Wednesday
Popping Metals
If you missed all the excitement yesterday, gold popped through the $1,200 barrier, and silver hit $19. It was a nominal high for gold, and the highest point for silver in eighteen months. Inflation adjusted, these highs aren’t very impressive (after stripping out inflation, current prices are only about half gold’s earlier highs) . . . . but it could mean the metals have plenty of leg left. We’ll see. I wish I had more, but I’m too conservative by nature to put too many eggs in one basket. The handful of coins in my safe deposit box are enough to let me enjoy the ride.
I mentioned that gold was seeping into the MSM. Now I see that the NY Post has written favorably about silver. This is the first time I’ve sighted a MSM article that is favorable toward the poor man’s gold. Long-time readers of this blog won’t find much new insight in the article. I’m merely linking to it because it’s The Post.
BTW: Gold has been moving up for nearly ten years now. The MSM is just now finding the story. And now that is has found it, it has declared gold a “bubble.” What we’re seeing isn’t a bubble. Gold could go down, but this ain’t a bubble. You’re in a bubble when everyone and your cab driver are buying gold and telling you where you can find the best deals. At this point, a very small fraction of Americans own gold. Until that fraction increases a lot, we’re not in a bubble.
(Aside: Another MSM article about gold.)
Ignore the NASCAR/NFL Christmas Tree
Do your get mad at the commercialization of Christmas? Get over it, says Mark Shea. And I must say, I share many of the same sentiments:
The task of keeping both Christ and Mass in Christmas does not belong to American industry, but to the Faithful. One can certainly roll one’s eyes at the naked worship of Mammon. But when you do that (especially if you are a Culture Warrior Conservative), you should take a little responsibility too and chalk stuff like that Gap ad up, not to evil socialist atheists engaging in some nefarious leftist War on Christmas that has nothing to do with “conservative family values” but to good solid godless capitalism that is just trying to figure out how to shake the Money Tree more efficiently in a postmodern and dechristianizing culture.
I couldn’t care less if other people turn Christmas into a greed-fest. What’s that to me? I have enough trouble keeping my own eyes on the path in front of me. I don’t need to watch other people’s feet, too. If they want to be shallow consumerists, that’s their business. Say a prayer for them, then go back to your breviary. And never forget: The goal is love.
N.D.’s Demise
Why has Notre Dame football lacked luster for nearly twenty years now? That’s what my fellow alumni want to know. One commentator thinks it might result from the demise of Catholic parochial schools:
In Notre Dame’s glory days, Catholic secondary schools were prime recruiting centers. Priests and nuns would ask for prayers for “the boys” on Saturdays and would encourage their best athletes to attend Notre Dame. But many forces, including abuse by priests, have damaged American Catholicism and crippled the parochial school system. Nearly 1 in 5 Catholic schools in the U.S. has closed its doors this decade. Combine that with a more secular society, a more competitive college-recruiting environment and Notre Dame’s tough admissions requirements, and it has become more and more difficult for the school to field a team capable of competing for a national championship.
If that doesn’t get the Catholic hierarchy back behind Catholic elementary school education, nothing will.
Something for Advent
From Fernandez’s In Conversation with God’s meditation today:
“In a society dehumanized by frequent attacks on the family, more and more old people and those who are ill are left without consolation and affection. Visiting them in their loneliness is a work of mercy that has never been more necessary. The time spent in keeping them company is rewarded by God in a special way.”
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December 2nd, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Here’s a beer link for yah, Eric.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/beer
December 5th, 2009 at 8:59 am
My apologies to a ND alumnus regarding their football demise, but perhaps the parochial school system and the “Catholic” colleges can return to actually nurturing the Faith while educating young minds. I know that money is the lifeblood of running a business (especially with the demise of teaching orders), and nothing opens the alumni coffers like a few trophies, but perhaps the bishops should take a hard look at such institutions operating within their dioceses and whether or not they should be allowed to continue to operate under the title of ‘Catholic’, athletic glory be damned! To quote His Holiness, Benedict XVI, “Pruned, it shall grow”.