Weekly Rants, Raves, and Whatever

*In the true spirit of Christmas, St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke has excommunicated several board members of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, along with a priest who came to the parish to minister to the members. "St Stans" parishioners have been in a dispute with Burke over control of the church's property and financial holdings for some time. The Archdiocese demands that the parish hand over its assets and submit to the Archbishop. The members are fearful that in doing so, they will sign the death warrant for the beloved church they have worked so hard to preserve.
Strangely enough, Burke has ignored the concerns of St Louis-area Catholics regarding the priest sex abuse scandal, and I doubt very much whether he will soon be excommunicating Catholic politicians who are avid supporters of abortion-on-demand. Better to pick on the faithful whose only crime has been saving a beautiful old house of worship from the auction block/wrecking ball.
Memo to Archbishop Burke: What would Jesus do?

*The national press is all in a twitter over reports that the Bush Administration surveilled possible terror suspects without first obtaining warrants in the months immediately following Septemeber 11, 2001. Democrats, like Seanator "Depends" Leahy of Vermont (also home to professional nutter Howard Dean), howl that they are "outraged" by this 'violation' of the Constitution.
Looking at the facts, however, one can draw a different conclusion. Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, including Dem Jay Rockefeller, had been advised of the surveillence, and a judge assigned to the intelligence agencies was also in the loop. The New York Times reporter who wrote the story said he had been asked by officials in the Administration to delay publishing the story to prevent alerting terrorists, but had finally decided he had to come forward. Turns out he has a book being released in the near future and apparently felt profit was more important than national security. These are the same folks who would flay the President unmercifully if another 9/11-type attack (or worse) took place.

*Old Busch Stadium, former home of the St. Louis Cardinals (baseball AND football!), Rams, and soccer Stars, is no more. The last section fell to the wrecking ball in the wee hours of a cold Midwestern morning. Next Spring, the Redbirds will open a brand-new shrine just across the street from the old ballyard. Here's to many more pennants, a World Series or two, or three, or four, and a million memories from across the street. The king is dead...long live the king!!

*The St Louis Blues announced they have a potential buyer--a financial holdings group that has mentioned the possibility of bringing in former Bluenote great Garry Unger as part of the mangement team. Here's hoping the deal gets done and the rebuilding of the franchise begins.

*I'm in a bit of a quandry. I purchased a tree to put up in the house, but don't know if I bought a Christmas Tree or a holiday tree. The guy at the tree lot was too busy trying to stay warm to talk about it, and none of my neighbors has a clue. I guess I'll just put it up, decorate it, and hope for the best. If Santa doesn't come by, I'll just have to pin my hopes on Kwanzaa.