Recently, the Baltimore Sun ran an op/ed peice entitled "Reservoirs May Add to Global Warming," by Patrick McCully, who is the executive director of the International Rivers Network. First off, I have some doubts about the validity of global warming being a man-made problem. I don't deny that there is a pollution problem, but I am not convinced that our current industrial activities siginificantly affect climate change. Several months ago there was an article in which scientists who had had been studying ice core samples stated that the North Pole was a tropical paradise 55 million years ago. Apparently then it got really, really, really cold, hence the polar ice caps. What we are seeing now in climate change could very well be part of the earth's natural cycle.

    But back to Patrick McCully's piece in the Sun. To begin with, I found his first sentence to be idiotic and (somewhat) offensive. He states that, "Except for a handful of fossil-fuel-funded lobbyists who deny the reality of global warming, we all agree that we urgently need to "green" our energy sources."  Yup, thats right! The Big-Oil Companies, they send out all this cash (every day) to schmucks like you and me to run their propaganda campaign. That is why all of us have "friends" and "connections" in Washington to make things happen, have the wall-to-wall plasma tvs, drive Hummers, live in multimillion dollar mansions, drink cavier, don't have to work for a living, etc. My response? OH PUHLEEZE, the common folk can even get the local county politicans to sit down, get things done, stay clean, and behave. We muddle along through life as best we can, through taxes, working a couple of jobs, and the general crap we experience in life. We may some the amenities listed above, but if we do we most likely are in debt to various entites (bank, credit card company, etc.), and if you are a police officer, in the military, or a firefighter you are ignored more so than most and really get dumped on.

    Second of all, because of the arrogance and absurdity of his first sentence, Mr. McCully shoots himself in the foot. Instead of discrediting his critics, he (ironically) ends up discrediting himself (in my eyes). As opposed to making a good first impression, which would make readers more amenable to what he has to say, Patrick McCully comes off as an arrogant, elitist, moron who has no respect for the opinions of others. That ultimately discredits him and his point of view, as people begin to doubt why they should accept a differing viewpoint from one who seems so intolerant of ideas differing from his. People wonder wether being right is so important to him that he would ignore data that did not support his point of view. I don't mean to just criticize his writing and not address his viewpoint, but I think the above point were imporant ones to make so my own thought process is exposed. 

    Going on to the meat of the article, I have another issue with his writing. He makes the comment that, "...big hydro is nowhere near as climate-friendly as the industry claims."  It seems like Mr. McCully is attaching the prefix Big to the hydro-electric companies the same way it has been attached to the oil companies over the years. That taps into the thought that the MSM has been trying to force into the public phsyce that all corporations are bad, and they are trying to secretly milk you for all your worth, and the government is your protector from them. That also has negative impact on my opinion of Mr. McCully's editorial. He is using what I will call "image manipulation" of an entity with an opposing viewpoint, as opposed to just laying the his opinion out on the table. Mr. McCully makes comments to the effect that Big Hydro is manipulating information so that it is more favorable to the industries stance. I don't find that hard to beleive, given that honesty is lacking in today's world, but the public also has to worry about scientists being ethical. Because their work is funded on government grants, scientists need research to justify their job's existence. Therefore they may manipulate information themselves to keep their job. Because of this dishonesty by both parties, the honest bussines and scientists are put in a bind, and the public doesn't know who to believe. That is no way for a society to function.

Mike Grant

Part Two Coming Up...
 

   I recently finished Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas Ricks, who is a veteran military analyst for the Washington Post. Fiasco is mainly about the current Iraq War, but Ricks also gives an overview of the aftermath of Gulf War I and the containment of Saddam Hussein during the 90s. Thomas Ricks’ writing on the current Iraq War is refreshing since he takes an objective look at the war, as opposed to some authors who just launch personal attacks against Bush and his cabinet. He is very critical of the inept leadership at the Pentagon (civilian and military), but his criticisms are valid and constructive, and Ricks takes the attitude of “If we are going to do this, let’s get it right.” In detailing the mistakes made during the planning and execution of the Iraq War and the continuing occupation, Ricks is not looking for political gain, but is simply trying to help make sure these mistakes do not happen again. One such mistake (of many mistakes) was the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and military Central Command (CentCom) having separate command structures, so they often inadvertently worked against each other and the “jointness” of command eluded them. Another mistake was the CPA and CentCom not mounting an effective counterinsurgency campaign, and Ricks writes how the Special Operations Forces were either ignored or misused (in terms of which missions they were assigned) and how the basic tenets* of fighting a successful counterinsurgency campaign were not put into practice.

    Though he hands out much blame, Ricks is also quick to give credit where credit is due, and writes about the positive steps occurring in Iraq. Ricks writes that the Army Center for Lessons Learned (ACLL) has learned from valuable lessons from this war, the lessons it should have learned from Vietnam. He details how the US military moved from employing ineffective counterinsurgency methods to accepting many of the principles of successful counterinsurgency warfare. Part of this proof of this is the collaboration of the Army and Marine Corps on rewriting the Counterinsurgency Handbook, and the building of massive training facilities in both Iraq and the US so troops receive training in counterinsurgency operations as well as cultural training. Ricks also reports that the CPA and CentCom were melded into one command structure, thus achieving “jointness” of command and increasing efficiency in attacking the insurgency. Unfortunately, this progress (as well as much not mentioned here) may not be enough. Thomas Ricks outlines the whack-a-mole game (caused by troop shortages) played between US troops and the insurgency, where the military clears one town, city, province, etc. and the insurgency rears its ugly head elsewhere.

    At the end of Fiasco, Ricks prognosticates on the future of Iraq, and predicts that historians will probably say that there was really one Gulf War, which began in 1991 between Iraqi and NATO forces, which evolved into US containment of Saddam Hussein, and then escalated into armed conflict again. In closing, Thomas Ricks has written Fiasco exceptionally well and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the current Iraq War.

Mike Grant

* Because this topic is fairly complex, I will blog about counterinsurgency warfare by itself at a later point.

 

In Fr. Gilhooley’s “Limbo” article: “How Long Will Limbo Be Limbo?”
By Fr. James Gilhooley; Source: National Catholic REGISTER – Nov. 26 – Dec. 2 2006

    Limbo is a subject that the Catholic Church has wrestled with for centuries. There is so much dissension. Why not stir up the pot? My musings have the structure of some points of information which are grouped under Declarations, Heaven as a kingdom, Truths. Then I muse a bit and then I leave the reader with a group of Questions to meditate on and muse about themselves.

Declarations:

D1 – Aquinas etal, at Univ. of Paris in 15^th century, declared that pagan babies went to limbo, not to heaven. Souls ended up in heaven, limbo or hell.

D2 – Augustine etal, in 418, declared that pagan babies went to hell, because there was no other place to go. Baptized babies would go to heaven. Souls ended up in heaven or hell.

Heaven as a kingdom:

H1 – Jerusalem Temple had areas for Jews and Gentiles

H2 – In the parable about the virgins in courtyard awaiting the Bridegroom to open the gate to the mansion. 10 wise virgins with lit lanterns entered after the bridegroom; but 10 virgins with unlit lanterns were refused entry.

H3 – When invited to dine by the master of a house, on entry into the courtyard the guest was cleaned up and arrayed before being greeted by his host.

H4 - Jesus said My dominion has many mansions and rooms.

Truths:

T1 – Man is created in His image and likeness, to know, love and serve God in this life, and to be happy with Him in the next.

T2 – God’s punishment of souls resulted in eternal punishment in hell or temporary punishment in purgatory before meeting God.

T3 – God created 2 torture pits for punishment of unforgiven sins: hell which is eternal & purgatory, which might be temporary.

Musings:

M1 – Starting with first truths [T1 –T3]

1. Hell is a separate entity of God’s creation. Its denizens are angels and humans.

Recent revelations from Christ in Oct. 1936 to His Secretary, St. Faustina, during her 8 day retreat follow:

“Today I was led by an angel to the chasms of Hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! The kinds of tortures I saw: (1) the first torture that constitutes Hell is the loss of God; (2) the second is perpetual remorse of conscience; (3) the third is that one’s condition will never change; (4) the fourth is the fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it --- a terrible suffering, since it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God’s anger; (5) the fifth torture is continual darkness, and a terrible suffocating smell, and, despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own; (6) the sixth torture is the constant company of Satan; (7) the seventh torture is horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies. These are the tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings. These are special tortures destined for particular souls. These are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings, related to the manner in which it has sinned. There are caverns and pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another. I would have died at the very sight of these tortures if the omnipotence of God had not supported me. Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in those senses which he made use of to sin. I am writing this at the command of God, so that no soul may find an excuse by saying there is no Hell, or that nobody has ever been there, and so no one can say what it is like.” [Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 2000; para. 0741; Marian Press, Stockbridge, MA 01262]

This happened 1900 years after our Redemption. This scares the ‘hell’ out of me. How about you?

2. Purgatory is a separate entity of God’s creation. Its denizens are humans (maybe angels). It purges, through temporal punishment, a human’s soul in atonement of their sins. [“If you do the crime, you do the time!”]. Is it only a temporal place with no eternity?

Recent revelations from Christ in Aug. 1925 to His Secretary, St. Faustina, during her 8 day retreat follow:

“I saw my Guardian Angel, who ordered me to follow him. In a moment I was in a misty place full of fire in which there was a great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently, but to no avail, for themselves; only we can come to their aid. The flames which were burning them did not touch me at all. My Guardian Angel did not leave me for an instant. I asked these souls what their greatest suffering was. They answered me in one voice that their greatest torment was longing for God. I saw Our Lady visiting the souls in Purgatory. The souls call her “The Star of the Sea.” She brings them refreshment. I wanted to talk with them some more, but my Guardian Angel beckoned me to leave. We went out of that prison of suffering. [God said to St. Faustina “My mercy does not want this, but justice demands it.”] ” [Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 2000; para. 0020; Marian Press, Stockbridge, MA 01262]

Purgatory allows visitors. It is a place of hope and a place of prayer. The Blessed Virgin Mary brings refreshments. It looks like a part of heaven to me. Would St. Augustine and St. Thomas change their declarations [D1 and D2 above]? I think so. Isn’t Purgatory similar to heavenly analogies [H1 and H3 above]? One could argue that purgatory is part of the estate of heaven. I think the “hell” that the crucified Christ descended into, from He rose, is analogous to H2 above.

M2 – Limbo, when discussed in light of Musing 1 (above), certainly appears to part of the estate of heaven. To all the people, who say baptized Catholics will see the Beatific Vision, I am convinced a more proper description, covering all who go to heaven, is that a soul will see God as He wants to be seen by that soul.

I’ll leave the reader with the following Questions. Maybe purgatory is eternal?

Questions:

Q1 – Is heaven a place of only bliss with no temporary punishment and “the skies are not cloudy all day”?

Q2 - Is there room for a discouraging word in heaven?

Q3 – Are the intellect and will inactive in heaven so that sinning is impossible?

Q4 – Did the angels rebel only once under Lucifer’s leadership or does it continue?

Q5 – Can angels sin in a minor way? Is purgatory their punishment?

Submitted by Paul D Kearns

cispkearns@aol.com

Dec. 15, 2006

     In Fr. Gilhooley’s “Limbo” article on the various Church teachings on unbaptized babies, he said St. Augustine's teaching was that pagans [including unbaptized babies] would end up in hell. This teaching was adopted by the Church Council of 418. Augustine’s teaching held sway with Catholic theologians until Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960’s. The Council fathers taught that that everyone, baptized Christians and the unbaptized, could achieve salvation. The sacrifice of Jesus, the Christ, on Calvary encompassed everyone for all time.

Christ did give the Vatican the power “to bind and loose”; but not the power to “veto” God’s plan as to creation. The Vatican has contradicted the will of God who, alone, creates humans “in His image and likeness, to know, love and serve God in this life, and to be happy with Him in the next”. Every human since Eve has begun life at conception with an immortal soul. They all belong to “God’s” religion before belonging to a particular creed. All are destined to be in heaven for they are “sons of God and heirs of heaven”, regardless of race color or creed. All are given a free will, which gives each human the right to choose good or evil, to claim or forfeit their heavenly inheritance. When each human is born, since Adam & Eve, the path back to God begins. Before Christ and after Christ the rules of God’s natural law, imbedded in each human soul, guide the human toward heaven. After Christ, those humans, who have not heard or comprehended the message of Christ through His ministers, have God’s natural law, His natural grace and His promptings to help them “do good and avoid evil”.

Did Christ give His ministers the right to veto God’s natural law? Some of the Doctors of Theology apparently think so. Even God’s natural law involving the movement of the planets was temporarily vetoed by many Doctors, who chose Copernicus’s finding – that the earth was the center of our galaxy and all planets revolved around it. Poor Galileo was hung out to twist in the wind until the Church recanted. Imagine the damage assessment report that could be made on the impact from over-reaching their Christ-given authority.

Were the Church do a thorough damage assessment of the ruling sponsored by St. Augustine in the 5^th century, the results would be horrific. Imagine the resentment and lack of respect toward the Church since the 418 by non-Catholics and Catholics [even among the chosen religious] growing wider over the last 15 centuries until Vatican II declared the truth of God’s purpose for all humans is the same.

I have met much enmity at the Church from many people for the last 60 years, based on a prevailing belief that St. Augustine’s ruling is still in play. Indeed, even today, some Benedictines harbor that belief. The results of a damage assessment should be proactive actions to repair the evil. Mere words in a Vatican II document or media reports are too little. The Church is obligated to do more publicly, with “mea cupla’s”, by preaching the truth themselves worldwide, and not just from their pulpits. Why should a human see Christ as the Good Shepherd in the Catholic Church, leading us on the path to heaven, when His chosen ministers put out the message that “heaven is only for Catholics in the state of grace?”

In the Letters of St. James, in the New Testament, he warns against creating a caste system where non-Catholics are treated openly as inferiors. Doing this would be in violation of Christ’s example and teaching. In fact, in August 1937, Christ personally dictated to St. Faustina the wording of His Divine Mercy Novena, which runs 9 days from Good Friday until Mercy Sunday. Each day of the Novena Christ singles out groups of people for His consideration for Divine Mercy. The 4^th day is dedicated to “the pagans and those who do not yet know Me”. [Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 2000;para. 1216; Marian Press, Stockbridge, MA 01262] St. Faustina was appointed by Christ to be His Secretary. Pope John Paul II canonized St. Faustina on May 30, 2000.

Submitted by Paul D Kearns

cispkearns@aol.com

Dec. 8, 2006

     I mentioned in my first blog (Inaugural Blog) that my Grandfather would add his own blogs, usually under the Faith and Family section. His just emailed me his first one, and it will be the next blog posted.

                                                                                                                    Mike Grant

     I apologize to my readers for the lack of entries recently. It hasn't been easy balancing schoolwork, blogging, research for the blogs, as well as other issues, but my out of state relatives were in town and I was very busy visiting. Unfortunately, that means I missed many intriguing news stories, including the poisoned
ex-KGB, the Pope's visit to Turkey, and several other stories. I do hope to get caught up on them in the next few days. I have added a new blog to my blog roll, this one from the Middle Eastern Media Research Institute (MEMRI). I also received an email from them requesting donations so that they may fund their many programs. I plan on donating and hopefully you will too. This organization plays an invaluable role in educating the Western World about militant Islam.

                                                                                                            Mike Grant