The Theologians of Hollywood

Consider this.

A Hollywood that has lost the ability to make a decent television commercial has remade "Ben Hur".

A Hollywood whose understanding of history is on the same intellectual level as a four year old has remade "Ben Hur", a historical movie.

A Hollywood who has shown its tremendous religious sense by making such unforgettable masterpieces as "Noah" (the one starring the guy who screams all his lines) has made another religious movie.

A Hollywood that has long since demonstrated that it is utterly incapable of telling a story has, yet again, remade a venerable classic.

A Hollywood that hasn't had an original idea in forty-five years has been reduced to "reimagining" older and better films for the very simple reason that they haven't had an original idea in forty-five years.

With this new exercise in cinematic obliviousness the movie industry gives new meaning to the phrase, "They just don't get it."

And by the way:

Who would like to bet that a Hollywood which continually laughs and mocks the styles of the past has cast a lead actor with a five-day growth of beard on his face?

And:

Who is going to plunk down good money to see this rubbish?

World Moron Day, 2016

Words Fail Me Dept.







And then there is the charming video of events in Poland in this Gloria TV report:

https://www.gloria.tv/video/sxaA1kkVubjVJTtFbsL8sAKe4

I'm tempted to once again mention the famous Belloc quote about standing by and watching the Barbarians but will instead point out that this sort of thing is not Catholic. Clueless young people travel long distances for an emotional "high" offered by a media-celebrated Pope.  What good will this do for them?  What solid, demonstrable good?  Emotions do not produce Saints, and these jamborees are nothing if not emotionalism gone to extremes.  Archbishop Bugnini must be smiling from beyond the grave.  I won't say he is looking down and smiling, because it is doubtful he landed in a place where he would be looking down on anything.  More likely he is looking up.

I feel profoundly sorry for the young people who attend these organized idiocies. It fills me with a deep sadness to see them so badly served by their spiritual leaders. For I know that these kids are not being spiritually nourished at all despite the so-called Masses being offered and the scores of Confessionals strewn about the grounds of these events.  These young people need to see and understand their Catholic heritage; instead they are offered mindless rock tunes and the sorry spectacle of nuns and priests acting like asses, gyrating and grooving to what some people call "songs".

I cannot but believe that God is offended by these displays of mass hysteria, a hysteria helped along by American "showmanship" and all the glitter and glamour so beloved of the entertainment industry.

How many conversions - real conversions - will result from a visit to World Youth Day?  Probably not many.  There may be emotional conversions but those kinds of conversions don't last too long.  Real, true conversions of heart and mind are quite rare these days, and for very understandable reasons.

The world looks at these events and laughs at the shenanigans of a dying Church trying to be "with it" and producing only chortles of derision.  A serious-minded Protestant, searching for the Truth, is sure to be put off by this kind of thing.  Any hoped-for ending of the schism between Catholicism and Orthodoxy will be killed by these never-ending "dumb shows".  Why should the Orthodox wish to contaminate their beautiful liturgies with this kind of crap?  Is there anything edifying in these gatherings that would inspire a Jew to come to the Faith?  A Muslim? Anyone?

If Jesus Christ Our Lord wishes us to convert people to the Faith, as He commanded, "World Youth Days" are not going to be the vehicle that accomplishes this.  Tawdry music that would embarrass an amoeba, nuns and priests behaving like they do at these things are hindrances, not helps, to conversions.  I don't recall Christ saying, "Go and teach all nations to imitate Michael Jackson", unless I missed something.

Hell is real.  What an awful, devastating thought.

How many souls will fall into The Pit "like snowflakes"?  How many indeed.  It is with a sense of astonishment that we observe so many Churchmen refusing to talk about this.  Do they really not care?  Possibly they are among those who don't believe in it as a real place.  These are serious questions not easily dismissed.

What is the explanation for this seeming indifference to the reality of everlasting damnation?

How does World Youth Day bring more souls to a serious contemplation of their final end?  From what I have observed, it doesn't.  Dancing and singing, with an occasional sacrament thrown in, is the stuff of these embarrassing pseudo rock concerts.  Teach them about the reality that is Hell?  Doubtful.

Perhaps it is the Church's winking, nodding acceptance of the Protestant teaching that basically everyone goes to Heaven which is driving this suicide march.  I have little doubt that these winks and nods will loom large this October when the Pope visits Lund, Sweden.

I doubt I am the only one who has had enough of this third-rate paganism promoted by a Church that has for all intents and purposes lost its way.  But there is hope, of course. It doesn't look like it but there is. The road back will start one day, and then all this fog will dissipate and we will begin to see clearly again.

Long and hard though the road back will be it will begin, in God's good time.

Another Clinton-related body shows up

(with thanks to irish684.com)

Just like the good old fun days of Bill, Vince Foster and all that good stuff.  It really is hard to keep up with all the mysterious deaths of people who expose the devilry of the Clintons.  Perhaps their long association with the Arkansas mafia explains much of this.

But while the media is going hysterical over Trump's call to the Second Amendment supporters to come out and vote - hilariously morphing that into a suggestion that Trump is calling for violence against Hitlery - they are strangely silent about the body count involving Mizz Clinton.

From Thomas DiLorenzo at Lew Rockwell.com:

TargetLiberty.com is reporting that an old Clinton crony at the UN, who has “contributed” millions to the Democratic National Committee and has been convicted of violating securities laws, was found dead, having miraculously crushed his own throat “accidentally” while working out at a gym.  Two days before he was scheduled to be interviewed by the FBI about the Clinton email crimes.  Textbook scenario of the Clinton crime family.


As of today we need to add yet another body to the list:

https://www.lewrockwell.com/political-theatre/clinton-body-count/

I guess Lady Macbeth was a piker compared to the Clintons.

And in other news about the land of the free and home of the brave, showing you how a real oppressive government works:

http://www.infowars.com/tsa-sued-for-beating-disabled-teen/

Is this a great country, or what?

photo of two war criminals hugging.

The Little Sisters of the Who??

One has to admire the corporate media.  For sheer brazenness and mendacity they have no peer.

In Catholic circles the story of the recent partial victory of the Little Sisters of the Poor is well-known. Everywhere else, it is not known at all.

Mollie Hemingway explains:

http://thefederalist.com/2016/05/17/media-want-to-make-sure-you-never-hear-about-the-little-sisters-of-the-poor/

The Power of "Nyet"

A lovely article that warms the cockles of one's heart (h/t LewRockwell.com).  It begins like this:

The Power of “Nyet”

[O poder do “não”]
[Het vermogen van “njet”]

The way things are supposed to work on this planet is like this: in the United States, the power structures (public and private) decide what they want the rest of the world to do. They communicate their wishes through official and unofficial channels, expecting automatic cooperation. If cooperation is not immediately forthcoming, they apply political, financial and economic pressure. If that still doesn’t produce the intended effect, they attempt regime change through a color revolution or a military coup, or organize and finance an insurgency leading to terrorist attacks and civil war in the recalcitrant nation. If that still doesn’t work, they bomb the country back to the stone age. This is the way it worked in the 1990s and the 2000s, but as of late a new dynamic has emerged.

In the beginning it was centered on Russia, but the phenomenon has since spread around the world and is about to engulf the United States itself. It works like this: the United States decides what it wants Russia to do and communicates its wishes, expecting automatic cooperation. Russia says “Nyet.” The United States then runs through all of the above steps up to but not including the bombing campaign, from which it is deterred by Russia’s nuclear deterrent. The answer remains “Nyet.” One could perhaps imagine that some smart person within the US power structure would pipe up and say: “Based on the evidence before us, dictating our terms to Russia doesn’t work; let’s try negotiating with Russia in good faith as equals.” And then everybody else would slap their heads and say, "Wow! That's brilliant! Why didn't we think of that?" But instead that person would be fired that very same day because, you see, American global hegemony is nonnegotiable. And so what happens instead is that the Americans act baffled, regroup and try again, making for quite an amusing spectacle.

The whole Edward Snowden imbroglio was particularly fun to watch. The US demanded his extradition. The Russians said: “Nyet, our constitution forbids it.” And then, hilariously, some voices in the West demanded in response that Russia change its constitution! The response, requiring no translation, was “Xa-xa-xa-xa-xa!” Less funny is the impasse over Syria: the Americans have been continuously demanding that Russia go along with their plan to overthrow Bashar Assad. The unchanging Russian response has been: “Nyet, the Syrians get to decide on their leadership, not Russia, and not the US.” Each time they hear it, the Americans scratch their heads and… try again. John Kerry was just recently in Moscow, holding a marathon “negotiating session” with Putin and Lavrov. Above is a photo of Kerry talking to Putin and Lavrov in Moscow a week or so ago and their facial expressions are hard to misread. There’s Kerry, with his back to the camera, babbling away as per usual. Lavrov’s face says: “I can’t believe I have to sit here and listen to this nonsense again.” Putin’s face says: “Oh the poor idiot, he can’t bring himself to understand that we’re just going to say ‘nyet’ again.” Kerry flew home with yet another “nyet.”

Read the whole article.

The Extortion Racket Goes On and On

From Glenn Greenwald at the Intercept:

For all the chatter about animosity between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Washington Post reports that “a senior Israeli official will arrive in Washington next week for a final round of negotiations involving the largest military aid package the United States has ever given any country and that will last more than a decade after President Obama leaves office.” The U.S. already transfers $3.1 billion in taxpayer money every year to Israel – more than any other country by far – but the new agreement Obama is set to sign “significantly raises” that amount, and guarantees it for 10 years.

CNN

In response to this massive windfall, Netanyahu is angry that he is not getting even more. For some time, “Netanyahu was holding out for as much at $5 billion a year.” Also, Israel has been opposed to efforts to direct more of that aid to U.S. military contractors rather than Israeli ones (so this “aid” package is as much a transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to weapons manufacturers in both countries as it is to Israel itself). Moreover, “Israelis are also said to be displeased with a U.S. position that whatever amount of money they agree on will be final and that Israel will not go to Congress requesting more money.”

Usually, when someone hands you billions of dollars in aid, you’re not in much of a position to demand more. But the rules for Israel when it comes to U.S. policy, as is so often the case, are simply different. Even as Israel has aggressively expanded settlements of the West Bank (often in a way designed to most humiliate the U.S.) and slaughtered civilians in Gaza, U.S. aid simply increases more and more. What’s particularly fascinating about all of this is that Netanyahu originally intended to wait until the “next administration” to finalize the deal because, assuming that would be Hillary Clinton, he believed (with good reason) he would get an even better deal, but is now worried about an “unpredictable” Donald Trump, who has spouted standard pro-Israel rhetoric before AIPAC (and worse) but had previously espoused the need for “neutrality” on the Israel/Palestine question and has made “America First” the rhetorical centerpiece of his campaign.

Read the whole article.

Editor's Note:  Not to be indelicate, but why does it take a Jewish homosexual like Glenn Greenwald to speak the truth about this never-ending rape of US taxpayers?

More here:  http://news.antiwar.com/2016/08/04/officials-us-close-to-finalizing-record-military-aid-deal-with-israel/

Your tax dollars at work:

Gaza, 2014 (I could have picked a more grisly photo)

No comment

Riot Police drag parishioners out of Catholic Church

Shocking?  Yes.  But if you read the following article everyone, including Marine Le Pen, is blaming the wrong people.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/696194/Marion-Le-Pen-catholic-priest-dragged-church-Sainte-Rita-France

They blame the police, the government, the parishioners, everybody.  Except the culprits who brought Catholicism to the sorry state it is in so that once-filled Catholic churches are empty and being turned into parking lots.

Who did this?  I'm afraid we all know.

Congratulations, dear Modernists.  You have achieved what you set out to achieve.

Austrian Catholic MP reads Turkish ambassador the riot act

This incident occurred a couple of years ago but if anything its relevance to now is even more striking. Would that we would heard such words from Churchmen.

From Christopher Manion:

Austrian MP Ewald Stecker, a brilliant stump speaker, welcomes the visit of the Ambassador Kadri Ecvet Tezcan of Turkey to his state parliament in 2010.

The ambassador had just given an interview griping about the treatment of Turks in Austria.

Stecker responds by recounting the murders and beheadings throughout Turkey of Christians including a Catholic Archbishop, by Moslems shouting “Allahu Akbar,” along with copious other atrocities.

He doesn’t mince words. The ambassador squirms.

Read the whole article.

The Perpetual Adolescent is about to pontificate again (yawn)

I was in Hollywood a decade or so ago sitting in the office of a film producer.  As we were getting along rather famously I asked him somewhat innocently, "How did Steven Spielberg ever get into the film business? All the biographies are rather vague about that."

He grinned and answered.  "When in college his girlfriend was the daughter of Lew Wasserman".

Who is Lew Wasserman?  The late Mr Wasserman was one of the most powerful agent-turned-moguls in the business and was the head honcho of Universal Studios.  Where was Mr Spielberg's first (failed) movie made?  At Universal studios.

You fill in the blanks.

Ever since that time, and before, Spielberg has been a man unable to grow up, a man who lives in perpetual adolescence whose movies illustrate this to perfection.  "What about 'Jaws?'" ask some devoted fans.  "Jaws", made at Universal studios, was a director-proof script that could have been directed equally or better by almost anyone in that town.  Same with "Duel", another director-proof script (by Richard Matheson), which in my opinion was poorly directed anyway.  It was the superior screenplay that got that movie to stay afloat and nothing else.

The man who made such  movies as "ET", "Amistad", "Schindler's List", "1941" and the interminable "Close Encounters" is a man who never reached adulthood, never contemplated eternal truths, never understood people or history, in other words (an old-fashioned one) a "hack" who is content to let his past surprising successes and the PR departments keep propelling him onward even though his failures also keep going onward.  His biggest recent success, "Jurassic Park", was a success due to its original idea by author Michael Crichton and its new-fangled special effects, not for its paucity of directorial touches.

But now this pushing 70 eleven-year-old in baseball cap and scruffy beard is going to undertake a serious look at Pope Pius IX in a new production detailing the horrors of a young boy being saved from a fate worse than death: his Baptism into the Catholic Church.  Word has it that the boy's becoming Catholic will be depicted as a sort of violation, a horrible stain on the poor child's soul, almost a rape, at the hands of that sinister group of people in Rome headed by the villain, Pius IX.  Abe Foxman will no doubt be first in line to see this show.

The general direction in which this looming fiasco is headed can best be illustrated by the actor Mr Spielberg has hired to portray Pius IX.

A subject like this requires delicacy, no matter which side you stand on.  Will it receive delicate treatment? A cinematographer friend of mine, the late Douglas Slocombe, who had done pictures with Mr Spielberg, was asked by this writer what it was like working with him.  The cinematographer replied ruefully, "Well, he likes to ladle it on rather thick".

So much for delicacy.