Humane Vitae Today

From Pope Benedict VXI and his wise words on Human Life Today:

"Freedom must join with truth, and responsibility with strength of dedication to others, also through sacrifice," he affirmed. "Without these principles the community of man does not develop and there is a risk of being trapped in oppressive selfishness."

"Benedict XVI noted that protecting human dignity is exceedingly more challenging than 30 years ago. “We cannot but recognize that, in practical terms, defending human life has become more difficult today, because a mentality has been created that progressively devalues human life and entrusts it to the judgment of individuals.”

The consequence of this thinking is a decrease in respect for the human person, “a value that lies at the foundation of any form of civil coexistence, over and above the faith a person may profess," the Pontiff said.

Contrary to the assertions of those who have promoted abortion, it “has not resolved the problems afflicting many women and no small number of families, but it has opened another wound in our societies," said the Holy Father.

The healing of society’s wounds, Benedict indicated, will come from combined efforts to ensure that "institutions once again focus their activities on defense of human life and priority concern for families. ... Families must be helped, using all legislative means to facilitate their formation and their educational work in the difficult social context of today."

"It is necessary to bear concrete witness to the fact that respect for life is the first form of justice that must be applied. For those who have the gift of faith this becomes an imperative that cannot be deferred. ... Only God is the Lord of life. Each human being is known, loved, wanted and guided by Him ... and each has his origins in God's creative plan.""

Cardinals are rolling!

After the Cardinals 5-3 victory last night over division rival Cubs, the Cardinals are 20-12 ahead of those Cubs by 1 1/2 games and are one of only two teams to have 20 wins (Arizona Diamondbacks). I'll have to say I was surprised at how well the Cards are playing right now, but I think they can keep it up because as Tony La Russa has said only Albert Pujols and Troy Glaus ( I would say Yadier Molina) have guaranteed everyday spots in the lineup. This makes every player hungry and competitive because not only are they playing to win the game each day they are playing for a spot in the lineup. As long as the pitching keeps up (which is a big if, I think), this team will be a force to be reckoned with this season...from Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post Dispatch...

"The Cardinals keep hearing that they can't do this, they can't do that. They can't be a contender, they can't win a division, they can't make the playoffs.

The Cardinals were cast as a 69-93 shell of a team that represented the Pittsburgh Pirates' best chance to finally get out of last place in the NL Central.

This was supposed to be the kind of team that Tony La Russa couldn't manage. It isn't loaded with power and superstars, and it had no ready-made identity as it departed spring training. The Cardinals were pieces of clay, ready to be molded and shaped. And since when does La Russa specialize in projects?

But all the Cardinals continue to do is keep playing ball. They grind out victories. They don't lose focus. They play smartly most of the time. They prove it all night. They keep moving forward, winning series, passing tests and checking off boxes.

Sunday night at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals spotted the Chicago Cubs a 2-0 lead, then rallied for a 5-3 win and a series triumph, taking two of three from their rivals in the teams' first encounter of the season. The victory closed a tidy 6-3 home stand against division mates.

The first-place Cardinals (20-12) joined Arizona as the only NL teams to have posted at least 20 wins. Last season, the Cardinals didn't achieve their 20th victory until May 25.

Todd Wellemeyer, who wasn't sharp, gave the Cardinals five dogged innings and allowed only two runs. The Cubs could have cracked the game open, but Wellemeyer's competitiveness pushed him through his problems with form.

The revived second baseman Adam Kennedy had two hits and drove in two runs. Albert Pujols put his team into the lead with a two-run double. Cesar Izturis had two hits and scored twice. And four Cardinals relievers combined to hold the Cubs to one run over the final four innings, with closer Jason Isringhausen throwing 93 mph heat to retire the Cubs in order in the ninth.

On Saturday, less than 24 hours after Friday night's blown save, Izzy announced that he was hitting the reset button on his season and starting over. He even got a buzz cut for a new look. And then he went out and buzzed the Cubs with an authoritative 12-pitch save against the first three hitters in the Cubs batting order.

"That tells you all you need to know about Jason Isringhausen," La Russa said. "That's why he's our closer. He's a very, very tough guy."

I know it was the first weekend in May. The Cardinals have 130 games remaining. But they had to make a statement against the Cubs. Last season the Cubs slapped them around, winning 11 of 16 games overall, and seven of nine at Busch Stadium.

The teams have reversed roles. The Cubs are the clear favorite. They've spent $500 million over the last two years in the quest to speed up the process of winning a championship. The Cardinals have, to an extent, downsized as they put more of an emphasis on developing younger, or ascendant, players.

If the scrappy, resourceful Cardinals dare to overcome the odds and contend, they'll also have to overcome the Cubs. They can't afford to get shoved around again, and it was vital to establish credibility this weekend. But between now and October, the Cardinals must do this repeatedly. This was just the first skirmish, and the Cubs have many built-in advantages.

Since the game was televised by ESPN, which largely sets the parameters of the sports culture and provides talking points for radio talk show hosts around the nation, I wonder if this ESPN cameo will lead to a reassessment of La Russa's team.

TLR doesn't seem to care.

"I keep saying it, but I just want us to be one of those teams that's really tough to play against," he said.

I don't think La Russa has to worry about that.

"We just have to keep doing what we're doing," Pujols said. "And that's keep winning series."

The one-day-at-a-time mantra isn't clever. But it's who they are. The Cardinals are their manager's team, and toughness won't be an issue."

Manliness

"In this way, anyone who abandons virtue ceases to be a man, since he cannot share in the divine nature, and instead becomes a beast." Boethius Consolation of Philosophy

Video Time

The Kobe video is pretty amazing:


And here is good ole' President Bush-if anything he makes us laugh...

Happy 81st Pope Benedict XVI!

Today Pope Benedict XVI aka Joseph Ratzinger celebrated his 81st birthday by traveling and arriving in the United States of America. Here is to a pleasant trip and that it brings a revival to the Faith in America.

"Little Mary Margaret was not the best student in Catholic School .. Usually she slept through the class.

One day her teacher, a Nun, called on her while she was sleeping. 'Tell me Mary Margaret, who created the universe?'

When Mary Margaret didn't stir, little Johnny who was her friend sitting behind her, took his pencil and jabbed her in the rear.

'God Almighty!' shouted Mary Margaret.
The Nun said, 'Very good' and continued teaching her class.

A little later the Nun asked Mary Margaret, 'Who is our Lord and Savior?'

But Mary didn't stir from her slumber. Once again, Johnny came to her rescue and stuck Mary Margaret in the butt.

'Jesus Christ!!!' shouted Mary Margaret and the Nun once again said,'Very good,' and Ma ry Margaret fell back asleep.

The Nun asked her a third question...'What did Eve say to Adam after she had her twenty-third child?'

Again, Johnny came to the rescue.
This time Mary Margaret jumped up and shouted, 'If you stick that darn thing in me one more time, I'll break it in half!'

The nun fainted."

Cardinals on a Roll!

“I just want to win,” he said. “And I love what I’m seeing from this group of guys. They can put me on base all season, and I’ll just score a lot of runs. As long as we win, it doesn’t matter.”
Pujols was in a great mood Sunday, following the Cardinals 3-0 win over Washington. On the homestand, Cardinals starting pitchers had an 0.95 ERA. The entire staff gave up 11 earned runs in 54 IP.
Offensively, 10 different Cardinals scored runs … 12 drove in runs … 13 had hits.
There were four sacrifice bunts, two sac flies, and two stolen bases. And some impressive catches-plays in the field.
Rick Ankiel was a dominant force with three homers, six RBIs, and a batting line of .348 / .400 / .826.
But the Cardinals had a varied, if not robust, attack. They even defeated three LH starting pitchers.
What had Pujols fired up was the attitude around him.
“I kept trying to tell everyone during spring training that this team was going to be a lot better than people thought,” Pujols said. “No one wanted to listen, but you can see it. It’s an unselfish team and that’s hard to put in the form of stats. But I’m seeing guys giving themselves up by moving a runner over, and doing the little things it takes to win. Just doing what’s best for the team. I’m seeing guys really support each other. I see the pitchers making that tough pitch when they need it. The energy level is unbelievable. Like I said, that’s something you can’t put in numbers. But I feel it in here, man.”
Predictions?
“It’s better if people don’t expect much from us,” Pujols said. “I like it that way. Let’s just keep playing hard all the time the way we are, and let’s keep being an unselfish team, and we’ll surprise people.”
The Cardinals were an unhappy bunch in 2007. Miserable, even.
I don’t know how much these early positive vibes will translate into winning, but it can’t hurt.
“There’s a lot of great guys in here and they’re hungry to win,” Pujols said. “It makes it fun.”

"These are the typical games we're going to have," Isringhausen said. "Five, six runs a game. Albert's not going to get anything to hit. If our starters keep going deep into the game, our bullpen will be good. I expected this out of our defense. You cannot replace the guys who aren't here anymore. But you move on. Troy has got to make all the routine plays. Ank is proving it to everybody."Or, as Ankiel put it, more succinctly than blandly:"That's what translates into a winning ballclub."

2008 Baseball Season!

Who would have thought the Cardinals would be 5-1 and on top of the NL Central Division. Now I know there is still 156 games left, but who knows. I mean Albert Pujols is batting .353 with 1 RBI and 0 HR, Rick Ankiel is tearing it up and the starting pitching has been downright UNBELIEVABLE (overall staff ERA of 2.20-starting pitching is like 1.2o-ridiculous! Let's hope they can keep this up!

		G		AB		R		H		2B		3B		HR		RBI		BB		K		SB		CS		AVG		OBP		SLG		OPS
Rick Ankiel		5		19		4		6		1		0		2		4		2		5		0		0		.316		.381		.684		1.065
Troy Glaus		5		18		0		3		1		0		0		2		2		5		0		0		.167		.238		.222		.460
Yadier Molina		4		15		3		5		0		0		1		4		1		1		0		0		.333		.375		.533		.908
Albert Pujols		5		15		2		6		2		0		0		1		6		1		0		0		.400		.571		.533		1.105
Ryan Ludwick		4		15		3		4		2		1		0		3		2		4		1		0		.267		.353		.533		.886
César Izturis		5		13		2		3		1		0		0		1		5		1		1		1		.231		.474		.308		.781
Skip Schumaker		5		13		2		0		0		0		0		0		4		1		0		0		.000		.235		.000		.235
Adam Kennedy		3		10		3		4		0		0		0		1		1		0		0		0		.400		.455		.400		.855
Brian Barton		4		9		1		4		1		1		0		0		0		1		0		0		.444		.444		.778		1.222
Aaron Miles		2		9		1		3		0		0		0		1		0		0		0		0		.333		.333		.333		.667
Brad Thompson		1		3		0		1		0		0		0		1		0		2		0		0		.333		.333		.333		.667
Rico Washington		3		3		1		1		1		0		0		1		0		1		0		0		.333		.333		.667		1.000
Chris Duncan		2		3		0		1		0		0		0		0		2		0		0		1		.333		.600		.333		.933

Player		G		GS		W		L		SV		CG		SHO		IP		H		R		ER		HR		BB		K		ERA		WHIP		BAA
Brad Thompson		1		1		1		0		0		0		0		6.2		7		0		0		0		2		6		0.00		1.35		.292
Randy Flores		2		0		0		0		1		0		0		1.1		0		0		0		0		1		2		0.00		0.75		.000
Kyle Lohse		1		1		0		0		0		0		0		5.0		3		0		0		0		3		3		0.00		1.20		.167
Jason Isringhausen		3		0		0		0		2		0		0		3.0		2		0		0		0		2		4		0.00		1.33		.182
Ron Villone		3		0		0		0		0		0		0		0.2		0		0		0		0		1		1		0.00		1.50		.000
Braden Looper		1		1		1		0		0		0		0		6.0		5		1		1		0		2		3		1.50		1.17		.208
Todd Wellemeyer		1		1		1		0		0		0		0		5.0		4		1		1		1		3		6		1.80		1.40		.222
Kyle McClellan		3		0		0		0		0		0		0		4.0		3		1		1		0		1		4		2.25		1.00		.200
Adam Wainwright		1		1		1		0		0		0		0		8.0		8		2		2		1		1		4		2.25		1.13		.258
Ryan Franklin		3		0		0		1		0		0		0		1.2		4		3		1		0		1		0		5.40		3.00		.400
Anthony Reyes		2		0		0		0		0		0		0		1.2		2		2		2		1		0		3		10.80		1.20		.286
Russ Springer		3		0		0		0		0		0		0		2.0		5		3		3		1		1		3		13.50		3.00		.455

Let's keep it rolling boys!


Final Four: Memphis over UCLA, Kansas over UNC-so much for my UNC vs. UCLA, UCLA Winning it. So, I guess I will be rooting for the Jayhawks Monday night-the Jayhawk is a pretty cool mascot.