Friday, November 16, 2007
An amazing bird...
OK, this is one of the most amazing nature videos I've ever seen. The sounds this bird can make are astonishing. You have to watch the whole thing...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3433507052114896375
Posted by Matt 3:17 PM
Sunday, October 21, 2007
If only school teachers could marry...
We hear so much about the cause of the The Scandal in the church being due to the fact that priests can't marry. The lament goes something like this - "If only priests could marry they wouldn't be tempted to abuse young boys."
What I want to know is this: if mandatory celibacy is the cause of all these priests abusing young boys, then what's causing it among school teachers? Aren't they allowed to marry?
And what's going to happen to all those principals and superintendents who shuffled these teachers from school to school?
And how many school districts are going to go bankrupt to pay for all the lawsuits?
(AP) -- A young teacher in Iowa sheepishly admits that he fondled a fifth-grader's breast. But he doesn't lose his teaching license until one persistent victim and her family go public -- 40 years after the first accusation.
Gary C. Lindsey was forced out of a teaching job after admitting he'd fondled a fifth-grader, a trial revealed.
A middle school teacher in Pennsylvania targets a young girl in his class and uses the guise of love to abuse her sexually.
A teacher in Michigan, who'd already lost his license in another state, goes to prison after he films himself molesting a boy.
These are only a few instances of a widespread problem in American schools: Sexual misconduct by the very teachers who are supposed to be nurturing the nation's children.
Students in America's schools are groped. They're raped. They're pursued, seduced and think they're in love.
An Associated Press investigation found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic.
There are 3 million public school teachers nationwide, most devoted to their work. Yet the number of abusive educators, nearly three for every school day, speaks to a much larger problem in a system that is stacked against victims.
Most of the abuse never gets reported. Those cases reported often end with no action. Cases investigated sometimes can't be proven, and many abusers have several victims.
And no one -- not the schools, not the courts, not the state or federal governments -- has found a surefire way to keep molesting teachers out of classrooms.
Here's the link to the full article:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/21/teacher.sex.abuse.ap/index.html
Posted by Matt 6:00 PM
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Honk if you Love Jesus!
Well, it's happened again. All last week I was dreading the weekend. I just didn't feel up to taking a bunch of Boy Scouts camping. Don't get me wrong. I love camping. I'm never happier than when I'm camping. But I had all sorts of reasons for not wanting to go. I needed to study for the course I'm taking for my Master's Degree. I needed to paint part of my house. I needed to start getting ready for our annual Halloween party. I needed to rest. I needed to blah, blah blah.
I just didn't want to go and I was hoping God would give me a graceful way out.
He didn't.
So I went.
But I didn't just go. Despite my reluctance, I really put myself into it with feigned cheerfulness. And pretty soon my cheerfulness wasn't feigned. It was real. I really was enjoying myself. I was enjoying myself because I was doing what God wanted me to do at that moment. He wanted to give me a gift that I didn't want to accept, but I accepted it anyway and like a child who discovers he really does like spinach, I'm glad I "gave in."
I should have known. This is the way I always feel before going camping with the scouts. I felt that way last summer when I was looking at a whole week of camping with them. And I always come away glad I went. Really, really glad.
And this is why - because I know that I'm helping these guys grow into real men. I'm helping them grow in confidence and competence. I'm helping them grow into men who know how to take care of themselves and how to work as a team. I'm helping them grow in virtue. I'm helping them have fun. I'm helping them make friends. I'm helping them see that real men are trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.
Besides, I got to wake up to the sound of Canada geese migrating overhead and honking their praises to the Lord! And that's a good thing.
Posted by Matt 9:43 AM
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
A Japaneses Victor Borge?
Posted by Matt 10:39 AM
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Martin and Babs, you were there, but were you listening?
... because he was talking to you and you're on the wrong side of history.
Archbishop Edwin O'Brien, in his homily during his Mass of Installation as the 15th Archbishop of Baltimore, clearly addressed certain "Catholic" politicians in his audience, including Gov. Martin O'Malley, and Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who support abortion. From Archbishop O'Brien's homily...
The right to life is the greatest civil rights issue of our time. This is the issue that will determine whether America remains a hospitable society – committed to caring for women in crisis and their unborn children, committed to caring for those with special needs, committed to caring for the elderly and the dying – or whether America betrays our heritage and the truths on which its Founders staked their claim to independence.
In addressing these issues of life over the past four decades, the Catholic bishops of the United States have not – repeat, not – made "sectarian arguments." The bishops have made moral arguments that can be known by anyone willing to think through the first principles of justice. It is worse than a tragedy, it is a scandal, that too many of our fellow-citizens, including our Catholic fellow-citizens, seem not to have grasped these first principles of justice or have turned their backs on them.
I pledge that I shall make every possible effort to continue and intensify the defense of the right to life that has been waged by my predecessors.
And I pledge more. No one has to have an abortion. To all of those in crisis pregnancies, I pledge our support and our financial help. Come to the Catholic Church. Let us walk with you through your time of trouble. Let us help you affirm life. Let us help you find a new life with your child, or let us help you place that child in a loving home. But please, I beg you: let us help you affirm life. Abortion need not be an "answer" in this Archdiocese.
Click here to read the entire homily. It's worth your time.
Posted by Matt 2:46 PM
Thursday, September 27, 2007
John Paul II, We Love You...
Posted by Matt 4:43 PM
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Truth... Don't leave home without it.
I've been blessed by so many readers over the years who have shared with me their stories of searching for the Truth and finding it in Jesus Christ. Today a reader from Austria writes with a link to her conversion story. Here's the link:
Give it read. You'll be glad you did.
When you search for the Truth, you are searching for Christ, whether you realize it or not.
Posted by Matt 2:18 PM
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Will the real court jester please stand up?!
How can we know the truth about global warming when those who warn us about it can't even agree with themselves?
Here's an article about a "scientist" who calls skeptics of man-made global warming distracting "court jesters." The problem is that in 1971 he was predicting a coming ice age within 50 or 60 years - i.e., as early as 2021.
Would they please get their story straight?! Which way is it? Really. No kidding allowed.
Posted by Matt 10:01 AM
Thursday, September 20, 2007
In the U.S. Senate...
As General David Petraeus, a highly decorated four-star general, whom the senate unanimously confirmed as commanding general in Iraq, prepared to give his congressionally mandated report to Congress, MoveOn.org published a vicious ad calling him "General Betray-US", even before they heard what he had to say.
Well, now 25 senators' true colors are revealed. These 25 senators went on record as
supporting"not condemning" the attacks on Gen. Petraeus. Have they no shame?Here are the senators who voted AGAINST an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, To express the sense of the Senate that General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the full support of the Senate and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces.
Akaka (D-HI), Nay
Bingaman (D-NM), Nay
Boxer (D-CA), Nay
Brown (D-OH), Nay
Byrd (D-WV), Nay
Clinton (D-NY), Nay
Dodd (D-CT), Nay
Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Feingold (D-WI), Nay
Harkin (D-IA), Nay
Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Kennedy (D-MA), Nay
Kerry (D-MA), Nay
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay
Levin (D-MI), Nay
Menendez (D-NJ), Nay
Murray (D-WA), Nay
Reed (D-RI), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Nay
Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay
Sanders (I-VT), Nay
Schumer (D-NY), Nay
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Whitehouse (D-RI), Nay
Wyden (D-OR), Nay
Posted by Matt 4:08 PM
Monday, September 17, 2007
This is what happens when you have no convictions and there is no Truth in your world view...
Read this article on Spero News about the lack of vision and conviction among the Democrat leaders in Congress. Shouldn't we expect better? It truly is A time for courage, not politics, on Iraq
Posted by Matt 11:59 AM