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Showing posts from December, 2011

Is a Santorum Surprise in Iowa About to Upset the 2012 Republican Primary? - Politics & Policy - Catholic Online

I appreciate this story is about the American election, but its message applies to Canada as well in as much as we too are plagued with politicians who espouse one set of values when the campaign but fail to live up them once elected. I happen to agree with Mr. Santorum's values because they are Catholic values. I appreciate his openly professing them faithfully. It is refreshing in these troubled times. However I have no idea whatsoever whether or not he'd make a good president and am not taking a position on an election in another country. But it is unique to see a politician on either side of the border so forcefully and completely present the Catholic proposition in an election campaign. Santorum is doing exactly what the Church asks the laity to do... to live out their lives as a only then can uniquely do. He is BEING a Roman Catholic Christian in running for President. He is not just a person running for President who happens to be Catholic and Christian. It's hard
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Upcoming Vatican events for 2012

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A Canadian holiday treat that brings together our two favorite things: hockey and music. No buddy does it better than Don Cherry!

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Strait of Hormuz showdown: Iran to test fire missiles in key oil-waterway | News | National Post

The drumbeat of war is getting louder. If Noam Chomsky is correct, we might see the start of hostilities between Iran and the West within months. I believe it was he who postulated that when a nation's media starts to pay up another country as a threat, it puts into process a series of events that usually leads to armed conflict within a year. It is a process that is marked by a steady drumbeat of more and louder voices making the argument that force is the only effective option to 'protect ourselves'. Somehow they convince the majority to actually buy into an argument that essentially concludes that 'war is the best tactic to prevent war'. After suitable noise has been made demanding steps Iran must take to change its ways (allowing inspections etc.) along with the establishment of deadlines that ultimately Iran will either ignore or fail to comply with, Chomsky would predict that the West will go to war again in the next phase of a battle to control the earth'
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Charles Lewis, Religion editor of the National Post writes an interesting column about the rising tide of Christianity

Charlie Lewis of the National Post writes in response to a column by Margaret Wente in which he takes exception this her assessment of the state of the faith in Canada. He writes: "Many people have written that the re-evangelization of the West by missionaries from the Global South is becoming more commonplace. In Canada and the United States there are, for example, a number of African priests now ministering to mainly white Catholic parishes. Canterbury has already been supplanted in terms of credibility by the more orthodox Anglican bishops in Africa and Anglicanism will become more orthodox as a result of that shift. In fact, the radical growth of orthodox Anglicanism in Africa will make Anglicanism the number two Christian faith in the world, behind Roman Catholicism, by 2050 or so. The priest in my own Catholic parish in Toronto is originally from Columbia and he considers himself a missionary to Canadians. He also spent many years in Africa, living rough and
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To steal a line from REM, perhaps 'it's the end of the world as we know it'. If so, do you know where to head to when the time comes?

According to prophecies of Hopi and Mayan mystics and the predictions of Nostrodamus, 2012 will bring catastrophic events to plague humanity, culminating with the end of the world as we know it today. Television programming , media reports, books and blogs , are all beating the drum of impending doom which resonates within many people as they stand on the precipice of the dread year’s start, tinging their celebration with a touch of apprehension. If our previous obsession with the Y2K and the fascination with failed predictions of Harold Camping are at all normative, doomsayers will find a growing audience. 'Apocalypse' is destined to be a trending topic in the months to come.  Indeed, if these voices crying out that the ‘end is near’ are correct, it would seem an appropriate time to look back to see how we arrived at this epitome of human cognitive and cultural evolution, particularly as we stand at the eve of the promised climactic year. Historians and theologian
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It’s Officially Getting Weird Out There | Swampland | TIME.com

It's the last line of this Gingrich ad that amazes me. I cannot help but ask... Newt actually paid for this political ad? If this is what he means when he speaks about being open to 'big ideas', he's about to be slaughtered. It must be difficult being a Republican these days. A handful of longshot congressional representatives each with evident defects, two Mormon governors... and Newt. Make your choice. It's enough to make them wish for a 'none of the above' option. It’s Officially Getting Weird Out There | Swampland | TIME.com
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A Kids View of the Christmas Story - YouTube

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It's Christmas Eve... Time for 'The Night before Christmas'

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For everyone travelling home this Christmas... Michael Bublé sings 'I'll be Home for Christmas' on the X Factor finale

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Tired by all your Christmas shopping. Here's a song offering about the best Christmas gift ever! The perfect tonic for tired shoppers!

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A most interesting question: Are Muslims trying to subvert America through the media?

  I received an email from a fellow blogger regarding the TV program "All American Muslim". Evidently a major sponsor had pulled its ads in response to a campaign that alleged the program was part of an Islamic attempt to subvert and prepare America for conversion to the Muslim faith. Elizabeth Potter writes: I thought that you and the readers of Where the Rubber Hits the Road would be interested to know that Lowe's Home Improvement recently pulled its ads from the TLC show All-American Muslim in response to an organization claiming the show "falsely humanized Muslims in America.” This controversy has exposed more Islamophobia in America which falls directly in line with what the My Fellow American project is trying to prevent and overcome in America. As a supporter of the project, would you please visit www.myfellowamerican.us to share what this controversy means to you? I encourage you to ask your readers to do the same to help spread the message of tolerance
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A classic! Nat King Cole sings 'Chestnuts Roasting'

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Waving the flag as we start off into the winter of 2012

Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about Canadians, during a recent appearance at Caesars in Windsor ; If someone in a Home Depot store Offers you assistance and they don't work there, You may live in Canada. If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, You may live in Canada. If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation With someone who dialed a wrong number,.................. You may live in Canada. If 'Vacation' means going anywhere South of Detroit for the weekend, You may live in Canada. If you measure distance in hours, You may live in Canada. If you know several people Who have hit a deer more than once, You may live in Canada. If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' In the same day and back again, You may live in Canada. If you can drive 90 km/hr through 2 feet of snow During a raging blizzard without flinching, You may live in Canada. If you install security lights on your house and garage, But leave both unlocked, You may liv
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NEW EVANGELISATION IS NOT AN ABSTRACT CONCEPT

NEW EVANGELISATION IS NOT AN ABSTRACT CONCEPT VATICAN CITY, 17 DEC 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received prelates from the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference and the Conferentia Episcopalis Pacifici, who have just completed their "ad limina" visit.   In his address to the group, the Pope spoke of the challenges "which are common to all of you, in spite of the many social, economic and cultural contexts in which you work". In particular, he mentioned secularism and its "significant impact on the understanding and practice of the Catholic faith. This is seen specifically in a weakened appreciation for the sacred nature of Christian marriage and the stability of the family", he said.   "Ultimately, Christian faith provides a surer basis for life than the secular vision. ... Thus, the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation was recently established. Since the Christian faith is founded on the Word made flesh,
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Today's Christmas song! Michael Bublé and Thalia sing 'Feliz Navidad/Mis Deseos'

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Silent Night... by Stevie Nicks. My all time favorite version. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

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A Canadian covers a Christmas classis: Keep on drumming Sean!

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Is a massive earthquake ready to rumble? Click on the link and watch this video!

Luke 21: 10-19   "Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives." http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/video-is-a-m
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Einstein, Imagination and the New Translation | Crisis Magazine

"What came into the church, in the wake of the second Vatican Council, was an unthinking acceptance of certain tenets of secular modernism – one of the most fundamental and insidious being utilitarianism – or the barbaric belief that what works is good. When this frightening aphorism was unthinkingly stood on its head, not only “what works was good”, but “what is good is that which works”, and consequently the only “Good” became “whatever works”. Why do I think that there's a logical fallacy in there someplace? I can't remember the proper name, but I call it a 'Stevie Wonder'. It goes like this: Love is blind. Stevie Wonder is blind. Therefore, Stevie Wonder is love. Clearly 'love' is being used analogously, but so is 'works' in this column. One can speak of it as a process (it 'works') and an end in itself (good 'works'). I do not believe that the majority of today's Christians would fail to see that Fr. Longnecker's
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And on to a completely different subject... Charlie Brown channels Charlie Sheen

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The Challenge of Contemporary Atheism: The Vatican's paper sums up today's climate

'What has happened to contemporary atheism? Until a few years ago, atheism resided in a pragmatic space of irreligiousness and indifference, assisted by the modern turn of events which rendered philosophical discourse on the existence of God dogmatically impossible by definition. Today, we are witnessing a double turn. The first involves a return to theoretical atheism, assisted by references to scientific discourse. After the classic seasons of suspect teachers (Marx, Nietzsche, Freud), today it is the turn of neo-darwinism and neuroscience to furnish arguments for the belief that God does not exist. A God whom some authors prefer to write with a lowercase “g”. The second and more interesting change perhaps, is atheism as a new form of morality. In this case too, historical antecedents can be cited. In the modern age, there is Pascal’s debate with erudite libertinism or Sartre’s celebrated pamphlet on atheism as humanism. The new apologetics of atheism privileges the reference to
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Atheists Crucify Skeleton Santa

Creative Minority Report: Atheists Crucify Skeleton Santa
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Two brands of birth control pills raise blood clot risk | CTV News

It is a continuing mystery to me why women who shun regular produce in favor of 'organic' foods so willingly ingest chemicals designed to alter their body chemistry to prevent fertility. Stories like this one only serve to deepen the mystery for me. Two brands of birth control pills raise blood clot risk | CTV News
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Iran's escalating conflict with Gulf neighbours increases risk of war | News | National Post

This story is part of an unsettling trend where the 'drums of war' are becoming more and more insistent. It has been posited that whenever governments decide that war 'needs to' be waged, they start 6-12 months in advance to prepare their population with a slow and steady increase in 'propaganda' designed to bring them on side in preparation for conflict. I've noted such an increase over the past few weeks of media stories which seem to be aimed at just such a process. I really, really hope that I am wrong, but I fear that I may be correct. If I am correct, we are in for some difficult times in the months ahead. Iran's escalating conflict with Gulf neighbours increases risk of war | News | National Post
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The cult of IKEA?

IKEA a temple? Think of it this way: Ottawa’s IKEA is bigger than any other place of worship in the city, including those of the secular variety, bigger than six football fields and more than 18 times the size of the arena floor at Scotiabank Place when it is opened up for a major event like a rock concert. On a global basis, IKEA sold $17.7 billion U.S. worth of goods in 2005, and $23.1 billion in 2010. Recession be damned. IKEA has a hold on the hearts and minds of its acolytes and the pilgrims willing to travel for hours or line up for days anticipating the opening of a new store. Steve Jobs’ Apple did it well, but IKEA has been doing it for longer. IKEA has its rites — putting together a bookcase with an Allen key — and its own language — a chair named Bofink, a bed called Leksvik, just to name two out of thousands. And it has self-appointed brand evangelists who say they have seen the light. Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/cult+IKEA/5769588/story.html#ixzz
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Centres de Service Canada - Les décorations de Noël interdites

Here is an English translation of this short French article: There will be no Christmas decorations in the Service Canada Centres this year . T hese decorations are prohibited. This is stipulated in a note circulated in early November by the Senior Executive Service of Canada, Marc Simoneau. According to press reports , the Christmas wreaths, trees and other symbols of the Nativity must be absent from public areas in the service centers. Officials explained that the measure is to avoid complaints about religious beliefs. There are 118 centers in federal services in Quebec. Centres de Service Canada - Les décorations de Noël interdites
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Bearing False Witness » Catholic Sistas

An interesting column on 'calumny'. Many people who post on the internet (thankfully not on this blog!) are guilty of this offense. Bearing False Witness » Catholic Sistas
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