Adult stem cell success in MS patient

A remarkable story of a young Australian man saved by his own stem cells.  This use of one’s own stem cells is a field of research showing great promise and viability.  

Just a reminder to those of you dependent on the mainstream media that we in the pro-life community are not anti-stem cell research, as you have been led to believe.  We are against killing unborn children which is what happens when one destroys embryos for embryonic stem cell research.  Medicine continues to advance in adult stem cell successes, while embryonic stem cell research has yielded no success.  Why then is there all this uproar to fund embryonic stem cell research from taxpayer money?

From ABC News – Australia:

An Australian man appears to have made a remarkable recovery from multiple sclerosis after receiving new stem cell treatment.

Ben Leahy, 20, was diagnosed with the disease in 2008 and ended up in intensive care at one point with respiratory failure after his condition deteriorated rapidly.

He was in a wheelchair and also had sight problems when he underwent the procedure earlier this year but today he is walking and recovering well.

Australian doctors removed stem cells from Ben’s bone marrow, then used chemicals to destroy all the existing immune cells in the body before re-injecting his stem cells.

ACT neurologist Dr Colin Andrews says the positive results in Ben have surprised doctors.

“At the moment there’s a good chance we may have arrested the disease,” he said.

“He walks pretty well, there’s only some mild weakness in his right leg and some visual loss in one eye and apart from that he’s very intact,” he said.

Dr Andrews says health professionals had been reluctant to use the technique because of the risk of death was at around 8 per cent several years ago.

He was unable to a consensus from his peers to go ahead with the treatment in Canberra and could not try the treatment on Ben until he found a specialist in Sydney who was doing similar work on people with other conditions.

He also had to get Ben well enough to be able to undergo the stem cell treatment and this took several months.

The risk of death from the procedure has now been reduced to 1 per cent and Dr Andrews says the outstanding results on Ben means it can now be an option for more people as a last resort if other treatments have not been successful in stopping the progress of the disease.

Read the full article here.

Random ninja post — Catholic Ninja!

The perfect t-shirt for ninjas who pledge their loyalty to the pope. If you're Catholic, a ninja, or a ninja in training, why don't you have this shirt right now!?

My oldest son has this teeshirt from Phatmass.   Maybe he wears it when he is doing something like this.

One man’s treasure is another present for Family Force 5 to throw out.

Just some silliness tonight in a quick post.  This is the latest Really Real Show from the goofballs also known as Family Force 5.  The show they are talking about is the one that my son and I saw in Grand Rapids earlier.  Take my advice:  if you get a chance to see FF5 in concert, you really ought to. 

Haha, that video is full of sly humor and quotable quotes– I’m making all my friends watch it so they are in on the joke.  Here are some of my favorites:

“If you love something, you gotta give it away.  And that was what I was doing.”

“Why were they even getting mad, you know? like…Okaaaayy, maybe they bought that.”

The whole “Loofah thing / ginger grater / onion grater / garlic shredder / onion grinder / ginger grinder / clove chomper / loofah foot scrubber” thing

“He was giving away all sorts of stuff!  He was giving away dvds…movies…feature films…and moving pictures.”

“The kind of thing will, like, bring families together.  They’ll be like, ‘Oh, is that a garlic shredder you got?’  ‘Yeah, it is.  You wanna shred some garlic with me, Mom?’  ‘Sure, I’d love to, Son or Daughter.’”

“You can’t count your chickens before they get given away as a Christmas present for a Christmas pageant show.”

“The point is–I love that their stuff is gone.”

“You don’t know what you love until its missing.  Until, until its gone.  And their stuff is gone.”

And of course:

“One man’s treasure is another present for Family Force 5 to throw out.”

The 15: the list of pro-choice “Catholics” who voted against the Nelson Amendment

The self-described “Catholic” Democratic Senators who voted against the Nelson Amendment were –

1. Patrick Leahy of Vermont
2. John Kerry of Massachusetts 
3. Paul Kirk of Massachusetts  (Appointed to replace Sen. Edward Kennedy, he is the great-nephew of Archbishop of Boston William Henry Cardinal O’Connell.)
4. Robert Menendez of New Jersey
5. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
6. Tom Harkin of Iowa
7. Richard Durbin of Illinois
8. Maria Cantwell of Washington
9. Patty Murray of Washington
10. Jack Reed of Rhode Island
11. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut
12. Claire McCaskill of Missouri
13. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland
14. Mark Begich of Alaska.

The only “Catholic” Republican to vote to table the Nelson Amendment:

1. Susan Collins of Maine

These politicians are creating a scandal that is greatly upsetting to those of us who are trying to live our lives as Christians.  I really resent these folks confusing other Catholics and our fellow Christians about what it means to be a “Catholic”.    If you live in one of these states, please make it a priority to educate your senator on the teachings of the Catholic Church and on your viewpoint as a citizen regarding public funding of abortion.  Please write letters to the editor clarifying what the Church teaches.  Call these politicians to account for their flagrant disregard for Church moral teachings.

You know, I really can’t wait for the “You can’t tell me what to do!!!” foot-stomping, fit-throwing, me-first mentality of the Baby Boomer / post-VII generation–which most of these senators represent– to die out.   I’ve been tired of the Baby Boomer psyche for 25 years.  I have much more faith in my own generation and indeed, even in Gen Y than I do in the BB generation.  This is not a condemnation of all folks born into that particular generation.  I am referring to the overall movement, not individuals.

Meh.  I need more coffee.

h/t : Catholic News Agency

Tis the season of…books! — P.D. James

You know what they say about the book being better than the movie? Well, the book is better than the movie.

I love P.D. James.  I read her mysteries years ago.  But better than the stories of Dalgliesh and Cordelia Gray is her book The Children of Men, an apocalyptic story set in the near future that shows what might happen to society when humans stop reproducing.  The Children of Men has strong Christian and pro-life themes, some reviewers say it is the Gospel of Luke in reverse and others have noted that there is a strong anti-Liberal theology theme.  Regardless, its good stuff.

Get this book for Christmas!

Cass Class — In Detroit, ex-teacher and gospel recording artist offers neighbors all kinds of lessons

I want to pay tribute publicly to all those who in silence, in deeds not in words, strive to practice the Evangelical law of love which drives the world forward. There are so many of them even here in Rome. They do not make the headlines. They are men and women of all ages, who realise that it is not worth condemning, complaining or recriminating; that it is better to respond to evil doing good; to change things; or better, to change people, so to improve society.” — Pope Benedict at Rome’s Piazza di Spagna for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (quoted in Whisper in the Loggia)

The local free weekly Metro Times had this wonderful article from Detroitblogger John in its November 25th edition.  Although the reporter says that Dr. Walker is not religious, I wonder how that is being defined.  I think from the article it is clear that this man is at least living a life of Christian works, and he can teach all of us a few lessons.  He is truly “practicing the Evangelical law of love.”  May God bless him.

The two men sitting side by side couldn’t be more different.

One is a dignified former college professor who quit his university job so he could teach people how to read. The other is an animated ex-con fresh out of jail who visits the teacher every day just to be in his presence, as if some of his eloquence will rub off. 

“I needed something like him in my life for quite some time,” says Scott Hudgins, the 44-year-old unofficial student of Mike Walker, the man he’s made his mentor. His eyes fill with admiration when he looks at Walker, his body language is deferential.

“He gives me a lot of good insight.” Hudgins served 18 years for operating an auto chop shop while on parole for armed robbery. 

The two sit in a cramped little store owned by the former teacher, who’s known as “Doctor” around here by those who know of his academic past. The place is regally named the Snack and Gift Shop of the Michigan Academy of Reading Improvement. It’s in a little cove of a brick basement in the Detroit Boulevard Hotel at Second and Temple, which rents cheap rooms in the Cass Corridor’s south end. 

Walker, 67, is a tenant here. He gave up university life and moved to this area to teach the less fortunate, one at a time.

“I serve everyone,” he says. “Adults, kids in elementary school, everybody. I’ve had people as old as in their 90s who want to improve their reading.”

His gift shop provides for the hotel’s residents and those from the neighborhood who have no fixed address. He sells the essentials, the items that he has learned, over time, that they need — toilet paper, snack foods, candy, salt and pepper, soap.  

You can see his customers outside through the narrow basement window, sitting on the steps of the Masonic Temple across the street. They’re the ones who line up at the soup kitchen at dinner time. The ones buying and selling drugs and sex on the corners.  

“They really aren’t any different than other people,” Walker says, looking outside. “We think that we’re different when we get education or get money, but we’re not any different. You go out in the nice neighborhoods, they can camouflage what they’re doing, and have parties behind closed doors where they use dope and there’s prostitution and everything else. Here, they don’t have the sophistication or the money to camouflage what they’re doing, so it’s just in the open.”

Some of them, like Hudgins, have made themselves Walker’s informal students. Sometimes they come in just to hang out and talk awhile with the man they all look up to.

Please continue to read the rest of the article….Metro Times – Cass class.

No multi-media ladened, thirty minute “sermons” for Catholics, thank you very much

To sum up:  Indian bishop is teaching his priests to be Catholic, and not Evangelical. 

Archdiocese of Mumbai ’strongly discourages’ sermons that are more than 20 mins and wants them to be relevant

The Catholic church in a recent circular has instructed the clergy to keep their sermons short.

The archdiocese of Mumbai, Bishop Bosco Penha, stated that priests who preach for more than 20 minutes during mass should be “strongly discouraged”.

“The homily is an important part of the liturgy and is always given by an ordained minister.

It should be well-prepared and to the point,” said the missive that contained a host of other instructions for priests on how to enrich the service to draw more Catholics back to the church.

The memo was printed in the recent edition of the Catholic newsletter, The Examiner.

“People would complain matter, which is read out, is forgotten,” said newsletter editor and diocese spokesperson Fr Anthony Charanghat.

The instructions also discourage the use of PowerPoint presentations and skits to liven up the homily.

“The homily is meant to be a one-on-one between the priest and his parish. A PowerPoint presentation can supplement the sermon, but not replace it.

The Pope has strongly encouraged us to use technology to reach out to the masses, but it cannot be the end of all our interaction with the faithful,” said Charanghat.

Not surprisingly, the parishioners we spoke to unanimously thought that this was a good idea.

See full article:  Church gives priests the short shrift.

Hail Mary: Gentle Woman

 The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“Full of grace.”  So the angel first greets the maiden of Nazareth– only later is she addressed by name.  The sequence reflects the reality of her existence.  Before ever receiving a name, she had been made “full of grace” by a unique act of God that began our liberation from originial sin.  Had Mary not been “full of grace” from her conception, had God not already applied to her the merits to be won by her Son, redemption would have depended on whether an unredeemed human said yes or no. That is, salvation would not depend solely upon God’s grace, but upon the decision of sinful humanity, represented by Mary. Instead, while humanity truly participated in it redemption through Mary’s consent, this happened only because God first had made her “full of grace.”  Thus we are remineded that all good comes from God, who, St. Paul reminds us, “accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will.”  God did this first for Mary, and then with Mary for us all, through Christ our Lord.

From  the Scripture reflections of Fr. James Flint, O.S.B., for Lect. 689, We Celebrate Worship Resource, J.S. Paluch Company, Inc.

Tis the season of…books! — Denis McNamara

Today’s  book is a bit off-the-wall, I know, but I think this is an excellent book for those of us with an insatiable need to know random stuff. 

There really isn’t any good reason to keep building ugly post-VII churches.

Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy by Denis McNamara; Foreword by Scott Hahn.  Here is what the publisher says about it:

This unique book delves into the deep meanings of liturgical art and architecture, and by association, the Sacred Liturgy itself. It is meant to help pastors, architects, artists, members of building committees, seminarians, and everyone interested in liturgical art and architecture come to grips with the many competing themes which are at work in church buildings today. The object of Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy is help the reader to drink deeply from the wells of the tradition, to look with fresh eyes at things thought to be outdated or meaningless, and glean the principles which underlie the richness of the Catholic faith.

• Part one presents an emerging area of study: Architectural Theology
• Part two introduces the readers for the first time to the scriptural foundations of church architecture
• Part three focuses on the classical tradition of architecture
• Part four examines iconography as eschatological flash and
• Part five concludes with a discussion of the Twentieth Century and where we are now in the Age of the Church.

Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy is a  foundational sourcebook for studying, designing, building, and renovating Catholic churches, this book is intended to find the middle of the road between differing and sometimes conflicting theories of liturgical architecture.  It will give architects and building committees the theological language and tools to understand the elements of church design by examining past architecture and will help decision makers link these principles to their current building projects.

Life and Death in the D

Interesting article from GetReligion on the efforts of a former NYT journalist who has come home to report on my neighbor.  (The “D” of the story being “Detroit”, the city where sirens never sleep.)

Life and Death in the D.

To help

To donate for the burial of the remains of Martha Ann Barnett, make out checks to Sacred Heart Cemetery, c/o Martha Ann Barnett. Mail them to Sacred Heart Cemetery, 17219 Mound Road, Detroit, MI 48212. Any money beyond the burial cost will be sent by the cemetery in the name of Martha Ann Barnett to the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, an organization which feeds the hungry of Detroit.

Note:  I expect to be feeling better and be able to resume regular blogging tomorrow.