A Homily by Father Franklyn M. McAfee - "The Beauty of Religious Life"

Homily of Reverend Franklyn M. McAfee, D.D.

Pastor Emeritus

St. John the Beloved Catholic Church

McLean, Virginia

September 21, 2008

The Demise of Great Books

From The Daily Texan
By John Davidson

The latest chapter in the long, depressing story of classical liberal education in America is unfolding here in Austin, where the University of Texas has recently snuffed out a nascent Great Books program.

The tale began in 2002, when UT philosophy professor Robert Koons and a few others started working to establish a program focused on Western civilization and the Great Books. Their idea was to develop an alternative liberal arts curriculum that would require undergraduates to read, systematically, seminal western texts such as the Bible, the works of ancient Greece and Rome and the American founding documents. This was considered radical at UT.

Koons and his cohorts persevered despite stiff opposition, and last fall the Program in Western Civilization and American Institutions began offering classes. It was, by all accounts, a smashing success: Students were signing up, alumni were sending checks (Koons raised more than $1 million) and a speaker series sponsored by the program was hugely popular. It seemed that classical liberal education was experiencing a renaissance at UT.

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A Note to Sunlit Uplands Readers

I want to inform our faithful readers that posting on Sunlit Uplands will be light at best for the foreseeable future. I remain very much in the battle, but have recently deployed to another battlefield here in South Carolina, where I will be addressing the issues and causes raised on the blog over the last two years.

As we have noted, the Obama administration deserves credit for rousing a great, sleeping giant -- the broad, patriotic, faithful, heartland of America. As Tea Parties in Washington and across the nation are demonstrating, Americans are demanding a renewed respect for the Constitution, fiscal responsibility, decentralized government, states' rights, and individual liberty. For our part, we will be working to ensure that "we the people" have representation in the United States Congress that will preserve and strengthen this republic under God.

We will continue to post important items, our weekend features, and "Sunlit News" will be regularly updated. As always, reader submissions and suggestions are most welcome. It has been a great joy to see the very positive response to Sunlit Uplands and our steadily growing number of faithful readers. The response from friends and critics has been a great source of encouragement and motivation.

I look forward to resuming more regular posting after the Republican Primary of next June. In the meantime, please keep our efforts and our nation in your prayers.

Daniel J. Cassidy

Cambridge Singers - "For the Beauty of the Earth" - John Rutter

A Homily by Father Franklyn M. McAfee - "The Divorce of Christ from Culture"

Homily of Reverend Franklyn M. McAfee, D.D.

Pastor Emeritus

St. John the Beloved Catholic Church McLean, Virginia

October 28, 2007

Federal Regulations Imposed on Your Next Garage Sale

The liberals are quick to assure us that they don't care what goes on in your bedroom, but that may be the only room the Obama administration is willing to overlook. Should we be surprised that South Carolina's own Inez Tenenbaum, newly installed as Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has a raft of rules and regulations to impose on your next garage sale?

If any of our readers has any experience with this, would you please let us know when the Federal Garage Sale Inspectors show up?

From Fox News
By Diane Macedo

Americans who slap $1 pricetags on their used possessions at garage sales or bazaar events risk being slapped with fines of up to $15 million, thanks to a new government campaign.

The "Resale Round-up," launched by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, enforces new limits on lead in children's products and makes it illegal to sell any items that don't meet those limits or have been recalled for any other reason.

The strict standards were set in the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act after a series of high-profile recalls of Chinese-made toys.

The standards were originally interpreted to apply only to new products, but now the CPSC says they apply to used items as well.

"Those who resell recalled children's products are not only breaking the law, they are putting children's lives at risk,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. "Resale stores should make safety their business and check for recalled products and hazards to children."

In order to comply, stores, flea markets, charities and individuals selling used goods — in person or online — are expected to consult the commission's 24-page Handbook for Resale Stores and Product Resellers (pdf) and its Web site for a breakdown of what they can't sell.

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Best Restaurants of South Carolina

The readers of Open Table, an online reservation service for over 11,000 restaurants around the world, have chosen the 10 "Best Overall" restaurants of South Carolina.

The Melting Pot of Myrtle Beach

Devereaux's, Greenville

Four Moons, Orangeburg

Halls Chophouse, Charleston

Rick Erwin's West End Grill, Greenville

The Studio, Hilton Head

McCrady's, Charleston

Old Fort Pub, Hilton Head

Solstice Kitchen, Columbia

Langdon's Restaurant & Wine Bar, Mount Pleasant

In addition to these "Best Overall" restaurants, the website readers have rated scores of others under such categories as "Outdoor Dining," "American," and "Neighborhood Gem."

Now if we only had consumer choice and competition among our schools, South Carolina might have schools as good as our restaurants.