Huether Does Not Deserve Re-election

APRIL 7, 2014

On Tuesday April 8, 2014, the city of Sioux Falls will head to the polls to decide who will be their mayor for the next 4 years.

I plan to cast my vote for Greg Jamison.

I must admit I do not know a whole lot about Jamison. However, I know plenty about Huether to know I do not want him as my mayor.

Let me explain why:

Roads:

Many supporters of Huether claim he has greatly improved the roads of Sioux Falls. I disagree. Yes, he has gotten a lot of road work done. But, can we really say that these projects have improved the quality of the roads and positively affected traffic?

My contention is that the work Huether has started have only slightly improved some roads and has NOT improved traffic. There are plenty of roads that need attention more than the ones that have been addressed. Southeastern Avenue between 26th and 49th comes to mind. Many other smaller, more residential streets also need work more than the roads that have been worked on during Huether’s term.

Furthermore, there are roads that need work to expand them to help traffic flow. The first such road that comes to mind is Cliff Avenue between 41st Street and 69th Street. Cliff needs two lanes in either direction throughout this whole stretch. Western Avenue from 57th to 85th is another stretch of road that needs two lanes in both directions.

Lastly, the work done during Huether’s time as mayor has not improved traffic flow. Over the summer, most major East/West roads were torn up, and traffic was unbearable. Those roads had very little wrong with them, and when they re-opened traffic flow was not improved.

Traffic

As Sioux Falls grows, traffic will grow worse and worse. Over the past few years, traffic has been slowly getting worse. The city is set to see rapid growth over the next few years, and we are currently unprepared to handle the increased amount of traffic. In my mind there are three ways to handle this:

1. Expansion of roads
2. Speed limits
3. Traffic signals

As previously mentioned, roads like Cliff Avenue and Western Avenue need to be expanded.

Furthermore, traffic heading East to West and West to East is terrible. Currently, to head from the East side of town to the West side of town (or vice versa) you have the following options:

• That 10th/11th/12th Street thing
• 26th Street (ish)
• 41st Street (ish)
• 57th Street
• The interstate

That 10th/11th/12th Street thing is problematic because you need to cut through downtown, where speed limits slow down dramatically. Plus, it is far to the North. Making it difficult for those in the South and Central parts of town to utilize.

26th Street is ineffective because it runs from the east side of town only to Kiwanis Avenue (middle of town). From there you have to go up to that 10th/11th/12th Street thing or down to 41st Street. Furthermore, between I-229 and Kiwanis, 26th Street is moves down to one lane in each direction and to a speed limit of 30 MPH. There are also many school zones to contend with. In short, traffic on 26th Street is painfully slow.

41st Street is a popular street and can be valuable for travel in Sioux Falls. The big problem tough is there is a gap in 41st Street between Cliff Avenue and Southeastern Avenue, making 41st also not viable for rapid East/West travel.

57th Street is probably the best method for East/West travel. It extends across the city form the far East part of town to the far West part of town. However, its location on the South part of town makes it difficult for those on the North end of town.

To use the interstate allows for high speed travel, but you must switch interstates to get from one side to the other. This switch takes places in the far Southwest part of town, making it super inconvenient for someone who is on East 10th Street who wants to get to the Crackerbarrel on West 26th Street.

Mayor Huether has had 4 years to show he is capable of improving the traffic in Sioux Falls, and he has not shown he is going to improve this problem. I know of nothing he has done to expand our roads, build new roads, increase speed limits, or improve the traffic signals in Sioux Falls (out of town visitors hate our traffic signals).

Arrogance

Mayor Huether has taken credit for many improvements in Sioux Falls with which he had little or nothing to do. “My Man Mike” has tooted his own horn far too much. In this part of the country, a mayor needs to take a team approach to municipal government. It should be what we as a community are doing, rather than what Mike Huether has done. 

The main issue here is that Huether has taken a lot of credit for the new events center. Almost every candidate who ran for mayor in 2010 was in favor of the new events center. It would have been built if someone else had been elected. Furthermore, it was the citizens who voted to build it. The final approval came from the people, not the mayor. Also, Huether mostly ignored those who wanted the new events center downtown. The events center was built where the mayor wanted it to be built. We never got to vote on the downtown events center. This is a shame because I believe a downtown events center would have spurred great development downtown. This leads me to my next point.

Downtown

The downtown area should be the pride of any city or town, but in Sioux Falls it is not. Sioux Falls has long desired for a revitalization of downtown. There have been some projects downtown that have developed over the mayor’s term. But, when it comes down to it, I do not feel any more desire to spend my time downtown then I did four years ago. Sioux Falls has the potential to have a great downtown area, but Huether has failed to deliver.

Conflicts of Interest

Challenger and current city council member Greg Jamison created and signed a pledge that he would not invest in any projects that need City Council’s approval. When asked about this pledge by a reporter, Mayor Huether became rude and ended the interview.

Mr. Mayor, if you have done nothing wrong and do not plan on doing anything wrong, why the attitude? Why not sign the pledge?

IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE IN CITY HALL!!!

St. Patrick’s Day Rant 2014

+JMJ+

Saint Patrick’s Day is here again. It is quite possibly one of my least favorite days of the year. This year (thus far) has not been an improvement.

Saturday (March 15) was the parade, green beer specials all day long at bars, green colors everywhere.

Sunday (March 16), my parish had a Saint Patrick’s Day party following all Masses. 

Note: All of this occurred before St. Patrick’s Day.

Not surprisingly corporate America has jumped on this bandwagon and capitalizes on this day every year, so I am not surprised by all of the specials and whatnot at stores and restaurants. I expected that. But, what is really bugging me this year is my parish’s party.

They had Irish dancers, Irish music, Irish drums (as if there is something that makes drumming “Irish”….It is a drum! No matter how you play it, it still goes “boom”), and everyone was encouraged to wear green. I had forgotten that this was announced last week at Mass. Had I remembered, I would have attended Mass elsewhere. I would have preferred to have avoided the festivities and the sea of green. Do not get me wrong. Green is my favorite color; I am in favor of everyone wearing it more often. However, I hate seeing it used to debase what should be a day dedicated to a holy bishop of the Catholic Church and Our Blessed Lord.

This is what irked me about my parish’s Saint Patrick’s Day party, the complete lack of Saint Patrick, the man. There was no mention of his life or the great work he did in his life. There were no tales of the young Saint Patrick, born in Scotland, kidnapped and enslaved at the age of 14, how he turned to God in his captivity, or the great number of pagans he converted.

The world sees Saint Patrick’s Day as a day to get drunk and celebrate Ireland. What is the Church doing combat that attitude? Basically nothing. If we want to end the alcoholism and obnoxious (and in a lot of cases, sinful) behavior surrounding Saint Patrick’s Day, the Church needs to stop celebrating Ireland and start celebrating Saint Patrick.

It is time to ditch the Irish dancers and the obnoxiously green clothing schemes. It is time to pray the Rosary, study the theology surrounding the Most Holy Trinity, and to tell great stories of the life of this heroic man.

If my parish wants to continue this behavior, well, then I look forward to the bratwursts at our Germanfest on June 5 (or the closest Sunday), eating lutefisk and lefse at our Norwegian party on July 29 (or the closest Sunday), the wine at our French soiree on October 1 (or the closest Sunday), and our fiesta on December 12 (or the closest Sunday).

St. Patrick’s Day Rant 2012

I posted this on Facebook and Twitter March 17, 2012:

Today I wear BLUE in honor of St. Patrick……but Alex, WHY???…..Well here’s today’s fun fact for you: St. Patrick was Scottish!…………and blue is the color of the Scottish flag. St. Patrick was the Bishop of Ireland and converted many to Catholicism. Today, we celebrate the advances St. Patrick made in the Church in the pagan country of Ireland. Today, we do not celebrate Irish heritage or alcohol; we celebrate St. Patrick, the man. Should I as a person of German, Norwegian, and French heritage should I get drunk and celebrate my German heritage every June 5, the feast day of St. Boniface, patron saint of Germany? Or on July 29, the feast day of St. Olaf II, patron saint of Norway? Or on October 1, the feast day St. Thérèse of Lisieux, patron saint of France? No! Obviously not, but for some reason that is acceptable for St. Patrick’s feast day. And to those of you who celebrate this day and are not Catholic, I say this: I do not mind that you celebrate this day. I would prefer it if you would do so in the proper way (i.e. not getting wasted) and if you are going to celebrate this great day for Catholicism, I would like you to join me in standing up for our rights and beliefs, specifically relating to the HHS mandate……………………..That is all

Why Bring a Child into This World?: Commentary on Project Sunlight

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

Whilst preparing to watch a YouTube video I was un-shockingly faced with an ad. I was given the option of skipping the ad after 5 seconds, but in that five seconds, I decided to watch the entire ad, despite the ad being over 4 minutes long. The reason I watched it was the title. It was titled: “Why Bring a child into this world?”. The video began by showing soon-to-be parents describing their fears about bringing a child into this world. Then these parents watched a video explaining the bright future for the world with the more widespread availability of clean water, food, healthcare, etc. Many of the parents were emotionally moved by the video.

This ad intrigued me because “Why bring a child into this world?” is sometimes used as a justification for abortion, birth control, and population control. This video, while not expressly intending to do so, proved that argument invalid. The fact of the matter is bringing life into the world is beautiful, and with the future so bright, why would anyone want to prevent life? All life is precious.

Spending at the Federal Level

OCTOBER 31, 2013

I heard on the radio this morning that the Federal Government will run a deficit under $1 Trillion Dollars this year for the first time since 2008. While this may sound like good news, I would label it as “not as bad” newsbecause our deficit is $680 Billion this year……$680 BILLION!……$680,000,000,000!

That may be 38% (approximately) less than last year’s $1.1 Trillion deficit, but that is still an enormous amount of money. Can you think of a way to spend $680 billion?  Can you think of a way to spend $680 BILLION over the roughly $2 trillion the United States annually receives in tax revenue?

Should Obama be praised for curbing spending? No, the last time the US had a deficit under $1 Trillion was 2008, Bush’s penultimate fiscal year in office. Should Bush be praised for being fiscally responsible? No, in 2008, we spent $2,982,500,000,000, which is $458.6 billion over the $2,524,000,000,000 we had in tax revenue that year.

For those who want to compare spending behaviors of Bush and Obama to say that one president is better than the other, look at these statistics:

BUSH:

-Added more than $6 Trillion to the US National Debt, more than doubling the $5.8 Trillion we were in debt at the end of Clinton’s final fiscal year.

-His deficits totalled $3.294 Trillion by the end of his final fiscal year

Obama:

-Added $4.8 Trillion to the national debt in just one term!

-Has racked up a total of $5.073 Trillion in deficits in just one term.

……but let’s not forget that government spending is controlled by Congress. Therefore, we can not only blame Presidents Bush and Obama (as well as every other president that spent more than tax revenues, but also every member of Congress (past or present) that has voted for these absurd levels of spending.

I’m honestly glad that our government has produced a budget in years. We have finally given up the façade of a government that manages their finances. A budget that spends billions over their revenue is no budget at all, but a sick a joke at transparency and responsibility.

When will we finally realize that drastic cuts have to be made across the board and that true sacrifice must be made to ensure fiscal prosperity. Those who say spending isn’t out of control are fools.

We can sit and blame the other party for this problem all we want, but the fact of the matter is both parties are to blame. I think Mark Twain said it best when he said “Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.”

Another thought before I close: Why do (or rather did) we budget on the basis of dollar amounts? Why not percentages? For example, if the US had $X to spend in a given fiscal year, we could spend Y% of $X on Social Security, Z% on debt reduction, A% on national security, B% on the Military, and 0% on education (the Federal government has no Constitutional authority or duty with respect to education).

Sources:

KELO: AM 1320 AM, FM 107.9

http://useconomy.about.com/od/usdebtanddeficit/p/US-Debt-by-President.htm

http://useconomy.about.com/od/people/fl/Deficit-by-President.htm

http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/30/news/economy/deficit-2013-treasury/

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=200

September 12

SEPTEMBER 12, 2013

Yesterday, we remembered the horrible attacks of 9/11. Today, though, is September 12, 2013. Twelve years after the day after 9/11. You might remember that today was the day flags were flown everywhere. We all came together as one. We were Americans to the fullest.

Today, we find ourselves sharply divided. Republicans/Democrats, conservatives/liberals, pro same-sex marriage/pro traditional-marriage, pro life/pro choice, those who think we should attack Syria/Those who think we should not, and on and on and on...

It is important to remember that spirit we had on that day 12 years ago, that spirit that said “We may have our differences, but we are all Americans and united we stand.”

I am a firm believer that God can work wonders out of tragedy and despair. Through the 9/11 attacks He taught us the importance of community and unity. He taught us to love one another, as we love ourselves. He taught us to be less selfish and more selfless.

Here is one of my favorite stories of the generosity of all those who volunteered in the wake of that horrible day. This is Kevin Conroy’s tale of his experience working as a cook in a cafeteria for the volunteers following 9/11.

http://youtu.be/zs_yC1SGLR0?t=22m16s

The Importance of Beauty in the Liturgy

JULY 22, 2013

"This world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair. It is beauty, like truth, which brings joy to the heart of man and is that precious fruit which resists the wear and tear of time, which unites generations and makes them share things in admiration. And all of this is through your hands. May these hands be pure and disinterested. Remember that you are the guardians of beauty in the world. May that suffice to free you from tastes which are passing and have no genuine value, to free you from the search after strange or unbecoming expressions. Be always and everywhere worthy of your ideals and you will be worthy of the Church which, by our voice, addresses to you today her message of friendship, salvation, grace and benediction.”

Pope Paul VI address to artists
Closing of the Second Vatican Council
8.VII.1965

On July 14, 2013, I had the incredible experience to attend Mass in the beautiful St. Paul’s Cathedral in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The beauty of this building was the setting for the always beautiful Catholic Mass which was elevated in beauty and reverence for Our Blessed Lord by the assistance by the aesthetic beauty of the building and the use bells, chanting, Latin, and incense. Some may say that that a building such as this Cathedral should be sold and the proceeds given to the poor. Others will criticize the use bells, chanting, Latin, and incense as archaic. However, I maintain that the aesthetics of the building and the use of bells, chanting, Latin, and incense aided in my experience. The Liturgy was elevated beyond mere words. I found myself more focused on what was happening than I usually am. I found myself more connected with the presence of Our Lord. Not on Earth was my state of mind, but in Heaven. I felt a deep sense of God’s love in a way I have not felt before. I owe this wonderful experience to the beauty of the Mass and the elements provided from being inside the magnificent St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Should not all Catholic parishes strive to create the visible beauty of the Mass? It is not by making the Mass more “modern” that the Church serves the world. The Mass should be beautiful, not “modern.” Music should inspire reverence, not a toe-tapping, hallelujah-shouting, hand-clapping response. The Mass is about Our Lord and not about the congregation feeling “nice.” At the Mass we receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Should not the Mass create an atmosphere appropriate for such an event?

“The Mass is a compendium of all God’s love, of all His benefits to men, and each Mass bestows on the world a benefit not less than what was conferred on it by the Incarnation.” - St. Bonaventure

“The Mass has just the same value as Calvary.” - St. John Chrysostom

MLK and Roe v. Wade

JANUARY 22, 2013

The movie 300 opens with a chilling scene. A baby boy is examined to see if he will one day be a great warrior for Sparta. If he is not, he will be tossed off of a cliff and left for dead.

2013 is a year in which we celebrate a great American peacemaker the day before the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I cannot help but notice the disconnect there. Our nation is celebrating an end to segregation and equal rights for all, yet we still brutally murder innocent babies just for not being wanted, a tragedy far worse than discarding a baby boy for not appearing to be fit for battle later in life. We know nothing about the innocents we allow to be slaughtered daily. We may have lost our only hope for a cure for cancer because we aborted the one life that could have ended it. What great works of art will we never see? What songs will never be sung?

Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for the equal rights for all, but our country does not even recognize the right to live. In the battle to end the horror of Abortion, those like myself are proud to have as an ally Alveda King, MLK’s niece. She rightly makes the comparrison between the battle her uncle faced in his day, and the one we have been fighting since January 22, 1973.

Abortion and racism are both symptoms of a fundamental human error. The error is thinking that when someone stands in the way of our wants, we can justify getting that person out of our lives. Abortion and racism stem from the same poisonous root, selfishness. 

 She even points out that her race in particular suffers from this evil.

Abortion and racism are evil twins, born of the same lie. Where racism now hides its face in public, abortion is accomplishing the goals of which racism only once dreamed. Together, abortionists are destroying humanity at large and the black community in particular. 

Equality is more than just skin color; it is about the dignity of every human being.

People need jobs, people need happy and successful lives; there should be marriage between one man and one woman, there should the value of person from conception until natural death. 

On this anniversary of such a monumental failure by our legal system, I can think of no better words to end this post than these:

I have a dream that America will pray and God will forgive us our sins. 

***All quotes in this post are from Alveda King and were found on brainyquote.com***

What if the World Does End?

DECEMBER 20, 2012

I write this on the eve of December 21, 2012. If you believe the Mayans, the world is ending tomorrow. It will not………..but what if it did? Would you be disappointed? Or would you welcome it? If you would be disappointed, I suggest you change the way you live.

A person of faith should welcome the end of the world, as it would mean the return of Our Blessed Lord. I’ll expand more on that later, but first I’ll address those who do not profess a belief in God.

I have never understood, nor, I suspect, will I ever understand, just exactly what gets atheists out of bed every day. Without God, I see no reason for living. Life is pointless without any repercussions for our misdeeds on Earth. Why, if they do not believe in God, do they find any incentive to behave themselves according to a moral code. Furthermore, if there is no God, who sets the moral code? If the individual or a periodic popular vote sets the moral code, then a moral code does not exist. A moral code is, by definition, permanent and unchanging. A moral code is not man made. Simply put, life is absurd and not worth living without God.

Blaise Pascal’s famous “wager” states that it would be better to live as if God exists even if you don’t believe in Him. If you lived as if God exists and does not, when you die you don’t lose anything because there is nothing. If you live as if God does not exist and he does, when you die your eternity will be spent in torment. 

This brings me back to believers. Some do not believe in Hell. Someone once told Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen that they did not believe in Hell. He responded, “You will when you get there.” I promise you Hell exists. Think about this: if Hell does NOT exist, what is the point of following Christ? Answer: there is no point. Would God have sent His Son to suffer and die for us if there was no danger of going to Hell?

Some others believe that if Hell exists, that no one actually goes there. This is also foolish because God Himself came to Earth and preached otherwise:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations* will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ l And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” 

-Matthew 25:31-46

So if Hell exists, who goes there?

Most Protestants will tell you all one needs to do to get to Heaven is to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. However, this is not Biblical. I offer two notable refutations of this point:

1.) Matthew 7:20

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’

2.) James 2:14-26

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone might say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called “the friend of God.” See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route? For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

I have painted a gloomy and ominous picture, but this shouldn’t frighten you. If it does frighten you, repent. If it does not frighten you, repent anyway!

In summation, those who say live each day as if it were your last are not far off from having the right idea. You should live everyday like it could be your last day because it might be. However, most often these people are saying this for the wrong reason. That reason being summed up in the #hashtag #YOLO. #YOLF would be a better #hashtag for living your life like it is your last day on Earth.

You Only Live Forever.

If the world does end, it should not be a crisis. One should always be ready for the Second Coming of Our Blessed Lord. We should live as if the Lord will be here any minute, for He very well could be, or we could die unexpectedly.

Will He return soon? I would be foolish to make a prediction. I cannot know, nor should I know. Regardless, when the Lord comes again, I want to be able to say (and I want everyone to be able to say) “Yes Lord, it is good You have come now. Thy will be done. I am ready.”

An Open Letter to NFL Cheerleaders

NOVEMBER 11, 2012

Dear enemies of true Feminism,

You need to have respect for yourselves. Do you realize that nobody cares about you? Yes, you get a lot of attention, but I liken that to the same kind of attention I give to a 12 ounce ribeye. Men (actually boys would be a better description for these males) at the games salivate over you like a piece of meat. They don’t care when the program states that your favorite TV show is Friends in the weekly article about the “featured cheerleader”. These boys only care about how curvaceous your body is. They don’t care if you’re a good dancer; they just want to see your body move. They don’t care what your name is. You are just “that blonde over there” to them. Your personality is irrelevant to them. They only want to take a picture with you so they can go back to their friends and brag about “the hot cheerleader” with whom they got their picture taken. When showing these pictures off, they don’t mention your name. I doubt they even know it.

Today at the Vikings-Lions game, I heard a man and what I assumed was his girlfriend (who also did serious damage to the Feminism movement) discussing the flatness or fleshiness of your “@$$3$.” A drunken male a few rows behind me was similarly spewing out any lustful thought that came to his immature and alcohol-saturated mind. You are being viewed by these individuals much in the same way judges view the contestants at the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship.

Furthermore, the pornographic military uniforms you wore today are an insult to the members of my family and all those who have served in our nation’s military, defending your right to parade around like prized toy poodle.

I’ve heard it said that “dressing immodestly is like rolling around in manure—you get a lot of attention, mostly from pigs.” If you want to attract a man who will care about you as a person and is attracted to your personality first and foremost, then put some clothes on (real clothes, not your underwear) and get a real job.

Sincerely, 
An NFL fan who goes to the game to watch the game and is sick and tired of you demeaning yourselves

The Ending to the Green Bay/Seattle MNF Game

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

Here’s my thoughts on the GB/SEA ending: 

Pursuant to NFL Rule 8 Section 1 Article 3 Item 5:  ”Simultaneous Catch. If a pass is caught simultaneously by two eligible opponents, and both players retain it, the ball belongs to the passers. It is not a simultaneous catch if a player gains control first and an opponent subsequently gains joint control…..”  Based on what I can see, Jennings definitely had possession. It is entirely possible that is what the one referee ruled when he signaled touchdown. 

From what I understood, the play was “officially” ruled a touchdown on the field and then went to the replay booth which means there has to be indisputable evidence to over-turn the call. Based on the replays I do not see “indisputable” evidence that Jennings had sole possession of the ball. Therefore, the correct call was to uphold the call on the field. 

If it had been ruled an interception on the field, replay would have upheld the interception based on the “indisputable” evidence rule. 

This to me was handled properly, as per the rules (however sketchy and grey they are).

This is not the straw that breaks the camel’s back as far as replacement refs go. That was when San Francisco was given 5 timeouts against the Vikings. Granted, that didn’t affect the outcome of the game and this did, but that was handled worse than this was.

One other thing to mention: replay officials are not a part of the strike.

God, Science, and Logic

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

Earlier today on Facebook and Twitter I promised a rant about my biology professor. After calming down and taking the advice of wise man to pray before I rant, my rant is not so much a rant about my biology professor anymore. It has morphed into a few thoughts on the scientific community.

 What got me all upset was his attitude towards faith and science. He said that scientists must assume that everything they study can be explained. He said there was no room for “magic” or “miracles.”

I’ll touch briefly on his poo-pooing (shall we say?) of miracles. The Vatican does not take claims of miracles lightly. They have a team of scientists that investigate alleged miracles. If their scientists cannot come up with a possible reason as to why something extraordinary happened, only then do they call it a miracle. NOTE: It’s possible that I underestimated or misrepresented their process there. My main point is that if science cannot explain why someone completely recovers from a terminal illness, sometimes miracles are the only logical answer.

 He also mentioned that some people may act one way in part of their life and another in a different part of their life. This reminds me of Nancy Pelosi’s ridiculous statement that she does “her religion on Sundays” when she was confronted on the differences between Catholic Church teaching and her own views on contraception. If a person disregards their faith outside of that one hour on Sundays, then are they really a person of Faith? I know my Church/Faith tells me that I must always be Catholic in everything that I do.

 Later in class, he was trying to give an example of what a bad hypothesis to test would be.  His example was this: “God if you exist prove it by making there be no more pain and suffering in the world.” He was lucky that his example wasn’t “God if you exist, strike me down” because I might have stood up and punched him. I think both he and I are grateful that didn’t happen. 

 I must note that my professor (at least after three classes) seems like a nice guy. It was his reasoning that made me upset. He is even humorous at times. This is nothing personal against him, but his scientific logic/philosophy is off.  I didn’t consider punching him because I don’t like him. Also, he is not the only person

 There are some things science can’t explain and sometimes elements of faith can properly explain them. Example: In order for something to exist, it must have been caused into being. However, this cannot go on for infinity. At some point there had to have been an uncaused causer. The only cause that can be uncaused is God.

 I’ll give him that my reasoning to prove God exists is not a scientific experiment. What it was though was sound logical reasoning. That argument was taken from one of the most logical thinkers of all time, St. Thomas Aquinas. 

  Lastly, I wrote a much, much longer essay on this topic for school last spring. If you would like to read it click here. If you don’t want to read it, then don’t.

I am going to start praying for my professor and the entire scientific community. I invite you to do the same. Also, pray for me that I may be charitable in any future dealings with the topic.

Bl. Pope John Paul II, PRAY FOR US.