Attention:  Anyone Who Sends Us Attached Pictures (or PDF files), Please Read

We appreciate you sharing your pictures with us and we love to see them.  In some cases, however, this has caused some problems.  We connect to the internet using a dial-up account and a 56k telephone modem.  Where we used to live we had a pretty good connection and even with large pictures it didn't take too very long to download the occasional photo (the 5 Megabyte attachments still got canned before we downloaded them).

Now, we live way out in the sticks.  Because of the switching equipment the telephone company uses out here, our dial-up connection speed is limited to 26.4 kbps.  That's the maximum.

This is slow.  So, to keep from tying our computer up for extended amounts of time while attempting to download these extremely large pictures... you know, the ones where only a little piece of the picture shows up on the screen and you have to scroll around just to see each eye of whoever the picture is of... we have to limit the size of our incoming emails.

Please, please, PLEASE RESIZE those jpegs before sending them to us.  If the picture is more than 640 x 480 pixels, it's too big.  If the individual picture is more than 100 kilobytes in size, the resolution is either set too high (more than 72 dots per inch) or the compression is too low.

I have a filter in place to delete from the server any email with an attachment larger than 200 kilobytes.  Our computer won't download it and we will never know it was sent.

Posted 12/27/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

Christmas on the Homestead

Dragging our tree out of the woods

Posted 12/26/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

Around the Blogs

Nothing from around here worth mentioning.  Other fine writing out there, though.  It just cost me eight bucks to visit the Lair of the Catholic Caveman.  After reading the excerpts he posted from an Alice Thomas Ellis book, God Has Not Changed, I had to have it.  The best one (her view of the Church after Vatican II):

"It is as though one's revered, dignified and darling old mother had slapped on a mini-skirt and fishnet tights and started ogling strangers. A kind of menopausal madness, a sudden yearning to be attractive to all. It is tragic and hilarious and awfully embarrassing. And of course, those who knew her before feel a great sense of betrayal and can't bring themselves to go and see her any more."

Some other posts that oughta get your blood pressure up:

From Off the Record, Diogenes writes about the advertisement in America magazine for a statue of the Virgin Mary wrapped in a condom.  Some excerpts:

If Ignatius Loyola still governed the Jesuits, roughly 20 minutes after the advertisement (above) for the condom-covered Madonna had appeared in America Magazine, abject and unequivocal apologies would have been expressed to the faithful, to the Holy See, and to the Virgin herself, and in the place of America's editorial offices there'd be a large smoking crater on 56th Street.

Does your pastor put America in the literature rack at the back of the church? If so, ask him whether he is comfortable acting as a conduit for Rosenthal's work. He might want to reconsider his bulk subcription to the magazine-- just as (should he ignore you) you might want to reconsider the size of your weekly contribution.

In the autobiography of Ignatius Loyola, the story is told of the saint's falling into conversation with a Muslim one day in 1522, while journeying to Montserrat in Spain. Both men were riding mules, and they fell to talking about the virginity of Mary, which the moor believed was intact until the birth of Jesus, but not afterwards. Ignatius took this comparatively mild impiety as an insult to the Blessed Mother, and decided to kill the moor. The murder was averted when the road forked and the mules took different paths, which Ignatius accepted as an omen.

Ironically, had Ignatius Loyola held the same regard for the Virgin Mary as that displayed by his successors at America, it's the moor whose Marian piety would have been outraged by the "delicate veil of latex," and who would have slain Ignatius on the spot. And your Uncle Di, much as he deplores violence, would have bought that moor a beer.

Had enough?

While the actions taken by Ennis and Jack cannot be endorsed, the universal themes of love and loss ring true.

Here's a question. Which bishops saw two men engaging in homosexual behavior and concluded that its universal themes of love ring true, while the behavior was, if you insist, morally offensive?

Just curious.

People much smarter, much better read, and of much better grounded faith than me have commented on Vatican II in great detail, so there's little I can say that won't make myself look ignorant and foolish by comparison. But having listened to and read so much about V-II in the last week (with the 40th anniversary of the closing of the Council on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception Thursday), I just have to say something, not just to the National Catholic Distorter crowd, but also to the folks at EWTN, Catholic Answers, and other non-dissenting organs:

stop, STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP!

Stop telling me what a great gift the Council was to the church! Stop telling me how enriched we've all been by the Council! Stop telling me how uplifting the aggiornamento has been! Stop telling me how we've come to an "adult faith"!

Posted 12/19/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

I Have A Confession To Make

I took my daughter to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last month.

We also own the first three HP movies on DVD.

I've enjoyed them all.  And, you know what?  I don't have a problem with that.

I've read all the criticisms; how Rome's exorcist says they're from the devil, how the SSPX disapproves (big surprise there), how the pope doesn't like it... or maybe he does, Michael O'Brien, etc., etc., etc.  A traditionalist homeschool discussion group my wife subscribes to also thinks it's eeevil (along with chemtrails, freemasons hiding behind every tree, and other Art Bell obsessions).

Janet doesn't like them but she tolerates us watching them.

Oh, and the local homeschoolers.  If I started sacrificing goats to Baal in my yard in front of their children it would have about the same effect as mentioning that we've seen (or Heaven forbid... own) any of the Harry Potter movies.

One phrase that'll guarantee a shudder and a shun from most of our local homeschoolers:  Y'all going Trick-or-Treating?  Sheesh.  But, before I digress...

Although I can't tell which sides he falls on, Der Tommissar of The Donegal Express has a hilarious post about it which is the best one I've read so far.  An excerpt:

Conservatives say Harry Potter is good literature, even if some impressive Church figures seem to speak against it. Traditionalists say it’s the Mary-Jane of the occult. Only I know the truth to the books, and it is a truth so special, it will unite these previously bitter enemies forever. The one idea Rowling is trying to advance in her books is this:

Attending an SSPX Chapel is OK.

For those who don’t know, Albus Dumbledore is a clever disguise for Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. Like Dumbledore, he too ran a school. Let’s follow the plot of the books thus far, to highlight the themes contained. Please note: the book is not an allegory. As such, there will be lacking direct correspondences for every minor detail. That’s not how JK likes to get down.

There is a world within our “regular world”. It is a world barely recognizable by those who live outside it, who only rarely catch a glimpse of that happenings that occur within it. These occurences are strange and fantastic and affect the outside world in ways outsiders cannot readily comprehend. This is the world of wizards and witches in Harry Potter’s universe. More accurately, it could be called the Catholic Church.

In this world, a great evil stalked the wizarding community. If we assume a current chronology, this evil built itself up in the ’60s and ’70s , bringing destruction and confusion to the entire community.

In the books, he’s called Lord Voldemort. In the real world, we call this "The Spirit of Vatican II". [More]

Sure, in the HP stories there is witchcraft galore.  There are evil characters.  There are good characters.  They pretty much all use magic.  Folks.  It's make-believe.  My daughter hasn't started searching eBay for cauldrons, wands, or eyes of newt since watching the movies any more than I started roaming the sewers with a long sword (a +5 Holy Avenger, no less) after playing Dungeons and Dragons as a teenager (and I was a serious D&D player).

Sure the practice of "magic" and witchcraft in real life is pagan and, regardless of the intent of the practitioner, is surely Satanic in origin.  The HP movies are stories, though.  Nothing more.  They're not "training manuals", indoctrination tools, or whatever.  As quality stories go, they're not even in the same league with Tolkien, but they are pretty good movies.

Posted 12/6/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre

Tradition in Radice has a nice tribute to the late Archbishop Lefebvre, whose birthday was yesterday.

Posted 11/30/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

More House Progress

Part seven of the house chronicles is up here.

Started a few blog entries over the last several weeks but they never made it to pixels.  They were mostly rants about current Catholic events and the sorry state of said Church... what's the point.  I got better things to do.  Such as...

There is so much to do around here.  We're making progress but it's like the minute hand of a clock.  You don't really notice movement until you look away for a while.  Outside, we've trimmed several large trees near the house that were in serious need.  We also cleared an enormous amount of brush, cut up several fallen trees and hauled them out of the woods, had some sweet bonfires.  I dismantled one very cheesy shanty looking henhouse that was built by the former occupants.  Oh, and we dodged thirteen tornadoes.  Inside, two rooms are electrically completed.  Every room has to be slightly rewired (see pic page).  Focusing on the living room, we did some wall and ceiling patching and painted.  Still have to put the base molding on.

Posted 11/29/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

Attention Catholic Bloggers With Links Pages

Remember Emily Stimpson's old blog called "Fool's Folly"?  If you still have a link to it, you might want to remove it.  It's... ummm... changed a little.

Update:  It should be obvious to anyone who remembers Emily's writing that she is certainly no longer in control of that site.  Back in the day, hers was probably the first Catholic blog I ran across and no doubt she was at least part of the inspiration for many others to start this affliction called blogging.  She closed down the blog several years ago and it appears to have been hijacked.  Auntie Em wants to make it clear that it ain't her.

Posted 11/9/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

Arflack Pleads Guilty, Gets Five

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

BAMBERG, Germany -- A U.S. Army chaplain was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison after pleading guilty at his court-martial to three counts of forcible sodomy against enlisted men.  [More]

Posted 11/02/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

More Pictures

Threw a little fall party for Alison and her friends.  Also took a walk down to the water.

Someone wrote to me about the wasps.  An excerpt:

If wasps bother you that much and the house has an attic, I would suggest you just put the attic out of your mind and pretend it doesn't exist from this moment forward.

Posted 10/24/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

Never a Dull Moment

Our new house only has the central heating and air on the first floor.  Upstairs there are window AC units.  Four of them.  Badly installed.  Gaps between the window sashes that a bird could probably squeeze through.  I had been meaning to remove them and clean up the sills but until last night had only gotten around to one of them.  Three remained; one in our bedroom, one in Alison's bedroom, and one in our homeschool room.

It had been pretty cool (lows forties, highs sixties) outside up until a few days ago where highs climbed back up into the eighties.  Yesterday morning right after I got to work Janet called and said there were about ten wasps huddled together on the wall in the school room near the window with the AC.  Fortunately nothing was unpacked yet in that room so she slid the boxes of books out, grabbed a fogger, set it off in the room, and closed the door.

When I got home I went up and gathered up the dead wasps and started airing out the room.  I knew they had come in where the AC was so I checked Alison's room.  Clean.  The door to our bedroom was closed (nobody else was home at the time) so I cracked it and looked in.

It was like something out of a horror movie.  I hate wasps.

There were probably forty or fifty of them all crawling around on the inside of the window and the nearby walls.  About that time Janet and Alison got home.  We eased in and dragged the comforter off the bed into the hallway along with a few other small things.  Armed with a small stool, a towel, and another fogger I went in to do battle.  Thank God for pesticides.  Fortunately there were none in Alison's room.

They were swarming around outside though around all the AC units and some were going in and out of the one in her window so we unscrewed it from the sash, threw open the windows and tossed the AC unit out the second floor window.  The AC unit in the school room was clean so we salvaged it along with the one from our bedroom.

So, the rest of the evening was spent airing out the master bedroom (the whole house attic fan came in handy that time), picking up wasp bodies (finishing off the ones still moving), and washing everything that was laying around in the bedroom during our chemical assault.  All the AC units are out, the windows are sealed, and hopefully we won't have another bunch of uninvited guests today.  I don't know what the previous occupants did (probably nothing) but I think the wasps are gonna discover that this house has become a dangerous place for them to hang out.

Posted 10/20/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

Idiot Dog Owners... Rednecks... Clueless Judges

What follows is REASON NUMBER ONE why I am so thankful that I no longer live in one of those quaint little social melting pots known as a NEIGHBORHOOD.  So, maybe I'm a cantankerous old antisocial curmudgeon... maybe I'm not.  The best part is... I don't care one whit.

Quick history:  We just moved out of the neighborhood where we had lived for thirteen years.  The reason we moved was to be closer to where I worked.  The timing of the move to the story below was purely coincidental.  Providential... but coincidental nonetheless.

For years before we even moved in that neighborhood, the people living there had been subjected to one particular resident; a sociopathic, dimwitted (like a fox), schizophrenic dog owner who let his big dogs run loose throughout the neighborhood terrorizing people.  They had even tried in the past to take legal action against the man but it never got anywhere.  We had our share of run-ins with him and his psychopathic adult son concerning things like his dogs, running four-wheelers up and down the street, and almost running over us backing out of his driveway while we were walking with Alison (who was a newborn at the time) in a stroller.  He's crazy, completely unreasonable, belligerent, foul-mouthed, and it apparently runs in his family.

They never said anything to or bothered me.  I guess they preferred harassing women.

We rounded up the neighborhood, got together a small army of witnesses, all with their own horror stories about this guy, started filing police reports every time the nutcase opened his mouth, videotaped the dogs running around and leaving piles of poop in peoples' yards, and went to see the County Attorney.  The verbal harassment and intimidation aside, McCracken County has pretty clear laws concerning nuisance animals.

Eventually the subpoenas went out and we all got our day in court.

Yesterday.

It was a circus.  I'm not even going to go into details but the judge was obviously on the side of the lunatic (who seems to get strangely normal in the presence of law enforcement officials).  He showed up without a lawyer, explaining how his "friend" the County Attorney had informed him he wouldn't need one, talking about how nervous he was and didn't know what all this fuss was about.  Such an innocent victim, he is.  All the while the "amen corner" of his relatives and a few fellow nuisance dog owners sat nodding their heads and murmuring in agreement.  So, basically, Mr. Defendant gets coached and advised by the judge himself who was most accomodating to this poor, nervous, can't-figure-out-what-the-fuss-is-about model citizen.

We knew it was all going to be a big joke before it even happened and, since we had moved, didn't really care anymore how it turned out.  We just wanted to get it over with... it was just a bad reminder of why we were so happy to be leaving that neighborhood in the first place.

One after another person got up and told what a nuisance this man's dogs were.  After all the testimonies, the judge simply told him to "reign in his dogs", fined him twenty-five whole dollars, and lectured the rest of us on "getting along".

You want to lecture someone, judge?  How about telling this asshole dog owner that when someone asks him to call his dogs out of the street because they're scaring the hell out of someone, that he just be a gentleman and do it instead of laughing and acting like it's a big joke, then verbally abusing someone who takes issue with him over it?  I guess that's too much to ask.  I never personally experienced the good-old-boy Kentucky court system until yesterday.  What an eye-opener.

That, folks, is why I will never again (God willing) live in another neighborhood.  Where we live now there are no neighbors in sight and the next time we have trouble with someone's dog... well, I'll take care of it myself.

"Sorry, man.  I haven't seen your dog but if I do I'll let you know."

Posted 10/19/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

"Janet, Have You Seen My Hammer?"

Not a whole lot of new pictures to show but work on the house is progressing.  All the windows are now clean.  All the first floor storm windows have been repaired (replaced broken track guides and missing sill extenders).  We cut some huge lower limbs off a giant oak tree that sits in front of the house and started a nice firewood stack between a couple of pine trees.  That'll be ready next year.  There is enough hardwood deadfall around in the woods to keep us in firewood for years.

Replaced some lighting fixtures both inside and out.  Dimmers here and there.  Still a whole lot of electrical work to do.  There are fifty-one 120V duplex receptacles that need replacing and almost as many switches of various design along with covers.  All the existing receptacles and switches look like they started out black and were later painted over.  Some of the receptacles won't grip a plug enough to hold it in place.  Some are so covered in paint you can barely get a plug in.  Others are so gnarled up you can put a polarized plug in either way.

Check this out.  In every bedroom and the living room, instead of ceiling lights (there are none in those rooms) the top half of every receptacle in the room is tied to the "light switch".  The jumpers on the receptacles have been removed so a separate circuit could be run to each outlet.  The bottom outlets are unswitched and the top ones are all tied to a switch at the entrance to each room.  It'll be easy enough to change but I'd like to smack whoever did that.

Outside, I have some wood to replace.  A few soft windowsills need to come off.  That's one thing I've never done so my sawzall and I will be figuring out how to do it as we go.  Some rotted siding and wood trim needs to be replaced before painting... the blue has to go.

Inside, we had removed all the first floor base molding before replacing the flooring.  I started out numbering the pieces and was going to save them but the old molding stank like animal urine so it all went to the burn pile.  So, after we repair the messed up drywall and paint, I have to put in about a half-mile of new base molding, along with oak shoe molding I plan on finishing to match the floor.  Eventually some crown molding will go up throughout the house (there is none presently).

It's enough to discourage a lesser man.

Posted 10/18/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

McRaith makes Catholic World News

What does a bishop do when approached by a non-Catholic wishing to receive Communion at a Catholic Mass?

If he's Bishop McRaith of Owensboro, he discusses the issue with his "presbyteral council", which I'm sure in this diocese consists of some real pillars of Catholic theological thought, several of whom are probably wearing polyester pantsuits and lapel pins at this very moment.  Of course, if he really wasn't sure what to say, all he had to do was consult the back page of one of the missalettes.

The best part of the story is that the presbyteral council "could not reach a consensus".

They couldn't decide.

So, what's a bishop to do?

Following the Council meeting, Bishop McRaith met with the mother and child. At each Catholic school Mass, the child brings a blessed host from his Episcopalian service, which he presents for the Eucharistic minister to administer back to him. The bishop granted permission for the child to continue this practice.

Nice going, Bishop McRaith.  You're the reason we drove to St. Louis this last weekend so our daughter could be confirmed by a real bishop.

Update:  Domenico Bettinelli has some relevant comments, plus a longer excerpt from the minutes of the diocesan priests' council meeting.  How come nobody sent me that?

Posted 10/17/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

Letter From a St. Francis de Sales Parishioner

Got this in the mail.  Reprinted here with his permission.  Some parts I've edited.  I substituted "Cruella and Walter" for actual names (the same "Cruella" and "Walter" mentioned here).  The relevant text of the letter is below:

I am doing as well as could be expected for a guy that is facing a judge in the morning.  I wrote a letter to Cruella and Walter expressing my feelings about their efforts along with a few others to get rid of Father Cash.  I told them that they needed to repent for going against God's anointed priest and compared this situation to the Bible story about King Saul and David.
...
They got mad and went down to the courthouse and both of them swore out a warrant for my arrest.  I was arrested September 28th as I prepared to go to my (cousin's) funeral... I was placed in the deputy's car and taken downtown like a criminal.  I had to post bond to be able to go to the funeral.

Since then, I have found out that they filed a police report about the vandalism of their tombstone and listed me as the suspect.  I was appalled to learn that.  I told the assistant county attorney that any one that knew me very well at all, knew that I would never do such a horrible thing.  I told him that I would be glad to take a lie detector test to prove it if they wished...

Dear "Cruella and Walter",

I am writing this letter to convey to you my deep displeasure regarding your efforts to undermine Fr. Cash and along with a few others, seeking his removal as Pastor.  I would have never imagined that you would have so much pride and arrogance to do something like this.  Fr. Cash is a good maln and a holy priest.  He has a heart-felt desire to help everyone draw closer to God.  He tries to take an interest in everyone he meets.  That is to be highly commended in my book.  Why have you allowed Satan to fill your hearts to work so hard to undermine all the good he is trying to do in our parish?  Don't you know that the Sacred Scriptures teach us not to harm no go against God's Anointed?  King Saul was a wicked man who tried to kill David although David had done nothing wrong.  Saul knew that he would lose his kingdom to David and he resented him who God used on numerous occasions to bless all God's people and even Saul himself.  Those circumstances then and this particular situation have a lot of similarities.  I am hoping you and the others will repent and make amends so you will be spared final damnation.  Please don't harden your hearts to the Spirit of God as He tries to lead you to a place of repentance and to make amends for all the evil you have done.  I am also writing Bishop McRaith enclosing a copy of this letter and urging him to ex-communicate you if you persist in your wicked ways.  I pray God it doesn't come to that.  As good as God has been to you with sparing your lives in recent years and granting you improved health, I can't believe you would risk going against His will and His anointed priest.  Please repent before its too late!  God's Love and Mine, Name Withheld

Previous related entries:
• The Chapel Doors (July 25)
• Paducah Parish Runs Off Faithful Priest (September 14)
• Janet Writes on the St. Francis de Sales Debacle (September 20)
• Here's a Dryer... Now Talk (September 29)

Posted 10/12/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

"A Disaster On Every Level"

Robert Bork on the Miers nomination.

I haven't blogged on this, mainly because I would have very little to contribute beyond what's already been written.  More from Ann, Patrick, Peggy, and bloggers Professor Bainbridge, Michelle Malkin, Right Wing News, Fraters Libertas, and Southern Appeal.

It seems like Bush has been disappointing the conservatives who put him in office, repeatedly backing liberals over conservatives in various elections (details here) ever since he was elected.

Like Shea says, maybe it's time to "sting the big stupid horse when it's going the wrong way".

Take note Whitfield, Bunning, and McConnell.  Even local Repubs like Rudy.  Oh wait.  I forgot I moved.  Make that Henley and Winters.  If you do not hold Bush accountable to the people who elected him and remember his promise to give us another justice like Scalia or Thomas, you can count on this conservative (and many others) voting third party (or not at all) the next time your election comes around.

This morning on the radio I heard a news story quoting Senator Mitch McConnell saying he expected 100% support for Miers from the Senate.  The Washington Times seems to disagree.  Don't bullshit us, Senator.  It's not hard at all to see what drove Leeper to go independent.

Posted 10/10/2005 by Michael Inman | Link |

"Hey, Where'd That Page Go"

I had to give the Inman Family Pages a little makeover.  If you're visiting this site and you only see the weblog here, then you may not notice much of a difference.  The biggest changes were made in other sections.  My internet provider gives it's subscribers 10 megabytes for personal webpage use.  A few weeks ago I checked and this site was at 10.4.  So, it was time for a diet:

• Several photo collections were removed from the Mugshots section.  That's the bulkiest part of the site.  As new collections go up, some of the older ones may get removed.
• The Catholic section was removed completely since it was never updated.  Most of the articles from the Sensum have been relocated to Open Mic.
• The online booklet "What Think You of Christ" has been removed although the related article remains.
• In Black and White has been removed.  Those were articles written by Janet.  Some of them may end up in Open Mic.
• That's Us was removed.  Wasted space.
• The remnants of an old online library section were removed.  There were a few documents that I kept in that directory mainly because I had linked to them from other sections of the site.

The Home page has been streamlined.  I added a cool header graphic.  It's part of a picture of my Grandad's gas station in Hardin, KY.  He's the one on the left.  Judging by the looks of the cars, it was probably taken in the forties or fifties... maybe?