Is My Phylactery Showing?

Mark Shea blogged last week about a mess at Most Holy Redeemer Parish, where the parish hall was rented to a group who runs a blasphemous and unacceptably irreverent bingo game. I sent an email to the Archdiocese of San Francisco, as well as the pastor of the church in question. Today, I received the following reply:

"Permission to use Ellard Hall should not have been given to the group. The Archdiocese of San Francisco has directed the parish to end the arrangement immediately. For years the group has directed contempt and ridicule at Catholic faith and practices.

Blogger has a beta program for there upcoming upgrade, and I have no intention of trying it out or moving until I have to.

I apologize to those few regular visitors for not posting anything recently. I have no excuse. Mea maxima culpa, as we Catholics say (or used to say, as it may be).

I attended the St. John's Cathedral evangelization retreat this weekend. It was an excellent experience, and I'd recommend it to any of my friends (read: Patrick) or coreligionists. The focus was not so much on catechesis (although that plays a big part in the ongoing meetings) but on personal experience.

Okay, up front, I'll admit that the title of this post is intentionally provocative, in the hope that S.M Stirling would grace me with another visit. At the same time, I have to assert that his posting online of the first ten chapters of A Meeting in Corvalis is nothing short of the same tactic used by drug dealers throughout the U.S. He gives us just enough to get hooked, then CUTS US OFF AT CHAPTER TEN.

Despite the fact that I intended to buy the novel anyway, I just feel so cheap...

The more I read Antonin Scalia, the more impressed I am with his wit and intelligence.

Interestingly enough, he's frequently painted as a troll-like autocrat in black robes by the Left. However, if you understand his judicial philosophy, he's nothing of the sort.