Go Dan!

My Friend from school, Dan Marrone just proved by this article what a great guy he is.

Hurricane Relief

I'm helping coordinate hurricane Katrina relief efforts in the local area, here's the link to the ad on the Father's of Mercy website.

Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.

The Road Less Traveled

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference


-Robert Frost

Reporting Live From World Youth Day!

It's been quite a while since I've last updated on the status of Crossroads and my many travels across the country, there are way to many stories and pictures to be able to put them all in one post, so I'll just comment on the fact that I am in Cologne, Germany for the 20th World Youth Day with the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI!
The last month of Crossroads was amazing, very stressful and challenging but I certainly grew a lot from it. WYD is going very well, we began by doing a pro-life walk from Brussels, Belgium to Cologne, Germany, covering about 120 miles over the course of five days. Definitely a much more relaxed walk than the summer was. Since being here I have somehow been thrown into the media correspondent position for Crossroads, dealing with all the major news organizations and setting up interviews and PR work. It's been fun but stressful as well. Somehow I got international security clearance for the media as well as a press pass so I have access to all the back room media accommodations! I'm considered a "free-lance photographer", I have no idea how I get myself involved in these things! This afternoon we've got interviews with CNN and the Mayor of Cologne, its crazy!
We've passed out over 8,000 Crossroads pro-life stickers since being here, everyone loves them! Check out the official World Youth Day website here.
Here are a few of the pictures I've taken since being in Europe, enjoy and I'll try to post more often!

The Latest...

It's been a couple weeks since I've been able to update what's been going on with Crossroads, the primary reason being lack of Internet access. I have posted a few things on the Crossroads blog however.
At present we are in the Dallas/Fr. Worth, TX area, or as they like to call it here, the 'Metroplex'. I'm not really sure what that means but that's what they say. It's been a good past couple weeks, after crossing Arizona and going into New Mexico we spent the weekend in El Paso, TX and had the opportunity to cross the border into Juarez, Mexico. As this was my first time south of the border I quite enjoyed it, reminding me somewhat of Europe. It's hard to believe that things are so different just a few miles from the Texas border.
We crossed all of New Mexico and have been walking across Texas for the past week, will this state ever end?!!! I still have no clue what all the fuss is that Texans make about there state, All I've seen so far is a very large, flat area that is good for farming and not much else! Its just as hot here as it was in Arizona or New Mexico but its starting to get pretty humid as well. Plus, we're on the same road, TX 180, across the entire length of the state! So that's all I've really got to say about it, I think Texans just like to brag about it 'cause it's so big and there's nothing here, kind of like those in New Jersey, they just wish they were from New York!
There have been some new developments in the Terri Schiavo case, here's a copy of an article from the doctor who examined her. Here's an article from her parents attorney, and here's one about her autopsy.
Another interesting story I recently was made aware of is about Susan Torres, a women who is considered legally dead but is being kept alive as she is pregnant and in order for her child to have the chance to live she needs to hang on for a few more weeks. Here is the website where you can get all the info about her and this amazing story.
Until I have time to write again please keep all of us on Crossroads in your prayers as we have to walk across the rest of Texas this week and we'll be in Louisiana next weekend.

I'm in New Mexico

I'm out in the desert of New Mexico, still walking across the country. Things are going well for the most part, a few challenges here and there with attitudes, personalities, scheduling, etc, but all in all things are going well. I'm been posting to the official Crossroads Blog whenever I have time with pictures and stories so I haven't had as much time to on my own site, but you can link to it no problem. Here's a few more pics I've taken, enjoy!

Crossroads Walk 2005

As I begin to write this I am sitting in Phoenix, AZ at the Cafe Fiat after praying at a Planned Parenthood here in Phoenix with the group The Underground Project, started by the beautiful Melanie Welsch. The past week has been incredible. It started out with a long and delayed arrival into Ontario, CA after many challenges on my connecting flight into Houston. I began my journey in 29 Palms walking all night long through the desert of Southern California. Previous to beginning our night time journey we ate dinner at the O'Briens. Arriving at their house was an experience to be sure, they live in the middle of nowhere in the California desert. It was almost surreal, like something out of a movie! They were the nicest people you'll ever meet though.
The rest of the trip has consisted of walking though California and into Arizona, which is where I am now. Crossroads has a blog that will be updated all summer long here.

Here's some of the pictures I've taken thus far.

And Now, This Just In...

Scientists locate sarcasm in the brain

HAIFA, Israel, May 23 (UPI) -- Israeli psychologists say one's ability to comprehend sarcasm depends upon a sequence
of complex cognitive skills based in specific parts of the brain.

The researchers said in order for listeners to comprehend caustic remarks, they must be able to infer the speaker's
intentions in the context of the situation. That, they said, calls for sophisticated social thinking and "theory of
mind," or the knowledge that everyone thinks different thoughts.

For example, autistic children with a limited or missing "theory of mind," have trouble understanding irony, of which
sarcasm is a form.

The team -- from the University of Haifa and Rambam Medical Center in Haifa -- studied 25 participants with
prefrontal-lobe damage, 16 participants with posterior-lobe damage and 17 healthy subjects for control. All
participants listened to brief recorded stories, some sarcastic and some neutral, taped by actors reading in a
corresponding manner.

Participants with prefrontal damage were found to be impaired in comprehending sarcasm, while the other two groups had
no such problem. The prefrontal group, which involved people suffering from damage in the right ventromedial area of
their brain, had the most profound problems in comprehending sarcasm.

The study is detailed in the May issue of Neuropsychology

Copyright 2005 by United Press International.

All rights reserved

Howard Dean Is An Idiot

This article from World Net Daily is just another bit of hypocracy from the democrats.



WASHINGTON – Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean again insisted yesterday in an interview on "Meet the Press" that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay should be jailed for congressional ethical violations – a comment for which he has been repudiated by several elected members of his own party.

"He hasn't been convicted yet, but ... I think there's a reasonable chance that this may end up in jail," Dean said of DeLay.

Asked by NBC host Tim Russert if his rhetoric toward DeLay wasn't hypocritical given his comments during the 2004 presidential campaign, where Dean said he didn't want to prejudge even Osama bin Laden, the top Democrat told Russert: "To be honest with you, Tim, I don't think I'm prejudging him."

"So you will not retract or apologize your comments about Tom DeLay?" asked Russert.

"Absolutely not," said Dean.

Dean was asked about his recent comments characterizing Republicans as "evil." He explained that the party has told the American people lies.

Asked to talk about those lies, Dean said: "Such as the weapons of mass destruction, which we have all known about, but the ... "

"Well, you said there were weapons of mass destruction," said Russert.

"I said I wasn't sure, but I said I thought there probably were," Dean explained. "But the thing that really bothered me the most, which the 9-11 Commission said also wasn't true, is the insinuation that the president continues to make to this day that Osama bin Laden had something to do with supporting terrorists that attacked the United States. That is false. The 9-11 Commission, chaired by a Republican, said it was false. Is it wrong to send people to war without telling them the truth. And the truth was Osama bin Laden was a very bad person who was doing terrible things, but that Iraq was never a threat to the United States. That was the truth. It was underlined by the 9-11 Commission, headed, again, by a Republican, a well-respected group of people. I don't think you send American men and women to war, first of all without properly equipping them, and secondly without telling the truth to their parents about why it is we're asking them to make that sacrifice. So those are the kinds of things that I think are very bad about the Republicans."

Russert did not ask Dean for clarification about his reference to bin Laden, whom he apparently confused with Saddam Hussein.