This is a very interesting article on Relativism, Duh!
The problem I have with the philosophy of Relativism is that it denies any universal truths, except that is, the universal truth they believe... that everything is relative. I know it's simplistic but I can't get past the logical error that they make. They try to prove there is no universal truth by declaring a universal truth.
So, Benedict XVI is going to the UN. This will be a fun event to follow. Let's get ready because the Holy Father and the Church are going to be blamed for everything from the spread of AIDS to global warming. This visit should bring out some of the most entertaining protestors and special interest groups that we have seen in... well since John Paul II visited.
UN Secretary-General said Pope Benedict XVI has accepted his invitation to visit UN headquarters "at a mutually convenient time".
Today I had an EEG to check out the ole brain waves. The lines were squiggly and not flat so in my book I passed the test.
All this stems from my episode last Easter weekend when I lost memory completely of almost three days. This is the second time it has happened and last time there was nothing physically wrong just like I'm sure is the case this time. Since I have the seizures so frequently they wanted to mainly make sure the medication was holding them in check. Oh well, I lose a nights sleep but I get some peace of mind. That should keep my brainwaves mellow like they are sipping a Pina Colada on a Caribbean beach!
I don't know what is up the last several days but I can't ride my bike more than 25 minutes without getting excruciating pain in my left ankle, knee and hip. I end up having to "limp" home either getting off the bike every few minutes or if I can coast I can unclip my left foot and let my left leg hang.
This is not good as I was hoping to increase my training days by 1 each week and start increasing my time on the bike to. I'm set up for a bike fit a week from this Saturday. We'll see if that helps but if it was something in the fit of the bike I don't think it would come on so suddenly.
There must be some standardization in how the rules of cycling are applied to each team when it comes to doping. Teams like Discovery that have the will to be ethical should be applauded. But I wonder if other teams don't take similar stands will the ethical ones simply be drummed out of the sport because they can't compete?
Three cheers for Archbishop Raymond Burke! He gets it! It is more important to save souls than have a PC attitude that "This is about helping kids.". Come on, how can a person who claims to be working for kids accept a person who advocates for killing children. And how serious can Costas be taken when he claims to be for kids but wouldn't include a "litmus test" for somebody advocating killing kids. Are these people for real? Are they that ignorant and caught up in themselves that they cannot see the contradiction?
"It's very painful for me," Burke said during a news conference Wednesday. "But I have to answer to God for the responsibility I have as archbishop.
Well, as many may know in my never ending search to find fun and interesting substitutes for my boring and tedious cognitive therapy I took up learning to play the Recorder. Normally it is used with Elementary school kids to get them interested in learning music.
Well it has proved to be a very daunting task for me. I got a book for kids and it has taken me over three months to get to the point that kids get in a couple of weeks. BUT, yesterday was a milestone!
I made it through the first several bars of Beethoven's Ode to Joy. If a person listens carefully, in a abstract sort of way, I'm sure that at least 2 out of 10 listeners would recognize it as Ode to Joy. I'm even more sure that at least half of all listeners would even recognize some notes and a hint of rhythm.
On the serious side it is so cool to actually play something! It has been a long road getting hear but I've had fun and will continue on with my journey in music.
As far as the cognitive value of my learning it has been far greater than I expected. To learn to read music, keep time, finger the Recorder etc. has taxed my cognition greater than 100 of the word search and 'follow the instructions' therapies my therapists give me. I still attempt some every day, but to work on the Recorder and then have tangible results is incredibly gratifying.
In closing I would like to offer apologies to Ludwig. I promise to do better in time.
This happened about three months ago...
I created the blog post but I never posted it. Awesome Chick and I were talking to some friends and they said I should post it. So here it is......
I love all kinds of hats, even hats that I'm too much of a stiff to actually wear. I recently bought myself an Australian Outback brand Wax Cloth hat that sort of looks like the one Indiana Jones wears. The only problem was that it was a bit too tight. The large was tight but the extra large was way to big. I came up with this idea to really soak it with water and wear it around and see if it would stretch.
So I'm wearing this hat around the house that I'm keeping so wet water is dripping down my face. I don't know why but I decided to go outside. After a while, I'm not sure how long, the strokes took my sense of time, I start to get a headache. It starts to get really bad like my head is in a vice, so bad I'm getting nauseous. I'm thinking "this is the worst ice cream headache I've ever had".
I literally stumbled into the house, feeling like I was going to throw up. I reached up to grab my hat off my head and the darn thing was not only frozen almost solid it was frozen to my head! As awesome Chick and I jokingly say now I had turned my head into an Australian Outback popcycle. I had to lay on the floor with my head in the sun wondering if I had killed more of what brain I have left.
Well just like when you eat ice cream to fast my head thawed out and I went to our computer and logged onto the 9 News web site to check the temperature. It was only 20 friggin degrees outside!
I usually have these "stroke moments" when I'm alone. I can tell Awesome Chick is a bit concerned about the time when the weather warms up and I trade my indoor trainer in for riding outside.
Yep Dr. Romain is are right, when things get tough to explain lets ignore and change them, even if they lead to the Truth. Come on that is spiritually and intellectually week. Dr. Romain has an ally in the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. He wants to change Holy Scripture so that people opposed to and for homosexuality can read the same verse and be happy with it. Boy when he is judged I will be interested to see how our Lord deals with him if his watering down and manipulation of Holy Scripture causes one person to lose their eternal soul. Of course Hell is a hard and unpleasant teaching to so maybe we should change that in the spirit of everybody feeling good about everything they do.
Are you serious Dr. Romain that "One of the great puzzles today is why there is so much turmoil associated with faith"? The reason is the rejection of faith and truth that you and many like you propose.
Link to If thy scripture offend one of another faith, pluck it out-Comment-Faith-TimesOnline
It's astounding to me how Pullella can make it sound as if it is Archbishop Amato and Pope Benedict "coming up" with these truths about evil. A true Catholic will understand that we must hate the sin and love the sinner (I now that sounds corny but it is true). But to not call a sin a sin is to not only endanger the eternal soul of the sinner but to endanger the soul of the person who is not educating the sinner. We cannot condemn our fellow man, only God can do that, but we will be held accountable for our actions, or inactions, that lead to God condemning our fellow man.
The Vatican's second-highest ranking doctrinal official on Monday forcefully branded homosexual marriage an evil and denounced abortion and euthanasia as forms of "terrorism with a human face."
Source: Gay marriage evil, abortion terrorism: Vatican - washingtonpost.com
I noticed today that the spell checker on my email and blogging clients, both Microsoft products, do not recognize the words:
prolife and Magisterium
However it does recognize prochoice and protestant. Dictionary.com recognizes all these words.
Source: Rowan Williams says anti-gays misread Bible | Top News | Reuters
This is what happens when you reject a 2000 year old Magisterium, Tradition and Deposit of Faith and break up into 30,000 + denominations that get to make up their own meanings for Scripture.
Yesterday I rode with a friend. It was my first ride that I was not alone on in a long time. I know that Awesome Chick was a bit relieved. She asked John to take me along the same route that ended with me in ' the hood' a few days ago. I think AC may be a bit nervous about me riding around there. I wonder why?
Anyway we couldn't identify the specific place that I made the wrong turn at but we found some candidates. The problem is I could only remember a few snapshots of the previous ride. I can only remember a few snapshots of the right with John. We plan on training together at least 1 day each weekend. That will be nice. I spend so much time alone I really get excited about seeing family and friends.
Well I must read Dominus Iesus again but it seems to me that pope Benedict is being true to what he found as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation that the Church knows of and therefore He is the only way that the Church can truthfully teach.
The Church recognizes better than any of us the infinite love and mercy of God. So the Church has hope that Got has provided a way to salvation that we don't not know of.
This is what the statement on Limbo has done. It states that the Church dose not know how unbaptised babies are saved but she hopes our merciful and loving God provides a way we do not know of.
The media is making a big hubub about this statement as a change in Roman Catholic teaching. What this is, is a statement of the consistency of Roman Catholic teaching; or for the media at large, a non-issue that they will make an issue of.
As a fellow blogger blogged, this really only deserves a TINNY COMMENT.
"Although it doesn't actually dismiss limbo altogether," Weinandy added, "it argues for other ways of dealing with salvation for infants who died unbaptized."
Source: Vatican panel condemns limbo to eternal dustbin - Los Angeles Times
My preparation for my ride is going average at best I have to say. I was supposed to start riding 5 days per week this week but I had to hold it at 4. My legs have felt like lead! I did have a good ride today though. I also learned something. Never follow a rider you don't know; expecting them to get you where you want to go.
I got a bit disoriented on today's ride so I started to follow a rider who seemed to be going in the direction I wanted to. When this happens, and it happens often, the rule is that I'm supposed to call my wife. The problem with me and rules though is remembering them. Well I lost my guide and I ended up in the projects', the hood, the barrio around downtown Denver!
As I rode through a group of 6 very large African American men (did I say VERY LARGE!) standing in the middle of the street, wearing blue 'doo rags' I realized that I didn't really blend in. Nobody else was riding a fancy, red Spanish racing bike, wearing a Helmet, gloves and goofy, skin tight, Lycra shorts. Let's please try to forget the image of the milk white legs sticking out of them. (A little honesty here is in order; even on Lance Armstrong cycling shorts look GOOFY! The more high tech they are the goofier they look.)
My wife, who is full blooded Mexican, lived part of her childhood in that neighborhood. Her Dad lived in that neighborhood. My older sister lived there for several years with her children. My Dad was brought up not in that neighborhood but just blocks to the north. Sometimes I have gone there with my wife and her family or my family. But only StrokeBoy would end up there alone, on a bike, wearing those damn skin tight Lycra cycling shorts and not having a clue how he got there or how to get home. Thank the Good Lord my shorts are black and not some silly color like pink that you see in the Tour De France. The only way I could have made this worse is if I had done it in the middle of the night. Stay tuned because I very quickly unlearn the lessons I learn.
Anyway it all ended fine because I ended up home and I'm writing this. The part that amuses me is that I almost never remember how I get home, I just end up here. I'm sure my wife Awesome Chick is just thrilled about that. I remember a few details of my ride, like today's visit the turf of the Crips, but very little else. Geese if a cop had seen me I would have probably been arrested for simply being clueless and out of my mind. No doubt I would have been guilty on all counts and sentenced to life I'm sure.
I pray that "warning Catholic politicians" is not the last step. It does nothing but cause scandal and confusion when people see leaders living live that are contrary to the faith they profess. To be honest I consider that a serious personality flaw which leads me to think a politician is not being honest with me.
Christ never made any compromise. Holy Scripture has many places where even his disciples found a teaching hard. Jesus never once compromises His teaching but made it very clear that to follow Him meant accepting everything, even to the point of giving up all worldly attachments and relationships. Following Him should mean even if you have to give up some votes and risk the election.
He has warned Catholic politicians who must decide on such issues as abortion, euthanasia and marriage that the faith's values are "not negotiable." And he has closed the door on any relaxation of the celibacy requirement for priests.
Source: Papa Ratzi Post
Let the spin machines begin! Take a look at the link below to take a look at the volume of information that is already available concerning Gonzales v. Carhart.
I just wanted to print out today's US Supreme Court decision. Just the decision is 75 pages long.
I wonder, is the average, everyday guy in this country, let alone a brain damaged StrokeBoy, EVER going to be able to fully understand the laws we have to live by every day. The answer to that is a big fat NO with lawyers running everything.
Link to Gonzales v. Carhart, 05-380 - FindLaw US Supreme Court Center
Cardinal Justin Rgali is sounding very optimistic about today's Supreme Court ruling. In this ZENIT article he quotes language in the decision that is surprisingly prolife which would give reason for prolife Americans to be optimistic.
I however believe that the opposition has just begun the fight. This is something too important for the Culture of Death to taking lying down.
The cardinal, who is archbishop of Philadelphia, added: "Especially welcome is the court's explicit recognition of certain key facts: that abortion is the taking of a human life, and that government has a legitimate interest in protecting and preserving this life at every stage."
In the quote below he is pleased that the court recognizes the devastating affect that abortion has on many facets of society. I'm sure that he was mindful of the absence of the mention of men and how being involved in the killing of their child may affect them. That may be too difficult of a leap for the court right now as it would strengthen the idea of a family having two parents, male and female.
He further praised the court's recognition "that 'respect for human life finds an ultimate expression in the bond of love the mother has for her child'; that abortion may also cause grief and sorrow for women, which is only made worse when the reality of the procedure has been withheld from them until it is too late; and that the ethical integrity of the medical profession, as well as the fabric of our society, is threatened by the acceptance of practices that are difficult to distinguish from infanticide."
I have not read the text of the actual decision, but I plan on it.
In the mean time the best course of action is still to pray, fast and do penance.
Today is exactly 1 and 1/2 years since my first stroke. I also had an appointment with my neurologist.
This really has been an Eclectic Journey. One that continues. Along the road I've been able to find things that in spite of my disability I have been able to enjoy and even improve at. In fact one of those things has come directly from my cognitive therapy; writing!
In an effort to remember what goes on from one minute to the next my cognitive therapist has had me writing down EVERYTHING. So I kind of got into the habit of writing down not just my actions but my thoughts and emotions. I've written volumes (whatever a volume is) in the last 18 months. In fact, between my journal I write by hand, my PDA and computer I'd venture to say my life is probably one of the most documented ever. For some strange reason, even though when I talk or even think to my self my thoughts are broken and get confused, I can write and the thoughts are smooth and well, less confused. I have a theory that my writing, which is slow, causes my brain to work at the speed of my fingers and thus can do a better job of processing.
Then there is riding my bike. For some reason anaerobic exercise causes me to have nerve pain. Sometimes I have to stop and sit down after walking up the steps in our house to get the nerve pain to settle down. I found though that aerobic exercise does not cause me the same pain. I can ride my bike for a long time with no pain. In fact the longer I ride it, the more "in synch" my anaerobic and aerobic systems become and the longer I can then ride. This could be because I was riding a lot before my strokes.
My neurologist was happy with where I'm at. I have to say this. Considering what I thought my life was going to be when I first heard those words, "he has clots in his brain and is having a stroke" and everything going dark, I'm pretty happy with where I'm at. I have to do another EEG. That's because of an episode I had over Easter. I seem to have completely lost three days. He is going to check to see if perhaps my medicine that is supposed to stop my seizures isn't pulling its weight.
Celebrate, but only a little!
It should be painfully obvious to everybody now that a so called 'right' to kill an unborn child is never going to go away by depending upon legislation alone.
Until we change the hearts and minds of an entire nation we will be continually pulled from one extreme to another. As the winds constantly change from political conservatism to liberalism the volume of innocent lives taken and people ravaged with the aftermath will decrease or increase. Americans will change their value system based upon the last election or as in this case nine individual judges.
The 5-4 ruling, which upheld the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, marks a significant shift to the right by the US’s top court on one of the country’s most divisive issues.
All people who respect life should feel a cold chill in there blood when reading the quote below by Justice Ginsburg. What have we done as a society when we have made the taking of an innocent life so mundane that in her words it is a central part of a woman's life?! We must pray and fast for those that hold this as a "centrality" of their life.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wrote a dissent on behalf of the court’s liberal wing, called the decision “alarming”. She said it “cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this court – and with increasing comprehension of its centrality to women’s lives”.
Never forget, the right to kill unborn children was brought to you via Roe v Wade in 1973 by the same institution that brought America Dred Scott v. Sandford in 1856. Both decisions have cost millions of lives and incalculable suffering and division. That is NOT something that more legislation can fix.
Pray, fast and do penance! The war is far from over.
Link to FT.com / World - Legal victory for abortion opponents
