Well, all those Republican First/Catholic Second folks that hate the fact that a Democrat is in the White House are really squirming now. They came up with many sound bites against health care reform. One of the authoritative entities they leaned on to back up their sound bites was the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. By God, if the Bishops were against it, they had to be, too! NO OBAMA CARE! Of course, most of these folks ignored the part of the USCCB statements that clearly expressed a need for comprehensive health care reform.
Well, now the Republican First/Catholic Second folks are stuck - a recent post on the blog, PewSitter indicates this.. The Bishops must be off their rockers by expressing opposition to Arizona's new law against immigrants. According to the Republican First/Catholic Second folks, these dirty Mexicans come across the border to steal our jobs, take our women and fill up our prisons. Thank God that the Bishops see the situation just a bit differently.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The Irony Of It All
A couple of weeks ago, I made mention of my attempt to complete an Iron Man competition over the span of a month. Thus, I would run 25 miles, bike 112 miles and swim 2.4 miles of the course of a month. The event began at my health club on April 15th. About 10 minutes ago, a completed a 14 mile bike ride that put me "over the top". Since April 15, I have run about 26 miles (actually, I did a very light jog, as a bum knee keeps me from running), biked about 113 miles and swam about 2.5 miles. I accomplished this majestic feat in two weeks and quicker than did any of the other 29 event participants (the swim portion appears to have done most of them in, but they still have time).
Sunday, April 25, 2010
One More Season?
This morning, my wife and I were ready to put our beloved canine companion to sleep. Given the prognosis we received yesterday from the vet, things looked very grim. Earlier this afternoon, I left a message at the animal hospital that, if our dog's condition didn't drmatically improve, we would come in to do what had to be done ASAP.
Just after I left that message, the phone rang and, from caller ID, we knew it was th animal hospital. It appears that our dog has a condition in addition to chronic kidney disease. This additional condition is known as Brett Favre-itis. To the surprise of everyone, our dog responded quite well to fluid treatments. Yes, his kidneys are still failing and remain a concern. However, with a special diet and some medications, he should be OK for the foreseeable future. He comes back home on Monday morning.
My wife and I have never gone from such a deep depression to incredible joy in such a short period of time. We know we may still face the time when we have to make a difficult decision about our beloved dog, but this weekend helped to prepare us for when that time comes. It has also convinced us that we should not rule out the possibility of bringing another dog into the family (yes, a two-dog family). We came close to doing that several months ago, but the breeder found a good family to match with the dog. However, we have been made aware of another dog - the same breed as our dog - that may be looking for a good home. This dog has been pushed hard to be a show dog, but doesn't seem to have what it takes to succeed in that arena. However, he likely has plenty to offer a family that is looking to bring a dog into their home. Because he is a bit older (7 months), he will be more difficult to place than a puppy.
To prove that I am not kidding about Brett Favre-itis and that our dog (left) could easily get along with another dog (notice the wagging tails), check out this photo:
Just after I left that message, the phone rang and, from caller ID, we knew it was th animal hospital. It appears that our dog has a condition in addition to chronic kidney disease. This additional condition is known as Brett Favre-itis. To the surprise of everyone, our dog responded quite well to fluid treatments. Yes, his kidneys are still failing and remain a concern. However, with a special diet and some medications, he should be OK for the foreseeable future. He comes back home on Monday morning.
My wife and I have never gone from such a deep depression to incredible joy in such a short period of time. We know we may still face the time when we have to make a difficult decision about our beloved dog, but this weekend helped to prepare us for when that time comes. It has also convinced us that we should not rule out the possibility of bringing another dog into the family (yes, a two-dog family). We came close to doing that several months ago, but the breeder found a good family to match with the dog. However, we have been made aware of another dog - the same breed as our dog - that may be looking for a good home. This dog has been pushed hard to be a show dog, but doesn't seem to have what it takes to succeed in that arena. However, he likely has plenty to offer a family that is looking to bring a dog into their home. Because he is a bit older (7 months), he will be more difficult to place than a puppy.
To prove that I am not kidding about Brett Favre-itis and that our dog (left) could easily get along with another dog (notice the wagging tails), check out this photo:
Saturday, April 24, 2010
That Dreaded Day Is Near
The millions of readers of this blog know that I make regular reference to events I experience with my canine companion. His name is Archie. As I write this, Archie is in an animal hospital. While he looks fine and is in no pain, his kidneys are barely functioning and it appears that the situation will not improve much. He will reamin in the hospital for a couple more days to see if fluid therapy might help stablize things. Even if there is improvement, it will only be temporary. However, he may improve enough to come home for some final events - a final walk in the park, a final night sleeping on his favorite bed, etc.
Obviously, my wife and I will have to put Archie to sleep sometime in the not-too-distant future. This is no easy thing to do. My wife and I just celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. Two months after our wedding, Archie joined our family as a puppy. The three of us have been through many experiences together. Given the inevitable loss, it seems that a perfect three-legged stool is now a terribly out-of-balance two legged stool.
Obviously, my wife and I will have to put Archie to sleep sometime in the not-too-distant future. This is no easy thing to do. My wife and I just celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. Two months after our wedding, Archie joined our family as a puppy. The three of us have been through many experiences together. Given the inevitable loss, it seems that a perfect three-legged stool is now a terribly out-of-balance two legged stool.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
A True Tea Party
...or make that "tree" party. After a work meeting, I had the opportunity to stop home for a walking lunch with my beloved canine companion. We happened upon three deer friends enjoying the shade of a tree. Sure seems much more peaceful and useful than the tea parties I have been hearing about recently.
Monday, April 19, 2010
The Fall Guy
Earlier today, there were reports in the German media that the former Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Munich anbd Freising claims that he was forced to publicly accept responsibility for reassigning a priest with abuse allegations in 1980. That priest went on to abuse children after being reassigned. The Archbishop at the time was Joseph Ratzinger, the current Pope Benedict XVI.
Obviously, the more media outlets will pick up on this and claim the the former Vicar General's recent statement is proof that Pope Benedict was directly involved in sheltering a priest that was known to sexually abuse children and that the Pope used his influence to get the former Vicar General to take the fall.
We do not really know the details about the priest in question. It could very well be that then-Archbishop Ratzinger was not actively involved in the reassignment of this priest. The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising is a pretty large archdiocese.
Having been involved in politics for many years, I would suggest the follwing likely scenario. Then-Archbishop Ratzinger was not actively involved in the reassignment of his priests. In most dioceses, the Vicar General does have primary responsibility for coordinating priest assignments. Yes, the Bishop may sign off on the assignments. However, that is more a formality than anything else. The fact that Archbishop Ratzinger might have signed off on an assignment does not mean he was activley involved in the assignment.
As one might expect, the Vatican communications machine might be a bit jittery these days. My guess would be that a few mid-level "Vaticancrats", in a panic and without the knowledge of Pope Benedict, took action to make sure that there would be no evidence of a direct link (a link that likely never existed) to this priest being reassigned and the current Pope. Thus, to be safe, they made sure that the former Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, was commanded to "take one for the team" by publicly stating that the reassignment of the priest in question was his responsibility completely and that then-Archbishop Ratzinger was in no way involved, accept for possibly signing off on a list of assignments that include the assignement of the priest in question (and there is no evidence that even that happened). My guess would be that the situation described by the former Vicar General was accurate. However, now that there may be evidence of pressure on the former Vicar General, we will have a circus main event for a few more days.
Obviously, the more media outlets will pick up on this and claim the the former Vicar General's recent statement is proof that Pope Benedict was directly involved in sheltering a priest that was known to sexually abuse children and that the Pope used his influence to get the former Vicar General to take the fall.
We do not really know the details about the priest in question. It could very well be that then-Archbishop Ratzinger was not actively involved in the reassignment of this priest. The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising is a pretty large archdiocese.
Having been involved in politics for many years, I would suggest the follwing likely scenario. Then-Archbishop Ratzinger was not actively involved in the reassignment of his priests. In most dioceses, the Vicar General does have primary responsibility for coordinating priest assignments. Yes, the Bishop may sign off on the assignments. However, that is more a formality than anything else. The fact that Archbishop Ratzinger might have signed off on an assignment does not mean he was activley involved in the assignment.
As one might expect, the Vatican communications machine might be a bit jittery these days. My guess would be that a few mid-level "Vaticancrats", in a panic and without the knowledge of Pope Benedict, took action to make sure that there would be no evidence of a direct link (a link that likely never existed) to this priest being reassigned and the current Pope. Thus, to be safe, they made sure that the former Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, was commanded to "take one for the team" by publicly stating that the reassignment of the priest in question was his responsibility completely and that then-Archbishop Ratzinger was in no way involved, accept for possibly signing off on a list of assignments that include the assignement of the priest in question (and there is no evidence that even that happened). My guess would be that the situation described by the former Vicar General was accurate. However, now that there may be evidence of pressure on the former Vicar General, we will have a circus main event for a few more days.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
On This Very Day
On this very date in 1930, my mother was born. This is the her first birthday to be celebrated after the successful completion of her earthly journey.
On this very date in 1999, the mighty Packers of Green Bay selected Antuan Edwards in the first round of the NFL draft. Oh yes, that reminds me...on that same day in 1999, yours truly was united in Holy Matrimony to a wonderful woman whose only possible flaw may be judging suitors.
On this very date in 1999, the mighty Packers of Green Bay selected Antuan Edwards in the first round of the NFL draft. Oh yes, that reminds me...on that same day in 1999, yours truly was united in Holy Matrimony to a wonderful woman whose only possible flaw may be judging suitors.
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