Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The 2011 White House Easter Egg Roll.


From yesterday's post at Acts of the Apostasy we learn that The Easter Bunny is a Gay Enviro-nut.

The White House announced Monday that this year’s Easter Egg Roll will be “more environmentally friendly,” including eggs made with wood certified by an environmental activist organization and packaging “to minimize waste and environmental impact.”

LarryD also posted the new logo for the upcoming 2011 White House Easter Egg Roll.



I'm not sure where Larry got this logo.........I went to the White House website and found a slightly different logo.



Now, that's a Gay Enviro-nut.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Saturday, March 26, 2011

"A-Week" like No Other.

Somewhere, in the lower levels of my consciousness, I was vaguely aware that this week - March 20/26 - had been designated as A Week (otherwise known as Atheist Pride Week ). It wasn't until this morning, when I came across Jennifer Fulwiler's piece in The National Catholic Register that the subject came bubbling up to the surface.

As interesting as Fulwiler's article is, I found the comments following it more entertaining. As I write this, there are 75 78 81 82 comments. The exchanges between "Nora" and the Two Tims are worth the price of admission.

Comments from some others, however, are absolutely asinine - like Daynsby's comment that Christians had, at one time, killed people who believed the Earth revolved around the Sun.

In her article, Fulwiler linked to the Out Campaign website; a website dedicated to the proposition that Atheists Aren't Assholes.

"As more and more people join the OUT Campaign, fewer and fewer people will feel intimidated by religion."

Is that it? Is that the real reason behind the New Atheists becoming more vocal in their hatred of things religious? Intimidated by religion? God forbid.

"It is time to let our voices be heard regarding the intrusion of religion in our schools and politics."

Some might argue that is the atheists who are intruding in the schools. As for politics, people with deeply held religious beliefs will always participate in this democracy.

"We need to KEEP OUT the supernatural from our moral principles and public policies."

What moral principles do atheists embrace? If there is no God - if there is no Creator - if we are simply the result of a random coming together of atoms, molecules and other assorted material "stuff", then where does morality come from? Without God, I am just a collection of chemicals that happened to combine into this form. In the materialists' universe, I'm free to do as I please......after all, we're all just random collections of material, right?

As I said in in earlier post,

"Many atheists believe that the theories of evolution and the Big Bang show us to be the product of a random collection of molecules with no Creative Intelligence behind it all. If we are all merely a collection of chemicals, then it would follow that humans are no more valuable than any other collection of chemicals. An individual would be no more valuable than a whale or a worm or a water molecule.

Atheists may think they can be good without God, but if you take their atheism to its logical conclusion, there is absolutely no reason to treat your fellow human any differently than you would an insect.
"

Like nearly everyone else, the Out Campaign has a T shirt for sale. This one has "We Are All Africans" on the front, Out Campaign logo on the sleeve and "The Bible says modern people are the result of incestuous relations Cain and his brothers had with their sisters.Science says we are all descendants of Africans. I believe science" on the back.

If, as they say, we are the product of evolution, we are the result of incestuous relations between the offspring of the first "human". Besides, isn't being critical of incestuous relations based on a moral principle?

On the website, Dawkins claims to have invented the Scarlet A lapel pin. Stolen from Nathaniel Hawthorne might be a more accurate statement.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Business as Usual.

Googled Obama Libya and found these two (uninteresting) headlines:
Pelosi, Boxer defend Obama's move on Libya.
and
Sarah Palin Tells Greta Van Susteren What Obama Is Doing Wrong In Libya.

As President Obama's apparent military adviser might say, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!"

Can we really expect anything different from those on the Left or the Right?

There's no need to read either article.....we already know what Pelosi, Boxer and Palin have to say about Obama, just as we know what the three would say if it were a Republican POTUS doing the very same thing.

CNN is reporting that this is not a War while Fox tells us how the U.S. Escalates Libya War.

War or not, expect us to be involved for quite some time.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Lenten Struggle.

After an earlier claim (boast?) that I was looking forward to Lent, it appears that my Lenten journey this year hasn't been as worthwhile as it should be. No need to go into details....I'm just not progressing as I should.

One thing I will talk about, however, is my plan to read both volumes of Pope Benedict's "Jesus of Nazareth" during Lent. I had read excerpts of the most recent - Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance Into Jerusalem To The Resurrection- and have been looking forward to reading it in it's entirety.

My schedule has been hectic and I'm nearly finished with the first volume; I'm having difficulties with it. Maybe it's me - in fact, I'm sure it is - but reading this book has been a struggle. As much as I enjoyed reading the excerpts from the second volume online, I may not have purchased the book had I read the first volume earlier.

I'll end up re-reading this book. Perhaps I'll "get it" on the second go 'round.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Just Because.........

I was going through some of my files and came across a photo that I used over on another blog some time ago.
I'm putting the photo here - for no particular reason other than, well, just because I like the photo.

Friday, March 11, 2011

There's One in Every Crowd.

On the first Saturday of each month, a group of us get together to pray the Rosary as requested by the Blessed Mother at Fatima. There is also a social component to our gathering together; the women in our group are, for the most part, Filipinas who have emigrated from their homeland and this is an opportunity for them to spend time with others with whom they share so much.

There is always lots of food.

After the Rosary, Filipinas who are not Catholic (yes, there are a few) will show up with husbands in tow. The women will take over one part of the house while the men will end outside -if the weather permits- or in another area of the house, if the weather isn't so nice.

Lord knows what the women talk about; they're speaking either Visayan or Tagalog, depending on who's present.

Of course, the men will attempt to solve the world's problems.

This past Saturday, a couple whom I had never met, arrived after the Rosary. Soon enough, the wife was off to join the other Filipinas while the husband joined the men in the living room. Things seemed to be going well enough until the newcomer decided to bring up the subject of religion. He belongs to unnamed adventist type denomination and I'm quite certain he hadn't counted on finding himself in the midst of a den of vipers Catholics.....more especially, one like myself who takes no Protestant prisoners.

His discussion was, basically, a rambling mishmash until it hit upon the age of the earth. About 6000 years old, he said. Someone mentioned dinosaurs whereupon he made the claim that dinosaurs were mentioned in the Bible. He could prove it, he added, if someone would produce a Bible. Our host had more than one version and asked which he preferred. King James, naturally.

His "proof" comes from the Book of Job, Chapter 40 which speaks of Behemoth:

" Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.
He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.
He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares."

I was not impressed. There is nothing in these verses that would indicate to me that "behemoth" is a dinosaur.

I went to the host's bookshelf for a Catholic Bible.

" See, besides you I made Behemoth, that feeds on grass like an ox.
Behold the strength in his loins, and his vigor in the sinews of his belly.
He carries his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are like cables.
His bones are like tubes of bronze; his frame is like iron rods.
He came at the beginning of God's ways, and was made the taskmaster of his fellows;
For the produce of the mountains is brought to him, and of all wild animals he makes sport.
Under the lotus trees he lies, in coverts of the reedy swamp.
The lotus trees cover him with their shade; all about him are the poplars on the bank.
If the river grows violent, he is not disturbed; he is tranquil though the torrent surges about his mouth.
Who can capture him by his eyes, or pierce his nose with a trap?"

The footnote in the Catholic Bible says that the creature in question is a hippopotamus. Certainly, anyone - except the most die hard Protestant- would see this as a logical explanation.

This did not end the discussion, however. His religious ideas went from pillar to post.

The thing that did end the discussion was his claim that Christ died on a Thursday. I would not allow the talk to go any further. I made it plain that I had never in my life heard anyone make such a ridiculous comment. I'm familiar with the views of nearly every Protestant denomination under the sun and I have never heard any that agreed with that. I could not take seriously any further statements from someone who believed something as outlandish as that.

[Note:]
As it turns out, there are groups that believe Jesus died on Thursday - while some others say he was crucified on Wednesday (Google Jesus died on Thursday). If either of those claims were true (and only recently discovered) the story of Christ's death and resurrection, as told by Catholics and Protestants, would be incorrect. 2000 years of Tradition stood on it's head.

For my part, I'm inclined to believe the story as told by those who follow the Apostolic tradition. I don't put too much stock in "newly discovered findings".

Triglyceride Levels.

I recently had blood work done......basically, a semi-annual check up.....cholesterol, psa and a host of others.
Everything looks OK......the only thing that's out of range are the triglycerides; not so high that medication would be necessary, but just high enough that I should watch my diet to try and lower it just a smidgen. Fish oil would help too, I was told.

I had been advised to take fish oil last time, but I have a difficult time remembering to take the capsules. I told the nurse that it might be easier for me to eliminate the culprits from my diet. She mentioned things like white bread, white rice and biscuits. No need to stop eating those foods completely, just cut down. Problem is, I don't eat large amounts of those three particular foods.

I went on-line to find a list of other food items that might be the reason my triglycerides are out of line. I found the item easy enough. It's ice cream.




I really love ice cream. Whenever I felt like I had been through a particularly bad day, I'd treat myself to a huge bowlful. The ice cream was not causing a weight gain....I could eat to my heart's content and wouldn't gain a pound. So, I didn't see a problem.

Now, I'll be severely restricting my intake of ice cream. Too early to say if I'll completely give it up, but I'll be eating next to none for the next six months.

This isn't a News Year's resolution......I'm not giving up ice cream for Lent. I'm doing it to lower my triglyceride levels.

I'll try to do better taking the fish oil capsules as well. The next scheduled blood test is in September. We'll see.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Lent 4.5

After receiving a comment from the National Coordinator for Lent 4.5 regarding this post, I have removed the original post. I could not let the comment go without putting in my 2 cents worth, so my response to this can be found on another post - Lent 4.5 ..... Fail.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Pope Benedict's "Jesus of Nazareth" Series.

Pope Benedict's book from 2007 -Jesus of Nazareth- has been on my Amazon.com wishlist for quite a long time. However, cheapskate that I am, I don't like paying the shipping costs when I don't have to, so I won't order a book until I find a companion book that will put the total cost over $25.......giving me free shipping with Amazon.com. I have to really want both books - won't be paying for something on a whim.

The Pope's latest book, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance Into Jerusalem To The Resurrection is scheduled to be released next week. I decided to pre-order the book -taking advantage of a great price- ordering the first volume as well. I requested that both books be put in the same shipment so I could get the free shipping.

Because the release date on the second book is March 10th, I received a confirmation email that both books would be sent out then. This morning, I get another email from Amazon telling me that the company has already shipped the first book with no shipping cost to me. It's due to arrive Tuesday. This works out just fine; now, I can be finished reading the first book when the second book arrives.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The Adopt A Priestess Project.

Following the recent story of Norma Jean Coon's renunciation of her alleged ordination as a Roman Catholic Deacon and her relinquishing any and all connections to the, so-called, Roman Catholic Women Priests movement, blogger LarryD has launched what he's calling The Adopt-A-Priestess Project.

On his blog, Larry explains;

"Here's how it will work: I have a list of the names of 75 women, taken directly from the website of Roman Catholic Women Priests. They are from the US, Canada and a few from Europe. The list will get longer, as I am sifting through a similar roster from the Women's Ordination Conference site (I'm checking for duplication). If you wish to participate, I will assign you one of the names - or more, if you so desire, just let me know. I'm asking you to pray for that woman's conversion and return in full communion to the Church. How you do that is entirely up to you. Masses, rosaries, Divine Mercy chaplets, adoration, fasting - whatever devotion or means that works for you. If you're a priest, and you want to participate, perhaps you could say Masses for that woman (a few for the success of this project would be cool, too!)"

As you can see from the upper right hand corner of this blog, I've decided to participate and am encouraging others to join in as well.

Larry has assigned Eileen McCafferty DiFranco to me. I hope I'm up to the challenge.

According to the RCWP website, DiFranco "is a writer, community volunteer, and a registered nurse who works at a busy urban high school in Philadelphia. Ordained a priest in Pittsburgh in 2006, she serves as the pastor of The Community of Saint Mary Magdalene which meets each Sunday in a suburb of Philadelphia. Eileen is the first woman priest to preside at Dignity, Philadelphia. She also has a very busy wedding ministry. Eileen, and her husband Larry, have a daughter, three sons, and two grandchildren."

On the website journeysoftheheart.org it's said that DiFranco is a graduate of the Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. Obviously, she could not attend a Catholic seminary. I do not understand why she did not choose to become a Lutheran Minister since that denomination is more in tune with her beliefs. It's always been a puzzle to me why these - so called- women priests have attempted to stay Roman Catholic. If they truly believe that the Church is in error regarding the ordination of women, then one would have to conclude that the Church is not being guided by the Holy Spirit. Their entire effort is completely illogical.

I will pray for DiFranco's conversion. I pray that she will recognize the error of her thinking and return to the Catholic Church.

I'm hoping more will go to Larry's blog and participate as well.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Nigerian Scammer Sentenced in U.S. Federal Court.

A Nigerian national was sentenced in a federal court in Charlotte,NC for being part of a two-man team that bilked at least 18 people in the United States, Australia and Europe of more than $9.5 million.

Ugochukwu Enwerem aka Joseph Smith (top photo) was sentenced to nine years in prison, the U.S. Justice Department announced. Following six days of trial and four hours of deliberation, Enwerem was found guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and 14 counts of wire fraud charged in a July 2007 indictment stemming from an "advance-fee" scheme. Enwerem faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy count and 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the 14 wire fraud counts.

Co-defendant Kent Oserumen Okojie (bottom photo) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and two counts of wire fraud in September 2009 . Okojie is awaiting sentencing.

According to timesnews.net, one female victim from Pennsylvania - identified as EG - convinced that she had won $6.2 million in the "National UK Lottery", sent nearly $150,000 to the two men over an 18 month period.

"In one case, the government said, EG was asked to send $30,182.10 to a man in Spain to pay for a police report and an Anti-Terrorism Certificate. On another occasion, the government said, Okojie — posing as Paul Hamilton — convinced the woman to send $35,000 to pay European Union taxes."

Over the years, I've spent way too much time goofing on these types of scammers. Anyone who has read any of my posts dealing with these guys knows that most of them are not the among the sharpest knives in the kitchen drawer. I really have a hard time understanding how someone with enough sense to use a computer could fall for these schemes.

At any rate, that makes two down and countless more to go. I'll be saving the photos of Enwerem and Okojie..... they might come in handy whenever I have dealings with other Nigerian scammers.