Reading Rat October 2012

On authors and works in my recommended reading:

Les Pierres de Venise, translation by Mme Mathilde P. Crémieux of The Stones of Venice by John Ruskin, review by Marcel Proust, La Chronique des arts et de la curiosite, May 5, 1906, review translated by Chris Taylor

An unexpected alliance, by L.S., on Groucho Marx and T.S. Eliot, Prospero, October 27, 2011 5:52 pm

Whistling Dixie, by Matthew J. Franck, Claremont Review of Books, Winter 2007, review of The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution, by Kevin R.C. Gutzman

Prime Time for Paul Ryan’s Guru (the One Who’s Not Ayn Rand), by Adam Davidson, The New York Times, August 21, 2012

Swiche Glaringe Eyen, by Peter Green, The New Republic, April 7, 2011, review of The Selected Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, edited by Sheila Fisher

Sir David Attenborough Drinking game, After 12 FailBlog, October 1, 2012

A Reply to Gabriel Josipovici, regarding Boris Pasternak, by Isaiah Berlin, letter to The Times Literary Supplement, 16–22 February 1990, 171 [pdf]

Jefferson Davis, Abraham Lincoln, and the American Revolution, by Greg Ruttan, The Concord Review, Fall 1994 [pdf]

Berkeley’s External World, by Isaiah Berlin, lectures in a mixture of (mainly) prose and full notes, Hilary Term 1947 [pdf]

Mortimer Adler at YouTube

Dateline: 1977: New Milwaukee archbishop speaks against bingo

"The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee had a new bishop in 1977, the Most Rev. Rembert Weakland, whose comments would have been of interest to Wausau parishioners because of his position’s influence on the larger Church.  

"'It is dangerous for any parish to balance its budget on bingo alone. ... No church should do it,' Weakland was quoted as saying in the Oct. 30, 1977, edition of the Wausau Daily Herald."

The article goes on to note how quaint it now seems that that Weakland was then controversial because of bingo.

"He echoed concerns expressed by James Groppi, a widely known civil rights leader and a Catholic priest who had been excommunicated after he got married in 1976. Groppi had complained that wealthy parishes were making money on bingo games at the expense of poor people."

Just so it's clear speaking against bingo is not heretical.

(via Badger Catholic)

Parishes' assets targeted in archdiocese bankruptcy case

Annysa Johnson reports in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that in our Archdiocese's bankruptcy,

"Lawyers for sexual abuse victims and other creditors in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy case telegraphed Thursday they intend to go after individual parish assets and proceeds from the archdiocese's $105 million Faith in Our Future campaign."

That is, were these entities created, operated, or funded in ways consistent with the requirements for them to be treated as separate legal entities from our Archdiocese.

Our pastor must be in the reporter's rolodex.

"'Right now, there's a fair amount of sympathy for victims. But that could evaporate if they become intent on getting the parishes involved,' said Father Alan Jurkus of St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Greendale."

Which seems to assume the victims have nothing coming. Otherwise wouldn't James 2:15-16 apply?

Archdiocese, victims fail to reach bankruptcy settlement

Annysa Johnson reports at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,

"The court-ordered mediation between the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and victims of sexual abuse has failed, sending the parties back to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to resume what one court official has called a scorched earth legal battle."

How scorched is it?

"The archdiocese had spent about $7.2 million as of Aug. 1 for attorneys and consultants on both sides, and more than $300,000 in fees has been added since then, according to court records. In bankruptcy, the debtor pays all costs."

That $7.5 million since January 4, 2011, divided by what I calculate at 648 days as of today, works out to $11,574.07 per day.

(via SNAP Wisconsin)

If a decision tree falls and no one is around

Regarding Britain's 1839 invasion and occupation of Afghanistan,

"...each of the advocates of British strategy—Auckland, Macnaghten, Hobhouse, and Palmerston—found distinctive ways of belittling or marginalizing his opponents. Lord Auckland dealt with the warnings of his predecessor, Metcalfe, by assuring him that no decisions had been made, and then suddenly that the decisions had already been made, and it was too late to quibble... ."

Lessons from Afghanistan, by Rory Stewart, review of The Dark Defile: Britain’s Catastrophic Invasion of Afghanistan, 1838–1842, by Diana Preston, The New York Review of Books, August 16, 2012 ($).

The occupation was abandoned in 1842 and the 15,000 soldiers and associated civilians withdrew; ultimately, of that number, one man made it back to India alive.

This decision-making technique is applied elsewhere, see Opposition is Futile.

Sighin's of the times

"The Spirit of Vatican II has taught us that all religions are good and each one is a valid path to God. We should never proselytize, that is, try to convert someone. What we should do is live such kind, unselfish lives that people will see us and ask, How did he become so perfect? Only then can you talk to them about religion. But if someone does notice an imperfection in you, be ready to defend yourself. I know this sounds like what the Pharisees did, but it is actually the new way of drawing people.

"In the same spirit of Vatican II we know that God does not care about what we believe, but what we do for others. At the end of the day he will ask us whether or not we showed compassion, I mean real compassion, like when we saw some person or even animal suffering, did we feel sorry for them and want to help? I know a man who others judged because he left his wife and children for a younger woman. She eventually left him because she could not tolerate his drinking lifestyle. But when that man was down and out, he saw this poor stray cat, limping. He tried to help, but the ungrateful animal scratched him. The important thing is that he showed compassion. Do you think God will hold him to some man-made, er human made, set of rules? Do you think it will matter whether or not he came to Mass?"

--Fr. Phil Bloom, The Usual Homily: a generic homily, for all occasions

Wars, Trojan to grammatical

Joseph Epstein reviews The Language Wars: A History of Proper English, by Henry Hitchings, Claremont Review of Books, Summer 2012


Joyce: Heroic, Comic, by Fintan O'Toole, review of James Joyce: A New Biography, by Gordon Bowker, The New York Review of Books, October 25, 2012


Strindberg's inferno, by Brooke Allen, review of Strindberg: A Life, by Sue Prideaux, The New Criterion, October 2012


Iliad out loud: How Homer’s ancient epic presaged the poetry slam, by Lydialyle Gibson, University of Chicago Magazine, September-October 2012

Do you support the tropes? and other news

Jerry Galipeau posts that the latest newsletter of the U.S. Bishops Committee on Divine Worship (not yet online) reports regarding "the U.S. Bishops’ 2007 guidelines on liturgical music, Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship" that "Number 188 of the document has been altered to remove any further permission for the use of Christological tropes or other adaptations to the text of the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)." (via Dad29)


Proclaiming Christ to a Secular Culture, by Fr. Robert Barron, Pallium Lecture (video). Fr. Barron most known for his Word on Fire ministry


At our Archdciocese's Year of Faith page, "Why Does God Matter?", first in the C4 Video: Ignite Your Catholic Faith series


The Tragedy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hans von Dohnanyi, by Elisabeth Sifton and Fritz Stern, The New York Review of Books


Odd bedfellows: New rows about circumcision unite unlikely friends and foes, The Economist