releasing "Summorum Pontificuм" and a docuмent reminding Catholics that "the Catholic Church is the One True Church".
I believe they quickly tried to back-off from the latter.
A new translation was also given for the Novus Ordo Mass to make its wording more like the Tridentine.
Which a) would not change the bishop's own preferences. In a 'pastoral church', the Pope doesn't really do much, just the 'brother' or 'brah' bishops. And b) because it's all the bishops, none of the Roman Protestants in the pews will see any change, except that perhaps the Kyrie will be sung in Latin at times, when they aren't singing something else at that point.
He is trying to give the SSPX less and less fodder to complain about, so they will give up their fight for Tradition
Because the SSPX confess he really is Pope - just that he, perhaps, is completely out of his mind. The insane line of Popes, I suppose. So it would seem that the target of this replacement for Ecclesia Dei, as SP is described, would be the conservatives and perhaps the SSPX who have tried to have it both ways; the Church is still found in Rome, but the Pope is not really Catholic or doesn't know his own mind. We 'resist you to your face', and so on.
With the letter to the bishops saying nutty things, it's difficult to imagine that many would be lured into this new round of 'indults'. Particularly it's said that the new SP 'indult' will start off with additions of J-Pauline 'Saints' and prefaces from the Pauline service books. And 'more is to come'. The Mass and the new Protestant service are said to be variants of the same rite. In fact, Ratzinger says in the MP that his church now has TWO - rites (I think he calls The Mass, the antique version, but some correct me if I'm wrong). 'High Anglican' and low? Perhaps that's his analogy. It was the suspicion of many that he would try for a 'high Anglican' when his name, surprisingly, came up during the voting for a successor to Wotyla. Furthermore, as mentioned, Ratzinger is saying, straight off, that they have to begin corrupting the new 'indult' Masses from day 1, and just keep at it. Perhaps that is his comforting wink and nod to the bishops - see, this is just what you guys want. And perhaps they imagine a third 'indult', some years down the road, to start yet the same process over again. Who they will lure with that, is difficult to say.
The pope just told the valiant Chinese Catholics to give up the fight after 50 years of persecution and life in the Catacombs. Pope Benedict XVI just told the faithful Catholics to make nice with the Communist-appointed bishops and be one big happy (communist, 1-child) family.
That was indeed his proposed solution to the 'division'. He suggested that the underground Catholics consider sitting in on the Red Army 'patriotic' services.
He might imagine they are just two different variants of the same rite. Never mind that the Red Army 'patriotic church' organization is the obvious authority, not even a Roman Protestant Pope from Rome.
Indeed, the Red Army has demanded that the Roman Protestants break formal ties with Taiwan. I believe that's what they are going to do.
So we have big moves being made in the world of religion.
If you don't mean this tongue and cheek, but seriously, then that would pretty much be the sign. The Church, or rather The Church seized, or an apostate Church, would be the sign. It was always thought to be. But what those of the past thought to be an apostate Church was anything but that when compared to the present moment.
On 7/14/07, Vladimir Putin pulled Russia out of an important European arms control treaty. This cannot be good.
Or even more to the point, he has harassed newspapers that were critical of his regime. He's threatened to nationalize the oil industry. Communists still are the power in what could still be called, the Soviet Union. Western businesses and government have poured free money into Russia, little of which will ever be paid back - but the Communists have never been seen as a 'credit risk', apparently. People still look to the state to solve all their problems. It's looks like yet another rerun of Russia's historic 'openness' game, played even when Lenin was in power. If so, the only question is, when does the crackdown begin?
There is copious evidence that Iran will be attacked soon.
We're at war with Iran, now. So is Iraq. Much of the damage being done IN Iraq is caused by military units or irregulars coming across the border from Iran, working inside of Iraq.
That's why the recent comments from the Iraqi leadership are troubling, if they are accurately reported. It gives the sense of an Iranian dominated Shi'ite government complaining that the Sunnis still have guns. Well, they better have guns, if the government is Iranian backed and Shi'ite. Same for the Kurds (who have their own ambitions, and into Turkey, as well).
But the problem is that Iran has missiles that can take out our Aircraft Carriers and other Naval vessels like so many fish in a barrel.
That would require an aircraft lock. And the US fleets have planes in the air to fight off any hostile approaching aircraft - even in peacetime.
North Korea is claiming that it shut down its nuclear reactor.
They claim lots of things. And their citizens are too frightened, or too deluded, to object.
Turkey is massing a huge number (many tens of thousands) of troops -- including tanks, artillery, aircraft -- on its border with Iraq.
As you say, the Kurds have had irredentist claims on part of southern Turkey. Perhaps the Turks have similar claims on land now deemed to be part of Iraq. Perhaps they believe the US, which is now the principal force in Iraq (in contrast with Afganistan), could not resist a 'blitzkrieg' concentrated force incursion. I don't know. Frankly, I would think the US would find it very easy to halt a couple of tank columns in the open desert.
Much depends upon control of the skies.
The US Air Force is building up its forces in Iraq: "the Air Force has quietly built up its hardware inside Iraq, sharply stepped up bombing and laid a foundation for a sustained air campaign in support of American and Iraqi forces. Squadrons of attack planes have been added to the in-country fleet. The air reconnaissance arm has almost doubled since last year. The powerful B1-B bomber has been recalled to action over Iraq." The main purpose of B1 bombers is to deliver nuclear weapons (for instance, on Iran). They aren't the weapon you'd use against rag-tag Iraqi insurgents with machine guns.
The stealth is also principally designed to be - stealthy; to not show up on radar, or in most any other way even. It would appear in the air to another aircraft as a black shadow in sunlight, much like the SR-71 Blackbird did. At night, it would be difficult to detect. And it could release high-explosives.
Rebels in Mexico just blew up a natural gas pipeline. Will there be more such attacks?
If they can't get to the refineries, as Saddam did in his scorched earth 'defense' - if anyone recalls - then the pipelines feeding these would seem an obvious target, and difficult to defend.
crashing into buildings -- that's Hollywood stuff. That didn't hurt America at all.
9/11. It most certainly did hurt America. Many NYPD officers lost their lives. Over 300 NYFD lost their lives. Around 3000 were killed in the collapse of the towers. New Yorkers are still calling in ill from what they breathed in from the 'sandstorm' of dust that was the result. People in the Pentagon were killed. People on four aircraft were slain, though 40 on one flight, United 93, were inexplicably given time to first understand their plight via airphone, and then formulate a plan of attack, which apparently they almost successfully executed (a $40M memorial park with large concrete works is being planned for the field in PA near Shanksville where it crashed).
Damage ANY PORTION of the miles of exposed, unprotected power lines, gas lines, phone lines, etc. and you've REALLY damaged the country.
That's also true. We all know how long it takes utility crews to repair even minor downed lines - hours and hours. Imagine just a few of these broken by terrorists, or more than a few, in any one local area.
That is why I don't believe terrorists did 9/11. If "terrorists" were clever enough to crash a jetliner into a skyscraper, they can't be so stupid about how to bring down America. The POWERS THAT BE procured 9/11, because it allowed them to consilidate their power, while at the same time keeping "the system" alive which preserves their power. See, it actually makes sense.
What makes sense is what happened. 19 highjackers, mostly Saudi nationals, funded by a strong Al Queda network headed by Osama Binladen, conspired to take flight training and ultimately attack the cockpits of four commercial aircraft headed on long transcontinental routes in order to crash these into what they saw as symbols of American power. They wished to show that 'Allah was great' and that their power, their God, allowed them to attack even the Pentagon, even the very WTC so prominently intruding into the Manhattan skyline. That they imagined that this would constitute a terror attacked, that somehow they would frighten Americans, would only suggest a strange and ignorant view. But strange and ignorant would describe those trained and supported by, Al Queda. Yes, they really are that stupid.
That they were so successful, suggests a complete breakdown of any cockpit security on that day, no ability to defend the cockpit, once breeched, and no means available to indicate to traffic controllers that the cockpit had been overrun and that the aircraft was being hijacked, without question. All four cockpits were seized. Those on United 93 had the advantage that the hijackers delayed so long, for reasons no one knows, that they could hear on airphones of the attack in NYC and reason that they were probably going to be used to attack either the WH or the Capitol in DC. So, I like to think that someone said, at some point, that's not going to happen while I'm here. And while still 15-20 minutes distant from DC, the passengers managed to break down the cockpit door, presumeably. By contrast, the planes used to destroy the WTC, where seized only a few minutes before they were crashed.
supply remains constant and will start actually DECLINING soon.
There is actually plenty of crude oil. But much is now in enemy hands. OPEC has pledged to artificially keep crude at inflated level on the futures market of $60/barrel for the light and sweet crude which I believe principally comes from Saudi. One might imagine that this boast or threat would be accomplished by manipulating the futures market. But it could also be that they would cut back on supply and reduce the amount taken from the ground.
This is not to defend the oil industry. You have an OPEC cartel trying to prevent delivery, basically, of affordable raw material. And you have the refiners and distributors, often the same company, gouging various local areas to the extent they feel it can be done. Oil company profits are extremely high. Their shareholders benefit. The country does not.
The US Dollar is at all-time lows. It is teetering on the edge of the cliff -- a sneeze could start a huge, bloody sell-off.
That's true. But where would all that foreign money go? 'Euros'? Australia? Japan?
America remains the world's market. Most of what Red China produces (using what had previously been US jobs), is meant to be sold in the US. While some criticize America, those in business constantly praise America. Thank God, whatever they mean by that, for America!
The housing and consumer situation in the USA continues to deteriorate. Foreclosures are skyrocketing, house prices are starting to decline, houses are getting stuck on the market without a buyer, and to make matters worse, house builders are spending their last penny building MORE houses on the undeveloped land they own! Supposedly it's better for THEM to plop down a cheap house than it is to sell off the naked land.
Makes sense. There's also another way to look at it. Predatory lending is taking out those who cannot at this time really afford a home, at least on those terms. But the houses are not burned down. A cottage industry rises in the purchase of used/foreclosed property - an opportunity, a party and exciting time for those with the cash to bid on such properties. It's the same for those purchasing undeveloped land. For them, they see it as an opportunity, and a fulfillment of that part of the American dream.
But it's going to make the glut of houses even more severe, which is going to ANNIHILATE house values across the USA.
As perhaps it should. Real estate tends to be about - location, location, location. It's pretty much a rule. Another tends to be access. If there is no more land, then houses change hands, or the property does and the house is rebuilt. But no new homes are built. No new parcels are assigned. In those areas, home prices will continue to rise, even if they plummet everywhere else. And those kind of places tend to be urban, residential in certain big American cities. People can name these sorts of neighborhoods. The exception might be the vanity retreats, such as Hearst once had. Celebrities like their big spreads in Colorado or Florida, or the hillsides of CA, let's say. And these multi-million dollar properties likely won't lose much value, either, unless the wealthy become frightened about 'the system' itself.
Iraq has become a quagmire; the body bags are piling up, and most Americans are now against the war.
Because they've been told that Iraq is quagmire - don't ask me, I don't give a . . . sing it now! The old hippies are enjoying their time again in the sun. But it's based on lies. The truth is found in the testimonies of those actually there, building roads, infrastructure, generating plants, and much else, who can account for drastic reductions in Al Queda, with whom we're actually at war, and even the cooperation of the Sunnis themselves, under the command of various warlords, assaulting and driving out Al Queda, weakened as it now is. And so on. None of the reports of the actual situation, however, are reported by the leftist establishment, worldwide. And while the military, itself, is not always to be believed, or sometimes is seen as being too myopic or reductionist to see the 'big picture', it makes no particular effort to end-run the leftist establishment and get out world, itself.
Something's gotta give, and soon.
Sure, success on the ground. Harry Reid and the Dem have been compared to a man screaming - bring our troops home! - just as they are crossing the Remagen Bridge into Germany. Save our troops! The enemy is as strong as ever! As they pour across the bridge only hours from Berlin. I think the situation is somewhat similar, here.
Right now there are 3 Aircraft Carriers in the Persian Gulf area. That might change in the near future, but right now we have 3 massive groups in position. Please note that it's only the ARMY that has been decimated by the Iraq War.
Many of these accidents that send men to the VA hospitals, and many deaths, are not only unavoidable, but would be no different in peacetime. These really ought to be separated, since the casuality figures are so politicized, from those killed in action. Troops back from Iraq speak about their mission as being - trying to avoid improvised explosives on the road. But the numbers don't speak of 'decimation', which I think was a term first repeatedly used by Wolf Blitzer of CNN in another context.
Israel reports that it has the "tacit blessing" of Europe and America to drop nuclear bombs on Iran. That alone is scary.
They don't require such a 'blessing'. Their concern is whether this Israeli air force is still the equivalent of what it used to be. And secondly, they wonder how widespread, and how deep underground, might their targets be. Could such a raid really successfully derail Iran's nuclear weapons program? That would be the question.
All the evidence suggests that Israel will "start it", and the US/Europe has agreed to "finish" whatever needs finishing, once Pandora's Box is opened.
The box was opened by the Soviets, long ago, who are supplying Iran with the fuel for the reactor.
Right now we're experiencing an insane run-up in the DOW, with no coherent explanation.
The DOW goes up because they constantly change the companies making up the Industrial Index. I wonder how many of those firms even qualify as industrial firms, at this point? In addition, there is a fudge-factor or divisor which they constantly change.
The run-up really happened under Clinton, at least in this index. It hovered around 3000, and then shot up to 10,000. That more a manipulation, really, of how the index is calculated. Look at other indices, or your particular stocks, instead.
I won't deny that there's a general run-up in investment in equities. But if the foreign money is pulled, as you fear, many stock will lose, but not significantly. The index most likely would tumble. But they're setting themselves up for that.
The earth itself seems to be in upheaval, possibly due to events on the Sun.
Credit to you for not being a warmist. You and I can agree, Al Gore is no sort of god.
"Infinite growth isn't possible in a finite world." Do you disagree with that?
That's another matter. You're referring to the NWO, and the continuation of Revolution. How do the 'powers' and 'movers' and 'hip-shakers' or whatever continue to produce a gilded cage - or the illusion of same (if it's all relative) - so that a voting republic can replace any notion of a command state? In a command state, the tyranny cannot be hidden by prosperity, or at least something approaching it. And free republican government cannot support entire sub-populations with subsidies to the extent that they would confuse that with prosperity. So what to do?
Worse, if crime and thievery are transformed into warlordism, such that neighborhoods, or even certain regions, must answer not to the central police authority but to the warlord and gang(s), then the central government seems by its failure to become more and more irrelevant to those still under its nominal control. Etc. And other warlords can arise coming from more 'noble' foundation to put down the gangs. At that point, the central authority remains, but it becomes not a situation like feudal Europe, but rather feudal Japan.
I don't see it going that way, however. If anything, the command state tyranny you fear if probably the more realistic possibility, not Tokagawa, but 1984. But I don't see the likelihood, see below.
* Learn some Catholic hymns/chant/prayers by heart -- they can't confiscate your brain, but they can confiscate your Liber or Hymnal.
* Pay off your debts; Downsize your expenses as much as possible.
Umm . . if 'they' have locked you up in a prison camp, I don't think worrying about paying the mortgage is going to be among your major concerns.
Keep some cash on hand -- in a financial emergency, savings accounts might be frozen (or near-frozen)
Just for some, or everyone. If everyone - that's open revolt. It can't be for everyone.
In fact, something even close would trigger a military takeover, where such would not be allowed. If some in the military insist upon 1984, then open warfare would result between various generals and various units. I'd side with the side of freedom.
* Acquire medical supplies
* Acquire practical supplies and tools (there are many good lists of survival items online -- I can send you one if you want)
The 'survivalist' stuff is fine. But that's for natural disaster - or even rioting. Arm yourself, too. We've seen rioting in LA reach as far as Beverly Hills.
But a complete collapse? A lot would have to fail to reach that point.
Most people around us, even if biologically smart, are very foolish because of their upbringing and the fact that they lack possession of the Truth (especially the True Religion).
They are prisoners of the Revolution. You can say that for Ratzinger. You can say that for Tony Blair. You can say that for the editors of the NY Times. You can say that for much of the staff of the WSJ. You can say that for the latest heavy metal band hoping that the music business isn't yet completely dead and able to pay them, something. Etc.
The gilding on the cage, which is really starting to flake, cannot however be confused with aspirations for freedom, for charity, however merely natural they may be. The people in 'fly-over' country are not all charitable, and not all free from Revolutionary fervor. But a sufficient number are, and are loathsome to the leftist establishment as a result. I like to imagine I am part of that number, who is loathed, but who takes citizenship seriously, who understands morality, and knows that perfection is impossible and that we thrive by God's grace, from His true and faithful Church, whether manifested by riches, or health, or other worldly benefits - or not.
Topic: It's the End of the World! (Read 574 times)