Monday, September 29, 2008

Vista and my Peripherals.

I've seen a few of Microsoft's new TV commercials for the, so-called, "Mohave Experiment" .
The website has this:
"What do people think of Windows Vista when they don't know it's Windows Vista? To find out, we disguised it as 'the next Microsoft Operating System' codenamed 'Mojave' and showed regular people, who've never used Windows Vista, what it could do so they could decide for themselves."
Evidently, there's not been enough folks willing to buy Windows Vista. A lot of people I know who have it, hate it.
The PC I'm using now is only a few months old, so, it came with Vista already installed. I don't hate Vista......I mean, it's OK. My biggest complaint is that my old peripherals were made in the XP days and won't work with Vista. This is in spite of the claim that I can find drivers for my printer and scanner that will allow me to hook them up to my new PC.
It's not that I use the printer or scanner very often. If I have to, I can use them with my old PC and transfer the files to and fro.
My old one is a dinosaur.....too slow to hook up to the Internet. I can't upgrade the memory and having anti virus software installed on the old PC is really out of the question.
As long as I keep it offline, I can use it to run the peripherals.
For me, the bottom line is, buying a new PC with Vista already installed is fine.....but if I had a pretty good PC with XP on it, I wouldn't upgrade it to Vista.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Obama / Palin ?

Tuesday, when I posted Biden out - Hillary in? I had no idea that post would generate some much traffic for this blog.
As I mentioned in that post, a friend had sent a copy of an email that had been sent to him and he wanted my 2 cents' worth on the whole thing. Here' the email:

"Let me share some info with you that I have gotten from excellent sources within the DNC: On or about October 5th, Biden will excuse himself from the ticket, citing health problems, and he will be replaced by Hillary. This is timed to occur after the VP debate on 10/2. There have been talks all weekend about how to proceed with this info. generally, the feeling is that we should all go ahead and get it> out there to as many blog sites and personal email lists as is possible. I have already seen a few short blurbs about this - the 'healthproblem' cited in those articles was aneurysm. Probably many of you have heard the same rumblings. However, at this point, with this inside info from the DNC, it looks like this Obama strategy will be a go. Therefore, it seems that the best strategy is to get out in front of this Obama maneuver, spell it out in detail, and thereby expose it for the grand manipulation that it is. So, let's start mixing this one up and cut the Obamites off at the pass - send this info out to as many people as you can - post about it on websites and blogs - etc etc"

First thing I did when I decided to blog this was to do a Google search on the story. I found this:

Joe Biden's Health -part deaux.
My linking to this blog was, basically, an afterthought.
Linking to coastalcompanion has turned out to be.....well, amazing. According to Google Analytics, my hits have gone thru the roof; all because of the traffic that has come my way via the "Links to this Post".

But, more to the point.
Evidently, quite a few people have been getting emails on this particular rumor. I don't know if there was ever really any substance behind it, but my belief is that the rumor probably isn't true.
I doubt is the individual State ballot laws would allow the last minute substitution of Hillary for Biden.
Let's image, for a minute, though, that the Dems do the switch. Some States ( like my home state of Georgia ) have already begun advanced voting. I'm sure that a few a those advanced voters choose the Obama / Biden ticket. Fast forward to November. I can't believe that those votes that were already cast for Biden would automatically transfer to Hillary.
Let's suppose, Obama wins the election.....barely. If some voters choose Hillary and some choose Biden, then it's quite possible that Palin would receive more votes than either.
Would that mean Obama as POTUS and Palin as VPOTUS ?
How about this as an Internet rumor?

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Trust, but Verify ?

People who've been reading this blog for any length of time know of my earlier attempts at having a laugh with (at) email scammers. Anyone not familiar with my previous antics can click on the scammers label to get up to speed.
Sometimes, these 'scam the scammer' adventures can go on for weeks....sometimes they only last a few email exchanges. It's hard to predict how long I can string along any particular scammer.
I'm exchanging emails with a scammer now, but I don't want to go into too many details until it's gone it's course. You never know; if I post the emails while the events are current, there is always a chance that someone reading the posts will contact the scammer via email and let the cat out of the bag.
I'm only mentioning this now because of this little bit of irony; whenever I send a reply to this particular scammer, Yahoo requires that I first do character verification to prove I am not a spammer. I couldn't resist getting a screen shot from my last reply.
I hope I can have sometime on this scam next week. Until then, I'll just carry on, blogging on whatever takes my fancy for that day.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Vote Early. Vote Often.

The Presidential election is still more than a month away, but early voting has begun in some states. Georgia, where I live, started the process Monday.
I prefer voting early over the hectic and crowded circus-like atmosphere of Election Day.
In the county where I live, we normally have two locations where we can go for advanced voting. According to the Floyd County Website;

Advanced Voting for Elections during 2008 will be available at two locations. Advance Voting for the General Primary Election will begin July 7 through July 11, 2008.
Advanced Voting for the Special Election (of September 16) will begin Monday, September 8 through Friday, September 12 2008. Advanced Voting for elections during 2008 will be available at two locations:
Floyd County Administrative Building
12 East 4th Avenue
2nd Floor, Commissioner's Caucus Room
and
The Rome Civic Center
400 Civic Center Drive

Nothing on the website about advance voting for the November election.

I've gone to the Rome Civic Center for advanced voting in the past and assumed that I could go there Tuesday to vote.
Wrong.
I drove to the Civic Center only to discover a dozen or so fire trucks in the parking lot..... but no voting (and thankfully, no fire either). I drove to the County Court House building where I had registered to vote, thinking I could vote there.
Wrong.
I then drove to the Floyd County Administrative Building, but the advanced voting was not being done in the Commissioner's Caucus Room on the 2nd floor as had been done in the last two elections, but in the Elections office on the ground floor.
I was, finally, able to cast my ballot and head on back home.

On the CBS website, there was an article about voting early. Comments were allowed, and a man calling himself "Peter" had this to say;
"Although early voters may believe that 'Early Birds get the Worm', it''s fair to say that when it comes to voting early in this year''s very close and important election, many other voters believe that 'Haste makes Waste'.
These voters believe in sipping their coffee and voting slowly and that this Presidential race may very well still be 'Chock Full' o'' 11th hour surprises!"

I don't agree with "Peter".
Is there any sort of "11th hour surprise" that's liable to change the minds of McCain's or Obama's early voters? Would a die-hard Obama supporter regret not voting for McCain, regardless of whatever happens between now and November 4th? Same with McCain voters. Either candidate could be found, stone drunk in a motel room - in bed - with a nine year old Muslim midget boy and that would not give his supporters "buyer's remorse".
As quoted at online.wsj.com ,

"Research on early voting suggests it probably doesn't benefit one candidate or the other. Early voters tend to be those who are most loyal to their party or candidate, and least likely to be swayed by developments in the campaign, says American Enterprise Institute scholar John Fortier ."

Here's another comment from the CBS article - from someone calling himself (herself?) "Louramos"
"I strongly believe that every person who is seeking a public office position, from city councilperson to president of the great USA must take (under strict regulations and controls) an IQ test which will be made public.The future of our great country is precariously teetering and we cannot afford to gamble with people who cannot function rationally."

First of all, this comment has nothing to do with the subject of the article.......advanced voting.
Secondly, we've been hearing for ages that IQ tests were culturally biased. Many experts claim the tests do not accurately measure intelligence. Besides, being intelligent isn't a guarantee of anyone functioning rationally. Much better to have someone who functions with a high degree of moral integrity,stability and honor.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Biden out - Hillary in ?

A friend recently received an email which he forwarded on to me, asking my thoughts on the whole thing..........here's the email as forwarded to him;


"Let me share some info with you that I have gotten from excellent sources within the DNC: On or about October 5th, Biden will excuse himself from the ticket, citing health problems, and he will be replaced by Hillary. This is timed to occur after the VP debate on 10/2. There have been talks all weekend about how to proceed with this info. generally, the feeling is that we should all go ahead and get it> out there to as many blog sites and personal email lists as is possible. I have already seen a few short blurbs about this - the 'healthproblem' cited in those articles was aneurysm. Probably many of you have heard the same rumblings. However, at this point, with this inside info from the DNC, it looks like this Obama strategy will be a go. Therefore, it seems that the best strategy is to get out in front of this Obama maneuver, spell it out in detail, and thereby expose it for the grand manipulation that it is. So, let's start mixing this one up and cut the Obamites off at the pass - send this info out to as many people as you can - post about it on websites and blogs - etc etc"

Although this was this first time I'd heard the rumor, it's been blogged before. After a Google search, I came across this:
Biden's "health problems".
Joe Biden's health - part deaux.

I'd have to say, that I certainly wouldn't put it past the Democrats to attempt this if they thought it could be to their advantage. For those who are prone to follow conspiracies, we already have Biden saying that Hillary may have been the better pick and Bill Clinton saying things, such as, " [Hillary] would have been the best politically ” and that, although Hillary Clinton “didn’t” want to be Obama’s running mate,
“She said that if he asked ‘I’ll do it because it’s my duty’ but I think, look, she loves being a senator from New York.”
Some might say that seeds are already being planted for the coup.

I'm not quite sure that such a change could even be possible, legally. There are State laws regarding a candidate's name being placed on the ballot and I don't know if the Democrats would be allowed to substitute Hillary's name for Biden on such short notice. In Texas, Libertarian Bob Barr is taking Obama and McCain to court to challenge their being on the ballot there because both had missed the official filing deadline.
In some States ( like Georgia ) early voting starts this week. If the Democrats could substitute VPs, there are certainly going to be some voters who will have already voted for Biden. Talk about a huge legal mess. This would make the 2000 election mess look like a cake walk.

If I had to bet on all this, I'd say this "Biden health issues" story is just an Internet rumor.

Update: Obama/Palin?.

Monday, September 22, 2008

The La Salette crucifix.


As I mentioned in a post from Friday [The apparition of Our Lady of La Salette] I've only just learned of that particular apparition of the Virgin Mary. I receive daily email from A Moment with Mary and this is where I first learned of the two children who claimed to have seen the Blessed Mother in 1846.
After a number of investigations, the Catholic Church found the claims to be credible.

Of course,like with all apparitions of the Virgin, there were those who doubted the claims of the two shepard children. At one point, there was a group who claimed that the lady the children saw and spoke to that day was not Mary but, "a lunatic nun named Constance Lamerliere" dressed in the strange costume.

This was also the first time I had seen a "La Salette crucifix" which the children say Mary was wearing around her neck. Seeing this crucifix leads me to ask a few questions.

Was there any use of this crucifix in the Catholic Church prior to the La Salette apparition? If this was a hitherto unknown crucifix, how could a "lunatic nun" have designed and crafted one? I'm not buying the "lunatic nun" claim.
If the children were lying about the apparition, where did the idea for the crucifix come from?

According to a wikipedia article,
"The La Salette crucifix, worn by the Virgin Mary, was unusual because it has added features, a hammer, a pincer and a skull and crossbones.
The hammer symbolizes the sinner nailing Jesus on the cross by his sins and the pincer represents all of us trying to remove the nails from the cross by our virtuous life and fidelity to Jesus. The skull and crossbones represent in general death, which is inevitably for human beings, as reminder of the necessity of personal salvation."

Are those who doubt the apparition saying, then, that the La Salette crucifix is the design of a fourteen year old girl and eleven year old boy?

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Woody Allen supports Obama.

US filmmaker Woody Allen, best known for divorcing wife Mia Farrow so he could marry her adopted daughter and consequently, knows a thing or two about disgrace and humiliation says,
"It would be a disgrace and a humiliation if Barack Obama does not win."
"It would be a very, very terrible thing for the United States in many, many ways," he said.
Is there really any need to comment on this? Just another case of celebutards gone wild.
But, in an attempt to have a laugh at Woody Allen's expense to be fair and balanced,
I've included a links to an exclusive Woody Allen interview. Turn up the speakers on your PC and click here.

AP source:
Nothing funny about Obama losing, funnyman Woody Allen says.

Friday, September 19, 2008

The apparition of Our Lady of La Salette.

This particular apparition is new to me. Rather than try to cipher through it all right now, I'll paste the article from the Catholic Encyclopedia.


La Salette:
Located in the commune and parish of La Salette-Fallavaux, Canton of Corps, Department of Isere, and Diocese of Grenoble. It is celebrated as the place where, it is said, the Blessed Virgin appeared to two little shepherds; and each year is visited by a large number of pilgrims.

On 19 September, 1846, about three o'clock in the afternoon in full sunlight, on a mountain about 5918 feet high and about three miles distant from the village of La Salette-Fallavaux, it is related that two children, a shepherdess of fifteen named Mélanie Calvat, called Mathieu, and a shepherd-boy of eleven named Maximin Giraud, both of them very ignorant, beheld in a resplendent light a "beautiful lady" clad in a strange costume.

Speaking alternately in French and in patois, she charged them with a message which they were "to deliver to all her people". After complaining of the impiety of Christians, and threatening them with dreadful chastisements in case they should persevere in evil, she promised them the Divine mercy if they would amend.

Finally, it is alleged, before disappearing she communicated to each of the children a special secret. The sensation caused by the recital of Mélanie and Maximin was profound, and gave rise to several investigations and reports. Mgr. Philibert de Bruillard, Bishop of Grenoble, appointed a commission to examine judicially this marvellous event; the commission concluded that the reality of the apparition should be admitted.

Soon several miraculous cures took place on the mountain of La Salette, and pilgrimages to the place were begun. The miracle, needless to say, was ridiculed by free-thinkers, but it was also questioned among the faithful, and especially by ecclesiastics. There arose against it in the Dioceses of Grenoble and Lyons a violent opposition, aggravated by what is known as the incident of Ars.

As a result of this hostility and the consequent agitation, Mgr. de Bruillard (16 November 1851) declared the apparition of the Blessed Virgin as certain, and authorized the cult of Our Lady of La Salette. This act subdued, but did not suppress, the opposition, whose leaders, profiting by the succession in 1852 of a new bishop, Mgr. Ginoulhiac, to Mgr. Bruillard, who had resigned, retaliated with violent attacks on the reality of the miracle of La Salette. They even asserted that the "beautiful lady" was a young woman named Lamerliere, which story gave rise to a widely advertised suit for slander.

Despite these hostile acts, the first stone of a great church was solemnly laid on the mount of La Salette, 25 May, 1852, amid a large assembly of the faithful. This Church, later elevated to the rank of a basilica, was served by a body of a religious called Missionaries of La Salette. In 1891 diocesan priests replaced these missionaries, driven into exile by persecuting laws.

As said above, the Blessed Virgin confided to each of the two children a special secret. These two secrets, which neither Mélanie or Maximin ever made known to each other, were sent by them in 1851 to Pius IX on the advice of Mgr. de Bruillard. It is unknown what impressions these mysterious revelations made on the pope, for on this point there were two versions diametrically opposed to each other.

Maximin's secret is not known, for it was never published. Mélanie's was inserted in its entirety in brochure which she herself had printed in 1879 at Lecce, Italy, with the approval of the bishop of that town. A lively controversy followed as to whether the secret published in 1879 was identical with that communicated to Pius IX in 1851, or in its second form it was not merely a work of the imagination. The latter was the opinion of wise and prudent persons, who were persuaded that a distinction must be made between the two Mélanies, between the innocent and simple voyante of 1846 and the visionary of 1879, whose mind had been disturbed by reading apocalyptic books and the lives of illuminati.

As Rome uttered no decision the strife was prolonged between the disputants. Most of the defenders of the text of 1879 suffered censure from their bishops. Maximin Giraud, after an unhappy and wandering life, returned to Corps, his native village, and died there a holy death (1 March, 1875). Mélanie Calvat ended a no less wandering life at Altamura, Italy (15 December, 1904).

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Evolutionary theory ‘not incompatible’ with Catholicism.

In a statement that's sure to aggravate the Intelligent Design crowd, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi , head of the Pontifical Council for Culture said, (from asianews.it)
There is no "a priori incompatibility" between the theory of evolution, biblical teaching, and theology, but there is a need to "clarify", 150 years after its publication, the work of Charles Darwin, which today "is too often discussed more in an ideological than in a scientific context", generating confusion to the point of frontal opposition between "evolutionism" and "creationism", present above all in the United States.

For too many years, the Catholic Church has been lumped together with certain Protestant churches and wrongly accused of being against science.
The Catholic Church has never condemned evolution- has never banned Darwin's books- and popes dating back to Pius XII have stated that evolution does not contradict the Faith.

Other churches (mostly conservative Protestants in the United States) read Genesis literally and object to evolution being taught in public schools, preferring, instead, to teach Creationism.Creationism is the belief that God created the world in six days as described in Genesis. The Catholic Church does not read the Genesis account of creation literally, saying the story is allegorical.The book tells why God created the universe.....not how.
In March 3-7, 2009, the Vatican will hold an international conference in Rome named "Biological Evolution: Facts and Theories. A Critical Appraisal 150 years after ‘The Origin of Species' ".
There will be no representatives of the "intelligent design" movement at the conference.

Sources:
asianews.it
Catholic News Agency
reuters
poligazette
ansa.it
theistic evolution

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Obama Bio Video.

I came across this Daily Show video on the Journeyman carpenter blog. I thought it was so funny, I had to snatch it and post it here.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Equal time.

There are some, I'm sure, who may feel that I am being biased by putting in links and images for Catholic groups who are against Obama and Biden.
With that in mind....in an effort to be fair and balanced, I'm putting a link to a pro Obama Catholic group. I urge everyone to click on the link:
Catholics 4 Obama

New Ad Slams Obama on Support for Infanticide.

Pastor Rick Warren: "At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?"
Barack Obama: "...answering that question with specificity... uh... you know is, is... uh... above my pay grade."
~ Saddleback Forum, August 16, 2008

From born alive truth.org:

Can you imagine not giving babies their basic human rights, no matter how they entered our world? My name is Gianna Jessen, born 31 years ago after a failed abortion. I’m a survivor, as are many others…but if Barack Obama had his way, I wouldn’t be here.
Unfortunately, Barack Obama voted four times against affording these babies their most basic human right. I have serious concerns about Senator Obama’s record and views on this issue, given he voted against these protections four times as a state Senator. Just as abuse victims share their stories to educate the public, fight for the common good and hope that as a result politicians do what’s right, I felt it was important to come forward and give these new born babies a voice.
I am living proof these babies have a right to live, and I invite you to learn more about Senator Obama’s record on this important issue.



From the AP:

The abortion ad, a $350,000 spot that will appear during the next week in Ohio and New Mexico, aims to cast Obama as out of the mainstream, even among abortion rights advocates. Aired by BornAliveTruth.org, it single out his efforts while in the Illinois Senate to defeat the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. Obama and abortion rights forces in Illinois have said the bill would have undermined the landmark Supreme Court case on abortion, Roe v. Wade.
BornAliveTruth.org is organized as a nonprofit entity commonly known as a 527 for the section of the tax code that regulates such groups. Unlike political action groups, these organizations can raise money from individuals in unlimited amounts. The main donor of BornAliveTruth is Raymond Ruddy, a prominent anti-abortion figure in Massachusetts who supported Mitt Romney for president in the GOP primary.
The ad features Gianna Jessen, a 31-year-old motivational speaker from Nashville, Tenn., adopted as a child after a failed abortion. “Sen. Obama, please support born alive infant protections . I’m living proof these babies have a right to live.”
As a state senator, Obama opposed three legislative efforts, in 2001, 2002 and 2003, to give legal protections to any aborted fetus that showed signs of life. The 2003 measure was virtually identical to a bill President Bush signed into law in 2002.
While Obama has said he would have supported the federal law, he and other opponents of the Illinois bill have said it would have had greater consequences on state laws governing abortion. The Obama campaign also has pointed out that Illinois already had legislation protecting aborted fetuses that were born alive and were considered able to survive.
Jill Stanek, an organizer of BornAliveTruth, said the Illinois legislation would protect pre-viable fetuses as well. “He took a leadership role in seeing that this bill did not see the light of day,” she said.

Special thanks to Catholics for McCain for the information I used in this post.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Abortion versus Personhood.

There are many people today who believe - or, more rather, hope - that the issue of abortion will just go away. There are some who see the issue as settled and are quite uncomfortable with the idea that abortion continues to be a factor in American politics.
The issue will never be settled as long as the two antagonists in the debate continue to use different language.
To one group, the issue is a question of "choice"....to the other , it is a question of "life".
No one can honestly view it as a matter of choice if they accepted the belief that the fetus was a human life with all the civil rights as all other human beings.
For years,the so-called pro choice group as argued that we cannot rightly say when life begins. However, the more we learn about human biology the more that argument becomes falls apart.
We know that at conception, when the egg and sperm are united, the resulting "being" possesses a complete set of chromosomes unlike the individual sperm and egg. The resulting being is made up of DNA that is similar to, but distinct from the DNA of either parent.
Allowed to develop, grow and mature in the womb, the resulting being will not transform into anything that is not a human being. From the beginning, the embryo is, as a matter of fact, a human in his or her early stages of development.
Now that it can no longer be denied biologically that the embryo is a human being, the argument of the pro-abortionists has become that the embryo/fetus lacks personhood.
According to philosophy professor Mary Ann Warren, although the fetus is innocent and biologically human, it is not a human person with a right to life. In her view, in order to possess personhood, a biological human must possess these characteristics;
1. Consciousness and the ability to feel pain
2. The ability to reason.
3. The ability to act in ways that go beyond instinct -- to have motives and goals.
4. The capacity for complex communication.
5. Having a sense of self.

In her view, newborn infants are not persons (using her criteria) and therefore, infanticide is also morally acceptable in some circumstances.

This sort of denial of personhood in order to take human life is nothing new.
The antebellum slave owners did not see the slaves as having personhood. They believed blacks were less human than the white slave owner.
The Nazis who killed 11 million Jews felt the same.
Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels said,
"Of course the Jew is a human being too. None of us has ever doubted it. But a flea is also an animal. But not a very pleasant one. Since a flea is not a pleasant animal, we have no duty to protect and defend it, to take care of it so that it can bite and torment and torture us. Rather, we make it harmless. It is the same with the Jews." ( source )

In The Atlantic , Andrew Sullivan says, of McCain, that he decided to "reignite the culture war as a last stand against Obama".
This culture war did not need to be reignited as it was never extinguished. It will survive as long as Democrats continue to nominate pro abortion candidates.

CatholicVote.com video.

Leaving Mass this morning, I encountered a fellow Catholic wearing an Obama button.
When I pointed out to her Obama's pro abortion / pro infanticide vote she was unfazed.
Words cannot express my outrage. Rather than try and put it into words, I will simply post this video from CatholicVote.com

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Labels and Tags.

It's said that one of the ways to stay young is to keep the mind active.....keep learning.....don't let your mind idle.
I've learned quite a lot in the past few years. I've been writing more, learning html, building websites and blogging like crazy.
When I first started this blog, nearly two years ago,I didn't appreciate the value of placing tags or labels onto my post. As time went on, I saw that I needed a way to allow my readers better access to earlier posts that they may find interesting.
That's when it hit me. My posts needed labels, but, I had gone so long without them that editing my posts to add labels would be a monumental task. I've more than 400 posts on this blog.
I decided to go ahead and jump into it. Better to do it with 436 post than 1000. I started the editing this morning. It took hours to do, but now it's done.
It was a pain....but I now that I've finished, I'm glad I did it.

Friday, September 12, 2008

We apoligize for any incomvinience.

Here a copy of an email I received from "Yahoo" telling me that my account was in danger of being de-activated for security purposes. I was instructed to send my name and password in a reply email in order to maintain my account.
Funny, none of my other Yahoo email accounts seem to be in the same danger.
I was told that I had only 24 hours to reply or risk suspension, but I didn't log in until 4 days after the email was sent.
I guess,uh, they have so many accounts to suspend that I was given a brief reprieve.
You, know....I never realized Yahoo had an office in Lagos, Nigeria. At least that's the location of the IP address I located in the email header.
The Lagos office must have a very tiny budget.....there's no spell check on their PCs and they, obviously, can't afford to buy a dictionary.
I can connect them with a few millionaires in Nigeria who might be able to help them out of their financial crunch.....if the sender will just provide me with his full name, bank account number and $100 filing fee.



Too bad, it's not real.

I came across this photo on The Daily Telegraph showing Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, wearing a patriotic bikini and toting a rifle.
Sadly, as the article points out, the image is the product of someone's vivid imagination..... and Photoshop. The head is, obviously, hers, but the body is not. Just a little nip-tuck and voila !
Actually, the photo looks pretty realistic; much better than I could do. Someone did have the good sense to put the words "digitally altered" onto the photo.

New Blog Template.

For me, when it comes to blog themes, plain and simple is the best. There are a wide variety of "expressive" themes and motifs but, for the most part, I find them all too distracting. I'd rather just "decorate" my blog daily with my words and/or an appropriate image.
I've been using the minima template (and still do on my dumaguetewebsite blog) but I haven't been totally satisfied with it.
My biggest complaint with the blogspot templates is that I haven't been able to find a suitable template with 3 columns.....that is until recently when I came across one designed by Dominique Cimafranca of village idiot savant.
I downloaded his template and them uploaded it to blogspot yesterday afternoon. I've personalized it just a tiny bit with a different font and moved around my widgets and gadgets.
I've changed the template on my penpal website of the week blog as well, although on that one, I've put in a background color.
Thanks, again to Dom, for reading my mind and coming up with the exact template I've been looking for.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Sept. 11

Biden's Mumbo-Jumbo.

Just what sort of mumbo-jumbo alchemy is it that Joe Biden believes in and practices?
He's given to pontificating on matters both theological and scientific but, he understands neither.
After his comments on when life begins, a number of Catholic Bishops pointed out that Biden is mistaken-not only from a religious view, but from a common sense understanding of basic human biology as well.
As Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison, Wisconsin pointed out,
"Biology, not faith, not philosophy, not any kind of theology - Biology tells us, science [says], that at the moment of conception there exists a unique individual of the human species."
Now Biden shows his lack of scientific knowledge while campaigning in Missouri ,
“I hear all this talk about how the Republicans are going to work in dealing with parents” who face “the joy and the difficulty of raising a child who has a developmental disability, who were born with a birth defect.Well, guess what folks? If you care about it, why don’t you support stem-cell research?”
First of all.......the pro life factions are not against stem cell research. We are against embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). We are against the destruction of human life. ESCR destroys embryos. The are many more types of stem cells which can be used without harming a living, human being.
To date, no approved medical treatments have been derived from embryonic stem cell research. Adult stem cells and cord blood stems cells have thus far been the only stem cells used to successfully treat any diseases. We have absolutely no evidence that a cure for Down Syndrome can be found utilizing ESCR.
Rather than comment on things he does not understand,maybe Biden should limit his comments to issues such as plagiarizing writing speeches .

Special thanks to Theresa Bates for her help with the Wizard photo. (click on photo to enlarge)

Monday, September 8, 2008

NARAL supports Biden.....slams Palin.

In recent statements, NARAL gives it's support to Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden and slams Sarah Palin.
"Most notably, Sen. Biden has a strong record of opposing judicial nominees with hostile anti-choice [pro-life] records. He voted against George W. Bush's two anti-choice [pro-life] nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, and he opposed anti-choice [pro-life] Justice Clarence Thomas' nomination to the Court as well as multiple anti-choice [pro-life] nominees to lower federal courts."

"Americans are tired of the kind of divisive anti-choice [pro-life] policies that Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin have pledged to continue to support. The contrast between pro-choice [pro-abortion/pro-infanticide] Sen. Obama and anti-choice [pro-life] Sen. McCain is clear. Voters are looking for a leader who respects women’s freedom and privacy. Barack Obama is that leader."

So, the choice is clear......if you are pro-life, vote for McCain/Palin. If you support abortion on demand and infanticide choose Obama/Biden.

Sources:
Statement from NARAL Pro-Choice America on Sen. Barack Obama’s Vice-Presidential Selection
McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Obama in over his head.


This time last year, long before anyone cast a vote in the Democratic primaries, everyone assumed that Senator Hillary Clinton would be the Democrat Presidential nominee for 2008. Absolutely no one questioned that.
I believe, that when he first announced his candidacy, Barack Obama himself probably believed that as well.
In an early Washington Post story, it was noted,
"Despite all the hype about his potential candidacy, some of Obama's closest associates worry that the senator remains untested. After winning a tough Senate primary in 2004, he sailed through the general election, aided by a Republican nominee with extensive personal travails. 'There will be bumps; there always are,' said one senior Obama adviser, speaking on the condition of anonymity. ' He's going to have to manage expectations and show he has the strength and endurance for the long haul.' "
I suspect, that when he first entered the Presidential race, Obama had another agenda. Not really expecting to win, he was merely putting his hat into the ring in order to, in essence, pad his future resume.
He, like many candidates who don't win Presidential elections, would be forever introduced as "former Presidential candidate, Barack Obama". That alone would have given him a certain amount of Democratic Party "street cred".
There was always the remote possibility that Hillary Clinton would have picked him as her running mate, but I believe that was, in his mind, a dream. I don't think that he had actually considered for a moment that he would ever be the nominee for 2008.
Now that he is the nominee I think he realizes that he is in way over his head. His picking Joe Biden as his running mate shows he is in desperate need of advice from an old hand.
It's not a coincidence that, from the beginning, Biden was seen as Obama's "Dick Cheney"....someone who would give Obama "gravitas"
The thing that no one expected in 2007 was the reaction of the Democrat male voter to the thought of Hillary Clinton as President. These Democrats looked at her and were horrified.
Now, we may be burdened with the worse President since Andrew Johnson.....all because of the not-so- feminist male Democrats.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Drilling in ANWR.

One sure-fire way to set Leftist/Liberal Environmentalists off into a tizzy is to suggest that we open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling.
The environment is too fragile....whatever gains we may see will be minuscule.So goes the argument.
In an ad from defenders.org , drilling in ANWR will give us a "toxic wasteland where there was once a publicly owned wildlife refuge".
Many fear that, somehow, our mere presence in the area is enough to endanger life there. This is in spite of facts to the contrary. From an article at anwr.org,
"Petroleum development at Prudhoe Bay has not negatively affected wildlife. For instance, the Central Arctic caribou herd is at home with pipeline facilities and has grown from 3,000 to as high as 27,100 in the last 20 years. Drilling activity in ANWR would be limited to winter months when wildlife does not frequent the coastal plain."
But, just for the sake of argument.....let's say that oil drilling threatened the environment......then why would we only limit the restrictions to ANWR ? If oil drilling is bad in ANWR then it would be environmentally bad in Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Iraq, Iran and everywhere else we do it.
Logically, if you are opposed to drilling in ANWR, then you are an oil greedy hypocrite if you don't insist we stop all oil drilling world-wide. Logically, if oil drilling is too dangerous for caribou then it would be too dangerous for the humans that live in the populated regions where we already drill. Is that what the Left want ?
Alaska Governor - and now Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, supports drilling in ANWR . I'm sure most Americans would agree with her if they were aware of the true facts.




Thursday, September 4, 2008

Punishment or Blessing?

This image, taken from Michelle Malkin's blog illustrates, perfectly, the difference between how Republicans and Democrats view pregnancies.
To Republicans, a pregnancy, no matter the circumstances, is a blessing.
To Democrats pregnancy is a curse.
Malkin goes on to quote Palin and Obama to further show the contrast.
Quoting Palin on her daughter's situation,
“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.
“Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi’s privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.”

Quoting Obama on the possible pregnancy of his daughters,
“Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old,” he 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.”

Punishment or Blessing?