Life Imitating Art

This reminds me of this.

I'm Glad

...that our kids have Jocelyn's knack for crafting:

I'm Not Exactly Sure How This Is Supposed to Inspire Kids to Want to Learn

I posted earlier this year about a message I was rather fond of that appeared on the sign in front of the grade school down the street from Haus Jansen.

But notice what's there's now:



A bit Orwellian, don't you think?

Experts, Shmexperts, Part II

In response to my post earlier this week ("Experts, Shmexperts"), The Dutchman commented thusly:

And the alternative to experts is what? Savants? Psychics? Amateurs?

Maybe doctors aren't AS expert as we would wish, but life expectancy has about doubled since 1800.

Back in the nineteen sixties there was a lot of talk about "pointy headed experts" and it was pretty obvious back then that this was just an appeal to prejudice. So now, when I hear broadsides against "experts" I am deeply suspicious of what the real agenda of such an attack is.

In response to The Dutchman's question — which, to my mind, is a straw man — I should clarify something I implied but apparently didn't convey clearly in my earlier post:

By all means, yes, we should value the advice of experts. But only if they really are experts, and not merely people walking around who think of themselves as experts.

IOW: let's trust experts, but not so-called experts.

Of course, that begs prompts the question:

What makes someone an expert?

Garsh, I don't have time to get into the technical requirements, but let me just illustrate my point this way:

Imagine you're a new parent and you're looking for some advice on raising your kids. You read the latest book on child rearing by some guy who doesn't have children of his own, but has a Ph.D. in Child Psychology.

Then you talk to a middle aged woman at your church who you've known for a few years. She's a college graduate who worked for a years before she got married and started having kids, and since then, she's been a stay-at-home mom. She and her husband now have six kids, all of whom are of exemplary character.

All other things being equal, which of the two is the real expert on parenting, and which is the poser expert? Whose advice are you more likely to take to heart? And therefore, whose advice are you more likely to take?

As Chesterton once said, "By experts in poverty I do not mean sociologists, but poor men."

Different field, but same idea.

I'll save my thoughts on expertise as it relates to the medical field for another post.

Spot-On

The extraordinary stupidity behind the University of Illinois' decision to fire Professor Kenneth Howell ought to make all of us sit up and take notice of the very real danger inherent in the "'Shut Up,' He Explained" ethos that so permeates the higher education establishment.

What happened to Professor Howell is grossly unjust, and not at all funny.

But this mockery of the whole situation sure is:

You Don't See That Every Day

Like many schools, the grade school down the street from Haus Jansen has a sign in front on which are displayed various messages — most often, school announcements: "Spring Break: March 29 - April 2" or "Congratulations Mr. Brown on 32 years of teaching", or platitudes: "Knowledge is power", etc.

But notice the message that's there now:



Of course, our local school district isn't alone:



I wish every entity that the State of Illinois owes money to would likewise shout it from the rooftops. It might just help wake people up to how mind-bogglingly corrupt and financially mismanaged this place is.

EEOC to Catholic College: Drop Dead

I can't say as I'm surprised:

Feds Accuse Catholic Belmont Abbey College of Sexual Discrimination for Not Covering Contraception

So much for separation of church and state.

Thankfully, the BAC powers that be aren't backing down.

From the article:

"As a Roman Catholic institution, Belmont Abbey College is not able to and will not offer nor subsidize medical services that contradict the clear teaching of the Catholic Church," said Belmont Abbey President William Thierfelder. "There was no other course of action possible if we were to operate in fidelity to our mission and to our identity as a Catholic college."

After faculty members filed complaints with the EEOC and the North Carolina Department of Insurance, Belmont Abbey says the EEOC told the school in March 2009 that it would close the file on the discrimination charge, as it had not found the school's decision in violation of its statutes. But the agency later reversed itself, and issued a determination letter to the school on August 5 affirming that the ban amounted to gender discrimination, because it pertains only to women.

"By denying prescription contraception drugs, Respondent (the college) is discriminating based on gender because only females take oral prescription contraceptives," wrote Reuben Daniels Jr., the EEOC Charlotte District Office Director in the determination. [emphasis added]

Aside from presenting us with a clear example of bureaucracy run amok, Daniels' comment also provides with what could rightly be called a "teachable moment".

He noted that only women take oral contraceptives. This, of course, begs the question prompts the question: Why is there no contraceptive pill for men?

The redoubtable Dr. Janet Smith explains why in her talk "Contraception: Why Not":

There's a wonderful book out by Dr. Ellen Grant called The Bitter Pill. She was very much in on distributing contraceptives in the 60's in London, but she saw woman after woman coming in with different pathologies that she found were pill-related high blood pressure, blood clots, cysts in the breast, all sorts of things.

So, she said, "I'm not going to prescribe these anymore." She looked into this and she discovered, that when they were first testing for the pill, they were trying to find a male contraceptive and a female contraceptive pill.

And in the first study group of males, they found that there was some slight shrinkage of the testicles of one male, so they stopped all testing of the male contraceptive pill.

You might notice that there is no such thing in the first study group of females. Three females died and they just readjusted the dosage.

Let's read that again:

And in the first study group of males, they found that there was some slight shrinkage of the testicles of one male, so they stopped all testing of the male contraceptive pill.

And this:

You might notice that there is no such thing in the first study group of females. Three females died and they just readjusted the dosage. [!]

Smith continues:

Now, I don't know what that tells you, but it tells me that there's something sinister going on here. Women are still dying from the pill.

If you look at the insert in any set of pills, you can get this from a pharmacist if you can't find it elsewhere, it says such things as the pill will cause blood clots, high blood pressure, heart disease, greater increase of some kinds of cancer, infertility.

Now, these are very small percentages where this happens, but there are some sixteen million women in the United States on the pill. Sixteen million.

And even a very small percentage is still a very large number of women. Not to mention the day by day side effects. These always fascinate me.

Most women, in fact, 50% of women who start on the pill, stop within the first year because of unpleasant side effects. So, these side effects are really largely those of the sixteen million who continue, so you can imagine how bad they must be for the 50% who stop.

It's not Belmont Abbey College that's mistreating women.

It's the Pill.

Chicago School Board President to CPS Principals: You'll Support the 2016 Olympics Bid If You Know What's Good for You

Despicable.

The Dutchman has it right.

Some People Aren't Too Happy

Not surprisingly, we've seen a big spike in incoming e-mails at work the past few days. Many have been supportive; others...well, not so much.

A little while ago, one such message came in — anonymously, natch, as per usual with hate mail — that said the following, in all caps, bold, and 36-point typeface:

From: <_______________@aol.com>
Date: Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 11:07 AM
Subject: Notre Dame
To: info@prolifeaction.org


GO AFTER THE PRIESTS AND NUNS WHO ARE STILL F***ING YOUNG BOYS AND GIRLS BEFORE YOU GO AFTER PRESIDENT OBAMA. CLEAN YOUR OWN HOUSE FIRST

My first thought upon seeing this was how astonishingly fast our unnamed correspondent managed to prove Anderson’s Corollary to Godwin’s Law (also known as the reductio ad pedophilium):

“It would go something like this: ‘As a debate involving the Catholic Church (either a discussion about the Church specifically, or a discussion in which the Church is taking a position) grows longer, the probability of someone mentioning the sex scandal approaches one.’

“And then there’s its corollary: ‘Once such reference to the Scandal is made, whoever mentioned the Scandal has automatically “lost” whatever debate was in progress…’”

I also pointed out to this person that if he has knowledge of any child rapists currently being protected by a church, he'd better call the police immediately and report it.

Obama at Notre Dame

Thursday last I set out early in the morning for Michigan to give a talk to Homeschoolers 4 Life club in Lansing and to meet with the officers of the Pro-Life Club at Garden City High School in Garden City before heading to a Catholic grade school in Ypsilanti to give a chastity talk to a group of eighth graders that evening.

Both talks were very well received, I'm happy to say, and I was thrilled at all the good things the newly formed club at Garden City has done this past year.

Getting back Friday afternoon, I had opted to work from home the rest of the day instead of coming into the office.

Thus, I was the last Pro-Life Action League staff member to find out that President Obama had been invited to give the commencement address at Notre Dame.

Upon learning this via an e-mail that had come earlier in the day from one of our supporters, I momentarily wondered if it might be worth contacting my co-workers in the unlikely event they hadn't heard.

Moments later, though, I realized this wasn't necessary, as when I checked my e-mail again, I saw that my boss, Joe Scheidler, had just issued a press release.

And here's the article posted Friday on the PLAL homepage that accompanied it.

Truth Is Sometimes Stranger than Fiction

Which of the following actually happened at a community college in Washington State?

• (a) A human rights student group wanted to post materials around campus encouraging people to work to stop the genocide in Darfur, but was told by the school that they would also have to post materials encouraging people to work to continue the genocide in Darfur.



• (b) An anti-racism student group wanted to post anti-racist materials around campus, but was told by the school that they would also have to post materials from the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Brotherhood.



• (c) A feminist student group wanted to post materials around campus encouraging people to work to stop violence against women, but was told by the school that they would also have to post materials promoting violence against women.



• (d) A student service organization wanted to post materials around campus to raise awareness of individuals in the community suffering from poverty, but was told by the school that they would also have to post materials promoting ignorance of individuals in the community suffering from poverty.



• (e) A pro-life student group wanted to post pro-life information around campus about the harms of abortion, but was told by the school that they would also have to post pro-abortion information.

You can probably guess which one is the right answer.

[HT: JivinJ]

[Cross-posted at Generations for Life]

"Schools in the Jesuit Tradition" Is, for All Intents and Purposes, a Vacuous Euphemism

Alas, the hanged, drawn, and quartered body of St. Edmund Campion must be turning over in his grave at the state of Jesuit higher education these days.

This latest instance, via Mark Shea, reminds me of the time some ten years ago when, during Joe Scheidler's (my now-boss's) RICO trial in federal court, Loyola University Chicago's law school allowed NOW to solicit students to help them in their case against him. His daughter, my friend and current co-worker Annie Casselman, was a Loyola undergrad at the time (as was I).

I like Shea's idea, though: Don't give 'em a dime. Not one dime. Ever.

That's why Jocelyn and I have donated exactly nothing to our alma mater.

To be sure, I say this with no joy. Both of us received an excellent education at Loyola, and we were privileged to encounter many Jesuits there who have an undying love for the Faith.

Sadly, however, the increasing sense of disloyalty that has crept its way into the Society of Jesus has made for an environment in many (all?) of their universities in which Catholic identity is largely shelved and certain viewpoints diametrically opposed to Church teaching are tolerated out of a horribly misguided understanding of “academic freedom”.

On TV, Part 2

I mentioned a couple days ago that I was interviewed by a reporter for CLTV for a story dealing with teen pregnancy and the debate over abstinence education vs. so-called comprehensive sex education.

I can't seem to link directly to the story, but you can watch it by going here. Then, in the search field below the video screen, type in "teen pregnancy on the rise", and it should be the first result.

Commenter Autodidact noted that the story was pretty fair, and I'd have to agree (especially when one considers the Gomer Pyle Axiom of High and Low Expectations).

Interestingly, the interviewee representing the "other" side of the issue, Soo Ji Min, works for the Illinois Caucus of Adolescent Health (ICAH).

Two years ago, ICAH held its (adults-only) annual fundraiser at the Playboy offices. Last year, their (adults-only) fundraiser featured a stripper.

It's the economy values, stupid.

On TV

I just finished doing an interview with a reporter from CLTV for a story about abstinence education.

I'm told it will air on the 5:00pm news tonight. (Apparently the news also replays every half hour before 10:00pm.)

Best. Comment. Ever.

Earlier this week I found this email — with the word "Pills or dinner?" in the subject line — in one of my inboxes:



I then forwarded it on to our good friend Jill Stanek, who, dissected it ably.

The real fun, though, is in the comments, where one John Lewandowski (a blogger at PA Water Cooler) threw in some gems — most notably this one:

BTW, potential solution to the problem:

Birth Control - It's what's for dinner!

A Logical Outcome of a Culture with an Anemic Understanding of What Sex Really Is

Considering that we live in a culture that assumes teaching abstinence is unrealistic, it certainly should come as no surprise when we hear stories like this one, headlined, "Report of student sex halts after-school club".

And let's not kid ourselves: this is hardly an isolated incident.

Now, if it's true that it's unrealistic to expect that kids will abstain — as so-called comprehensive sex education programs contend — that means it's always unrealistic to expect that kids will abstain.

In other words, if one generally assumes kids can't control their sexual desires, why would one assume that they can control them while they're in school?

Kids don't need lessons on how to have "safe sex" "safer sex".

Instead, what they really need is genuine love and affection. It's bleeding obvious that's what they're starving for.

[HT: Mark Shea]

"This Time for Sure!"

If you've ever seen The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, you'll probably recognize the recurring scene in which:

...Bullwinkle would attempt to pull a rabbit out of a top hat (to Rocky's dismissal: "Again?!" or "But that trick never works!", and Bullwinkle's [response], "Nothing up my sleeve...Presto!" or "This time, for sure! Presto!"), only to pull out something unexpected instead (such as a bear), and occasionally even Rocky himself.

It's funny, because it's a cartoon, and nobody ever got hurt due to the fact that Bullwinkle was a slow learner.

What's not at all funny, though, is that for the past several decades, our culture has taken this same Bullwinkle approach ("This time for sure!") to promoting so-called "safe sex" "safer sex".

Condoms, condoms, more condoms, and even more condoms are the answer to preventing STDs, right?

Holy New High School, Batman!

Imagine my pleasant surprise upon learning today via Sean Dailey at Blue Boar that a new high school — Chesterton Academy [!] — is scheduled to open this fall in the Twin Cities, my old stomping grounds, and where my parents and most of extended family and many friends still live.

And, if that wasn't good enough, imagine my even greater surprise upon learning that the headmaster of said school is none other than John DeJak, an old college friend of mine.

Interestingly enough — and I'm not even sure if he knows this — John was the one who first introduced me to Chesterton. Heretics, at his suggestion, was the first book of Chesterton's I read.

I do hope that John — a Cleveland native — realizes that now that he lives in Minnesota, his issue will have to learn how to play
Duck Duck Gray Duck — and not the insufferable apology Duck Duck Goose — which is played everywhere save the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Yes, Virginia, There Is Abstinence Education (And It Works)

Ruben at No Room for Contraception highlights a new study that demonstrates for the 1258392659812567th time that abstinence education really does work.

But don't hold your breath waiting for the MSM to report about it. (I tried; it wasn't a pretty sight.)