HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year to all!

God Bless everyone!

WestCoastCatholic +<><

2010: "REPLACE NOT REFORM'

I saw this on Pat Madrid's blog and though I'm not a Newt Gingrich fan, I believe he has suggested the ultimate cry for the upcoming 2010 year.

"REPLACE NOT REFORM"

If you are fed up with what is happening in Washington DC, where we are no longer being represented. "REPLACE NOT REFORM"

If you are tired of digging deeper into your pockets to hand over your hard earned dollar only to be wasted by the government spending. "REPLACE NOT REFORM"

If you are appalled by the cancellation of your moral values of LIFE and FAMILY by the bureaucrats of Washington. "REPLACE NOT REFORM"

2010 should hear the battle cry of those that are fed up with the status quo.

"REPLACE NOT REFORM"

We need to REPLACE everyone in office that stands in the way of representing our LIFE and FAMILY values.

The Shame of the Majority Held Senate - Sen. Baucus

The title of this is 'Drunk with Power'.....

.... a fitting title. These officials are not representing the people any longer, sad to say.

November can't come any sooner.

Drunk With Power

A speech by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on health care has been generating buzz on the Internet, as the Drudge Report and others are suggesting that Baucus was slurring his speech and possibly "intoxicated" during his remarks.

"DRUNK WITH POWER? TOP DEM SLURS ON SENATE FLOOR..." reads the Drudge Report headline.

Newsbusters.org writes: "How can one explain this incredibly bizarre performance by Max Baucus on the Senate floor? Was Baucus so intoxicated by the sound of his own voice that he went off the deep end? Or perhaps he was so drunk with power over shaping the Senate health care bill that it explains his strange rant."

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B16 - 'Knocked Down'

What the heck happened to security!!

Prayer for 82 year old Pope Benedict XVI and 87 year old French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray who has a fractured hip.


Pope delivers Christmas blessing after fall

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI delivered his traditional Christmas Day blessing Friday, looking tired and unsteady but otherwise fine hours after being knocked down by a woman who jumped the barrier at the start of Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.

The Vatican said the 82-year-old Benedict was unhurt in the fall and that his busy Christmas schedule would remain unchanged.

French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, an 87-year-old Vatican diplomat, fractured his hip in the commotion and will be operated on at Rome's Gemelli hospital, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said.

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A Christmas Story

I'm watching 'A Christmas Story' with Ralphie and his Red Rider B-B Gun.

"Fragile'...... it's French

'NAT-A-FINGA!'

LINK: A CHRISTMAS STORY

Merry Christmas

Christ is Born!

Merry Christmas to all!

God Bless
WestCoastCatholic +<><

Christmas - An Archbishop and a Rabbi

Preparing of Mass tonight. The birth of Our Lord just a heart beat away.

Came across this interesting exchange between Archbishop Dolan and Rabbi Harlan

Merry Christmas to all

WCC +<><

A War on Christmas? An Archbishop and a Rabbi Respond
When New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Rabbi Harlan Wechsler shared a live interfaith dialogue on Sirius XM Radio’s The Catholic Channel, Sunday, December 20th, there were video cameras there.
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Queen Elizabeth of England and Catholicism

An interesting post on Queen Elizabeth of England, her thoughts on the changes in Anglicanism and the Catholic Church.

Thanks Taylor Marshall

Queen Elizabeth has affinity with Pope and is frustrated with Anglican church.
There are some interesting rumors about the Holy Father's trip to England - the second papal visit to England since Henry VIII broke with Rome and established the Church of England 500 years ago.

According to this report, Queen Elizabeth who is still officially the Gubernatrix (or Governess) of the Church of England, has become more frustrated with Anglicanism and perhaps interested in Catholicism. The Telegraph reports:

Fr. Barron - Happy Clappy Gap Commercial

I've been viewing a lot of Father Barron video's lately. He has some really good messages.

This one is about a Gap Clothing Store commercial; "Happy Clappy"

InsideScoop has the original post.

Pope Pius XII - Some Protest

I'm so happy that Pope Pius XII was elevated to 'Venerable' and is well on his way to sainthood.

This is more than ample evidence that points to the good pope's efforts during WWII to save as many Jew as possible.

To those critics that still don't believe in these efforts, well .... oh well. No amount of evidence will persuade them.

The facts are there for all to see.

Pius XII’s New Status Draws Criticism and Praise
Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to proclaim Pope Pius XII as “venerable” surprised and delighted many who have been campaigning to clear the wartime Pope’s name, but provoked predictable protests among some Jewish leaders.

Although an increasing number of Jewish and Catholic historians say there is plenty of well-documented evidence to suggest Pius was one of the Second World War’s greatest heroes, critics still accuse him of being “silent” and doing nothing to save Jews during the war.

MORE

A few Resources:

How Pius XII Protected Jews

The Framing of Pius XII

Pope Pius XII and the Holicaust

Fr. Barron - 'Authority' the basis for the Reformation

Father Barron of 'Word on Fire' addresses the root of the Reformation:

The Reformation Project - Ignatius Press

I love reading about history, especially church history,

I'm reading a book by James Reston entitled 'Defenders of the the Faith'. It's centered around the time period between 1520-1536.

The battle of Vienna between The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the Muslim leader Suleyman the Magnificent. This battle is a pivotal battle that would determine if Europe would become Muslim or remain Christian.

During this time France battled the Holy Roman Empire and there was a little event lead by the infamous monk by the name of Martin Luther.

The book is written with a very anti-Catholic stance. Using such words and phases like "barbarian pope Adrian" , "fanatic monks of St. John". All long describing the Muslim leader in all his glory with just a passing mentions of his Christian slaves and murderous ways.

This is not history at all, especially when the author promises to be objective. Far from it.

How does a Catholic counter these charges?

What are we to say when baseless accusations are quoted at gatherings to state Martin Luther's inaccurate positions of the Catholic Church?

Well, Father Mitch Pacwa has a new project that will shed some 'truth' on the false rewriting of history today.

LINK: The Reformation Project

AT&T 3G Coverage- SURPRISE

(Photo: Gizmodo)
With all those Verizon Map commercials on TV now a days, I was surprised to learn that AT&T 3G overage won the best of Verizon.

Read the story: Our 2009 12-City 3G Data Mega Test: AT&T Won
Given carrier reputation and our own iPhone call drops, we were pretty surprised to discover, through careful testing in 12 markets, that AT&T's has pretty consistently the fastest 3G network nationwide, followed closely—in downloads at least—by Verizon Wireless.
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Firefox Most Popular Browser

I use Firefox and I have no complaints. Seems that others like it as well.

Firefox 3.5: World's most popular Browser

Data released by StatCounter indicates that Firefox 3.5 is the world’s most popular browser, having edged ahead of Internet Explorer 7.
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DemCare - The Buy-Off

DemCare in Summary - Townhall

DUM DUM DUM … DEMCARE
Snow shut down most of DC this past weekend, but it didn’t stop Senators from passing another cloture motion on the health care bill that is widely expected to seal the deal on Senate passage of Obamacare. The bill will still be subject to two more cloture votes, which should be smooth sailing for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The tricky bit will come after Christmas, when the Senate bill is merged with the House bill and shoveled through by House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

The number of kickbacks Reid has inserted into the bill to buy Senators’ votes is seemingly endless. Sen. Ben Nelson’s “Cornhusker Kickback,” along with additional perks for Vermont and Massachusetts, will cost the rest of us an estimated $1.2 billion over the next 10 years. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., also shoved an extra $100 million for health care research in his state, and Senators Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Carl Levin, D-Mich., got insurers off the hook for taxes in their states. Meanwhile, Senators from Pennsylvania, New York and Florida were allowed to carve out specific protections from Medicare cuts for their respective states.

The biggest components of the legislation are still basically the same: mandating the purchase of health insurance (translating into a tax for many people); subsidies for low-income Americans; cuts in Medicare funding; and extreme government regulation. Public funding of abortion is also currently included in the bill.
LINK: www.townhall.com

Are You Religious or Spiritual?

An interesting article that asks the questions:

"Are you Religious or Spiritual or something else?"

Religion Takes a Hit!

I used to spend hours studying a faded, color-coded map at a publishing house where I worked. The map, hung on the wall behind my desk, showed the population density of the various denominations and faiths across America. Save for the southern half of Louisiana, the south was one thick crimson swatch of Southern Baptists. The Northern Midwest was Lutheran green. Utah's solid yellow represented the Church of Latter-Day Saints. New Mexico, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Massachusetts were shaded the deep blue of Roman Catholicism.

It used to be just that easy to generalize about Americans and religion. That is no longer the case, as shown by several recent polls on Americans and Religion.

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B16 - "Christmas Is Not A Fairy Tale"

Taylor Marshall has the story:
The Holy Father gave a great message today for the Fourth Sunday in Advent: Christmas is not a warm, fuzzy fairy tale - it's the mystery of God's love for us

Father Baron: On Abortion Law

Our Legislators should see this video before they take the next vote on the Abortion Health Care bill before them.




Creative Minority Report has the Story.

State of Virginia: The Most Disturbing News 2009

This is the most DISTURBING news I have heard this year.

And it happened here in the United State of America, in the State of Virginia.

God Help Us!

Cold Blooded....
In Virginia, a mother gave birth to her baby and then suffocated it. Virginia law enforcement is powerless to charge her. As Investigator Tracy Emerson put it:

"In the state of Virginia, as long as the umbilical cord is attached and [the] placenta is still in the mother, if the baby comes out alive, the mother can do whatever she wants to that baby to kill it," Emerson reports. "She can shoot the baby, stab the baby or anything as long as it is still attached to her in some form by umbilical cord or something, and it's no crime in the state of Virginia."
MORE (NEWS VIDEO)

JPII And Pius XII Declared 'Venerable'

Looking for some good news....

The Vatican has declared Pope John Paul II and Pope Pius XII 'Venerable' on their way to sainthood.

AmP has the story:

Vatican: John Paul II and Pius XII declared Venerable!!!

Pope Benedict XVI has signed a decree recognizing the late Pope John Paul II's life of “heroic virtue.” With his signature, Benedict XVI throws the door wide open to the beatification of the much-loved Polish Pontiff and gives him the title "Venerable."

On Saturday morning, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints led by Archbishop Angelo Amato met with Pope Benedict XVI to celebrate their 40th anniversary as a dicastery of the Holy See and to present decrees for papal approval. Pope John Paul II's name was among the Congregation's nominations for those possessing “heroic virtue.”
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Health Care Bill: Test Vote 60-40

The H.C. bill was test voted in the wee early hours of the morning, 1:00am.

You warn your young adult children not to be out late because of the dangers that lurk at night.

Well now we have to include late night votes in our Capital as apart of those dangers.

Away from the eyes of the public, as the nation sleeps the dirty deed was done.

How many votes were bought?

"Hey, it's all part of the process" is what the majority at the Capital say.

Something is terribly wrong..... and it needs fixing.

Obama Calls Test Vote on Senate Health Bill a 'Big Victory'

President Obama on Monday hailed a successful test vote on health care reform in the Senate hours earlier as a "big victory for the American people," claiming the package making its way toward a Christmas Eve vote will save the country from crippling health care costs.
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Senator Nelson: Judas Moment

Well it's known everywhere.

Nebraska's Senator Nelson bag of silver to vote for the Abortion - Health Care Bill tonight.

AmP has the latest:

Breaking: Nelson caves, Senate to probably pass pro-abortion bill tonight

I've been deluged with emails this weekend keeping me up to date on the rapid developments taking place in the health care debate.

The most important news to absorb is that Senator Nelson - at this point - has caved and is promising to support Senator Reid's pro-abortion bill when it is voted upon at 1AM tonight.
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Copenhagen Conference: Disaster in Review Part 2

The next three parts are a continuation of the interview with Lord Christopher Monckton and John Bolton.

These 3 parts debunk the G.W. issue.

Part 4:


Part 5:


Part6:


People, it's time to stop the maddness.....

Copenhagen Conference: Disaster in Review

Copenhagen, what a disaster.

There, we had one of the leading G.W. scientist state that Al Gore misinterpreted his data.

You had the email scandal which exposed G.W. scientist hiding data, misrepresenting data, and dare I say, .... making up data to support their agenda.

There were certain countries which said they were not aboard the G.W. train unless they were given MORE MONEY. BILLIONS MORE.

And some countries which said they were just not going to cooperate at all. That everyone else should expect themselves. I don't want to name names but they have the same initials as CHINA and INDIA.

So what's this conference all about? Where do they go from here?

And probably more important, why are we continuing with this sham.

Below is a 6 part interview with two individuals that can shed some light of truth on this whole matter. John Bolton and Lord Christopher Monckton.

Here's the first three parts.

Part1:



Part2:



Part3:



The last three parts are in the next post.

Copenhagen Conference: Truth or Fiction

If you are of the part of those that think the Copenhagen Conference is about establishing the truth about global warming, you need to take a look at this video.

When asked about the Climategate emails security is called in to stop the questions.



how convenient... or is it inconvenient

Link:Big Government
Link: Not Evil Just Wrong

High School Heisman Finalist

With all the attention that professional athletes are getting now a days and I don't mean positive attention (Tiger Woods to be specific) all might seem lost to those that call themselves 'role-models' for our youth.

But all is not lost. These two young people are true examples. They've worked hard as athletes, students and examples in their communities.

And they recognize that it's all for Gods glory and it's all through His graces that they are who they are.

Tiger, you could use them as your 'role-model'.

Sign the Manhattan Declaration

AmP has the story.
Please sign the Manhatten Declaration

Archbishop Chaput on why he signed the Manhattan Declaration

I think the Manhattan Declaration is something every serious Catholic ought to sign.

Here is what Archbishop Charles Chaput - one of the 20 Roman Catholic bishops to publicly sign it - has to say about its importance:
“I was glad to be invited to sign the declaration, and glad to sign because I believe in its content,” Archbishop Chaput told CNA. He described it as a “straightforward” statement defending the sanctity of life, religious liberty and the definition of marriage as a union of husband and wife.

“In a sensible world, none of these things would be in question. But we no longer live in a sensible world,” he commented.
MORE

SIGN HERE: MANHATTAN DECLARATION.ORG

Russia Tests Launches New Missile

Russia continues to test a new ICM missile.... but it failed.... again.

Their such friendly nation. They don't seemed to be worried about what message this sends to the other nations.

St Thomas Aquinas was for Abortion?

You know, I hate it when individuals quote truely Catholic Philosophers, doctors and teachers of the church and turn their teachings 180 degress around.

Case in point Mr.Sam R. Sperry who served as an editor at the Seattle P-I and on the Washington State Catholic Conference Board. He is a lifelong Catholic educated here in Catholic schools.

Carl Olsen analysis:

A latte lies from a cafeteria Catholic

When a Catholic education and $3.75 gets you a latte and this sort of nonsense, you might want to ask yourself: "Does the guy behind the coffee bar know more about Catholic doctrine and moral theology than I do?" Chances are, he does. Chances are, for example, he knows this is pure rot:
THE American Roman Catholic Bishops stubborn insistence on scaling back women's abortion rights in pending health-care-reform legislation demonstrates their willingness to "toss off the bridge" millions of people who would benefit.
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Dinish D'Souzsa- Life After Death: The Evidence

One of my favorite authors, Dinesh D'Souza has a new book out titled 'Life After Death: The Evidence.

Here's an interview he resently had.

Dinesh D'Souza on belief, life after death, and Pascal's wager

Amazon: Life After Death: The Evidence

The Catholic Church does not Change with the Wind.

Robert McCartney of the Washington Post obviously does not understand the Catholic Church. He thinks the Catholic Church will change it's stance on any moral issues as often as a politician after election day.

Mr. McCartney, the Catholic Church doesn't work that way. It will not change it's teachings on Homosexual marriage.

WaPo’s McCartney: Archdiocese of D.C. Should ‘Cut a Deal’ on Homosexual Beliefs

Apparently the Catholic Church is welcome when it promotes causes near and dear to liberal hearts, but it's shown the door as soon as it takes a hard line against controversial issues like homosexuality and abortion.
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China: 400 million fewer births = 18 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions a year

Although China's family planning policy has received criticism over the past three decades, Zhao said that China's population program has made a great historic contribution to the well-being of society.

As a result of the family planning policy, China has seen 400 million fewer births, which has resulted in 18 million fewer tons of CO2 emissions a year, Zhao said

This claim is from Zhao Baige, vice-minister of National Population and Family Planning Commission of China (NPFPC).

In other words population control is China's method of CO2 emissions control. Killing babies is their answer.

This is so sick a claim but not because China is boasting about this. What makes this even so much more disturbing is that the worlds leaders attending the Copenhagen Conference are actually listening to this garbage. It wouldn't surprise me that many of them will agree with this.

And our President is there.

Less people = better environment. How sick is that! t goes totally against Gods plan for his creation.

We may say that this kind of distorted thinking is not going to affect us in the U.S., but the health care debate is still on going.

Will Federally funded abortions be at the center of this bill?

Population Control Called Key to Deal

EPA: People are Pollutants

Dear fellow pollutant,

Well it's official, humans produce carbon dioxide, therefore they're pollutants.

That's the most stupidest thing that I've ever heard. I no longer believe we have any competent folks running the show anymore.

There's now a cow tax for their carbon dioxide pollutant release, so don't be surprised if we will see a carbon footprint tax on every individual.

Does anyone actually thing that this is about cleaning the environment?

Nope, this is about MONEY!

Even the Chinese and India say the U.S. have to pay them billions of dollars for them to attempt to go Green.

Insanity...

All I need is the air that I breathe
Well, they did it. In what would pass for farce in a sane world, the EPA has declared it has the power to regulate our air. This is not a regulation to prevent harmful pollutants that would destroy our air, but rather that the air itself has been declared a harmful pollutant.

Whether or not you you find plausible the claims of global warming alarmists, this type of power grab should take your breath away.

As leaders of the world spew tons of carbon on route to Copenhagen to discuss how to prevent you from spewing tons of carbon by breathing, the EPA decided that the UN process smacked of ineffective democracy and took matters into their own hands.
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St. Nicholas - Smack Down

An interesting story about St. Nicholas

St Nicholas: He Who Punches Heretics in the Face (and Gives Gifts to Children)

...
During the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea (AD 325), Arius was called upon to defend his position on the inferiority of Christ. Saint Nicholas just couldn't listen to all of Arius' nonsense and so he stood up and laid in to Arius with his fist.

The Emperor Constantine and the bishops present at the Council were alarmed by Nicholas' act of violence against Arius. They immediately stripped Nicholas of his office as a bishop by confiscating the two items that marked out a man as a Christian bishop: Nicholas' personal copy of the Gospels and his pallium (the vestment worn by all bishops in the East).
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Kindle, Nook, eReaders...

I love reading and I love collecting books...

There are a few to select from but I've narrowed it down to the two primary contenders in the market, The Kindle and The Nook.

I haven't been able to find very many reviews comparing the two, so I'm still undecided. Each has it's own particular feature that I like.

For the Kindle the ease of downloads where ever you are. For the Nook it's Mac downloadability and it's two screens.

Now I find out Apple may have a contender.

Anyone have any input on my decision?

Here's one review

Tiger Woods: As the dust settles

Creative Minority Report as an excellent post on the Tiger Woods thang, even as more revelations surface. I hope the dust is finally settling on this issue.

Personally Opposed
My Name is Tiger Woods. As many of you may have heard by now, I have been publicly accused of having numerous affairs with multiple women who are not my wife. Now, while we all might agree that adultery is not a desirable thing, we must recognize that it is often a difficult choice in the life of a man.

Sometimes, through no fault of his own, a man can find himself in a difficult marriage. He is sometimes faced with the difficult choice of staying faithful to his Swedish bikini model wife or committing adultery with barmaids and hostesses. This is particularly true for professional athletes.
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Salute: Day of Infamy

December 7th, a day of infamy.

A Salute to those who's sacrifice's we enjoy as freedom today.

God Bless you, thank you

Abortion Fight On The Hill

The fight is on.

Why won't the Senate Democrats allow the abortion amendment which prohibits abortion funding to be added to the bill?

We all know why. Abortion for all is the call of this present administration. There is no other answer.

Lets pray for those that are fighting the good fight on the Hill.

Senate Considers Health Bill Amendment to Bar Federal Funding of Abortion

The Senate on Monday will try to clear away one of a handful of hot-button issues that is powerful enough to derail health care reform -- abortion.

Senators will consider an amendment that closely mirrors language in the House version of the bill, barring federally subsidized health insurance plans from covering abortion even if the procedures are paid for entirely with customers' premiums.

Sen. Ben Nelson, a prominent anti-abortion Democrat, along with other lawmakers in both parties has insisted that taxpayer funds not be used to pay for abortions in a government-run health program.

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U.S. Under Obama Now Funding Embryonic Stem Cell Research

It's now official, tax payer money's are now being used to fund stem cell research.

Let be more frank, under the leadership of the Obama administration our tax money is now being used to kill Embryo's for research.

So this is the 'Change' and 'Hope' that Obama is referring to?

I am deeply ashamed of this administration. Nothing can compare with the taking of a babies life.

Embryo's are babies. Killing babies is wrong. You can't disguise it any other way. There has been no positive results from this type of research and may be a guise for other experimental research with human babies.

U.S. set to fund more stem cell study

The Obama administration has begun approving new lines of human embryonic stem cells that are eligible for federally funded experiments, opening the way for millions of taxpayer dollars to be used to conduct research that was put off-limits by President George W. Bush.

Launching a dramatic expansion of government support for one of the most promising but most contentious fields of biomedical research, the National Institutes of Health on Wednesday authorized the first 13 lines of cells under the administration's policy and was poised to approve 20 more Friday.

"This is the first down payment on what is going to be a much longer list that will empower the scientific community to explore the potential of embryonic stem cell research," said NIH Director Francis S. Collins. "Today's announcement is the first wave."

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The Climate Change: The Egg is Cracked

As the world powers get ready to meet on the topic of Climate Change the theory itself of carbon emissions as the culprit is being shown in it's true light ..... it's all a fraud.

Complete with dirty emails and elite money hungry scientist and well just about everyone with a hand in the cookie jar, the truth is becoming more and more evident.

The news is full of revealing facts.

While I do believe in climate change, I don't believe in the Al Gore approach.

CLIMATE CHANGE 'FRAUD'

Climate scientist at center of e-mail controversy to step down

Gratitude: Happiness + Goodness

A friend sent this to me. Thought you'd like to see it.
Great message, a little philosophy


thanks Beth...

The Heart of the Matter

I've been off about a week and a half from blogging.

I had to have some major surgery in the form of a heart valve (Mitral) repair.

You can read about it here:

A Patient's Guide to Heart Surgery

I was fortunate enough to have the world renown heart surgeon Vaughn A. Starnes, M.D. He actualy performed heart surgery on Arnold Schwarzenegger. The support staff there is top notch.

Here's a video of the procedure: Mitral Valve Chordae Repair
the video shows a robotic procedure, which I didn't have. I had what is called a Minimally Invasive procedure, which means they have smaller incisions in my chest and didn't have to open the chest by breaking the chest bone. Like you'd see on most medical TV programs.

This allows for a faster recovery, weeks instead of months.

If by circumstance anyone out there has to have this done or knows of someone that has to have any type of heart surgery done I highly recommend the USC University Hospital. They are the best. World renown in every scenes of the word.

Dr. Starnes is the best!

I'm recovering at home presently and doing fine!

Thanks to Dr. Starnes and everyone at USC University Hospital