I've finally added my friend Rae's blog, Confessions of a Pauline Cooperator, to my list of St. Blog's virtual parishioners. I don't know if she's actually in the St. Blog's webring but if she isn't she ought to be!

Latest news -- New ruling keeps Schiavo feeding tube in place.

The fight for Terri Schiavo's life continues. BlogsforTerri has some up to the minute info on her situation, and it's not good. They are trying to put together an advertisement to help get the word out. Check it out, it's more important than anything else I blog about.

Pete Vere from Catholic Light has suggested we pray for the intercession of Sr. Lucia of Fatima for Terri Schiavo. The suggested prayer:

Merciful Father, you blessed Sr. Lucia of Fatima as a child with a vision of the Virgin Mary, and granted her the grace to live a life of holiness and heroic obedience to Holy Mother Church. By her life she bore witness to the glory of God. Grant, in this hour of need for your daughter Terri Schiavo, that by Sr. Lucia's intercession, those souls hardened by the culture of death may come to believe in the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and be moved to revere and protect her life and all innocent human life. Amen.

Sr. Lucia dies. I just saw that Sister Lucia, the last of the Fatima visionaries, passed away yesterday (Feb. 13th). I'm sure there are many who will conclude all sorts of horrible things are going to happen now. Who knows?

Happy Valentine's Day!

and

Happy Birthday Arizona!

Arizona became a state on February 14, 1912.

Check out Cringely's take on the firing of Carly Fiorina. He thinks it was a smart move to let her go.

Time Magazine reports that the Church is growing in the South. Not only is it growing by leaps and bounds, but it's more orthodox than the Midwest and Northeast. Thanks be to God!

Thanks to Catholic Light for the link.

Happy Lent! I know, what a strange expression. I was out sick yesterday (*bleah*) but dragged myself to 5:30 p.m. Mass to get my ashes. Alas, I got "minimalist" ashes that were barely noticeable later.

I decided to go with getting up an hour earlier on weekdays. It's enough to make me a little uncomfortable, and benefits others (like my employees and boss) so it's a good thing, I think.

Choosing a fast.

With Ash Wednesday only 4 days away I'm still trying to decide on a Lenten fast. In the past I've given up things like soda pop, french fries, and (last year) hamburgers. I've also given up time by going to Mass every day.

I had originally planned on giving up hamburgers again, but in truth I don't eat them nearly as much as I used to; so I'm not sure how challenging that would be. It's occurred to me the last couple of days that I should give up sleeping late, and start getting my butt to work at a more normal time. In some ways this would be quite challenging, and of course probably a good discipline overall.

Comments, readers?

Wow. In the No Good Deed Goes Unpunished file -- Girls sued for delivering cookies . That's just wrong. What kind of society do we live in these days?

Slashdot discusses (yet again) the mythic, long-awaited Knuth's Art of Computer Programming Vol. 4. I really think this book is to computer scientists what the Holy Grail or (perhaps) the message of Fatima were, with one important difference -- we now know the message of Fatima!

Here's the transcript of President Bush's State of the Union speech last night. He's sounding pretty Catholic these days:

Because a society is measured by how it treats the weak and vulnerable, we must strive to build a culture of life. Medical research can help us reach that goal, by developing treatments and cures that save lives and help people overcome disabilities - and I thank Congress for doubling the funding of the National Institutes of Health. To build a culture of life, we must also ensure that scientific advances always serve human dignity, not take advantage of some lives for the benefit of others. We should all be able to agree on some clear standards. I will work with Congress to ensure that human embryos are not created for experimentation or grown for body parts, and that human life is never bought and sold as a commodity. America will continue to lead the world in medical research that is ambitious, aggressive, and always ethical.

Thanks be to God! Vatican: Pope's condition stable.

It's official -- UPN Cancels 'Star Trek: Enterprise'. Another hour a week I'll get back.

Like many people, I suspect, I sometimes get a particular song (or even a whole album) stuck in my head for days at a time. I went through this with Evanescence's album, for example. The latest song to infest my head is Michelle Branch's song Here With Me:

It's been a long, long time since I looked into the mirror
I guess that I was blind
Now my reflection's getting clearer
Now that you're gone things will never be the same again

There's not a minute that goes by every hour of every day
You're such a part of me
But I just pulled away
Well, I'm not the same girl
you used to know
I wish I said the words I never showed

I know you had to go away
I died just a little, and I feel it now
You're the one I need
I believe that I would cry just a little
Just to have you back now
Here with me
Here with me

You know that silence is loud when all you hear is your heart
And I wanted so badly just to be a part of something strong and true
But I was scared and left it all behind

I know you had to go away
I died just a little, and I feel it now
You're the one I need
I believe that I would cry just a little
Just to have you back now
Here with me
Here with me

And I'm asking
And I'm wanting you to come back to me
Please?

I never will forget that look upon
your face
How you turned away and left
without a trace
But I understand that you did what you had to do
And I thank you

I know you had to go away
I died just a little, and I feel it now
You're the one I need
I believe that I would cry just a little
Just to have you back now
Here with me
Here with me

Okay, the latest Slashdot Poll is making me feel VERY old. In response to the question, "Where were you when the Challenger exploded?", 39% of respondents are answering "Elementary school". Eeep!

I had justed started my first job out of college, working for the US Naval Ship Weapon Systems Engineering Station. The explosion was 19 years ago today. May they rest in peace!

For our RCIA class tonight we devoted the session to prayer and questions. We do this a few times during the course of the program so that we remember that we need to pray together, and have a chance to ask/answer questions.

For the Q&A, after some time for questions from the class we devoted about an hour almost to picking a few points from the sessions we've already had and seeing how our class answered them. I was very impressed! The class is clearly getting what we are teaching them, which is very gratifying. Not only do they know the difference between such things as the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Birth, they even understand what the Church is teaching about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. All in all it was very satisfying.

After our Q&A we did Evening Prayer from the Universalis site. If you have never checked out their site, it's very cool. We shared one reading from the Office of Readings for today. It's too good not to share:

From a sermon by John the Serene, bishop
Love the Lord and walk in his ways
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? How great was that servant who knew how he was given light, whence it came, and what sort of man he was when he was favoured by that light. The light he saw was not that which fades at dusk, but the light which no eye has seen. Souls brightened by this light do not fall into sin or stumble on vice. Our Lord said: Walk while you have the light in you. What other light did he mean but himself? For it was he who said. I came as a light into the world, so that those who have eyes may not see and the blind may receive the light. The Lord then is our light the sun of justice and righteousness, who has shone on his Catholic Church spread throughout the world. The prophet spoke as a figure of the Church when he cried: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The spiritual man who has been thus illumined does not limp or leave the path, but bears all things. Glimpsing our true country from afar, he puts up with adversities; he is not saddened by the things of time, but finds his strength in God. He lowers his pride and endures, possessing patience through humility. That true light which enlightens every man who comes into the world bestows itself on those who reverence it, shining where it wills, on whom it wills, and revealing itself according to the will of God the Son. When this light begins to shine upon the man who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, in the darkness of evil and the shadow of sin, he is shocked, he calls himself to account, repents of his misdeeds in shame, and says: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Great is this salvation, my brethren, which fears neither sickness nor lethargy and disregards pain. We should then in the fullest sense not only with our voice but with our very soul cry out, The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? If he enlightens and saves me, whom shall I fear? Even though the dark shadows of evil suggestions crowd about, The Lord is my light. They can approach, but cannot prevail; they can lay siege to our heart, but cannot conquer it. Though the blindness of concupiscence assails us, again we say: The Lord is my light. For he is our strength; he gives himself to us and we give ourselves to him. Hasten to this physician while you can, or you may not be able to find him when you want him.

It's the end of an era -- UA is cutting its nuclear engineering program. UA still has a research reactor. It's pretty trippy to look at. Things like this do make you wonder what will happen when we realize we really do need nuclear energy in some form.

Here's a cool review from AnandTech -- Apple's Mac mini - Tempting PC Users Everywhere. Check it out.

Here's wishing a Happy Birthday to my buddy ElfGirl! Hope it's great Bren!

Here's a kind of neat essay on What You'll Wish You'd Known. Some good advice that I agree with for the most part. And of course a long Slashdot discussion of the article.

Here's a pretty cool article on the new coadjutor bishop of Kansas City -- A time to learn. I especially liked this quote:

"I think that primarily the vocation of the laity is to transform the world, nothing less. And I think the most significant way that they do that is through their everyday work."

I couldn't agree more.

Here's a story that really resonated with me -- When free ride of youth ends: "For the youngest boomers, those who just turned 40, this year marks what Lodge calls 'the end of the free ride of youth.'

He explains, 'Every year after 40, your metabolism slows a little more and you have to work a little harder just to stay in place.' "

I have to say that's really true. I'm glad I started making changes in my lifestyle when I did, but I wish I'd done them earlier. And of course there is still more I can and should do.

Here's the transcript of the President's inauguration speech -- Bush: 'No justice without freedom' - Jan 20, 2005. I think it's a good speech.

David Morrison says that Recent Developments Among The Lutherans and Episcopalians are "morally incoherent." And that's the nice way of putting it.

This is very cool -- apparently OpenVMS is still alive and kicking. Check out An Interview With Mr. OpenVMS Himself .

Okay, I'm really curious what this guy actually said... Spain Church OKs condoms for AIDS. You gotta know there's more to the story than we are seeing.

Update: More discussion on Catholic World News. Thanks to Amy Welborn for the link. Also some updated info on Jimmy Akins's blog. As usual, things aren't what they seem at first glance.

CNN reports a Four-week wait for iPod Shuffle. What is more interesting to me is this little blurb at the end of the article: "Ipod sales accounted for 35 percent ... of Apple's total revenue" for the last quarter. 35%! What this says to me is that Apple has pretty much made the transition from being a "computer company" to being a "media company". Apple's strength, in my mind, has always been in its design, especially consumer design. The new Shuffle is a case in point. It's not necessarily any more flexible than any of the other flash-based players on the market, but it looks nicer, and from what I can see, is easier to use. It's the design.

Viva Las Vegas! I just got back from a company meeting in Las Vegas. Had a good time for the most part. We stayed at the Treasure Island, and my room on the 33rd floor had a stunning view of the Strip. It was pretty cool. Las Vegas is a strange place though. I spent a little time Thursday driving around -- wow! The traffic was really terrible, and I'm not just talking about the Strip. The freeways and surface streets were majorly crowded. Yuck.

One of the fun parts of the trip was driving over Hoover Dam. I had not been that way in quite a long time. Now in this post-9/11 world, there is a security check before you get anywhere near the dam, and they are hard at work building the bypass road. There are several huge bridges already in place for the bypass, standing in isolation high in the mountains. It's kind of eerie. The dam itself looks the same, of course, except that the water level in Lake Mead is down quite a bit so there's a definite "bathtub ring" around the lake. Still, the dam itself is of course impressive. Maybe it's the engineer in me, but I've always found it a thing of beauty.

I'm alive, really I am. Just very busy!

Apple announced a couple of interesting things today. First, a $99 iPod that is flash-based. It's tempting, but I already have a 256MB flash player that works great. If I didn't have that I'd be sorely tempted since it the new iPod will play mp3s and my iTunes as well.

The second is the Mac mini. This is really tempting since it's actually reasonably priced. I already have a USB-based KVM at work (my personal property), so I could take this puppy in to work if I wanted and use it there. Something to think about. I usually allow myself one "splurge" from my income tax refund. It was going to be a digital camera but now I'm thinking maybe it will be a Mac. Of course the sensible side of me says the last thing I really need is yet another computer...

USC Stomps Oklahoma!

I'm not a USC fan, but I couldn't help but smile to see that USC had stomped Oklahoma in Orange Bowl. 55-19! Maybe now the PAC-10 will start getting some respect from the East Coast.

Terry Mattingly reports on Passionate news in 2004. His top 10 religion stories of 2004:

1. Re-election of George W. Bush
2. Release of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ"
3. Gay marriages in Massachusetts
4. Controversy over John Kerry's Catholicism
5. "Anglican sex wars"
6. Church-state conflicts in US -- Pledge of Allegiance etc.
7. Religious groups conflicted over war in Iraq
8. UMC's struggles on homosexuality
9. Catholic sex abuse scandal and bankruptcy for Portland and Tucson
10. PCUSA dis-investing in Israel

Check it out.

Happy New Year!

Happy Feast of Mary, Mother of God!

Best wishes for a healthy, happy and prosperous 2005!

The Virgin

Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost
With the least shade of thought to sin allied;
Woman! above all women glorified,
Our tainted nature's solitary boast;
Purer than foam on central ocean tost;
Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn
With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon
Before her wane begins on heaven's blue coast;
Thy Image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween,
Not unforgiven the suppliant knee might bend,
As to a visible Power, in which did blend
All that was mixed and reconciled in Thee
Of mother's love with maiden purity,
Of high with low, celestial with terrene!

-- William Wordsworth

I've looked over my New Year's resolutions for the last couple of years, only to discover I've failed miserably at most of them. Still, I have to say that despite a broken wrist, two surgeries, and some other issues, 2004 was a darn good year, and I have high hopes that 2005 will be even better. So -- no New Year's resolutions here (although I'm sure I'll have some on my skating blog)!

Here's a story that makes you go "huh?" -- Passengers describe extra 18 hours on plane. Here's the part that makes me scratch my head:

Passengers initially had to wait onboard because the Grant County International Airport was not equipped to screen international travelers.

Huh? If it's not equipped to screen international travelers, then WHY IS IT AN "INTERNATIONAL" AIRPORT?

Sheesh.

Wow! As if things weren't scary enough -- Obesity Rising Among U.S. Preschoolers. Yep! It's not just older kids, the statistics say a whopping 10% of preschoolers are overweight (2002 statistics), up from 7% in 1994! Good grief!

I got lots of good stuff for Christmas, including several CDs -- the "Best of REM", the "Miss Saigon" soundtrack, the new Vanessa Carlton CD, and as a present to myself, Michelle Branch's "Spirit Room" CD. I'm listening to the latter right now. I really like her voice and her style -- she has real talent and a mind of her own, things she has in common with some of my other favorite artists -- Suzanne Vega, Avril Lavigne, Lisa Loeb, and of course Rain Perry.

Happy Birthday Colleen!

Colleen is 20 today. I'd link to her blog but I don't want to blow her anonymity... anyway, happy birthday C!

Wow. The death toll from Sunday's tsunami continues to mount -- Race on to save tsunami survivors. ABC's Nightline had some good reporting on it last night. The scale of the devastation is just astonishing.

More on euthanasia in the Netherlands -- Euthanasia . . . or a 'Dutch treat'. If this stuff doesn't scare you, it should.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my readers. I had a nice celebration. I sang for the 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Masses last night (I'll post the music when I get a chance). This morning I drove up to Phoenix with my sister to celebrate with my family. We had a really nice time enjoying opening presents and just being in each other's company. Afterward we returned to Tucson, where I went to see my goddaughter Aubrey.

I hope you had an opportunity to spend time with family and friends, and to celebrate the birth of the Lord.

My buddy Eric Ewanco has just started his own blog, Christifideles. Check it out!

I was at Costco today. I noticed they now are selling complete sets of Star Trek: TNG and DS9 for the low, low price of -- $499.95. $500! For a TV show! Good grief! I'd like to have it but no way am I going to spend that much money. It's crazy.

I spent the last couple of days serving on a jury for Tucson's City Court. The case was a DUI. There were two charges, one was driving while impaired to the slightest degree, and the other was driving with a BAC > 0.08. We found the defendant not guilty on both counts.

This was my 3rd time serving on a jury, and my first time in City Court. I now know a lot more about the field sobriety tests, the Intoxilizer 5000, and the mechanics of intoxication. Of course since I don't drink this isn't horribly helpful to me personally, but you never know when it might come in handy.

This is cool -- check out What Are the 'O Antiphons'? Lots of good info here!

Thanks to Lizzy for the link!

In case you think that heroism and self-sacrifice are a thing of the past, read this story -- HERO IN FALLUJAH: Marine Laid Himself on Top of Grenade to Save Rest of Squad.

As Sgt. Rafael Peralta lay near death on the floor of a Fallujah terrorist hideout, he spotted the yellow grenade that had rolled next to his near-lifeless body. Once detonated, it would take out the rest of Peralta's squad. To save his fellow Marines, Peralta reached out, grabbed the grenade, and tucked it under his abdomen where it exploded.

"Most of the Marines in the house were in the immediate area of the grenade," Cpl. Kaemmerer said. "We will never forget the second chance at life that Sgt. Peralta gave us."

I pray to be a man of such integrity and courage. Rest in peace, Sgt. Peralta.

Thanks to Catholic Light for the link.

More amazing results from non-embryonic stem cells -- German doctors use stem cells to repair skull injury.

I went to see Arizona Theatre Company's production of "Pirates of Penzance" tonight. It was an awesome show! I love Gilbert and Sullivan anyway, and this production was classic. I have seen the show a number of times, and designed lights for it once (back in... 1983?) so it was hard to resist the urge to sing along. I know pretty much every song and almost all the dialogue by heart.

I happened to check out Edward Peters's blog (scroll to Dec. 2), and he has some good info on a case of (perhaps thousands!) of invalid baptisms at Catholic churches in Brisbane, Australia. Eeep! It's so easy to "do it right". The priests who did this should face extreme penalties. As Peters points out, the repercussions are going to take a while to sort out since baptism is the gateway to all the sacraments.

I went to the doctor for a followup from my surgery and got my stitches removed. Everything looks really good. He said I should avoid strenuous lifting for a couple of weeks but other than that I can do anything I want. Yay!

Here's a nice article on the Firefox browser -- Firefox Passes 10 Million Mark - Eyes 10%. I've been using Firefox for a while, it's a great browser. Once you've used it for a while you'll wonder why you ever used anything else!

Check out Cringely's latest column onthe IBM-Lenovo deal. The brief summary: it's all about access to the Chinese market for IBM, and freeing IBM from Intel's embrace so that they can crush the competition in the server market.

YAY! The long-awaited NetBSD 2.0 Released. I downloaded the i386, sparc, pmax, and vax ports last night. Can't wait to get it up and running on my hardware!

Apparently there's some progress lately -- Fusion: Stepping closer to reality. Thanks to Slashdot for the link.

Bankruptcy update -- things keep getting more confusing. Now the Diocese of Tucson is contesting the Diocese of Phoenix - Diocese: parishes separate.

63 years ago today, the United States fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked by forces of the Empire of Japan. My state's namesake battleship, the U.S.S. Arizona, was sunk with over 1000 souls. May they rest in peace, and may we always remember and be on watch.

At tonight's meeting, I was elected chairman of the City of Tucson Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee. Yay! It will be a lot of work but I look forward to being able to contribute in this way.

The Mozilla Foundation announces that the Thunderbird 1.0 mail client is out! Check it out. I've been using for TBird since 0.6 and I have to say it's really solid. There's no excuse anymore to expose yourself to spam by using Outlook or Outlook Express. It's free, it's solid, what's not to like?

Surgery update. I'm feeling not too bad -- kind of sore, but other than that I'm up and about. Tired, though. I slept 'til noon or so today. I'm not back to work until Thursday so that's good.

I have to say how great the folks at St. Joseph's Hospital were though. From the orderly who wheeled me out to go home, to the nurses and techs, my surgeon and anesthesiologist, they were friendly and kind and reassuring and, clearly, good at what they do. As a Catholic it was nice also to hear the announcement over the PA for noon Mass -- it was nice to know that it's not just a hospital but also a community that joins in prayer, and to know that I as a patient was included in that prayer.

Surgery. I had my surgery this afternoon, and got home around 5 p.m. or so. The surgery went well and I feel pretty good -- a bit sore, but not too bad. Certainly not as bad as I'd thought it might be. I will be off of work through Wednesday, and off the ice until at least the 16th.

Good God! The Dutch are going deeper down the euthanasia route -- Dutch ponder 'mercy killing' rules. Have they lost their minds, or their hearts? Didn't they learn anything from their World War II encounter with the Nazis? Now they're feeling free to kill anyone with "no free will", in which they include small children and the retarded. Why isn't there an outcry? From here it's a small step to alcoholics and drug addicts, and then probably religious believers. This is insane!

I've been looking through my music collection tonight, getting ready to make a sample CD for my skating coach to give her an idea of what my taste is like, what appeals to me. While looking through stuff I came across my Sony Classical sampler CD set ("Great Performances 1903-1998"). One of the tracks on this set (it's 4 CDs) is John Williams's theme from "Schindler's List."

I know many people think of John Williams as some kind of hack, or that he's not original enough, or something. I am a big John Williams fan. I think in many ways he has been the American composer of this era. And when I listened to "Schindler's List", I couldn't help but cry. The power of music...

Arizona Beats ASU!

The Arizona Wildcats beat Arizona State today, 34-27! It was a most amazing, wonderful, exhilarating, nail-biter of a game. Back-and-forth, back-and-forth. UA's defense did an amazing job, the offense much less so. Still, for the Wildcats to come back after a truly dismal season and take this one away from ASU (if I remember correctly, records coming in were UA 2-8, and ASU 8-2) shows just how wacky this game can be.

A special moment for me came right after the game, when I bumped into two of my brothers in Phi Mu Alpha. They are both teaching in the Phoenix area -- one is a band teacher, the other technology.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I had a very nice gathering with my Dad, stepmom and my brothers up in Tempe. Later on my beautiful nieces and nephew showed up too! Unfortunately my sister didn't feel up to coming, but it was a wonderful meal and gathering nonetheless.

This Friday is the annual "Duel in the Desert" -- the Arizona-ASU football game. Check out Greg Hansen: ASU vs. UA.

Thanks be to God! My sister had her surgery this morning and it went well. The doctor decompressed the nerve going through her elbow. There was some concern that after doing that the nerve might pop out of place when she moved it, but apparently the doctor is convinced that's not a problem so they didn't have to do anything else with her, which is good. They were also able to do this without general anesthesia, which is always good (especially for my sister as she tends to get nauseous). So she's home and resting.

Of course, today is the 41st anniversary of the death of our first (and only) Catholic President, John F. Kennedy. Rest in peace, Mr. Kennedy.

Mark Shea has posted a very nice poem by Pavel Chichikov, dedicated to Gerard Bugge (a.k.a. Gerard Serafin). Check it out.

If you think things are bad in your diocese, read this letter from Archbishop O'Malley of Boston. I wonder how long it will be before such things are happening here in Tucson.

Very sad news. I just read on Catholic Light that Mark Shea had posted (see how things travel through the blogosphere?) that Gerard Serafin has passed away. While I did not frequently read his blog, when I did I always came away edified. His strong love for God and His Church shone in everything he wrote. I often, truth be told, felt a bit shamed after reading his take on things -- his love and tolerance showed so clearly my own often rash judgments and quickness of temper. Rest in peace, Gerard -- and put in a good word for us!

In paradisum deducant te Angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.

Chorus Angelorum te suscipiant, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere aeternam habeas requiem.

Check out Jack Perry's review of the new Thérèse movie. I've not seen it yet (it showed in Tucson for about 1.5 weeks but I wasn't able to make it).

Eeep! A plague of locusts! Pink Locusts from North Africa Swarm Through Cairo.

Thanks to Mark Shea for the link.

Bishop Kicanas was not elected to USCCB president -- Kicanas will stay, not head bishops.

Prayer request. My best friend Maria had a rough weekend. First, they had to put down their beloved dog Roadie, and now her mother-in-law is going in for surgery to remove an aggressive cancer. Please pray for Carolyn, her doctors, and the whole family. Thanks.

From David Morrison's blog -- Don't Say Father:

Don't Say Father

Don't Say Father
if each day you do not behave like a son.
Don't say Our
if you live shut off in yourself.
Don't say Who art in Heaven
if you think only of worldly things.

Don't say Hallowed be Thy Name
unless you really honor it.
Don't say Thy Kingdom come
if you have a material outcome in mind.
Don't say Thy Will be done
unless you are ready to accept it when it hurts.
Don't say our daily bread
unless you care about the hungry.
Don't say forgive us our trespasses
if you bear a grudge against someone.
Don't say deliver us from evil,
unless you are prepared to make a stand against it.
Let the words of Our Father sink in.
Don't say Amen unless you really mean it.

Found on wall of a church in Uruguay.

I just talked with the doctor's office, and my hernia surgery is scheduled for Monday 12/6. It will be at St. Joseph's hospital, which makes me happy. I like having these things done at a Catholic hospital.

Happy Veteran's Day. A big THANKS to all the veterans out there for there service to our country.

An update on the Diocese's bankruptcy -- Kicanas outlines financial resources. Claims must be reported by April 15th.

Another poll. This one is about right, I think:

You Are a Conservative Democrat

Frankly, the way most other Democrats behave embarasses you greatly. You pride yourself on a high level of morals, and you have a good grasp on right and wrong. It's likely you think America needs to get back to its conservative, Juedo-Christian values. Why aren't you a Republican then? Because you believe the goverment helps more than hurts.

What political persuasion are you?

This isn't quite right, I'll fix it later.

I've been talking about this since the election and now CNN's commenting too -- the big story about the election is what didn't happen. No terrorism, no massive election problems, and despite predictions of massive young voter turnout, the "youth bloc" was the percentage as in 2000 -- while it did increase, so did turnout among all voters.

A good column on why the Dems lost and what happens for them next -- Democratic Party ready for extreme makeover.

Thanks to Mark Shea for the link.

I tried to blog on this earlier but Blogger seemed to be having problems. Anyway, the election is over and it's a convincing win for Bush. To his credit, Kerry is taking this gracefully and gave a nice concession speech. Thanks be to God, the popular vote and the electoral college agree this time. President Bush also gave a nice victory speech.

Mark Shea has some interesting (and amusing) insights on the election. I'm glad it's over.

Oh yes, the (second-) best part of the election -- my friend Alex Rodriguez won a spot on the Tucson Unified School District Board! Way to go Alex! I know he will do a super job and make us all proud.

A final quote, and a nice one that should give us all pause to thank God for our country:

... in an American election, there are no losers, because whether or not our
candidates are successful, the next morning we all wake up as Americans.

--John Kerry

Addendum (my original post):

It's all over but the shouting, and even that is dying down. In the wake of President Bush's victory, CNN says Small inroads make difference for Bush. I like this quote:

More exit poll respondents -- about 22 percent -- called "moral values" the
election's most important issue then cited the economy, terrorism or Iraq.
Those expressing this sentiment backed the president overwhelmingly, 79 percent
to Kerry's 18 percent. Bush did similarly well among the 19 percent who
identified terrorism as their top issue.

Health Update. I saw the surgeon today about my hernia. He basically told me all the stuff I'd already been told, but also said I should probably be off the ice for 3 (!) weeks. I suspect I will not be able to keep myself off the ice for 3 weeks but I suppose I'll try to be good. Anyway, I've asked for a date the 2nd week of December, which is after our holiday show at the rink. The nurse is supposed to call me and let me know when they've scheduled me.

Jimmy Akin explains just what's at stake in this election. Check it out. Thanks to the lovely Jeanetta for the link.

I have a friend who is, in all visible respects, a faithful Catholic, but is voting for Kerry. I just can't understand how someone who is not, as far as I can see, a cafeteria Catholic can justify voting for Kerry. I just don't get it.

For me, the issue is clear -- John Kerry is morally bankrupt, and therefore unfit to be president. It's really that simple. Any man who can claim that life begins at conception, yet support the killing of innocent life, has no moral compass and shouldn't be elected dogcatcher, much less President of the United States. And it's not just abortion! He's wrong on abortion, yes, but also on embryonic stem cells, and on gay marriage. Not clear on euthanasia. He's wrong on some many issues that are not negotiable because they are intrinsically evil! Why can't people understand that? Is it that they don't think 1+ million dead babies a year are important, or that the economy or the war in Iraq outweighs that? Or do they not think Kerry's serious in intending to only nominate judges who will continue to legislate the Culture of Death from the bench? What is it? I just don't get it. Why is it that a Methodist can speak movingly of building a culture of life in the U.S. but a former altar boy (as he likes to remind us) can't even speak the words, can't even speak for those unable to speak for themselves?

I just don't get it.

Today was a wonderful day, the baptism of my newest goddaughter! Please join me in welcoming Aubrey Meghan as a new member of the Body of Christ!

Bishop Kicanas up for USCCB President. The Tucson Citizen is reporting that Bishop Kicanas has been nominated to be the USCCB's President. The bishops will elect their new leader at their November meeting, and he will take office the following November.

My best friend sent me this link -- Quin Hillyer on John Kerry & Religion on National Review Online. It's an interested read. I agree with most of it although I'm not sure of some of the details of his argument. Saying "what Protestants believe" is always somewhat problematic; saying "what Catholics believe" somewhat less so; at least, the teaching of the Church is readily available and usually fairly clear.


This article by Rich Lowry explains why Kerry's Catholicism is confused at best.

Cool! The Cassini spacecraft is sending back images of Titan that are puzzling and fascinating astronomers. Of course, many of these astronomers are based here in Tucson at The University Of Arizona®.

I watched "Nightline" tonight -- one of my favorite shows. They had two top guys in the Bush and Kerry campaigns on. To me one of the most telling things about these campaigns came out clearly in the 45-second "closing statements" from each one. The Bush guy talked about the President, how people know where he stands and what he stands for. The Kerry guy talked about how bad Bush is and how Kerry would be better. And there it is. If Kerry has a real vision, a real message other than "Bush is bad and I'm not him," I've not heard it. Kerry doesn't inspire, and that's why so many of his supporters would seemingly have supported anyone running against Bush.

BoSox Win!

I'm not much of a baseball fan, but even I have been energized by the dramatic victory of the Boston Red Sox. I just wonder if the lunar eclipse had anything to do with overcoming the Curse of the Bambino?

Sometimes you have to wonder about headline writers. In an article about the upcoming "Restoring the Family to Christ" conference, the Star says Lightning- rod cleric will speak in Tucson. The "lightning rod cleric" is his eminence Archbishop Burke of St. Louis.

Health update. Good news and not as good news (no bad news, really):

• overall cholesterol is 189! That's below 200, which is the goal.
• "good" cholesterol is 32; should be over 50 but when I talked with my doctor about this number a long time ago he said a lot of it is genetic and the fact that I've raised it significantly in the last two years is excellent.
• "bad" cholesterol is 121 (should be less than 130).
• Glucose is 92 (range is 65 - 120)
• Triglycerides are 218 (should be less than 150).

So the numbers are really quite good except for the triglycerides. I don't know how to balance this with the glucose number except to say that it looks like I've staved off pre-diabetes, but the triglycerides could lead to atherosclerosis. I assume it's mostly a diet thing.

Touchstone has a very enlightening piece -- The Godless Party by Rod Dreher. Dreher examines how the media portrays Democrats and Republicans, with statistics to back him up. The conclusion is not surprising, but some of the facts are. For example:

But their most striking finding was the near total lack of editorial and news
coverage devoted to the increased importance of secularists to the Democratic
Party versus the role of traditionalists in the GOP. The numbers are
mind-boggling: 43 stories on secularist Democrats, 682 stories on traditionalist
Republicans. In 1992, the Times alone published nearly twice the number of
stories about Evangelicals in the GOP than both papers did about secularists
among the Democrats for the entire decade. The bias is even worse among
television journalists, who filled the airwaves with stories about the
"Religious Right" and the Republican Party, but who didn’t file a single
story—not one—about the Secular Left’s relationship to the Democrats.

Thanks to Mark Shea for the link.

I'm in an insanely great mood tonight. It's a couple of things... first, at choir rehearsal tonight the conductor looks at me and asks me to intone the chant part for a piece we're doing, which means I get to intone something like 4 different chunks of this piece. Yea! And since it's Monday I had a skating lesson today and made some good progress toward learning my waltz jump. This is a major milestone for me. Also, I got a really good night's sleep last night. Finally, I got my USFSA membership card today, which also is a milestone for me.

It really doesn't take much to make me happy.

Eeep! The UA Wildcats played nationally-ranked Cal today. It was grim, and Golden Bears cleaned our clocks pretty thoroughly. Final score was a shutout, 38-0. *sigh*

A really cool article from New Atlantis on cell phone usage and how it's changing society -- Our Cell Phones, Ourselves. Check it out.

Thanks to A Saintly Salmagundi for the link.

As so often happens, Maureen Dowd shows how when it comes to Catholicism, she's an idiot -- Maureen Dowd: Catholic bishops blur line between church, state.

Health Update. I went to the doctor today, and got good news, news, and bad news.

The good news: my blood pressure is 110/60, and my weight a mere 218. I'm in generally good shape. I need to go get my blood work done again to see how I'm managing my cholesterol etc.

The news: what I thought was hives is actually shingles. Fortunately I have a pretty mild case, and it's already healing, so I should be fine in a week or so.

The bad news: I have an umbilical hernia. It has not been bothering me (actually, I'm pretty sure I've had it for quite some time), but my doctor thinks that due to its size I should get it evaluated and probably repaired since it won't get any smaller. I tend to agree since I'd rather get it fixed now while I should recover well etc., than have to deal with it when I'm 60 and it will be more of a hassle.

After David E. Kelley's The Practice ended its run, I thought I'd be able to wean myself from Kelley's products. Alas, it's not so, as I now find myself hopelessly addicted to Boston Legal. I find the show to be a curious mix of Ally McBeal (a show I loved) and The Practice. It's quirky but fun, and James Spader is excellent. Of course, I have to admit that having the incredibly beautiful Rhona Mitra on the show doesn't hurt either...

Did I mention that the Amphi Panthers whomped previously unbeaten Sabino on Friday night to take the lead in the 4A Kino division? Go Panthers!