Well, we will pretend it's still Friday, in the same way that the Obama team wishes that Wednesday's debate never happened. (Wasn't that the greatest thing, evah??? No protective media filter for Obama means we got to see the real men in a real debate.)
1) Before you do anything else, go here to sign up for the weekly emails that will make it easy for all of us to...
I signed up and am so excited! Pope Benedict XVI has declared the Year of Faith, which begins on October 11 (Thursday) -- the very same day that you will receive your first emailed section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Let's all do this together, and live the Year of Faith deeply! Non-Catholics should sign up, too…. It's a great way to familiarize yourself with one of the great world religions (and it will help facilitate the debates we have on this blog). You might be amazed at what insights and riches you find there!
2) This is a video of a doctor speaking only one sentence. You will enjoy the sentence immensely, but not really. You'll see what I mean:
Remember: It's not too late. Vote for Romney, and get all your friends and family to do the same. Especially you folks in the swing states! It is imperative that Obama not get a second term.
3) From funny(ish) to not funny at all. Read this very sad letter that was posted on facebook by Karl Keating, the president of Catholic Answers:
Dear President Obama:
Today I received a phone call from our family physician’s office. It was a courtesy call, to let us know that next week we will receive a letter. The letter will notify us that his medical office is closing permanently.
We have been making use of this man’s services for 25 years and were among his first patients, after his graduation from medical school and residency. He always has had a solo practice, and he always has kept up on the latest medical procedures. His bedside manner is exemplary, and I count him as a friend, not just as a physician. (As a happy bonus for us, he happens to be a fine Catholic.)
Once your new law took effect, he discovered that the reporting and allied software requirements were so onerous and so expensive that he couldn’t afford to process insurance and remain as a solo practitioner. Either he had to drop handling insurance for his patients, forcing them to pay for services as rendered and to seek reimbursement from their insurance companies on their own, or he had to join a conglomerate of physicians.
He thought the latter was the worse option because he wouldn’t be able to give his patients the consistent and personalized care that has been his hallmark, so he elected to drop processing insurance. As he expected, he lost patients, since under the new arrangement his patients pay more out of pocket (because the insurance company covers less of the total bill).
As it turned out—and perhaps this should be no surprise in such a weak economy—he has lost so many of his patients that he simply can’t afford to keep the doors open. The result is that he will take an unwanted early retirement (he’s about 55). His receptionist/bookkeeper and his medical technician, who have been with him for many years, will lose their jobs, and my wife and I will lose the best physician we’ve ever had.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Isn't that sorrowful? My own father was a solo practitioner, so it truly burdens my heart to know how many good doctors will be leaving (essentially forced out of) the practice of medicine due to Obamacare. Not only are we losing wonderful doctors, which harms us all, but remember that all Catholic institutions and business owners may be forced to close up or quit due to Obamacare and its unjust, unconscionable HHS mandate.
4) So much ignorance on the part of the electorate. And so much apathy -- well, except when it comes to shredding humans and sexual license. I was watching the news last week, and a reporter stopped a well-spoken twenty-something woman in the street, asking her if she knew the difference between Medicaid and Medicare. She said she did not know the difference (sigh), and that she was still on her parents' insurance. She then added, unsolicited, "I only care about abortion and gay marriage." I've always thought that abortion and sexual "rights" is the base, burning passion for so many Obama voters, and this just solidified my thought. Lord, help us.
5) Since you need some good news now, how about this? The head of Arizona State University's Secular Free Thought Society (i.e., the atheists), had a dramatic conversion to Catholicism, which was profiled in ASU's online journal, no less! Sometimes God hits people over the head with zero subtlety. I have a feeling God will be using this young man for great things:
And then, you can watch a day in the life of the priest who heads up ASU's Newman Center, a young, vibrant priest named Father John Muir (whom I remember as a seminarian, and whose sister is a friend of mine). Trust me. You.Will.Love.This.
Yep, some very, very good things are happening at Arizona State.
6) Best piece I read all week, from Simcha Fisher:
You nailed it, Simcha! I love clarity and logic.
7) Dear, sweet Valery. She needs a family, badly. Please pray for her, consider her, share her photo and information.
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| Click my photo for more info! |
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Next, please meet Sean, a little redheaded cutie with Down Syndrome who is ready to make someone a wonderful son!
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| Click my photo for more info! |
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Finally, if I could hypnotize you and make you read this Orphan Report post I wrote the other day, I would. ("You are getting veeery sleepy…") Please take a look, and…
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| Click my photo! |
Thanks to Jen for hosting!
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Im learning homeopathy to treat my kids at home to possibly off set this obamascare shit! Ill be damned to sit in a dmv line to take my kids to the doctor.
ReplyDeleteOrdering medication online is not something I'm ignorant too... ;) I will be more than happy to self treat everyone! LOL
The debate was perfect! Did you see Al Gore blame Obamas performance on the air quality?
Just watched the video...He is precious! Makes me on fire, I love being Catholic!
ReplyDeleteTo my Dear American neighbours....For the Love of God vote that man OUTTA office.......please.
ReplyDeleteAbout the doctors, maybe some of the Canadian Doctors that went south will come back home to Canada EH!! Dear Karl Keating Doctor, PLEASE come north to Canada!!! WE need good caring doctors so much. Love a Canadian Citizen EH ;)
I'm excited to read about #5 when I have time, in the meantime I watched the video on the life of a priest. His day looked so relaxing, a nice combination of work and prayer! So many people have this notion that as soon as people "take the vows" of a religious life, that the personality they have gets zapped out of them. If anything, becoming the person that God calls us to be, whether it is religious life or laity, enhances their personality! Becoming humble is not about going around with a stoic look on your face and trying to look holy. Being humble is simply being the truth, the person God made you to be and becoming good at it! Look at St.Philip Neri, who was known for his crazy sense of humor, or Mother Angelica. Those with quieter personality, such as Bl.Mother Theresa is often seen with a smile or a laugh...answering God's call to become all that He made you to be is like becoming all the colors of the rainbow.
ReplyDeleteI think Romney's performance was very effective, and in the end it came down to them throwing statistics and studies (many misinterpreted, misrepresented, or just lied about) at each other. That's why I love sites like Politifact.com. I think Obama was the more truthful, but they both made some pretty big stretches.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to the conversion story. I've started to really love those, for some reason. I guess they help me kill the idea that godlessness is somehow smarter and more reasonable than belief.
I really loved the video! I knew I would, but I almost turned away because of the length. So glad I didn't!
ReplyDeleteWhat is happening with Andrew, Leila? I checked their blog for an update but it's been a bit since there's been an entry. Are they on their way to get him? If you posted about him I managed to miss it!
ReplyDeleteChris, I'm glad that you are looking at more than just one fact-checking organization. While Politifact "started out straight", it has gone way to the left in its bias:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.humanevents.com/2012/08/30/politifact-bias-does-the-gop-tell-nine-times-more-lies-than-left-really/
In fact, there is an entire site dedicated to exposing Politifact bias:
http://www.politifactbias.com/
And if you are interested in a religion where faith and reason are both of the essence, you will love Catholicism. :) Have you read Pope John Paul II's Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason)?
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_15101998_fides-et-ratio_en.html
It begins: "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves."
And St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, G.K. Chesterton, oh my! You will have a heyday. You can keep your intellect and still be a Catholic. We encourage it. Actually, we demand it. :)
Sharon, they are just finishing up their homestudy! It's a long process, unfortunately…. But it's moving along, praise God. Keep praying that Andrew stays well till they get there.
ReplyDeleteI missed the debate when it aired - we went out to trivia Wednesday night - but Mom and I watched it streaming on FoxNews the next morning. I actually read your FB thread first, though, which was great! It was such a relief to see Mitt Romney do well. We live in uber-Obama country, and I've had to block most of my local peeps on FB until after the election, lol. Funnily enough, most of them were pretty silent after the debate ;).
ReplyDeleteI have sometimes been frustrated when Politifact or another fact checker called out Obama or another Dem. "But that's NOT false!" I'll say. "What he really meant was..."
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, I know fact checkers aren't always fair (and I've noticed unfairness to Republicans, at times). But if we don't use them at all, then we're stuck simply believing the candidate we already agree with, no matter what they say. I think if all the fact checkers agree something is false (for example, Romney objectively lied about the size of the deficit--Obama has not doubled it since he took office), then we can safely conclude that they're right. But you're correct that we can't lay all our eggs in one basket, so to speak.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_15101998_fides-et-ratio_en.html
ReplyDeleteThat's one long page; I'll definitely read it all though, because it's been very interesting so far. Thanks!
Chris, yes, JPII was a very brilliant philosopher, and he was a prolific writer. :)
ReplyDeleteHey, I just found a follow-up interview with Josh Horn, about his conversion (the ASU guy). Here it is:
http://www.ignitumtoday.com/2012/10/08/former-atheist-and-his-conversion/