrated four bishops, one of them British, without permission from the Pope. This excommunication is not clear, a few priests ordained by the "four" have been quickly ushered in by the Vatican into various religious orders, thereby demonstrating the validity of their priesthood and by implication the validity of the Bishops.

Some Lefebvrists, including those in Brazil, have already been readmitted. An indult permitting the celebration of the Tridentine Mass could help to bring remaining Lefebvrists and many other traditional Catholics back to the fold. Bit of misinformation here. Bishop Rifan from Brazil is not a Lefebvrist. In his diocese of Campos Brazil, he just refused to celebrate the new protestantized mass. Actually, he's been to St. Benedict's Center in Harvard before. He is truly a great man and I hope to see him next time around.

The priests of England and Wales are among those sometimes given permission to celebrate the Old Mass according to the 1962 Missal. Tridentine Masses are said regularly at the Oratory and St James’s Spanish Place in London, but are harder to find outside the capital. Same in New England. There are Latin Masses at St Benedcit's center in Harvard, MA and in Boston and in 1 in Springfield. They are few and far between. For a directory go here.

The new indult would permit any priest to introduce the Tridentine Mass to his church, anywhere in the world, unless his bishop has explicitly forbidden it in writing. This is what is different. Pope John Paul's Ecclesia Dei let the cat out of the bag, but most Bishops (busy protecting paedofiles, ordaining homosexuals and engineering countless modifications to their new Mass) absolutely refused to permit it.

Catholic bloggers have been anticipating the indult for months. The Cornell Society blog says that Father Martin Edwards, a London priest, was told by Cardinal Joseph Zen, of Hong Kong, that the indult had been signed. Cardinal Zen is alleged to have had this information from the Pope himself in a private meeting.

“There have been false alarms before, not least because within the Curia there are those genuinely well-disposed to the Latin Mass, those who are against and those who like to move groups within the Church like pieces on a chessboard,” a source told The Times. “But hopes have been raised with the new pope. It would fit with what he has said and done on the subject. He celebrated in the old rite, when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.” There have been false starts mainly due to the internal bickering in the Vatican.. me thinks the Pope has dropped the Holy Hammer of the progressive scum like Cardinal Montini.

The 1962 Missal issued by Pope John XXIII was the last of several revisions of the 1570 Missal of Pius V. In a lecture in 2001, Cardinal Ratzinger said that it would be “fatal” for the Missal to be “placed in a deep-freeze, left like a national park, a park protected for the sake of a certain kind of people, for whom one leaves available these relics of the past”.

Daphne McLeod, chairman of Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, a UK umbrella group that campaigns for the restoration of traditional orthodoxy, said: “A lot of young priests are teaching themselves the Tridentine Mass because it is so beautiful and has prayers that go back to the Early Church.” It is true. The old Geezers from the 1960s prefer the Birkenstock-wearing, tambourine banging, guitar strumming Lutheran happy-meal. Generation Xers and Yers are sick of that crap.

Not Just Anti-Catholics, but Racists, Too.

Eminent blogger Dean Soto over at Fanatholic picked up on the story from some months ago about the Polish goal keeper for FC Celtic, Artur Boruc, who is being fined and persecuted by agents of cross town rivals Rangers in the Scotland Premiere Footbal league.

From the Daily Express:

Strathclyde Police investigated claims that Boruc, 26, angered a section of the home support after allegedly making the religious gesture at the start of the second half of the game on February 12.

Come to find out FC Celtic and Rangers are bitter rivals. Both clubs are located in the city of Glasgow Scotland. Roman Catholics tend to support FC Celtic and the Protestants support Rangers. Apparently, during a match the goal tender for FC Celtic crossed himself and this caused an uproar among Protestant bigots posturing as the political correctitude police.

With a little research, I found this disturbing crap on the Rangers website:

Rangers Football Club is opposed to racism, sectarianism, bigotry and all other forms of inappropriate behaviour. The Club wants supporters to experience an atmosphere where everyone can feel respected, comfortable and safe when they come to Ibrox, and when they meet Rangers away from home.

Apparently, part of the "respect" that needs to be paid is for Roman Catholics not to cross themselves, too "sectarian."

Rangers also ask fans who hear someone behaving in an inappropriate manner, putting the Club at risk, to report them anonymously or otherwise.

Apparently a few anonymous fans noticed Boruc's inappropriate self-crossing. The racist antics of the Rangers fans are too numerous to document here, and these incidents took place in the same time period as the Boruc incident.

This past September FC Celtic played Rangers at the Celtic stadium and thoroughly kicked their arse. I even noticed midfielder Evander Sno (pictured at right) crossed himself before he tread upon his home turf. That must have been doubly horrifying for the Protties.... Roman Catholic and a Dutchman!

Side note: FC Celtic site has a "Design the Team Christmas Card" contest .... how sectarian! I've just added FC Celtic to my list of favorites along with Arsenal, Aston Villa and the New England Revolution.

Side note: FC Celtic came to New England and played in a loss to the Revolution! I was so clueless back in August!

Euro Cup 2008: Scotland 1 - France 0

David beat Goliath as Scotland clipped France.

Raymond Domenech's [the French coach that I have castigated in this blog] side absolutely dominated the match, with Scotland's deep formation gifting the visitors possession in dangerous areas.

Thierry Henry had already clipped the outside of the post when Patrick Vieira thought he had opened the scoring in the 17th minute when he nodded a Franck Ribery free-kick in to the top corner, only for the linesman to correctly rule the goal out for off-side.

And France had another goal celebration halted by a flag when David Trezeguet was ruled off-side as he sent an acrobatic over-head kick past Craig Gordon.

Scotland improved after the break, and were finally able to keep hold of the ball in midfield and provide some support for lone-striker James McFadden.

And the home side were rewarded for their determination when centre-back Caldwell ghosted in at the back post to fire Paul Hartley's corner past [French keeper] Gregory Coupet.

Franck Ribery didn't have much of an impact and was yanked in the 65th minute or so. I've never seen him play a mediocre game before.

I had never seen the lone striker strategy work before and the underdog supporter in me was cursing the decision of the Scotland coach (France is ranked first in the world and scotland apparently is 34th or something.) But it worked. The Scotland midfield kinda bottled up France and then Scotland took advantage of a "set play", a corner-kick. Go figure.

Build it and They Will Stop Coming

U.S. Senate Funds Wall, Mexico Vows to Not Like Us

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Congress has ordered construction of 700 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexican border in a move Mexico says will hurt relations between the two countries.

The Senate voted 80-19, with 26 Democrats joining 54 Republicans in support, Friday night before recessing for the fall political campaigns.

President Bush has said he would sign it.

Mexican President Vicente Fox called it "shameful" and compared it to the Berlin Wall, which divided Germany.

Wrong again Fox, you Masonic bigamist. The wall in Germany was designed to keep people "in" against their will and it divided a single country. The wall on the southern border between the United States and Mexico will keep people out and will divide two seperate countries.

Mr. Fox, you're not suggesting that you own Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, are you?

From Reuters:

"The Mexican government strongly opposes the building of walls in the border area between Mexico and the United States," President Vicente Fox's spokesman Ruben Aguilar told reporters. "This decision hurts bilateral relations EXACTLY! , goes against the spirit of cooperation needed to guarantee security on the common border SAY WHAT?, creates a climate of tension in border communities," he said. That's the way we like it.

1 + 1 = 2 Once Again

Parents Are Right; Math "Experts" Are Wrong

From Roman Catholic commentator Phyllis Schlafly:

It took parents 17 years to overturn the tragic 1989 curriculum mistake made by the so-called education experts who demanded that schools abandon traditional mathematics in favor of unproven approaches. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics finally reversed course on September 12 and admitted that elementary schools really should teach arithmetic, after all.

The new report called "Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten Through Grade 8 Mathematics" is a back-to-basics victory that rejects the type of math curricula that parents had derided as "fuzzy math" or "rainforest math." The experts preferred such hoity-toity titles as "New New Math," "Connected Math," "Chicago Math," "Core-Plus Math," "Whole Math," "Interactive Math," or "Integrated Math."

Whatever the title, these curricula imbedded the notion that estimates are acceptable in lieu of accurate answers to math problems so long as students feel good about what they are doing and can think up a reason for doing it. Fuzzy curricula were big on discussion, coloring, playing games, and early use of calculators.

The 1989 report (which gives the word "standards" a bad name) flatly opposed drilling students in basic math facts, taught that memorization of math facts was bad, and failed to systematically build from one math concept to another. Children were encouraged to "discover" math on their own, construct their own math language, and flounder around with their own approaches to solving problems.

I had seen this type of learning in full flight at the Hosmer School in Watertown, Massachusetts in 1997. Children were instruction to gather in groups to complete a math "test." A Korean observer was in the room at the time and he looked at me, the substitute, in bewilderment. He asked me in halting English, "The children work in groups on a test?"

"Dude, I don't know what the hell is going on here", I stammered back to him.

Later that year I quipped to a teacher, "Did you hear of the new math? 'If four birds are in a nest and two fly away, how did the other two feel?' "

She screeched back, "That's what I teach!"

I'll be posting more about the cognitive abuse of children.

Speaking of Charlton

Apparently, it was Charlton Athletic of the English Premiere League that made the offer for New England Revolution star Clint Dempsey. Apparently they offered the MLS $1 million as a transfer fee and MLS said no way.

This is just business but some soccer socialists are crying slavery and are beating up on the MLS. They just need to do what Clint did, just shut up and get back to work. Clint wants to go England and his contract will be up sooner or later and then he can go.

Love is in the air. The English Premiere league is falling in love with that cute young girl named Major League Soccer. Chelski trained in Los Angeles this year. Several team including FC Celtic from the Scottish Elite league did summer tours over here.

In fact, three New England Revolution players are getting wooed by the EPL: Chalrie Joseph, Clint Dempsey and Taylor Twellman. This bodes well for the MLS and for US Soccer. I truly believe that the United States will dominate this sport within a decade.

Arsenal 2 - Charlton 0

Arsenal escaped Charlton. The Charlton team put up a good fight the whole match which belied their basemnet standing in the English Premier League. Were it not for a missed header from Jimmie Floyd Hasselbaink (see pic below) and were it not for a missed call for a hand ball violation in the box the result would have been unhappier for Arsenal.

The teams involved in international competition are showing up on weekends a little tired. Arsenal beat Porto pretty bad this week and Charlton went one goal up on a long ball play from the mid-field. Hasselbaink, a veteran from Dutch Guyana and a suspected Roman Catholic, got to the ball and knocked it over to Darren Bent who was all alone on the other side of the net.

Arsenal continued to storm the net and in one exchange Alexsandr Hleb got inside the box while being swarmed red-shirted Charlton players. He crossed over to Robin van Persie who knocked it in the net in a sure-footed manner. Hleb is on my fantasy team so it was looking like it was going to be a good weekend.

Persie knocked in a second goal from 30 yards out in what is likely to hit the YouTube airwaves. One word describes it: Unbelievable. Van Persie had started the match knocking balls out into the 40th row and I was muttering under my breath to yank him out. Shows what I know.

Charlton is being talking about in the relegation death-watch circles. They have a good team and have been wracked with injuries. Andy Reid may be short and he may be fat but he came back this week and the Charlton side looked better for it. I hope they turn it around (now that Arsenal has beaten them.)

More good news: Aston Villa tied up evil and Russian-mob funded Chelsky, 1-1.