Safe Haven

RIP, "Smokin'" Joe Frazier.

Rest In Peace, Bob Forsch.

Average Chris Carpenter Cardinals Season: 16-7, 3.05 ERA. Average Greg Maddux Braves Season: 18-8, 2.61 ERA. Not too bad, Chris. Maddux is a first-ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible in 2013, and is among the 10 greatest pitchers ever to pick up a ball.

Hilarious YouTube Comment of the Day: "I am a total Metalhead all the way but this dude's voice is otherworldly. He could be singing about toasters and it would be art."--some guy, referring to James Taylor.

5 Random, Disconnected Thoughts For Today 5. I played poker last night for the first time in ages (online, play money). Played well, but lost. 4. I got a voter ID card the other day; sorry, if there was something to vote on, it wasn't important enough for me. 3. It turns out there are Republicans in Hollywood. Should have known Eastwood was. 2. If the Cardinals--uh, sorry, I mean, the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals--can't find a manager, I'll do it. 1. You want me on that wall. You need me on that wall.

Today, I'm sad. We had to put down our dog, Cubby. That was his name because he looked like a bear cub, not because we have any affection for the Cubs! (as should be obvious from the blog) Anyway, believe me when I tell you that he was the best dog a person could ask for. Always happy, even to the end. He understood that I had a disability; he just worked around it. He spent long hours just guarding my door. He'd jump around like a lunatic at the sight of us; he'd bark like a mad dog at strangers, and then ask for pets 2 minutes later. It wasn't long ago he'd lay right behind my wheelchair and be jarred to action by the magnetic click of my brakes releasing. He was the dumbest, most adorable Australian Shepherd you ever saw. One green eye, and one clear. My favorite pastime was to put on my affectionate voice and say, "Are you so stupid, Cubby? Yes, you're so stupid!" I used to say, "You're a silly Cubby" and "You're our Cubby-do...

I admit it, I gave up. Tons of times. This Cardinals team earned my respect, my scorn, and my hope all in a vicious cycle for these six or so months. They blew a 6-2 9th inning lead against the Mets with about a week to go. They blew the most games they'd led in the final inning of any team in baseball. They are maddening to watch. I have almost nothing left as a fan. I just need to be honest here. And so, after three errors that all led to runs and a 7-4 lead for the Texas Rangers, trying to win the first title of their existence as a team that made their maiden voyage in 1961, I thought, "It's over." My brother was swearing and asking Tony La Russa why Lance Lynn, only equipped for one inning of duty, returned to surrender the leading runs. As for me, I always lack faith. I pronounced our doom, as is my role as the realist yet again. When Allen Craig smacked a homer in the eighth to make it 7-5, I said to myself, "Why are you making it closer? It'll just hu...

5 Irritated Thoughts on Tim Tebow 5. Look, Bryan Phillips, we get it: You don't like Tim Tebow (or Brett Favre*, for that matter) but most normal people do, and seriously, what is it with you people? 4. Tebow wins. At every level. Why wouldn't you roll the dice in re-building mode? 3. You're darn right that we like how he appears to be exactly what he says--a real Christian--who's willing to stand up for that weird sub-cultural tenet that we shouldn't kill each other. What a freak. 2. They won the game, didn't they? And almost won the week before. 1. I'll take 10 Tim Tebows over a whole league of "real," "gritty," and "flawed" people you tell us to like. *Brett Favre is, of course, (with respect) a scumbag, whose beauty queen of a wife would have divorced him long ago if she weren't Catholic. But he was fun to watch.

I had to link this as your "Socialism Sucks" Story of the Day, as if anyone with a brain and a history book needed proof. I mean, I pretty much hate cheese, but I DEMAND multiple cheeses! Better to risk gluttony than starve to death.

I believe in capitalism. I do not believe in it as a concession, a middle-ground until grace perfects something better. I do not hold my material goods with a closed fist, nor adore them as gods. I believe in the dignity of the human person, first as an individual, and then in larger groups. I will accept some limits on the rights of individuals to buy, sell, and trade goods, ideas, or anything of value, consonant with Christian truth, given by the Catholic Church (whether directly or indirectly). I DO NOT automatically accept appeals to the "common good" in the regulation of markets, because "the government" (or the State) cannot be called to account when its meddling creates the very injustices that we all decry. If the efficiencies of markets lead to the valuing of the wrong things, the Church exists to exhort her children (and everyone else, for that matter) to use our freedom to alter outcomes as she sees fit, guided by the Holy Spirit. It may well be unwise fo...

You know, this world is tough. We might be tempted to anesthetize ourselves to this fact with pleasure or unreasonable Pollyannish optimism, but it doesn't take long to realize the futility of this. People die suddenly. Friends get sick and injured, the earth beneath us quakes and traps people in rubble and we're left wondering why. When things are going well, there is a part of me that waits for the other shoe to drop. I'm not cynical; in fact, I'm quite the opposite. But I am, as they say, acquainted with grief. Right now, I struggle to love a person who doesn't like sad songs, who doesn't want to hear of misfortune, who doesn't know that we live in a sick, sad, world that would have nothing going for it but that Christ Jesus took on flesh and died for us. It's a beautiful world, too. But make no mistake: He made it that way, we messed it up, and Jesus came to set it (and us) right again. It's not that I don't feel joy, I don't laugh, or lo...

A note to commenters: Though Holy Mother Church does not see fit to "inquisit" Lutherans these days, be advised that enthusiastic Lutherans, whose quarrelsome tendencies naturally lead to that manifest evidence of error known as the "double post," will be mocked in sufficient measure. As for the Reformed, because their system's obvious contradictions warrant only the most uproarious laughter, but they, being highly disinclined to smile, much less laugh at themselves, we can only pray for them (while chortling in solitude). Being dispossessed of that sure aid when confronted with supernatural mysteries, 'I need a drink,' we strongly advise our Baptist brethren to try, 'I need fried chicken,' in the hope that it anecdotally has served the same purpose for generations of their best theologians.

5 Facts On My Right Ear 5. The hole in my eardrum is causing the block, not fluid. This is not good. 4. The eardrops I was using may have made things worse. 3. He thinks I'll get my taste back soon, but he's given me nasal spray to clear things out a bit. 2. I'll have a hearing test in about a month. 1. Surgery is likely.

So there I was, surveying YouTube like always, (I started with my favorites, which means Buble first) when I had to click on "Motownphilly" . If you can't groove to that, there's no saving you. When I was a teenager, Boyz II Men was it. IT. Because it has a beat, and these kats called it "hip-hop doo-wop" (besides their indebtedness to so-called "New Jack swing") we might have to blame them for the horrid fusion now called 'hip-hop'. On the other hand, while parents and pastors got a little jumpy at their sexy songs, you could always count on Boyz II Men to generally sonically make the world a better place. I love them to this day. Darn hard to dislike this one . I smell bachelor-party video montage! [You're not even close to getting married.--ed.] Look dude, I'm like a woman; I've thought about this a lot. Anyway, I was almost sucked into a largely Babyface-penned vortex of Awesome for three hours, when it showed me an advertis...

5 Random, Disconnected Thoughts For Today 5. The reason TD Jakes gets invited to prominent evangelical conferences is that there's no definitive final authority for doctrine beyond the self, AND they may be a teensy bit racist. Just sayin.' 4. I will not vote for any of the Republicans that happen to have an 'r' in his last name. 3. Nor will I vote for a Mormon. My Trinitarianism is firm. 2. That's right, the evangelical insistence on creedalism is entirely arbitary, though admirable, and it takes a pretty recalcitrant heretic/fundie for anyone to notice the problem. Keith Mathison already pointed out the problem, even if he refuses to see it. 1. I am a good time!!!

5 Thoughts That Changed My Life 5. Derivative authority is a sham. 4. Good intentions are not enough. 3. All truth is connected. 2. "Have you thought of being a writer?" 1. "That Eucharist is for me."

Look out. Poetry is dynamite sometimes; it is not a trifle, not meant to be mocked. I'm still recovering from this one. What would Tim Butler say?

This is another entry in the "I'm 59, and a living legend" file, along with the celebrated Coach Summitt. I found myself listening to Country (Western) music after a full weekend of swimming in the vast sea that is Catholic theology. I understand that this form of music is not everyone's cup of Earl Grey; hot, (let the reader understand) but I have two words: George Strait. 59 #1 singles, people! The 12th best-selling musician in American popular music history. And this isn't even one of the chart-toppers. Hey Cross, after you're done with that MacIntyre , you could check him out. I love this one. I admit it, that cover by Taylor Swift you might see further down was fantastic. [Don't even act like you dislike Taylor Swift.--ed.] You're right; there's no fighting it! But anyway, George is one of my Big Three. [How should we feel about the fact that 2 of the 3 are Country artists?--ed.] You should feel that this is awesome.

5 Thoughts on Monday's Tea Party GOP Debate 5. I'm going to call "Mittens" (let the reader understand) the "Republican John Kerry" until he goes away. 4. Does anyone want to send Rick Santorum to Afghanistan with a copy of "Dulce Et Decorum Est" to see how eager he is for war then? Maybe it's just me. 3. Ron Paul may not be able to speak an entire paragraph without getting angry, but that doesn't mean he's wrong. 2. Bachmann, please shut up. Please. 1. Rick Perry? Really? No, seriously. Bonus: If we had Gingrich's brain, Santorum's faith, and Mittens' cool, our candidate could beat 1984 Reagan. I hate it when this happens.

On the off chance that someone cares about my reactions to the political process, I watched the entirety of the Republican debate on September 7 (thank you, YouTube, though Part 4 seemed snipped) and I'd have to say that I'm assured by what I saw. There are no obvious morons in the bunch,* and all of the big ideas on all the issues of the day are on the table, simply due to the sheer number of candidates and the diversity of perspectives. I thought that I'd give a short little pithy summary of each candidate's evening (hopefully humorous) and then offer some concluding thoughts: Rick Perry: "Dude, I'm good-looking, folksy, Christian, and Texan. No, you've never seen this before! Just sit back and enjoy the ride." Mitt Romney: "I am the only person on this stage who's read a real book in two months. I believe nothing I'm telling you, but I'm not Obama." Newt Gingrich: "The term 'policy wonk' was coined for me. I'm ...