Sentator Kerry and Foot in the Mouth Problems

Sentator Kerry and Foot in the Mouth Problems

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I think it obvious that John Kerry was trying to be witty in his California speech, but once again flubbed his script lines as he did so many times when running for office. I think it equally obvious he would not plan to say something demeaning about the troops while helping Democractic candidates running for office, but rather said something that came out different then he intended. But, unfortunately, he unnecessarily became a huge distraction the Republicans seized upon to…

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Stem Cell Research & Morality

Stem Cell Research & Morality

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See the Editorial in the New England Journal of Medcine by physician Dr. Susan Okie "Stem-Cell Politics" New England Journal of Medicine Stem Cell Politics because it worth reading as a  rational argment to allow stem cell research. The Bush adminstration’s policy prohibits federal fudning for research using any human embryonic stem-cell except those established before August 2001.The issue is seen as religious moral issue dealing with human life by the Catholic Church and other religions As Dr. Okie’s editorial…

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Justice & the Law

Justice & the Law

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There are times when I read about a current events like the recent suspension of constitutional civil rights in this country that make me think of the 1989 movie, A Dry White Season. In the movie, Ben du Toit, played by Donald Sutherland, is an Afrikaner school teacher who goes to the offices of a human rights lawyer, Ian Mackenzie, played by Marlon Brando. He wants the lawyer’s help in demanding a formal inquest into the murder by the police…

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Wisdom Expressed in Poetry

Wisdom Expressed in Poetry

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An unknown poet has written these words of wisdom: "You’ve got to have the goods, my boy, if you would finish strong; A bluff may work a little while, but not for very long. A line of talk, all by itself, will seldom see you thru; You’ve got to have the goods, my boy, and nothing else will do. The fight is pretty stiff, my boy, I’d call it rather tough. And all along the routes are wrecks of those…

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Oil Paintings and People

Oil Paintings and People

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Gustav Klimt’s 1907 portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer sold at auction in New York in June of 2006 for $135 Million dollars. This exceeded the previous sale of Pablo Picasso’s painting Boy with a Pipe which sold for $104 Million earlier in 2006 and Vincent Van Gogh’s painting Portrait of Dr. Gachet which sold for $83 Million in 1983. If oil paintings are worth multi millions of dollars because they are unique and irreplaceable, what are unique and irreplaceable human beings…

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17 Words to Ponder

17 Words to Ponder

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                            Here are seventeen words to ponder: Prepare – Listen – Smile – Care – Choose – Focus – Believe – Relax – Act -Forgive –    Pray – Trust – Change- Persist – Accept – Risk – Wait

The Prayer of Thomas Merton

The Prayer of Thomas Merton

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Thomas Merton (1915 – 1968) U.S. religious author, Trappist monk and poet who lived at the Abbey of Gethesemani wrote this prayer that has universal appeal. "My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going, I do not see the road ahead of me, I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing…

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Having a Purpose in Life

Having a Purpose in Life

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The Jesuit priest, Mark Link, has written a series of short meditation books with wonderful stories and metaphors. These booklets are available from Thomas More Publishing www.ThomasMore.com. In one of his meditations he refers to Lord George Macleod whom he quotes as saying: "Is there any greater pathos in our world than the number of youth, miles outside our churches, who are longing for a savior, looking pathetically toward …revolutionaries like Che Guevara…Do you know the hush that comes down…

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Never Having to Say You Are Sorry

Never Having to Say You Are Sorry

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Experience has demonstrated that the justice system serves an important role in holding people and corporations responsible for their actions and in providing a strong incentive to change wrong behavior. Big business has always angled for laws which give them immunity for their actions and especially for laws which prevent them from being judged in open court by juries made up of citizens.  It came as no surprise,when, by an extraordinary Presidential Executive Order, President Bush, in May of this…

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