The world lost another Padre Pio on Sunday. Cardinal Pio Laghi passed away in Italy. Cardinal Laghi's name may not be known to many. He had a strong connection to the United States. He served as the primary diplomatic link between the Holy See and the United States when permanent diplomatic relations were established in the 80s. When that happened, Laghi was appointed as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. In that role, he was responsible for handling diplomatic relations as well as overseeing the Church in the United States. If there was a diocese without a bishop, then-Archbishop Laghi was responsible for developing a terna, list of three possible successors for the Pope to consider. In this role, Laghi played a very significant role in the development of the face of the current U.S. hierarchy.
After several years of retirement, Laghi was called in for special duty in 2003. As the U.S. was gearing up for war with Iraq, the Vatican sent Laghi to try to urge the U.S. to consider alternatives before attacking. I have read numerous accounts that indicate that the discussions were either "bluntly diplomatic" or "diplomatically blunt". In no uncertain terms, Laghi told State Department officials that they did not know what they were doing and underestimated the resources required to achieve their goals. Laghi stated that, if the attack proceeded, the U.S. should be prepared for decades of challenges and frustration. Laghi also warned that an attack would jeopardize the safety and stabilty of Christians in Iraq. He mentioned that the majority of Christians would leave the country and this would lead to a situation of "brain drain". Many of the leading professionals in Iraq were Christians. They rose in society because they had access to education provided by many Christian communities, including Catholic religious orders. Hindsight shows that Laghi knew about that of which he spoke. For a ZENIT article on Laghi's death, go to: http://www.zenit.org/article-24767?l=english.
May he rest in peace.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Another Story About Twins
This is an amazing story from CBS News. A tip of the cap goes to Deacon Greg Kandra, a former CBS news writer, for sharing the story. Perhaps it could be translated into Hebrew and Aramaic (and other appropriate languages) and forwarded to the Gaza Strip. Be forewarned that, since this is a CBS News feature, you will have to endure a short promo for an upcoming program prior to viewing the news feature.
Watch CBS Videos Online
Watch CBS Videos Online
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Race Is On
Way back in my college days at a large state university, one had to have a science requirement in order to graduate. The one class everyone took was a class on human genetics taught by one of those "far out" liberal professors. I even remember his name - Val Woodward. There were over 1000 students in the class I took. It was popular not because of the subject, but because if you showed up, you got a C. I actually tried to do a bit better than a C - and did. Every day, Professor Woodward would remind people that there are no significant genetic differences between black people and white people - just their skin color. He even bristled at the use of the term "race". It was a good class if one paid attention. Not only did one learn about genetics - Gregor Mendel and his peas - but one learned about humanity.
I was reminded of Professor Woodward's class when I recently read an article about a couple in England that recently gave birth to twins. The father is black and the mother is white. One of the twins has dark skin and the other has light skin. Amazingly, this is the second set of twins for the couple. The first set also includes one twin with dark skin and another with light skin. Pretty much everything with both sets of twins is genetically similar - with the exception of skin pigmentation. To see an article on the twins from AOL News, go to: http://news.aol.com/article/twins-with-different-skin-color-born/290834.
I was reminded of Professor Woodward's class when I recently read an article about a couple in England that recently gave birth to twins. The father is black and the mother is white. One of the twins has dark skin and the other has light skin. Amazingly, this is the second set of twins for the couple. The first set also includes one twin with dark skin and another with light skin. Pretty much everything with both sets of twins is genetically similar - with the exception of skin pigmentation. To see an article on the twins from AOL News, go to: http://news.aol.com/article/twins-with-different-skin-color-born/290834.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
The Loss of a Jett
Jett Travolta, the eldest child of John Travolta and Kelly Preston, recently died while on vacation in the Bahamas.
Jett had a developmental disability. My hunch is that it might be a "no-no" for Scientologists to recognize and treat (in traditional ways) members that have developmental disabilities. Since Jett died in the Bahamas and was 16, there will likely be rumors of some type of overdose. The official line is that he suffered a seizure, fell and hit his head on a bathtub. My guess is that this is accurate. Many people with developmental disabilities have serious seizure disorders. I serve as guardian for several people with developmental disabilities. All of them have a seizure disorder. In most cases, the disorder can be treated with medications. However, since some of the most effective medications such as Depakote and Kepra are also used to treat mental illness, my guess is that Scientology would frown on any members taking such medications.
Last year, a father and mother in my state were both convicted of a felony for not getting their teenage daughter treatment for her diabetes. Rather than seek medical treatment, the couple prayed over their daughter. The daughter died. I doubt that any relatives of Jett Travolta will ever be in court - even though they may have been equally as negligent as the parents in my state that were convicted.
Ultimately, a young many may have died from a condition that is usually effectively controlled by medications.
Jett had a developmental disability. My hunch is that it might be a "no-no" for Scientologists to recognize and treat (in traditional ways) members that have developmental disabilities. Since Jett died in the Bahamas and was 16, there will likely be rumors of some type of overdose. The official line is that he suffered a seizure, fell and hit his head on a bathtub. My guess is that this is accurate. Many people with developmental disabilities have serious seizure disorders. I serve as guardian for several people with developmental disabilities. All of them have a seizure disorder. In most cases, the disorder can be treated with medications. However, since some of the most effective medications such as Depakote and Kepra are also used to treat mental illness, my guess is that Scientology would frown on any members taking such medications.
Last year, a father and mother in my state were both convicted of a felony for not getting their teenage daughter treatment for her diabetes. Rather than seek medical treatment, the couple prayed over their daughter. The daughter died. I doubt that any relatives of Jett Travolta will ever be in court - even though they may have been equally as negligent as the parents in my state that were convicted.
Ultimately, a young many may have died from a condition that is usually effectively controlled by medications.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Back To The Drawing Board
A couple of months ago, one of my posts included information about a person for whom I serve as guardian. Many years ago, this person had a consensual sexual relationship with a woman that, like him, had a developmental disability. The woman did not want to press charges, nor did the woman's family. However, word got to the local district attorney about the situation. The DA brought sexual assault charges. My friend was found guilty. Because of his developmental disability, he was remanded to a state mental health institution for 42 years. Why such a harch sentence? The reasons included: he was a young black male living in a lily white community, he was disabled and poor and the judge was (and is) a complete racist nutbag.
Fortunately, we were able to petition to get my friend into a conditional release program. This is a program that allows certain convicted felons to serve their sentence in a secured community-based setting. It was not easy to convince the same judge to allow this. For many years, my friend did very well. He lived in small group homes and even found a job on his own. His staff said that they had to fight for shifts that included working with my friend.
My friend has had a couple of anger management issues. Last year, he became confrontational with a staff member due to feeling abandoned by his family. My friend began to throw some things around the apartment. Rather than calling other staff for assistnance in "talking down" my friend, staff called police. My friend was taken into custody. Whenever this happens, our friendly judge must be informed. A hearing to revoke his conditional release was held. Several people testified on behalf of my friend and we convinced the judge to give him another chance to continue in conditional release.
A few weeks ago, my friend had another confrontation with staff. Police were not called. However, when word of the confrontation got to my friends parole official, things got blown way out of proportion. A hearing was held last week and my friends conditional release was revoked.
Earlier today, I went to visit my friend in the state mental health institute. When I arrived, I had to tell the guard (behind bullet-proof glass) that I was there to visit my friend. I key with a number was slipped to me through as slot as was a form I had to fill out. The key was for a locker. I had to put everything but my clothes in the locker - no belt, no watch, no keys. I walked through a metal detector to a holding room. A staff member came to get me. We went through two security gates and into the visiting room. While walking, the staff member said he wished all of the institution residents were as easy to work with as my friend is. He questioned why he was at the institution.
The visiting room looked like a classroom. There was a single raised desk in front where two guards kept watch. There were two rows of chairs facing the guards. My friend was sitting on the end of the second row wearing the standard bright yellow institution uniform. There were three other residents meeting with family and friends. My friend was glad to see me. He was very confused as to why he was there. It was tough for me to explain to him why he was there - I am as confused as he is on that issue. However, my friend understood that physical confrontations with staff are inappropriate reactions to frustrations that he has. I mentioned that all of us have frustrations and that we are judged by how we react to those frustrations. I think my friend gets this, but I am not sure. He has often presented himself to be more capable than he really is.
It was a tough visit. My only hope was to let him know that he had friends that would visit him and would actively try to get his conditional release reinstated. I will try to visit him every Saturday from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm, since he informed me that these are mandatory "quiet hours" during which residents must remain in their rooms unless they have visitors.
So, it is frustrating to see my friend back in the same place where I first began working with him many years ago. However, since that time, he does of a significant history of living successfully in a community-based setting. That gives me some hope that he can repeat his own history - minus the innapropriate reactions to frustrations.
Fortunately, we were able to petition to get my friend into a conditional release program. This is a program that allows certain convicted felons to serve their sentence in a secured community-based setting. It was not easy to convince the same judge to allow this. For many years, my friend did very well. He lived in small group homes and even found a job on his own. His staff said that they had to fight for shifts that included working with my friend.
My friend has had a couple of anger management issues. Last year, he became confrontational with a staff member due to feeling abandoned by his family. My friend began to throw some things around the apartment. Rather than calling other staff for assistnance in "talking down" my friend, staff called police. My friend was taken into custody. Whenever this happens, our friendly judge must be informed. A hearing to revoke his conditional release was held. Several people testified on behalf of my friend and we convinced the judge to give him another chance to continue in conditional release.
A few weeks ago, my friend had another confrontation with staff. Police were not called. However, when word of the confrontation got to my friends parole official, things got blown way out of proportion. A hearing was held last week and my friends conditional release was revoked.
Earlier today, I went to visit my friend in the state mental health institute. When I arrived, I had to tell the guard (behind bullet-proof glass) that I was there to visit my friend. I key with a number was slipped to me through as slot as was a form I had to fill out. The key was for a locker. I had to put everything but my clothes in the locker - no belt, no watch, no keys. I walked through a metal detector to a holding room. A staff member came to get me. We went through two security gates and into the visiting room. While walking, the staff member said he wished all of the institution residents were as easy to work with as my friend is. He questioned why he was at the institution.
The visiting room looked like a classroom. There was a single raised desk in front where two guards kept watch. There were two rows of chairs facing the guards. My friend was sitting on the end of the second row wearing the standard bright yellow institution uniform. There were three other residents meeting with family and friends. My friend was glad to see me. He was very confused as to why he was there. It was tough for me to explain to him why he was there - I am as confused as he is on that issue. However, my friend understood that physical confrontations with staff are inappropriate reactions to frustrations that he has. I mentioned that all of us have frustrations and that we are judged by how we react to those frustrations. I think my friend gets this, but I am not sure. He has often presented himself to be more capable than he really is.
It was a tough visit. My only hope was to let him know that he had friends that would visit him and would actively try to get his conditional release reinstated. I will try to visit him every Saturday from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm, since he informed me that these are mandatory "quiet hours" during which residents must remain in their rooms unless they have visitors.
So, it is frustrating to see my friend back in the same place where I first began working with him many years ago. However, since that time, he does of a significant history of living successfully in a community-based setting. That gives me some hope that he can repeat his own history - minus the innapropriate reactions to frustrations.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Carrying the Section
Yesterday, the pastor of one of the churches of which I am a member called to ask a favor. More accurately, he called to ask that I be ready to deliver a favor.
Several years ago, I sang in the choir at this church. There were and are several excellent singers in the choir. I left the choir because several members developed the attitude that Mass was just a sidelight to the concerts they presented every Sunday morning. Not once was the focus on making music that would encourage the congregation to sing. Why should people in the congregation sing when there was such a wonderful choir?
This past summer, a new liturgist and music director took over at this church. After several months of trying to work with this choir, the director submitted his resignation on the day after Christmas.
The pastor that called yesterday asked me to pray for a good resolution to the situation and to consider filling in as a temporary musician in the event that the pastor could not convince the current liturgist/music director to stay.
The situation reminds me of the U.S. basketball team that competed in the Olympics several years ago. The team was made up of the best players from the NBA (this was just after professionals were allowed to compete). Virtually everyone predicted that the U.S. team would easily win the gold medal. The Dream Team was fortunate to win a bronze medal. While the U.S. team was made up of the best players, other countries had players that made up the best teams.
Back to the situation at my church...As a musician, it is very frustrating to see so many talented singers fail to focus on the goal of making music that encourages other people to sing at Mass. I have been to many other parishes where singers and musicians with less abilities were much more effective in encouraging parishioners to actively participate in Mass by singing.
I once saw a tombstone that read "He Never Had a Solo, But He Always Carried the Section".
Several years ago, I sang in the choir at this church. There were and are several excellent singers in the choir. I left the choir because several members developed the attitude that Mass was just a sidelight to the concerts they presented every Sunday morning. Not once was the focus on making music that would encourage the congregation to sing. Why should people in the congregation sing when there was such a wonderful choir?
This past summer, a new liturgist and music director took over at this church. After several months of trying to work with this choir, the director submitted his resignation on the day after Christmas.
The pastor that called yesterday asked me to pray for a good resolution to the situation and to consider filling in as a temporary musician in the event that the pastor could not convince the current liturgist/music director to stay.
The situation reminds me of the U.S. basketball team that competed in the Olympics several years ago. The team was made up of the best players from the NBA (this was just after professionals were allowed to compete). Virtually everyone predicted that the U.S. team would easily win the gold medal. The Dream Team was fortunate to win a bronze medal. While the U.S. team was made up of the best players, other countries had players that made up the best teams.
Back to the situation at my church...As a musician, it is very frustrating to see so many talented singers fail to focus on the goal of making music that encourages other people to sing at Mass. I have been to many other parishes where singers and musicians with less abilities were much more effective in encouraging parishioners to actively participate in Mass by singing.
I once saw a tombstone that read "He Never Had a Solo, But He Always Carried the Section".
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Looking Ahead
As we enter a new year, one might wonder what we have to which we can look forward. Look at the news: war (again) in Palestine, piracy off the coast of Africa, corrupt politicians, parents killing their own kids, an economy that is in the tank, etc. How can anyone have a positive outlook?
We can have a positive outlook because change is inevitable. Nothing stays the same. Given that, the only real question is: What are we, as individuals, going to do to ensure that the changes that take place are as positive as possible? None of us can broker a Middle East peace deal. None of us can come up with the road map toward economic recovery. However, we can set an example to those around us. When we want to snipe at that person that grates on us, we can wish them a happy day. When we see someone in need, we can make a small donation to a social service agency.
The Berlin Wall fell not because of bulldozers, but because tens of thousands of individuals each took out a very small chunk of the wall (literally and figuratively).
We can have a positive outlook because change is inevitable. Nothing stays the same. Given that, the only real question is: What are we, as individuals, going to do to ensure that the changes that take place are as positive as possible? None of us can broker a Middle East peace deal. None of us can come up with the road map toward economic recovery. However, we can set an example to those around us. When we want to snipe at that person that grates on us, we can wish them a happy day. When we see someone in need, we can make a small donation to a social service agency.
The Berlin Wall fell not because of bulldozers, but because tens of thousands of individuals each took out a very small chunk of the wall (literally and figuratively).
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