Archive for November, 2008:
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment
in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary,
at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold.
In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God!
to hear my prayer and grant my desires,
through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ,
and of His Blessed Mother.
Amen.
(It is piously believed that whoever recites the above prayer fifteen times a day
from the feast of St. Andrew, on November 30th, until Christmas will obtain what is asked.)
[Imprimatur: +MICHAEL AUGUSTINE, Archbishop of New York, New York, February 6, 1897.]
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I have often pointed out that my own position on abortion — to be against it — is actually a scientific one. I do regard, as any true Catholic does, the Holy See, Sacred Scripture, and Sacred Tradition as authoritative. However, the case as it has been revealed to us in science is more powerful as what has been mandated by the church (something I don’t think is coincidence — God knows humans’ issues with believing that which we cannot see). Today, Lisa Miller in Newsweek reports that there was a small, but steady message coming from a seemingly strange pro-life group in response to one of her recent articles on abortion: atheists.
Just as pro-life Christians argue that life is sacred because it’s given by God, pro-life atheists insist that human life is intrinsically valuable without God’s help. “I think there is nothing beyond this life—but life in and of itself is unique and special,” explains Matt Wallace, a UPS package handler in North Carolina who started an online group for pro-life atheists in 1999.
Actually, as one of those pro-life Christians, my argument comes more from the atheistic point of view she describes. I’d even say most of the pro-life activists argue from that standpoint, too, so Miller may want to re-consider her generalizations. My strict conscience on voting, however, does come from my religion, and the authority from the Church that we should not cooperate materially with intrinsic evils or have to answer for it at the end of our life. Those are two distinct actions, though (opposing abortion and voting) — I use my vote as one of the “tools” to fight abortion and other intrinsic evil as Christians are morally obligated to do.
One of the points I think that is overlooked in this article, however, is that about the actual decision of Roe v. Wade. While Miller hits on it briefly as it relates to Christopher Hitchens, her article ignores the great number of people who don’t consider themselves pro-life or pro-choice, or even consider themselves pro-choice, yet oppose Roe v. Wade because of what it is: a poor decision made by an activist court. There is a large group of people who agree with the results brought on by Roe v. Wade who would rather see this brought about by legislation. They are, of course, unmotivated to try to bring about a change (due to indifference or actually preferring the current state of this debate), but still opposed to the decision.
All in all, there are many ways to become pro-life. Most often, without a miraculous conversion to faith, this is going to be brought about by science. Even this pro-lifer thinks that the case made by science is the most convincing (but I’m only human).
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And Lightning interim coach Rick Tocchet said enough is enough with some players not being prepared to start the game.
“This is a business now and I think our patience is running thin on some people,” he said. “And this is a team we faced tonight, and no disrespect to them, but I think we had the stronger lineup and we had about five or six guys lay eggs and it’s not good enough. It’s a result-oriented business and they’re not getting the job done.”
Tocchet didn’t say it would result in a roster shakeup, but he said some guys are going to have to wake up.
“Life is going to get miserable around here because as a coaching staff, after the first period we were kind of shaking our head,” he said. “They were prepared, they knew exactly what we want, but there are just some individuals who every loose puck they lose and they don’t go to the front of the net. It’s almost like some guys are collecting a paycheck right now and that’s a sad statement.”
I sincerely hope that Melrose is sitting on a beach somewhere near the equator, enjoying margaritas, and enjoying the comedy show being put on in Tampa Bay. At least he had them playing competitive hockey. Rick Tocchet’s brought one victory to the “new direction” Brian Lawton spoke of. It seems to me that the common denominator is none other than Lawton, himself.
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If you want to stand against the ultra-liberal agenda that President-elect Obama has promised, please join The Resistance, a grass-roots effort to oppose radical movements.
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As I stated before, one of the keys to the Flames’ success is going to be limiting the ice time of their defensive liabilities. Adrian Aucoin (not exactly a brilliant defender, but still better than the alternative) picked up 23 minutes of ice time while Cory Sarich only gathered 14 minutes. It is particularly important to keep Sarich off the ice when offensive forwards, like Bertuzzi, are on. Bertuzzi had a quarter the Flames’ giveaways last night.
The line of Iginla, Cammalleri, and Lombardi was superb. As one of the commentators on Rogers Sportsnet said last night, it seems that Iginla needs a change of scenery every now and then (in terms of linemates). He seems energized when he gets to spur on some fresh faces. Remember that last year it was a shift in December that sent Kristian Huselius on the tear of his career and the Flames on the most dominant run of the entire regular season by any team.
Rene Bourque was especially good last night as well. He seems to be taking more of the pool of minutes designated, in a cluster, to himself, Primeau, and Nystrom.
The upcoming home-and-home with the Canucks will be another great gauge for where the Flames actually are right now. The Flames have won 3 of their last 4 but aren’t getting much credit for it considering who the wins came against (and despite an excellent hockey game with the Wings, that they lost). Actually, the Avs aren’t that bad. The Kings…they ARE that bad.
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I can’t say I’m one of the outraged about the automaker executives using private jets to fly around the country. It’s what they do — it’s as much a security thing as anything — and their time (considering their salary) is valuable. I think it would be a bigger outrage if they were using entire days to travel (like the rest of us do) but while accepting millions of dollars per year in salary. That would be more irresponsible than what people are complaining about now.
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In the recent two-game winning streak that followed a horrendous stretch of games for the Calgary Flames, the biggest difference has been the decrease in ice time for Cory Sarich. In the last two games, both wins, he was down to about 13 minutes while the previous two he was up around 19 minutes on average. The extra ice time has gone to Adrian Aucoin, a much smarter defenseman who looks to put passes on tape rather than slap the puck up the boards blindly. His ice time went from between 17-20 minutes in the three games before the winning streak to 25 and then 28 minutes. Aucoin may not be up to these huge minutes for long stretches at his age, but the key for the Flames success will still be to limit the ice time of defensive liabilities like Sarich.
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The miracle of Haleigh Poutre: This is why we should NEVER stop feeding a person, regardless of what we think he or she can’t feel. It is fair to reject extraordinary care, like a ventillator, but giving all persons food and water until death is the only acceptable behavior for a great nation.
[Hat tip to T.J. Wharry]
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You know that turkey you will eat next Thursday? Just in case you didn’t know, someone has to kill that turkey first. The media didn’t know that, and they’re shocked!
Kind of ironic considering the way they slaughtered, Palin. Lots of symbolism there…
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Bush wasn’t so bad: After all these efforts, the people who are going to miss him the most are liberals. They will have to finally start owning responsibility for the way the country is being run. They had successfully morphed their “Blame America First” slogan to “Blame Dubya First” and once he is out of the White House, there is only going to be a certain period of time before that goes stale.
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