Adult Stem Cell UPDATE: Burns Treated, Leukemia Patient Healed

We have not been following the amazing adult stem-cell progess as much as we should lately. Here are two MORE amazing stories:

From KSL in Salt Lake City:

Stem cell spray heals burns

A spray solution of a patient's own stem cells is healing their severe burns. So far, early experiments under a University of Utah pilot project are showing some remarkable results.
What was once a serious burn on Kaye Adkins foot is healing nicely now because of a topical spray. With diabetes as a complication, the small but open wound had not healed after weeks of failed treatments.

Dr. Amalia Cochran with the university's Burn Care Center says, "With a wound that is open for several months, as this patient suffered prior to seeing us in our burn clinic, we worry about a pretty heavy bacterial load there."

But enter the evolutionary world of regenerative medicine, using almost a bedside stem cell technique that takes only about 15 minutes."

_____________________________________________________

And from LifeSiteNews:

Amazing first: leukemia patient completely cured with cord blood stem cells

"BERLIN, November 26, 2010 - Doctors associated with the German umbilical cord blood bank Vita 34 say that they have cured a child’s leukemia completely using an infusion of stem cells from umbilical cord blood.

The procedure was reportedly performed in 2005 on a four-year-old girl whose chemotherapy treatment had failed and who had a prognosis of only three months to live. The procedure was possible because the parents had decided to preserve their child’s umbilical cord blood at the time of birth.

After continuous monitoring of the child for five years now, with no sign of leukemia cells in her blood, doctors say that they have confirmed that the treatment worked."

As our friend Don Margolis often says, adult stem-cells are the greatest medicine in the history of man. It's tragic that our current President, for ideological reasons, chooses to spend his efforts on immoral and pointless Embryonic Stem Cell Research.

For a rundown of our posts on this subject, click here. And you can always visit our friend Don Margolis, whom we have called "The Best Stem Cell Blog" for more. Don follows all the latest adult stem-cell news, and has made it his life's work. God bless him!

Common Sense and Airline Security, Part II

We don't like profiling because it exposes innocent people to indignity. The TSA's "non-discriminatory" solution is to expose everyone to indignity.

Kevin O'Brien writes in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Emphasis added.

"The truth is, the other side keeps proving that even though they're incompetent at bomb-making, they're good at beating our defense. It's time we let our offense on the field.

That means profiling. Oh, that dirty, dirty word. That means using what we know about our enemies against them.

We know who they are: They're Muslims fighting a religious war. They're from identifiable hot spots of Islamic militant activity -- Middle Eastern and African countries, and radicalized enclaves in Europe.

Anyone getting on a U.S. commercial carrier who fits the description ought to be carefully watched and ought to have to answer some probing questions on their way to a scanning and/or a pat-down. Every item of luggage associated with that person should be painstakingly checked, too.

Yes, the Muslim grievance lobby will scream. So what?

That will be a lot less screaming than we hear now, as law-abiding people who we know very well pose no threat are given their pick of needless, pointless humiliations.

The forces of political correctness will advance the argument that once we start profiling, the terrorists will recruit people who buck the profile.

Fine. That's called making the other side work harder. And when they go prospecting for blond, blue-eyed, non-Muslims willing to fry their nether regions, they instantly make their command structure easier to infiltrate."

The argument is sometimes made that Islamic profiling will alienate the majority of good Muslims whose support is needed in infiltrating terrorist organizations. But it is certainly thinkable that being inconvienced could make them more willing to take a stand against the terrorists as the ultimate cause of their being inconvienenced and subjected to indignity. And after all, a normal Muslim is just as opposed to being blown up as anybody else.

Good Bishop Soto to lead CCHD

Let's pray for him. Bishop Soto is a great champion of the unborn (leading a vigil and procession to a Sacramento abortion business). He's also a great defender of natural marriage and strong teacher of the (he articulated the Church's teaching on marriage, sexuality and the sinfulness of "homosexual" acts at the 2008 National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries conference, to a hostile response).

We hope he can ensure that all the grant monies distributed by the CCHD go to organizations that share his stand. The problem is, of, course, that that may require denying monies to groups that do good work in other areas.

We'll pray for the Bishop, and hope the necessary changes are made at the CCHD. For our past posts on the CCHD, go here.

LAND OF THE FREE?

This is the most interesting thing I've read in a long time. The sad thing about it, you can see it coming.

I have always heard about this democracy countdown..
It is interesting to see it in print.
God help us, not that we deserve it.
How Long Do We Have?

About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

'A democracy is always temporary in nature;
it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.'

'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.'

' From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates
who promise the most benefits from the public treasury,
with the result that every democracy will finally collapse
due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.'

'The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years'

'During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. from bondage to spiritual faith;

2. from spiritual faith to great courage;

3. from courage to liberty;

4. from liberty to abundance;

5. from abundance to complacency;

6. from complacency to apathy;

7. from apathy to dependence;

8. from dependence back into bondage'

WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE, ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE

Drag Queens and Porn Stars and Gay Politicians

Just another Most Holy Redeemer Fundraiser

On October 16, 2010 San Francisco’s Most Holy Redeemer hosted a fundraiser for the Castro Country Club. Guests include a number of same-sex attracted San Francisco politicians. The politicians were Scott Weiner, Rafael Mandelman, and Rebecca Prozan, all homosexualist, and all of whom were running for San Francisco Supervisor for district 8. Prozan is “married” to another woman.

The homosexualist newspaper the San Francisco Bay Times reported: “The Castro Country Club filled a room at Holy Redeemer Church on Oct. 16 for their Harvest Festival Banquet with more than 150 people for a benefit for the club.”

The Castro Country Club, an organization that fights alcoholism, was, interestingly enough, founded by a Catholic Priest, Fr. Joseph Healy. On November 11, 2007, the webpage of Most Holy Redeemer announced: "Congratulations and Welcome, Fr. Joe! The MHR family welcomes Fr. Joseph Healy, a 'son of the parish' who has been assigned to Most Holy Redeemer as Parochial Vicar. We wish you many happy and successful years here at MHR." Why “son of the parish”? In his book on Most Holy Redeemer, “Gays and Grays: the story of the Gay Community at Most Holy Redeemer” Fr. Donal Godfrey SJ, explains: "The Castro Country Club was founded by an openly gay parishioner at MHR, Joseph Healy; Healy has since become a priest in the diocese of San Francisco." Fr. Healy passed away in 2009—may he rest in peace.

The SF Bay Times story continued: “The three-layer chocolate mousse truffle torte with wild berry compote was delicious and briefly distracted diners from staring at honored guest Michael Brandon, who is a champion charity fundraiser and provocative erotic film star and stage performer.” That is a roundabout way of saying that an ostensibly Catholic Church hosted a homosexualist porn star. Brandon’s website describes him as a “producer, director, and porn star award winner” and the site contains an obscenity disclaimer and requests persons under 18 years of age not to enter the site.

Brandon was not the only questionable character in attendance. Quite in keeping with Most Holy Redeemer practices, the event was emceed by a well known San Francisco drag queen who goes by the name “Ivy Drip”, also known for headlining “Adults Only” events.

Apparently the organizers were a little concerned about allowing a “Catholic” church to host their event, but the SF Bay Times reported: “Controversy was averted when it was made clear that no room rent was paid for the space.” There was no mention of fear of controversy or scandal on the Most Holy Redeemer end.

Nicely said!

by Jeff Miller over at the "Curt Jester."

"One thing I have come to love about the Church is that it is never just arbitrary, that her moral theology is not only understandable – but that it’s principles can be applied consistently. The Church condemns IVF because it removes the unitive aspect of sex from procreation in the marital act. The Church condemns contraception because it removes the procreative aspect from the marital act. Since the Church understands marriage it is able to see the two-fold nature of the marital act and to apply that understanding in her moral theology. It is only the Church that is consistent and everybody else inconsistent."

Same-Sex Attractions, by Fr. Paul Scalia

The Catholic Education Resource Center is running an interesting four-part series on same sex attraction. Part two went online today. Here's an excerpt about sexual "orientation":

"Although our culture speaks about various "orientations," there is really only one: heterosexual. This is simply another way of expressing the truth that human sexuality is ordered and designed for a purpose. It is oriented toward heterosexual union for procreation and marital bonding. Anything apart from that is a dis-orientation – meaning it is not oriented to the proper purposes of sexuality.

Further, once we lose sight of the one orientation of human sexuality, we simply create confusion. We do not end up with two orientations but sexual chaos. And so now we have a seemingly endless proliferation of "orientations": gay, straight, bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, transgendered, transsexual, queer, questioning, etc."

I had been thinking along those lines myself, and it reminded me of that phrase, I believe by Chesterton, "When people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing -- they believe in anything." When one refuses to accept the reality, which is the limitation of, a thing (in this case sex) it can then be seen as anything else, limited only by one's imagination, because one no longer accepts that it simply is what it is.

An example of this is given in a radio interview given by the homoactivist priest Fr. Donal Godfrey, at World Youth Day, 2008:

"In our Christian faith, when you think about it, it's about the incarnation. It's about Jesus becoming human. It's also about being sexual. Not in the sense of having, of sex with a capital "s" but sex with a small "s." All our relationships, even for people who are celibate are sexual in some sense because it it is sexuality that draws us out of ourselves."

Until recently Fr. Godfrey was the Executive Director of University Ministry at the (Jesuit) University of San Francisco.

You can listen here. The segment above is heard in the first minute.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Statement on Pontiff's Words Regarding Condoms

"The Pope Does Not Reform or Change the Church's Teaching"

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 21, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is a statement released today by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, regarding the words of Benedict XVI regarding condoms as recorded in a book, "Light of the World," scheduled for release on Tuesday.

On Saturday, L'Osservatore Romano published some quotes from this book, which drew public interest and prompted Father Lombardi to release a statement of clarification. ZENIT will publish excerpts from the English translation of the book over the next couple of days.
* * *
At the end of chapter 10 of the book "Light of the World" the Pope responds to two questions about the battle against AIDS and the use of condoms, questions that reconnect with the discussion that followed some statements that the Pope made on the theme during the course of his trip to Africa in 2009.

The Pope again clearly stresses that at that time he had not intended to take a position on the problem of condoms in general, but wanted to affirm with force that the problem of AIDS cannot be solved simply by distributing condoms, because much more needs to be done: prevention, education, help, counsel, being with people both to keep them from getting sick and in the case that they do get sick.

The Pope observes that even in the non-ecclesial context an analogous awareness has developed, as is apparent in the so-called ABC theory (Abstinence -- Be Faithful -- Condom), in which the first two elements (abstinence and fidelity) are more decisive and basic in the battle against AIDS, while condoms appear in the last place as a way out, when the other two are not there. It should thus be clear that condoms are not the solution to the problem.

The Pope then broadens the perspective and insists on the fact that focusing only on condoms is equivalent to banalizing sexuality, which loses its meaning as an expression of love between persons and becomes a "drug." Fighting against banalization of sexuality is "part of the great effort to help sexuality be valued positively and have a positive effect on man in his totality."
In the light of this broad and profound vision of human sexuality and the contemporary discussion of it, the Pope reaffirms that "naturally the Church does not consider condoms as the authentic and moral solution" to the problem of AIDS.

In this the Pope does not reform or change the Church's teaching, but reaffirms it, placing it in the perspective of the value and dignity of human sexuality as an expression of responsible love.
At the same time the Pope considers an exceptional circumstance in which the exercise of sexuality represents a real threat for the life of another. In that case, the Pope does not morally justify the disordered exercise of sexuality but maintains that the use of a condom to reduce the danger of infection may be "a first act of responsibility," "a first step on the road toward a more human sexuality," rather than not using it and exposing the other to risking his life.

In this, the reasoning of the Pope certainly cannot be defined as a revolutionary change. Numerous moral theologians and authoritative ecclesiastical figures have supported and support analogous positions; it is nevertheless true that we have not heard this with such clarity from the mouth of the Pope, even if it is in a informal and not magisterial form.

With courage Benedict XVI thus offers us an important contribution of clarification and reflection on a question that has long been debated. It is an original contribution, because on one hand it maintains fidelity to moral principles and demonstrates lucidity in refuting an illusory path like that of the "confidence is condoms"; on the other hand, however, it manifests a comprehensive and far-seeing vision, attentive to uncovering the small steps -- even if only initial and still confused -- of an often spiritually and culturally impoverished humanity, toward a more human and responsible exercise of sexuality.

Translation from Italian original by Joseph G. Trabbic

Rope-a-Dope by the Pope?

I think so...his response to the condoms question has gotten the attention of everyone worldwide.

I suspect a knockout punch is coming.

Posted by Gibbons

The Pope & Condoms: Much Ado about very little

The AP is all breathless about the Holy Father's statement that it might be justifiable for male protitutes to use condoms.

No real story. What the Church has always opposed and still opposes is contraception. Since there is no conception to to be "contra'd" when two men commit sodomy, there is no question of contraception involved.

UPDATE 11/26: Mea Culpa! My first sentence is wrong. My description of the Holy Father's statement as "that it might be justifiable for male protitutes to use condoms" is incorrect. For a much better analysis of what the Pope was saying, see what Fr. Fessio says here.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Common Sense and Airline Security

Selwyn Duke writes at the "American Thinker". Excerpts:

“… behavioral-sciences specialists long ago developed the method called 'profiling.' Unfortunately, social-engineering specialists soon after discredited the universal application of profiling with a method called propaganda. Consequently, when we want to administer targeted treatment in the effort to thwart terrorism, we're told that it's 'racial profiling' and beyond consideration. This is utter nonsense.

('Racial profiling' is) ...an emotionally charged term designed to manipulate the public. In reality, there are only two types of profiling: good profiling and bad profiling. What's the difference? Good profiling is a method by which law enforcement can accurately determine the probability that an individual has committed a crime or has criminal intent; bad profiling makes that determination less accurate. Good profiling considers all relevant factors -- age, sex, dress, behavior and, yes, race, religion and ethnicity -- without regard for political or social concerns. Bad profiling subordinates common sense, criminological science and security to political correctness.

Good profiling is also fair. That is to say, it discriminates on the correct basis: If a group -- any group -- commits an inordinate amount of a given crime, it receives greater scrutiny. Period.

If you cross the street upon seeing a bunch of rough-hewn young men walking your way, you've just engaged in profiling. You've also done so if you cut a wide swath around a leashed dog; after all, he may be a very nice pooch, but, since canines are known to sometimes bite, your action is prudent. And it doesn't mean you're hateful or bent on discriminating against rough young men and dogs but simply that you're in a situation in which the cost of obtaining more information would be too great. Consequently, as Professor Walter Williams wrote, 'We can think of profiling in general as a practice where people use an observable or known physical attribute as a proxy or estimator of some other unobservable or unknown attribute.'

He then goes on to write:

'Let's look at a few profiling examples to see which ones you'd like outlawed. ...Some racial and ethnic groups have higher incidence and mortality from various diseases than the national average. The rates of death from cardiovascular diseases are about 30 percent higher among black adults than among white adults. Cervical cancer rates are five times higher among Vietnamese women in the U.S. than among white women. Pima Indians of Arizona have the highest known diabetes rates in the world. Prostate cancer is nearly twice as common among black men as white men.

Knowing patient race or ethnicity, what might be considered as racial profiling, can assist medical providers in the delivery of more effective medical services.'

Now, should doctors be prosecuted for taking these statistics into consideration when delivering medical care? If not, why would we prosecute law enforcement for considering racial and ethnic factors (along with sex, age and other characteristics) when tackling the moral disease known as criminality?

The profile here (airplane hijackers) is very specific, as it's a rare person who will sacrifice his life to destroy an airplane. Protestants aren't doing that. Catholics aren't doing it. Nor are Buddhists, Taoists, Zoroastrians or Hare Krishna. In our age, this is a method of people who 100 percent of the time are Muslim jihadists and 99 percent of the time are non-white. And only the idiotic -- or the suicidal -- ignores such correlation."

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

The Story of Rey Flores & Why I Won't be Giving to the CCHD Second Collection

Rey Flores’ story is remarkable. In November 2009, at the height of the CCHD funding scandal, Mr. Flores, as the incoming Program Director of Chicago’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development, joined in signing an open letter taking issue with those who had challenged CCHD’s funding practices. The letter contained some forceful passages:

"Recently, CCHD has come under attack from certain groups whose motivations and objectives are rooted in partisan politics, rather than faithfulness to Catholic teaching and concern for the poor. These groups have gone so far as to call for the elimination of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, making erroneous and inflammatory statements about the program, its supporters, and the projects it funds. Despite efforts on the part of the CCHD staff to reach out to these critics and respond to their concerns, anti-CCHD rhetoric has only become more fervent and hateful, and the time has come to rally in defense of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.”

The letter also referred to “the deceitful cries of these detractors, whose partisan agendas supersede their faith.” The intensity of the letter makes Mr. Flores subsequent actions all the more striking. Unfortunately for the uncritical supporters of the CCHD, but fortunately for the Church, Mr. Flores proved to be a man of good faith and a responsible director. He actually took the documentation provided by groups such as Reform CCHD Now and the Bellarmine Veritas Ministry (not to mention CCHD’s own guidelines) seriously, and discovered that they were not “allegations” at all but provable statements of fact. Flores went further. According to LifeSiteNews, he personally investigated a group called the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP). SWOP received CCHD grants in 2008 and 2009. Among other things, the SWOP was implementing a school program called Elev8 at Marquette Elementary School. The Elev8 clinic provides sex education, distributes condoms and oral contraceptives, and refers for abortion. Access Community Health, which provides contraceptives to children without parental guidance, was chosen by SWOP to operate the clinic.

Flores acted. On November 12, 2010, LifeSiteNews reported: “When vetting SWOP, Flores called the health clinic at Marquette, posing as the father of a grade 7 student who might be pregnant. The nurse told him ‘in no uncertain terms’ that if his ‘daughter’ was pregnant, they could refer her to the nearest abortion provider. ..Otherwise they could get her ‘the pill’ if he wanted.” Armed with this information, Flores strongly opposed the continuation of any CCHD grants to SWOP. One would have thought that his diligence and proactive approach would have been applauded, but that turned out not to be the case. Over his objections, the group received a $45,000 CCHD grant for 2010. LifeSiteNews quoted Flores: “Despite strong recommendations against this funding and clear requests from the Chicago CCHD office that the national CCHD further investigate SWOP and its Elev8 activities, the national CCHD saw it fit to award the grant anyway.”

Mr. Flores is now the former director of the Chicago CCHD. Details of his firing or resignation have not been made public, but his position as director ended sometime in October. Despite this, he continues to believe in the work of the CCHD, but has also noted that "the lack of respect for the sanctity of life and the destruction of the necessary societal institutions of traditional marriage and family are the major reason for the moral, physical and spiritual poverty we suffer in the western world.”

Mr. Flores is an “on-the-ground” Catholic social activist, and he is not alone. On January 19, 2010 California Catholic Daily released a portion of an email from a former employee of the Mission Neighborhood Health Center (MNHC). The MHNC was the recipient of funding awarded at the behest of the San Francisco Organizing Project, a group that has received funding from the San Francisco CCHD, and is in partnership with the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The email said in part: “As a former employee of this agency I can affirm that they are doing referrals to Planned Parenthood. I could no longer tolerate these practices and I had to part ways with them…. What is sad is that the majority of Hispanic underserved and homeless patients are Roman Catholic and other Christian denominations opposed to abortion ….”

The author shared Flores’ moral clarity “There is absolutely no ‘good work’ which outweighs the sanctity of life. It is the holy intent of God the Father, creator and source of all life that his children with all their potential to cure the ills of this world be sent here to do his will.”

Both of these admirable and experienced men believe in the CCHD, but they also realized that there were groups funded by the CCHD whose activities were simply incompatible with the Catholic Church. When men such as these have to leave their jobs at the CCHD or at CCHD funded organizations, it's hard for me to believe that the CCHD is the best place for my donations.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney