3/02/2007

"The rest of the story"

It seems that Switzerland accidently invaded neighboring Liechtenstein

The funny thing to me however, (and it didn't get reported in the news), is that upon hearing the news, France immediately surrendered!

Pyro

Accountability

With all the news about top officials going down in flames over the Walter Reed Scandal it causes me to wonder.

How many times over the last 10 or 15 years have these same problems been pointed out by lower level personnel? How many times have the grunts been told to "shut up" and quit complaining? How many times has someone had the idea to fix up the place or maintain things better only to be shut down or ignored? I see it happen all the time, whether it be in the military, a para-military organization (like fire departments or police departments), or regular corporate America.

The problem is simple, GOOD IDEAS HAVE RANK. If you aren't high enough in rank or seniority, your idea isn't good, it's whinning or making waves. If you are high enough in rank or seniority, all of your ideas are good, even the really really dumb ones!!

Now of course I'm being slightly sarcastic. There are good organizations all over the place. The thing they have in common is that they value everyone in the organization and recognize that the genesis of many good ideas is not from the top down but instead, from the bottom up.

Too bad the folks in the Army and at Walter Reed didn't see fit to do something about an obviously unsatisfactory condition until they got caught. I don't praise the news media very often, and Lord knows they will be circling this story like a bunch of vultures, but the Army deserves two black eyes over this one.

Pyro,

2/25/2007

Reason #74,368,746,798,421,957,694,375,096 that labor unions are still necessary

Teacher’s Trial Begins TodayBy Rusty Garrett
TIMES RECORD •
RGARRETT@SWTIMES.COMA lawsuit over whether teachers should be paid for time spent monitoring students outside the classroom will go to trial today in Crawford County Circuit Court.Judge Mike Medlock will preside over the case filed by former Coleman Junior High School civics teacher Steve Jones against the Van Buren School District.The suit, originally filed in 2003, claims Jones and other teachers were not paid for non-instructional duty time that they were required to work. It has been certified as a class-action suit.A 2003 law requires teachers be paid additional compensation if they work more than 60 minutes of non-instructional time in a week. Lemley said there is a dispute over whether passing periods — the three to seven minutes between classes — and before and after school duty and lunch duty are noninstructional time.After the Van Buren School Board voted to fire Jones in 2006, the suit was amended to include a wrongful termination claim. Jones was fired for missing a meeting in 2005 and leaving a meeting early in 2006.The termination issue will be tried at a later date.Attempts between Jones’ attorney Brian Meadors and Kevin Lemley, the lawyer representing the school district, to negotiate a settlement ended Feb. 13 when the school board voted 6-0 against accepting an offer that would have involved a $400,000 payment by the district.Lemley told board members the plaintiffs have contended a decision in their favor could cost the district more than $2 million.The trial will begin at 9 a.m. in the new circuit courtroom in the remodeled county courthouse annex on Fourth Street.

I'm no huge fan of public school teacher unions but.... it sounds as if this school administration thinks it's o.k. to not pay workers for required hours of labor (meetings, training, whatever you want to call it). I'll bet all the salary employees claim "comp time" for these meetings and take extra 3 day weekends once they've banked enough!

Pyro

The Reason labor unions are their own worst enemy #1,992,883,575,884,888,548,848,584

A 73-year-old man died of a heart attack in North London in January, perhaps assisted by a delay in responding by the London Ambulance Service. According to The Sun, the nearest crew could not be called because European Union labor rules prevent disturbing the crew for any reason during the first 20 minutes of their half-hour break. [The Sun (London), 1-6-07]

How much ya wanna bet this rule is already changed?
How much ya wanna bet there are people arguing that what happened wasn't wrong?

Pyro

2/24/2007

Links

I'm in the process of rebuilding my links that I lost when I had an "accident" while editing my blog. Here is a short explanation of each of the links:

1. Google; if you don't know what this is, you shouldn't be on the internet.
2. Catholic Exchange: a site that has news, articles, faith formation and such.
3. Mark Shea: An author who writes lots of short essays, full length books,
and runs a blog called Catholic and Enjoying it. He is an adult convert
from an Evangelical background.
4. Communio: A trade magazine for theologians. The who's who of theology
write for this including former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict XVI),
Hans Urs Von Balthazar, Hildebrand ... you get the drift.
5. EWTN: The largest Christian broadcasting entity in the world with 24/7
TV and radio.
6. National Fellowship of Catholic Men: site with things of interest
regarding living a faith filled life for men.
7. Our Lady Star of the Sea, Bremerton: My Church's website
8. Catholic Answers: Catholic apologetics site. Their radio program which
is broadcast on EWTN radio was instrumental in helping me to
understand the truths of the Catholic faith.
9. Coming Home Network: a site with lots of essays written by converts
where they describe their journeys from other Christian traditions, non
Christian religions, and even athiests. They also have a radio program on
EWTN called "The Journey Home". The site is run by a convert who used
to be a pastor in a Presbyterian church.
10. Official Vatican Website: lots of stuff at this English language site. You
can even read through everything that every Pope from the last couple of
hundred years has written.


More links to follow as I rebuild my list.

Pyro

Lenten Reflection

So... I'm part of a group that is keeping a 40 day vigil during Lent on the sidewalk at a Planned Parenthood site. The vigil hours are from 8:00 AM till 8:00 PM. We had the typical responses from passing motorists which consist of; 5 honks and thumbs up for every 1 honk and middle finger/cursing. We even had a guy come up and give us all coffee and hot chocolate. My hour just happened to end at the same time that the Parish about 3 blocks away began Confessions. There was a nice handout that the priest gave that I will share with you here on my blog. Not sure where the reflection comes from, so I just want to give credit to whoever the unnamed source was.

Whatever Lenten practices we undertake, it is important to remember their purpose. Lenten practices are not about losing weight or finaly stopping smoking, but they are about deepening our baptismal identity as children of God and members of the Body of Christ. "If you are [children] of God"... this is the identity conferred upon us at baptism. This is the identity out of which we enter into our own Lenten desert. This is the identity out of which we face our own worst temptations. By rmaining faithful to who we are -- God's children, members of the Body of Christ -- we can resist temptations and grow in our relationships with God, self, and others.
Traditionally, Christian penance has always included three prongs: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving (charity). This suggests to us that penance isn't a matter of "giving up" something, nor is it a single act -- even if performed faithfully over a long period like forty days. Christian penance has as it's purpose genuine conversion of life, so that at the end of Lent when we renew our baptismal promises we are able to do so with full throat, well aware of our own wonderful identity as sons and daughters of God. The new life we celebrate at Easter cannot happen without our dying to ourselves, without our going to Jerusalem with Jesus and willingly embracing whatever death is in store for us. For that is the road to new life. That is the road we travel during Lent.

Have a blessed Lent

Pyro

2/23/2007

Out of Hibernation

Well, It's been quite some time since I consistently posted in my blog. I will be trying to get back in the habit of posting something every day. It takes a certain time commitment to keep a blog current and I stopped making the time to blog. Well, with Lent upon us I suddenly have some time back in my schedule and along with other things I'll be using some of it to blog more frequently.

I learned yesterday of a disturbing event in Sante Fe, New Mexico. Basically, it seems that an individual (or individuals) hid alarm clock/CD players in the Church which activated about halfway through the service on Ash Wednesday (a special Holy Day). The CD's played recordings of people cursing, swearing, and making sexually explicit sounds.

In my search for news stories or commentary regarding this incident I have been extremely underwhelmed. The perpetrators are referred to as "pranksters" and every story I could find had only bare bones facts. None of the in depth reporting or digging for information, as in the Anna Nichole Smith train wreck. If Her story had been treated the same way, this is all we would have seen; "Anna Nichole Smith died today after being transported by paramedics to an area hospital. Cause of death unknown. Anna Nichole is survived by her daughter and mother." I believe the cause of this indifference is a deep seated, somewhat unconscious prejudice/bigotry towards Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular by the main stream media (MSM).

Here are my questions:

1. If an ACLU, NAACP, GLBTA, or (insert organization that traditionally supports liberal politics) meeting was interrupted/disrupted in such an offensive manner what would the press coverage have been?

2. Interfering/obstructing a group from peaceably assembling is a civil rights violation isn't it(1st amendment)?

3. Denying a group from the free excercise of their religion violates their civil rights doesn't it (1st amendment)?

4. Is singling out a group based on their religion (this event occured at the Cathedral Church which is essentially the headquarters for Catholics in the region) and assaulting them or violating their civil rights considered a hate crime?

I won't hold my breath waiting for the ACLU to express their outrage over this incident.


Pyro

9/21/2006

Fake Noise?

It has been reported that the Seahawks are using artificial crowd noise at Qwest field. Mike Holmgren did the right thing and used the situation to incite the Qwest field fans to be louder than ever.

I would love to be in that stadium on Sunday. Nationally televised game, rematch of a great game from last year, controversy, intrigue, and best of all; whiney New Yorkers filing official complaints about how loud it is at Qwest Field.

The Giant's players are going to look like a bunch of Pee Wee Hermans running around yelling, WHAAT? WHAAAAATTTT?

nice to hear

This news story surprised me this morning. I wonder if the wrong people were killed. Or perhaps she is being punished for failing. Or maybe some reasonable people are actually starting to surface.

9/19/2006

I screwed up

somehow, while trying to fix a problem with the title to one of my posts, I erased all of my links and some other stuff from my profile. I will try to rebuild, but it may take some time.

Medical Ethics

Don't be alarmed by the specific organ that was transplanted in this story. My question/comment has to do with the donor and the fact that they are in China.

I have a difficult time respecting the determination that this transplant was done ethically. First, because they say the organ was donated by a "brain dead" person. What does that mean? Was this person dead with the exception of them being on a heart/lung machine? Was he "brain dead" the same way Terry Schiavo was in a "vegitative state"? Second, was the "donor" mutilated and left alive without the donated organ? was the person killed to harvest the organ?

I fear that this is a case of eugenic donation. I define that as the harvesting of body parts from non productive "donors" so that the body parts can be given to and used by "productive people" for the "betterment of society as a whole". How much longer until people start holding off on having abortions until the third trimester so that they can sell the "biological substances" contained in their wombs for medical research and procedures such as organ "donation"?

Pyro

9/16/2006

IRONY ALERT!

Outraged over Pope Benedict XVI's remarks made during a speech in Germany, Muslims worldwide are calling for a personal apology. The link above will provide for you the text of the Pope's remarks. In short, he cited a 14th century text from a Christian Emperor that characterized Islam as violent, and that that violent spreading of a religion is wrong.

Now to the Muslim world... So outrage by this unfair assesment, or reading of a 14th century assesment, they are rioting and burning the Pope in effigy. So let me get this staight, It's not acceptable to call Islam violent. If you do make the mistake of calling them violent, they burn you in effigy, fire bomb your churches, and recall their ambassadors.

I told a guy at work that he swears and curses too much. He told me to #$%@ &@#. Nothing like proving someones point. I'm glad that the pink elephant is starting to be pointed out.

Pyro

9/14/2006

single gender schools

Just read this article, and it brings to mind something. The use of the words "equal" and "same". For some of today's people, the words are synonyms. In actuality they are not. I don't have the same rules for each of my kids (because of age differences). I don't treat all people the same. That doesn't mean that I don't use equal fairness when interacting with others. Men and women are not the same. They are, however, equal in dignity. Because of their equal dignity they deserve to be treated justly.

I believe that history bears out that single gender education is effective and cuts out lots of problems that are present when the genders are mixed. Many private schools have been doing it for hundreds of years.

The complaints against single gender schools are mostly red herrings that are being fished up to support an agenda. After all, if we recognize that women and men aren't the same (and they aren't) then somehow the genderless, same sex marriage, homosexual adoption, secular feminist, agendas will be defeated. Right? I don't know, but those seem to be the groups that fight against it. Sometimes it's easier to pick a side on an issue when you see where your enemies line up.

Do you think it bothers the left that TITLE IX was championed and signed in to law by President Richard Nixon?

Pyro

9/12/2006

Long time no blog II

Well, It's been nearly two weeks since I blogged. We were very busy at work. Several red flag days, (extreme fire conditions). I had one stretch where I was on duty (24 hour shifts) 5 out of 7 days. When I was home I had other things to do besides sit at the computer.

In a way it was similar to lent. Sometimes it does a person good to deprive themselves of an activity. It helps to refocus ones attention to some of the basics.

There is so much that occured in the last two weeks; The 9/11 anniversary, Steve Irwin's death, NFL football regular season starting, election stuff, huge oil discoveries, faith news...

I can't go back and catch up, so I will just start in again.

8/29/2006

Back in School!!!!!!

Kids are back in School. Funny thing is, they were telling me last week how they were done with Summer! I don't know if that's because Summer was terrible or because it was so good that they were all rested up. I think they really just missed their friends and were ready to get back to work.

Thankfully my kids' school is headed by a pastor who is attentive to the Catholicity of their education. There is a Mass every Friday and get this, the Mass is celebrated with fidelity to the authentic liturgy of the Church. The pastor focuses his homily on the kids and their issues but, he doesn't dumb down the liturgy or invent his own "Children's Mass" to make Church more "entertaining" for the kids. I had a similar experience when my kids went to a Missouri Synod Lutheran school. The pastor there had a church service every Wednesday for the school kids. It was done with almost identical similarity to the regular Sunday worship service. The sermon was geared at the kid level but the other stuff wasn't "dumbed down". I think lots of Christian communities sell kids short. Or maybe there is an over commercialization of "church". In order to compete in the free enterprise church environment you have to excite your customers and give them something unique. I think having a "kids service" that uses the "entertainment value" concept to make kids interested does much harm in the long run. It focuses the service on the individual instead of on God. The adjective "service" begins to modify the mortal subjects as opposed to the Divine Person. Then, when the kids are adults and out looking for their own church, they instinctively look for a community that entertains them. Maybe not on the conscious level, but it certainly happens. And it happens in both the Catholic and Protestant worlds.

Anyway, (How'd I get off on that tangent) My kids are happy to back in school. I'm happy they're back in school. My wife's happy they're back in school. Everyone's happy!! Now I have the computer and X-BOX to myself!!!!!! I mean,.... Now my wife and I can spend more quality time together.

Just wait till next week after the first test...

John Mark Karr

Well, looks like Karr is just a stupid, demented, pervert and not responsible for JonBenet's murder. Will they be able to keep him off the streets? Probably not, we will most likely have to wait until he brutalizes some poor innocent child before we can protect society from this sexual deviant.

Will the news media just go to using his first and last name now? They seem to use the full name whenever they report on a serial killer or molester. Shouldn't they refrain from using the middle name until the guy is at least put on trial?