I titled this as if I do this and that every Monday. I wish I had the dedication to any particular regular feature, but that's not how my mind works.

The Tribune-Review brings us Pat Buchanan's latest column in which he bemoans the collapse of Catholic Institutions such as Georgetown University.  He blames it on the feminists and homosexuals. 

At the request of the White House, Georgetown University covered up all the symbols in Gaston Hall before the Great Man spoke, including IHS, the millennia-old monogram for the name of Jesus Christ.

When it comes to rendering unto Caesar, Georgetown is not going to be outshone by Notre Dame, which stole a march by offering the nation's avatar of abortion a doctorate of laws degree, honoris causa.

Actually, it is regrettable the IHS in Gaston Hall was not covered up in shame the first week of Lent. For that week Georgetown's feminist and homosexual clubs, such as GU Pride, put on a Gomorrah festival about alternative lifestyles called "Sex Positive Week."

Monday, according to The Newman Club, featured a speaker for Black Rose, which "provides a forum for many different expressions of power in love and play. This can include dominance & submission, bondage and discipline, fetishism and cross-dressing, to name a few."

At Catholic Seattle University, that first week of Lent was "Transgender Awareness Week," featuring a "session on allegedly transgender Bible heroes and heroines and 'Criss-Cross Day' where students are encouraged to 'come dressed for the day in your best gender-bending outfit.'"

This is surely anecdotal evidence to confirm Newsweek in the conclusion reached in its cover story of Holy Week, "The End of Christian America."

Wow.  Criss-Cross Day is bringing down the Catholic church.  I'd actually be interested in transgender Biblical heroes.  And I applaud Mr. Buchanan for using "transgender" in lieu of the less accurate "transgendered" (one is a state of being in transition, the other a description of a fait accompli). 

If you are looking for a daily glimpse into the most current LGBTQ news, I suggest you visit PageOneQ.  I went looking for something interesting to share and ended up spending far too much of this early morning time reading all of the articles.  Check it out.

The HRC posted an interesting transcript of a discussion on LGBTQ financial and legal issues.  Given that those of  us who just ponied up a chunk of change to pay taxes on Domestic Partner benefits are probably still fuming, this is timely.

Locally, the Post-Gazette takes a look at the heated City Council District races.  They briefly explore the whole family feud that drives Democrat decisions which I referenced yesterday.  While I don't agree with all of her positions, I don't get the claim that Tonya Payne fails to show leadership.  She's much more visible here on the Northside than her predecessor and I've found her to be warm and open-minded.  She's marched in the PrideFest Parade which is much different than a few minutes in front of a microphone.  She works on homeless issues.  And frankly, her staff make things happen.  I have no real opinion on her opponents who I am sure are perfectly nice men, but a return to the status quo on the Northside is just ludicrous particularly in Manchester.  This is another area with a  mythological patronage around Stanley Lowe that I just don't understand.  I'm all for Tonya.

I will say the coverage of District 2 is pretty shallow.  The article dismissed contender Rob Frank which seems more about the excitement of a two woman race than anything else.  Again, I'm sure Georgia Blotzer is a lovely woman, but I just didn't feel it in my heart at the Stonewall Endorsement meeting.  Maybe I was too bedazzled by Onorato's five minutes speech in which he said nothing, but Rob Frank seems to warrant more than a sentence of two.  Is his lack of entrenchment in the political family feud a bad thing?  Or just not headline grabbing?

I have no opinion about District 4.  Pat Reilly worked for Chelsa Wagner and seemed very earnest in trying to address the perennial issue with PennDOT's property in our neighborhood.  He was frank with me about the limitations of his position, but I give him credit for trying. 

Here's where I have to stop and remind PennDOT (I'm sure they read this blog every day!) that the lot is just starting to bloom past acceptable.  This latest round of rain is going to warrant a mow soon.  I would love to avoid another series of relentless phone calls to legislators who can't leverage any action in spite of their best efforts.  And speaking of neighborhood politics, last year I had worked to have our State Rep come out to take a look at how the Commonwealth is blighting Manchester when another community member swooped in with a larger agenda and completely undermind me.  I know her intentions were good, but it is frustrating when someone wrests your plans away from you.  I know there are larger issues, but her actions were very disrespectful.  I'm already plotting what I can possibly do this year since the best reaction I get from PennDOT is a begrudging appearance after endless prodding. 

If they would just schedule routine maintenance, it would be such a positive step. I would stop hating them.  I'm hoping someone in a media outlet would take a look at the various properties owned by PennDOT or other state entities in this region and explore their maintenance schedules.  I just can't imagine that these huge clean up efforts are cost effective.