As long as we're talking about abortion

This article by Steyn fits in with what Mrs. P. wrote about over at Mercatornet a few weeks ago.

Update: Hi there, PWPL readers! Thanks for dropping by. And thanks for the traffic, Andrea!

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Foresight

 Andrea Mrozek at PWPL posts about an article reflecting on the societal consequences of using the pill. I would have liked to leave a comment there, but a technical glitch prevented it.

In his 1968 encyclical, Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI accurately predicted what would come of using the pill:

Consequences of Artificial Methods

17. Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.

Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife.

Here's more.
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Just for fun

I'm at the age where I can admit I actually like ABBA, and also enjoy a good parody of them. This is just too funny. From French and Saunders, who nail everything right down to the last mannerism. (My favourite spot in the vid is about at 2:20, which goes to show that every once in a while I'm a sucker for juvenile humour).

Guilt and shame

David Warren discusses the Vancouver riot.
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You mean there was such a thing?

Sex Before the Sexual Revolution by Simon Szreter and Kate Fisher sounds like an interesting book.
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Just one more thing

Rest in peace, Columbo.
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It's all about tolerance and freedom.

And that's why everyone must march in lockstep in our parade. That is all.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Say it ain't so, Steve! Cars 2 is... a ... I have to whisper, because I can't believe it... a bad movie.

A bad Pixar movie. That's like typing "square circle" or "sturdy wood product".

Nothing gold can stay.

Cut away the dead wood, Pixar, whatever that might be. You are Pixar! Pull yourselves together! Go! Confront the problem! Fight! Win!

And hire me when you get back. I would enjoy working for you.
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Announcing the launch of a new category on DOH:

"SHUT UP!" they explained.

Good to know that Rogers employs some narrow-minded, anti-Catholic bigots who disapprove of peaceful expressions of religious belief. It makes me even more glad I cancelled their cable service last millennium.  I commend Mr. Goddard for stating what he believes, but I don't agree that an HRC should be involved, since those organizations are part of this very problem. Kind of like smoking more cigarettes in order to kill the tumor in your lung. However, it will certainly be interesting to watch the HRC dismiss this complaint at something near the speed of light.
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Life is short; listen to Flannery.

The author reads A Good Man is Hard to Find.
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Triple O!

Here's my favorite funny old ad.

I first saw it in a 1952 Colliers magazine. Advertising appears to have been a whole different ballgame back then. As my brother-in-law once observed, advertisers (incredibly) seemed confident that they could get people to buy their product through reasoning and persuasion. Hence the 500-word essay about a woman who had to pawn her wedding ring in order to support herself after she was widowed. (An ad for life insurance, of course.) This Ennds ad isn't quite as wordy as the dramatic life insurance re-enactment, but there's still plenty here to digest. Mr. B. and I couldn't help wondering about the guy in the picture - is this poor slob married to someone who is made this snarly by his morning breath? Is she the stenographer (this was the 50s, after all) who's suffered through ten thousand too many stinky dictations? Has the doctor in the lower picture recently cut the cheese, and is he surreptitiously watching the nurse to see if Ennds really masks the odor? Never mind the copy - there's a whole little drama in every picture.

It's also fun to see ads for products that never really caught on. Canned hamburgers, anyone?
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Have you ever heard of Andy Mynarski?

If you're tired of reading about "adults" who will not take full responsibility for their choices, even as they are supposedly apologizing for them, here is the story of a young man who made better choices in far worse circumstances. There were, and are, such men in this world.
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There is so little time to blog

When you spend hours a day looking after your yard.  Summer has finally arrived! (Note: some of these pics are from previous years, but since Mrs. B. recently expressed an interest in doing more horticulture-type stuff, I thought I would treat her to a few snaps from our flower garden.)

Every now and then

You need to post a funny old ad. And the most amusing part is, this really works on Mr. Pinkerton! And sometimes, I don't even need vitamins.

Gone Fishin' with Nat

What a relief that the federal government is taking the economy seriously

Mr. Pinkerton works for Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. Yes, the federal government. This year marks the 125th anniversary of Agriculture Canada, and so the research facility where my husband works was "requested" (ordered) by the Powers That Be at Ag.Can (in Ottawa) to make a point of marking the anniversary at their upcoming Field Day. The head of the local research station decided to brave the weeks of waiting and mounds of red tape, and put in a request for funding for a cake to celebrate with staff and the farmers who show up at this annual field day.

It was denied.

And a good thing too! Such a waste of taxpayer's dollars! Why, a slab cake like that (with icing, and maybe even fancy writing or a laser food coloring photo of the Ag Can logo) might cost up to $35 or $40! How can the federal government afford such a thing, when they have to pay the six-figure pensions of recently defeated MPs (like that raving Canadian patriot Gilles Duceppe), or fund rock bands who have pictures of feces (in the form of Jesus) on their CD cover, or arts funding to elderly women who dance in slow motion, or funding to member-free pro-choice and feminist groups, or funding to the vast bureaucracy of  human rights commissions out crusading to save us from discrimination that we can't see, hear or even detect with our psychic mind powers, or funding for.... well, you get the picture.

When it comes to Ag researchers and farmers, let them eat cake... as long as they pay for it themselves.
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Prayer for Priests

PRAYER FOR PRIESTS

O Jesus, Eternal Priest, keep your priests within the shelter of your sacred heart, where none may touch them.

Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch your sacred body.

Keep unsullied their lips, daily purpled with your precious blood.

Keep pure and unearthly their hearts, sealed with the sublime mark of your priesthood.

Let your holy love surround them, and shield them from the world’s contagion.

Bless their labors with abundant fruit,

and may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here on earth,

and in heaven, their everlasting crown.

Mary, Mother of Priests, pray for priests and vocations to the priesthood.

– St. Therese of Lisieux

Borrowed from The Deacon's Bench, with thanks. 

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Blind fools

Hero worship is always always always a dangerous thing. A tragic and ultra-creepy turn in the (now formerly 'Father') John Corapi story.

Oops, did I say ultra-creepy? I meant super ultra mega-creepy. Mark Shea:

Whatever the merits of the charges against him, Dog has been planning to rebrand himself as "John Corapi (once called “father,” now "The Black Sheep Dog") since April 2010, long before he allegedly "learned" of the charges against him or any investigation began.

To cleanse your mind and soul, you will now read 1 Corinthians 3:4, and ponder the whole "I am for Paul; I am for Apollos" thing.

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Won't someone PLEASE think of the children?!?

Because someone has to look after them while their teachers are out campaigning for the McGuinty government.

Music Men

Dear Dad,

        Happy Father's Day! You're the reason I can sing repeat all the lyrics from "The Sound of Music", "The Music Man", and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". Thank you!
        Here's an interesting piece on a song from your favorite musical. I highly recommend that you take all the time you save by not reading our blog to go and read Steyn.

Love,
Mrs. B.
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