A Star Is Born
February 16, 2009 by Patrick Madrid
Filed under Patrick's Blog
I sure hope these scientists know what they’re doing. I have no doubt that some seriously smart people are working on this project aimed at generating a mini “star” within a laboratory in California. It’s just that making something — inside a building — that burns at temperatures in excess of 100 million degrees seems kind of chancey to me.
I mean, what kind of material do you use to construct the room/chamber/device that will contain a 100-million degree object? And why can’t we build our space shuttles out of that? I’m all in favor of finding new energy sources, and if this is a good and viable option, then let’s get it going. But what if it gets out of hand?
While it has seemed an impossible goal for nearly 100 years, scientists now believe that they are on brink of cracking one of the biggest problems in physics by harnessing the power of nuclear fusion, the reaction that burns at the heart of the sun.
In the spring, a team will begin attempts to ignite a tiny man-made star inside a laboratory and trigger a thermonuclear reaction.
Its goal is to generate temperatures of more than 100 million degrees Celsius and pressures billions of times higher than those found anywhere else on earth, from a speck of fuel little bigger than a pinhead. If successful, the experiment will mark the first step towards building a practical nuclear fusion power station and a source of almost limitless energy.
At a time when fossil fuel supplies are dwindling and fears about global warming are forcing governments to seek clean energy sources, fusion could provide the answer. Hydrogen, the fuel needed for fusion reactions, is among the most abundant in the universe. Building work on the £1.2 billion nuclear fusion experiment is due to be completed in spring.
Scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Livermore, nestled among the wine-producing vineyards of central California, will use a laser that concentrates 1,000 times the electric generating power of the United States into a billionth of a second.
The result should be an explosion in the 32ft-wide reaction chamber which will produce at least 10 times the amount of energy used to create it. “We are creating the conditions that exist inside the sun,” said Ed Moses, director of the facility. “It is like tapping into the real solar energy as fusion is the source of all energy in the world. It is really exciting physics, but beyond that there are huge social, economic and global problems that it can help to solve.”
Inside a structure covering an area the size of three football pitches, a single infrared laser will be sent through almost a mile of lenses, mirrors and amplifiers to create a beam more than 10 billion times more powerful than a household light bulb.
Housed within a hanger-sized room that has to be pumped clear of dust to prevent impurities getting into the beam, the laser will then be split into 192 separate beams, converted into ultraviolet light and focused into a capsule at the centre of an aluminium and concrete-coated target chamber.
When the laser beams hit the inside of the capsule, they should generate high-energy X-rays that, within a few billionths of a second, compress the fuel pellet inside until its outer shell blows off.
This explosion of the fuel pellet shell produces an equal and opposite reaction that compresses the fuel itself together until nuclear fusion begins, releasing vast amounts of energy.
Scientists have been attempting to harness nuclear fusion since Albert Einstein’s equation E=mc², which he derived in 1905, raised the possibility that fusing atoms together could release tremendous amounts of energy.
Under Einstein’s theory, the amount of energy locked up in one gram of matter is enough to power 28,500 100-watt lightbulbs for a year.
Until now, such fusion has only been possible inside nuclear weapons and highly unstable plasmas created in incredibly strong magnetic fields. The work at Livermore could change all this.
The sense of excitement at the facility is clear. In the city itself, people on the street are speaking about the experiment and what it could bring them. Until now Livermore has had only the dubious honour of being home of the US government’s nuclear weapons research laboratories which are on the same site as the NIF.
Inside the facility, the scientists are impatient. After 11 years of development work, they want the last of the lenses and mirrors for the laser to be put in place and the tedious task of adjusting and aiming the laser to be over, a process they fear could take up to a year before they can successfully achieve fusion.
Jeff Wisoff, a former astronaut who is deputy principal associate director of science at the NIF, said: “Everyone is keen to get started, but we have to get the targeting right, otherwise it won’t work. “We will be firing laser pulses that last just a few billionths of a second but we will be creating conditions that are found in the interior of stars or exploding nuclear weapons. (read article)
"You Never Think It’s Going to Happen to You"
February 13, 2009 by Patrick Madrid
Filed under Patrick's Blog
I cannot imagine how devastating it would be for any family to lose a loved one in a plane crash, the way the Eckert Family lost Beverly in last night’s crash of Continental Express’s flight 3407 in Buffalo. Even less, though, can I imagine how traumatizing it must be for them given that on 9/11 Beverly’s husband, Sean, perished on the 105th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center when it collapsed after the second hijacked plane struck.
According to one news report, Beverly was “traveling to Buffalo for a weekend celebration of what would have been her husband’s 58th birthday. She also had planned to take part in presentation of a scholarship award at Canisius High School that she established in honor of her late husband.”
One woman, a family member of another passenger on Flight 3407, said: “You never think this is going to happen to you . . . It always happens to somebody else, and you see it on TV.”
So true. Which is why this is a good time for us all to ponder the words of James 4:13-15:
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain’; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.'”
The families and friends of those killed in last night’s crash are reeling with grief right now. Let’s pray today for the repose of the souls of those who died and that the grace of the Lord’s consolation would strengthen and comfort those who are grieving.
"You Never Think It's Going to Happen to You"
February 13, 2009 by Patrick Madrid
Filed under Patrick's Blog
I cannot imagine how devastating it would be for any family to lose a loved one in a plane crash, the way the Eckert Family lost Beverly in last night’s crash of Continental Express’s flight 3407 in Buffalo. Even less, though, can I imagine how traumatizing it must be for them given that on 9/11 Beverly’s husband, Sean, perished on the 105th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center when it collapsed after the second hijacked plane struck.
According to one news report, Beverly was “traveling to Buffalo for a weekend celebration of what would have been her husband’s 58th birthday. She also had planned to take part in presentation of a scholarship award at Canisius High School that she established in honor of her late husband.”
One woman, a family member of another passenger on Flight 3407, said: “You never think this is going to happen to you . . . It always happens to somebody else, and you see it on TV.”
So true. Which is why this is a good time for us all to ponder the words of James 4:13-15:
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain’; whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.'”
The families and friends of those killed in last night’s crash are reeling with grief right now. Let’s pray today for the repose of the souls of those who died and that the grace of the Lord’s consolation would strengthen and comfort those who are grieving.
From Fr. Z: Rabbi Warns that the Left-Wing Is Destroying the Church
February 12, 2009 by Patrick Madrid
Filed under Patrick's Blog
Read and share this very interesting commentary from an unexpected source regarding a major struggle the Catholic Church is locked in right now.
Against All Odds
February 12, 2009 by Patrick Madrid
Filed under Patrick's Blog
Here’s a truly heartwarming video about a young man with autism who accomplished something quite astonishing.
Against All Odds
February 12, 2009 by Patrick Madrid
Filed under Patrick's Blog
Here’s a truly heartwarming video about a young man with autism who accomplished something quite astonishing.
Couragous Priest Denounces "Moloch" Rising in the U.S.
February 11, 2009 by Patrick Madrid
Filed under Patrick's Blog
Thank God there are still prophets among us who are willing to stand up and speak the truth, regardless of the repercussions. Father Richard Perozich, a San Diego-area priest, demonstrated great courage with his recent message to his parishioners, “100 Days or End of Days,” which was printed in the bulletin on February 1, 2009.
I’m confident that this clarion call to holiness and to abandon the evils of our day will be greeted enthusiastically by some, probably a minority, ignored by most, and attacked with furious hostility by others — you know, the ones who see themselves as participating in those actions and structures that the priest so forthrightly denounces as evil. Which category do you fall into?
Here is a lengthy snippet from Father Perozich’s statement. It’s well worth sharing, far and wide:
The “governator” Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in a 1999 movie called “End of Days” where the devil was to come to take over the world. In the story line the devil must mate with and be born of a certain mortal if he is to escape hell and begin his reign of dominance over human hearts and freedom, to oppress people with death, pride, avarice, greed, sloth, ire, gluttony and lust. Arnold plays a man wounded spiritually and emotionally who ultimately opposes the devil who is defeated and reconsigned to hell for another 1,000 years. In real life, however, his legislation works for Satan.
The first 100 days of a new presidency is the time when legislation desired by the new leader is rammed through the congress without much discussion and over the objections of the minority party. It often is not good legislation, has been brewing in the hearts of special interest groups for years, who now have a vehicle to impose their will on the American people.
If the special interest groups have their way, the first 100 days will spell the end of days for the American nation as we have known it since 1776. Abominations will be forced on us by the new government, such as which our founders never had intended, and certainly opposed to the Christian life: abortion on demand, homogenital sex, lust in all its forms, euthanasia, stem cell killling, cloning, taxes, oppression of opportunity and entrepreneurs, silencing of faith and free speech among many.
In the Old Testament, God’s chosen people abandoned Him and sacrificed their own innocent children to a demon god called Moloch in hopes of a good harvest to feed themselves. The cult of Moloch lives on today, but just not under the god’s formal name, but in the name of abortion, or rightly put, murder of children in the womb to promote false promises, ruined lives, and degraded humanity.
Abortion is our god and Obama, Pelosi, Kennedy are his prophets. His sacrifice is the life of infants and the souls of mothers. His priests are doctors who perform abortions. His church is Planned Parenthood and FOCA, (freedom of choice act). His covenant promises rights and freedom for women. It delivers death of infants, [and] permanent damage to the souls of women, of men, of politicians.
Homosexual lust is our god and Obama, Bishop Gene Robinson, and the Democratic Party are his prophets. The sacrifice is personal integrity and corruption of the body and spirit. Its priests and priestesses are men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with women (WSW). Its church is the Human Rights Campaign and other activist organizations, Pride clubs and “gay” and “lesbian” centers. Its covenant offers false promises of equality with those who have normal sexual feelings and inner peace. It delivers disease, prolonged adolescent immaturity, and oppression of the church and good people who live upright moral lives.
Money is our god, and the the wealthy and welfare are its prophets. Its sacrifice is hard earned savings and retirement. Its priests are those taking obscene profits by defrauding investors, and those who choose government money over honest work. Its church is a non vigilant Securities and Exchange Commission and congress. Its covenant promises self reliance and security in wealth or sustenance. It delivers collapse of the economy, unfair distribution of wealth, and a drain on the tax system.
Socialism is our god, and Obama is his prophet. Its sacrifice is personal freedom. Its priests are politicians and communist ideological organizations. Its church are legislatures and executive branches in government. Its covenant promises fairness and sameness for all. It delivers power and wealth those who already possess it and takes away opportunity for those out of power and destroys of the economy and future for others.
Liberalism is our god and the Democratic Party is his prophet. Its sacrifice is freedom, integrity, opportunity, and wholeness. Its priests are the fascist elites in government, education, and bureaucracies, who wish to control others’ thoughts and actions. Its churches are political parties, universities, and corrupt professional organizations. Its covenant promises unbridled freedom for perversion of the natural law and oppression for all who disagree with it. It delivers the breakdown of society, constitutional government, and true freedom for morally minded people, especially faithful Christians.
For us Christians, these are abominations, and the people who promote them are truly overcome by evil. 2 Peter 2:19-20 “They promise them freedom, though they themselves are slaves of corruption, for a person is a slave of whatever overcomes him. For if they, having escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of (our) Lord and savior Jesus Christ, again become entangled and overcome by them, their last condition is worse than their first.”
This may not be the change you wanted when you voted for new government, but it is the change you voted for if you did not clearly listen to the evil promises of the new prophets and priests of the new “churches” and ignored the warnings about the new evils that this government clearly promised to impose on America. . . .
(HT to California Catholic Daily)
Couragous Priest Denounces "Moloch" Rising in the U.S.
February 11, 2009 by Patrick Madrid
Filed under Patrick's Blog
Thank God there are still prophets among us who are willing to stand up and speak the truth, regardless of the repercussions. Father Richard Perozich, a San Diego-area priest, demonstrated great courage with his recent message to his parishioners, “100 Days or End of Days,” which was printed in the bulletin on February 1, 2009.
I’m confident that this clarion call to holiness and to abandon the evils of our day will be greeted enthusiastically by some, probably a minority, ignored by most, and attacked with furious hostility by others — you know, the ones who see themselves as participating in those actions and structures that the priest so forthrightly denounces as evil. Which category do you fall into?
Here is a lengthy snippet from Father Perozich’s statement. It’s well worth sharing, far and wide:
The “governator” Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in a 1999 movie called “End of Days” where the devil was to come to take over the world. In the story line the devil must mate with and be born of a certain mortal if he is to escape hell and begin his reign of dominance over human hearts and freedom, to oppress people with death, pride, avarice, greed, sloth, ire, gluttony and lust. Arnold plays a man wounded spiritually and emotionally who ultimately opposes the devil who is defeated and reconsigned to hell for another 1,000 years. In real life, however, his legislation works for Satan.
The first 100 days of a new presidency is the time when legislation desired by the new leader is rammed through the congress without much discussion and over the objections of the minority party. It often is not good legislation, has been brewing in the hearts of special interest groups for years, who now have a vehicle to impose their will on the American people.
If the special interest groups have their way, the first 100 days will spell the end of days for the American nation as we have known it since 1776. Abominations will be forced on us by the new government, such as which our founders never had intended, and certainly opposed to the Christian life: abortion on demand, homogenital sex, lust in all its forms, euthanasia, stem cell killling, cloning, taxes, oppression of opportunity and entrepreneurs, silencing of faith and free speech among many.
In the Old Testament, God’s chosen people abandoned Him and sacrificed their own innocent children to a demon god called Moloch in hopes of a good harvest to feed themselves. The cult of Moloch lives on today, but just not under the god’s formal name, but in the name of abortion, or rightly put, murder of children in the womb to promote false promises, ruined lives, and degraded humanity.
Abortion is our god and Obama, Pelosi, Kennedy are his prophets. His sacrifice is the life of infants and the souls of mothers. His priests are doctors who perform abortions. His church is Planned Parenthood and FOCA, (freedom of choice act). His covenant promises rights and freedom for women. It delivers death of infants, [and] permanent damage to the souls of women, of men, of politicians.
Homosexual lust is our god and Obama, Bishop Gene Robinson, and the Democratic Party are his prophets. The sacrifice is personal integrity and corruption of the body and spirit. Its priests and priestesses are men who have sex with men (MSM) and women who have sex with women (WSW). Its church is the Human Rights Campaign and other activist organizations, Pride clubs and “gay” and “lesbian” centers. Its covenant offers false promises of equality with those who have normal sexual feelings and inner peace. It delivers disease, prolonged adolescent immaturity, and oppression of the church and good people who live upright moral lives.
Money is our god, and the the wealthy and welfare are its prophets. Its sacrifice is hard earned savings and retirement. Its priests are those taking obscene profits by defrauding investors, and those who choose government money over honest work. Its church is a non vigilant Securities and Exchange Commission and congress. Its covenant promises self reliance and security in wealth or sustenance. It delivers collapse of the economy, unfair distribution of wealth, and a drain on the tax system.<
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Socialism is our god, and Obama is his prophet. Its sacrifice is personal freedom. Its priests are politicians and communist ideological organizations. Its church are legislatures and executive branches in government. Its covenant promises fairness and sameness for all. It delivers power and wealth those who already possess it and takes away opportunity for those out of power and destroys of the economy and future for others.
Liberalism is our god and the Democratic Party is his prophet. Its sacrifice is freedom, integrity, opportunity, and wholeness. Its priests are the fascist elites in government, education, and bureaucracies, who wish to control others’ thoughts and actions. Its churches are political parties, universities, and corrupt professional organizations. Its covenant promises unbridled freedom for perversion of the natural law and oppression for all who disagree with it. It delivers the breakdown of society, constitutional government, and true freedom for morally minded people, especially faithful Christians.
For us Christians, these are abominations, and the people who promote them are truly overcome by evil. 2 Peter 2:19-20 “They promise them freedom, though they themselves are slaves of corruption, for a person is a slave of whatever overcomes him. For if they, having escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of (our) Lord and savior Jesus Christ, again become entangled and overcome by them, their last condition is worse than their first.”
This may not be the change you wanted when you voted for new government, but it is the change you voted for if you did not clearly listen to the evil promises of the new prophets and priests of the new “churches” and ignored the warnings about the new evils that this government clearly promised to impose on America. . . .
(HT to California Catholic Daily)
Hans Küng Lobs (another) Stupid-Grenade at the Pope
February 10, 2009 by Patrick Madrid
Filed under Patrick's Blog
In my recent commentary about the crisis in the Legion of Christ (This Is No Time for Happy-Face Stickers), I said:
“Watch and see. You’ll soon notice certain people trying to use this scandal to malign Pope John Paul II (a long-time supporter of Fr. Maciel and the Legion), in a way similar to how some are right now attempting to exploit the recent SSPX Bishop Williamson Holocaust-debacle against Pope Benedict XVI.”
Here is an example of what I meant about how certain people make use of seemingly disparate issues to advance their agendas.
Fr. Hans Küng has oh-so-helpfully lobbed his very own “stupid-grenade” into the volatile controversy (which is really a non-controversy) surrounding SSPX Bishop Williamson’s inane remarks about the Holocaust.
Who better at this moment to challenge Pope Benedict’s recent un-excommunication of four right-wing prelates than another 81-year-old?
The recent papal edict re-enfolding Bishop Richard Williamson, a British holocaust denier and misogynist, has offended Jews, set interfaith relations back fifty years, repudiated Vatican II’s own views, and left the 40 or so women recently excommunicated because of their illicit ordinations breathless with indignation.
It has also has provoked a sharp response in a German newspaper, one that is being quickly sent around the world on the internet. Its writer is the eminent professor of ecumenical theology at Tubingen University, where he continues to teach eager classes, although he’s not permitted by Rome to teach as an official Catholic theologian.
It is just one of the paradoxes in the story of modern Catholic thought, and in the personal life of Rev. Hans Kung. He is, and has been since 1954, a Catholic priest. When he travels, he stays in the various rectories of Catholic parishes, hearing the confessions of the faithful, as he told us in Toronto in 2002, “as much as I am able.”
With his easy charm, impressive intellect, and clipped accent, Hans Kung, ever a sharp thorn in the Vatican, strides once more onto the ecclesial stage. The world-known Swiss Roman Catholic priest and theologian, who served as a peritus or expert at the Council (1962-65), he shared this responsibility with his German colleague, Josef Ratzinger, then a progressive thinker. How their paths would diverge.
To get right to the point, Kung in his article on February 3, wished Barack Obama were Pope. “The mood in the church is oppressive, reforms are paralyzed, and the church in crisis,” he says. “Benedict is unteachable in matters of birth control and abortion, arrogant and without transparency and restrictive of freedom and human rights.”
For Kung, Benedict should act as Obama has done, declaring a crisis, identifying the problems, proclaiming a vision of hope, revitalizing ecumenism, gathering competent colleagues of either gender, and using the power of his executive office to issue decrees (unhindered by such institutions as a democratically-elected Congress or a Supreme Court.)
But no, “the Pope is reorienting himself backward, inspired by the ideal of the medieval church, looking toward the Council of 1870, not the one of 1965.” (read article)
Hans Küng Lobs (another) Stupid-Grenade at the Pope
February 10, 2009 by Patrick Madrid
Filed under Patrick's Blog
In my recent commentary about the crisis in the Legion of Christ (This Is No Time for Happy-Face Stickers), I said:
“Watch and see. You’ll soon notice certain people trying to use this scandal to malign Pope John Paul II (a long-time supporter of Fr. Maciel and the Legion), in a way similar to how some are right now attempting to exploit the recent SSPX Bishop Williamson Holocaust-debacle against Pope Benedict XVI.”
Here is an example of what I meant about how certain people make use of seemingly disparate issues to advance their agendas.
Fr. Hans Küng has oh-so-helpfully lobbed his very own “stupid-grenade” into the volatile controversy (which is really a non-controversy) surrounding SSPX Bishop Williamson’s inane remarks about the Holocaust.
Who better at this moment to challenge Pope Benedict’s recent un-excommunication of four right-wing prelates than another 81-year-old?
The recent papal edict re-enfolding Bishop Richard Williamson, a British holocaust denier and misogynist, has offended Jews, set interfaith relations back fifty years, repudiated Vatican II’s own views, and left the 40 or so women recently excommunicated because of their illicit ordinations breathless with indignation.
It has also has provoked a sharp response in a German newspaper, one that is being quickly sent around the world on the internet. Its writer is the eminent professor of ecumenical theology at Tubingen University, where he continues to teach eager classes, although he’s not permitted by Rome to teach as an official Catholic theologian.
It is just one of the paradoxes in the story of modern Catholic thought, and in the personal life of Rev. Hans Kung. He is, and has been since 1954, a Catholic priest. When he travels, he stays in the various rectories of Catholic parishes, hearing the confessions of the faithful, as he told us in Toronto in 2002, “as much as I am able.”
With his easy charm, impressive intellect, and clipped accent, Hans Kung, ever a sharp thorn in the Vatican, strides once more onto the ecclesial stage. The world-known Swiss Roman Catholic priest and theologian, who served as a peritus or expert at the Council (1962-65), he shared this responsibility with his German colleague, Josef Ratzinger, then a progressive thinker. How their paths would diverge.
To get right to the point, Kung in his article on February 3, wished Barack Obama were Pope. “The mood in the church is oppressive, reforms are paralyzed, and the church in crisis,” he says. “Benedict is unteachable in matters of birth control and abortion, arrogant and without transparency and restrictive of freedom and human rights.”
For Kung, Benedict should act as Obama has done, declaring a crisis, identifying the problems, proclaiming a vision of hope, revitalizing ecumenism, gathering competent colleagues of either gender, and using the power of his executive office to issue decrees (unhindered by such institutions as a democratically-elected Congress or a Supreme Court.)
But no, “the Pope is reorienting himself backward, inspired by the ideal of the medieval church, looking toward the Council of 1870, not the one of 1965.” (read article)
