Let the Church Bells Chime On

My current parish, Saint Thomas More Church, is scheduled to close if Cardinal Dolan doesn't come to reason.  That is the one I am fighting for.

The Cardinal is working a strategic plan known as "Making All Things New."

The "new" religious structure in my neighborhood is the 96th Street mosque.  The terrorist jihad is not the time to close three Catholic churches within seven blocks of it.  We all need to keep worshiping peacefully.

Saint Thomas More Church rings the noon bell for our entire neighborhood.  The origin of the noon bell is best described in Michael the Archangel Church Pastor Fr. Rutler's current column:

"Following the fall of Constantinople to the Muslims and the desecration of the world’s largest church, Hagia Sophia (“Holy Wisdom”), the Ottoman Turks had worked their way into Europe, hoping to conquer Rome.  Pope Callixtus III saw the Devil’s work here, and summoned the brilliant Franciscan, Saint John of Capistrano, seventy years old, to crusade against the foe. At a meeting in Frankfurt, the friar found the Germans and Austrians too indifferent to take up arms, so he enlisted the Hungarian general, John Hunyadi, and both of them, riding into battle against great odds, lifted the siege of Belgrade and delayed Muslim progress into Europe by about 60 years.

   Hunyadi brandished a sword and Capistrano a more powerful crucifix. These great crusaders died shortly after from contagion. The Pope had ordered church bells to be rung at noon before the start of the conflict. News of victory reached Rome on the Feast of the Transfiguration, so the Holy Father made it a universal feast. Moreover, he ordered that church bells be rung at every noonday. 

   In 1956, Pope Pius XII invoked the “Turkish Bell” as a summons to a crusade of prayer for oppressed Christians in Communist East Europe and China. The terror that stalks our world now, and would seek to block Christ, is diabolic, and can only be attributed by the naïve or cynical to poor social conditions and economic deprivation. Christ knew his enemy when he said, “Get behind me, Satan.” Today there is great need for the bell to ring and move us to prayer and action."

St. Thomas More Church was built in 1870, the year Syracuse University opened "coed from the beginning" in New York and graduate schools began at Yale and Harvard.  The first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta was founded at DePauw University.  First railroad. Canadian independence.  Queen Victoria was on the throne in England.  Ulysses S. Grant was in the White House.  Most importantly, the 15th amendment gave blacks the right to vote.  Three years later, the right to marry.  Any historical associations with the architecture from this period are inspiring as we fight the new slavery of the terrorist jihad.

If Saint Thomas More Church is torn down...

Four-minute slideshow of my iphone pics with captions.  

Youtube link:

http://youtu.be/qL3TZZz49do

When I rolled off the Parish Council in the Spring of 2014, term limited after 6 years, the last thing I expected was to hear it would close.  I certainly didn't think I'd be up until 2am editing a slide show for days to ask Cardinal Dolan not to tear down my parish church.  The Archdiocese of New York is tearing down old churches under a plan called "Making All Things New."  Here's something new -- a slideshow showing how tearing all things down doesn't "make all things new."

Cardinal Dolan, please make something new someplace else.  The high rise built on the former lawn of St. Thomas More Church is such an abomination it inspired the formation of the Carnegie Hill Neighbors and the Carnegie Hill Historic District.  They've been a menace to society ever since, usually much-needed, sometimes politically misused.

The high rise has made Madison Avenue between 89th and 90th Streets the windiest corner in all of New York.  One of the church volunteers was thrown to the ground by the wind.  (in better shape than the rest of us, I might add, swims and runs everyday.)  My baby stroller almost went over one day and I lost my best pair of socks that were rolled up and tucked away.  Ralph Lauren socks went flying into the gutter!  Thankfully my baby didn't end up there.   That street cannot handle another tall building.

Not pictured is Bishop Ahearn, RIP.  I requested photographs from the parents who took them of him and our daughters at his retirement reception.  He was the brightest light that has come to our small parish before retirement.

Under Construction

The Manhattan Journal is under construction.  Thank you for your patience while I move a few older posts to this new blog and get them into chronological order.  Most of all, thank you for reading!

"The Accidental Empress" Book Review

Allison Pataki's "The Accidental Empress" is a true novel weaving history, romance, family, politics, philosophy, music, fashion, style and satire into a work of art and a wonderful reading experience.  The Author snaps the perfect length of time into one book (the sequel would be sad.)  Not that this book is without sorrow:  loss of their firstborn child, loss of wars, land and power.  Yet the erosion of an empire unfolds with charm and humor:

Page 425:  "We are the Habsburgs, after all."  Beust spoke in a quiet, mocking tone, and Sisi recognized how much trouble he would face if this conversation were overheard.  Her as well.

     "We need no one."  Sisi said, her tone full of meaning as she repeated her aunt's motto...

     Beust flicked his cigarette impatiently.  "And, hence, we have no one."

Both "The Accidental Empress" and Allison Pataki's first historical novel, "The Traitors Wife" take place in locations her family is from.  The Traitor is Benedict Arnold, headquartered near the river in the Hudson Valley during the Revolutionary War.  Allison Pataki grew up in Peekskill, New York and took walks in that historic area near her house.  She develops the persona of the greedy wife as the root of corruption in Arnold's attempted turnover of George Washington.  The setting of "The Accidental Empress" is in the seat of the Habsburg court in Vienna, yet Princess Sisi's happiest times are in Hungary, from where Allison Pataki's Father's family emigrated in the mid-1800s.  It must have been fun to follow their ancestral roots from the countryside to the greatest palaces of the former Austria-Hungary, where the Hungarian prime minister and parliament were established under Prince Franz Joseph and Empress Sisi, crowned Queen of Hungary after persuading her husband to keep what was left of the Empire together by allowing them some independent, representational government.  Allison Pataki really captures the crass, horrible nature of the European nobility behind the glamorous trappings.  From an adulterous, sleazy, seductive, power-hungry, mean cast of characters emerges an unexpected love story, from which flows beauty and influence in a rapidly changing period in history.  Prince Franz is conquered first by Sisi, then by every country in his grasp, yet he would have lost far more without her.  They really fell for each other, yet the moral of the story remains about royal-chasing -- Sisi dared for a man intended for someone else, her older sister no less, and ended up freeing her from imperial degeneration.

"The Accidental Empress" would make a great movie to capture the waltzes written for Sisi, her wardrobe, the ostentatious court of Vienna.  Empress Sisi has already inspired current fashion and creativity in videos by Chanel and Carolina Herrera, to which there are links in the Forbes Magazine review http://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelhennessey/2015/02/16/allison-pataki-accidental-empress-new-book-historical-fiction/ Such works are important, because they mold together a cultural understanding that isn't brought to life in an academic history.  Inspired to learn even more about the Habsburgs, I came across this new exhibit in Minneapolis -- http://new.artsmia.org, which I might have missed it if not for the delightful book, "The Accidental Empress" by Allison Pataki.  Buy it on Allison's website http://www.allisonpataki.com/ae/

From Minimum Wage to Wall Street

10/29/13

The story of John Burnett is the American dream.  Born in public housing, son of union labor, he got a job out of high school at Pathmark rounding up shopping carts (a union job).  Pathmark was an Development initiative.  His boss saw him pushing a long string of carts all at once and brought him inside to work as a cashier.  He worked his way up and eventually transferred those skills to large investment houses downtown, like Dean Witter, which became Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch (complete details on his website http://johnburnett2013.com).  He wanted to finish college, so he enrolled in NYU, worked his way through while holding down his job, and completed the MBA program at Cornell's NYC campus.  One employer wrote a letter convincing them to waive the GMAT requirement.  He had 20 interviews at Goldman-Sachs before the financial crisis hit.

John has been beating odds all his life, from his mother's pregnancy -- her doctor told her neither would survive if she gave birth to him.  She lived until the semester before he graduated college.  Extremely articulate, backed by people you'd least expect [whom I won't reveal because I don't want the Democrats to work them over], I recommend some pro-fracking contributors overturn his opponent who is funded "Gasland" money.

Historically, the City Comptroller is the opposite political party of the Mayor.  Voter turnout has been so low in recent elections that if an individual voter takes the time to go to the polls, John Burnett has a chance at winning.  John Burnett is an inspiring leader who deserves to win this election day.

Artfully Briefed

December 21, 2013

Once I start reading about something I'm interested in, my writing seems to be delayed.  A Gallery Talk in the Rembrandt room at the Met by European Paintings Curator Walter Liedtke got me started.

Then homage to The Girl With The Pearl Earring at the Frick.  Yes, she's there into January.

Then Pope came out with his Economic piece, about which the Weekly Standard published a piece on Speedreading the Papal document. 

Speaking of The Weekly Standard, Bill Kristol introduced candidate for NY-21 Elise Stafanik at the home of Juleanna Glover in Washington DC.

Ann Coulter spoke about her new book at the WNRC and sharply divides candidates based on amnesty, which she's against.

More on these and other topics later. 

But first, Rosemary's Letter to Santa, which was interrupted by the rude awakening of Obamacare.  I called my insurance carrier with my change of address and asked if everything was okay, as it appeared to be from the correspondence (though the fine print was the tiniest I've ever seen and I didn't read it thoroughly).  The operator replied, in a nutshell, "Yes, if you do nothing, you'll be rolled into a new plan under our new company, which will cost you 3x as much."  My plan was on autopay, so I might not have noticed for months.

"What's the cheapest plan?" I asked, "Where does the range start, say, for someone with no income?"

The answer is $50 a month more than I was paying.

I went on the website, which isn't secure due a contract awarded to Michelle Obama's Canadian crony. It can't be fixed and they don't want to admit it and invest in the solution.  Because everyone is in the database anyway, based on tax returns as the program has been moved to the IRS, I filled out forms until it froze.  Back to enter more, only to be told they'll mail me something.  The absent parent question:  Do you fear physical or emotional harm if you enter information about this person?  No, I don't fear it, I'm absolutely guaranteed it whether I enter information or not, mostly by court order!

More on the true horror and economic implications of Obamacare when I find out more.  For now, I've removed the word "Daily" from my masthead and am off to a Christmas party and Lessons & Carols.

Seasons Greetings!

Hate is Not a Strategy

Today marks the 70th Anniversary of D-Day, the American troops landing at Normandy, the turning point in the war started by one of the most hate-consumed men in history, Adolf Hitler.  

When my daughter was 15 months old, I took her to Normandy Fourth of July weekend for a family wedding.  Normandy is one of those places where you can tell, as soon as you start driving through the countryside, under the checkers of light that splash over swaths of fields, that something happened there.  Like Gettysburg, you can almost sense the ghosts of the past.  Following Rosemary, as she toddled along Omaha Beach, I was surprised to see that people had built a vacation home right on top of it, not that many years after so many people sacrificed their lives there.  Rosemary touched the sand, made her way through the graveyard.  We listened to inspiring stories of heroes, of gratitude, of victory over the hatred of one man, hatred that spread to his army, hatred that could only be stopped by many armies coming together against him.

In the end, hate didn't win.  It isn't a strategy.  Born of defeat, it will never conquer those who build freedom.

Sometimes I wonder where hate comes from.  RedState posted on Facebook "Uncle Sam is not your baby daddy.  Get a job and get off welfare."  Such hatred for Mothers of babies is not the ticket to victory, prosperity, or national security.  Women who want normal are our constituency, not the enemy.  RedState does not mean the USSR.  We are not the party of deadbeat dads -- that's "BlueState" to throw women and children on the street and the payoff is getting to absorb the prostitutes of the Soviet past.  

Instead of defacing Uncle Sam, try articulating a vision of starting salaries of $250,000 with office hours of 9:30 to 2:30.  Most single Mothers live paycheck-to-paycheck in low-wage jobs.  If they live with their Mother, and Grandmother takes on childcare, they can afford to subsidize employers.  Even successful, married women require full family participation to make it work.

The Uncle Sam poster wasn't designed to create widows and orphans, it was designed to inspire heroes.  Those who answered the call fought to protect women and children, not to ridicule them.  To do so is a disgrace to the memory of those who served.

Today, we are in a different kind of war, a jihad, which comes from a culture where women and Mothers are not treated well, a culture of hate.

Be a hero.  Hire a Mom.  Support a child.  While we may never be chosen for the the kind of heroism the troops at Normandy displayed that day, we can all make courageous choices in our daily lives to create a culture of freedom that honors their memory, one they would be proud of.