Since I dwell upon the West's depravity on many occasions, it is time for something cheerful! And given the approach of finals, I think everyone could use a flower to decorate their mental lapel. As those on campus have happily observed, the divergent species of bloom-bearing plants have begun to open their flora, one after another, like an orchestra building from a long silence to an exuberant gush of harmony. Among them are the many azalea bushes planted near the sidewalks. Now, I can't be completely cheerful: despite how common they are, I didn't have a clue as to their name until I asked several acquaintances; probably more than half were also in ignorance, and the others were quite unsure of themselves. Sadly, I am far from the only person who grew up in such ignorance of the beauty around him, of the names of commonly seen flowers! We need remedial education on nature! But that is just the hope for this age which grasps the simplest joys only with difficulty.

The Great Ice Storm of 2008 even did in some of the scrubbery, and some of the azalea bushes had to go. As I was walking by three days ago, I noticed a most curious phenomenon: a lone azalea had popped out of the stems of the bush, effectually beginning a copse (another nature term I recently learned; I can't find an image of an azalea copse, so use your imagination). How inspiringly resilient! Hence, I wrote

Copseflower

Springing out of a

Necropolis of bulbous branches, its

Defiant resurrection soothed those wits

That usually were too stern for the

Renewal of a hope upon the earth,

And struck them as a perfect beauty's birth.

Such a thing cheers the pessimism in me. I wish the same for you.

We have just finished our reading of Max Weber's lecture "Science as a Vocation" in my Philosophy and Religion course. Though Weber is less dashing (and much less imaginative) than Friedrich Nietzsche, and less the antagonist of Cartesian science, he is an essential author if one desires to understand the modern tendency to view the world in terms of facts vs. values. Even though he spoke in 1917, Weber's language is very much our own, and I mean, unfortunately, that of conservatives as much as liberals. Although I believe I've successfully avoided this language for the last few years, the mainstream right continues to irritate me by its use of this loaded term. Perhaps the worst example is an upright organization, the Traditional Values Coalition, whose mission is undermined by its very name. I have sometimes gotten mailings from them, but as yet never sent them any money. In class, we got a handout of various quotes on the "values" phenomenon. Should I ever feel fit to send them a small check, maybe I could mail that sheet with the funds so they could understand that

"...with values; it is de rigeur to demand that a 'sense' of values be instilled. It seems to bother few people that the subversive term 'value' was given currency by Nietzsche to devalue our instilled beliefs and our received morality, so that nothing might be good in itself, but only as someone valued it." (E. Brann, Paradoxes of Education in a Republic, pg. 7, emphases added)

and change their name to something better, like "the Traditional Virtue Coalition". Anyone can refute the premise of their organization, in a perfectly reasonable manner, by saying, "But I don't value traditional values." But if traditional virtue was in question? That would at the least require a real argument, and likely lead to the battlefields of Scripture or human nature and excellence, where traditionalists have an edge.

Where was I? Yes, Weber! Professor, explicated the consequences of Weber's beliefs, concluding, "If you believe that anything is both good and true, you disagree with Weber." I immediately thought of beauty and art, and began to stare deeply into the seemingly bland cover of our text, which also features his "Politics as a Vocation," and is hence entitled The Vocation Lectures. I realized that a profound beauty had been below my nose for two weeks, and had gone unrecognized. Instantly I began

"While Looking into The Vocation Lectures"

The sky, from laser printing, leans against
Max Weber, The Vocation Lectures, with
Its bluish dollarthreads, diagonals,
Apparently a marble surface, but
A simple magazine of dots between
The checker white. The brine brown foliage
That forms, with fatty brush strokes, Weber's name
Like puzzle pieces, clean and legal, all-
Agreed like nations' borders, has its place.

By magazine, I refer to a munitions magazine~ imagine ammo belts stacked one on the other, the bullets sunken into the grooves. That's what dot screen printing looks like when one's glasses are on, but we never notice it because the effect is so mundane. The words themselves, bold and unchallengable in total, are humiliated when we examine them up close. Their sides are scrunched, concave or convex, some "strokes" arbitrarily wider or thinner than others, their insides a hollow unprinted white. Almost organic, like our bodies, no longer impeccable, just as vulnerable as we are. An examination of Modernity's disciplined, military face, reveals human flaws in much the same manner, insufficiencies, uncertainties, and false presumptions in what we willed to be a perfect machine.

The Sara Bareilles concert was fantastic. After Matt Kearney warmed the mike up for her with a few songs and a few jokes about "Massachusetts on a Saturday night," she started right up with "Vegas." I tell you, never have I seen a happier woman than Miss Bareilles. "There is a woman who has found her vocation," I thought to myself. Sadly, she had to leave early, and couldn't sign stuff (they were selling presigned posters in the lobby, but I'd wanted her to sign my CD booklet), and while she sang spectacularly well, much better even than in Little Voice, she didn't sing "Love on the Rocks," my favorite song of hers, or "City," right up there; friends who'd spoken to her beforehand say those don't sound as good live, so she avoids them. However, surprise surprise, she tried a new song out on us, and even performed Rihanna's "Umbrella" and a few lines of the Eagles' "Hotel California." Well worth my fifteen bucks, I tell you! Unfortunately, there were, I estimate, barely 200 people in the Plourde center, which was well less than half full. Sara deserved better, folks! But she simply loves to sing, no matter the crowd: her smile was running into her cheekbones! Maybe next year we'll show some respect, though according to the Campus Activities Board, it'll be a battle to justify getting another pop/rock vocalist after the low attendance this year. Doesn't matter: I still say next year we should go Sarah McLachlan!

*************

This sonnet combines all the usual stuff about the excellence of the female subject, plus some of my gleanings from political philosophy. It was quite well received, so let it bring you hope as well. Machiavelli sure won't like

Sonnet CXIV- Christina Presenti

The heavens and the kingdoms, none have seen.
A disenchanted modern man may doubt,
But there is other evidence about-
The living proof is sitting inbetween
Myself and Corrigan. The best of ought,
A simple prudence, now is never far,
And possibilities transform from might to are.
A princely state, within her heart, is wrought.
The doubting may object, we seldom speak,
But that is just the reason for belief.
From week to week there rarely is relief
From voicy gossip, dormant in this meek-
Mouthed woman. No holy sign, nor revelation,
Christina: she is my presentination.

Awful pun to close with, I know. But as soon as I learned of the word presentination when I was reading To the Lighthouse for a class, the whole poem came to me. Indeed, people like her, the silent saints, are here to encourage us, reminding us that goodness is possible even when we are discouraged. Better yet, the word, which I believe is the only good pun for Presenti in the English language, brings to mind the platonic notion of the soul as a city. And verily, it provides occasion to say, on a less abstract level, I'd take the PresentiNation over the ObamaNation any day!

Still, even a PresentiNation probably isn't enough to extricate us from the pickle we're in. Last Sunday, the SGA voted 28-5 to eliminate trays from Taylor Dining Hall, though I offered, if I may say so, a valiant and bombastic opposition (there wouldn't have even been a division if I hadn't insisted our dissent be recorded), though not an unprincipled one. The only senators who joined the opposition were, let it be known: John Guinan, Matt Brennan, Jacqueline Carlson, and Molly Wiley (Miss Presenti is in SGA, but voted for it). Popular opinion, by all indications, seems to be against the change (at least among those who actually eat at Taylor), and the sponsor of the bill, my lovely colleague Leandra D'Eramo, has said she introduced the bill so late on purpose, so that the freshman class next year will have no inkling there were ever trays. I'm sure, too, they also wouldn't notice if the juke box, frozen yogurt machine, flat screen TV, and morning muffins were also absent in the autumn, though these, too are benefits to the diners. Man is the creature who can get used to anything: that doesn't make the change right. But to be fair, this isn't an issue which should be decided by polling, so I steered clear of populism and simply argued trays were a basic service in cafeteria dining. Even McDonald's, which gives you your order in a paper bag, offers trays for convenience- we can only affor to cut them becuase Taylor diners are captive consumers. Further, the expected benefits, saving water and money, aren't proportionate to the loss. True, some kids get too much food and either overeat or toss some of it, but I know many others- including yours truly- who eat a full two plates of food, or finish both their beverages and a frozen yogurt; and many, especially the ladies, like to carry other stuff, such as their ID cards, around on the trays while they're in Taylor. Is this really so illegitimate that we need to be demonized as "lazy" and too worried about "convenience," two words I heard an awful lot yesterday? And, I mean, students often eat their meals right before their first class, or in a one hour break between classes. Every second they spend wasting time to go up and get seconds is one less they could spend talking with friends or (as is my wont) reading the New York Times before my 9:30. And I'm getting awfully sick of the "where there's a whip, there's a way!" philosphy of forcing students to get in shape by making eating as much as they desire harder (or as they did at Northampton High School, removing snacks and sodas). As Mr. Guinan said, this isn't the way to teac moderation. If that's desired, they should read the Nicomachean Ethics!

The only monkey wrench I can think of throwing in to stop this enviro-extremism is if we can find statistics showing going trayless, that fad of fads, really isn't as effective as everyone claims. The administration desires such facts, so if they are discovered to be on our side the best interests of the students still have a chance.


One piece of good news: according to Lea, we now have actually purchased the long-awaited new CDs for Taylor, including the illustrious Justin Timberlake and our recent guest Sara Bareilles. Come fall, you may have to learn how to juggle to enjoy a Coke with your burger and salad, but at least the sweet sounds of "SexyBack" will mask the sound of your dinner clattering to the floor.

Easter 2009 proved excellent in every aspect. While it would've been nice were the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Mary's were less sparsely attended, it was quite beautiful (Father Hamilton is in good health, and we finally had an organist). The next day, my Easter basket was full to the brim and rivalled by no childhood memories. In the Higgins family, everyone, regardless of age, gets an Easter basket: one of our family's better traditions.

I tried, but couldn't think of any remotely Easter-themed poetry, though my days off were not without inspiration. But now that I've returned to Assumption, another special day is fast approaching: the graduation of the Class of 2009. Some of my upper class pals are stoical, others more sentimental. But this one gal, the same lucky woman who received "Sonnet LXVII" way back in December 2007, really tugged at my heart the way she teared up whenever she thought of her upcoming departure. Hence I determined that she needed- a second, somber sonnet. Behold,

Sonnet CXIII- Graduation

Leandra, when I hear you cry and whine,
I tend to think I'm losing only you,
Forgetting that it's only all too true
Another class will scatter, and as mine
Moves up, to occupy the chamber next,
Ignited by a spark, and fired off
I realize now that I, you can't laugh off
Our leaving, though we shouldn't be perplexed
That all these friendships, even ours, are strong.
Without this company your life's amiss,
And for that reason lest we turn to this
I hope we'll look ahead, and before long
Occasions will be happy-hearted, bright
Tomorrows if you don't forget to write.

As planned, my longtime amiga teared up one last time, albeit for joy. And as I say above, I can't ignore the prospect myself: I plan to graduate a year early (got so many extra credits from AP classes and free Dean's List 6th courses). Fortunately, since I felt little melancholy when I left high school, I myself will likely need no consolations in 2010.

*************

I have received some angry criticism for recently listing the British National Party along with good European political parties which have some chance of scoring electoral victories (they passed the 5% threshold for a seat in the London city council, and it looks like they could win a seat in the European Parliament come June). As a Christian, I believe they deserve credit for their strong stand against multiculturalism, and for British Christian culture. Speaking of which, St. George's Day is the 23rd of this month. The West will definitely need his intercession to defeat both the secular materialists and the floodtide of Islam (for all the SPLCers out there looking for incitements to hatred, I don't mean "defeat" in the military sense). Witness the below excerpt from BNP Chairman Nick Griffin's Easter message (boldfacing mine):

The huge sacrifice paid in centuries past by untold hundreds of thousands of Europeans of all nationalities to resist the spread of Islam into Christian Europe has been forgotten or is ignored by modern Western politicians.

Only the Nationalist parties of Europe, such as the British National Party, celebrate the legacy of the Christian heroes such as Richard the Lionheart and Edward I, both English kings who led Crusades.

In modern times, the BNP is leading the fight against the Islamification of our country. No other political party wants to preserve Britain as a Christian state! Across the political divide, all parties bar the BNP are dedicated to transforming us into a “multi-faith” and multicultural society - in other words a nation in which the indigenous British people are in a minority...

We will never allow our children to become a minority in our homeland! We will fight to the bitter end, just like our Crusader ancestors, to preserve our Christian culture and heritage. The spirit of the Medieval Knights lives on in all of us!

Recently, the first Islamic Sharia bank opened in Scotland. When Barack Obama called for Turkey’s 71 million Muslims to be allowed to join the European Union, most of the Europe’s political elites voiced their approval!

Christmas plays all over Britain have been banned by politically correct school authorities. Churches are closing and converting into mosques. Towns and cities all over Britain are being colonised by hordes of Muslim immigrants. Some areas are now “no go” areas for Christians.

Just recently, a south Yorkshire school with a large Muslim student population banned its traditional Easter Bonnet parades! What an outrage! More evidence that we are becoming second-class citizens in our own country.

Yes, this is happening to your country! So enjoy the Easter weekend with your family, but bear in mind the mortal threat to our future posed by the Islamification of our country. Cherish your Christian heritage and make sure to pass it on to your children and grandchildren - and make them aware of the sacrifice of our ancestors who held back the hordes of Moors, Saracens and Ottomans and saved Christian Europe...

Have a happy Easter and God bless.

Nick Griffin

Chairman, BNP

What unabashed national pride! How many political parties are man enough to tout the legacy of the Crusades?! I mean, some Conservatives (/Tories; I prefer their civil war designation Cavaliers) are palatable, but these guys are the real thing. And in some by-elections, they've lately gotten as much as 26%, coming in second in many districts. The BNP's recent boasts on their site that they're quickly becoming a mainstream party ring true. I can only hope sooner rather than later.

[King Richard the Lion-Hearted]

Good Friday, the day without masses. Let us think well on it.

*************

Since my mother has come to share many of my views over the last few years, she's nearly put me to shame. As I study in college, she reads more conservative newsletters and beg letters than I did in my high school prime; her favorite is probably that anti-feminist classic, The Phyllis Schlafly Report. The mail can become a bit cluttersome, but as she's pointed out, without all those Buchananite rightists asking for checks over the years, she would never have known about the North American Union, the Law of the Sea Treaty and everything else the UN is trying to pull, and Ramos and Compeán. Ramos and Compeán...most of the time conservatives simply stave off liberal, globalist plans which will inevitably be tried time and again until they succeed, but that was an outright victory for the patriotic right. José Alonso Compeán and Ignacio Ramos, you may recall, were given 12 and 11 years up the river for shooting a drug smuggler and not filing the paperwork. After two years of conservative agitation- I must have signed at least three of four petitions over time- a sluggish President Bush commuted their sentences on January 19, 2009, the day before he left office. Earlier today, when we were bemoaning President Obama's appointment of enviro-nut scientist John Holdren, I got an idea. Now, I promised myself I wouldn't pin down my loyalties for the 2012 presidential race down quite yet, but at least I've held off doing so for about five months longer than I did four years ago, so I thought- why not a Ramos/Compeán 2012 ticket?

True, we know little about their personal politics, unless what they've said is buried deep in a Republican newsmagazine blog, but otherwise the have everything going for them. Faith is important for them both, and they've got three children each, though I can't find out if they're Catholics or not. Either way, I guess it's more important whether or not they were born in the United States. After deciding which one would head the ticket (Compeán certainly looks Catholic from this picture, so with him we'd definitely get our first real Catholic president, but Ramos did the shooting, and that would come in handy in the campaign. Like Rudy Giuliani's "I was mayor of New York during 9/11!" campaign, he could run an "I shot a drug smuggler!" campaign), they would have many advantages. They are Hispanic, and the symbols of the border security movement. The Republican Party could have its cake and eat it too. Neoconservatives usually say the party should give up her reputedly tough stance against illegal immigration to appeal to Hispanics, the fastest growing part of the electorate, while paleoconservatives point out just how difficult it is for the party of small government and restricting welfare to win the votes of often poor immigrants, and that the G.O.P. usually does best when it appeals to the white majority. But imagine Patrick Buchanan and Linda Chavez each holding an end of a giant "Ramos/Compeán 2012" banner at a rally! Michael Steele take note: after the blundering of the last few years, a "Draft Ramos/Compeán" campaign would really rejuvenate the party.

Strike up the old Te Deum Laudamus in St. Paul's Cathedral! These are merry hours indeed, for I have been re-elected, and the naysayers confounded. Apparently experience, a clear platform, and turning oneself into a celebrity were winners. Many of my (successful) competitors triumphed by way of Facebook campaigns, but as an anti-Facebook gentleman, and wary of innovations, I figured that so long as men must move through physical space, the poster is not
obsolete, a hypothesis which has tonight been vindicated. While I mourn the defeat of my senatorial partner-in-crime, the SGA executive results are reason for more celebration still. Besides solid VPs for Student and Academic Affairs, one Hugo Jury, a loud-yet-methodical opponent of the cameras and scourge of security mavens, won SGA President. As a friend, I am terrifically happy for him. As a politico, this is sweet revenge for the lousy performance of Ron Paul in the Republican primaries (Hugo takes the comparison with the Good Doctor as a high compliment). And though I surely appreciate the commitment of the current execs, the proposition that "Green is good" will perhaps be less axiomatic in the new government, as in the present effort to get rid of trays in Taylor Dining Hall to save water and money or, as I would put it, eliminating a basic service for a far from proportionate reason. When ideology reigns, it's nice to have a president who sees the zeitgeist for what it is. Today SGA, tomorrow the world.

In other Assumption news, watch for an op-ed by me in Le Provocateur tomorrow, in response to a slew of letters to the editor a fortnight ago, themselves part of an extended controversy over homosexuality, diversity, the college, and the Church. Thankfully, the paper is published Wednesdays, after SGA elections are safely over!

*************

I have spoken little about national and international news lately, simply because the inspiration for relevant posts wasn't there. From my morning perusals of the New York Times, it seems violence is up- in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. I had not expected Iraq to get worse again. Pakistan, meanwhile, is being devoured by the Taliban, and most of my Poli Sci professors have predicted it will have an Islamic fundamentalist regime before long. Nothing to say, I can only watch. At home, Vermont has joined our own Commonwealth in recognition of despicable and sinful unions as marriage, and a new "hate crimes" bill has been introduced. We won the California vote: is there no way to keep the human law in line with the natural law?

This is all the fault of liberal democracy. Unlike those convinced that history moves in a deterministic manner, I believe our society's dialectical decay is only happening because we live in a commercial republic of the brand the Founders advocated. As we know from Federalist #10, our safety from the oppression of factions comes from creating such a multiplicity of the little darlins that they must form coalitions to gain power, and won't "oppress" the others lest they too are oppressed when their coalition is out of power. This may create peace and stability, but it leads to unimpedeable decay. Once a faction is legitimized, it can't be oppressed without putting your own safety at risk! Conservatives might temporarily stave them off, but once they win, they win for all time. Hence, practitioners of sodomy are now added to the miserable amalgam of blasphemers, heretics, atheists, and general corrupters of the public whose "rights" must be recognized if one is to avoid hate speech. BUT this would not be happening if (not to enter into detail)

A. This Republic was not commercial. Interests would be fewer and, if the economy and culture were properly formed, the common good would be in their interests (and the politicians would be infinitely less inclined to sell America out to the globalists and free trade fanatics), and
B. This was not a republic, or at least not a republic founded on liberal precepts. Any Christian King (or Caudillo), personal virtues notwithstanding, would never tolerate such corrosive interests in their realm, and such foes of their natural ally, the Church. In the Middle Ages, not only was the Church was an effective mediator between the king and his nobles; its valiant efforts at suppressing heresies were successful, often with the willing assistance of the state. Even in the age of absolutism (largely a consequence of the Reformation and the subordination of the Church, in both Catholic and Protestant countries) most monarchs tended toward the excess rather than the deficiency in their efforts at creating national cohesion (the revocation of the Edict of Nantes).

Alas, we are stuck with a commercial republic. Worse yet, our elections foster a two party system, ensuring that parties which would preserve the particularities of nations (as in, diversity) have no change. My, sometimes I worry that I'll someday
[At least things are happier in Switzerland!]
need to desert this Nation for a place where real, vigorous defenders of Christendom- I'm talking the League of Polist Families, the Movement for France, the Flemish Bloc, the British National Party, and most successfully the Swiss People's Party- have a chance. What do we have here? The Constitution Party? The system is against them, and while their platform is admirable, they adulate the Constitution which, ultimately, is responsible for our moral wilting. We are victims of our past.

Like the Little Tramp in Modern Times, that classic movie I have not seen for far too long, I have found my voice. SGA elections, as every Assumption greyhound knows, are approaching at full tilt. I hate campaigning: but who looks forward to the possibility of losing office? However, it's also great fun: I love making posters and speeches. Unlike the typical head-and-slogan oaktags which fill Hagan Campus Center, my posters are copy paper size, white, and feature a boldfaced bulleted list of my positions and accomplishments over the last year below my noggin. My anti-slogan, coined by Senator Laura Hall- "He's Leslie, he doesn't need a slogan"- runs across the top. Since I posted about seventy-five two days ago, a handful of students I didn't know (and will probably forget given my memory!), and one professor, complemented me for them. Some expressed their concern about the dorm lobby cameras set to be installed gradually, to which I expressed my (and their) philosophic objections at last Sunday's meeting; another said, "I'm voting for you. I really like your posters. Instead of just saying, 'Vote for me,' you tell me something about your beliefs." Just keeping the much-lauded lines of communications open, my gentleman.

Thirteen individuals are running for eight places, so when a campaign idea came to me after Sunday Mass, I resolved upon running with it, however nerve-racking. Back in Northampton, my brother showed me a famous song on You Tube, Chocolate Rain by Tay Zonday. A humerous song, an awful song even I, who hadn't sung in a choir since fifth grade could make a joke off. Last year's speeches included one original rap and a knock off of the theme song from The Fresh Prince. Written the next night, I woke with an acidic feeling in my chest- "Why did I promise myself to do this?" I thought. With almost no practice, I presented the thing to a packed Hagan Hall, with virtually no practice. After my serious speech, I relaxed myself and to much fanfare soberly announced,

"Now that the business is done, I have determined that, this being the MTV age, and on the good examples of last year's speeches, a spoof song would be appropriate. Appropriately, it's titled

SGA Please vote for me I know you want to for
SGA I'm gonna say that stuff all over now
SGA I voted to ban Juicy Campus in
SGA And now the site is gone forever go
[keeping with the original, glance to the side]
SGA I'm glancing so that I'll remember for
SGA Bad knock off of a song on You Tube for
SGA I fought against the lobby cameras in
SGA [wagging finger] So don't blame me if they install them o'
SGA I'm for good dress, respect at meetings of
SGA Wear collared shirts not sweats and hoodies in
SGA I'll represent! Not live by polling in
SGA I'm fully for the Catholic mission in
[Sign of the Cross. That really got them]
SGA I'm always vocal. Ask the speaker of
SGA I need no slogan. So says Laura of
SGA ...SGA!

That shook things up. Drawing, by far, the biggest applause- I had to hush people during the song several times- I won universal congratulations. "If you were running for SGA Prez, I'd vote for you," "Two words for you- Chapel Choir," "That was brilliant... That was amazing, how did you do it?" "I've never laughed so hard in my life". A little bit of cool before the crowd. Hopefully the speech/song/hit single (the event was all recorded by ACTV, and will be replayed many times over the next few days) will allow me to sweep Tuesday's polls and return to SGA one last year. I certainly don't have much campaigning zeal left. An introvert at heart, while my reelection is still undecided, I already feel like President Washington, ever ready to return to his peaceful existence at Mount Vernon.