First Sunday of Advent

First reading: Isaiah 63:16-17,64:1,3-8
Psalm: Psalm 79:2-3,15-16,18-19
Second reading: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9

From Agnus Day

Gospel: Mark 13:33-37



Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming,
so that, gathered at his right hand,
they may be worthy to possess the heavenly kingdom.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son, who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Collect 1st Sunday of Advent, New Translation.








A Happy Advent and Merry Christmas to one and all. The side bar has links to previous years Christmas postings. In Advent we prepare for the coming of Jesus, to celebrate his first coming at Christmas and to prepare for His Second Coming.

Happy Thanksgiving

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.

Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our selves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November [New Style, November 21], in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620. Learn more at Pilgrim Hall

The Pilgrims set out for Virginia but ended up in Massachusetts Bay. Since they did not have a Royal Charter to settle there they made the Compact to govern themselves. Often cited as thye first state constituion precursor of the rights claimed in the Declaration of Independence.


Of course several places claim that they had the real first Thanksgiving. Jay Anderson Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate makes a case fo his native Virginia and a better case for St. Augustine Florida.

Related:
Why don't you speak for yourself, John?
George Washington's Thanksgiving Day Presidential Proclamation.

2021: The New Europe - a Wholly German Empire

Niall Ferguson in the Wall Street Journal writing from the vantage point of 2021 tells the story of how the European Union became the United States of Europe. I have no idea if this is how things will turn out, but it is humarous look at the current crisis with good bits information and commentary thrown in.

The euro is still circulating, though banknotes are now seldom seen. (Indeed, the ease of electronic payments now makes some people wonder why creating a single European currency ever seemed worth the effort.) But Brussels has been abandoned as Europe's political headquarters. Vienna has been a great success.

snip

David Cameron—now beginning his fourth term as British prime minister—thanks his lucky stars that, reluctantly yielding to pressure from the Euroskeptics in his own party, he decided to risk a referendum on EU membership. His Liberal Democrat coalition partners committed political suicide by joining Labour's disastrous "Yeah to Europe" campaign.

Egged on by the pugnacious London tabloids, the public voted to leave by a margin of 59% to 41%, and then handed the Tories an absolute majority in the House of Commons. Freed from the red tape of Brussels, England is now the favored destination of Chinese foreign direct investment in Europe.

Snip

And in 2013, in a historical twist only a few die-hard Ulster Unionists had dreamt possible, the Republic of Ireland's voters opted to exchange the austerity of the U.S.E. for the prosperity of the U.K. Postsectarian Irishmen celebrated their citizenship in a Reunited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with the slogan: "Better Brits Than Brussels."


snip

. . . European President Karl von Habsburg . . . still known to close associates by his royal title of Archduke Karl of Austria . . .



For the best laugh of the day read the whole article. Is this close to what will happen? Who knows?

Hat tip to David of Duff and Nonsense.

Stimulus???

Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Elmendorf testifying before the Senate Budget Committee. He is responding to questions from Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.) the senior Republican on the committee.

ELMENDORF: What we said was, [the stimulus bill] would be a big boost in the level of GDP in the first 3 or 4 years,*** and then, relative to what would have happened to GDP without that law… the level of GDP would be a little lower at the end. That is, a net negative effect on the growth of GDP over 10 years.

SESSIONS: And in the next 10 years, since you’re carrying that debt and paying interest on it and the stimulus value is long since gone, it would be a continual negative of some effect?

ELMENDORF: Yes, it would represent a drag on the level of GDP beyond that, if no other actions were taken.


Of course, future estimates can be mistaken for many unpredictable factors, the chance of this being optimistic are probably equal to the chance they are pessimistic. But even the best case is not likely to be good.


HT:   National Review Online

Veterans Day

The First World War nominally ended on November 11th. First celebrated as Armistice Day, it became Remembrance Day for the Commonwealth to honor those who had fallen. In the United States where Memorial Day already commemorated those who died defending our country it became Veteran’s Day to also honor the veterans who came home.


Lord Grey, the British Foreign Minister described the beginning of the war as "The lamps are going out in Europe". The immediate costs in dead and treasure of this ultimately pointless war were horrific. The horror of the trenches scarred the psyche of the Western world. The resulting despair allowed political movements to come to influence and power, which have changed for the worse Western culture, the holocaust and gulag being just the tip of the iceburg. Too many of the lamps are still out.

It is a hard truth that this is an especially appropriate day to remember our veterans living and dead. One of the very few bright spots were the solders and sailors whose dedication, loyalty, and valor shamed the politicians and “statesman” who sent them to war. They should always be remembered.

But also we need to remember that in other wars it was this same dedication and valor that bought our Freedom and Liberty, certainly against the forces released as a result of the First World War.


Enjoy the holiday, but remember to think of and pray for those who served.




In 2007 David Duff objected to the war being called pointless. El Jefe Maximo responded. Their interesting and informative discussion is a must read..

Related posts:

Le Soldat Americain dans Afgaistan
Soldiers are People, too
The Last of the Light Brigade.
The Bivouac of the Dead
Roy Nickerson
11/11/1918 (From Kingdom of Chaos)
Rembrance Day - where They Fell HT:David Duff
Campfires and Battlefields 1884


Labels:WWI and Veterans Day posts

Campfire and Battlefield

It is poor business measuring the mouldered ramparts and counting the silent guns, marking the deserted battlefields and decorating the grassy graves, unless we can learn from it some nobler lesson than to destroy. Men write of this, as of other wars, as if the only thing necessary to be impressed upon the rising generation were the virtue of physical courage and contempt of death. It seems to me that is the last thing we need to teach; for since the days of John Smith in Virginia and the men of the Mayflower in Massachusetts, no generation of Americans has shown any lack of it. From Louisburg to Petersburg-a hundred and twenty years, the full span of four generations-they have stood to their guns and been shot down in greater comparative numbers than any other race on earth. In the war of secession there was not a State, not a county, probably not a town, between the great lakes and the gulf, that was not represented on fields where all that men could do with powder and steel was done and valor exhibited at its highest pitch…There is not the slightest necessity for lauding American bravery or impressing it upon American youth. But there is the gravest necessity for teaching them respect for law, and reverence for human life, and regard for the rights of their fellow country-men, and all that is significant in the history of our country…These are simple lessons, yet they are not taught in a day, and some who we call educated go through life without mastering them at all.
Emphasis is mine.


Rossiter Johnson, Campfire and Battlefield, 1884

Related: Bivouac of the Dead The poem on the illistration.


HT: Donald E McClarey at Almost Chosen People

Resurrection

Jesus said: I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.  Mathew 16:18



HT: Orthodox Net


Related: The Traitor

Cost of the Crown

A beautiful song. The number rulers and would be rulers who realize and accept the cost is all to few, but probably more than the cynic would suggest.

Song: Cost of the Crown
Singer: Shandeen O'Neill
Song Writer: Mercedes Lackey

Video from "The Twelve Kingdoms"














Pray for those in power that they have the wisdom do see, the courage to try, the patience to wait, the strength to do, and the compassion to care.

Hazardous Chemical Alert -- Dihydrogen Monoxide

A little known but dangerous chemical is polluting America. The Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division is trying to spread the word on this threat.

The Truth about DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE
Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) is perhaps the single most prevalent of all chemicals that can be dangerous to human life. Despite this truth, most people are not unduly concerned about the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide. Governments, civic leaders, corporations, military organizations, and citizens in every walk of life seem to either be ignorant of or shrug off the truth about Dihydrogen Monoxide as not being applicable to them. This concerns us.


BAN DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE - THE INVISIBLE KILLER!
Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year.

What are the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide?
Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there. Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death.

Dihydrogen Monoxide Facts

Dihydrogen monoxide:
is also known as hydric acid, and is the major component of acid rain.
contributes to the Greenhouse Effect.
may cause severe burns.
contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.

Dihydrogen Monoxide Alerts

Contamination is reaching epidemic proportions!

Quantities of dihydrogen monoxide have been found in almost every stream, lake, and reservoir in America today. But the pollution is global, and the contaminant has even been found in Antarctic ice. In the midwest alone DHMO has caused millions of dollars of property damage.

Dihydrogen Monoxide Uses

Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:
as an industrial solvent and coolant.
in nuclear power plants.
in the production of styrofoam.
as a fire retardant.
in many forms of cruel animal research.
in the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.
as an additive in certain junk-foods and other food products.

Stop the horror - Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide

Learn more at the Dihydrogen Monoxide website

MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET Please print and post prominently near sources of Dihydrogen Monoxide

HT: Donald R. McClarey at The American Catholic