Looks as though the Jerry Falwell School of Law (aka Liberty University School of Law) is set to open its doors for the first time this Fall. What are the chances that Larry Flynt will be a donor to the school?

The negative impact of emphasizing critical thinking over factual knowledge: College seniors today know less about history than high school grads 50 years ago.

Seems to me like modern higher education needs to adopt a Catholic "both/and" approach rather than a Protestant "either/or" one.

Highly publicized scandals notwithstanding, Christianity is still flourishing worldwide.

The New York Times' sick love affair with Roman Polanski

Some old folks will recall that Polanski, who commonly assaulted women cinematically, ("Repulsion," "Rosemary's Baby," "Chinatown"), was convicted of drugging a 13-year-old girl with pills and champagne and then raping her in his hot tub.

Toasted by his sensitive filmdom friends with "13-year-old champagne," Polanski fled the United States and lolled about in Europe where his pedophile lusts were considered so very creative.

Strange that Catholic pedopriests don't receive the same laudatory media treatment as artsy filmdom child molesters.

2003 Orange Bowl Final: USC 38 Iowa 17

Why does ESPN continue to employ Lee Corso (who erroneously proclaimed Iowa would upset USC)? Just wondering.

What the hell is the purpose of agnosticism? Do adherents of this "maybe there is, maybe there isn't" belief really think they are covering their bases? C'mon now.

One final comment on atheism: those of you in the United States who adhere to this shrill screed of ignorance and limited thinking (one does not play God by directly aiding in the healing of someone who is ill or injured) ought to be damn glad that the founding fathers of this country believed in the existence of a divine creator (read the Declaration of Independence). If they had believed that the inalienable rights of humans were but a social construct rather than a product of moral precepts written upon the hearts of all men by nature's God, you would more than likely be living right now under the authoritative regimes of the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany; assumming, of course, you haven't already been aborted for not having the genetic charateristics of an ideal Arian or Soviet. Then again, maybe this is what you atheists want.

Utah's ban on "wrongful life" lawsuits is upheld by Utah state supreme court.

The court ruled in an appeal brought by the parents of a 4-year-old Salt Lake City girl born with Down syndrome. Marie Wood and Terry Borman sued the University of Utah Medical Center in 1999 after their daughter was born, claiming they were given incorrect readings from prenatal tests and were led to believe the girl would not have chromosomal disorders.

Third District Judge Homer Wilkinson threw out the lawsuit, and the justices affirmed his decision Tuesday.

Underlying this case is the parents' assertion that their right to possibly (more like, probably) abort their "imperfect" daughter was violated. Perfect candidates for the maniacal Raelians if you ask me.

BTW, Happy New Year!

It might be little late to mention it now, since everyone probably already knows, but it is worth emphasizing the fact that the Raelians are atheists.

Another comment on atheism: It is, by far, the most violent and deadly "religion" ever to have existed in this world.

"If there is no God, everything is permissible." -- Fyodor Dostoevsky

A link for our atheist friends to ponder and meditate upon. Also bear in mind that in the Christian tradition, God has given man a sovereign free will (thus, the Christian belief that God made man in His own image). As such, if God made Himself totally visible to us so that we would have no choice but to believe in His existence, He would effectively be suppressing that which he desires us to have: a free will.

Over the weekend, I saw this movie on DVD called High Fidelity starring John Cusack. Aside from the stream of foul language and the underlying glorification of pre-marital sex, I thought it was a pretty clever movie. Especially amusing is how John Cusack's character, who presumably is over 30, goes through the effort of tracking down girls he knew in junior high school and high school to find out why they broke up with him (they are part of his personal top 5 breakups). I found this funny only because I've often thought about doing something like this myself.

It would appear as though at least one Bible translation does not contradict the Darwinist notion that man was made from slime. According to Genesis 2:7 in the Douay Rheims Bible: "And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Of course, how man was made from the "slime" remains a point of dispute between Darwinists and so-called "Creationists".

Kwanzaa is to African culture what The Great Leap Forward was to Chinese culture: a disastrous byproduct of socialist ideals.

The Raelian's and their demented desire to play God with humanity

The group's founder says he met little green space aliens on a visit to a French volcano in the 1970s. That man -- a former French journalist named Claude Vorilhon, who now calls himself Rael -- says the extraterrestrials told him they created life on earth through genetic engineering.

Whenever I'm bored, I like to do random Google searches on people I once knew at my Southern California high school. It's kind of fun to see some of the results I get. Here's the homepage of Mark Torrance who, as you will see, was easily the most brainy guy in the class (enrollment at a California public school notwithstanding). Here's a webpage made in homage to my high school by an interesting fellow by the name of Mark Yale. Finally, included in this 2000 article about a free clinic in San Francisco is a quote from a gal by the name Marlene Cambra. I'm not entirely certain if this Marlene is the same one I knew in high school (I never knew her to be fluent in Japanese, even though she is part Japanese) but it is kind of interesting to see that this clinic is in the same neighborhood where my grandparents live. I'll have to drop by there one of these days to see if she still volunteers there.

The L.A. and San Francisco Nazis (a.k.a. the L.A. and San Fran. Bar Associations) petition the California State Supreme Court to pass a rule that would effectively bar state judges from joining the Boy Scouts or any other organization that has a negative view of homosexuality.

A most blessed Christmas to one and all from my "secret" vacation spot in Northern Cal.!

In case you haven't read it already, Envoy has been doing mucho gusto blogging on what the definition of a "Catholic Traditionalist" should be. I pretty much fashion myself as a traditionalist (as defined by Peter Vere) to the extent that I accept the legitimacy of the oft controversial Novus Ordo Mass, but am quite critical of how so many bishops allow parishes to take license with how it is performed (e.g., congregants holding hands during the "Our Father" prayer, receiving communion in the hand, singing hymns to folksy guitar music, etc.) Anyway, the discussion is fascinating, and quite informative.