Weekly Update

Lots of happenings again this week.

Monday: I had an interesting experience emailing a hostile guy about a story (the names have been removed to protect the guilty):

Me:
Mr. Blank
We're trying to track down some more information you wrote about in your blog. Are you available for a phone interview this afternoon? If so, what number can you be reached at?
Thank you in advance for your time,
Ryan

Blank:
Mr. Thomas,
By email.

Me:
In your blog entry, _______, you wrote: "_________." We called the Bishop but they flatly denied this was true. Your link goes to a blog titled, "_________" which links to CNA's article on the same topic. Neither of these support your statement. Can you share where you got the information about Bishop ____ urging _______? Why did you link a story that has nothing to do with your claim?

Blank:
Ah, of course. Agency, not Service. You are with Bermudez's outfit. He wrote a nasty thing about me that included a falsehood among many idiocies. But, it is Lent and I am working on forgiveness. In the event, the link was to a different article - trying to get used to a new laptop here and am consistently hitting the wrong keys. The link is corrected so thanks.

Me:
I'm sorry that you and Alejandro Bermudez have a personal conflict. As a news service, we work in the field of reporting, it is my hope that our exchange can be professional, and I hope that whatever past you and Mr. Bermudez have can be reconciled.

I've contacted _____, who hosted the event, and a recording of the event shows the attached link misrepresents Bishop _______words. He did not address the issue of _____at all during his prepared speech, and only mentioned in the Q&A that on the general subject _____. So while the words are correct, it was totally taken out of context.

In light of the denial by the diocese of ____ and the recorded tape, do you think that it's responsible to use the rumor blog sphere as a reference point? Also, are you planning on amending your blog with the correct information?

Do you believe that a Bishop that asks people, in general, to be engaged in the public sphere by _____is stepping outside of "ecclesiastical jurisdiction?"

Blank:
Sir -when you drop your accusatory tone, I will consider replying to you. Needless to say, anyone in the employ of your agency should be careful about throwing around worries about what is and is not responsible journalism.

Me:
Thank you for your time and thoughtful responses. I believe I have sufficient information to complete the story.

Lenten Blessings,
Ryan

Tuesday:
I went to school to teach and found that most of my students had not done their homework. I was upset to say the least, so I gave them a pop quiz. Later on during the class I got really upset because I was trying to have them do a group activity, but one kid was reading a book for another class. So, that's when I snapped. Game's over kids. Get back in your seats. For the first time in a really long time, I got really, really upset and let them know it.

These kids, for the most part, come from a very wealthy background where they're used to having servants in the house cooking and doing EVERYTHING for them. So homework is not something they get very much of in Peru. Also, Peruvian teachers have much more informal buddy/buddy relationships with their students, which I think underminds authority.

So, needless-to-say I'm fighting multiple currents. I chewed them out for their disrespect, for wasting my time and their time, for telling them about all the Peruvians that I've met that would die to be in this class and school. We'll see how much of an impact it has next week.

Wednesday:
I received an email from 8 doctors and health workers in Uganda that wrote a letter in support of Pope Benedict's comments on condoms in Africa, I also worked on a story about one of them who was in Uganda in 1980 when the outbreak occured and they didn't know how to treat it. Very moving story about this guy.

I also met with my American students that I'm teaching Catechesis to. I love these two, they're twins and they're 16 years old. They have very little background in scripture and Catholic Teaching, so we're starting from scratch. Every week I see so much growth! They're asking tough questions and really giving much more thoughtful answers! Very rewarding to be a part of their journey.

Thursday:
Man, Thursday was a busy day! I wrote about 5 articles including one about Notre Dame students launching a response to Fr. Jenkins invitation to President Obama. It was neat to talk to them and learn about how this group came to be as well as hear what students had to say about the situation. They were late interviewed on Fox News about their work.

Friday:
Today I wrote a few articles and learned that I may be traveling to New York City in May to meet with the Associated Press for a business deal. More to come on that later.

This week I also meet Cardinal Pell of Australia. He's a very tall and humble man. I transcribed an interview he gave to our Agency today, and it was very interesting to be writing what he said and really carefully listening to his words. Lots of wisdom in this man!

On a lighter note, Hillary Clinton was in Mexico this week. She stopped at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and left a bouquet of white flowers “on behalf of the American people.” Which was a very nice gesture, but then preceding to say, "that's a nice painting (of the Virgin of Guadalupe), who painted it?" Msgr. Monroy looked at her for a moment in disbelief and said, "God."

For those of you that don't know the history, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego in 1531. The image has numerous unexplainable phenomena, such as the appearance on Mary’s eyes of those present in the room when the tilma was opened and the image’s lack of decay.

Probably something the Secretary of State should be informed of before arriving to the Basilica. Luckily, she covered herself by saying "you have a marvelous virgin!” Oh Hillary!

The Pope, AIDS, Condoms, and the Truth...

I had the chance to interview two leading AIDS researchers, and email one in Uganda this week. Needless-to-say, I got quite an education on what's going on in Africa. Luckily, the conversation was recorded, so I was able to go back and listen to it a few times.

It's hard to say what was most interesting about the interview. The Director of Harvard's AIDS Prevention Research Facility gave me a surprising lesson on human nature. Explaining how condoms act a lot like sunscreen. You put on sunscreen, and instead of staying out in the sun of an hour, you may stay two hours, or all day. So this added protection actually increases your risk tolerance and you're willing to do things you wouldn't otherwise do, which is one of the big problems with saying that condoms are the solution to the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

My interview can be found here:
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15445

A UC Doctor also spoke with me on his research. He has a fascinating story that I hope to write about this week. He was doing a research project for the United Nations trying to prove that condoms work in preventing AIDS in Africa (and he was a big supporter himself at the time), but after seeing the ineffectiveness, he had to be honest intellectually and change his view. Surprisingly, the UN NEVER published the report.

Both of these doctors site the multi-billion dollar AIDS industry in Africa (and liberal sexual revolution ideology) as the biggest resistors to the answer: fidelity and monagomy. Since there's no money in this behavioral change approach (that has been found to reduce infections in Uganda by 2/3), big corporations and governments are against it.

Hopefully, with your help and the courage of these researchers, we can begin to spread the truth, because based on how the Pope was attacked, they're not interested in the truth either...

Sunday Night Reflections

Today I spent most the day doing my taxes, looking up information, and adding up all those things that you don't even get to take a deduction on. In the end, I'm getting money back. So in celebration, I decided to walk down the street to my new favorite place: Creeps and Waffles. It's a Columbian restuarant that employs only head-of-the-household women. They train them very well and teach them all aspects of the business. Not only is the place immaculate, but friendly, and quite formal. Their specialties are homemade ice cream, as well as using only native grown foods of Peru. So I took the 5 minute walk down to the restuarant and found a nice little table outside to have a cafe and ice cream.

It was strange tonight, because I think it's beginning to get cool, almost like a little bit of "Fall" in the air. Logically, it makes sense that Fall is coming, but it is very weird to think that Fall comes in March/April.

Tonight I brought a notebook and a pen. My task was to begin to write my life story. Sounds like something strange, but as part of my spiritual meditations, my spiritual director encouraged me to begin to write my life story down, just the events, no feelings. At first, it was hard to think about my first memories, but as I began to write, I remembered more and more. It was almost like the walls to my memory were crumbling.

For some reason I have been resistant to writing my story, perhaps it was because there were things I didn't want to remember, maybe it was because I don't enjoy writing that much, or maybe it was because I like to remain a mystery, even to myself. Whatever the cause, it was an eye-opening experience.

I reflected upon the first time I learned how to ride a bike, my first love (Lindy), stupid things that I said when I was 5 (like when I announced to my pre-k class that when I become President, I'm going to bomb Mexico and make it the 51st US State, only to make a Mexican boy in my class cry). These memories and reflections don't seem like anything material, but as I think that we are always adapting, and our earliest memories are the foundation of who we are today. If we don't remember these, if we do understand them, then how are we to grow as human beings?

I also reflected upon how much I love Peruvian desserts...