New Blog Design

Fine.  So my blog has a new design with a photograph courtesy of NASA… the rather bleak landscape is Mars… yep the fourth rock from the sun that is actually smaller than the earth.  I’ve also had to change the text color of the title so that it stands out and the background color of course, but the overall layout remains the same.

I suppose at some time or another I’ll have to update our web site at: http://www.thecookcompanies.com/

That can be a little more demanding than the layout for a blog, even with a program that provides all kinds of tools to make the job easier, so lazy me will lay off that until it’s needed.  Well, to be honest, I do have other work and the web site is at the bottom of the list.

Why change the blog?  Well, Karin changed her blog and I liked what she did with it.  See for yourself: http://karinfickecook.blogspot.com/

Finally, let’s not forget Karin’s books. Click on our web site (above) for details (the tab ‘Karin’s Books’ provides additional details).

I was thinking of placing this picture on my Blog, or maybe the galaxy rather than the Black Hole.  But I settled for the bleak, but strangely colorful Mars landscape.

A Grip on Life

Some of the world’s most prominent scientists and physicians testified to a U. S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the question of when [human] life begins. Dr. Alfred M. Bongioanni, professor of pediatrics and obstetrics at the University of Pennsylvania, stated, “I have learned from my earliest medical education that human life begins at the time of conception… I submit that human life is present throughout this entire sequence, from conception to adulthood, and that any interruption at any point throughout this time constitutes a termination of human life…

I am no more prepared to say that these early stages [of development in the womb] represent an incomplete human being than I would say that the child prior to the dramatic effects of puberty…is not a human being.  This is human life at every stage.”

Dr. Jerome LeJeune, professor of genetics at the University of Descartes in Paris, was the discoverer of the chromosome pattern of Downs syndrome.  Dr. LeJeune testified, “after fertilization has taken place a new human being has come into being.” He stated that this “is no longer a matter of taste or opinion,” and “not a metaphysical contention, it is plain experimental evidence.” He added, “Each individual has a very neat beginning, at conception.”

Professor Hymie Gordon, Mayo Clinic; Professor Micheline Matthews-Roth, Harvard University Medical School; Dr. Watson A. Bowes, University of Colorado Medical School were among those testifying that life begins at conception.

Ashley Montague, a geneticist and professor at Harvard and Rutgers, is unsympathetic to the pro-life cause.  Nevertheless, he affirms unequivocally, “The basic fact is simple: life begins not at birth, but conception.”

Pro-abortionists were asked to provide people to testify before the subcommittee, but all they could provide was one person who insisted that no one knew when life began.  Even if this were the case, then logically it would still be probable that abortion was the termination of human life (If you don’t know when human life begins then you can be aborting a human life).  However, this point of view often preferred by pro-abortionists is NOT the view of medical science as the above shows.

There can be no question that it is the official view of medical science, as attested before a Judiciary Subcommittee that human life begins at conception.  This being the case, there is no question that abortion is a denial of the right to life.  It is this right to life that defines all other human rights and freedoms, for without the right to life other human rights and freedoms can have no meaning.  This is not just my point of view, so I recently discovered, it was originally stated by one Abraham Lincoln.  Now that took my quite by surprise!

Attempts to justify abortion are very often selfish in nature or depend heavily on excuses, such as what about a rape victim?  First of all, abortion has a dramatic impact on a woman and can be an even worse experience than rape.  Secondly, what about adoption?  Any unwanted child can have parents who do want it and will love and care for it.  Abortion cannot be reversed, but adoption gives a child a future (ask my wife).  Finally, in this matter and other specific examples of this nature, a particular principle cannot be used to justify the general nature of abortion – you cannot argue from the particular to the general.  Situation ethics doesn’t work.

We have seen the pro-abortion mentality before in Hitler’s Germany.  It’s a mentality that fails to value and respect human life, for whatever reason is chosen to justify a stance that cannot in reality be justified.  The solution is to stay firm in one’s conviction about the value of human life, to love life and even those who take it to the extent that one is prepared to take them before the creator of life and appeal to Him that such an evil will cease.  He is listening.

Karin's Books available through this link: http://www.thecookcompanies.com/

Blessed Virgin Mary

These are just a few thoughts about the mother of Jesus Christ.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is born free of original sin.  What does this mean?  First of all original sin is the sin of disobedience and this is the source of all sin.  That is, sin is disobedience to the Will of God.  Sacred Scripture reveals that Mary was born free of disobedience; it is her nature to be obedient.  The wedding at Cana appears to contradict this, but does it?

The wedding at Cana is described in chapter 2 of John’s Gospel.  When they ran short of wine she said to Jesus, “They have no wine.” Jesus replied to Mary, “Woman, how does your concern affect me?  My hour has not yet come.”  Jesus’ mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”

This is not showing disobedience to Jesus and through him disobedience to God.  She knows full well who he is, even if others do not.  What she is really saying is be obedient to him – do what he says.  She is actually promoting obedience to Jesus Christ – and to God.  Just as in response to the angel Gabriel’s announcement of the birth of Jesus (Luke 1:26-38) Mary’s response is, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word.”

Why do we call Mary ‘blessed’?  Because she is and it’s as simple as that.  The message of the angel Gabriel, that Mary was chosen by God, is a clear indication of this.  In addition, when Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, Mary responds to her by saying, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.  For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.”

Mary was there with Jesus at the beginning, she was there at the foot of the cross and she was with the Apostles in the upper room.  Mary suffered like any mother would, but she never lost faith and was with the infant Church to give it the support it needed.  She is still with us to this day, directing our attention as always to Jesus Christ.  The Son of the Living God and our Savior.

 

 

Books and ebooks by my wife Karin: http://www.thecookcompanies.com/

 

Religion is what?

How’s that again?

Religion is the cause of all wars.  Says who?  I suppose if you repeat a lie often enough people will indeed believe it.  The view that religion is the cause of all wars appears to be a popular view that reveals a rather poor grasp of history.

Was World War I caused by religion? No.  It was caused by the assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand on 28^th June 1914. How about World War II?  Started by Adolf Hitler promising not to march into Poland and then doing just that.  What about the other wars during the twentieth century? Korea wasn’t started by religion, nor was Vietnam, nor the Falklands war or the Gulf wars.  Whatever the reason for the conflicts, not one was caused by religion.

Go back in history and what do we find.  The Napoleonic wars were the result of another little corporal trying to look bigger than his height would allow!  Wars are usually and almost always politically inspired while ‘religion’ has often been used as excuse for sticking the armored boot in. Religion as the cause of war may go back to the age of ignorance, but today’s new age of ignorance is the cause of a different kind of butchery.

So what is the real cause of war? Politics.

Is it that simple? Er…… Yep!

Religion builds large churches and does nothing to feed the poor. Yeah, right. Churches are built by the people attending them and it’s the people who attend the churches who give money to church-run charities that provide aid for the poor.  Charities like Cafod in England, Trochre in Ireland (who contributed more aid to the Balkans following the war there than the United Nations) and in the USA Catholic Charities – and those are just the Catholic contributors of aid. Protestants also contribute aid.

Yeah, I suppose knocking and mocking religion provides an individual with a good reason not to learn from it.  Principles like respect for life, love for one’s neighbor and the promotion of human dignity can all go by the board so that teenagers can play video games in which they learn that life has no value.

The real reason for not bothering with religion: selfhood.  But that's just my opinion - take it or leave it.

Ay Jim lad, piracy isn’t what it use to be!

My wife Karin commented, “You’d think they’d get the message by now!”  Indeed, you think that Somali pirates would get the message.  On Saturday, January 14, 2012 we find that the British RFA (Royal Auxiliary Fleet) Fort Victoria, supported by the U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Carney intercepted a Somali dhow off the Somali coast.  British Royal Marines boarded the dhow after it failed to comply with requests to stop, 13 suspected Somali pirates with weapons were captured in the bridge section of the dhow.  This was not the first brush with the Royal Navy the Somali’s had – or with any other Navy for that matter.  Earlier in the week we heard of Iranian fishermen rescued from Somali pirates by the American navy – on two separate occasions.

On January 13^th it was reported that six Somali nut-burgers, sorry, pirates were arrested after they tried to hijack the flagship of the European Union’s naval force patrolling off the Horn of Africa.  They opened fire on members of the crew – oops!  The Spanish crew fired back and the silly sods were later captured.

RFA Fort Victoria has been busy in that part of the world, capturing Somali pirates in various operations.  Nor are they alone in this task.  HMAS Toowoomba (yep, you read that right) it’s the Royal Australian Navy, received a distress call from the Merchant Vessel BBC Portugal (no the ship, not the TV station), off the coast of Yemen.  After boarding a suspect vessel the Australians recovered an RPG, six AK47 Assault Rifles and a G3 Assault Rifle. Despite claims of innocence, the Australians replied that given the nature of the weapons recovered it was unlikely the men were engaged in fishing – Paul Hogan was not among them.

One bunch of Somali Pirates intent on no good found themselves confronted by an Oldham lad (yep a lad from my home town).  Corporal Martin Murray and his team of Commandos captured the pirates and their ammunition packed boat and blew the crap out of it!  The Somalis were later released, but given a clear message that they ignored – much to their regret.  Pirates engaged in firefights have been killed or wounded – they were first to open fire, but losses among naval vessels as far as I can trace are none.  As Karin asked, when will the Somalis get the message?

Fracking in Lancashire

According to the BBC, “It is ‘extremely unlikely’ shale gas drilling in Lancashire could contaminate ground water supplies, a leading geologist has said.”

In simple words, ‘Bollix!’ (Please pardon my French).

Here in the United States federal environment officials scientifically linked underground water pollution with hydraulic fracturing.  They concluded that contaminants found in central Wyoming were likely caused by the gas drilling process commonly referred to as “Fracking”.

“The presence of synthetic compounds such as glycol ethers … and the assortment of other organic components is explained as the result of direct mixing of hydraulic fracturing fluids with ground water in the Pavillion gas field,” the draft report states. Alternative explanations for the findings were carefully considered, but the cause of the contamination was unquestionably due to “Fracking”

Those friends and family who live in Lancashire, England, should put the word out – let it be known that you’re being led up the garden path.  There are similar reports from other parts of the US.

Finally, please do not forget to look up Karin's books and ebooks on our web site.

http://www.thecookcompanies.com/

Karin’s Books

In case you missed it, my wife Karin writing under the name Karin Ficke Cook so as not to be confused with the other author Karin Cook, has written four paperback novels. “Northwoods Forest Mystery” set in a logging camp near Bemidji, Minnesota in 1883 is the start of a series of mysteries surrounding the Sanderson Family.  The tale continued with “Death Across the Pond”, then “The ‘Ghost’ in Bolton Hall” and finally, “Murder and Pasta Don’t Mix”

Karin draws on her travels not only in America but also in Europe to add a rich flavor to the stories as each mystery unfolds.  The narrative makes it possible for each book to be read as a single story, while the order of the books continues the tale.  The paperbacks were published by Publish America and more details can be found here:

http://www.thecookcompanies.com/NFM.html

In addition to the paperbacks are Karin’s ebooks, the first of which is a collection of seven short stories, “Seven Doors of Time”, the other three are, “Good Old Uncle Norman” a thriller with a bit of humor, “Always Have, Always Will” a love story, and “The Town Gray Built”. The victory of faith.  Links to the ebooks can be found here:

http://www.thecookcompanies.com/index.html

Okay, so why am I telling you about these books?  The publishers do little to advertise them and we can’t afford it – we need the sales.  It’s that simple.  Karin has worked hard writing these books and I for one would like to see her rewarded.  She deserves it.

Zagreb and Beyond

I have a vague memory of visiting some city in Croatia, my wife Karin tells me we visited Zagreb and at an orphanage there where a little girl took quite a shine to me and sat on my knee – or so Karin tells me.  I mention it because the city was on one of those travel programs on Public Television, but as I say my memory is vague.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is another matter; I do remember visiting Mostar, both the Moslem and Christian parts of the city which still bore the scars of the war in the Balkan states.  I recall the shelled Cathedral, the city park that had become a graveyard for people of all religions, and the shelled dwellings and churches around the city gave it an air of sadness.  In contrast are the villages of Medjugorje where a spirit and prayer and peace prevail.

We also visited Dubrovnik on the Adriatic, where clear sea water made it possible to see the fish swimming around just off the pier where the fishing boats tied up.  The city could be described as a tourist trap with a myriad of shops, and a church containing the incorrupt body of an early Christian martyr who appears to be a young man sleeping.  It is a city with a long history, but this also was not untouched by war.

If I learn anything from visiting such places it is this.  Even where the darkness of inhumanity has caused suffering, there you can find small pockets of faith that keep the light of hope burning.  In the Balkans it is unquestionably Medjugorje and the faith of the pilgrims from every corner of the world.

I should point out that the Mick no longer has the fuzz on his chin.

Check out Karin's new book:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/106915

Or visit:
http://www.thecookcompanies.com/
For the lot!