Weekend Update 02-25-2012

White grandfather cuffed for walking with black granddaughter. Sadly, here in Austin. The police chief calls him a liar. However, it seems to me the video only revealed relatively minor differences between a person’s perception of something as a traumatic event happens to them and how it looks from a disinterested third party perspective. The basic facts are the same. A ton of police converged on him. He was handcuffed. His grandchild was placed in a squad car. It’s understandable, I think, if he perceived those actions as more threatening when they were happening to him than they might look to us as they happened to someone else.

An interesting opinion piece on the contraceptive coverage issue by a Pulitzer prize winning Catholic. And he does have a point. The people are indeed the Church. Even in antiquity, councils were determined to be false or true based in no small part on their acceptance or rejection by the people. If the laos of the Catholic Church overwhelmingly reject the teaching of the magisterium, as they appear to do, it certainly calls the doctrine into question.

Pain Without Gain. Sadly, people trapped in delusion tend to remain so trapped. At least that’s my experience.

Stumbling Toward Salvation. At best, I would say I’m stumbling. But as always, Fr. Stephen writes in a way that seems to speak directly to me.

The Pope is Apparently not a Republican. Fr. Richard Rohr.

The God Who Is No God. “True religion is not a set of beliefs — it is a set of practices. We believe in prayer – but we do not pray. We believe in forgiveness – but we do not forgive. We believe in generosity – but we do not give. We believe in truth – but we lie.”

The original live recording of Purple Rain at First Avenue in 1983 with commentary. I always loved Prince and this is pretty amazing. With some edits, this was the recording of the song released on the album. Wow!

Interesting. World of Warcraft increases the cognitive functioning in older adults. I’m not playing currently. Younger son doesn’t have time while he focuses on college and frankly I’ve been pretty swamped too. But it’s nice to know I’ll have a solid excuse if I decide to play again in the future. 😉

This is an interesting analysis by Bill Moyers on the way our economy has been skewed to benefit the wealthy, damaging the prospects for the millenial generation. Especially since my kids are millenials, that directly concerns me.

A column from a professor who teaches constitutional law outlining the case supporting Congress’ ability to require the purchase of health insurance.

Do Something. Indeed, we are often uncertain when it comes to practices of any sort. But it’s only through action that we change. “If you would be Christ’s disciple, do something.”

There’s No Tomorrow (2012). Well, there is a tomorrow, but our present course is pretty bleak and not at all sustainable. The video takes the time to step through the facts without hyperbole.