The Church has moved on from Pope Zachary's (741-52) Rite of Anathema and by doing so seems to have broken from Tradition and scripture 1 Timothy 1:20; 1 Corinthians 5:5... (continued)
Link:
Related:
Monday, April 30, 2012
Fr. Ray Blake: Shooting and Breaking the Legs of Sheep and Heretics
From Father Ray Blake:
..So what do we do with sheep who run off from the flock and teach others
to do the same?
In the past we might have called them heretics, now we call them
dissidents, redolent of the political prisoners of the Soviet Gulags.
The problem is that they remain to teach others to leap the fence,
indeed, their role as "dissident" seems to give them importance in the
secular world, and the "Liberal Catholic" establishment to comment on
the Church and to condemn it.
The Church has moved on from Pope Zachary's (741-52) Rite of Anathema and by doing so seems to have broken from Tradition and scripture 1 Timothy 1:20; 1 Corinthians 5:5... (continued)
Link:
Related:
The Church has moved on from Pope Zachary's (741-52) Rite of Anathema and by doing so seems to have broken from Tradition and scripture 1 Timothy 1:20; 1 Corinthians 5:5... (continued)
Link:
Related:
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Bishop Morlino Warns Dissenters to Stop Calumnious Inciting of Hatred of Priests, the Faith, and Himself — or Else
DOUG ERICKSON | Wisconsin State Journal
Madison Catholic Bishop Robert Morlino has moved to quell a backlash against a group of conservative priests in Platteville by warning parishioners they risk formal church censure unless they stop spreading "rumors and gossip."
The action by Morlino, which two Catholic scholars called highly unusual, appears to include the possibility of offenders being prohibited from taking part in church sacraments such as communion, confession and burial.
The warning came in a five-page letter Wednesday from Morlino to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Platteville. The congregation has been roiled by opposition to the traditionalist priests, who began serving the parish in June 2010.
Within months, church donations fell by more than half, and about 40 percent of the church’s 1,200 members signed a petition seeking the priests’ ouster. The church’s 77-year-old school is set to close June 1, a loss many parishioners tie directly to the collapse of donations.
The letter, in which Morlino raises the prospect of invoking the church’s Code of Canon Law against dissenters, has stunned many parishioners.
"There’s almost shock and awe," said Myron Tranel, a member of the church’s finance council. "But mostly, there’s a lot of disappointment that the bishop has decided to deal with it this way."
Others applaud the bishop’s move, saying decisive action was needed because criticism had gotten out of hand.
"This is a warning shot across the bow — you either want to be a Catholic or you don’t," said Gregory Merrick, a member of the church’s pastoral council.
Diocesan spokesman Brent King said Morlino’s main message is that this should be a time of "prayer, serious introspection and forgiveness." The specific texts from the church’s code of law were included precisely so that they may never be needed, King said.
"The bishop’s caution that ‘this cannot continue’ should not be made into anything more than that — a caution," King said.
Standing by the priests
The priests are from the Society of Jesus Christ the Priest, a group known for traditionalist liturgy and devotion to strict Catholic teaching. They do not allow girls to be altar servers or allow parishioners to assist in distributing communion. Critics say they emphasize doctrine over pastoral care and institute changes in a heavy-handed way.
Morlino has stood by them and did so again in the letter to parishioners, the primary purpose of which was to announce his decision to accept the parish’s recommendation to close the school. The priests have admitted "that they undertook some changes in a way that was abrupt for many people," Morlino wrote, yet he said no one has provided concrete examples of the priests straying from church doctrine.
In the end, "the Catholic faith is being taught according to the proper understanding of the Second Vatican Council, and what remains are personal likes and dislikes, along with inflated rumors and gossip, some of which may even rise to the level of calumnious inciting of hatred of your priests, the faith and myself," Morlino wrote.
Where there are those who work to "incite hatred," there "may need to be more formal warning and action," Morlino wrote. An addendum cites many church laws, including one in which anyone who publicly incites animosities or hatred toward church authorities "is to be punished by an interdict or other just penalties..." (continued)
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Bishop Joseph R. Cistone says openly gay speaker Dominic Sheahan-Stahl should not be honored
By RICK MILLS
(The Morning Sun) Controversy grew Friday over a gay graduate asked to speak at Sacred Heart Academy.
Principal Denny Starnes said he had “heated debates” with the bishop over a planned speech by Dominic Sheahan-Stahl, but the bishop denied that and said media reports were the first word he heard.
In a dramatic and emotional announcement at noon Thursday, Sacred Heart Principal Denny Starnes confirmed that graduate Dominic Sheahan-Stahl will not speak at his younger brother’s upcoming graduation.
Starnes made it clear he did not agree with the decision of the Saginaw Diocese to not allow Sheahan-Stahl to speak.
But the bishop later issued a lengthy statement denying officials knew anything about the controversy.
Starnes was admonished by Bishop Joseph R. Cistone for the entire situation, including both the initial offer to speak and the later withdrawal.
“I am distressed by the way in which Sacred Heart Academy school leadership has handled this situation, and have expressed this to the school’s pastor,” Cistone said. “It has hurt an individual, a family, a graduating class and an entire school and faith community.”
Pastor Loren Kalinowski has been on vacation and unavailable to comment.
Sheahan-Stahl, reached at his New York City home, was shocked by strong wording from the diocese that he was unqualified to speak because he is gay and not living by the teaching of the Catholic faith.
“I’m just kind of blown out of my mind by that,” said Sheahan-Stahl. “They just gave me my own platform to speak.”
Speculation swirled that Starnes would either be fired or quit over the issue, and he told underclassman he would not be there for them.
“Remember this message, I will not be here to remind you,” he said. “If you’re willing to cast first stone, think first.”
Sheahan-Stahl told Sacred Heart students who supported him that they are making a difference and that things can change.
“I’m sorry if I have hurt anyone,” he said. “I have been hurt, my family has been hurt, but we are strong.”
Sheahan-Stahl said that he will attend his brother’s graduation in support of him, and will deliver a speech soon at Warriner Hall on the campus of Central Michigan University.
Starnes asked if he could join him at that speech.
Link:
Principal Denny Starnes said he had “heated debates” with the bishop over a planned speech by Dominic Sheahan-Stahl, but the bishop denied that and said media reports were the first word he heard.
In a dramatic and emotional announcement at noon Thursday, Sacred Heart Principal Denny Starnes confirmed that graduate Dominic Sheahan-Stahl will not speak at his younger brother’s upcoming graduation.
Starnes made it clear he did not agree with the decision of the Saginaw Diocese to not allow Sheahan-Stahl to speak.
But the bishop later issued a lengthy statement denying officials knew anything about the controversy.
Starnes was admonished by Bishop Joseph R. Cistone for the entire situation, including both the initial offer to speak and the later withdrawal.
“I am distressed by the way in which Sacred Heart Academy school leadership has handled this situation, and have expressed this to the school’s pastor,” Cistone said. “It has hurt an individual, a family, a graduating class and an entire school and faith community.”
Pastor Loren Kalinowski has been on vacation and unavailable to comment.
Sheahan-Stahl, reached at his New York City home, was shocked by strong wording from the diocese that he was unqualified to speak because he is gay and not living by the teaching of the Catholic faith.
“I’m just kind of blown out of my mind by that,” said Sheahan-Stahl. “They just gave me my own platform to speak.”
Cistone had harsh words for those
who live “in defiance of our fundamental moral principles” and said
those people cannot be given honors, awards or platforms, especially at
schools the exist to educate students in the Catholic faith.
“It is the position of Bishop Cistone, on behalf of the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, that individuals who are given an honor ‑ such as serving as the keynote speaker for the culmination of a Catholic school education ‑ should reinforce, and not reject publicly, the teachings of the Catholic faith,” the official statement said.
Sheahan-Stahl, who was the recipient of numerous honors and awards while at Sacred Heart Academy, said he’s disappointed the church didn’t allow his speech and would continue pushing for change.
Sheahan-Stahl, a Sacred Heart alumnus and aspiring New York-based actor, had been asked to speak and then uninvited because he is openly gay.
A groundswell of controversy and support built over the past two days from community members, students and church members.
Sheahan-Stahl joined the announcement at Sacred Heart via a Skype hookup and asked why the church had to discriminate.
“I feel like God intended to love thy neighbor as I love myself,” he said. “I think the world would be better.”
Students filed into the Sacred Heart gymnasium to hear from both Starnes and Sheahan-Stahl.
Starnes addressed the assembled students for close to an hour in an emotional talk that balanced his faith and his religion’s teachings against his own preferences.
“Denny Starnes is not the diocese, not the Catholic Church,” he said. “I’m torn. My family expects me to do the right thing.”
“My priority is this decision. It’s not the same as the diocese, which I respect. They don’t share the same view on outcome.”“It is the position of Bishop Cistone, on behalf of the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, that individuals who are given an honor ‑ such as serving as the keynote speaker for the culmination of a Catholic school education ‑ should reinforce, and not reject publicly, the teachings of the Catholic faith,” the official statement said.
Sheahan-Stahl, who was the recipient of numerous honors and awards while at Sacred Heart Academy, said he’s disappointed the church didn’t allow his speech and would continue pushing for change.
Sheahan-Stahl, a Sacred Heart alumnus and aspiring New York-based actor, had been asked to speak and then uninvited because he is openly gay.
A groundswell of controversy and support built over the past two days from community members, students and church members.
Sheahan-Stahl joined the announcement at Sacred Heart via a Skype hookup and asked why the church had to discriminate.
“I feel like God intended to love thy neighbor as I love myself,” he said. “I think the world would be better.”
Students filed into the Sacred Heart gymnasium to hear from both Starnes and Sheahan-Stahl.
Starnes addressed the assembled students for close to an hour in an emotional talk that balanced his faith and his religion’s teachings against his own preferences.
“Denny Starnes is not the diocese, not the Catholic Church,” he said. “I’m torn. My family expects me to do the right thing.”
Speculation swirled that Starnes would either be fired or quit over the issue, and he told underclassman he would not be there for them.
“Remember this message, I will not be here to remind you,” he said. “If you’re willing to cast first stone, think first.”
Sheahan-Stahl told Sacred Heart students who supported him that they are making a difference and that things can change.
“I’m sorry if I have hurt anyone,” he said. “I have been hurt, my family has been hurt, but we are strong.”
Sheahan-Stahl said that he will attend his brother’s graduation in support of him, and will deliver a speech soon at Warriner Hall on the campus of Central Michigan University.
Starnes asked if he could join him at that speech.
Link:
Friday, April 27, 2012
Critical organ donation warnings and guidance in new pamphlet: “Do not do an Apnea test!”
April 26, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Dr. Paul Byrne has been on a personal mission for many years to warn the public about the alarming facts and dangers of the $20 billion dollar-a-year organ transplant industry. At the International Conference for Life in Vatican City February 25, Byrne and other distinguished speakers, including Cardinal Raymond Burke, addressed serious concerns regarding so-called “brain death”, the apnea test and organ transplantation. Dr. Bryne also introduced a new 29-page booklet produced by his Life Guardian Foundation containing crucial information to assist the public in making informed decisions about organ donation.
The new Life Guardian booklet which Dr. Byrne briefly describes in a LifeSiteNews video interview recorded in Rome, is divided into six main sections:
- Facts About Being an Organ Donor - What you don’t know can kill you
- Do Your Organs Belong to the Government?
- Are You Thinking About Organ Transplantation? Making an Informed Decision
- Manipulation of Beginning and End of Human Life
- Catholic Teaching on Death and Organ Transplantation
The last part of the booklet contains tear-out forms, with instructions, intended to protect its readers from premature declarations of death that can result in imposed death, followed by subsequent unethical removal of their organs.
Dr. Byrne believes such forms are necessary due to increasingly hurried and flawed death declarations and the very aggressive tactics of the organ transplant industry.
The first form, a basic, Power of Attorney for Health Care, is followed by three complimentary, additional forms:
- Directions to Protect and Preserve Life for Power of Attorney for Health Care
- Directions to Protect and Protect and Preserve Life and Health Care Representative Serving as an Agent for Dependent Person who is a Minor or Mentally incapacitated person
- Directions to Protect and Preserve Life to be carried at all times in case of sudden accident or serious illness
The reference to the apnea test reflects grave concerns by Dr. Bryne and other medical professionals that this deadly procedure frequently hastens the death of those being “tested,” some of whom might yet recover, since they are deprived of ventilation for the dangerously long period of time set to determine if they can breathe on their own.
Byrne writes, “Knowing full well how critical the ventilator is, to withdraw it when it is needed most is absurd! Yet, it is planned for the patient to be taken off for up to 10 minutes - the patient can only get worse! This test is sometimes lethal. Make sure to instruct all medical staff: “Do not do an Apnea test!”
Dr. Byrne contacted LifeSiteNews to add, “carbon dioxide normally remains below 45 in us and when a patient is on a ventilator, the goal is to keep the carbon dioxide below 45. When doing an apnea test (the test for sleep apnea is not an apnea test), the respiration supporting ventilator is taken from the patient causing the carbon dioxide to increase to at least 60, and sometimes higher. When the carbon dioxide goes to these levels, swelling in the brain occurs or gets worse if it is already present. This is tantamount to suffocation.”
“The ventilator can be effective only in someone living” emphasizes Byrne. “The ventilator pushes air into the lungs; the air goes out (exhaled) only when and because the living body pushes it out. This does not occur in a cadaver/corpse/dead body.”
Although parts of the Life Guardian Pamphlet are directed to Catholics who are considering becoming organ donors, there is also much medical/ethical information applicable to a more general audience.
The medical credentials of Dr. Byrne have given considerable weight to the credibility of his presentations on the controversial topics which he has traveled to numerous countries to speak about. The new booklet describes Byrnes credentials as follows:
Dr. Paul Byrne, a Neonatologist is Director of Neonatology and Director of Pediatrics at St. Charles Mercy Hospital in Oregon, Ohio; Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of Toledo College of Medicine; Board Certified in Pediatrics and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine: Member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars; past-President of the Catholic Medical Association (USA); and author of numerous articles on “brain death” and organ transplantation in medical and law journals and lay press. He is the producer of the film Continuum of Life and the author of Life, Life Support and Death, Beyond Brain Death, and Brain Death is Not Death. Dr. Byrne has presented testimony on life-death issues to nine state legislatures beginning in 1967, He opposed Dr. Jack Kevorkian on Cross-Fire, and has appeared on Good Morning America, the BBC documentary, “Are the donors really dead?” and public television in Japan.See yesterday’s related LifeSiteNews report with many other related links, Dad rescues ‘brain dead’ son from doctors wishing to harvest his organs - boy recovers completely
Link:
Related:
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Necrophilia is Not a Joke
By
(American Thinker) Last
September I began delivering an hour-long presentation titled "Islamic
Sexuality: A Survey of Evil" to local Tea Party, 9/12 and other patriot
groups in Colorado. The good folks at FreedomTalkNetcast.com,
after seeing this presentation in Pueblo, CO sprang into action and
professionally videotaped and edited my next delivery of this lecture in
Colorado Springs. It was promptly uploaded to my YouTube channel, "AnnBarnhardt", in four parts and those four parts can be viewed at the following links:
Part 1 (General overview of Islam)
Part 2 (Misogyny in Islam)
Part 3 (Female Genital Mutilation and Pedophilia)
Part 4 (Pedophilia, Prostitution, Bestiality, Necrophilia)
Within Part 4 I discuss the specific ratification and encouragement within Islamic culture of necrophilia, which is sexual intercourse with a dead body. I cite a fatwa issued in May of 2011 by a famous and respected Imam in Morocco which states the following:
"Since a good Muslim couple will meet again in Heaven, and since death does not alter the marital contract, it is not a hindrance to the husband's desire to have sexual intercourse with the corpse of his (freshly) deceased wife." -Imam Abdelbari Zemzami
I noticed right away that during this part of my presentation, those present would react to this with laughter. This is a common psychological defense mechanism. When sane human beings are confronted with something as horrific and evil as necrophilia, the mind attempts to dilute the horror of such evil by painting it as comedic -- a joke, something to be ridiculed and laughed at, because facing the thing itself is simply too painful. This is what was happening at my presentations. And so, I decided to correct this... (continued)
Link:
Related:
Part 1 (General overview of Islam)
Part 2 (Misogyny in Islam)
Part 3 (Female Genital Mutilation and Pedophilia)
Part 4 (Pedophilia, Prostitution, Bestiality, Necrophilia)
Within Part 4 I discuss the specific ratification and encouragement within Islamic culture of necrophilia, which is sexual intercourse with a dead body. I cite a fatwa issued in May of 2011 by a famous and respected Imam in Morocco which states the following:
"Since a good Muslim couple will meet again in Heaven, and since death does not alter the marital contract, it is not a hindrance to the husband's desire to have sexual intercourse with the corpse of his (freshly) deceased wife." -Imam Abdelbari Zemzami
I noticed right away that during this part of my presentation, those present would react to this with laughter. This is a common psychological defense mechanism. When sane human beings are confronted with something as horrific and evil as necrophilia, the mind attempts to dilute the horror of such evil by painting it as comedic -- a joke, something to be ridiculed and laughed at, because facing the thing itself is simply too painful. This is what was happening at my presentations. And so, I decided to correct this... (continued)
Link:
Related:
Bishop to ad-libbing priest: Only appeal now is to Rome
Rev. Bill Rowe. - Derik Holtmann/BND
- News-Democrat
(BND.com) BELLEVILLE -- The Rev. Bill Rowe said Wednesday he will not go
quietly into forced retirement, even if his only avenue of appeal is to
Cardinal Raymond Burke in Rome, who has already told Belleville Bishop
Edward Braxton to get rid of the Mount Carmel priest.
"There have
been so many people who have supported me and said that what was
happening was right, I feel that maybe I have to just let Bishop Braxton
complete the course to remove me and say I fought the best fight I
could."
Rowe, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Mt. Carmel, drew national attention through his practice of ad libbing parts of the liturgy that are said during the Roman Catholic Mass..
[Bishop] Braxton could not be reached. He has a policy of not commenting to local media.
However, during a meeting with Braxton on Tuesday at the Chancery in Belleville, Rowe said he was told that if he didn't go, he would be removed. Straying from the strict wording of the liturgy was only one of the accusations. In an email, Rowe said Braxton also brought up two marriages that Rowe said he officiated over as civil unions, even though the divorced people involved had not received formal annulments from the church...
[Bishop] Braxton, according to Rowe, said that the only appeal he has now is
to a tribunal in Rome headed by former St. Louis Archbishop Raymond
Burke. [Cardinal] Burke made headlines for standing firm against rogue parishioners
at St. Stanislous Church in St. Louis.
However, Rowe said that Braxton told him that [Cardinal] Burke has already advised that he be removed. Rowe is expected to leave his parish in July.
Rowe is widely supported despite his ad libbing during Mass. Recently, more than 75 perople made the nearly two hour drive from Mt. Carmel and nearby areas to march outside St. Peter Cathedral in Belleville to support Rowe.
Link:
Related:
Rowe, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Mt. Carmel, drew national attention through his practice of ad libbing parts of the liturgy that are said during the Roman Catholic Mass..
[Bishop] Braxton could not be reached. He has a policy of not commenting to local media.
However, during a meeting with Braxton on Tuesday at the Chancery in Belleville, Rowe said he was told that if he didn't go, he would be removed. Straying from the strict wording of the liturgy was only one of the accusations. In an email, Rowe said Braxton also brought up two marriages that Rowe said he officiated over as civil unions, even though the divorced people involved had not received formal annulments from the church...
However, Rowe said that Braxton told him that [Cardinal] Burke has already advised that he be removed. Rowe is expected to leave his parish in July.
Rowe is widely supported despite his ad libbing during Mass. Recently, more than 75 perople made the nearly two hour drive from Mt. Carmel and nearby areas to march outside St. Peter Cathedral in Belleville to support Rowe.
Link:
Related:
- Priest who refused to “Say The Black” loses his parish
- Moving Beyond
- Exile to Malta for Cardinal Burke
Dad rescues ‘brain dead’ son from doctors wishing to harvest his organs – boy recovers completely
From LifeSiteNews.com:
LEICESTER, England, April 25, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - According to the Daily Mail newspaper, a young British man owes his life to an insistent father who would not allow his son’s organs to be removed from his body, despite assurances from four doctors that his son could not recover from the wounds he had suffered in a recent car accident.
The Mail reports that Stephen Thorpe, then 17, was placed in a medically-induced coma following a multi-car pileup that had already taken the life of his friend Matthew, who was driving the vehicle.
Although a team of four physicians insisted that his son was “brain-dead” following the wreck, Thorpe’s father enlisted the help of a general practitioner and a neurologist, who demonstrated that his son still had brain wave activity. The doctors agreed to bring him out of the coma, and five weeks later Thorpe left the hospital, having almost completely recovered.
Today, the 21-year-old with “brain damage” is studying accounting at a local university. “‘My impression is maybe the hospital weren’t very happy that my father wanted a second opinion,” he told the Mail.
The case is similar to dozens of others LifeSiteNews has reported in recent years, in which comatose or otherwise unconscious patients are declared to be “brain dead,” or hopelessly incurable. In many cases, aggressive doctors seek the organs of the patient for harvesting.
In 2011, the Quebec Hospital Sainte Croix de Drummondville sought permission to extract the eyes of a patient who had choked on hospital food in the absence of a nurse, claiming she was “brain dead.” After the family demanded proof from physicians of her alleged condition, she regained consciousness, and recovered most of her faculties. The family declared its intention to sue the hospital.
In 2008, a 45-year-old Frenchman revived on the operating table as doctors prepared to “harvest” his organs for donation, following cardiac arrest. In the subsequent investigation by the hospital’s ethics committee, a number of doctors admitted that such cases, while rare, were well known to them.
That same year, a “brain dead” 21-year-old American, Zack Dunlap, was about to have his organs harvested when his two sisters, both nurses, decided to test the hospital’s theory that his brain was no longer functioning. Family members poked his feet with a knife and dug their fingernails under his nails, provoking strong reactions by Dunlap and proving he was conscious. He recovered completely. He later related that he was conscious and aware as doctors discussed harvesting his organs in his presence.
The term “brain death” was invented in 1968 to accommodate the need to acquire vital organs in their “freshest” state from a donor who some argue is still very much alive.
While death had previously been defined as lack of respiration and heart activity, “brain death” was judged as compatible with an otherwise living patient. “Brain death” has never been rigorously defined, and there are no standardized tests to determine if the condition exists.
Dr. John Shea, a medical advisor to LifeSiteNews.com, points out that patients diagnosed as “brain dead” often continue to exhibit brain functions.
In “Organ Donation: The Inconvenient Truth”, Shea states that the criteria for “brain death” only “test for the absence of some specific brain reflexes. Functions of the brain that are not considered are temperature control, blood pressure, cardiac rate and salt and water balance. When a patient is declared brain dead, these functions are not only still present, but also frequently active.”
A list of articles by LifeSiteNews on comotose and “brain dead” patients who unexpectedly recovered follows:
* Brain dead’ woman recovers after husband refuses to withdraw life support
* Woman Diagnosed as “Brain Dead” Walks and Talks after Awakening
* ‘Brain dead’ Quebec woman wakes up after family refuses organ donation
* Doctor Says about “Brain Dead” Man Saved from Organ Harvesting - “Brain Death is Never Really Death”
* Doctors Who Almost Dissected Living Patient Confess Ignorance about Actual Moment of Death
* New study questions “brain-death” criterion for organ donation
* Coma Recovery After 19 Years Poses Questions About Terri Schiavo
* Polish Man Wakes from 19-Year “Coma”, Talks and Expected to Walk Soon
* Man Wakes from Two-Year Coma – was Aware and Remembers Everything
* Boy in “Hopeless” Vegetative State Awakens and Steadily Improves
* Commentary: The Significance of that Case of the Man Trapped in a “Coma” for 23 Years
* Girl Once Comatose and Scheduled for Euthanasia Will Testify against Attacker
* ‘Comatose’ UK Man Chooses Life by Moving Eyes
* Woman’s Waking After Brain Death Raises Many Questions About Organ Donation
* Russian Surgeons Removing Organs Saying Patients Almost Dead Anyway
* Denver Coroner Rules “Homicide” in Organ-Donor Case
Related links:
The boy who came back from the dead: Experts said car crash teen was beyond hope. His parents disagreed
Link:
LEICESTER, England, April 25, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - According to the Daily Mail newspaper, a young British man owes his life to an insistent father who would not allow his son’s organs to be removed from his body, despite assurances from four doctors that his son could not recover from the wounds he had suffered in a recent car accident.
The Mail reports that Stephen Thorpe, then 17, was placed in a medically-induced coma following a multi-car pileup that had already taken the life of his friend Matthew, who was driving the vehicle.
Although a team of four physicians insisted that his son was “brain-dead” following the wreck, Thorpe’s father enlisted the help of a general practitioner and a neurologist, who demonstrated that his son still had brain wave activity. The doctors agreed to bring him out of the coma, and five weeks later Thorpe left the hospital, having almost completely recovered.
Today, the 21-year-old with “brain damage” is studying accounting at a local university. “‘My impression is maybe the hospital weren’t very happy that my father wanted a second opinion,” he told the Mail.
The case is similar to dozens of others LifeSiteNews has reported in recent years, in which comatose or otherwise unconscious patients are declared to be “brain dead,” or hopelessly incurable. In many cases, aggressive doctors seek the organs of the patient for harvesting.
In 2011, the Quebec Hospital Sainte Croix de Drummondville sought permission to extract the eyes of a patient who had choked on hospital food in the absence of a nurse, claiming she was “brain dead.” After the family demanded proof from physicians of her alleged condition, she regained consciousness, and recovered most of her faculties. The family declared its intention to sue the hospital.
In 2008, a 45-year-old Frenchman revived on the operating table as doctors prepared to “harvest” his organs for donation, following cardiac arrest. In the subsequent investigation by the hospital’s ethics committee, a number of doctors admitted that such cases, while rare, were well known to them.
That same year, a “brain dead” 21-year-old American, Zack Dunlap, was about to have his organs harvested when his two sisters, both nurses, decided to test the hospital’s theory that his brain was no longer functioning. Family members poked his feet with a knife and dug their fingernails under his nails, provoking strong reactions by Dunlap and proving he was conscious. He recovered completely. He later related that he was conscious and aware as doctors discussed harvesting his organs in his presence.
The term “brain death” was invented in 1968 to accommodate the need to acquire vital organs in their “freshest” state from a donor who some argue is still very much alive.
While death had previously been defined as lack of respiration and heart activity, “brain death” was judged as compatible with an otherwise living patient. “Brain death” has never been rigorously defined, and there are no standardized tests to determine if the condition exists.
Dr. John Shea, a medical advisor to LifeSiteNews.com, points out that patients diagnosed as “brain dead” often continue to exhibit brain functions.
In “Organ Donation: The Inconvenient Truth”, Shea states that the criteria for “brain death” only “test for the absence of some specific brain reflexes. Functions of the brain that are not considered are temperature control, blood pressure, cardiac rate and salt and water balance. When a patient is declared brain dead, these functions are not only still present, but also frequently active.”
A list of articles by LifeSiteNews on comotose and “brain dead” patients who unexpectedly recovered follows:
* Brain dead’ woman recovers after husband refuses to withdraw life support
* Woman Diagnosed as “Brain Dead” Walks and Talks after Awakening
* ‘Brain dead’ Quebec woman wakes up after family refuses organ donation
* Doctor Says about “Brain Dead” Man Saved from Organ Harvesting - “Brain Death is Never Really Death”
* Doctors Who Almost Dissected Living Patient Confess Ignorance about Actual Moment of Death
* New study questions “brain-death” criterion for organ donation
* Coma Recovery After 19 Years Poses Questions About Terri Schiavo
* Polish Man Wakes from 19-Year “Coma”, Talks and Expected to Walk Soon
* Man Wakes from Two-Year Coma – was Aware and Remembers Everything
* Boy in “Hopeless” Vegetative State Awakens and Steadily Improves
* Commentary: The Significance of that Case of the Man Trapped in a “Coma” for 23 Years
* Girl Once Comatose and Scheduled for Euthanasia Will Testify against Attacker
* ‘Comatose’ UK Man Chooses Life by Moving Eyes
* Woman’s Waking After Brain Death Raises Many Questions About Organ Donation
* Russian Surgeons Removing Organs Saying Patients Almost Dead Anyway
* Denver Coroner Rules “Homicide” in Organ-Donor Case
Related links:
The boy who came back from the dead: Experts said car crash teen was beyond hope. His parents disagreed
Link:
NOTE FROM THE SECRETARIAT OF STATE
Vatican City, 25 April 2012 (VIS) - Given below is the text of a note released this morning by the Secretariat of State:
"In the wake of recent leaks of reserved and confidential documents on television, in newspapers and in other communications media, the Holy Father has ordered the creation of a Commission of Cardinals to undertake an authoritative investigation and throw light on these episodes.
"His Holiness has determined that the said Commission of Cardinals, which will act at all levels on the strength of its pontifical mandate, shall be presided by Cardinal Julian Herranz, and shall have as its members Cardinal Jozef Tomko and Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi.
"The Commission of Cardinals celebrated its first sitting on 24 April to establish the method and timetable for its activities".
"In the wake of recent leaks of reserved and confidential documents on television, in newspapers and in other communications media, the Holy Father has ordered the creation of a Commission of Cardinals to undertake an authoritative investigation and throw light on these episodes.
"His Holiness has determined that the said Commission of Cardinals, which will act at all levels on the strength of its pontifical mandate, shall be presided by Cardinal Julian Herranz, and shall have as its members Cardinal Jozef Tomko and Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi.
"The Commission of Cardinals celebrated its first sitting on 24 April to establish the method and timetable for its activities".
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
How Lockheed’s Skunk Works Got into the Stealth Fighter Business
How do you hide an airplane behind a bird? Very skillfully. Lt. Col. William B. O'Connor (ret.) flew the F-117 Nighthawk during the Bosnia Conflict, and in Stealth Fighter, he explains the history, operation, and soul America's most advanced stealth jet.
(Gizmodo) While the United States had never embraced a defensive mindset and had only fielded one strategic SAM system to that point, the Nike-Hercules dating from the 1950s, and one real medium-range tactical system, the HAWK (homing all the way killer), the Soviets had fielded over fifteen different systems. One Soviet SAM system was even armed with nuclear warheads.
It had become clear that there had to be a better way. So in 1974, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated a program known as Project Harvey (named after the 6 feet 3 1/2 inches tall invisible white rabbit from the play of the same name). The ultimate goal was to develop a combat aircraft with as low a radar signature as possible. Five aerospace corporations had been contracted a million dollars each to give it their best shot. Surprisingly, Lockheed hadn't been among them. It was only an accidental tip-off that allowed Lockheed's Ben Rich to lobby for inclusion. Rich had been an engineer on the secret U-2 and SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft and had by then advanced to become Lockheed's successor to the famous Kelly Johnson as director of the Skunk Works. The "Skunk Works" is the official alias for the department responsible for all of Lockheed's highly secret advanced development projects. It was formed in 1943 to build America's first jet fighter, the P-80, and numerous other projects that belong to the shadow world of military operations.
By the time Rich had gotten wind of Project Harvey, there was no money left for another developmental contract. So Lockheed was offered a shot-for a dollar. But Rich wanted in and wisely turned down the token dollar. He knew that any new technologies developed with company funds would then be proprietary. Lockheed was famous for building small fleets of extremely advanced aircraft-often used for highly secretive missions. During World War II, they had built the United States' first operational subsonic jet fighter, the P-80. They skipped the Mach-1 era altogether and jumped right to fielding the United States' first fighter capable of speeds in excess of Mach 2, the F-104 Star Fighter. Along the way came the high-flying U-2, the higher-flying SR-71, the hypersonic D-21 drone (which would ride piggyback on an SR-71 until released), and other things not yet named.
In Rich's own words, the unsung hero of Lockheed's effort was an anonymous staff mathematician and electrical engineer named Denys Overholser. Overholser and his mentor, another mathematician named Bill Schroeder, had discussed the possibilities of utilizing some of the equations associated with optical scattering (how electromagnetic waves bounce off variously shaped objects) on this project. Both had the rather odd hobby of reading obscure Russian mathematics papers and had made the ultimate "nerd's nerd" discovery. They had stumbled across a paper published in Moscow a decade earlier titled "Method of Edge Waves in the Physical Theory of Diffraction." It had been written by Pyotr Ufimtsev, the Soviet's chief scientist at the Moscow Institute of Radio Engineering and the last in a long line of scientists developing a long series of wave equations originally derived centuries ago by the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell.
The U.S. intelligence community had helped translate this research and brought it to the West. The paper was in no way classified or related to weapons development at all. It was purely theoretical math. Years later, Ufimtsev immigrated to the United States to teach at the University of California, Los Angeles, and only then discovered his inadvertent contribution to the development of stealth aircraft.
The equations that Ufimtsev had developed made the reflections of radio waves off hard surfaces predictable. Not invisible, transparent, or tactical in any way-just predictable. The problem for Lockheed was that the calculations were so ferociously difficult that the most advanced supercomputers in the world at the time could only compute results for flat surfaces. Any attempt to perform the calculations for the curved surfaces you would find on a conventional aircraft-well, those machines would still be grinding away toward a solution today.
Schroeder recognized how these equations could be applied to Lockheed's current project. The solution was not even to attempt to design an aircraft with any curved surfaces, but to build one with dozens, or perhaps hundreds, of individual flat triangular and rectangular plates. Then the challenge was to compute the reflection from each and every flat surface before adding them all together to build a picture of the aircraft's total radar signature. Once you knew where every bit of radar reflection was coming from, you could then reorient those individual plates so that the reflection would go off in a direction away from the radar looking at it.
The process became known as "faceting." And that became the real secret-not to absorb all the radar or make the plane somehow transparent, but to make the plane's signature predictable. That predictability could then be used to shape a tactically useful aircraft. The jet would also be covered in thin sheets of RAM, but the bulk of the stealth effect was achieved by its shape.
Traditionally, a single engineering specialty will take the lead during the design of a new aircraft. An aerodynamicist may be in charge of pushing through a new wing or fuselage shape, as happened with the early delta wings and area-ruled fuselages of the "Century Series" of interceptors. Sometimes it may be the power-plant guy: "Here's the engine we're going to use, build us a jet fighter for it." This is how the P-80 came about. Occasionally it may be the armaments people- the A-10 is fundamentally a massive 30mm Gatling cannon with a plane built around it. In this particular case, this was the first time the lead was owned by an electrical engineer.
The computer program designed by Overholser's team to make these calculations was called Echo- 1. Armed with that tool, the first test subject, the Hopeless Diamond, was built. It was described as a diamond for obvious reasons and "hopeless" for its aerodynamic qualities (or rather, its complete lack thereof).
Early radar testing of the Hopeless Diamond turned out to be staggeringly successful. The White Sands experimental radar range near Holloman AFB was used. When the radar was fired up for the initial testing, the only thing that showed up was the reflection of the pole on which the test model was supposed to be mounted. Assuming that the model had fallen off the pole, the radar operators sent technicians downrange to fix the problem. To their surprise, the ten-foot model was still in place.
To test the model at all, Lockheed then had to design an invisible "stealth pole" to mount the model utilizing the same technology as the proposed fighter. The results were once again astounding, and incredulous USAF officials were called in to witness and verify the data.
The first opportunity to impress these officials almost resulted in embarrassment. When the radars were turned on, the reflections, while still very small by airplane standards, were orders of magnitude larger than what the USAF officials had been led to expect. They could still clearly see a small radar return from where the model was mounted.
While the Lockheed engineers were trying to explain this discrepancy, a radio call came in from a technician downrange. He reported that a bird was perched on the ten-foot model. The quick reply was an order to blow the horn of the pickup truck the guy was sitting in. As the startled bird flew away, the radar reflection on the test scope disappeared.
The very idea that a combat aircraft could be made so invisible as to hide behind a bird was an opportunity that couldn't be passed up. Everything associated with the program became classified at the highest levels. The program was transferred from DARPA to the USAF special projects office. The word "stealth" was forbidden to be mentioned in any unclassified document. And in April 1976, the Ford administration gave Lockheed the go-ahead for a full-scale aircraft. The Skunk Works was officially in the stealth fighter business.
Link:
Weeping four-year-old girl accused of carrying a GUN by TSA officers after she hugged her grandmother while passing through security
By Hugo Gye
(Mail Online) Of all the many complaints about airport security and the TSA, one of the most common is that they make little distinction between plausible security threats and passengers unlikely to be doing anything wrong.
And a recent incident in Wichita, Kansas has reinforced that argument, as a four-year-old girl was apparently subjected to a humiliating ordeal after she hugged her grandmother while she was waiting in line.
The girl was accused of having a gun and declared a 'high security threat', while agents threatened to shut down the whole airport if she could not be calmed down.
When asked about the overbearing treatment the girl received, a TSA spokesman did not apologise and insisted that correct procedures had been followed.
Terror threat? Four-year-old Isabella was subjected to a full body pat-down and accused of carrying a gun in an airport
Four-year-old Isabella's horrific experience in Wichita earlier this month was recounted on Facebook by her furious mother Michelle Brademeyer.
The family was in Kansas for a wedding, and was travelling home to Montana with Ms Brademeyer's mother.
Ms Brademeyer and her two children had passed through security when the grandmother was detained after triggering an alarm on the scanners.
Isabella then, according to her mother, 'excitedly ran over to give her a hug, as children often do. They made very brief contact, no longer than a few seconds.'
The young girl was immediately detained by security agents, who apparently shouted at her that she would have to be frisked too, and refused to let her mother explain what has happening.
Ms Brademeyer wrote: 'It was implied, several times, that my mother, in their brief two-second embrace, had passed a handgun to my daughter.'
In her terror, Isabella tried to run away rather than face a full body pat-down, which unsurprisingly enraged the TSA officers further.
One officer even told the girl's mother that the airport would have to be shut down and every flight cancelled if the four-year-old did not co-operate.
They also apparently described the little girl as a 'high security threat'.
As Isabella was taken into a side room for a pat-down, accompanied by her mother, she could not stop crying and refused to let the agents touch her.
An officer repeatedly said she had 'seen a gun in a teddy bear' in the past, in an apparent attempt to justify the situation.
Ms Brademeyer continued: 'The TSO loomed over my daughter, with an angry grimace on her face, and ordered her to stop crying.
'When my scared child could not do so, two TSOs called for backup saying, "The suspect is not cooperating." The suspect, of course, being a frightened child. They treated my daughter no better than if she had been a terrorist...' (continued)
Link:
(Mail Online) Of all the many complaints about airport security and the TSA, one of the most common is that they make little distinction between plausible security threats and passengers unlikely to be doing anything wrong.
And a recent incident in Wichita, Kansas has reinforced that argument, as a four-year-old girl was apparently subjected to a humiliating ordeal after she hugged her grandmother while she was waiting in line.
The girl was accused of having a gun and declared a 'high security threat', while agents threatened to shut down the whole airport if she could not be calmed down.
When asked about the overbearing treatment the girl received, a TSA spokesman did not apologise and insisted that correct procedures had been followed.
Four-year-old Isabella's horrific experience in Wichita earlier this month was recounted on Facebook by her furious mother Michelle Brademeyer.
The family was in Kansas for a wedding, and was travelling home to Montana with Ms Brademeyer's mother.
Ms Brademeyer and her two children had passed through security when the grandmother was detained after triggering an alarm on the scanners.
Isabella then, according to her mother, 'excitedly ran over to give her a hug, as children often do. They made very brief contact, no longer than a few seconds.'
The young girl was immediately detained by security agents, who apparently shouted at her that she would have to be frisked too, and refused to let her mother explain what has happening.
Ms Brademeyer wrote: 'It was implied, several times, that my mother, in their brief two-second embrace, had passed a handgun to my daughter.'
Nightmare: The TSA has been criticised for being over-zealous (file photo)
In her terror, Isabella tried to run away rather than face a full body pat-down, which unsurprisingly enraged the TSA officers further.
One officer even told the girl's mother that the airport would have to be shut down and every flight cancelled if the four-year-old did not co-operate.
They also apparently described the little girl as a 'high security threat'.
As Isabella was taken into a side room for a pat-down, accompanied by her mother, she could not stop crying and refused to let the agents touch her.
An officer repeatedly said she had 'seen a gun in a teddy bear' in the past, in an apparent attempt to justify the situation.
Ms Brademeyer continued: 'The TSO loomed over my daughter, with an angry grimace on her face, and ordered her to stop crying.
'When my scared child could not do so, two TSOs called for backup saying, "The suspect is not cooperating." The suspect, of course, being a frightened child. They treated my daughter no better than if she had been a terrorist...' (continued)
Link:
Mitt Romney hires openly gay spokeman
From Joel McDurmon at American Vision News:
MetroWeekly.com is exposing the whole truth that Washington Post would not reveal:
Mitt Romney’s campaign tonight announced
that it has hired Richard Grenell, an out gay former George W. Bush
administration official, to serve as the presumptive Republican
presidential nominee’s “national security and foreign policy spokesman,”
according to a report from The Washington Post that did not mention Grenell’s sexual orientation.
Grenell is not just gay, but a gay activist who pushes for same-sex marriages.
HuffPost has noted that since the choice, Grenell has scrubbed his Twitter account and website of offensive material:
Link:
MetroWeekly.com is exposing the whole truth that Washington Post would not reveal:
Grenell served through September 2008 in
the Bush administration as a spokesman to the U.S.
ambassador to the
United Nations — and told The Advocate‘s
Kerry Eleveld as he left the administration that it was his hope that
New York would have marriage equality soon and that he would one day be
able to marry his partner, Matt Lashey. The couple has been together 10
years. . . .
Andrew Sullivan, who had endorsed Obama’s 2008 run, wrote of
the news, “For Romney to have an openly gay spokesman is a real
outreach to gay Republicans, a subtle signal to moderates, and the
Santorum faction’s reaction will be worth noting.”
At the end of Grenell’s service in the Bush administration, he took a notable whack at the administration, telling The Advocate‘s
Kerry Eleveld of his effort to have his partner, Matt Lashey, listed in
the United Nations’ Blue Book, which is “a reference guide of contact
information for different member states of the United Nations as well as
diplomatic personnel and their spouses.”
Grenell had attempted to have Lashey’s name added several times, to no avail. He told The Advocate back
in 2008, “What put me over the edge was a friend and colleague who met
her spouse after I was already with my partner — they got married and
subsequently were put into the Blue Book in a matter of days.”
The State Department eventually told him
that the Defense of Marriage Act prevented the listing. Although he
protested the decision behind the scenes, Lashey’s name was not ever
added, which led to his coming forward to criticize the treatement
publicly as he left his post.
Richard Grenell, a former Bush administration official who joined the Romney campaign Thursday
as national security and foreign policy spokesman, appears to have
deleted more than 800 of his past tweets following scrutiny over numerous swipes aimed
at the media, prominent Democratic women and the Gingriches. Grenell
also apparently took down his personal site, which featured writing on
politics, foreign affairs and the media.
Link:
Cardinal Mahony dodges again
By Phil Lawler
(Catholic Culture) It’s a coincidence, no doubt, that the Stockton diocese settled a sex-abuse case just before Cardinal Roger Mahony, the former Bishop of Stockton, was scheduled to testify.
Actually Cardinal Mahony wasn’t ready to take questions. He had left for Rome, ignoring his date with the court, and the plaintiff’s lawyer was threatening to have the cardinal held in contempt. That threat went by the boards when the case was settled.
Stockton’s Bishop Stephen Blaire says that it was “in the best interest of everybody” to reach the mutually agreeable deal, in which the diocese paid $3.75 million to a single plaintiff. The bishop hopes that no one will think the settlement is an indication that the diocese admits culpability. And certainly we can all understand that sometimes it’s better to avoid a protracted legal dispute. But $3.75 million—payable to one alleged victim—is an awfully steep price to pay for avoiding the aggravation of a trial, especially when you consider that the trial was already underway.
The diocese was in an awkward position, of course, because another key witness in the case—beside Cardinal Mahony, I mean—had gone missing. Father Michael Kelly, the priest whose alleged misconduct had triggered the lawsuit, had also skipped town, flying home to his native Ireland just before he was supposed to testify. Bishop Blaire said that he was shocked by the priest’s flight.
What might Cardinal Mahony have said, if he had testified in this case? We’ll never know. But it doesn’t take much imagination to guess what sort of questions the plaintiff’s lawyers would have asked. They would surely have questioned the cardinal closely about something that came out in a previous abuse case, back in 2004:
Two decades go when he was bishop of Stockton, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony ordered two priests accused of child molestation to leave the country, according to a transcript of a deposition he gave last month. [emphasis added]Link:
Related:
Monday, April 23, 2012
Cause of Brain Freeze Revealed
By Jennifer Welsh
(LiveScience.com) Most people have likely experienced brain freeze — the debilitating, instantaneous pain in the temples after eating something frozen — but researchers didn't really understand what causes it, until now.
Previous studies have found that migraine sufferers are actually more likely to get brain freeze than people who don't get migraines. Because of this, the researchers thought the two might share some kind of common mechanism or cause, so they decided to use brain freeze to study migraines.
Headaches like migraines are difficult to study, because they are unpredictable. Researchers aren't able to monitor a whole one from start to finish in the lab. They can give drugs to induce migraines, but those can also have side effects that interfere with the results. Brain freeze can quickly and easily be used to start a headache in the lab, and it also ends quickly, which makes monitoring the entire event easy.
The researchers brought on brain freeze in the lab by having 13 healthy volunteers sip ice water through a straw right up against the roof of their mouth. The volunteers raised their hands when they felt the familiar brain freeze come on, and raised them again once it disappeared.
The researchers monitored the blood flow through their brains using an ultrasoundlike process on the skull. They saw that increased blood flow to the brain through a blood vessel called the anterior cerebral artery, which is located in the middle of the brain behind the eyes. This increase in flow and resulting increase in size in this artery brought on the pain associated with brain freeze... (continued)
Ever hear of the gospel of Judas... of Thomas... or of Mary Magdalene?
Know why they are not in the New Testament?
By Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.
(The Crossroads Initiative) In the heyday of the Roman Empire, the corruption of the times caused a wave of dissatisfaction to ripple across the civilized world. Many were disgusted with the gross sensuality of society and yearned for a higher, spiritual kind of existence. They sought a redeemer who would come down from heaven and enlighten those who walked in darkness.
When they heard about Jesus of Nazareth, they suspected they’d found their man. But surely, they thought, he was a divinity who just appeared to be flesh and blood so that he could pass on to us the secret knowledge needed for spiritual enlightenment. Since he wasn’t really human, he couldn’t have really died. The whole Calvary thing must have just been the final act of the play, the necessary device to get him off stage so he could resume his proper angelic mode of existence, free of all entanglement with the gross, material world. For these people thought that the greed and lust they saw all around them was just the inevitable result of having physical bodies. Salvation for them was the soul’s escape from the prison of the body so that it could soar like a bird back to its heavenly home.
These people, known as the Gnostics, wrote documents that they claimed represented the secret, spiritual view of Jesus and his message. The supposed “gospels” of Judas, Thomas, and Mary Magdalene all come from this movement, written about 120 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
It’s as if Jesus knew that this distorted idea would arise. For in this Sunday’s gospel, written much earlier that the phony Gnostic gospels, the risen Lord appears to the disciples and debunks the idea that he is some pure spirit. As might be imagined, the disciples are spooked by the appearance of someone they buried just a few days before. But Jesus insists that he is no spook. Though he is somewhat changed in appearance, He is clearly flesh and blood and has a fish dinner to prove it. His death was no accident or mirage. He proved that by showing them the wounds in his hands and feet.
God had created the material world, and placed man and woman in it as rulers over it. He saw creation as good, and man and woman as very good. It wasn’t the body that caused the problem, but a horrible choice made by the soul. Sin was a spiritual decision, acted out in the body and having a disastrous impact upon all creation on every level, both spiritual and material.
So the redeemer saved us by a spiritual decision that had to be acted out in the body, consisting of the offering of his body as a sacrifice that would remove sin and renew all creation. The psalms, the law, and the prophets had all foretold it–the savior would not just teach, but had to suffer and die. This however, would not be the end of the story. Passage after passage hinted that he would somehow live again.
Was all this easy to find, clearly laid out in the Old Testament? Not in the least. The Scriptures are divine, having been inspired by the Holy Spirit, laden with meaning exceeding the awareness of their human authors. Reading the scriptures with just human eyes, a person is bound to miss a lot.
So on that Easter Sunday afternoon, Jesus explained all the passages that referred to his death and resurrection and opened the disciples’ minds to the understanding of the Scriptures. He did that by giving them a share in the same Spirit who inspired the Scriptures in the first place. Through baptism and confirmation, he has given us the same spirit of understanding. So let’s forget about the “gospel” of Judas and the DaVinci code and attack the life-giving words of the Spirit-breathed Scriptures with zeal and faith. There are a lot of exciting discoveries to be made!
Link:
By Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.
(The Crossroads Initiative) In the heyday of the Roman Empire, the corruption of the times caused a wave of dissatisfaction to ripple across the civilized world. Many were disgusted with the gross sensuality of society and yearned for a higher, spiritual kind of existence. They sought a redeemer who would come down from heaven and enlighten those who walked in darkness.
When they heard about Jesus of Nazareth, they suspected they’d found their man. But surely, they thought, he was a divinity who just appeared to be flesh and blood so that he could pass on to us the secret knowledge needed for spiritual enlightenment. Since he wasn’t really human, he couldn’t have really died. The whole Calvary thing must have just been the final act of the play, the necessary device to get him off stage so he could resume his proper angelic mode of existence, free of all entanglement with the gross, material world. For these people thought that the greed and lust they saw all around them was just the inevitable result of having physical bodies. Salvation for them was the soul’s escape from the prison of the body so that it could soar like a bird back to its heavenly home.These people, known as the Gnostics, wrote documents that they claimed represented the secret, spiritual view of Jesus and his message. The supposed “gospels” of Judas, Thomas, and Mary Magdalene all come from this movement, written about 120 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus.It’s as if Jesus knew that this distorted idea would arise. For in this Sunday’s gospel, written much earlier that the phony Gnostic gospels, the risen Lord appears to the disciples and debunks the idea that he is some pure spirit. As might be imagined, the disciples are spooked by the appearance of someone they buried just a few days before. But Jesus insists that he is no spook. Though he is somewhat changed in appearance, He is clearly flesh and blood and has a fish dinner to prove it. His death was no accident or mirage. He proved that by showing them the wounds in his hands and feet.
God had created the material world, and placed man and woman in it as rulers over it. He saw creation as good, and man and woman as very good. It wasn’t the body that caused the problem, but a horrible choice made by the soul. Sin was a spiritual decision, acted out in the body and having a disastrous impact upon all creation on every level, both spiritual and material.
Was all this easy to find, clearly laid out in the Old Testament? Not in the least. The Scriptures are divine, having been inspired by the Holy Spirit, laden with meaning exceeding the awareness of their human authors. Reading the scriptures with just human eyes, a person is bound to miss a lot.
So on that Easter Sunday afternoon, Jesus explained all the passages that referred to his death and resurrection and opened the disciples’ minds to the understanding of the Scriptures. He did that by giving them a share in the same Spirit who inspired the Scriptures in the first place. Through baptism and confirmation, he has given us the same spirit of understanding. So let’s forget about the “gospel” of Judas and the DaVinci code and attack the life-giving words of the Spirit-breathed Scriptures with zeal and faith. There are a lot of exciting discoveries to be made!
Link:
'Mel's Hole' shrouded in mystery
(KEPR) ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- From Bigfoot to the disappearance of D.B. Cooper, the Pacific Northwest is full of mysteries.
Another mystery burred deep in the hills of eastern Washington keeps resurfacing.
Ellensburg and its surrounding valleys and Manastash Ridge are beautiful in any season.
Some believe what lies beneath is a deep, dark hole with supernatural powers.
A man named Red Elk is one of the only people alive known to have ever seen the mysterious hole.
A Native American Shaman, or medicine man, Red Elk said his dad first showed him the hole in 1961.
"He said 'This is an endless hole,'" Red Elk said.
Red Elk's been back many times and said strange things happen every time he goes near it.
"People get it confused with what I call the devil's hole," he said.
Many locals claim to know about the hole, but it didn't become phenomena until 1997, when Mel Waters went on the Coast to Coast radio show with Art Bell.
"I brought the dogs with me." Waters said on the show. "They wouldn't go anywhere near the damn thing."
Waters said the hole had a three-foot stone wall around it.
It seemed bottomless to him, so he used an old shark fisherman's trick -- sending thousands of feet of fishing line down.
"What I did, was I sent down a roll of lifesavers," he said. "So when it hit water the lifesavers would dissolve."
But the lifesavers came back up whole -- no water -- so how deep was this hole?
Waters said he believed it descended miles into the earth and he heard strange stories about its powers.
"One guy claims that he threw his departed canine down into the hole," he said. "He swears the dog actually came back to him."
Red Elk said it was when Waters went public that the trouble began.
"Now I'm going public on this. And that could land me in a pile of junk," he said.
Red Elk claims the government has a secret base there.
"An underground base, a very small, underground base," he said.
That's how Red Elk explains the white boxes covering the area on some satellite images.
He also said he's seen "alien activity" in the area.
"A huge space craft, one, will appear and hover over the hole," he said.
That's what he said happens during Summer Solstice, when space men load and unload things at the hole before flying away.
At the Northwest Museum of Legends and Lore, Phil Lipson said he's heard the stories.
"Well, I believe there is a hole," Lipson said.
But Lipson's never seen the hole, even though he's led expeditions to find it.
"I think it's actually a true event just something that's never been totally uncovered," he said.
And to this day, no one's been able to find it, since that famous radio conversation.
Ellensburg Public Library Historian Milton Wagy said the story became a sensation after Waters went on the radio.
He said the phone rang off the hook with all kinds of stories about the hole -- some explainable -- some not.
He's still trying to solve the mystery of what happened to the library's file on Mel's Hole.
"Well it just disappeared, which lends itself to the mysteriousness of Mel's Hole," Wagy said. "Did Mel take it? Did it just kind of rise out of the locked file cabinet."You never know there might be a hole out there."
Now the question who, is anyone can find Mel's Hole and prove its existence?
Link:
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Patrick Madrid's Advice to Catholic Parents: Don’t Let Your Kids Date Non-Catholics
By Patrick Madrid
I know, this is hardly revolutionary or unique advice, but I was recently asked about this issue by a young Catholic man who called my “Open Line” radio show (heard every Thursday at 3:00 p.m. ET). He had been dating a devoutly Presbyterian girl, and her father didn’t like it one bit that the guy was Catholic.
I think my response to his “what do I do now?” question may have surprised him. (It apparently surprised and even dismayed a few of my listeners, judging from some of the e-mails that came in after that show.)
My basic premise, which I advert to in this audio segment is that, more often than not, mixed marriages (i.e., when a Catholic marries a non-Catholic) are a recipe for serious problems down the road in that marriage.
My advice to Catholic parents is, teach your children well the importance of finding a devoutly Catholic spouse. Eventually, if you haven’t taught them this maxim and they, as a result, do not act on it, you will very likely see problems springing up in your extended family due to your sons and daughters being, in a certain sense, unequally yoked with non-Catholics. Word to the wise.
Link:
My advice to Catholic parents is, teach your children well the importance of finding a devoutly Catholic spouse. Eventually, if you haven’t taught them this maxim and they, as a result, do not act on it, you will very likely see problems springing up in your extended family due to your sons and daughters being, in a certain sense, unequally yoked with non-Catholics. Word to the wise.
Link:
Bishop O'Connell Students Protest Firing of History Teacher - UPDATED
(WJLA) The firing of a beloved teacher at Bishop O'Connell High School in Arlington has sparked an uprising, and on Thursday, nearly 150 students made their voices heard in support of former teacher John Harrison.
Harrison says he was fired to bring in two younger, less-expensive replacements, and he plans to file an age discrimination lawsuit. The former Army infantry officer who earned a Purple Heart in Vietnam became an extremely successful trial lawyer, but his dream was always to be a high school Social Studies teacher.
That dream was realized, then came to a sudden end."I've always wanted to be a high school history teacher and that's all I want to be until I can't work anymore," Harrison said. "It was hard to describe how much fun it was to go to work in the morning."
He says that the way he and other teachers were treated by what he calls an "autocratic" principal is outrageous. It led to a vocal protest by dozens of Bishop O'Connell students and Facebook pages numbering thousands of supporters.
"Part of the reason I'm going to college is because of Mr. Harrison," student Armando Ouilando said. "It was one class that I went home and shared what I learned that day."
In response, Bishop O'Connell officials said they could not discuss individual personnel matters. In a statement, they said that they understand the difficulty of change, but they acknowledge that change must occur so that the school can flourish.
Harrison said he has not encouraged the students to rise against the school's administration; then again, he hasn't tried to quell it, either, saying that the latter would go against everything he has taught his students.
Link:
UPDATE: The following e-mails were sent by Kevin Di Gregory, Chairman of the Board of Governors of Bishop O'Connell High School:
1.
From: O'Connell Board of Governors <board@bishopoconnell.org>2.
Sent: Friday, 20 April 2012 4:25 AM
Subject: A Message from the O'Connell Board of Governors
Dear Families, Alumni and Friends,
According to Diocesan policy, the school administration is not at liberty to discuss individual personnel situations.
The Office of Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Arlington and the Board of Governors of Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School fully and completely support the school's administration as it continues its effort to create the best possible educational environment for all of its students.
We understand the difficulty of change, but acknowledge that change must occur so that the school can flourish and move forward in meeting present and future educational needs.
With thanks for the tremendous support that the O’Connell community has always provided for our students, we ask that this community now join forces to shape an even greater future.
Sincerely,
Kevin Di Gregory
Chairman, Board of Governors of Bishop O'Connell High School
From: O'Connell Board of Governors <board@bishopoconnell.org>
Date: 20 April 2012 9:32:06 AM AEST
Subject: Clarification - Message from the O'Connell Board of Governors
Dear Alumni,
We apologize for any confusion that our earlier e-mail may have caused. You may or may not have heard about a staffing situation that has recently arisen at Bishop O'Connell High School, and about which the school has been receiving numerous inquiries. The Board of Governors of the Bishop O'Connell in conjunction with the Office of Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Arlington has released the following statement (which appeared in our previous e-mail):
According to Diocesan policy, the school administration is not at liberty to discuss individual personnel situations.
The Office of Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Arlington and the Board of Governors of Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School fully and completely support the school's administration as it continues its effort to create the best possible educational environment for all of its students.
We understand the difficulty of change, but acknowledge that change must occur so that the school can flourish and move forward in meeting present and future educational needs.
With thanks for the tremendous support that the O’Connell community has always provided for our students, we ask that this community now join forces to shape an even greater future.
Sincerely,
Kevin Di Gregory
Chairman, Board of Governors of Bishop O'Connell High School
Friday, April 20, 2012
Chance to be Ann Barnhardt's Obama "Billboard Neighbor"
Ann Barnhardt at barnhardt.biz needs a new neighbor for her Obama billboard:
Here are some ideas:
"...Well, the billboard right beneath mine was leased by a local community college, and they got their panties in a twist about being so close to my 'extreme rhetoric', which in retrospect is hilarious. Dude, on the Barnhardt scale of rhetoric, 'Obama is a fraud. Demand resignation now' is about a 0.5 on the old volume dial, packing the heat of a glass of warm milk.
So, they demanded that their billboard be moved to another one of the company's locations, and the company, being very sympathetic to my cause and sentiments, gave me the right of first refusal on the now-abandoned billboard just beneath mine. So I grabbed that one, too. By this time, it was clear what Obama was, and so I kicked up the volume and heat...
The billboard company has agreed to let me see if there is anyone out there who would like to be my new 'billboard neighbor...'
So, some ideas might be a Catholic group wanting to put up a pro-life billboard, or a Divine Mercy billboard. Or an 'I WILL NOT COMPLY' billboard would be fantastic, too. Or a picture of Obama and Eric Holder with just the word TRAITORS. Something like that...
If you are interested, shoot me an email with an idea of what you would want to do and I'll put you in contact with my account rep at the billboard company. Communists need not apply! It really is a fun and satisfying way to exercise your First Amendment freedom!
Here's the pic. You would be replacing the TOP billboard." (continued)
Here are some ideas:
Happy 89th birthday Mother Angelica!
Raymond Arroyo: "On 89th, here is one of my favorite Mother quotes: 'I'm sure Our Lord asked a lot of people to build a network. There has to be a reason that He chose a few nuns who didn't know anything, in the wrong state of life, with no money--because it goes against reason. Some people say I am a woman of great faith. I'm really a coward who keeps moving forward."