From an interview with Benedict:
Asked by one student how he realized his own priestly vocation, the 78-year-old pontiff said that when he was young in Germany it was more "normal" to accept faith and vocations than it is today.
"There was the Nazi regime," Benedict said. "We were told very loudly that in the new Germany 'there will not be anymore priests, there will be no more consecrated life, we don't need this anymore, find another profession."'
Looking for a "How-To" book on becoming a Manly Man - a review of a few books on the subject in the CSM:
"A Guy's Guide to Being a Man's Man," is as full of practical tips as Mansfield's is devoid of them. He reminds men exactly how to behave with honor, respect, and gentlemanliness. That includes dating ("don't look too eager"), dressing ("no ties with animals, Looney Tune characters, or Spongebob."), dining ("order New York strip steak for three"), and listening to "man's man" music ("Sinatra was the ultimate"). His formula for men in 2006 is to get a manicure (but no pedicure), money clip (no Velcro wallets), and a DVD of "Saving Private Ryan."
Why aid doesn't work in Africa. It's a well-known fact, and even our State Dept gets it. Africa needs investment by bold entrepreneurs from all over the world. Samizdata.
Rick Moran gets on a roll. One quote:
There are even efforts in blue states to stop “trading” with people and companies who live in ordinary America, as if people who live, work, play, go to church on Sunday, take off their hat when the flag goes by, and get choked up when they hear the national anthem live in a different country than the urban sophisticates who dominate the culture and to a large extent, the national conversation. We are told what is proper to believe, what we should watch on television, what cartoons are blasphemous, and which European countries are better than we are. We are instructed in what is “good” and even what is funny and what is not.
And when red state America rebels against this cultural tyranny by voting the way they think rather than the way they are told to, they are belittled as morons, mouth breathers, hicks, hillbillies, and dolts.
And liberals wonder why they can’t win an election for dog catcher in most areas of the country?
In truth, as we head into the silly season in politics, Democrats are going to have to find a way to put a lid on this attitude of loathing toward ordinary voters lest they be discovered for the insufferable elitist louts they truly are.
Thanks for that, Rick, from your loutish hillbilly friends at Maggie's Farm. Whole thing here.
