Clipmarks | Efrain Alvarado's clips

The Population Bomb and Politicized Science

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 08:27:07 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado
clipper's remarks: "Now why would a book that was so spectacularly wrong headed have so captured the imagination of policy makers for generations? "

Clip Source: the-american-catholic.com

[Video]

The myth of the Population Bomb is a cautionary tale of the dangers of politicized junk science. Paul Ehrlich’s best seller in 1968 helped propel public policy in an anti-natalist, pro-abortion and pro-contraceptive direction. As I hope all of our readers know, the book was a heap of rubbish, making wild alarmist predictions about the dangers of population growth, none of which came true. Good articles on Erhlich’s bomb of a book are here, here, and here. Rather than a population bomb, we have a population implosion throughout most of the world, including in Muslim states.

Tags: demographics

He Was Against Abortion Before He Was For It

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 03:23:13 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado
clipper's remarks: "I've got to know. What was Gordon threatened with? What was he given in order for him to turn his back on the unborn?"

Clip Source: www.creativeminorityreport.com

I have given a name to my pain. And it is "Blue Dog" Democrat Bart Gordon of Tennessee for showing an appalling lack of courage. Truly, if Gordon had wanted to personify everything that's wrong with politics he couldn't have done any better.

A House committee voted for an amendment to the health care legislation that would essentially prohibit the government from imposing requirements for abortion coverage. Rep. Bart Gordon of Tennessee who is often described as a "conservative Democrat" was the decisive vote for the amendment. Hooray.

But then a few hours later, committee chairman Henry Waxman pulled a fast one by invoking some odd House rules that allowed him to bring up the amendment for a second vote.

And a funny thing happened. Just a few hours after voting for the amendment, Gordon switched his vote to no, dooming the amendment to the trash heap and allowing abortion to be included in the health care bill, according to AP .

Tags: abortion

Roe’s Aftereffects: ‘Dear Abby’ Readers Share Pain of Being ‘Unwanted’

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 03:18:02 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado

Clip Source: blog.aul.org

One of the effects of Roe v. Wade that is rarely acknowledged in public conversation is the culture of “wantedness” versus “unwantedness.”

From “One Who Knows in Chicago”:

When I was a teenager I overheard my mother tell a friend of hers that I was an unplanned pregnancy. To the best of my knowledge, my parents never considered abortion, but nonetheless, it destroyed my self-esteem.

From “Deeply Wounded in New Hampshire”:

I was a child who was both unplanned and unwanted. When I was 13, my mother, in a fit of anger, told me she wished she had had the abortion she had planned to have before I was born. It was then that I realized that the “gut” feeling I’d had all my life to that point and beyond was correct — my mother never wanted me. Neither of my parents ever told me the whole truth, nor did they ever say how glad they were not to have gone through with the plan.

I have always had difficulty trusting my parents, and I have always known I wasn’t wanted.

Tags: abortion

On a highway to hell

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 03:13:59 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado

Clip Source: www.getreligion.org

[Video]

What is the biggest religion story in the news today? Why, that would be the tale of the seven-year-old boy who stole his parents car and drove off in an attempt to avoid church. I was going to rip on how overplayed this story was until I watched the video above. The ending is comedy gold. (And, to be clear, the headline above is in complete jest.)

At least the parents of the Utah kid seem to have a good perspective about it. From the Salt Lake City Tribune:

Parents of a 7-year-old boy who drove off in the family car to avoid going to church Sunday are avoiding media interviews because they don’t want to reward their son for his bad behavior… .

“[The family] does not want this attention to be perceived by their son as an incentive or reward for his actions of taking the family car for a joyride,” said Capt. Klint Anderson of the Weber County Sheriff’s Office. “Humorous as this event was, it could easily have been a tragic story instead.”

Tags: joy ride to hell

Transparent Aluminum Is ‘New State Of Matter’

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:13:41 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Oxford scientists have created a transparent form of aluminium by bombarding the metal with the world’s most powerful soft X-ray laser. ‘Transparent aluminium’ previously only existed in science fiction, featuring in the movie Star Trek IV, but the real material is an exotic new state of matter with implications for planetary science and nuclear fusion.

In the journal Nature Physics an international team, led by Oxford University scientists, report that a short pulse from the FLASH laser ‘knocked out’ a core electron from every aluminium atom in a sample without disrupting the metal’s crystalline structure. This turned the aluminium nearly invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation.

Whilst the invisible effect lasted for only an extremely brief period – an estimated 40 femtoseconds – it demonstrates that such an exotic state of matter can be created using very high power X-ray sources.

Tags: invisibility

Knights of Malta

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:07:19 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado

Clip Source: cathcandy.wordpress.com

The Knights of Malta, or The Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem to give their full name, were formed long before their reign on Malta. The Order was originally established in 1085 as a community of monks responsible for looking after the sick at the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem. They later became a military order, defending crusader territory in the Holy Lands and safeguarding the perilous routes taken by medieval pilgrims. The Knights were drawn exclusively from noble families and the Order acquired vast wealth from those it recruited.

The Order was ruled by a Grand Master who was answerable only to the Pope. Knights were chosen from the aristocratic families of France, Italy, Spain, England and Portugal. On acceptance into the Order they were sworn to celibacy, poverty and obedience.

Today, the Order continues its mission of defending the poor and the sick.

You can find more history of the Knights of Malta here.

Tags: knights, malta

The Shoes of the Sheppard

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:03:19 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado

Clip Source: cathcandy.wordpress.com

“The ecclesiastical shoe is well known, for it has preserved the general appearance of the footwear in vogue at the beginning of the Nineteenth century and still used as part of the court dress a low patent leather shoe, or “pump” with a large buckle in front. Of course, this style of shoes cannot be worn with our modern American civilian dress, but it is quite proper to wear them on occasions when a Prelate or other clergyman appears in full ecclesiastical dress.”

There are three distinct shoes:

PAPAL SLIPPERS

The Papal slippers are not fuzzy shoes for which the pope wears to bed at night. On the other hand, they are a form of the pontifical sandals.

Papal Slippers of Pope John XXIII

PONTIFICAL SANDALS

PAPAL SHOES

The Papal shoes are red leather outdoor shoes worn by the pope.

Shoe my feet, O Lord, in preparation for the gospel of
peace, and protect me in the cover of your wings.

Tags: papal, kicks

Il Prete Rosso

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:58:45 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado

Clip Source: cathcandy.wordpress.com

On this day in 1741, composer Antonio Vivaldi died. He began studying for the priesthood at 15, and was ordained priest in 1703. Unfortunately due to his bad health, he was forced to step down from active ministry, but remained faithful to his vows until the day he died.

Some of his works:

[Video]

And of course everyone knows this one:

[Video]

Tags: art

In Example of "Newspeak" Democrats Use Franking Commission to Censor Republican Mailings

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:55:14 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado

Clip Source: lesfemmes-thetruth.blogspot.com

English author George Orwell invented the term "newspeak" in his futuristic novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four (written in 1949), about a dystopian society controlled by a Leviathan government ruled by "Big Brother." Newspeak was an alternate language that grew smaller every year with simplified vocabulary and grammar, reduced metaphors, synonyms, and antonyms. Word control aided thought control. (Consider the dumbing down of the American education system over the last two generations.)

In Big Brother's world thinking outside the limited language box was thoughtcrime or "crimespeak." In newspeak, words also were used in ways opposite to their meanings.

Verbal engineering was one of Big Brother's control mechanisms as it is in the Obamanation as well as in the world of liberalism in general. (Examples abound. Those who advocate abortion are "pro-choice." Those promoting same-sex perversion are "gay." Dehydrating someone to death is "mercy" and the "right to die," etc.)

Liberal academic Edward Green: the Pope is right about Aids and condoms

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:48:08 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado
clipper's remarks: "According to Harvard professor Edward Green, Benedict XVI tells the truth about fighting the plague of the millennium in Africa: fidelity and abstinence promotion are better weapons than preservatives"

Clip Source: www.tempi.it

Abstinence and fidelity are different from condom use. They avoid the risk of infection altogether (assuming mutual fidelity). This approach is also known as risk avoidance. Condom use introduces risk; it not a form of risk avoidance, but rather risk reduction. Consistent condom use is only 80-85% protective when practiced consistently, although under real-life conditions, such as those most of us live in, condom use is much less protective. We actually knew condoms were not very effective for HIV prevention, from our experience with family planning, before the advent of AIDS.

Those of us who work in AIDS don’t realize how much the values and ideology of sexual freedom and liberation influence our thinking. It helps explain why until very recently, faith-based organizations were largely excluded from AIDS prevention even though FBOs run many of the hospitals, clinics and schools in Africa.

Tags: aids, africa, condoms

More Condoms Needed!

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:38:41 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado

Clip Source: www.creativeminorityreport.com

OK. These smarty pants UN loving types seem to love two things: condoms and funding. They love talking about condoms, they love funding condoms, they love the idea of passing them out to kids. And getting mad cash to do it.

I actually think their love of condoms is directly inversely proportional to their love of actual humans. And they love their condoms.

So a new study comes out indicating that young people experience a 25% higher rate of contraceptive failure than adults. Shock! Kids don't know what they're doing. Who'd a thunk it?

A new study of women’s contraceptive use around the world finds that sexually active 15–19-year-olds are more likely than their 20–49-year-old counterparts to use contraceptives inconsistently and, on average, experience a 25% higher rate of contraceptive failure.

So what's the answer? Guess?

Yes! You guessed it. MOOOOOOOORRRRRE funding for MOOOOOOORRRRRRRE CONDOMS!!!!!!!!!!!

Tags: culture of death

Communism and liberalism: two faces of totalitarianism

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:18:01 GMT

clipped by: clip-on-tie
clipper's remarks: "I can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies but not the madness of the people" - Sir Isaac Newton

Clip Source: www.copytaste.com

Clip Source: foster.20megsfree.com

Many years ago I borrowed a saucepan.

Although being of normal size, it included a most unusual feature - it was so heavy it needed both hands to lift it. The explanation was that the saucepan had been made in Eastern Europe during the heyday of communism. Under the communist system, factories were given production quotas. The pots and pans quota was not based on the number of items produced, but on the amount of steel used. Factories thus made saucepans as heavy as possible - short of needing a crane to do the cooking - in order to fulfil their quotas as easily as possible.

The saucepan story is a neat parable explaining why such an entrenched system as communism could collapse, if not the breath-taking velocity of its demise in 1989. The needs of people - in this case a practical saucepan - were displaced by edicts of a theory which took little account of reality.

Clip Source: www.copytaste.com

Tags: greatest threats to united states, terrorism, liberalism

Catholic Schools Are Saving New Orleans' Children

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:24:15 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado

Clip Source: insidecatholic.com

Since the Katrina disaster, the schools of the Archdiocese of New Orleans have swelled to double the enrollment of the local public schools -- 40,000 to 20,000. Rev. Neal McDermott, O.P., superintendent of the Catholic schools, told me yesterday that the archdiocese is facing a financial crunch when the $10 million in Catholic Charities money, allocated in 2006 to help the schools following the hurricane, runs out.

Since all the public schools in New Orleans have been officially pronounced "failing," parents have been moving their children to charter schools and private schools, but above all to Catholic schools, where 60 percent of the 40,000 students are non-Catholic.

This past spring the Catholic high schools graduated 2,785 seniors, with an amazing 96 percent being admitted into college and another 2 percent into the military. That compares with a 40 percent graduation rate in the public schools.

Tags: catholic, schools

Chesterton and Lewis for Beginners

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:18:07 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado
clipper's remarks: ·Orthodoxy. One of Chesterton's two greatest works, it argues for Christianity through his unfolding discovery that it answered all the questions the world presented him

·St. Thomas Aquinas.

·The Everlasting Man.

·What's Wrong with the World.

·Charles Dickens: A Critical Study.

C. S. Lewis:

·Surprised by Joy. Lewis's autobiography

·God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics. A posthumous collection of 48 articles and essays

·The Problem of Pain or Miracles.

·The Screwtape Letters. Lewis's innovative collection of letters from a senior devil to his incompetent nephew

·The Abolition of Man.

·The Four Loves. Lewis's exposition of the four different kinds of love and the challenges we face in loving others.

·Selected Literary Essays.

Clip Source: insidecatholic.com

Almost 75 years after the death of G. K. Chesterton and 45 years after the death of C. S. Lewis, millions continue to read them as guides and gurus. New readers will pick up a book, or even just an essay or two, and become lifelong fans and devotees. These portly, homely, undramatic men are still the bookish Christian's rock stars.

Their new readers, having become fans, excitedly look up the lists of their books -- and stop dead. There's just too much to read, and too little time, and some of those books look like slow going. Chesterton wrote more than 100 books, Lewis more than 50, including the posthumous collections of essays, letters, and diaries.

So here are Beginner's Reading Lists for the two writers.

G. K. Chesterton

· Autobiography. Published in the last year of Chesterton's life

· Heretics. A collection of essays on his contemporaries, like Shaw and Kipling, and their characteristic errors, which, for the most part, happen to be the characteristic errors of our contemporaries

Tags: chesterton, lewis

Catholic Nurse Forced to Perform Abortion

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:58:39 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado
clipper's remarks: "Remember, to the left abortion is a right. And your religion can't preclude others from exercising their rights. Your religion can't prevent some from having free speech or the right to assemble. They see abortion as the same thing. If they have their way, stories of health care workers being ordered to perform abortions will be an everyday occurence.."

Clip Source: www.creativeminorityreport.com

This is pretty darn awful and disturbing and yet another example how necessary conscience clauses are for healthcare workers. With this upcoming debate on healthcare be assured that there will be a thorough going over of conscience clauses.

The New York Post reports that a Catholic nurse from Brooklyn, New York is claiming that the hospital where she's employed ordered her to assist in a late term abortion or be fired.

Now there is curently a conscience clause which exists already but I guess there's an out clause if the patient's life is in jeopardy. The hospital allegedly told the nurse that the mother's life was in danger and it would appear now that it was not, according to a lawsuit filed by the nurse.:

The married mother of a year-old baby was 30 minutes into her early-morning shift when she realized she had been assigned to an abortion. She begged her supervisor to find a replacement nurse for the procedure. The hospital had a six-hour window to find a fill-in, the suit says.

Tags: abortion, conscience, clause, healthcare