Streams of Consciousness

Public Officials Under God I always appreciate the writing of E.J. Dionne. Of all political commentators that I am aware, his political philosophy seems closest to mine. It is nice to see him be able to so clearly articulate what I try to say, but often can't find the right combination of words. I was deeply troubled during the 2004 presidential campaign when Catholic bishops publicly endorsed the idea of denying Communion to John Kerry. It seemed to me to be un-Christ-like behavior, and it forced me to (once again) visit my reasons for remaining with the Catholic Church. I'm glad to see some of our political leaders come out with a statement addressing this complicated issue.

I recently came across this paper about the viability of a rational proof of God's existence. It was written by Eric Wielenberg , a professor of philosophy from DePauw University. Mr. Wielenberg argues that the "Moral Argument" offered by C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity is flawed. Essentially, as I understand it, the "Moral Argument" is a logical argument that, because there is an existence of good and evil (moral law), God must exist. Personally, I have found the argument persuasive, and it has augmented my faith. For a detailed description of the argument, I would refer one to the first book of Mere Christianity. Mr. Wielenberg, drawing on work from Bertrand Russell, writes that if God is to be understood as the author of moral law, then he cannot be subject to moral law. In his words, "No single being can be the complete author of the moral law and also subject to that moral law." The point at which I think Mr. Wielenberg's argument falls...

Sharon and I snuck out for a few hours last night to catch a BoDeans concert at the VooDoo lounge at Harrah's Casino, in North Kansas City, MO. Grandma Alice was kind enough, and brave enough, to look after our two little tasmanian devils. The concert exceeded my expectations. I had seen the BoDeans once before, probably 8 yeas ago, when they opened for Bon Jovi at an outdoor venue. I remember it being the coldest Fourth of July I had ever experienced. Bon Jovi was less than inspiring, and everyone was near frozen anyway, so most people just wanted to get the heck out of there. However, the BoDeans opening set made an impression on me. I thought the band had awesome melody, and just flowed together in a natural way. I'm no music expert, but from this music fan's ears, these guys had "it." After that first concert, I picked up their most recently released album--Blend. I had bought a Blend t-shirt at the concert to try to warm up a little bit. The shirt is notoriou...

I generally enjoy reading Men's Health, and they are hardly the only magazine to be guilty of the transgression, but I can't stand misleading cover page and table of contents titles. For example, the March issue had an entry in its table of contents titled "More Energy Now!" Since I am perpetually in need of more energy, I turned eagerly to page 77 expecting to find the cure to my laziness. Instead, I found an article explaining how Frank Sinatra never had to wait for a table at a restaurant and how to come up with excuses for skipping work.

Cleric Offers Bounty on Cartoonist - Yahoo! News Well, I saw this coming. It's Salman Rushdie all over again. Pathetic.

Halliburton hikes dividend, sets 2-for-1 stock split - MarketWatch It leaves me dumbfounded to witness this wholesale looting of the American taxpayer. It is all wide open for everyone to see. The perpetrators, however, understand that the majority of people either don't want to see or can't see. Hell, the "ones behind the curtain" are so arrogant that most of this bonanza comes the way of no-bid contracts. Why don't I just have Halliburton start withholding a portion of my income taxes. At least that would cut down on some of the transaction costs.

Truthdig - Jesus: The�Man, The�Myth This is a link to a very interesting and well-written article about Jesus. I don't really have any comments to offer off the top of my head, but if you get a chance, read the article. It is thought provoking.

As much as I personally dislike this guy and his policies, I find it difficult to fault him for a hunting accident. Of course, I don't know for sure what happened. And, I am a bit curious about how the sheriff's office was not allowed to interview Cheney until the next day. Furthermore, the administration seems to have a disturbing pattern of blaming the victim. So, I can understand that the episode itself was a freak accident, and I'm willing to look at it as nothing more. However, the handling of the press releases has been a debacle. The whole episode just sounds like one horrible nightmare for everyone involved, most of all the poor guy that was "peppered" in the face. It is almost surreal. Talk about having your political cartoon or late-night joke 90% written for you....man, even I was thinking up one-liners that were cracking me up.

I've never been a big basketball person. I like to follow the Hawkeyes, but I could really care less about the NBA. I haven't really followed the NBA at all since the Michael Jordan era, and I didn't even follow it all that closely at that time. I didn't play basketball in high school. However, over the years, there have been a few occasions where I played pick-up basketball semi-regularly. When I worked at UIHC in Iowa City, we had a group of guys that would play at least one game a week, either at lunchtime or after work. I've never been what I would consider above average, but I might have reached the average level. For the first time in over a year, I played a game of basketball on Friday. At my gym, there are pick-up games at noontime and after work. I have been looking to get a little bit more variety in my workouts. I have been rowing, running and playing racquetball, and I don't want to get burned out on any of those exercises. I thought some ...

First and foremost, congratulations to Coach Cowher and the entire Pittsburgh Steelers team for winning the world championship. Congratulations to the Rooney family, for proving that the principles of dignity and class can still be upheld on a championship team. Those that know me understand that I have a passion for the city of Pittsburgh. I refer to Pittsburgh as "home" even though I "grew up" in Iowa, and only lived in southwestern Pennsylvania for the first six years of my life. It has always been, and remains, a goal of mine to return to Pittsburgh as a resident. Growing up, I always tried to convey my admiration for Pittsburgh, and most people would give me blank or incredulous stares. However, when I finally had the opportunity to take some of my friends to visit Pittsburgh, they too were mesmerized by its scenic beauty and its nice people. Even the dilapidated steel mills and old towns of rural western Pennsylvania, and places such as Weirton, WV held specia...

I've decided to put together a compilation of links to articles regarding the Steelers championship season: 250,000 people turn out for championship parade A great article by Dan Wetzel about Pittsburgh and its rabid fans I really like this article regarding the outcry over the officiating Another good article about all of the crying in Seattle I gravitate toward these articles that defend the "wholeness" of the win

World Champions! Amen! (more to come)

I have been spending most of my Internet time reading about the Steelers, so I haven't had much time to write my own analysis or opinions. I've run across some aswesome Steelers Blogs that I will add to my blogrole sometime, and will definitely keep them in my favorites folder. As the clock wound down a few weeks ago in the AFC Championship game, and it became evident that the Steelers were going to go to the Super Bowl, I immediately began to wonder what I should do on Super Bowl Sunday. Of course, my first choice, all other things being equal, would be to attend the game in Detroit, bask in the Super Bowl party atmosphere, and hopefully enjoy witnessing first hand a Super Bowl victory. Unfortunately, game tickets are going for about $2000 for upper deck tickets. I would consider paying $1000, since this would most likely be a once in a lifetime event, but $2000 is utterly ridiculous. The game is simply too popular. Furthermore, Detroit is too close to Pittsburgh. Fans ...