David Ancell / Monday, August 07, 2006 / Comments(0)
I just read that Senator Sam Brownback is sponsoring the Assisted Suicide Prevention Act to prevent controlled substances from being used for assisted suicide. This follows from the decision by the Supreme Court that the Bush administration could not use the Controlled Substances Act to prevent the use of controlled substances in an assisted suicide. Given the gravity of the matter, this needs our support. Let us not forget that euthanasia could become the way of dealing with the disabled if it isn’t stopped.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Thursday, August 03, 2006 / Comments(0)
I guess you’ve heard that I’m playing with Macs now. I plan to do my audio stuff on Mac this year. To accomplish this, I found a great deal on a MacBook Pro at CompUSA. Unfortunately, the first one I got kept crashing every time I used the wireless. I called AppleCare, and they made me an appointment at the Apple Store. They offered to repair it, but I explained that I had just bought this two days ago. The guy got the manager, and they replaced the notebook. It did take some time, but hey, it appears that I have a working unit now. I’m blogging from it now.
These days it’s hard to get any kind of service. At least Apple provides a place to go for questions. Besides, I’m not supporting Bill Gates’ and his reported contributions to organizations that I don’t particularly care for. Granted, I don’t know if Jobs is any better, but neither have I heard that he supports “population control” measures.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Wednesday, August 02, 2006 / Comments(0)
After this post, I ran across this article on Catholic Exchange that discusses why raising the minimum wage may not be the way to bring about a living wage for people. I do want to make sure we understand that, while Catholic Social Teaching requires that employers pay employees a living wage, this does not necessarily mean that all Catholics are required to believe that the minimum wage should be raised.
This article is a case in point as to how a Catholic can argue against raising the minimum wage without going against the teaching of the Church. The Church teaches that all should receive a just wage. The laity can work out how to do this.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Wednesday, August 02, 2006 / Comments(0)
I’m back. I have been off work for the past three days, and I’ve needed it to catch my breath. The next step is to catch up on housework as my apartment is a mess. In fact, I can’t find something I really need to find right now. Oh well, I think I can get it replaced if I must.
Anyway, I wanted to share a little more about the Steubenville conference. You may be aware that Jim Cowan is no longer doing the music, but Bob Rice has taken his place. I was quite impressed with the band and with how they combined both the traditional (Holy, Holy, Holy, The Church’s One Foundation, All Creatures of Our God and King) and the contemporary (including Professor Rice’s original songs). I hope that he and his band come out with their own CDs. In the meantime, you can check out Bob Rice’s music at his web site, and you can check out the band at their web site.
They had two Bob Rice CDs for sale at the bookstore, and I bought both. I didn’t think I’d like the bluegrass, but I have found that I like what I’ve listened to. He is a great songwriter. When I got home, I bought the MP3s from the Backyard Galaxy album, which you can find on his site. Check it out when you get a chance.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Sunday, July 30, 2006 / Comments(0)
I have just been at the Defending the Faith Conference at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Although I’ve seen better years there, it was still a good experience. For one thing, the staff is always great, but this year they seemed even better than I had remembered in the past. However, the weather was as hot as ol’ fiery Gehenna (or Memphis, depending on which you choose to think of), and this was the first year that I stayed in the non-air-conditioned dorm. I plan to sleep for a long time.
I may share some more stuff later, but I had to say that I met Fr. Benedict Groeschel and got his autograph. He was really nice. He does seem to be a bit frail, though. I know he’s been through it with his accident, and I’m grateful that he survived. I have been praying for him since then. He gave the homily at the Holy Hour and reminded us that of all the holy people he knew from the last century (he named Fr. Peyton, Fr. Solanus Casey, Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, and Archbishop Fulton Sheen and probably others) had centered their lives on the Eucharist.
He also gave us what I see as a hope-filled comment about Scripture study. He mentioned how Scott Hahn is on the cutting edge now. Pope Benedict XVI has a real desire to get rid of “the old comrades of the last few decades” who blather on about “the historical Jesus.” I loved it when he said that the “historical Jesus” is a myth. He’s right when he said that Catholics have been treated to many a sorry sermon because of the overuse of historical criticism. It’s time for more faith-filled Scripture study. Fortunately, resources are slowly but surely becoming available.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Thursday, July 27, 2006 / Comments(0)
One principle of Catholic social teaching is that an employer must pay employees a living wage. Other factors may be used in the determination of what an employee should be paid such as the employee’s productivity and the importance of the work to the organization. However, in any case, the employee should be able to support his needs and those of his family on what he makes.
Interestingly, I ran across this article in the New York Times that suggests that stores with more than 90,000 square feet and that are part of companies with more than one billion dollars in gross revenue must raise wages to $10/hour by 2010 and pay at least $3/hour in benefits. Many have hailed this as a great advance in giving a good wage to all workers, but others have concerns. Some of these concerns are quite valid.
My question about raising the minimum wage is whether it will truly raise the standard of living. If it doesn’t, it defeats the purpose. Some places may cut staff, meaning that fewer people will be able to get a job of any kind. Others may raise prices, which would render the increased wage less beneficial. However, it seems that some research has suggested that these problems haven’t happened in other places.
Also, note that the article says that the average wage in some of these places is above the requirement already. So, this may not affect everyone as the business may not raise the salary of everyone. I had some friends who worked somewhere while in college when the minimum wage was raised, and they weren’t given much above the new minimum wage when it took effect. In other words, the people primarily helped were the new people still making at or near the current minimum wage.
As Christians, it seems to me that what we should strive for is that business be more balanced between pay for employees and profit. In other words, we know they need to make money, but perhaps they could be willing to make a little less to ensure that people are able to obtain a good standard of living on what they make. It may be that people with more buying power will spend more, and the businesses may find themselves making even more money.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Sunday, July 23, 2006 / Comments(0)
This is just awesome. The Compendium of the Cathechism of the Catholic Church is now available on the Vatican web site. I am so glad that this is avaiable for people. Also, you can go to this page to be able to select either the full Catechism or the Compendium.
It’s great to have this here. The only issue is that one’s only option is to have the whole thing display on one page. I’m just hoping for a pocket edition some time or even an eBook that I can put on my PDA. That would really help me to be able to have it at my fingertips. I want it all, don’t I? Well, anyway, if you haven’t bought a copy of the Compendium, please take a few minutes to visit this page.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Friday, July 21, 2006 / Comments(0)
I have received a news story that Our Holy Father has declared this Sunday, July 23rd, a World Day of Prayer and Penance for the Middle East. He asks us all to pray for peace and for the ability of humanitarian aid to come through. Let us join him this Sunday.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Saturday, July 15, 2006 / Comments(0)
In case there were any doubts, I am still alive. I had a great retreat at Casa Maria. The people I met, be they retreatants, sisters, or the priest who gave the retreat, were awesome. If any of you are running across this post, please feel free to contact me. I would love to hear from any of you. The priest was awesome, and I bought the tape set of the talks.
Now, here’s the crazy thing I did. I always wanted to know how a Mac worked, especially since I distribute audio of RCIA talks, sometimes over the web to people. I went into CompUSA to get a simple iMac, and I left with a 20-inch monster Intel-based iMac. It is a beautiful machine. I plan to still use my Windows XP machines, but I will definitely spend a lot of time with this one. The graphics are better, and it handles multi-tasking more gracefully so far. I don’t know if all my software will be available for this, though.
Anyway, if you are running across this, please feel free to e-mail me. I’d love to hear from you.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized
David Ancell / Friday, July 07, 2006 / Comments(0)
I am about to go to Casa Maria, but before I make it, I wanted to send this note. I just finished eating dinner, and before that I saw the EWTN station. I didn’t go into the studio, but I did go to the Gift Shop and chapel.
While I was in the Gift Shop, Raymond Arroyo showed up to sign some book copies. He was as friendly as he seems he would be on his shows. I got to talk to him briefly.
Then, I checked out the chapel. It was nice to see. It was very pretty and dead quiet. This is just what I needed. On the way here, I got lost in Birmingham and didn’t like where I ended up. Fortunately, I had the number to Casa Maria and was able to get directions to where I was supposed to be.
Category: Posts imported from Danger! Falling Brainwaves, Uncategorized