Take Heart

OK, so health care passed. Some people I've talked to are angry, some are depressed. Both of these are natural and to be expected, but let's not go overboard. I'm reading blog posts that make it sound like the world is ending and we will all be judged on this one event. History is full of horrible events, some of which make this look like fun. I'm...

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Back in Philly

While the rest of America was worrying about health care I was camping. Friday evening we packed ourselves, three scouts, three tents, five sleeping bags, four folding chairs, assorted back packs, day packs, etc. and my "small" telescope (a 6" dobsonian) and eyepiece case into the back of our minivan and headed off to Pine Hill scout reservation in...

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Round about the Internet

So what to blog about? Well, the health care bill, for one. But so many people are writing such excellent posts about it I have little to add that you can't read more eloquently elsewhere. Plus I have had lots to do this year, and have had little time for composing posts that require a lot of research. So I was thinking... I follow blogs. Lots of...

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The Hierarchy of Freedom

I was trying to explain to a friend something St. Thomas Aquinas wrote. We spent some time talking past each other. We still are. But somewhere along the line it occurred to me that while I was talking about justice, my friend was talking about legality. That prompted me to think about it and eventually sit down and write this post. It's not a completely...

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Bishops and Kennedys

A while back NBC's Chris Matthews interviewed Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island on "Hard Ball". The topic was allegedly a letter from several years before which Patrick Kennedy had made public, in which the bishop advised him that he should not receive the sacrament of Communion while he was not in communion with the church. Instead, Matthews opened...

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Lia Rocks!

Today I have for your viewing pleasure two videos by a young woman named Lia. She was 12 years old when she made the first video, and 13 in the second. I don't think I should or can add anything to her wor...

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I may not know music...

...but I know what I like. I confess, as a baby my grandmother used to sing hymns while rocking me to sleep. I was probably the only kid who learned "The ABC song" and "To Jesus Christ, our Sovereign King" at the same time. Of course I also grew up in the 70's, and so at mass, guitars and tambourines rang out in front of the silent organ, and songs...

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