So, you're thinking of getting one of those spiffy and fuel efficient Hybrid cars. Let's take a look at the numbers by comparing like-for-like models:
The Honda Civic Sedan Hybrid is reported to get approx. 45 MPG (so they say).
The Honda Civic Sedan DX is reported to get approx. 36 MPG (again, so they say).
That's a difference of 9 MPG. *woo-hoo*
The average driver drives 12,000 miles per year, which means that the standard Civic will use 333 gallons over the course of a year. The Hybrid model will use 267 gallons over that same period. That's a difference of 66 gallons a year. Gas is currently going at a national rate of $4.00 per gallon. That's a "saving" of $264 per year. Nice! Over a lifetime of 12 years, that's a saving of $3168. WOW!!!
But, the purchase price of the Civic DX is $15810, while the price of the Hybrid model is $25020. That's a difference of $9210. That means that you would have to drive that Hybrid for 35 years before you begin to recoup your initial investment. I doubt the car will last that long. Even if gas prices were at a steady $10 per gallon, it would still take you 14 years before you would recoup your investment.
"But, I'll be getting that cushy tax rebate," you say.
Uhhh, no you won't. That was only for the first 60,000 models purchased, and Honda and Toyota have already reached that sales mark, so... NO REBATE FOR YOU!
"But, I'll be saving the environment by using less gas," you say.
Ummmm, yeah... but that Hybrid has a lot more of those batteries with all those toxic chemicals that will need to be replaced on a regular basis just like your regular car battery. So, "six of one, half dozen of the other" as they say.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
R.I.P. Tacoma...
'Tis truly a sad day. My friend and colleague, Todd, had to put down his ailing 16-year old cat, Tacoma, today. Todd, as you may recall, is the writer and director of the hilarious mockumentary, "An Inconvenient Penguin" which was previewed in Hollywood last month. Tacoma was a very talented feline and was the inspiration behind Todd's film career; he even appeared in the starring role in Todd's first official short film. After many months of poor health, it was now time to send Tacoma to that Great Scratching Post in the sky, where catnip is plenty and dogs are few.
So, in honor of the fine feline and his memory. I give you this link for you to view Tacoma in his debut and starring role in the short film, "The Silent Partner".
So, in honor of the fine feline and his memory. I give you this link for you to view Tacoma in his debut and starring role in the short film, "The Silent Partner".
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Hillary supporters are a bit miffed right now...
(Major hat-tips to PowerLine and Flopping Aces)
Hillary may have won Puerto Rico by 36% today. She may have won West Virginia and Kentucky by similar margins. She may have won key, crucial states such as CA, NY, NJ, PA, OH, IN, TX, TN, NH, MA, AZ, NM, AR, OK, FL and MI. She may have won the "popular" vote when all is said and done after Tuesday's final two primaries. But the "bosses behind closed doors" of the Democratic Party are doing their best to make sure The Obamessiah is the nominee.
Fine by me. Not so fine for Hillary supporters such as these three ladies:
Hillary may have won Puerto Rico by 36% today. She may have won West Virginia and Kentucky by similar margins. She may have won key, crucial states such as CA, NY, NJ, PA, OH, IN, TX, TN, NH, MA, AZ, NM, AR, OK, FL and MI. She may have won the "popular" vote when all is said and done after Tuesday's final two primaries. But the "bosses behind closed doors" of the Democratic Party are doing their best to make sure The Obamessiah is the nominee.
Fine by me. Not so fine for Hillary supporters such as these three ladies:
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Defining Marriage in California...
The Granola State just got fruitier, nuttier and flakier.
Last week I linked to a commentary by Dennis Prager on the recent California Supreme Court's 4-3 decision to allow same-sex "marriage" in the state (thus overturning the will of 61% of Californians who voted for Proposition 22 in 2000). His commentary summarizes, in part:
Yesterday, Frank Pastore had a commentary of his own, which is also worth reading. Frank summaries, in part:
UPDATE: Per a recent California poll (after the court decision), 54%-35% (with 10% undecided) are for an Amendment to the State Constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. This follows the Prop 22 numbers of 2000 which were 61%-39%.
As Frank says in his last sentence:
Last week I linked to a commentary by Dennis Prager on the recent California Supreme Court's 4-3 decision to allow same-sex "marriage" in the state (thus overturning the will of 61% of Californians who voted for Proposition 22 in 2000). His commentary summarizes, in part:
"[H]eterosexism," [will be considered] a bigoted preference for man-woman erotic love, and therefore to be extirpated from society.
Any advocacy of man-woman marriage alone will be regarded morally as hate speech, and shortly thereafter it will be deemed so in law.
Companies that advertise engagement rings will have to show a man putting a ring on a man's finger -- if they show only women fingers, they will be boycotted just as a company having racist ads would be now.
Films that only show man-woman married couples will be regarded as antisocial and as morally irresponsible as films that show people smoking have become.
Traditional Jews and Christians -- i.e. those who believe in a divine scripture -- will be marginalized. Already Catholic groups in Massachusetts have abandoned adoption work since they will only allow a child to be adopted by a married couple as the Bible defines it -- a man and a woman.
Anyone who advocates marriage between a man and a woman will be morally regarded the same as racist. And soon it will be a hate crime.
Indeed -- and this is the ultimate goal of many of the same-sex marriage activists -- the terms "male" and "female," "man" and "woman" will gradually lose their significance. They already are. On the intellectual and cultural left, "male" and "female" are deemed social constructs that have little meaning. That is why same-sex marriage advocates argue that children have no need for both a mother and a father -- the sexes are interchangeable. Whatever a father can do a second mother can do. Whatever a mother can do, a second father can do. Genitalia are the only real differences between the sexes, and even they can be switched at will.
Yesterday, Frank Pastore had a commentary of his own, which is also worth reading. Frank summaries, in part:
Same-sex marriage will inevitably lead to polygamy and perhaps “consensual” incest. The collective wisdom of Western civilization, and the Judeo-Christian value system beneath it, have always restricted marriage to two people, not closely related, one man and one woman, of legal age. For over 2,000 years, there have been laws against bigamy, polygamy, incest and minor marriage. No society in history has ever granted same-sex marriage while maintaining prolonged prohibition of polygamous and incestuous relationships...
If the 2,000 years of Western tradition was insufficient to maintain this court’s prohibition against same-sex marriage, how can this court appeal to that same tradition to prohibit incest and polygamy? If past generations have found incest, polygamy and same-sex marriage “inimical to mutually supportive and healthy family relationships” because of their “potentially detrimental effect on a sound family environment,” how can this court accept the traditional prohibitions against incest and polygamy, while rejecting the traditional prohibition against same sex marriage? If this court can overturn tradition and find a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, what will prevent future courts from similarly overturning tradition to find a constitutional right to incest and polygamy?
UPDATE: Per a recent California poll (after the court decision), 54%-35% (with 10% undecided) are for an Amendment to the State Constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. This follows the Prop 22 numbers of 2000 which were 61%-39%.
As Frank says in his last sentence:
We must turn around while our course is still reversible.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Currently reading "The Everlasting Man"...
I stumbled upon G.K. Chesterton first via his fiction. His novel "The Man Who Was Thursday" was on some list somewhere, and the subject matter intrigued me - so I bought the book and read it. Needless to say, I was baffled after turning the last page of the tome. Chesterton tends to do that to people. I then read his novel "Man Alive" and chuckled as the storyline progressed.
That was the extent of my Chesterton experience until my cable TV service started airing EWTN about five or six years ago (I now get EWTN via DishTV satellite). EWTN would begin airing this 1/2-hour series entitled "G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense", hosted by Dale Ahlquist. This broadened my world to the even broader world of G.K. Chesterton. I bought Dale's introductory book of the same name, which then lead me to reading "Orthodoxy", "St. Francis of Assisi", "The Flying Inn", Dale's second book "Common Sense 101", and then joining the American Chesterton Society (with it's offering of "Gilbert!" magazine).
When I started this blog some four years ago I chose the title "Arbiter of Common Sense" as a hat-tip to Chesterton. I even met Dale Ahlquist once about a year and a half ago when he came to my town to give a talk on all things Chesterton; had the chance to chat with him over breakfast at that morning's event, and bought his second book (which he graciously signed).
I've given a copy of "The Complete Father Brown Stories" as well as "Common Sense 101" to my Dad, and "The Everlasting Man" to one of my brother's, as gifts. Finally, I got around to buying that last book for myself - having just started reading it this past week (only a couple chapters in) - and have been struck by the powerful precision with which Chesterton presents his arguments.
Sitting on my bookshelves are several more G.K. tomes waiting patiently for my fingers to split open and turn their pages, including: "The Ball and The Cross", "St. Thomas Aquinas", "Heretics", and the "Collected Works" Volumes 4 and 5. Eventually I'll get his to his "Collected Works" Volumes 3, 20 and 21, "Tremendous Trifles", "A Miscellany of Men", and "The Well and The Shallows", but I think it might be awhile before I get to them.
If you haven't read any G.K. Chesterton, START! For fiction, start with "Man Alive" or the "Father Brown" stories. For non-fiction, delve into "The Everlasting Man". For a great overview, read Dale's two books. Watch the TV series on EWTN, or buy the DVDs. Join the American Chesterton Society and not only get "Gilbert!" magazine, but also member discounts on all the books!
You can thank me later.
~Trubador: The Arbiter of Common Sense
That was the extent of my Chesterton experience until my cable TV service started airing EWTN about five or six years ago (I now get EWTN via DishTV satellite). EWTN would begin airing this 1/2-hour series entitled "G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense", hosted by Dale Ahlquist. This broadened my world to the even broader world of G.K. Chesterton. I bought Dale's introductory book of the same name, which then lead me to reading "Orthodoxy", "St. Francis of Assisi", "The Flying Inn", Dale's second book "Common Sense 101", and then joining the American Chesterton Society (with it's offering of "Gilbert!" magazine).
When I started this blog some four years ago I chose the title "Arbiter of Common Sense" as a hat-tip to Chesterton. I even met Dale Ahlquist once about a year and a half ago when he came to my town to give a talk on all things Chesterton; had the chance to chat with him over breakfast at that morning's event, and bought his second book (which he graciously signed).
I've given a copy of "The Complete Father Brown Stories" as well as "Common Sense 101" to my Dad, and "The Everlasting Man" to one of my brother's, as gifts. Finally, I got around to buying that last book for myself - having just started reading it this past week (only a couple chapters in) - and have been struck by the powerful precision with which Chesterton presents his arguments.
Sitting on my bookshelves are several more G.K. tomes waiting patiently for my fingers to split open and turn their pages, including: "The Ball and The Cross", "St. Thomas Aquinas", "Heretics", and the "Collected Works" Volumes 4 and 5. Eventually I'll get his to his "Collected Works" Volumes 3, 20 and 21, "Tremendous Trifles", "A Miscellany of Men", and "The Well and The Shallows", but I think it might be awhile before I get to them.
If you haven't read any G.K. Chesterton, START! For fiction, start with "Man Alive" or the "Father Brown" stories. For non-fiction, delve into "The Everlasting Man". For a great overview, read Dale's two books. Watch the TV series on EWTN, or buy the DVDs. Join the American Chesterton Society and not only get "Gilbert!" magazine, but also member discounts on all the books!
You can thank me later.
~Trubador: The Arbiter of Common Sense
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Back in the saddle again...
I have returned from a brief trip back east to attend my brother's wedding (third go-round for him... long story). Good times were had by all, though I am exhausted. One day to fly. One day to recover from jet-lag. One day for the wedding. One day to fly back. Back to work the following day. Ugh!
Anyways... while that event was going on, another momentous event occurred back here in the good ole California courts regarding the re-definition of marriage.
Rather than expressing my own thoughts on the subject, I refer you to Dennis Prager's excellent commentary.
Heterosexism. Wow! Now that's exacting precision.
Anyways... while that event was going on, another momentous event occurred back here in the good ole California courts regarding the re-definition of marriage.
Rather than expressing my own thoughts on the subject, I refer you to Dennis Prager's excellent commentary.
Heterosexism. Wow! Now that's exacting precision.
Monday, May 12, 2008
EC:WC FCA - Three DVD Recommendations...
I’ve got three film recommendations for you that are out on DVD. All three are powerful films, with the first two having subtle/distant connections to 9/11.
“The Kite Runner” is based on the best selling book of the same title, set pre-9/11 (mostly in Afghanistan). It follows the long friendship and struggles of two childhood friends. It’s a foreign language film with English subtitles. It’s dark and powerful, yet finds its way towards hope and redemption.
Next is “Reign Over Me” starring Adam Sandler (yes, that Adam Sandler) and Don Cheadle. This is NOT your typical Sandler flick. It’s a drama with many moments of subtle and poignant humor. The premise is of two old classmates meeting for the first time in many years; Cheadle is a successful orthodontist, while Sandler has been “lost” after the national tragedy of 9/11 has crumbled his world.
The last film is “Bella” - a small, independent flick about a famous soccer player who retreats from his career and the world after being affected by a tragic incident. While working at his brother’s restaurant he observes one of the waitresses as she loses her job after arriving late one-too-many times. He suddenly feels the need to lend a helping hand, and the film explores their burgeoning relationship.
Enjoy all three! They're all better than most of the crap that's shoveled at you on both the big and small screen.
“The Kite Runner” is based on the best selling book of the same title, set pre-9/11 (mostly in Afghanistan). It follows the long friendship and struggles of two childhood friends. It’s a foreign language film with English subtitles. It’s dark and powerful, yet finds its way towards hope and redemption.
Next is “Reign Over Me” starring Adam Sandler (yes, that Adam Sandler) and Don Cheadle. This is NOT your typical Sandler flick. It’s a drama with many moments of subtle and poignant humor. The premise is of two old classmates meeting for the first time in many years; Cheadle is a successful orthodontist, while Sandler has been “lost” after the national tragedy of 9/11 has crumbled his world.
The last film is “Bella” - a small, independent flick about a famous soccer player who retreats from his career and the world after being affected by a tragic incident. While working at his brother’s restaurant he observes one of the waitresses as she loses her job after arriving late one-too-many times. He suddenly feels the need to lend a helping hand, and the film explores their burgeoning relationship.
Enjoy all three! They're all better than most of the crap that's shoveled at you on both the big and small screen.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
The Mary Jane March - 2008...
You just can't make this stuff up.
Dateline: Palm Springs, CA:
Ten people showed up... 10! Uhh, I gather all the others were so stoned they forgot about the march.
I guess the reason why it ended after only a couple blocks was because they all suddenly got the munchies and headed into the local Wienerschnitzel for corn dogs.
Classic! Just classic!
Dateline: Palm Springs, CA:
About 10 people gathered today in Palm Springs to take part in the Global Marijuana March, a police watch commander said.
"They walked a couple blocks and that was about it,'' said Palm Springs police Lt. Don Fallon. ``No problems. They were very cooperative.''
According to a website for the 2008 Global Marijuana March, people in 239 cities in Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas signed up to take part in the event today.
Organizers billed the global effort as the 10th annual march to legalize medical marijuana. Marchers in Palm Springs gathered about 11 a.m. near Indian Canyon Drive and Baristo Road.
Ten people showed up... 10! Uhh, I gather all the others were so stoned they forgot about the march.
I guess the reason why it ended after only a couple blocks was because they all suddenly got the munchies and headed into the local Wienerschnitzel for corn dogs.
Classic! Just classic!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
An Inconvenient Penguin...
Tonight I am going to the premiere of my friend & colleague's, Todd Lampe, new short film "An Inconvenient Penguin" in West Hollywood.
Todd creates these hilarious short flicks, and this is his biggest project yet. In this one he spoofs two sets of films at once - the plethora of penguin movies like "March of the Penguins" with Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth". I've seen a rough cut already and was laughing my a** off. Two showings tonight @ Lammle's on Sunset Blvd.
You can catch the trailer here. The official website is here. And you can check out Todd's previous short flicks at his Precipice Productions website. He's planning on submitting it to many of the film festivals throughout the country.
Good luck, Todd!!!
Todd creates these hilarious short flicks, and this is his biggest project yet. In this one he spoofs two sets of films at once - the plethora of penguin movies like "March of the Penguins" with Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth". I've seen a rough cut already and was laughing my a** off. Two showings tonight @ Lammle's on Sunset Blvd.
You can catch the trailer here. The official website is here. And you can check out Todd's previous short flicks at his Precipice Productions website. He's planning on submitting it to many of the film festivals throughout the country.
Good luck, Todd!!!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Lame attempts at being artistic #5...
Jen's post about art (which I referenced in the previous post) made me realize that it's been awhile since I've posted some art pix of my own. They're simple shots; nothing fancy. Hope you enjoy 'em.
CROSS BEAM
SAND FINGERS
LADYBUG SERIES 2 (purple)
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LADYBUG SERIES 5 (yellow w/ bee)
.jpg)
LIQUID GROOVES 1
LIQUID GROOVES 2
CROSS BEAM
SAND FINGERS
LADYBUG SERIES 2 (purple)
.jpg)
LADYBUG SERIES 5 (yellow w/ bee)
.jpg)
LIQUID GROOVES 1
LIQUID GROOVES 2
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Definition of Art...
(Hat-tip to Paragraph Farmer):
Jennifer of Et Tu? (a former atheist who is now a Catholic, and has been chronicling her journey on her blog), has an interesting post about poetry and art:
She goes on to discover:
Read the entire post here.
On a related note, it's time again for the Ventura ArtWalk - what was originally a tri-annual event on Saturdays in downtown Ventura has now become a bi-annual event that covers the entire weekend. This weekend is the Spring event, and the Autumn event will be in mid-October. For more information, click here.
Jennifer of Et Tu? (a former atheist who is now a Catholic, and has been chronicling her journey on her blog), has an interesting post about poetry and art:
"At some point after my conversion, I heard about the concept that true art is beautiful, in some form or another, and that in order to be beautiful it must convey truth. I didn't get it. How can art be true?..."
She goes on to discover:
"Art is the secret handshake of the children of God, the inside joke among those with souls. The spark that is ignited within us when we are touched by a work of art is a spark of recognition: the artist has brought us a souvenir from our homeland beyond the material world, the place that none of us should know about, but all of us do. To connect with a piece of art is to connect with the artist as a fellow traveler, to realize that you are both walking the same rocky road, and that he is homesick too. And it matters because true art, art that seeks a connection of souls, makes it harder to devalue and dehumanize one another. It reminds us what it means to be human."
Read the entire post here.
On a related note, it's time again for the Ventura ArtWalk - what was originally a tri-annual event on Saturdays in downtown Ventura has now become a bi-annual event that covers the entire weekend. This weekend is the Spring event, and the Autumn event will be in mid-October. For more information, click here.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Oil prices have NOTHING to do with supply & demand...
... nor do they have much to do with the "weak" U.S. dollar. Read between the lines from the comments of the OPEC chief:
As I have always suspected, the increase in prices have less to do with supply/demand or the status of the dollar, but more to do with the OPEC nations (most of which are in the Middle East) who are doing this to spite the Western World by using it as another "front" on the war with radical Islam.
How to deal with this problem? Easy!
Drill in ANWAR (upper Alaska, only two square miles of land out of 500,000 in that state), drill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida, extract oil from shale - extracting in place, not via excavation - in the four-state region of Colorado/Utah/Wyoming/Montana. These three things alone would supply us with 1/3 of the total amount of oil we annually export from overseas.
In addition, build new refineries (something which hasn't been done in over 25 years).
Build new nuclear fission power plants (one thing that France has done right. Notice that no accidents have occurred anywhere in the world since Chernobyl and 3 Mile Island? The industry has learned from these incidents and have become much safer).
Dump the stupid, corn-based ethanol fiasco (which is inefficient in that it takes too much energy to extract and convert ethanol from that source, plus it raises the cost of all other corn-base products as well as corn itself - for food and also for animal feed, which raises beef and chicken prices). Instead, import the more efficient sugar cane-base ethanol from Brazil and other South American allies.
Invest more in fuel-cell technology, nuclear fusion technology, and other alternative energy technologies (provided that they are promising, efficient, and cost-effective).
And, finally, break up OPEC and make individual producers do their bidding in a true, free open market system. This will foster competition while also letting the world know which oil-producing countries are doing suspect dealings (i.e., making known which questionable regimes they support by analyzing the pricing deals they make to sell their oil).
OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah el al-Badri said Sunday oil prices would likely go higher and that the group was ready to raise production if the price pressure was due to a shortage of supply — something he doubted.
"Oil prices, there is a common understanding that has nothing to do with supply and demand," al-Badri said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Rome.
Oil prices reached a new high Friday at $117 a barrel.
A host of supply and demand concerns in the U.S. and abroad, along with the dollar's weakness, have served to support prices, even as record retail gasoline prices in the U.S. appear to be dampening demand. Crude prices have risen as much as 4 percent last week.
The OPEC chief said the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries "will not hesitate" to increase production if the group thought the higher prices were due to shortages. But he said more oil will not solve the high prices.
OPEC's production levels were just one of many factors, he said.
"But how much higher it will go, of course it depends on a number of things: the political situation, whether there is a natural catastrophe, whether there are speculations in the market, whether there are strikes in certain producing countries. So there are many other factors other than OPEC production," al-Badri said.
As I have always suspected, the increase in prices have less to do with supply/demand or the status of the dollar, but more to do with the OPEC nations (most of which are in the Middle East) who are doing this to spite the Western World by using it as another "front" on the war with radical Islam.
How to deal with this problem? Easy!
Drill in ANWAR (upper Alaska, only two square miles of land out of 500,000 in that state), drill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida, extract oil from shale - extracting in place, not via excavation - in the four-state region of Colorado/Utah/Wyoming/Montana. These three things alone would supply us with 1/3 of the total amount of oil we annually export from overseas.
In addition, build new refineries (something which hasn't been done in over 25 years).
Build new nuclear fission power plants (one thing that France has done right. Notice that no accidents have occurred anywhere in the world since Chernobyl and 3 Mile Island? The industry has learned from these incidents and have become much safer).
Dump the stupid, corn-based ethanol fiasco (which is inefficient in that it takes too much energy to extract and convert ethanol from that source, plus it raises the cost of all other corn-base products as well as corn itself - for food and also for animal feed, which raises beef and chicken prices). Instead, import the more efficient sugar cane-base ethanol from Brazil and other South American allies.
Invest more in fuel-cell technology, nuclear fusion technology, and other alternative energy technologies (provided that they are promising, efficient, and cost-effective).
And, finally, break up OPEC and make individual producers do their bidding in a true, free open market system. This will foster competition while also letting the world know which oil-producing countries are doing suspect dealings (i.e., making known which questionable regimes they support by analyzing the pricing deals they make to sell their oil).
Links for Coverage of the Papal Visit to the U.S.A.
For those of you who are looking for extensive and quality coverage of the recent visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the U.S., I point you towards the following on-line resources:
* EWTN's dedicated site for full texts of all of the speeches, addresses and homilies, plus audio, video, photos, and commentary.
* Christopher (of Against The Grain) who opened a new website called "Benedict in America" specifically for the Papal visit.
* Rocco at Whispers In The Loggia for wonderful commentary.
* Fr. Zuhlsdorf for comprehensive liturgical and papal analysis.
* Paul at Alive and Young for some personal experience, reflection and humor.
You can't go wrong with these resources. Of course, you can also read Pope Benedict's works such as his book "Jesus of Nazareth" and "The Essential Pope Benedict XVI" (a compendium of his writings over the years), as well as all of his individual books and writings via Ignatius Press.
* EWTN's dedicated site for full texts of all of the speeches, addresses and homilies, plus audio, video, photos, and commentary.
* Christopher (of Against The Grain) who opened a new website called "Benedict in America" specifically for the Papal visit.
* Rocco at Whispers In The Loggia for wonderful commentary.
* Fr. Zuhlsdorf for comprehensive liturgical and papal analysis.
* Paul at Alive and Young for some personal experience, reflection and humor.
You can't go wrong with these resources. Of course, you can also read Pope Benedict's works such as his book "Jesus of Nazareth" and "The Essential Pope Benedict XVI" (a compendium of his writings over the years), as well as all of his individual books and writings via Ignatius Press.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Cult of Personality & Oprah...
/queue the Terrence Trent Darby music/
Read the full story here.
So is this what happens when you're regularly exposed to the rants and ravings of "Rev." Jeremiah Wright? You either run away from him (resulting in your rejecting the Truth of revelation in Jesus Christ - something Wright was supposed to be preaching, but wasn't - and thus making yourself vulnerable to false messiahs and false religions) as did Oprah, or you have him be your spiritual mentor for 20 years (and thus manufacture/transform yourself into your own false messiah) as did The Obamessiah?
There's really only one thing to do for these lost souls... PRAY FOR THEM! They obviously need it.
Oprah Winfrey may have gone too far in exploiting and distributing the teachings of a questionable New Age writer.
On Monday night, Winfrey conducted her weekly Web "event" seminar with New Age writer Eckhart Tolle. His message: "Life is the dancer and you are the dance."
Got that?
The seminar was No. 7 in a series of 10. On the first 90-minute Webcast with Tolle, Oprah extolled the author’s virtues, calling his best-selling "New Earth" book "one of the most important books of our time," the seminars one of "the most exciting things I’ve ever done."
Read the full story here.
So is this what happens when you're regularly exposed to the rants and ravings of "Rev." Jeremiah Wright? You either run away from him (resulting in your rejecting the Truth of revelation in Jesus Christ - something Wright was supposed to be preaching, but wasn't - and thus making yourself vulnerable to false messiahs and false religions) as did Oprah, or you have him be your spiritual mentor for 20 years (and thus manufacture/transform yourself into your own false messiah) as did The Obamessiah?
There's really only one thing to do for these lost souls... PRAY FOR THEM! They obviously need it.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Speaking of dopes...
Jimmy Carter, the undisputed WORST president of the 20th century, has chosen to visit with the Hamas leaders.
Via Fox News, what say one of these so-called leaders of Hamas?
Nice to see that Mr. Carter has maintained that impeccable and pristine integrity of his.
Via Fox News, what say one of these so-called leaders of Hamas?
A sermon last Friday by a prominent Muslim cleric and Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament openly declared that "the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital," would soon be conquered by Islam.
The fiery sermon, delivered by Yunis al-Astal and aired on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV, predicted that Rome would become "an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread though Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, even Eastern Europe."
"Allah has chosen you for Himself and for His religion," al-Astal preached, "so that you will serve as the engine pulling this nation to the phase of succession, security and consolidation of power, and even to conquests through da'wa and military conquests of the capitals of the entire world.
"Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our prophet Muhammad," he added.
Al-Astal last June preached how it was the duty of Palestinian women to martyr themselves by becoming homicide bombers.
"The most exalted form of jihad is fighting for the sake of Allah, which means sacrificing one's soul by fighting the enemies head-on, even if it leads to martyrdom," he said in a June 23, 2007 interview.
"When jihad becomes an individual duty, it applies to women too, because women do not differ from men when it comes to individual duties," he said, calling Jews "the brothers of apes and pigs" who should "taste the bitterness of death."
Friday's rant repeated that theme: "Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam, and has planted the brothers of apes and pigs in Palestine in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam.
"I believe that our children, or our grandchildren, will inherit our jihad and our sacrifices, and, Allah willing, the commanders of the conquest will come from among them.
"Today, we instill these good tidings in their souls – and by means of the mosques and the Koran books, and the history of our Prophets, his companions, and the great leaders, we prepare them for the mission of saving humanity from the hellfire at whose brink they stand."
Nice to see that Mr. Carter has maintained that impeccable and pristine integrity of his.
The gift that keeps on giving...
New things emerge from the Tony Rezko trial in Chicago (via RedState), with more intriguing links to The Obamessiah:
Yah know... earlier this year artist Shepard Fairey designed a limited edition poster for The Obamessiah. It harkened back to the old-style communist posters from the first half of the 20th century. The design was meant as a compliment, and the left wingnuts loved 'em:
I like this one better:
Or, how about this one?:
The Chicago Sun Times Rezko blog is reporting that Barack Obama attended a reception organized by his mentor, Tony Rezko, for Iraqi zillionaire Nadhmi Auchi:When Tony Rezko held a reception at his home for Iraqi-born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi on April 3, 2004, White House hopeful Barack Obama and his wife were also there, Stuart Levine testified just now at Rezko's trial.
Who is this Mr. Auchi?He was charged in the 1950s with being an accomplice of Saddam Hussein, when the future tyrant was acquiring his taste for blood. He was investigated in the 1980s for his part in alleged bribes to the fabulously corrupt leaders of post-war Italy. In the 1990s, the Belgium Ambassador to Luxembourg claimed that Auchi's bank held money Saddam and Colonel Gadaffi had stolen from their luckless peoples. In 2002, officers from the Serious Fraud Squad raided the offices of one of Auchi's drug companies as part of an investigation of what is alleged to be the biggest swindle ever of the NHS. With allegations, albeit unproven, like these hanging over him, wouldn't you think that British MPs would have the sense to stay away?
Yah know... earlier this year artist Shepard Fairey designed a limited edition poster for The Obamessiah. It harkened back to the old-style communist posters from the first half of the 20th century. The design was meant as a compliment, and the left wingnuts loved 'em:
I like this one better:
Or, how about this one?:
Saturday, April 12, 2008
What kinda of nut am I?
(hat-tip to the Happy Catholic for this one)
Given the old saw about California - it's the Granola State: one-third fruits, one-third nuts, and one-third flakes - and that I've been a resident here for almost 14 years, I always considered myself one of the "nuts"......... but, which nut?
Given the old saw about California - it's the Granola State: one-third fruits, one-third nuts, and one-third flakes - and that I've been a resident here for almost 14 years, I always considered myself one of the "nuts"......... but, which nut?
You Are a Hazelnut |
 You are very unique and distinct. You may even freak some people out. Most people don't really know how to interact with you. You get along best with anyone who is super sweet. But you really do get along with almost anyone. You just need a chance to wow them. |
An Inconvenient Penguin...
My friend and colleague, Todd Lampe, is putting his finishing touches on his short film, "An Inconvenient Penguin".
First screening is set for April 30. Submissions to all the film festivals to follow. Lots of tongue-in-cheek humor. I saw a rough cut of the film last week, and was laughing uncontrollably the entire 20 minutes.
You can watch the trailer here.
First screening is set for April 30. Submissions to all the film festivals to follow. Lots of tongue-in-cheek humor. I saw a rough cut of the film last week, and was laughing uncontrollably the entire 20 minutes.
You can watch the trailer here.
Obamessiah the Elitist Snob...
Why, it just gets better and better.
The Obamessiah steps in it BIG TIME, and both the Hillary and McCain camps are already starting to pound him hard on it.
Add to that his recent comment about pregnancy as "punishment":
Allahpundit and Captain Ed both comment here.
"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest... they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."
The Obamessiah steps in it BIG TIME, and both the Hillary and McCain camps are already starting to pound him hard on it.
Add to that his recent comment about pregnancy as "punishment":
“Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old," Obama said. "I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn't make sense to not give them information."
Allahpundit and Captain Ed both comment here.
Santorum on upcoming Pope B16 visit...
(Hat-tip to Creative Minority Report)
Great article/commentary from former PA U.S. Senator Rick Santorum on the upcoming visit by Pope Benedict XVI: (from the Philadelphia Inquirer):
Read the entire commentary here.
Great article/commentary from former PA U.S. Senator Rick Santorum on the upcoming visit by Pope Benedict XVI: (from the Philadelphia Inquirer):
Is Pope Benedict XVI coming to America to drop the hammer on the president for the Iraq war? You might think so if your gospel comes courtesy of the mainstream media. It's more likely that the pope will speak about the war at the United Nations as he has in the past - as a church leader addressing the challenges of finding a pathway for dialogue between two faiths in conflict.
The pope's only official church meeting is with all 213 presidents of Catholic undergraduate colleges and universities. Given the traditional and orthodox educational philosophy of this former university professor, as well as the sad recent history of Catholic higher education in America, one might well expect fireworks.
Since Vatican II, most Catholic colleges have sought to reduce their relationship with Catholicism and the church to a one-word marketing pitch - Catholic. On most Catholic campuses across the country, you might be surprised to learn that most professors are not Catholic and that the Catholics are often nonpracticing. These Catholic colleges routinely host speakers and artistic productions that oppose core Catholic teaching when they're not blatantly anti-Catholic, and I'm not just talking about Barack Obama's appearance at Mercyhurst or Hillary Clinton's at King's College. Even the gold standard of Catholic colleges, the University of Notre Dame, will soon drop below 50 percent Catholics on its faculty and have on-campus performances of The Vagina Monologues.
Most core curricula, if that exists, provide little exposure to the Catholic intellectual tradition. Even in the theology departments, which are supposed to be certified as authentically Catholic by the local diocese, students have to search long and hard to find a professor who will provide faithful Catholic teaching.
As for campus life, most Catholic colleges have abandoned their mission and duty to help shape the moral and spiritual formation of its students. In loco parentis has been reduced to facilitating loco behavior. It is nearly impossible to distinguish a list of authorized student organizations at Georgetown from those at Penn.
Read the entire commentary here.
WMDs in Syria???
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Just a little political observation...
(Refraining from mentioning what prompted this post.) When your liberal friends (out of nowhere) suddenly start quoting Ronald Reagan and the Declaration of Independence in order to try and convince you (a conservative) to vote for The Obamessiah, that just tells me that they must be very worried.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Congrats to the Jayhawks!
Congratulations to the Kansas Jayhawks for winning the NCAA National Championship. It was a heck of a game; tight, with a bunch of mini runs, and going into overtime.
Three key notes:
1) Memphis’ achilles heel - free throw shooting in the clutch - brought them down late in the game.
2) Both head coaches were mentored by the great, incomparable Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown.
3) This will be the third time in the last four years that my Villanova Wildcats lost in the Tournament to the eventual champions: North Carolina in the Sweet 16 in 2005, Florida in the Elite Eight in 2006, and Kansas this year in the Sweet Sixteen.
Villanova will definitely be a Top-12 team in the pre-season polls next season. With freshman guard Malcolm Grant opting to transfer to get starting playing time (something he won't be able to do with Villanova's deep bench at the guard position), it opens up a scholarship for Jay Wright to get a tall, wide body under the basket - something they desperately need given that their tallest player is 6'10" sophomore Drummond (who broke his ankle in the tourney, and who has been hampered by injuries both seasons). If the Wildcats can get a true center, they'll definitely become a Top-5 team for next year.
Three key notes:
1) Memphis’ achilles heel - free throw shooting in the clutch - brought them down late in the game.
2) Both head coaches were mentored by the great, incomparable Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown.
3) This will be the third time in the last four years that my Villanova Wildcats lost in the Tournament to the eventual champions: North Carolina in the Sweet 16 in 2005, Florida in the Elite Eight in 2006, and Kansas this year in the Sweet Sixteen.
Villanova will definitely be a Top-12 team in the pre-season polls next season. With freshman guard Malcolm Grant opting to transfer to get starting playing time (something he won't be able to do with Villanova's deep bench at the guard position), it opens up a scholarship for Jay Wright to get a tall, wide body under the basket - something they desperately need given that their tallest player is 6'10" sophomore Drummond (who broke his ankle in the tourney, and who has been hampered by injuries both seasons). If the Wildcats can get a true center, they'll definitely become a Top-5 team for next year.
My Southern Puddle-Jumper Experience
Per request from an on-line friend, I was able to find my notes from a unique airline flight I had a couple years ago from Birmingham, AL, to Charlotte, NC (It was after my 2-day visit to EWTN). I call these relatively short flights "puddle-jumpers", and the flight attendants on these puddle-jumpers in the South have a tendency to stray from the normal safety protocol script that you get at the beginning of your flight. In fact, if you didn’t know any better, you’d think you had just stumbled in a "Night At The Improv". What follows (practically verbatim... it was so funny - and unexpected - that I had to take notes) was the "routine" given on that surreal flight from the female comed-... uh, I’m mean "flight attendant". The names and airlines have been omitted to protect the guilty.
Only in the South.
You can imagine the looks on everyone’s face during and after that "opening monologue".
"In the seat pocket in front of you there is a safety card for you to follow along. It’s got pretty pictures. If you’ve heard this a thousand times before, at least pretend to read over the card. You people in Rows 15 and 16? You HAVE to read the card.
For those of you who haven’t driven in a car since 1964, shame on you! For the rest of you, you’ll need to fasten your seat-belt just like you do in your car.
Please put you seats in the upright and uncomfortable position for take-off.
In case of an emergency, yellow oxygen masks will drop down from the ceiling. If you have a small child, or if the person next to you is acting like a small child, please put your mask on first before assisting the child.
If you happen to be in the lavatory when an emergency occurs, for your convenience a mask will drop in there as well. It’s a little different, just pull down the tag that says "pull". After you’re done screaming, please place the mask over your face and adjust the straps accordingly.
If we should happen to need to land in one of the 3000 swimming pools between Birmingham and Charlotte, your seat may be used as a floatation device.
There’s no smoking allowed at any time during this or any other flight. There is, however, smoking allowed on the wings. If you can light it, you can smoke it. But, you’ll be gone in 60 seconds.
There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only six ways to leave this airplane: two in front of the aircraft, and four in the middle.
If you need a personal light to be able to read during the flight, press the yellow button above you. If you need assistance from one of the flight attendants, press the green button. Pressing it once is free. Press it three or four times and you’ll be charged $5.00 per press. Press it more than five times and your seat will be ejected. You think I’m joking? Just try it!
We may experience turbulence during the flight. If so, please remain seated and keep your seat-belt fastened. We wouldn’t want you to get a headache for the rest of the day.
Thank you for flying ________ Airlines."
Only in the South.
You can imagine the looks on everyone’s face during and after that "opening monologue".
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Conservative vs. Liberal, among other things...
Sean over at The Blue Boar had a thought-provoking post which generated an intriguing discussion in the comments section. Kyro over at Chesterton and Friends made his own post, and Sean did a follow-up. I dove into the deep end of the comment pool so rather than duplicating that info here I'd suggest you read the posts (linked above) and all of the comments.
The subsequent issues of Just War and torture have been delved into much deeper by Against The Grain and Mark Shea (dueling sides) last year. I'll leave you to browse/weed through their archives (Grain's and Mark's) for their in-depth analysis (which got pretty animated at times). The posts are spotty and go back over time, so you may have to scroll down often to get to the pertinent posts. Other bloggers have been involved in the discussion, and they are linked within the individual posts.
UPDATE: Kyro adds a new post on the subject. Well worth the read.
The subsequent issues of Just War and torture have been delved into much deeper by Against The Grain and Mark Shea (dueling sides) last year. I'll leave you to browse/weed through their archives (Grain's and Mark's) for their in-depth analysis (which got pretty animated at times). The posts are spotty and go back over time, so you may have to scroll down often to get to the pertinent posts. Other bloggers have been involved in the discussion, and they are linked within the individual posts.
UPDATE: Kyro adds a new post on the subject. Well worth the read.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
My April Fools Day Joke...
Come this November, your choices for President of the United States will be from these three narcissistic candidates:
Lady MacBeth (the Hill-dabeast):
or
The Obamessiah (the Inexperienced Empty-Suit Charlatan):
and
Doctor Strangelove (the Aged Hot-Tempered McMaverick):
OHH.... WAIT.... That's not an April Fools joke!
THOSE ARE OUR REAL CHOICES!!!
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Lady MacBeth (the Hill-dabeast):
or
The Obamessiah (the Inexperienced Empty-Suit Charlatan):
and
Doctor Strangelove (the Aged Hot-Tempered McMaverick):
OHH.... WAIT.... That's not an April Fools joke!
THOSE ARE OUR REAL CHOICES!!!
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Unfinished books...
Several weeks ago I posted my answers to a meme which listed six things about myself. One of my answers was with regard to unfinished books that I've read.
Well, while I was cleaning my apartment I decided to browse through my bookshelves to determine which books I am currently "in the middle of" - books I have started but have not quite finished reading through to the end.
Ummm..... turns out that the total is not 6 books, but..... 14! (yikes) And this does not include short story compilations, poetry compilations, and spiritual meditations/advice type books which are not meant to be read from cover-to-cover like a novel or biography.
The 14 books I am currently in varying degrees of unfinishedness?:
100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: I read his "Love in the Time of Cholera" about a decade ago. I was fascinated by that book; though it is not for everyone, and it has some disturbing portions. But his "100 Years" really was a disappointment. After reading a quarter of the way through it I just gave up. Maybe I'll try to trudge through it at some point in the future. I'd rather re-read Italo Calvino novels and short stories.
Don Quixote by Cervantes: A classic, yes. But it is waaaaaaaaay too long and rambling. I've tried three times to read it. I've gotten further with each attempt. One day I'll make it through to the end.
Don Juan by Lord Byron: I started this but only went through the first Canto. I knew it was going to start slow, but there are passages later on which are fascinating. I decided to save this for another time when I'm ready to embrace the wild romp.
Histories by Herodotus: I stumbled upon this book via the film "The English Patient". I'm about 80% through it, and when I'm in the mood I pick up where I left off. It's difficult to remember things in their historical context within the narrative when you take long breaks between readings, but parts of it are fascinating and even hilarious.
My Antonia by Willa Cather: I read through much of this book, then did something I NEVER do... I skipped to the end. I was less than thrilled with how the novel ended, so I ended up just scanning through the remaining pages inbetween and glossed through them. I guess I got a little impatient with Cather's narrative, despite some beautiful prose.
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson: A nonfiction telling of the search for a sunken German WWII sub off the Atlantic coast. Don't know why I stopped this one. It's very intriguing, with a host of colorful characters involved in the search.
The History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage: Another nonfiction book which looks at the history of the world through the discovery/invention of six important imbibes: beer, wine, distilled liquor, coffee, tea, and cola. I've read the first four sections, and will eventually finish off the tea & cola. The constant usage of the chronological references "B.C.E." and "C.E." are annoying, though.
The Eight by Katherine Neville: A modern novel recommended by one of my nephews. Supposed to be similar in style to Umberto Eco's tomes. Got about 10% through it. Ehh.
The Winner by David Baldacci: Another modern novel; a suspense/thriller about a rigged national lottery. I got pretty far with this one, but some of the plot points just didn't fly with me. There is just something about much of today's fiction that leaves me less than satisfied. Ray Bradbury, definitely! Early Robert Ludlum for some fun-filled suspense, sure (not the movies, though). But too much of today's excuse for literature is nothing more than unfulfilling (is that a word?) fast food.
American Jihad by Stephen Emerson: An important book (along with quite a few others written in recent years) that gives eye-opening information about the state of Jihad and Islamic radicalism not only around the world but also within the U.S. Emerson gets a bit bogged down with details, and the proliferation of names and organizations become a blur. I would still recommend this important book.
The Confessions of St. Augustine: I'm actually almost finished with this. I think I have two and a half more "books/sections" left. You can't really read this in one sitting, or through long stretches. It's too dense, spiritually. I'm afraid to even attempt his "City of God".
No Man Is An Island by Thomas Merton: Lent to me by a friend. I'm not too much of a fan of his, but if you're going to read one book by him then this is the one! I found myself underlining passages left and right as I chewed through this. I had forgotten all about this book as I scanned through my shelves. I'll finish it after I'm done with "Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons" by Raymond Arroyo (a book I didn't include in this list because it's just short little one-sentence or two-paragraph spiritual lessons and insights - not an actual novel or non-fiction story. She's one smart, funny, and inspiring lady. And I'm almost finished with this book, too.).
Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body by Pope John Paul II: This thick book (with the current updated additions and corrections) is dense both theologically and philosophically. Thank goodness I first read Christopher West's brief primer, "Theology of the Body for Beginners". This important book is meant to be read one section at a time (each never being longer than eight pages). I plan on taking my time through the rest of this year to read it.
... and, finally...
Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths by Regine Pernoud: I just started reading this book (translated from the original french, written in the 70s). A bit scholarly, a little dated, and a little narrow in focus from a French point of view. But an important book nonetheless.
That's it! Most of these I'll finish eventually. A few I may not even bother picking back up again. But the list is dwarfed by the hundreds that I have read over the years. It's also dwarfed by the many books sitting on my shelves still waiting for me to crack open and start.
*sigh* So many books, so little time.
Well, while I was cleaning my apartment I decided to browse through my bookshelves to determine which books I am currently "in the middle of" - books I have started but have not quite finished reading through to the end.
Ummm..... turns out that the total is not 6 books, but..... 14! (yikes) And this does not include short story compilations, poetry compilations, and spiritual meditations/advice type books which are not meant to be read from cover-to-cover like a novel or biography.
The 14 books I am currently in varying degrees of unfinishedness?:
100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: I read his "Love in the Time of Cholera" about a decade ago. I was fascinated by that book; though it is not for everyone, and it has some disturbing portions. But his "100 Years" really was a disappointment. After reading a quarter of the way through it I just gave up. Maybe I'll try to trudge through it at some point in the future. I'd rather re-read Italo Calvino novels and short stories.
Don Quixote by Cervantes: A classic, yes. But it is waaaaaaaaay too long and rambling. I've tried three times to read it. I've gotten further with each attempt. One day I'll make it through to the end.
Don Juan by Lord Byron: I started this but only went through the first Canto. I knew it was going to start slow, but there are passages later on which are fascinating. I decided to save this for another time when I'm ready to embrace the wild romp.
Histories by Herodotus: I stumbled upon this book via the film "The English Patient". I'm about 80% through it, and when I'm in the mood I pick up where I left off. It's difficult to remember things in their historical context within the narrative when you take long breaks between readings, but parts of it are fascinating and even hilarious.
My Antonia by Willa Cather: I read through much of this book, then did something I NEVER do... I skipped to the end. I was less than thrilled with how the novel ended, so I ended up just scanning through the remaining pages inbetween and glossed through them. I guess I got a little impatient with Cather's narrative, despite some beautiful prose.
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson: A nonfiction telling of the search for a sunken German WWII sub off the Atlantic coast. Don't know why I stopped this one. It's very intriguing, with a host of colorful characters involved in the search.
The History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage: Another nonfiction book which looks at the history of the world through the discovery/invention of six important imbibes: beer, wine, distilled liquor, coffee, tea, and cola. I've read the first four sections, and will eventually finish off the tea & cola. The constant usage of the chronological references "B.C.E." and "C.E." are annoying, though.
The Eight by Katherine Neville: A modern novel recommended by one of my nephews. Supposed to be similar in style to Umberto Eco's tomes. Got about 10% through it. Ehh.
The Winner by David Baldacci: Another modern novel; a suspense/thriller about a rigged national lottery. I got pretty far with this one, but some of the plot points just didn't fly with me. There is just something about much of today's fiction that leaves me less than satisfied. Ray Bradbury, definitely! Early Robert Ludlum for some fun-filled suspense, sure (not the movies, though). But too much of today's excuse for literature is nothing more than unfulfilling (is that a word?) fast food.
American Jihad by Stephen Emerson: An important book (along with quite a few others written in recent years) that gives eye-opening information about the state of Jihad and Islamic radicalism not only around the world but also within the U.S. Emerson gets a bit bogged down with details, and the proliferation of names and organizations become a blur. I would still recommend this important book.
The Confessions of St. Augustine: I'm actually almost finished with this. I think I have two and a half more "books/sections" left. You can't really read this in one sitting, or through long stretches. It's too dense, spiritually. I'm afraid to even attempt his "City of God".
No Man Is An Island by Thomas Merton: Lent to me by a friend. I'm not too much of a fan of his, but if you're going to read one book by him then this is the one! I found myself underlining passages left and right as I chewed through this. I had forgotten all about this book as I scanned through my shelves. I'll finish it after I'm done with "Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons" by Raymond Arroyo (a book I didn't include in this list because it's just short little one-sentence or two-paragraph spiritual lessons and insights - not an actual novel or non-fiction story. She's one smart, funny, and inspiring lady. And I'm almost finished with this book, too.).
Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body by Pope John Paul II: This thick book (with the current updated additions and corrections) is dense both theologically and philosophically. Thank goodness I first read Christopher West's brief primer, "Theology of the Body for Beginners". This important book is meant to be read one section at a time (each never being longer than eight pages). I plan on taking my time through the rest of this year to read it.
... and, finally...
Those Terrible Middle Ages: Debunking the Myths by Regine Pernoud: I just started reading this book (translated from the original french, written in the 70s). A bit scholarly, a little dated, and a little narrow in focus from a French point of view. But an important book nonetheless.
That's it! Most of these I'll finish eventually. A few I may not even bother picking back up again. But the list is dwarfed by the hundreds that I have read over the years. It's also dwarfed by the many books sitting on my shelves still waiting for me to crack open and start.
*sigh* So many books, so little time.
MARCH MADNESS - THE FINAL FOUR
With a squeaker last game, then Final four teams are set: North Carolina vs. Kansas, and UCLA vs. Memphis. As I had predicted, it's the first time that all four #1 seeds made it to the Final Four since the expansion to 64 teams in 1985.
I think it's going to be NC vs. Memphis for the Championship, with the Tar Heels winning it all. Should be a heck of a Final Four weekend next week.
I think it's going to be NC vs. Memphis for the Championship, with the Tar Heels winning it all. Should be a heck of a Final Four weekend next week.
So... about this Obamessiah guy...
So, Barack's pastor, Jeremiah Wright, thinks that America is “irrevocably bound to a tragic past”. Yet, Barrack’s campaign is about “change, hope, and 'yes we can'”. But how can that be so when Obama:
* Was an active member of the church for over 20 years with Wright as pastor
* Was married to his wife by Wright
* Had his children baptized by Wright
* Had his home blessed by Wright
* Gave tens-of-thousands in donations to the church
* Titled a book after one of Wright’s sermons
* Reflects on Wright's sermons in both books
* Had regularly listened to Wright ‘s sermons on tape while at grad school
* Had appointed Wright to his presidential campaign
* Claimed Wright as his spiritual mentor and advisor
Maybe it’s because he was “unaware” of all that vile rhetoric until early 2007?
Ummmm... I don't think so.
As time has passed, a whole slew of news reports, blog posts and analysis have pretty much made it absolutely clear what a charlatan Barack Hussein Obama real is (as well as being, what I've said from the beginning, an inexperienced empty suit).
For complete analysis of both Wright & Obama, I point you to this panoply of posts:
From Erick over at RedState.
From Juan Williams of Fox News (no conservative, he).
From Little Green Footballs on Trinity Church trying to change their website to cover their tracks.
Michelle Malkin's full analysis of "the speech" (you know... the non-apology apology from The Obamessiah).
Captain Ed (formerly of Captain's Quarters, and now over at Hot Air), on pointing out that Obama's failed (yes, failed) speech in Philadelphia was really intended for a very small and narrow audience.
Flopping Aces going through pertinent quotes from Obama in light of Wright's rants.
And Flopping Aces points out the obvious point that many people have missed from the speech. The key quotes from just a year apart:
James Taranto delves into the "black liberation theology" and the disturbing Wright quotes (with a link to ABC News... you know, that "right wing" news organization).
NOTE: This whole "black liberation theology" b.s. is nothing other than a twisting of Christian theology into Marxist militancy and a so-called justification for violence. Another form of "liberation theology" reared it's ugly head in South America from the 50s through the 80s within the Catholic Church. When Pope John Paul II visited Nicaragua in 1983 he publicly scolded Rev. Ernesto Cardenal, the minister of culture in Nicaragua’s then-new Sandinista government, because of his continued disobedience in continuing the "liberation theology" movement in the region.
American Thinker's analysis on whether The Obamessiah may just be Jimmy Carter version 2.0.
Charles Krauthammer's article on "The Brilliant Fraud".
Flopping Aces, yet again, on the links among Obama, Rezko, Wright, Farrahkan and the Weather Underground (this is very telling).
John at PowerLine on Obama's throwing his grandmother under the bus by labeling her as "a typical white person".
American Thinker continues to investigate the "property deal" between Obama and Rezko (with intriguing satellite pictures).
And Hugh Hewitt has been broadcasting excerpts of Barack's audiobook, "Dreams of My Grandfather". The book was published in 1995, but the audiobook was recorded - in Barack's own voice - in 2005 (after he was elected U.S. Senator, and around the time he was planning to run for the presidency). More from Hewitt here.
Even more info regarding the Passport Snooping investigation (and an Obama link?).
Rolling Stone magazine did an expose on The Obamessiah last year (very interesting). Just One Minute delves deeper.
And The Autonomist points to the NewsMax story about Barack being in attendance during one of Wright's pulpit preaching moments.
Then, of course, we have the so-called "pro-life" Democrat Senator Bob Casey Jr. endorsing The Obamessiah. Remember that it was The Obamessiah who lead the opposition in the Senate to deny basic health care to infants who happen to survive a failed abortion (a bill which Hillary, Barbara Boxer and Ted Kennedy all supported).
And, finally, we have two pictures that point out the blatant hypocrisy and political expediency of The Obamessiah. Remember, it was not too long ago during the early portions of the campaign that Barack would refuse to place his hand over his heart and pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America:
Yet, when The Obamessiah wanted to give his speech to not-quite apologize and not-really distance himself from his racist, bigoted and un-Christian pastor & spiritual advisor, Jeremigh Wright.... well, he just couldn't seem to find quite enough flags for his patriotic backdrop (thanks to Creative Minority Report):
Of course, The Hildabeast has her own issues with the Bosnian sniper incident that never was.
The fun of it all is seeing both Hillary MacBeth and The Obamessiah duke it out all the way to the Democratic National Convention in late August - neither getting enough delegates to win the nomination outright, with Barrack in the delegate lead, but with Hillary most likely having the popular vote lead, and Florida (of all states) and Michagan voters being (as liberals love to say) "disenfranchised" - thus leaving both of them politically bloodied and battered, with no one to blame but themselves.
Someone, please pass the buttered popcorn. This is fun. More entertaining than most of what Hollywood tries to pass for theater entertainment.
UPDATED FOR ADDITIONAL POST LINKS
* Was an active member of the church for over 20 years with Wright as pastor
* Was married to his wife by Wright
* Had his children baptized by Wright
* Had his home blessed by Wright
* Gave tens-of-thousands in donations to the church
* Titled a book after one of Wright’s sermons
* Reflects on Wright's sermons in both books
* Had regularly listened to Wright ‘s sermons on tape while at grad school
* Had appointed Wright to his presidential campaign
* Claimed Wright as his spiritual mentor and advisor
Maybe it’s because he was “unaware” of all that vile rhetoric until early 2007?
Ummmm... I don't think so.
As time has passed, a whole slew of news reports, blog posts and analysis have pretty much made it absolutely clear what a charlatan Barack Hussein Obama real is (as well as being, what I've said from the beginning, an inexperienced empty suit).
For complete analysis of both Wright & Obama, I point you to this panoply of posts:
From Erick over at RedState.
From Juan Williams of Fox News (no conservative, he).
From Little Green Footballs on Trinity Church trying to change their website to cover their tracks.
Michelle Malkin's full analysis of "the speech" (you know... the non-apology apology from The Obamessiah).
Captain Ed (formerly of Captain's Quarters, and now over at Hot Air), on pointing out that Obama's failed (yes, failed) speech in Philadelphia was really intended for a very small and narrow audience.
Flopping Aces going through pertinent quotes from Obama in light of Wright's rants.
And Flopping Aces points out the obvious point that many people have missed from the speech. The key quotes from just a year apart:
“The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation,”
–Barack H. Obama, March 14, 2008
“Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes.”
–Barack H. Obama, March 18, 2007
James Taranto delves into the "black liberation theology" and the disturbing Wright quotes (with a link to ABC News... you know, that "right wing" news organization).
NOTE: This whole "black liberation theology" b.s. is nothing other than a twisting of Christian theology into Marxist militancy and a so-called justification for violence. Another form of "liberation theology" reared it's ugly head in South America from the 50s through the 80s within the Catholic Church. When Pope John Paul II visited Nicaragua in 1983 he publicly scolded Rev. Ernesto Cardenal, the minister of culture in Nicaragua’s then-new Sandinista government, because of his continued disobedience in continuing the "liberation theology" movement in the region.
Question: "What is Liberation Theology?"
Answer: Simply put, Liberation Theology is an attempt to interpret Scripture through the plight of the poor. It is largely a humanistic doctrine. It started in South America in the turbulent 1950's when Marxism was making great gains among the poor because of its emphasis on the redistribution of wealth, allowing poor peasants to share in the wealth of the colonial elite and thus upgrade their economic status in life. As a theology, it has very strong Roman Catholic roots.
Liberation Theology was bolstered in 1968 at the Second Latin American Bishops Conference which met in Medellin, Colombia. The idea was to study the Bible and to fight for social justice in Christian (Catholic) communities. Since the only governmental model for the redistribution of the wealth in a South American country was a Marxist model (gained in the turbulent 1950's), the redistribution of wealth to raise the economic standards of the poor in South America took on a definite Marxist flavor. Since those who had money were very reluctant to part with it in any wealth redistribution model, the use of a populist (read poor) revolt was encouraged by those who worked most closely with the poor. As a result, the Liberation Theology model was mired in Marxist dogma and revolutionary causes.
As a result of its Marxist leanings, by the 1980's the Catholic hierarchy, from Pope John Paul on down, had criticized liberation theology as practiced by the bishops and priests of South America. As a result, they have been accused of supporting violent revolutions and outright Marxist class struggle by the top hierarchy of the Catholic Church. This perversion usually is the result of a humanist view of man being codified into Church Doctrine by zealous priests and bishops and explains why the Catholic top hierarchy now want to separate themselves from a Marxist doctrine and revolution.
However, Liberation Theology has moved from the poor peasants in South America to the poor blacks in America. We now have Black Liberation Theology being preached in the black community. It is the same Marxist, revolutionary, humanistic philosophy found in South American Liberation Theology and has no more claim for a scriptural basis than the South American model has. False doctrine is still false, no matter how it is dressed up or what fancy name is attached to it. In the same way that revolutionary fervor was stirred up in South America, Liberation Theology is now trying to stir up revolutionary fervor among Blacks in America. If the church in America recognizes the falseness of Black Liberation Theology as the Catholic Church did in the South American model, Black Liberation Theology will suffer the same fate that the South America Liberation Theology did, namely it will be seen to be the false doctrine of a humanist viewpoint dressed up in theological terms.
American Thinker's analysis on whether The Obamessiah may just be Jimmy Carter version 2.0.
Charles Krauthammer's article on "The Brilliant Fraud".
Flopping Aces, yet again, on the links among Obama, Rezko, Wright, Farrahkan and the Weather Underground (this is very telling).
John at PowerLine on Obama's throwing his grandmother under the bus by labeling her as "a typical white person".
American Thinker continues to investigate the "property deal" between Obama and Rezko (with intriguing satellite pictures).
And Hugh Hewitt has been broadcasting excerpts of Barack's audiobook, "Dreams of My Grandfather". The book was published in 1995, but the audiobook was recorded - in Barack's own voice - in 2005 (after he was elected U.S. Senator, and around the time he was planning to run for the presidency). More from Hewitt here.
Even more info regarding the Passport Snooping investigation (and an Obama link?).
Rolling Stone magazine did an expose on The Obamessiah last year (very interesting). Just One Minute delves deeper.
And The Autonomist points to the NewsMax story about Barack being in attendance during one of Wright's pulpit preaching moments.
Then, of course, we have the so-called "pro-life" Democrat Senator Bob Casey Jr. endorsing The Obamessiah. Remember that it was The Obamessiah who lead the opposition in the Senate to deny basic health care to infants who happen to survive a failed abortion (a bill which Hillary, Barbara Boxer and Ted Kennedy all supported).
And, finally, we have two pictures that point out the blatant hypocrisy and political expediency of The Obamessiah. Remember, it was not too long ago during the early portions of the campaign that Barack would refuse to place his hand over his heart and pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America:
Yet, when The Obamessiah wanted to give his speech to not-quite apologize and not-really distance himself from his racist, bigoted and un-Christian pastor & spiritual advisor, Jeremigh Wright.... well, he just couldn't seem to find quite enough flags for his patriotic backdrop (thanks to Creative Minority Report):
Of course, The Hildabeast has her own issues with the Bosnian sniper incident that never was.
The fun of it all is seeing both Hillary MacBeth and The Obamessiah duke it out all the way to the Democratic National Convention in late August - neither getting enough delegates to win the nomination outright, with Barrack in the delegate lead, but with Hillary most likely having the popular vote lead, and Florida (of all states) and Michagan voters being (as liberals love to say) "disenfranchised" - thus leaving both of them politically bloodied and battered, with no one to blame but themselves.
Someone, please pass the buttered popcorn. This is fun. More entertaining than most of what Hollywood tries to pass for theater entertainment.
UPDATED FOR ADDITIONAL POST LINKS
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Feelin' The Squeeze...
Going through a little financial belt tightening now as my employer has just instituted an across-the-board 10% cut in salaries in order to keep things going through a rough stretch.
Prayers would be much appreciated.
Prayers would be much appreciated.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
*GRIN*
There is NOTHING sweeter for a Wildcat alum than seeing Villanova win to get into the Sweet 16... annnnnd to see Georgetown LOSE!
OH YEAH!!!
Happy Easter, everyone!
OH YEAH!!!
Happy Easter, everyone!
Friday, March 21, 2008
March Madness - the first round round-up...
Villanova overcomes an 18 point first-half deficit to knock off Clemson (WOOT!), ending the first round with flair. All four lower seeds (#12s & #13s) that played in Tampa today pulled off the upsets.
Re: my first round match-ups? I’m 22-10 with a pristine South bracket and losing only 2 of my Sweet 16 teams (neither of my losers do I have going beyond Round 2 anyway).
The Wildcats start off Sunday’s round of games against fellow underdog Siena. The winner gets to go to the Sweet 16, potentially against #1 seed Kansas. Gotta love it!
Re: my first round match-ups? I’m 22-10 with a pristine South bracket and losing only 2 of my Sweet 16 teams (neither of my losers do I have going beyond Round 2 anyway).
The Wildcats start off Sunday’s round of games against fellow underdog Siena. The winner gets to go to the Sweet 16, potentially against #1 seed Kansas. Gotta love it!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
MARCH MADNESS - DAY 1
I was going to post (in detail) about the latest Obamessiah mess. But I'll save that for later. On to more important things.... like... MARCH MADNESS TIME!!!
Okay... tip-off of the first game starts in under 30 minutes. Normally, I go through all the picks meticulously - schedule details, team makeup, injuries, strengths & weaknesses, etc. - but this year I just went (as best as I could) with just a brief glimpse at the match-ups. So... without further ado... here are my picks for the first round:
EAST
North Carolina
Indiana
Notre Dame
Washington State
St. Joe’s
Louisville
Butler
Tennessee
MIDWEST
Kansas
Kent State
Villanova
Vanderbilt
USC
Wisconsin
Gonzaga
Georgetown
SOUTH
Memphis
Mississippi State
Michigan State
Pitt
Marquette
Stanford
Miami
Texas
WEST
UCLA
BYU
Drake
UConn
Purdue
Georgia
West Virginia
Duke
======================
My SWEET 16 are:
North Carolina vs. Notre Dame
Louisville vs. Tennessee
Kansas vs. Villanova
Wisconsin vs. Georgetown
Memphis vs. Pittsburgh
Stanford vs. Texas
UCLA vs. Drake
Georgia vs. Duke
=========================
My FINAL FOUR will be:
North Carolina vs. Kansas
UCLA vs. winner of Memphis/Pittsburgh
If Memphis wins, this’ll be the first time that all four #1 seeds get to the Final Four.
So... what are YOUR picks???
Okay... tip-off of the first game starts in under 30 minutes. Normally, I go through all the picks meticulously - schedule details, team makeup, injuries, strengths & weaknesses, etc. - but this year I just went (as best as I could) with just a brief glimpse at the match-ups. So... without further ado... here are my picks for the first round:
EAST
North Carolina
Indiana
Notre Dame
Washington State
St. Joe’s
Louisville
Butler
Tennessee
MIDWEST
Kansas
Kent State
Villanova
Vanderbilt
USC
Wisconsin
Gonzaga
Georgetown
SOUTH
Memphis
Mississippi State
Michigan State
Pitt
Marquette
Stanford
Miami
Texas
WEST
UCLA
BYU
Drake
UConn
Purdue
Georgia
West Virginia
Duke
======================
My SWEET 16 are:
North Carolina vs. Notre Dame
Louisville vs. Tennessee
Kansas vs. Villanova
Wisconsin vs. Georgetown
Memphis vs. Pittsburgh
Stanford vs. Texas
UCLA vs. Drake
Georgia vs. Duke
=========================
My FINAL FOUR will be:
North Carolina vs. Kansas
UCLA vs. winner of Memphis/Pittsburgh
If Memphis wins, this’ll be the first time that all four #1 seeds get to the Final Four.
So... what are YOUR picks???
Thursday, March 13, 2008
I give you "The Obamessiah's" Spiritual Mentor...
(HT to Redstate)
Excerpt from Redstate's post:
Watch the video of Jeremiah Wright here.
UPDATE: Now PowerLine has a post which links to an ABC News story regarding Mr. Wright:
ABC News story link here.
Fox News story link here.
'Tis about friggin' time the MSM (mainstream media) finally started examining this aspect of The Obamessiah's life. Now, if they'd only focus also on the Tony Rezko trial as well.
Excerpt from Redstate's post:
Barack Obama's book "Audacity of Hope" was titled after a sermon from his mentor, Jeremiah Wright. Mr. Wright's congregation, is more about black empowerment than the saving grace of Jesus Christ. The media is trying desperately to avoid this story...
I love the part where he talks about Jesus being a black man put down by rich white people a/k/a the Romans who were Italians who were Europeans ergo "White People." Then of course there is his reference to "the US of KKK A." Nice.
Watch the video of Jeremiah Wright here.
UPDATE: Now PowerLine has a post which links to an ABC News story regarding Mr. Wright:
ABC News reports that Barack Obama's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, says blacks should not sing "God Bless America" but "God damn America." Wright thinks God should damn America for "treating our citizens as less than human" and "for [acting] like she is God and she is supreme." Wright also told his congregation on the Sunday after Sept. 11, 2001 that the United States had brought on al Qaeda's attacks because of its own terrorism. Among the "terrorism" Wright thinks the U.S. has supported is "terrorism against the Palestinians," by which he must mean Israel's efforts to defend itself.
Wright has been Obama's pastor for 20 years. He married Obama and his wife Michelle, baptized their two daughters and is credited by Obama for the title of his book, The Audacity of Hope. Obama says he was not at the church on the day Wright blamed America for 9/11. "It sounds like he was trying to be provocative," is the best Obama can offer on this one.
More generally, according to ABC, Obama has said, "I don't think my church is actually particularly controversial." This suggests that Obama considers Wright's statements about America (that it treats its citizens as less than human and brought 9/11 on itself) defensible.
ABC News story link here.
Fox News story link here.
'Tis about friggin' time the MSM (mainstream media) finally started examining this aspect of The Obamessiah's life. Now, if they'd only focus also on the Tony Rezko trial as well.
RWN's Pet Peeves...
John Hawkins over at RWN posted his Top 10 Pet Peeves. And I must say that his list pretty much conforms to my own.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Obamessiah Obomination...
(Hat-tip to Redstate for this one)
This is for all those potential voters (especially all of you Pro-Lifers) for the upcoming Pennsylvania primary next month. The following "mock ad" tells the abominable truth about Barack Hussein Obama's position with respect to abortion. When The Obamessiah is further to the left than Kennedy, Clinton and Boxer, you know that there is something seriously wrong.
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CONTAINS A GRAPHIC IMAGE!
UPDATE: YouTube has removed the video. In essence, it pointed out in no uncertain terms that The Obamessiah lead the opposition to the Senate bill that would allow basic health care to infants who survived a failed abortion procedure against them. Senators Ted Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton (and John McCain) all voted in favor of the bill to supply the basic health care to the baby.
UPDATE #2: It's back up at YouTube.
WARNING AGAIN: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CONTAINS A DISTURBING GRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPH!
This is for all those potential voters (especially all of you Pro-Lifers) for the upcoming Pennsylvania primary next month. The following "mock ad" tells the abominable truth about Barack Hussein Obama's position with respect to abortion. When The Obamessiah is further to the left than Kennedy, Clinton and Boxer, you know that there is something seriously wrong.
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CONTAINS A GRAPHIC IMAGE!
UPDATE: YouTube has removed the video. In essence, it pointed out in no uncertain terms that The Obamessiah lead the opposition to the Senate bill that would allow basic health care to infants who survived a failed abortion procedure against them. Senators Ted Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton (and John McCain) all voted in favor of the bill to supply the basic health care to the baby.
UPDATE #2: It's back up at YouTube.
WARNING AGAIN: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CONTAINS A DISTURBING GRAPHIC PHOTOGRAPH!
David Mamet is no longer "brain dead"...
(HT to both The Anchoress and to Gerald at Closed Cafeteria)
Famed playwright David Mamet has written an article in the Village Voice in which he has come to the realization that he is now no longer a "brain dead liberal".
Read the entire article here.
Famed playwright David Mamet has written an article in the Village Voice in which he has come to the realization that he is now no longer a "brain dead liberal".
Read the entire article here.
Prayers needed for Fr. Corapi...
(HT to Mark Shea)
Apparently, Fr. Corapi (best known for his powerful lectures and sermons broadcast on EWTN) has been ill for some months now and is requesting prayers.
Saint Michael the Archangel, watch over him, protect him and petition Our Father for his healing, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Apparently, Fr. Corapi (best known for his powerful lectures and sermons broadcast on EWTN) has been ill for some months now and is requesting prayers.
Saint Michael the Archangel, watch over him, protect him and petition Our Father for his healing, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
IT'S MARCH MADNESS TIME AGAIN!!!
WOOT!!!
Okay... I’m a college hoops playoffs nut case (I admit it proudly). It’s in my blood (I’m a Villanova grad). And the ’Cats are trying to claw their way into the NCAA tournament. The first big test was today in the first round of the Big East Tourney where they burst the bubble for Syracuse by pouncing on the Orangemen 82-63.
Next game?... the hated Hoyas of Georgetown (BOO...HISSSSS). They played each other during the regular season. The game was tied when Villanova was called for the lamest of ticky-tack fouls with only 1/10th of a second left on the clock. The Hoyas escaped a defensive battle with a cheap win from the foul line. ALL of the announcers and game commentators were holding their noses and verbalizing their dismay at the bad officiating. It left a bad taste in the Wildcats’ mouths, that’s for sure.
Tomorrow is REVENGE TIME!!!
/queue the marching band/
V... for Villanova...
V... for Victory...
Okay... I’m a college hoops playoffs nut case (I admit it proudly). It’s in my blood (I’m a Villanova grad). And the ’Cats are trying to claw their way into the NCAA tournament. The first big test was today in the first round of the Big East Tourney where they burst the bubble for Syracuse by pouncing on the Orangemen 82-63.
Next game?... the hated Hoyas of Georgetown (BOO...HISSSSS). They played each other during the regular season. The game was tied when Villanova was called for the lamest of ticky-tack fouls with only 1/10th of a second left on the clock. The Hoyas escaped a defensive battle with a cheap win from the foul line. ALL of the announcers and game commentators were holding their noses and verbalizing their dismay at the bad officiating. It left a bad taste in the Wildcats’ mouths, that’s for sure.
Tomorrow is REVENGE TIME!!!
/queue the marching band/
V... for Villanova...
V... for Victory...
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Obama, Rezko & Hillary, OH MY!!!
Well, I guess the final nail is in the coffin. There never was going to be an Obama-Hillary ticket because she would NEVER play second fiddle to anybody after being second string to her husband all her life. But now that a Clinton aide has compared Barack to Ken Starr, well... you can be sure that there will never be a Hillary-Obama ticket either.
But, on to much more interesting news regarding The Obamessiah and this Rezko guy who's currently on trial in Illinois. Per this American Thinker post:
American Thinker goes on to quote from The Times of London:
The American Thinker post goes on:
Much more details can be read in AT's full post here.
But, on to much more interesting news regarding The Obamessiah and this Rezko guy who's currently on trial in Illinois. Per this American Thinker post:
"U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve jailed Rezko...saying he had disobeyed her order to keep her posted on his financial status. Among other things, he failed to tell her about a $3.5 million loan from London-based Iraqi billionaire Nadhmi Auchi -- a loan that was later forgiven in exchange for shares in a prime slice of Chicago real estate. Rezko gave $700,000 of the money to his wife and used the rest to pay legal bills and funnel cash to various supporters."
American Thinker goes on to quote from The Times of London:
"A company related to Mr. Auchi, who has a conviction for corruption in France, registered the loan to Mr. Obama's bagman Antoin ‘Tony' Rezko on May, 23 2005. Mr. Auchi says the loan, through the Panamanian company Fintrade Services SA, was for $3.5 million.
"Three weeks later, Mr. Obama bought a house on the city's South Side while Mr Rezko's wife bought the garden plot next door from the same seller on the same day, June 15. Mr. Obama says he never used Mrs. Rezko's still-empty lot, which could only be accessed through his property. But he admits he paid his gardener to mow the lawn."
The American Thinker post goes on:
Rezko's relationship with Barack Obama goes back to at least 1990, when Obama's law firm did work relating to a Rezko housing development. Rezko was a key early-money fund raiser in Obama's state Senate campaigns and his failed run at the US Congress. In June 2005, when the mansion was purchased, Rezko was widely known to be under federal investigation. Rezko also is a key fundraiser for Illinois Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich.
The sudden emergence of Auchi into this story indicates Rezko's deals may include a money trail leading back to dead Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Auchi's Saddam links trace back to a failed 1959 assassination attempt on the life of then-Iraqi-prime-minister Abdul Karim Qasim.
Auchi's General Mediterranean Holdings company was also the largest private shareholder in Banque Nationale de Paris which later merged with Paribas to become BNP Paribas. At Saddam's insistence, billions of dollars of Oil for Food transactions passed through BNP from its 1995 inception until 2001.
Much more details can be read in AT's full post here.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Reagan and Abortion...
NRO had a story in January about Reagan and a key piece of legislation he signed while governor of California concerning abortion. It points to this ill-advised decision, and how it's unintended results lead to Reagan (already pro-life at that point) became an even more staunchly anti-abortion proponent from that moment forward.
A Very Unique Rosary...
Major hat-tip to the American Papist for this post.
He came across a website that sells a very unique and powerfully designed rosary.
He came across a website that sells a very unique and powerfully designed rosary.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Farrakhan praises Obama (heh-heh-heh)...
Nation of Islam head, Louis Farrakhan, spent nearly two whole hours singing the praises of The Obamessiah.
And Tim Russert brought up this fact (and the connection to Jeremiah Wright) during the latest debate between B. Hussein O. and Lady Macbeth.
Go ahead... click on the links and read away. Smashing good fun. Makes me chuckle. The far left fringe of the "D" party are just a few days away from nominating a trainwreck for the November elections.
And Tim Russert brought up this fact (and the connection to Jeremiah Wright) during the latest debate between B. Hussein O. and Lady Macbeth.
Go ahead... click on the links and read away. Smashing good fun. Makes me chuckle. The far left fringe of the "D" party are just a few days away from nominating a trainwreck for the November elections.
Monday, February 25, 2008
I'm actually gonna quote Hillary Clinton...
Shocking, isn't it???
But, I have to say that she is 100% dead-on target with this summation of her primary opponent (given yesterday in Rhode Island at a rally of several thousand):
She's going to need wins in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania in order to stave off the Obamessiah. It'll be interesting to see if she can pull it off.
But, I have to say that she is 100% dead-on target with this summation of her primary opponent (given yesterday in Rhode Island at a rally of several thousand):
“Now I could stand up here and say, ‘Let’s just get everybody together. Let’s get unified. The sky will open. The lights will come down. Celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect.’
“Maybe I’ve just lived a little long, but I have no illusions about how hard this is going to be. You are not going to wave a magic wand and have the special interests disappear,” she said.
She's going to need wins in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania in order to stave off the Obamessiah. It'll be interesting to see if she can pull it off.
The Oscar Goes To...
Watched the Oscars last night. I only had two horses in the race since it was such a weak year for films last year. It was thrilling to see Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova win for Best Song from the film "Once". That was, by far, the best moment of the night. From their performance of the song, "Falling Slowly" (which received enthusiastic applause at it's conclusion), to their winning the award, to Glen's acceptance speech, to Jon Stewart (after the commercial break) apologizing for the cutting off of Ms. Irglova's speech and bringing her back on stage to delivery her own "thank you". Awesome!
P.S. The film "Once" also won for Best Foreign Film the evening before at the Independent Spirit Awards! That was great!
My second horse in the race: Marion Cotillard winning Best Lead Actress for her performance in "La Vie En Rose". The film wasn't put together well, but her performance as the famed French singer Edith Piaf was by far the best performance last year. Her getting the award was well deserved (and not a surprise to me).
Most embarrassingly shameful moment? Having the U.S. troops in Iraq introduce the nominees for Documentary Short Films and then, just a few minutes later, basically spitting in their faces by awarding the Documentary Full Length Film award to an anti-American military hatchet job of a film (the title of which I'm not even going to bother to mention here). You could sense a bit of unease in the auditorium. Serves them right. Shameful. Absolutely shameful.
P.S. The film "Once" also won for Best Foreign Film the evening before at the Independent Spirit Awards! That was great!
My second horse in the race: Marion Cotillard winning Best Lead Actress for her performance in "La Vie En Rose". The film wasn't put together well, but her performance as the famed French singer Edith Piaf was by far the best performance last year. Her getting the award was well deserved (and not a surprise to me).
Most embarrassingly shameful moment? Having the U.S. troops in Iraq introduce the nominees for Documentary Short Films and then, just a few minutes later, basically spitting in their faces by awarding the Documentary Full Length Film award to an anti-American military hatchet job of a film (the title of which I'm not even going to bother to mention here). You could sense a bit of unease in the auditorium. Serves them right. Shameful. Absolutely shameful.
Monday, February 18, 2008
I just got tagged...
Eric over at The Daily Eudemon tagged me for a meme. (Hah! My first meme.)
The rules for this meme:
(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules of the meme on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
Six non-important things:
1. I have a bad habit of being in the middle of several books at the same time. I think the record is six books, all completely unrelated. Wasn't always that way. Somehow, though, I do keep track... I think.
2. I was eleven years old when I first became an uncle. That nephew is now older than I was when I moved to California thirteen years ago. (Uhhg!) I'm now a grand-uncle six times over. (Double-Uhhg!!)
3. March Madness, baby!!! College hoops playoffs! It's in my blood. I graduated from Villanova the year they won it all against the hated Hoyas of Georgetown. (GO WILDCATS!!!) Just put me on a swivel chair in a room with twenty TVs around me. Add food and water when necessary. I'll be there 'til I'm bleary-eyed and passed out from a heart attack if not from shear exhaustion. That first four-day weekend when 64 teams play 48 games to get to the Sweet Sixteen. Nothin' like it!
4. I am a virtual virtuoso and musical master of the steering wheel. Others sing in the shower. Not me. I need to be mobile, and on four wheels. I play steering wheel guitar, drums, keyboards, bass... and if I'm really in the mood, I'll crank up the music really, really loud in the car so that I can "sing" along (horribly out of key, of course).
5. I'm learning how to play a real instrument, though. Guitar. Seven months in (at age 44). It's infuriatingly good fun. Wished I had done this when I was much younger. (oh, and I am a lyricist.)
6. I am NOT a morning person. Never was. Never will be. Yet, somehow, I've been dragging myself outta bed every Wednesday morning at 6 o'clock for the past six years to get to my Men's Catholic Bible Study group.
Okay... I'm gonna tag the following peeps:
Julie over at the Happy Catholic (she's the best at this whole Catholic blogging thing)
Nancy over at the ACS blog (for all things G.K. Chesterton)
Sean over at The Blue Boar (for even more things GKC, and other things)
Dim Bulb over at the Divine Lamp (this guy is theologically deep... in other words, he ain't dim... even I need to visit his site more often... and, he was one of the first people to comment on this fledgling blog of mine.)
Catholic Lady over at Holy Boldness (the newbie on my blog row)
and the West Coast Catholic (a fellow west coaster who keeps it real)
The rules for this meme:
(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules of the meme on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
Six non-important things:
1. I have a bad habit of being in the middle of several books at the same time. I think the record is six books, all completely unrelated. Wasn't always that way. Somehow, though, I do keep track... I think.
2. I was eleven years old when I first became an uncle. That nephew is now older than I was when I moved to California thirteen years ago. (Uhhg!) I'm now a grand-uncle six times over. (Double-Uhhg!!)
3. March Madness, baby!!! College hoops playoffs! It's in my blood. I graduated from Villanova the year they won it all against the hated Hoyas of Georgetown. (GO WILDCATS!!!) Just put me on a swivel chair in a room with twenty TVs around me. Add food and water when necessary. I'll be there 'til I'm bleary-eyed and passed out from a heart attack if not from shear exhaustion. That first four-day weekend when 64 teams play 48 games to get to the Sweet Sixteen. Nothin' like it!
4. I am a virtual virtuoso and musical master of the steering wheel. Others sing in the shower. Not me. I need to be mobile, and on four wheels. I play steering wheel guitar, drums, keyboards, bass... and if I'm really in the mood, I'll crank up the music really, really loud in the car so that I can "sing" along (horribly out of key, of course).
5. I'm learning how to play a real instrument, though. Guitar. Seven months in (at age 44). It's infuriatingly good fun. Wished I had done this when I was much younger. (oh, and I am a lyricist.)
6. I am NOT a morning person. Never was. Never will be. Yet, somehow, I've been dragging myself outta bed every Wednesday morning at 6 o'clock for the past six years to get to my Men's Catholic Bible Study group.
Okay... I'm gonna tag the following peeps:
Julie over at the Happy Catholic (she's the best at this whole Catholic blogging thing)
Nancy over at the ACS blog (for all things G.K. Chesterton)
Sean over at The Blue Boar (for even more things GKC, and other things)
Dim Bulb over at the Divine Lamp (this guy is theologically deep... in other words, he ain't dim... even I need to visit his site more often... and, he was one of the first people to comment on this fledgling blog of mine.)
Catholic Lady over at Holy Boldness (the newbie on my blog row)
and the West Coast Catholic (a fellow west coaster who keeps it real)
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
So, about this "BARACK the MESSIAH for CHANGE" guy...
Do you people really think (knowing that we've been fighting the fanatical minions led by Osama Bin Ladin and Saddam Hussein for the last 6+ years) that a majority of Americans would vote for an inexperienced empty suit of a guy named BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA for President of the United States???
Come on... wake up and smell the coffee!
Come on... wake up and smell the coffee!
My sister sent me some love by mail...
She kept on promising me that she'd send me some cookies from her bakery for my birthday (it came and went sans cookies). Then she promised me that she'd send them for Christmas (it also came and went with nary a crumb). So last weekend I had our Dad tell her, "Mike said that he's absolutely enjoying all those cookies you didn't send him." (Yeah, I know... I'm so evil... but that's what little brothers are for... heh!)
So, today, a package arrives... with more cookies than I know what to do with. And it's LENT, sis!!! (Her way of getting back at me, I just know it.) The guys in the office, I'm sure, will enjoy 'em.
If you live in the Philly area, feel free to check out La Dolce Bakery in Havertown. They've been so busy since they moved from Wayne, PA, that they haven't had time to re-do their website. But I guarantee you that all those hand-made Italian baked goods will please your palate and tickle your tummy.
Now, if you'll excuse me... I've got some biscotti with my name written all over 'em.
So, today, a package arrives... with more cookies than I know what to do with. And it's LENT, sis!!! (Her way of getting back at me, I just know it.) The guys in the office, I'm sure, will enjoy 'em.
If you live in the Philly area, feel free to check out La Dolce Bakery in Havertown. They've been so busy since they moved from Wayne, PA, that they haven't had time to re-do their website. But I guarantee you that all those hand-made Italian baked goods will please your palate and tickle your tummy.
Now, if you'll excuse me... I've got some biscotti with my name written all over 'em.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
My fledgling blog gets noticed...
I would like to thank Catholic Lady of the Holy Boldness blog for her wonderful comment in my last post. I had absolutely NO idea that my blog was mentioned in the National Catholic Register last week! (Woah, dude!!!)
Apparently, Eric Scheske (of the great Daily Eudemon blog) wrote an article about the blogosphere (registration required) and he must have mentioned my fledgling little blog. I'm not registered to the NCR website, so I can't read the article. But I want to thank him for such a generous gesture. I'm truly humbled.
Thanx again to both Eric and to the Catholic Lady.
You can thank both of them yourselves by paying their blogs a visit.
Apparently, Eric Scheske (of the great Daily Eudemon blog) wrote an article about the blogosphere (registration required) and he must have mentioned my fledgling little blog. I'm not registered to the NCR website, so I can't read the article. But I want to thank him for such a generous gesture. I'm truly humbled.
Thanx again to both Eric and to the Catholic Lady.
You can thank both of them yourselves by paying their blogs a visit.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
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