Pope passing

By
(1:37 PM EST) Fox News is reporting that the Italian news has reported that the Pope has died. No official announcement has been made yet by the Vatican.

(1:45 PM EST) I didn't think this news would make me cry but I've been tearing up off and on for the last 15 minutes. Fox News is reporting that the Vatican says his heart and brain are still functioning.

(1:59 PM EST) The singing in St. Peter's Square has been beautiful. Official word from the Vatican is that the Pope isn't gone yet but will be soon.

(2:22 PM EST) FoxNews.com story. There's a rosary service going on in the square right now.

(2:37 PM EST) Ramblings' Journal has a round up.

(2:40 PM EST) Fox News was just showing people gathered in Krakow singing outside of the Pope's old house. I recognised the melodies of some of the songs they were singing.

(2:50 PM EST) Looks like everyone is waiting for the other shoe to drop now. I'll throw some of my own reflections into the mix. John Paul II is the only Pope I have ever known. From the time I became aware of his existence when I was a child I admired his strength of faith. As I grew up and watched communist states topple one after another his support of those who resisted communist domination helped bring home to me the power of pray and the fact that God is in control of all things on earth. I'm not a Catholic and I haven't always agreed with some of the Pope's statements but that doesn't stop me from acknowledging that Pope John Paul II is a wonderful man of God. May he hear God say, well done good and faithful servant.

(11:25 PM EST) Well it seems I'll be waking tomorrow morning and asking if the Pope is dead yet.

(Blogger keeps having brain farts and won't publish posts properly. If I keep having problems I'll put updates in the comments section. 11:25 PM EST, of course Blogger's been behaving ever since I put this message up.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

What's in a flower?

By
Specifically hydrangea flowers. In this post I pointed out that anthocyanin (a family of plant pigments) appears blue at high pH, red at low pH and is responsible for the wide variety of colours in hydrangea flowers. Ilona pointed out that , "in hydrangeas you lower the ph for blue flowers (more acid) and raise it for pink (more alkaline)." I did a bit of checking and found that this is the case . At lower soil pH hydrangea flowers do appear blue and at higher soil pH they appear red. But soil pH is not the only thing that affects the colour of hydrangea flowers. It appears that pH inside the plant cell has an affect as well: Sepal Color Variation of Hydrangea macrophylla and Vacuolar pH Measured with a Proton-Selective Microelectrode Anthocyanin changes its color depending on pH (Goto 1987, Brouillard 1988, Goto and Kondo 1991). In strong acidic conditions it shows red, in neutral, purple and in alkaline, blue. But generally the vacuolar pH of plant cells is weakly aci
Read more

Treating autism as traumatic brain injury

By
I've been doing research into autism, dyspraxia, how the normal brain works, and how an autistic/dyspraxic brain works (or doesn't work). Traumatic injury to different parts of the brain can cause the same problems suffered by autistic and dyspraxic children. Compare this list of the functions of different parts of the brain and the problems caused by injuries to those areas with these descriptions of dyspraxia and autism. What is Developmental Dyspraxia? Developmental dyspraxia is a disorder characterized by an impairment in the ability to plan and carry out sensory and motor tasks. Generally, individuals with the disorder appear "out of sync" with their environment. Symptoms vary and may include poor balance and coordination, clumsiness, vision problems, perception difficulties, emotional and behavioral problems, difficulty with reading, writing, and speaking, poor social skills, poor posture, and poor short-term memory. Although individuals with the disorder may b
Read more

Battlestar Galactica needs more colour?

By
Here are the letters I mentioned in the previous post. The one that started it (I'm guessing these letters were written after the show's first airing at the end of 2003): Galactica Needs More Diversity The problem I had with Battlestar Galactica was there were no major and very few minor African American characters. There were no Black men in the show at all or if they were, they had virtually no screentime. In the original series, Boomer and Tigh were both played by African American actors. In this rendition of Battlestar, those characters were played by Asian and White actors. In the Caprica city, there no African American extras. On the Galactica's bridge, there was only one African American actress. Another Black actress could be found playing a religious official that swore in the new President of the colonies. This was very troubling to me. Do you not want African Americans to watch your show? Do you want to project the idea that African Americans are not part of the
Read more