So, the "99 Cent Only" stores here in Houston are going to be giving away iPod Nanos tomorrow morning to the first nine customers. I think I'm going to go camping overnight outside the store tonight. :) Maybe I'll even have some company during my adventure.

Linkage.

How sweet would that be? Ha!

Threewordposttitle.

Wesly J. Smith is a bioethicist and author that I've noticed in the last year or so. In his latest article in the Weekly Standard, he compares the claims that Groningen University's* published policy and guidelines for determining which children aren't worthy of continuing to exist are the same as the German policy of killing deformed children during WWII. His evaluation seems to somewhat distance itself from that claim, but he does acknowledge the result is the same: a young child killed because the government determined his/her worthiness is below a certain level.

At any rate, the issue is something that I think everybody should be aware of, so please take a second if you're able and read what he's saying.

And of course the same thing happens in the United States. In the last 15 years, the number of trisomy 21 children born has plummeted because nearly all (86 percent**) are killed prior to being born.

*Verbum Domini lucerna pedibus nostris is Grogingen University's motton, which translates to The word of the Lord is a light for our feet. Interesting, considering this university's feet are leading the Dutch, and all of Europe down a path of killing toddlers for not being within the government-approved range of perfect. Who would want to live, though, not being smart - such as Downs Syndrome people?

**This is an oft-quoted statistic, but I can never pinpoint the source; everybody just cites the stat and says it's "from hospital studies." If it's from the CDC or Nat'l Inst. of Health, I'd like to know.

It's very important to note that the charges being dropped against Rahman aren't being dropped for lack of evidence or because the court, state government of Afghanistan or the religious leaders of the Muslim world are arguing against his execution.

Naw... they're letting him off on a technicality which means, well, it's good that the guy's not going to die, but it means really that nothing has changed, that the system is still bad and inhospitibal to reasonable conduct.

I guess it's all about the small victories.

Reason prevails!

Charges against Mr. Rahman have apparently been dropped.

Vis-a-vis the whole "a guy is going to be killed for not being Muslim" deal that's going on now, I just read something pretty awesome:

Abdul Rahman embodies the question at the heart of this struggle: If Islam is a religion one can only convert to, not from, then in the long run it is a threat to every free person on the planet.

In a more culturally confident age, the British in India were faced with the practice of "suttee" - the tradition of burning widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands. Gen. Sir Charles Napier was impeccably multicultural:

"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: When men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks, and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."

From here.

Possible adult source for "embryonic" stem cells: testicles.

Yowch! But this could be good news if possible in humans. We'll know in a couple of years, I suspect, at the latest. It depends on how embryonic these cells are - if they have lots of potential differentiated states, and whether or not the process involves creating something resembling an embryo.

But it's hopeful at the very least, that researchers are looking into ways to get embryonic-ish cells without killing other humans.

It's been a while since there have been bona fide Christian martyrs. The priest that was shot in the back by a Turk last month, and now Mr. Rahman (assuming "top Imams" have their say with him) strike me as two particularly pious examples of offering up one's life in complete trust in God. Talk about inspiring!

(Photo: Mr. Rahman reads the Bible during his trial.)

I finally got my thank-you letters mailed out. It's late-March. I figure three months is enough time to see the discounted Christmas cards sit out on my desk, earnestly begging me to write on them, staring me down under their mounting pressure as the weeks roll past to write to the people that sent you gifts! You moron! Argh - if there was one thing I'd change in my life (and yes, of course I know this is all within my control, so it's pointless to "wish for it" when really all I need to do is buckle down and realize it) it would be to double my self-motivation. I'm too motivated by the consequences - the negative eventuality - than by accomplishment. Maybe I'm being a bit too harsh on myself. I am, afterall, doing fairly well in most of my life's pursuits. I'm not the best Christian, but I do alright. I'm not the best scientist, but I do alright. I wonder what my impression would be from the outside, looking at me. Actually I wonder what God thinks of my "progress" in life - let's hope I'm not put to the test just yet - I think there are some things I want to get done first. He's probably 51% satisfied. Just below the top-48% cut-off, I'm sure.

Colson, speaks out on the possible execution to be allowed by new Afghani government of the Christian convert:

"The irony is inescapable: This is the country that we rid of the Taliban because of its religious oppression. This is the country in which we have spent at least $70 billion to establish a free democratic government. This is the country whose freedom cost us three hundred American lives and eight hundred casualties. And this is the country that is preparing to execute a man for becoming a Christian after he witnessed other Christians caring for his countrymen.

"Is this the fruit of democracy? Is this why we have shed American blood and invested American treasure to set a people free? What have we accomplished for overthrowing the Taliban? This is the kind of thing we would expect from the Taliban, not from President Karzai and his freely elected democratic government.

"I have supported the Bush administration's foreign policy because I came to believe that the best way to stop Islamo-fascism was by promoting democracy. But if we can't guarantee fundamental religious freedoms in the countries where we establish democratic reforms, then the whole credibility of our foreign policy is thrown into serious question."

This kind of crap (if it's true) almost makes me want to get my insurance with a carrier other than Geico: class and education used to discriminate for insurance premium rates.

I thought Geico was such an awesome deal - maybe it was just so cheap because I'm in high academia...

Have I become the Man?

Somewhere, someone who was in RCIA (a class for adults to convert to Catholicism) wrote the following letter to an Episcopalian priest:

I am seeking to learn more about the Episcopalian Church. I am currently taking RCIA classes at my local Catholic church and want badly to convert but am assailed with doubts for the following reasons: the Church’s stance on divorce, birth control, abortion, homosexuality and women as priests. I am a liberal and cannot and will not betray my conscience by accepting the teachings of the Church hierarchy that I view to be implicitly wrong. I love Christ will all my heart and long to serve him, but don’t know if I can reconcile my personal belief system with these teachings, not to mention the overall alarmingly conservative outlook of many Catholics. I know that many former Catholics have become members of the Episcopalian Church. Do you know of any yourself? Is it true that many have become members since Pope Benedict took his place in the Holy See?

I have encountered some Catholics online who are progressive and share my views but they seem to be the minority, alas. I’m feeling pretty lost right now and I don’t know where I can find a home, so to speak, a church that will accept and embrace my views. I love so many aspects of Catholicism, the dignity of Mass, the sacraments, the emphasis on social justice, but don’t want to feel as if I’m living a lie but rejecting other teachings. Does the Episcopalian Church offer the sacrament of Reconciliation? I don’t know if I could stand to leave this behind. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

*****

The Episcopalian priest answered, but then another Episcopalian priest - actually a former Episcopalian priest of 25 years who converted to Catholicism last year - gave an answer that really stands out to me as a great response to the honest questioning that the original letter-writer was expressing:

Dear Inquirer,

I applaud your commitment not to betray your conscience “by accepting the teachings of the Church hierarchy” that you believe to be wrong. The Catholic Church teaches that the conscience is the voice of God and therefore a person should and must obey his conscience, even though it is possible that he may have misheard the divine voice. “It is never lawful,” Cardinal Newman writes, “to go against our conscience.” However, we also have a moral obligation to inform and train our conscience. How are we to do so?

You write that you disagree with the Catholic Church’s positions on divorce and remarriage, birth control, abortion, homosexuality, and the male priesthood. May I suggest that you bracket these convictions for the moment and consider a more fundamental question: Is the Catholic Church who she claims to be? This question must be asked and answered before you can reasonably address the specific teachings of the Catholic Church, for if the Catholic claim is true, then you will be forced to reconsider your present beliefs. Let’s be honest. Given the beliefs and values of our culture, you would be a remarkable person indeed who did not disagree with the Catholic Church on the issues you mention. Since your birth you have breathed in a spirit of inclusivity, relativism, and anti-authoritarianism. You are a grandchild of the sexual revolution. You have been indoctrinated in a worldview that is hostile to the Catholic faith. The teaching of the Catholic Church on sexual morality is especially offensive to secular culture. The Catholic Church now exists in the United States as a counter-cultural community. I propose that this counter-cultural stance be considered as one piece of evidence in favor of the claim that the Catholic Church speaks to the world with divine authority and truth. How easy it would be for her to conform to contemporary sensibilities. How the cultural elites would applaud if she would just affirm the permissibility of abortion or gay marriages. Yet the Catholic Church will not accommodate. She knows she is entrusted with a solemn responsibility—to guard the faith once delivered to the saints and to pass it on intact to future generations.

For the Catholic, the decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the decision to accept the authority of the Church is one decision. They cannot be separated, for the risen Christ will not be separated from his mystical body. We love to manufacture religions that express our own ideological and religious preferences. As Luther once remarked, “Every man is born with a Pope in his belly.” The grace of the Catholic Church, with all her weaknesses, sins, and failures, is that she confronts me as other. She is not, and refuses to be, a projection of my ego. She simply is. She speaks with a voice that is not my own. She challenges me with the authority of God. Here is one meaning of the ancient Christian dictum extra ecclesiam nulla salus: outside the Church there is no salvation. The Church saves me. She saves me from the sin of self because she cannot be assimilated into my self; I must be assimilated into her. I am the one who must change. I am the one who must be willing to submit my intellect to her wisdom and knowledge. Incorporated into the Catholic Church I am simultaneously incorporated into the glorified and risen Christ and brought into the ecstatic life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

If the Catholic Church is who she claims to be, then she speaks to me with an authority that binds my conscience. Because she is indwelt and guided by the Holy Spirit, she is protected from error in her formal teachings. She speaks truth. She can be relied upon. And so I trust her and seek to think with her. I do not ask her, must not ask her, to accept my views; she asks me to accept her views. One enters the Catholic Church in order to change; one enters the Catholic Church to be changed.

In your letter you write “I love Christ with all my heart and long to serve him.” Yes! I commend your faith and your desire to serve our Lord in all things. But how does one discern the will of Jesus, given the manifold and contradictory voices in the world? If the Catholic Church is the Church, then assent to her authoritative teachings is assent to Christ; obedience to her commands is obedience to Christ. I plead with you: pray for the grace to see the true identity of the Catholic Church. She is the Body of our Lord and Savior and his unblemished Bride. She speaks his goodness, his justice, his truth. For two thousand years she has proclaimed and lived the good news of Jesus Christ.

When I became Catholic just under a year ago, I made this profession: “I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God.” Believe me when I tell you that this was one of the hardest moments in my life. I had been an Episcopal priest for twenty-five years. As my friends will tell you, I have strong convictions about a great many things and especially about matters theological. If nothing else, I am opinionated. Yet with that surrender to the magisterial authority of the Church came true intellectual liberation. Finally, for the first time, I had a knowledgeable and faithful guide. As Chesterton wrote, “To become a Catholic is not to leave off thinking, but to learn how to think.”

Is the Catholic Church who she claims to be? Is she the Church of Jesus Christ? This is the question that you must answer.

If I may, I recommend the following writings: George Weigel, Letters to a Young Catholic; Richard John Neuhaus, Catholic Matters; G. K. Chesterton, The Catholic Church and Conversion; and John Henry Newman, “Faith and Private Judgment.”

God bless you in your journey.

Sorry for the length of this copy/paste job, but it's pretty much the crux of the Catholic worldview. Original text is found here.

Talking to Cardinal-designate William J. Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith...

Reporter: How will you feel when you get your red hat from the Pope?

Levada: Of course, I'm honored. But you also want to make sure your hat is on straight.

That's what I'm sayin', yo.

Which would you go with: Campbell's Chunky Chicken Broccoli Cheese or Chunky Chicken and Mushroom Chowder?

They both sound good. :slobber:

That song that I link to over yonder on 'ye olde' sidebar is (I think) pretty great. A bit limited in what they do with it, but it's got a great distopian sound...

Speaking of which, three nights ago I was with some friends and we hopped on the light rail train and went psuedo-bar-hopping for my friend Natalia's 21st birthday party. There's a first time for everything, including Chris going bar-hopping. The point is, we were walking around downtown, a mixture of stale-piss-smelling homeless men in trenchcoats and pristine and shiney downtown glass-fronted building facades. It felt post-apocalyptic. Or pre-apocalyptic, but there was definately an apocalypse approaching. Add to that a bunch of clubs pumping out the beat music, and, well, it was really depressing. Obviously it's not my scene - well, the Flying Saucer was excellent. I dug that place, and my Duvel golden ale (damn, that was good).

Now to get home for some sleepage...

Interesting story about researchers finding regenerative cells in womens' menstrual blood. I do wonder if these cells are different than the stem cells that are normally found in blood.

The stem cells were then cultured in a way to induce them to become heart cells.

After five days about half of the cells contracted "spontaneously, rhythmical and synchronously, suggesting the presence of electrical communication" between the cells, Miyoshi says.

That is to say, they behaved like heart cells.

I'm wearing my last pair of clean underwear today. Why is underwear always the limiting factor in my laundry schedule? Like I don't already have enough crap to do.

Also, please let me know if you like or dislike the new layout of the blog. I think it accomplishes everything that it needs to, but you know how big I am on making sure everyone's happy. :)

I just realized I have no clean underwear for tomorrow. That either means I'll rough it (well, other's will have to deal with that) or just go the night without showering. Life is full of decisions.

Also, please provide input on the layout of this blog. I mean, I think it works decently enough - and is relatively sharp-looking.

I just realized I have no clean underwear for tomorrow. That either means I'll rough it (well, other's will have to deal with that) or just go the night without showering. Life is full of decisions.

Also, please provide input on the layout of this blog. I mean, I think it works decently enough - and is relatively sharp-looking.

GRRRR! I can't get the comments thingy to work. Guess I'll have to find another design for this blog.

Another thing - the posting comments thing is FUBAR'ed... I'll try to fix it later, but I'm not good at CSS...

Alright, I've got a new logo! Only took me an hour to make in MS Paint... maybe later I'll go back over it and anti-alias the diagonal lines on the "G" in "AUGUST." This weekend is promising to be pretty busy. Which is good, I guess. The more I do the closer I am to graduating... unless I'm doing the wrong things. But, you know, I'm not going to focus on negativity. :)

Everyone have a great weekend!

Test number infinity.

I need to start using post subjects, which I'm not in a habit of doing... but I love the adaptability of the Blogspot templates...

'Nother test.

Testing. This is a test. HARRRR!

I watched most of this game and I gotta say, I went to my feet after the Northwestern State guy sunk his 3-pointer... great ending. I think they earned it. :)

Also, Matthew, gratz on your A&M last night. Not sure when they play again, but I'm glad they bested Syracuse...

Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion. While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.
-Cardinal Ratzinger, 2004

Great quote on why sometimes "enlightened conscience" needs to be shoved up one's ass, especially when used to defend the killing of the unborn, for example.

More commentary on Wafa Sultan.

It was apparent from the interview that Wafa Sultan has stopped being a Muslim for reasons that she alone can tell. This fact alone will discourage even the most moderate Muslims from listening to her. She is exactly like Irshad Manji. Western readers can get excited as they want over Sultan and Manji, but don't expect Muslims to heed the call of a former Muslim and a lesbian*.

In addition, I believe the Sultan vs the Al Azhar professor debate was an attempt by Al Jazeera to discredit anyone who thinks differently about Islam. By putting these 2 together, Al Jazeera was forcing its viewers to choose between Sultan and the professor. 99.9999% of viewers had no option but to side with their fellow Muslim the professor.

We don't need former Muslims, we don't need atheists, we don't need lesbians, what we need are reform minded Muslim thinkers. Only these people have the necessary legitimacy to pull us from the dark abyss we're in now.

Bwahahaha! Indult hotline!

Cool story.

My kind of guy...

...although his probably has air conditioning...

That woman was Dr. Wafa Sultan, and she's getting quite some notice for going on Al-Jazeera and saying what she said.

A must watch video. I don't know who she is, but what she's saying sounds a lot like what Hirshi Ali has been saying.

...social darwinism.

Enough to make some cry and some happy.

...social darwinism.

Enough to make some cry and some happy.

This is a bit scary. Too bad the guy doesn't die or something.

Bioengineers make a nano-particle "trellis" which is able to facilitate de novo axon regeneration in optic nerves in mice, "partially restoring sight."

Definately interesting - it's a great proof-of-concept. Let's see if the technology translates into human therapy. I think the best part is that no small people are sacrificed on the alter of Moloch for the advancement of others using this kind of technology. And hey, that's always a plus.

I AM THE MAN!

I've liked a lot of what Dr. Mansfield at Harvard has said on government theory. At least I think I remember him saying some good things during the whole Summers incident of last year.

Apparently he's got a new book that is pissing off a lot of people, and Boston Globe does a hatchet job on it here. Sounds interesting, and I probably agree with a lot of what he's saying: basically that we seem to do a lot of bickering and often nobody has the courage to get up and set about to doing great things.

(Odd, the 2nd time I tried to look at this story it locked me out of the subsequent pages. Buggered if I'm going to reg. for it.)

This makes me think of this:

"You guys, you've got to realise who this chap is. He's a lunatic. If he gets the slightest inkling that we are not throwing straight dice, you - and f*@k it, me - are going to know what the sharp side of a kebab knife feels like."

Priest fends off a crazy with a 30'-long kabob knife/sword? Crazy skills! Chalk one up for God's men. :P

My tenure at LiveJournal lasted for just under 5 years, and so now I think I'm ready to make this switch to Blogger/Blogspot, which, I don't know, feels a little more grown up.

At first, my LiveJournal blog was focused on a lot of swearing, bragging about how I was staying up all night to cram for exams and presentations (something that I still do, although I hate doing it now, and no longer look at as something that makes me "hardcore") and still making decent grades at Trinity, indicating how good or bad the latest cigar with Justin was, making ambiguous statements about a girl named Mandy McClung (who, sophomore year, broke into our Prassel dorm-room - yikes!) who I secretly liked for three years, and finally, more swearing. The last year or so, something obviously changed. I started posting about my religion, others' religions and abortion. To some, this is less interesting than the whole clatter of wanton displays of colorful description about existence at Trinity University; to others, this was more interesting.

I feel like I'm in a very transitory period in my life. I do NOT feel like Houston is my home. I don't feel like I belong here, really. I don't necessarily like being here, nor do I anymore find my work to be interesting. I want to get my PhD and get the heck out of here. To where, and to what, I pray I have the grace to leave up to God, who alone can make my life into something... worthwhile. Okay, two things: 1.) I didn't intend to get emotive or make this some kind of ranting blog entry, and 2.) I'm not depressed like it maybe sounds. But when one doesn't feel any kind of permanence in their life, it must be understandable that a lot of different things become weird in their life. I guess I am truly happy, not because I'm satisfied with my school or social life, but happy that my faith and trust in God seem to have grown in the past 2 years or so, even in this seeming emptiness.

The fact is, my life is considerably less interesting these days. I know and hang out with considerably fewer people on a daily basis these days than back at Trinity. Any given day might see me eating lunch and dinner with a dozen people. These days, I tend to hang out only with my good friend here at school, Eric Howlett. Whether or not this is a healthy thing, who's to say. I'd like to hang out with more people, but it requires quite some effort these days. I no longer have classes, Justin and Matt both live at least 40 miles away, and a lot of the other people here at school, while good and friendly, just don't interest me for whatever reason.

So: don't look now, but I'm almost positive this is going to be the new home of the former the-august.livejournal.com. I really like the fact that I can search my posts with blogspot, although for that luxury I sacrifice the ever-important ability to tell you guys which song I'm listening to as I post. Which I suppose could be remedied by manually entering the information... also, I'm not aware of a third-party or client program for sending updates to the Blogspot servers. We might have to rough it for a while. Overall though, I look forward to another 5 years of posting interesting tripe.

I hope you continue to read this, my monument of feelings, thoughts, desires; toward whatever end nobody knows, for whatever gain anyone is to say, and with whatever predisposition I leave to thee.