Babylonia Aivaz to Marry Warehouse.

The title of this post is not a typo. You might think it should read "Babylonia Aivaz Marries in Warehouse". That, at least, would make more sense.

Thanks to the one and only LarryD at Acts of the Apostasy I learned of Seattle activist Babylonia Aivaz's plan to marry a 107 year old warehouse. Larry linked to a story from The Daily Mail online:

Babylonia Aivaz’s love knows no bounds – that’s why she will marry a 107-year-old doomed warehouse in Seattle tomorrow. 

The Seattle activist has planned the weekend ceremony because she is head over heels in love, and she also wants to make a statement against the warehouse’s slated demolition. 

A luxury apartment complex will be built in its place, and Aivaz is mourning the loss of a place she and other protesters have inhabited for more than a month. 

‘If corporations can have the rights as people, so can buildings,’ said Aivaz, referencing a Supreme Court decision on political advertising. 

‘I’m doing this to show the building how much I love it, how much I love community space and how much I love this neighborhood. And I want to stop it from gentrification.’

This story was so ridiculous.....I had to Google Babylonia Aivaz to see what else I could find. I was able to find a video interview of the future Mrs. Warehouse.

Knowing how videos on the internet can "disappear" over time, I downloaded the ABC video, uploaded said video to Youtube and voilà ..........

Ann Coulter on Newt.

People who don't care for Ann Coulter accuse her of being an extremist and "unreasonablness" personified. As a fan of Coulter, I'll admit that she can be provocative. However,in her recent column, (Re-elect Obama: Vote Newt!) her agruments for choosing Romney over Gingrich seem to me to be quite reasonable.

As Coulter points out, there are some who call Romney a "flip-flopper" because his views on abortion have changed over time, but isn't the reason we in the pro-life community put forth our anti-abortion arguments, is the belief that people can change their minds.

Massachusetts Citizens for Life President Anne Fox is on record stating that Mitt Romney is “consistently” pro-life. I have no reason to doubt her assessment.

Commenting on Gingrich's victory in the South Carolina Republican primary, Coulter said, “Apparently, South Carolinians would rather have the emotional satisfaction of a snotty remark toward the president than to beat Obama in the fall.”

Gingrich has often accused Romney of being a "moderate". Coulter goes on to write, "Romney is 'moderate' only in demeanor -- which is just another word game. His positions are more conservative than Gingrich's, but he doesn't scare people like Gingrich does".

Certainly, no one can accuse Coulter of being a political moderate. She's not about to support any candidate who isn't a true conservative. Maybe it's time for conservatives to take a closer look at Romney - and Gingrich too, for that matter.

3 1/2 Time-Outs Tuesday.....Part Three....the Unauthorized Edition.

Hey, this is Tuesday, right?

Here I am, all set to do a 3 1/2 Time-Outs Tuesday - but LarryD @ actsoftheapostasy hasn't done one yet......I can't link to his post if he hasn't done a post.

I guess we'll call this an unauthorized 3 1/2 Time-Outs Tuesday.(after writing this, I see LarryD has finally posted his two-fer).

1) When Administrative Law Judge Michael M. Malihi issued a ruling "favoring right whales, manatees and sea turtles", he was viewed by the Left as a sober, balanced and right thinking jurist. Now that he's ordered President Obama to appear in “Natural Born Citizen” case he's become a racist, hate -filled birther. Someone remarked, "President Obama will be in court after attending the UFO conference and meeting BigFoot. You people are insane and embarrassing".

2) Speaking of Obama and UFO conferences, typing obama ufo conference into my favorite search engine produced this photo.

3) Doing the same with Obama Bigfoot gave me this gem.

1/2) Back in November, 2009, I did a humourous post (Shut the @#$%$#@ Up.) where I poked fun at a program called a complaint free world......you wear a complaint free bracelet or something. I went back to that post recently - I can't remember why -. That's when I discovered that my anti-virus software blocks a complaint free world. org. I wonder if they'd complain if they knew about it?

Leftist Religious Argument Fails.

Worried about the possibility that some states may "grant legal status to zygotes and embryos", Debra W. Haffner, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Religious Institute, writes in the Washington Post of  the religious case for legalized abortion.

I was not surprised to learn that the, huh ....... Reverend (?) Haffner is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister.

According to their website, the UUA welcomes people with diverse beliefs - drawing "inspiration from Atheism and Agnosticism, Buddhism, Christianity, Humanism, Judaism, Paganism, and other religious or philosophical traditions".  It's not surprising then, that a Unitarian Universalist minister would support abortion.

Yes,Unitarian Universalists are all about diversity. "Individual Unitarian Universalists may discern their own beliefs about spiritual, ethical, and theological issues". However, the group does hold to seven shared principles:  

The inherent worth and dignity of every person; 
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations; 
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations; 
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning; 
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large; 
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Being a UU minister, Haffner believes in the inherent worth and dignity of every person , that is, of course, unless you are a zygote or embryo. In that case,she doesn't even consider you a person.

In her Washington Post piece, Haffner writes that "Christian and Hebrew scriptures neither condemn nor prohibit abortion." I guess she forgot about "Thou Shall Not Kill". Although her relgion claims to draw from Buddhism as well, she seems to overlook the first of the 5 Buddhist precepts- "I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking life".

A photo slide show for the article has this - "The Catholic Church in particular is credited with organizing and driving the anti-abortion movement for decades., but religious arguments shape the pro-choice side, too". Reverend Haffner doesn't do a convincing job of presenting those, so called, religious arguments.

Ask Them What They Mean by “Choice” Day.

From jillstanek.com.......TODAY! Ask Them What They Mean by “Choice” Day:  

Today is the tragic, terrible 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized the subsequent murders of 55 million children and counting.

Abortion proponents call this “choice.” They fear the word “abortion.” They know it has negative connotations – not so different from the word “holocaust.”

So today NARAL is sponsoring the euphemistic Blog for Choice Day. 

But we’re not going to let them get away with it. Dozens of pro-life bloggers have banded together to write their thoughts about “choice.” See them listed when you open this post.


......kinda' like the "choice" the Obama administration is giving Catholics vis-à-vis following their conscience.

R.I.P. Etta James

Etta James, dead at 73.


 

Teleprompters in Disneyland.

Realizing that this year may be his last opportunity to do so as POTUS, Barack Obama took his two favorite teleprompters to Disneyland this week. "These two guys are such an important part of my life", the President told reporters,"I felt we needed to do something special together as a family".

Critics have pointed out that the President has spend an enormous amount of time on vacation with his teleprompters. At a press conference in South Carolina, Republican candidate, Newt Gingrich said that Obama and the teleprompters had only just returned from Six Flags.
"We need to put those three on permanent vacation", said Gingrich.

Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe.

Yesterday, I participated in my 2nd 3 1/2 Time-Outs-Tuesday. The idea for this Tuesday event comes from blogger LarryD.  It's his take on  7 Quick Takes Friday at ConviersionDiary.

It was Larry's 8th 3 1/2 Times-Outs-Tuesday. As you can see, it took several weeks for me to jump into the project. The thought of having to come up with 3 1/2 little posts ever Tuesday seemed a bit daunting. Now that I've started, I've encountered the truly insidious, underlying problem of the Tuesday-thingy.

I'm obligated now to post something every flippin' Wednesday as well.

Before, I could go a few days without writing a blog post and it was no biggie. I don't believe people think too much about the date of a post they're reading .... unless, like in this case, the post actually advertises the day of the week. Now, if someone checks on my blog on say, Thursday or Saturday, they'll recognise me for the slacker that I am. 3 1/2 Times-Outs-Tuesday on Sunday !?!? What a LOSER.

This is my obligatory Wednesday post.

Thanks Larry.

3 1/2 Time-Outs Tuesday......Part Two.

Is it Tuesday already? Time for my second 3½ Time-Outs Tuesday.  

1) A few weeks back, I was introduced to the writings of H. Rider Haggard. Haggard was a Victorian era English adventure novelist. It's said Haggard was an influence on Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard, among others. I've finished reading King Solomon's Mines and Allan Quatermain and started on She.....which is considered to be his best. Maybe I've become too immersed into Haggard too quickly - She is a bit boring, I think. Perhaps I'll pick it up again later.  

2) Picked up a used hardcover copy of Southern Storm: Sherman's March to the Sea by Noah Andre Trudeau. I'm sure my Confederate ancestors are rolling in their graves - I'm actually coming to appreciate William Tecumseh Sherman.  

3) Thanks to a spat between Kim Novack and the folks involved in the making of The Artist, I was introduced to Bernard Hermann. I'm so happy that recordings of his music can be found at Spotify.

1/2) I made a slight variation to LarryD's 3½ Time-Outs Tuesday photo.

Michelle Antoinette.

A recent image of Michell Obama as Marie Antoinette has been called a right-wing media smear, and racist. Is it?
 This isn't the first time  someone has seen a resemblance. I've also come upon a similiar portrayal here and here. No word yet from the Liberals on the political correctness of comparing Marie Antoinette to Dick Cheney,George Bush or Mitt Romney.
 

My First 3 1/2 Time-Outs Tuesday.

I've been meaning to participate in LarryD's 3½ Time-Outs Tuesdays.....no, really I have, but it seemed so much like work - thinking of 3 1/2 things.
It seemed like a good way, however, to put forward a few items that I've been thinking about, but have been too lazy to turn into full fledged blog posts.

1)
Like all kids, my six year old can be a picky eater. That's why I was surprised to learn that he likes salami sandwiches. I was even more shocked to learn that he likes mayo on his salami sandwiches. I guess it boils down to the interplay of his Polish and Filipino heritage.

2)
Lost my temper Saturday.......after listening to a self proclaimed devout Catholic go on and on and on about horrible it was that the Catholic Church abandoned the Latin Mass and then listen to his pro-choice BS. When he said the pro-life people need to get a grip, I wanted to grip his throat. Fortunately, there was no violence.

3)
I don't think I need to comment on how disappointed I am with LSU's performance last night.

1\2)
Third shift bites.

Defending Life Without Cute Babies.

OK, I can understand the temptation to do a bit of photoshopping (or in this case- GIMPing) to make a statement.

At acceptingabundance.com PZ Myers face was pasted onto a pro-life billboard in response to Myers having pasted a photo of onto the same billboard.

I just wish the person putting Myers' face in would have spent a little more time and effort into doing it right.

I'm hardly an expert, but even my humble effort tops what was used.

Lee Predicts Crimson Tide Victory.

In an email today, Daily Events writer Tony Lee gives his prediction on tonight's Alabama vs LSU game tonight.

After admitting his "Alabama biases" he predicts Alabama 31, LSU 13.

I don't see that. In their last outing, LSU beat Alabama by 3 points. As much as I'd love to see LSU win this one as well, I admit that there's always the possibility that Alabama could win this time. However, the 31 to 13 score doesn't appear realistic to me.

I know...... folks outside the South have little interest in this game. That could be why we won't find the game telecast on the regular networks tonight.

Ann Coulter Angers Some Catholic Bloggers.

There are times when a complete and thorough understanding of certain political labels seems to elude me. What is it, exactly, that some folks mean by the terms "liberal" or "conservative"? Who sets the criteria?

In my own case, I would generally consider myself a Conservative, but surprisingly, there has been times when even yours truly has been accused of being a Liberal. One incident sticks out in my memory; a few years ago, when the Supreme Court held that prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps had a right to habeas corpus under the United States Constitution, someone commenting on my blog called me a Liberal for agreeing with the Court's decision. Nothing I could say about my pro-life position or my views on the role of the Federal government's involvement in our lives made any difference with this person. The fact that I wanted to see the size of the Federal government drastically reduced - or the fact that I am in total agreement with the Catholic church's view on abortion - meant nothing to this person.

I bring up this confusion on my part because of a recent article written by Ann Coulter where, when writing on Rick Santorum, she stated that Santorum was "more of a Catholic than a conservative, which means he's good on 60 percent of the issues, but bad on others......". One Catholic blogger took offense to Coulter's comment, calling her a "BIGOT" and "something else that begin with a 'B' and an 'I' ". I don't agree with that assessment of Coulter.....I know exactly what she means. Catholic teaching doesn't fall in line with either political label. Liberals decry the Church's teachings on abortion, marriage and women's ordination, for example, while many Conservatives fall out with the Church over capital punishment and immigration. Many, so called "rock solid Conservatives" like Sean Hannity can't go along with Catholic teaching against artificial contraception.

Let's face it; if one is a true, devout Catholic, one will not conveniently fit in with either secular Conservatism or secular Liberalism.

Like Santorum, I would consider myself more Catholic than Conservative. Ann Coulter and I are not in 100% agreement on every political issue, but I certainly don't believe she is an anti-Catholic bigot, nor do I view her recent column as "a nasty piece of work" the way this Catholic blogger does.

As an aside, not everyone thinks Santorum follows Church teaching to the letter.

Irish Journalist leaves Catholic Church over Women's Ordination.

I had never heard of Irish journalist Olivia O’Leary until today when I learned that she had left the Roman Catholic church.

According to Irish Central.com:

"She cited her disappointment in the fact that women cannot be ordained as priests, coupled with the disgrace that “the institutional cover-up of clerical child sex abuse was a ‘proximate factor.’ "

In a RTE podcast, she tells us that she will miss the Roman Catholic Church; her reasons are superficial, at best. One does not choose the correctness of a religion's teaching because of that church's music.

Ms. O'Leary gives typical reasons for leaving the church; the child sex abuse scandal and the Church's failure to ordain women. She misses the point, however. Whether or not one chooses to remain Catholic or Muslim or whatever shouldn't be based on whether you agree with the teachings of the particular religion in question, but rather, does that religion teach the truth. There is a difference.

When giving her reasons for staying with the Roman Catholic Church for so many years, and her reasons for leaving now, nothing is mentioned of the Eucharist. She stayed for years, but not because of the Eucharist and her leaving now puts no importance on the Blessed Sacrament.

The question Ms. O'Leary - and others - should be asking is this: "Is the Roman Catholic Church the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church founded by Jesus Christ?"

If she answers yes to that question then she should understand that she must follow the teachings of the Church even if she doesn't quite understand the reasoning.

If she answers no, then by all means find another religious tradition. I'm confident that she won't find Christ's one true church in the Church of Ireland.

Never Take Your $1 Million Bills to Walmart.

According to the Winston-Salem Journal, 53 year old Michael Anthony Fuller walked into the Lexington, N.C. Walmart this past Nov.17 to purchase a vacuum cleaner, a microwave oven and an assortment of other, unnamed items, valued at $476.

Mr. Fuller handed the cashier a $1 Million bill. ( the article says it was a fake $1 Million bill ).

Perhaps Mr. Fuller's first mistake was not going to the self-checkout lane.

I'm really curious as to how the bill looked. Fuller obviously had no idea that there are no such things as $1 Million bills. How did he expect to counterfeit a bill he had never seen?
Did he actually think that Walmart could give him correct change?

Another account of the same story says, "Every once in a while someone tries to pass off a fake $1 million bill". I suppose that could explain Russian math whiz Grigory Perelman's refusal to accept a $1 million prize for solving the Poincare conjecture. I'm going to have to take their word that Perelman solved the problem. Not only do I not understand his answer, I don't even understand the question.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to The Politically Incorrect Guide........

I'm not quite sure who determined that, in order to be a proper Conservative, one must also be an apologist for the Confederate States of America. Obviously, someone at Human Events magazine thinks so.

I recently received an email from Human Events offering to sent a copy of H.W. Crocker III's The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War to me, free of charge, if I would subscribe to the magazine.




The email ad gives a list of 7 facts which "today's PC professors refuse to teach about the Civil War."

Being a descendant of more than one Confederate soldier, it's almost expected that I should take the bait.

Not so, I say.

Let's take a look at the list:

(1) Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee: Why they believed, and sincerely hoped, that slavery would fade away naturally.

Not being an historian or an ACWF (American Civil War fanatic) I cannot state for a fact that this accurately represents Lee and Davis' view. True or not, it's rather beside the point, I think. The truth is, slavery was a central part of the economy of the states that attempted to secede from the Union. Support for the Confederacy was de facto support for the institution of slavery.

(2) The widespread belief among leading Northern abolitionists that the Constitution was "a covenant with death and an agreement with hell".

This essay written by abolitionist and mentor to Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison would bear that out. But, can the original Constitution of the United States be rightly called a "sacred instrument" when the document was dripping with human blood by its failure to address the issue of slavery from the beginning?

(3) The Emancipation Proclamation: It didn't free a single slave — and caused draft riots in the North.

True.

(4) How the Federals waged a war against Southern civilians — destroying their crops, their cities, and their homes.

Sadly, the Federals appear to have been engaged in "Total War", though some historians argue against that view.

(5) The real Robert E. Lee: He considered slavery a political and moral evil and opposed secession — and after the war, a New York newspaper thought he should run for president.

Lee may have "considered slavery a political and moral evil" but, it sounds a lot like a so-called Catholic politician being "personally against abortion, but pro-choice".

(6) Nathan Bedford Forrest: though allegedly a commander of the Ku Klux Klan, he wanted more free blacks — and Chinese — in the South.

Allegedly? Forrest was the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. I can't address his motive for wanting "more free blacks — and Chinese — in the South".

(7) How both Grant and Lincoln thought the Mexican War was morally wrong, but had no qualms waging a far bloodier war to deny the South its independence.

And.........?

It's become popular nowadays to view the Confederates as the ultimate supporters of subsidiarity. There may be some element of truth behind that. As a boy, Jefferson Davis studied at Saint Thomas School at the Saint Rose Dominican Priory in Washington County Kentucky for a few years. Unfortunately, slavery trumps whatever good there may have been in the "Lost Cause".

2011 in Review.

On New Year's Eve, we have two lines we can take; either make resolutions which will be broken in less than a month, or take a look at the past year to see what, if anything we've done.

I can't honestly say I've accomplished much in the blogosphere. With 133 posts, this year has produced the fewest number of posts since I started this blog.

I have managed to do quite a bit of reading if not writing. Most of the books I've read this year have been on the Kindle. Thankfully, I can get more books than I can read from Project Gutenberg.

The following list are the books I've finished this year; it doesn't include the few I've started but never finished.

Excellence of the Rosary,
by M. J. Frings

The True Story of Fatima,
by Father John de Marchi, I.M.C,

My Bondage and My Freedom,
by Frederick Douglass

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,
by Frederick Douglass

A Study In Scarlet,
by Arthur Conan Doyle

Hunger,
by Knut Hamsun

She Drives Me Crazy,
by Celia Rivenbark.

If Protestantism is True,
by Devin Rose

Frankenstein,
by Mary Shelly

Uncle Tom's Cabin,
by Harriet Beecher Stowe

The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus,
by Teresa of Avila

The Story of a Soul,
by St. Therese of Lisieux

Imitation of Christ,
by Thomas à Kempis

The Admirable Secret of the Rosary,
by St Louis de Montfort

The Relaxation Response,
by Hebert Benson M.D.

Jesus of Nazareth,
by Pope Benedict XVI

Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance Into Jerusalem To The Resurrection,
by Pope Benedict XVI

John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father,
by Peggy Noonan

Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life,
by Charles J. Chaput

Light of the World: The Pope, The Church and The Signs Of The Times,
by Peter Seewald, Pope Benedict XVI

Tarzan of the Apes,
By Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Sign of the Four,
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle