2010.

In a few hours, this year will be over.

January, the first month of the new year is so named in honor of the ancient Roman god, Janus, who is depicted as having 2 heads....one looking forward and the other looking back. It's appropriate, of course, because this is the time of year when we all do the same.

Looking back at 2010, I'd say the most significant thing of this past year is the rather large number of friends and acquaintances who died during the past twelve months. I realize that as one gets older, one can expect to see more old friends and acquaintances pass away, but very few on the list would be considered "old". They are - not in any particular order:

1) BJ. A friend in the Philippines who was, at one time, a co-worker of my wife's mother. He had been ill for quite some time and his passing was not unexpected.

2) SB and

3) LH. both fellow musicians that I've known since High School.

4) My cousin, Cullen.

5) My cousin, Gary.

6) My brother's mother-in-law.

7) My sister's father-in-law.

8) My sister's former father-in-law.

9) the father-in-law of my son's godmother.

10) DB. just a guy I know.

May they all rest in peace.

Looking forward, it's expected that we all make New Year's resolutions. Blogger, LarryD wrote that he resolves to "pray more; read more; be the dad and husband God created me to be." Those sound like pretty good resolutions to me; I'll try to do likewise.

Happy New Year.

The White Christmas.

It was nearly 10PM Christmas Eve and we were on our way to St. Mary's church. There was to be an hour long performance by our church choir at 10, followed by Mass. There had been some mention on television earlier in the day that we might have snow this Christmas. While driving to church, I told my wife and 5 year old son that it was highly unlikely. It rarely snows in this part of north Georgia and I had never experienced a white Christmas.

When my son awoke Christmas morning, he found that he had gotten "everything he wanted" - a refill package of foam "bullets" for the toy gun someone had given him for his birthday, battle armor and other accessories for his battery powered hamsters and a white Christmas.

We later heard on the news that this is the first white Christmas the area has received since the 1800's. Granted, to some of my readers (like those in Michigan or Iowa) this snow would hardly be worth mentioning, but this is Rome, Georgia. This is a big deal for us.

There was still snow on the ground as we left for Mass Sunday morning, but there wasn't any ice on our street. The street we live on gets very little traffic - I knew that if it was OK to drive here, then Shorter Avenue (the main road between here and the church) would be perfectly fine. Had there been any ice to speak of on Shorter, it would have already been taken care of.

St. Mary's Catholic church is less than ten minutes away from our house. On the way to St. Mary's, we'll pass quite an assortment of Protestant churches; Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian. I couldn't resist telling my wife that it would appear that these denominations evidently don't believe in following the Ten Commandments, particularly the one that says we must remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. None of the Protestant churches we passed were having services this Sunday. The 2 inches of snow had been too frightening for them.

In fairness, I must say that the 11:00 AM Mass wasn't as full as it normally is, but we did have Mass at all the regularly scheduled times.

Seeing the closed Protestant churches reminded me of Christmas, 2005 which happened to fall on a Sunday that year. It had been announced in the local paper that many of the Protestant churches would not be having services that Sunday because it was Christmas day and the pastors assumed that many in their congregations would want to spend Christmas morning at home with their families. Christmas day, 2011 will also fall on a Sunday. I'll be looking to see how many, so-called, Christian churches in our area will close that day. You can be certain that St. Mary's will be open.

Christmas Break.

One might think, with all the time I have off from work for the Christmas holiday, I would have more time to write.

Au contraire, mon frère.

Not only am I on an extended vacation, but my wife and son are on holiday as well. More time together with the family means less time at the PC.

Writing anything Friday will be completely out of the question. We'll be having a Christmas Eve get-together dinner with family and friends before going to church that evening and - of course - I'll be doing most of the cooking. The choir at church will begin their program at 10:00 PM Christmas Eve with Mass to follow at 11:00.

I don't return to work until January 3rd......that will be a 16 hour work day for me. When I do return to work, I'll take advantage of every bit of over-time available. So, it looks as if regular blogging may be a thing of the past for me. I'll come back when I can.

Radical Jesus.

Thanks to a post at creativeminorityreport, [New Statesmen:Meet The Radical Jesus] I was lead to an article by Mehdi Hasan [What would Jesus do?] where Hasan attempts to prove that Jesus was a Leftist.

To prove his point, Hasan quotes Mikhail Gorbachev, who once declared: "Jesus was the first socialist, the first to seek a better life for mankind" and Hugo Chávez, who described Christ as "the greatest socialist in history". Hasan also uses five arguments to back up his claim; 1) Jesus the class warrior, 2) Jesus the banker basher, 3) Jesus the fair-wage campaigner, 4) Jesus the NHS champion and 5) Jesus the anti-war activist.

Jesus the class warrior:
Hasan gives "a belief in redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor" as "the core of leftist thinking". I'm sure we can all agree with that description. For proof that Jesus advocated redistribution of wealth, Hasan referances Mark 10:21-25
"21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, 'You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.' 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. 23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, 'How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!' 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, 'Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.'"

Granted, Christ told us that we must give up our love of money and material possessions if we are to follow him, but I do not see this as a command by Christ to give our property to the government for redistribution. It is one thing to voluntarily abandon ones possessions to follow Christ; it's quite another thing to have the government take from us and give what we own to others.

Jesus the banker basher:
To prove this point, Hasan goes to Mark 11:15-17 -
"15 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 He was teaching and saying, 'Is it not written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations"? But you have made it a den of robbers.'"
Rather than an indictment of bankers, I'd suggest Mark 11:15-17 warns against using God's house as a market place. God's house is a house of prayer not commerce.

Jesus the fair-wage campaigner:
Hasan, here, argues that Jesus was a supporter of "minimum wage" and a "living wage". He writes,
"Matthew 20:1-16 narrates the 'parable of the workers in the vineyard', which tells of five sets of labourers who arrived for work very early in the morning, at 9am, at noon, at 3pm and at 5pm. They are all paid at 6pm and each labourer receives the same amount - one denarius, as agreed to with their employer. Unsurprisingly, those who arrived earlier and did more work complained that they had received the same pay as those who had come later: 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' But, for Jesus, the casual labourers who came to work for the landowner in his vineyard had basic needs that had to be satisfied, and those who had come late had been struggling to find work in a laissez-faire market: 'No one has hired us,' the last labourers tell the landowner. 'From each according to his ability, to each according to his need,' in the words of Karl Marx."

In "The Kingdom of God is Like.....", Thomas Keating explains how this parable concerns our spiritual journey. In this parable Christ is explaining that God's Kingdom is not something we earn. "Grace is symbolized by the mysterious need of the householder for more workers.....". All those accepting God's invitation receive the same recompense. Following God at 9am (proverbially speaking) does not gain more merit for you that those who follow God at 5pm. Sadly, Hasan inhabits "literalville" if he believes this parable is about monetary payments.

Jesus the NHS champion:
The argument here is that, because Jesus healed the sick without pay, medical care should be free to all. The absurdity of this speaks for itself.

Jesus the anti-war activist:
I can't argue with Hasan's statements on Jesus being anti-violence -
"Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9)
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also" (Matthew 5:38-39)
"Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52)

I will argue against the notion that Leftists are, somehow, peace lovers.
"Democrats in the House of Representatives and in the Senate near-unanimously voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists against "those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States" in Afghanistan in 2001, supporting the NATO coalition invasion of the nation. Most elected Democrats continue to support the Afghanistan conflict, and some, such as a Democratic National Committee spokesperson, have voiced concerns that the Iraq War shifted too many resources away from the presence in Afghanistan." Obama's use of drones in Afghanistan is well documented [Obama's Shadowy Drone War].

If one accepts, as I do, that Christ's teaching can best be explained by the Catholic Church, we have this from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2425) :
"The Church has rejected the totalitarian and atheistic ideologies associated in modem times with 'communism' or 'socialism'. She has likewise refused to accept, in the practice of 'capitalism', individualism and the absolute primacy of the law of the marketplace over human labor. Regulating the economy solely by centralized planning perverts the basis of social bonds; regulating it solely by the law of the marketplace fails social justice, for 'there are many human needs which cannot be satisfied by the market'. Reasonable regulation of the marketplace and economic initiatives, in keeping with a just hierarchy of values and a view to the common good, is to be commended."

I'd be the first to admit that Jesus was not the right-wing 'champion' as some conservatives portray Him. However, he was hardly the 'lefty' Hasan believes Him to be.

John Lennon ......a Less Than Favorable Memorial.

As a consequence of the Obama recession, I've found myself obliged to put in the occasional 16 hour work day. By occasional, I mean two or three days a week. Naturally, while working these 16 hour days, I've had little time or inclination to write posts for this blog.

Had I not been working this schedule, I might very well have written something on John Lennon commemorating the 30th anniversary of his death on December 8th. Perhaps that's just as well; I have long since lost any love or admiration I may have once had for the late celebrity.

In a previous post [Goo Goo Ga Joob.] I mentioned that my favorite version of Lennon's I am the Walrus was the version done by Frank Zappa. The Beatle's recording of the song was the brain child of producer George Martin; Lennon could never had done the song in a live performance as Zappa had done. Zappa's treatment is especially ironic considering the bad blood between Zappa and Lennon over John and Yoko's "performing" (I use that term loosely) with the Mothers of Invention at the Fillmore East in 1971. Recordings were made of the concert with Lennon releasing portions of the collaboration on his Some Time in New York City LP. - The release of the recordings by Lennon was in contraction to an agreement he had made with Zappa. Adding insult to injury, Lennon took writing credit for Zappa's King Kong which Zappa had previously recorded on his album from 1969, Uncle Meat.

I know my low opinion of John Lennon is not a popular one.....particularly with my fellow members of the Baby Boomer generation. True, the music of the Beatles was an important influence, back in the day. Hopefully, as we grow older, we also grow as individuals. I've gone from being in awe of the Fab Four, to indifference, to downright hostility to much of what John Lennon represented.

His assassination was, indeed a tragedy. However, over the years I've come to believe that, had a poll been taken during the Beatles' heyday, which asked the question, "Which Beatle do you believe is the one most likely to be assassinated?" we all know who would have been the....huh.....winner.

The Al Gore Lawsuit.....One Week Later.

Thanks to a throw-away post -Al Gore sues Angeles Duran for Damages- the number of visitors to my blog has skyrocketed.

The week before that post - November 19 to November 26 - the blog had received 341 visits from 246 cities worldwide. Now, one week later, the number of hits from November 27 (when the piece was posted) until today, December 4, the total has reached 4790 visits from 1568 cities.

I've used Google Analytics to track down different websites that have linked to the post. I'm including a screen shot of one such link from the olympicpost.com......whoislookup says the site is owned by someone in Trondheim, Norway.

According to wikipedia, Trondheim is the "historic Viking capital of Norway". Had I known that a few days ago, I would have had Norway join Al Gore's lawsuit instead of Denmark.

Oh, yeah.....a site called newsflavor.com makes mention that Al Gore recently sued the woman claiming she was one of the reasons global warming is on the rise.

Ixchell, my Belle.........

Readers of this blog are well aware that I am of a lover of parody and satire. My recent posts on the Al Gore lawsuit and Denmark joining said lawsuit are testament that I'm not above pulling a proverbial leg from time to time.

However, this story is not a parody. Truth is, after all, really stranger than fiction. As reported in the Washington Post and News Busters, the executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, offered up a prayer to the Mayan goddess Ixchel during her opening statement at a UN climate conference convened in Cancun, Mexico.

Ixchell is goddess of midwifery and medicine as well as tapestry and the moon. Just what any of this has to do with global warming is anybody's guess.

In case anyone doubts me - or the news stories from the Washington Post and News Busters you can go to the UNFCCC website and download Figueres statement on pdf.

Denmark Joins Gore in Solar Lawsuit.

In a breaking story that can only be found on Internet News Network (I.N.N.) I've learned that the Kingdom of Denmark has decided to join former Vice President Al Gore in his lawsuit against Angeles Duran, owner of the Sun.
In a join press conference with Queen Margrethe, Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen made the announcement in Copenhagen earlier today.
As usual, I'm providing a link to the I.N.N. story:
Denmark Joins Al Gore's Solar Lawsuit.

What Have I Started?

Alright....this is starting to get a bit weird.

On Saturday, after reading the story of Angeles Duran - the Spanish woman who has laid claims of ownership to the Sun - I wrote a short little goof piece entitled Al Gore sues Angeles Duran for Damages. When I noticed that the post was getting an enormous amount of hits (enormous for me) I put together an "I.N.N. news story" called Al Gore Sues Sun's Owner Over Global Warming and put it in as a "source".
It was fun going to Google Analytics and checking out the increased traffic, but when I discovered that my post had been taken seriously by someone at China Daily.org - well, that's when it became just a bit creepy.

The link will go to the story at the Chinese website........I'm not making this up. I've taken a screenshot of a portion of the page just in case it disappears.

In less than 36 hours, my humble little blog post has received nearly 2500 visits from more than 900 cities in 70 countries. That's pretty amazing for a blog that usually gets about 60 visits in a 24 hour period.

Thanks, Al.

You never know..........

Yesterday, after reading about Angeles Duran and her claim to be owner of the Sun, I did a silly little post on Al Gore filing a lawsuit against her due to damage caused by Global Warming. I didn't spend a lot of time (or thought) on the idea.

Little did I know the reaction that little piece would have.

The image on the left is a snip of maps showing the location of visitors to the post......331 visits from 90 cities in Sweden.

Googling keyword like angeles duran or angeles duran al gore and al gore has filed a law suit against the woman for damages caused by global warming and my blog ranks high on the list. I'm not quite so sure why anyone would have googled "al gore has filed a law suit against the woman for damages caused by global warming" but, evidently someone thought to do just that.

I wish there was some way to take advantage of the increased traffic. You just never know what's going to attract readers.

Update: After giving it some thought, I did an I.N.N. story and added to yesterday's post.

Al Gore sues Angeles Duran for Damages.

Hours after learning of Angeles Duran's claim of ownership of the Sun, former Vice President, Al Gore has filed a law suit against the woman for damages caused by global warming.

"I'm seriously considering adding Spain in our suit", Gore told reporters. "Duran will be collecting fees from users of solar energy and she says she'll be giving half the money to the Spanish government. She can't hide the money that easily."

At the press conference, one reporter pointed out to Gore that he had been claiming global warming was aggravated more by human activity rather than sunlight. "That was before the Sun had a clear-cut owner", Al said.

Sunowner, Angeles Duran could not be reached for comment on Gore's lawsuit.
News Source: Al Gore Sues Sun's Owner Over Global Warming.

Note to Janet Napolitano and Barack Obama.

One month after arresting Pakistani-born U.S. citizen Farooque Ahmed for his involvement in an attempt to bomb and kill commuters at Washington-area subway stations, FBI agents arrested Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia, who is suspected of attempting to detonate a vehicle bomb at an annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon.

Let's see.......Muslim jihadists, attempting to commit terrorist acts.

Note to Janet Napolitano and Barack Obama - neither one traveled by air.

George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

Thanksgiving Proclamation
City of New York
October 3, 1789
by: George Washington

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their Joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th. day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the greatest degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Ruth Marcus to America, "Grow Up!"

In her recent piece for the Washington Post, Ruth Marcus tells us that any American leery of the new TSA security procedures should grow up.

She admits that the "pat-downs" are intrusive, but she assures us that we might not have to submit to the groping if we agree to simply walk through the "souped-up screeners". Besides, she writes, ".....where is the harm if some guy in another room, who doesn't have a clue who I am and doesn't see my face (it's obscured on the machine), gets a look at my flabby middle-aged self? "

Abortion advocates have been telling us for years that abortion should remain legal because of the Constitutional Right to Privacy. So now, with the present administration, this Constitutional Right to Privacy is abandoned for the sake of national security.

We must, she tells us, put up with any inconvenience and the lack of privacy because Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had been able to board a plane with explosives in his underwear. On Christmas Day 2009, Abdulmutallab boarded a plane in Amsterdam, headed for Detroit. To the best of my knowledge, Amsterdam does not use the same intrusive security procedures that the TSA uses. Our security methods would only catch would be terrorists already in the USA.

I don't understand the government's obsession with airplanes. A terrorist in this country can travel anywhere he chooses by car. Anyone hellbent of terrorizing the citizens of our nation could do more damage to our national psyche by killing 20 people at 2 different Walmarts than by killing 300 in a plane flying from one American city to another. How long before we can look forward to being subjected to "pat-downs" and "souped-up screeners" before we can enter a theater, subway or football stadium?

Referencing a recent Washington Post Poll, Marcus is certain that most Americans are not bothered by the new TSA regulations. She was wrong about the Tea Party as well.

Obama's approval rating is the lowest it's ever been. The brouhaha over airport security certainly won't bring his rating back up.

Hurts Car Rental?

Responding to complaints over body scanners and genital groping by the TSA, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said "if people want to travel by some other means," they have that right.

I suppose Napolitano is asking terrorists to follow the lead of Timothy McVeigh and rent a vehicle rather than fly.

Gives new meaning to the idea of "Hertz car Rental".

One Good Rant Deserves Another.

Reading Richard Cohen's rant on tobacco today, [The faces behind tobacco's deadly addiction] I have to wonder how long it's been since he smoked his last cigarette. He admits to being a former smoker, but his piece in the Washington Post demonstrates that he is still very much addicted to the drug.

Cohen still misses "......the stuff, the rush, the virtually sexual release from lighting up, the nicotine triggering an onset of dopamine - focusing the mind, twittering the senses, occupying the hands, soothing, comforting, assuring."

I'm a former smoker my self - quit 18 years ago after having smoked for more than 25 - but not once in that 25 years of smoking did I feel a virtual sexual release from lighting a cigarette. Sorry, Richard, but your mind just isn't right.

Cohen goes on to say, "We former smokers are an intolerant lot. We are motivated by regret and rage. We have been suckered and sucker-punched, lied to repeatedly and fooled in our juvenile years into taking a course that we can only partly remedy."

Intolerant? Speak for yourself, Mr Cohen. Why be motivated by "regret and rage"? It's really pointless to be angry with Louis C. Camilleri, Richard Burrows, Daniel M. Delen or the other tobacco industry big-wigs you name in your article.....those guys are not responsible for your having smoked as long as you did. First of all, the guys you rave about are all younger than you and were probably only a glimmer in their father's eye when you took up the nasty habit. You can't even blame the tobacco executives who were around when you started - they're more than likely dead now any way - but the responsibility for your having started in the first place rests firmly on your shoulders. Depending on how old you were when you started, part of the blame might be put upon your parents.

Cohen goes on to suggest that, rather than put the new, more graphic warnings on cigarette packs, the government should require that photos of tobacco executives be used on the warnings instead. How about we track down all the folks holding tobacco company stocks and put their photos on cigarette packs as well?

I agree with Cohen that anyone involved in the selling of cigarettes in perfectly despicable .... I'm thinking that there may be a special corner in Hell reserved for them, but seriously, Mr Cohen, you're still carrying this addiction around in your head and you need to just drop it. You may have been "suckered and sucker-punched, lied to repeatedly" but it was you lying to yourself.

Because you asked:

In a comment from yesterday's post, Al asked if I could post a recent photo of JP to compare with the photo I posted of him when he was newborn.
OK, here's one from a couple of months ago.

Happy 5th Birthday, J.P.

One of the first photos of J.P. from the day he was born. Happy 5th birthday,son.

Will Oklahoma City OK the LFL?

OK, I admit it; I am not a fan of professional football. I have no interest in watching millionaires play ball.

I will, on occasion, watch college football - particularly if I think there's a chance I can see Alabama getting beat.

Being unfamiliar with "the Super Bowl halftime alternative television special called the Lingerie Bowl" , I was totally unaware of the Lingerie Football League (LFL) until I came across a news story telling how Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett was against the idea of the league bringing a franchise to his city. Now,in typical political fashion, Cornett says, “I just said I was against it. I never said that I wouldn't allow it.”

The league hopes to expand to Oklahoma City in time for the 2011 season.

LFL spokesman Stephon McMillen said, "We find it interesting that satanic worship at the Civic Center and cheerleaders wearing far less than our athletes is moral, but LFL is not.”

After a bit of web searching, I found a few clips of LFL games on MTV2 . I've always felt that my post are more interesting with visuals, so I'm including a screenshot from one of the videos; it wasn't easy deciding which screenshot to use.

Sure, the game was interesting....I just can't remember the final score or which team won.

Democrats Holding Their Ground.

It's amazing how two individuals can look at the same event yet come up with two completely contradictory opinions regarding the meaning of that event.

I'm referring to Washington Post writer, E.J. Dionne and Ann Coulter and their different understanding as to what transpired on November 2nd.

Dionne looked at the recent election - and the drubbing received by the Democrats - and came to the conclusion that the electorate wants the Democrats to continue their attempt to drag the country further to the Left. Dionne wrote of the 2008 election, when "the largest number of voters in American history gave the Democrats their largest share of the presidential vote in 44 years and big majorities in the House and Senate" and concluded that we, as a nation, really do want to live in the world as envisioned by Obama.

Unlike Coulter, Dionne hasn't caught on that the 2008 election results came from a disproportionate number of air-headed 18 to 26 year old children voting for "Obama as a fashion statement". Contrariwise, the 2010 election was the product of mature, clear thinking, tax paying adults taking back control of the country. Thankfully, it's normally difficult to get the young to vote.....and even harder during an off year election. With many of the young disillusioned with Obama, the children that put him into office stayed home this past November.

Dionne wants the Democrats to hold their ground. Don't give in to the Republicans, he says. In spite of the fact that the recent Republican victory was massive in scope - on the State and Federal levels - Dionne is convinced that the GOP is made up of extremists who do not represent the American people.

I hope he gets his wish. I hope that the Democrats continue to show us exactly what they believe and the direction in which they want to take us. Democrats holding their ground will bring about further loses for them in 2012.

Photo (shop) of the Day.

My idea........
my sister's handiwork.......
voilà !!

Olbermann Unfired.

From the New York Times via boston.com - regarding Keith Olbermann's suspension from MSNBC:

"On Friday night, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow asserted that MSNBC’s enforcement of its policy in this case confirmed that Fox News was a “political operation’’ while MSNBC was a “news operation.’’ Sean Hannity, a primetime host for Fox News, has donated thousands of dollars to Republican candidates without penalty because Fox does not discourage such donations."

Well, MSNBC announced that Olbermann's suspension will be over after Monday night's show.

Sounds a bit like a publicity stunt to yours truly.

Olbermann Fired.

When I first read that MSNBC had canned Keith Olbermann for contributing $7,200 to three Democratic candidates in late October, I assumed, for a moment, that the network had fired him because his contribution hadn't been enough.

As it turns out, MSNBC does not permit journalists giving money to political candidates. One would have thought that Olbermann would have been exempt from this ban on the grounds of his not being a journalist.

Though not a fan of Olbermann or MSNBC, I can't understand why MSNBC prohibits this. The Washington Post article writes,
"The revelation of Olbermann's contributions -- first reported by Politico -- means that the anchor was leading on-air coverage of races in which he had privately picked favorites."

I guess that means MSNBC doesn't allow it's anchors to vote in elections....after all, when Olbermann votes, he's privately picking favorites.

The same Washington Post piece writes,
"The policy cautions the network's journalists against taking part in activities that might create an appearance of conflict of interest."

Since when has Olbermann or any MSNBC anchor not shown bias? Is donating money to Democrats really any different than what Olbermann and his ilk do anyway?

Movie Review.

Ever the blogging pioneer par excellence, LarryD of actsoftheapostasy has done it again with his post, "Dan And Fran": An AoftheA Cinematic Presentation.

With the help of xtranormal.com, Larry has created a funny video satirizing the issue of women in the Catholic priesthood.

After viewing the video, I went to xtranormal.com and let me tell you, it's obvious that Larry put a lot of effort into making this little gem.

It gets my vote for the next Academy Awards.

For the Liberal who has Everything.

In yesterday's post I linked to an article at Slate.com where Curtis Sittenfeld asked the question, "Am I the last person in America who still adores President Obama?"

Perhaps Curtis will be interested in the Barack Obama sex doll for sale in China.

Last Man Standing?

In a piece on Slate.com, Curtis Sittenfeld asks the question, Am I the last person in America who still adores President Obama?

Oh, Lord, I hope so.

Restoring Sanity with Boredom?

I'm not, by any stretch of the imagination, a fan of either Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert. I realized, of course, that their three hour, so-called "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" in D.C. would be an "event" and as a blogger interested in politics, I'd want to see whatever I could find concerning the rally on TV.

Thanks to CSPAN, I was able to watch most of the rally; I was channel surfing an hour after it started and found it there.

If I would describe the rally in one word, that word would be "boring".
Seriously.

Colbert played his part as over the top, Right Wing Crazy, with typical Liberal lameness. I'm sure High School intellectuals were highly amused. For his part, Stewart's "I'm so effing reasonable" persona reeked of condescension.



With very little exception, the musical entertainment came across as an "old fart" festival. I found the routine featuring Ozzy Osbourne doing "Crazy Train", the star formerly known as Cat Stevens, singing "Peace Train" which ended with the OJ's performing "Love Train" as a group of formerly hip has-beens playing for a group of hippie-wannabes that had gathered at the National Mall.

The song performed by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow will probably become the theme music for the Worthlessness of Progressiveness Movement. The moral of the song......I can't do anything worthwhile, but at least I care.

One theme which Stewart covered ad nauseum was the "some terrorists may be Muslims but that doesn't mean we should hate all Muslims" bit. Odd though, on the several occasions when he, or Colbert, introduced the star formerly known as Cat Stevens, they choose to introduce him as "Yusuf" and not by his now-legal name, Yusuf Islam. Just an oversight, I guess.

Will this rally affect the outcome of the upcoming elections on November 2nd ?
Not bloody likely.

I doubt that there are enough Kool-aid drinking ObamaZombies left to Change things......at least I Hope that's the case.

A man from Florida calling CSPAN after the program sums it up very well :
"I'd get more laughs with an Internet search on "elephantitis". "

Time Traveler with Big Feet.

I found this over on creativeminorityreport. I don't believe the person being filmed is a time traveler ...... just a crazy old lady talking to herself, but the clip is interesting.

As November Nears.........

Conventional wisdom -and the polls- tell us that, come the November election, thanks to Obama's attempt to push this country to the Left of France, the Democrat Party will receive a will deserved shellacking from the people.

More, the common refrain seems to be, when they take control, the Republicans need to do something.......no more Party of No.

It's unlikely that the GOP will even attempt to make the changes I'd like them to do - that is, basically demolish the Federal government.

If they don't do anything else, my wish would be that the Republicans put forth one Catholic teaching that would turn the country around; subsidiarity.

( For those too lazy to click on the link, subsidiarity is defined as an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. Political decisions should be taken at a local level if possible, rather than by a central authority.)

Our money should remain in our pockets, the decision as to what's best for our family and our community should be remain as close to home as possible. Trying to manage everything from Washington and giving "someone else's money" to everyone who might have his or her hand out, our government is destroying the country.

I'm not optimistic.

My Taste in Music.

I first saw the photo on Drudge , with his link to this story :Iran, Venezuela leaders seek 'new world order'.
I came across the photo again on a post at creativeminorityreport entitled Even Despots Break into Song Sometimes...
In that post, Matthew Archbold wrote,
"I must be in a silly mood but doesn't it look like these two murderous tyrants are in some weird musical and about to break into song."

For my part, the first song I thought of was Vera Lynn singing We'll Meet Again as it was used in the ending of the movie Dr. Strangelove.

Listening to the song again put me in a mood to listen to Vera Lynn on Pandora Radio.
This time, thankfully, Pandora choose not to include a John Lennon tune. Who'da thunk?

I was, instead, entertained by the likes of Jo Stafford, Deana Durbin and Fred Astaire.

One of the greatest gifts my father gave me - in addition to his love for the Catholic Church - was an appreciation for a wide variety of music. It might seem odd to some that someone who enjoys listening to Frank Zappa or Muddy Waters or Muddy Waters' evil twin could also enjoy listening to Camille Saint-Saëns or even Spade Cooley.

Someone once said I had 'catholic' tastes in music....catholic with a small 'c'.
That pretty much sums it up.

Goo Goo Ga Joob.

For reasons I can't quite comprehend, Pandora Radio has determined that, no matter what sort of "station" I create, a John Lennon tune is, apparently, appropriate.

Today, while listening to acoustic, folk music, the Beatles song , "I am the Walrus" came up. How that might relate to the type of music I had been hearing was beyond me.

Internet surfing, I'm surprised at the number of versions of "I am the Walrus" have been done.
My favorite is Zappa's take on it, but then again, I can have off-the-wall musical tastes.

Some of the other versions really blow my mind.

What could have possessed Bono to do this?

Perhaps we should have a contest.......hum......who has done the worst version of "I am the Walrus"?

Oasis?
Jim Carrey?
The Beatles?
this guy?
this kid?
the ukulele version ?

I believe we have a winner.

Goo Goo Ga Joob.

The River War.

Knowing my thoughts on our current struggle with the religion of peace, a friend sent an email to me containing the following quote from a book written by Winston S.Churchill more than one hundred years ago:

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.

Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen; all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome. [The River War: An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan (1899), Volume II pp. 248-250, from Wikiquote]"

This tidbit lead me on a search for a copy of the book. To my surprise, my local public library does not have a copy. But, then again, maybe I shouldn't have been surprised.

At any rate, I went to Amazon.com and found the book. As much as I want to read the book, I'm not willing to shell out twenty eight dollars (plus) for the hard cover edition; cheapskate that I am, even the ten bucks for the paperback was more than I wanted to spend. So, Project Gutenberg came to the rescue. A copy of The River War can be found here.

Reading the first paragraph, I was hooked. This is the sort of book that could only have been written in the days before movies, radio and television. Written at a time when the public expected a book to be well written, this book entertains from the very start.

As much as I dislike reading books online ( I really do prefer the feel of having a book in hand ) I'm finding it very difficult to put this one down - so to speak. I'm only stopping long enough to write this miserable piece for the blog, then I'm back to it.

President Obama's New Theme Song.

In an opinion piece for the Washington Times, Ted Nugent explains that President Obama's mojo is missing.

More to the point, he's got his mojo working, but it just don't work on you - or me, or anyone else.

Democratic Desperation.

In desperation, Obama attacks Bush and the Chamber of Commerce.
Pitiful.

Camille Saint-Saëns.

Today, October 09, 2010 is the 175th anniversary of the birth of French composer, Camille Saint-Saëns.

In honor of that, I'm posting a Youtube video of Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre as performed by the 'ad hoc' National Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Leopold Stokowski.

For the more musically adventurous, there is a computer generated recording of the work here.

Thoughts on the Censoring of Art Works.

In a case that is becoming so common place as to be cliché, the Patterson Gallery in the School of Visual Arts at Penn State University has refused to exhibit Joshua Stulman's series of paintings entitled Portraits of Terror, which the artist says explores the terrorist culture found within areas of the Palestinian territories and how radicalized Islam attempts to legitimize terrorism.

Penn State claimed the work violated the University's "Zero Tolerance policy for Hate". Gratz College in Philadelphia canceled plans to exhibit the paintings out of fear of violence being committed against the institution.

One has to wonder if Penn State would censor the paintings of Enrique Chagoya. Chagoya's "The Misadventures of the Romantic Cannibals," - a lithograph which includes an image of Jesus receiving oral sex- has been on display since Sept. 11 at the tax-funded Loveland Museum Gallery in Loveland, Colorado.

The lithograph has provoked protests; a 56 year old woman is accused of using a crowbar to break glass over the so-called "art" and subsequently ripping the lithograph.

Chagoya told The Associated Press that he was shocked and saddened that his work was attacked.

"My intention has never been to offend anybody," he said.

If that was, indeed, his intention, Chagoya has failed.

Chagoya's work may have been the recipient of a violent attack, but it's unlikely that Chagoya will need to go into hiding because of reaction from Christians. Ironically, Chagoya may very well have to go underground (as cartoonist Molly Norris was advised to do, after her creation of "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day".) if word gets out that the lithograph also contains a panel showing Mohammed kneeling before dancing, transvestite pigs. Equally ironic is the fact that it's the section with Mohammed - not the one of Jesus - which would, in all likelihood, keep the work from being shown at Penn State.

Maurizio Cattelan's Sculpture.

The BBC calls the sculpture 'disgusting' . Naturally, there is some controversy surrounding this particular work by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, which is on display in the Piazza d'Affari outside the Milan stock exchange.

The BBC article suggests that the middle finger is anti-capitalist - showing contempt for the financial kingpins inside the building. The folks at designboom.com (which has several photos of the sculpture on the website) are of the same opinion, saying Cattelan is "giving the finger to bankers".

From the way I see it, the message given is quite the opposite. As we see, the palm of the hand is facing the building.....those of us looking at the statue are seeing the back of the hand. From this angle, it is the bankers who are giving us the finger.

If, by chance, the good people in Milan wish to have the sculpture removed, I'd like to see it moved to Washington, D.C.......placed in front of the White House. We have to be sure, though, that it's turned the right way.

Repairing the Time Warp.

We see, now, who has influence and who doesn't.

In his comment on my last post , blogger LarryD tried to blame yours truly for the slight rip in the space-time continuum out by the D family home. He requested that I return to blogging in order to prevent a further rip.

I had been unable to write very much because of the over-time I've been putting in on my real job. I had put in 52 hours last week and was scheduled to work 48 this week. In order to get that 48 hour mark, I'd have to work 8 hours on 1st shift today in addition to my regular 8 on 2nd. Now, after going in at 7 this morning, the department, where I was working over, was sent home at 11......I'll have to go back in at 3 for my shift.

Obviously, LarryD must have made a call to have the department shut down early so I'd have to come home and write a post.

Alright, I'll write a little while I'm here, but I'm not paying for Larry's missing patio chair.

I've Been Busy.

Thanks to my wife having changed jobs, she's now able to drop off and pick up our son from school, which has allowed me to take advantage of the overtime available at work. This increased time at work has put a damper on my time available for blogging, but, as far as I've been able to tell, this hasn't seemed to have torn a fabric in the blogosphere.

There will be more posts in the future - once I've gotten into this new routine. In the mean time, I'll just drop by whenever I can. Feel free to check out my archives.

Rossini-Cenerentola- Finale Atto 1.

This week, due to no work on my part, I stumbled upon an unexpected windfall.

With this little bit of extra cash, I went to my Amazon.com wish-list to spend some of it before it burned a hole in my pocket. I've been wanting, for some time, to purchase a copy of "The Dangerous Book for Boys" by Conn Iggulden but, sorry to say, there hasn't been much money for luxuries lately and as much as I wanted the book, I viewed it as a luxury and not a necessity. Ordered the book and it's on the way.

When I went to the Amazon.com website, I looked over my wish-list to see if there was any thing else I would order or remove from the list. I found, on the list, a recording of La Cenerentola by Gioachino Rossini. I could not, for the life of me, remember putting this on the wish-list.....it's been on the list since August 21; I guess my memory isn't so hot.

I Googled "La Cenerentola" and found quite a few Youtube videos of sections of the opera. The video below is not the reason I put the CD on the wish-list, but it's rather nice and well worth putting here.

Another Long Work Day.

Today will be another long work day, so I'll let someone else do my talking for me.

Thanks to an article by Mark Steyn, I've learned that On the Advice of the FBI, Cartoonist Molly Norris (who came up with "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day"), Goes Into Hiding.

According to the linked to article above,
"...on the insistence of top security specialists at the FBI, she is, as they put it, 'going ghost': moving, changing her name, and essentially wiping away her identity."

Ah....the Religion of Peace.

New Video From the Religion of Peace.

Thanks to Gloria TV via newsrealblog via Creative Minority Report we have this video of members of the Religion of Peace demonstrating against Pope Benedict during his recent trip to the UK.

Ennui.

I'm sitting in the computer room, surfing the Internet for something to write about. Most of the news isn't worth giving much consideration; I have nothing to say about Christine O'Donnell, or Obama's attending church or anything found on Drudge.

So, I opened Pandora and created a new "station" of acoustic music. Most of the music being played in this "station" appeals to me....except Pandora kept wanting to play Neil Young or Crosby, Stills and Nash - all of these received a thumbs down.

Nick Drake appeared and received a thumbs up, but what should follow but a REALLY crappy acoustic piece of drivel by John Lennon. By the time he came up, I had already used up my allotment of "thumbs down" and couldn't reject Lennon. To add insult to injury, Pandora decided to play Lennon singing "Imagine" immediately after. Funny, Pandora goes from playing music by someone who was under-rated (ignored, actually) in his time to the most over-rated songwriter in the history of music.

It's nearly noon at the music will be turned off in favor of El Rushbo. Maybe there'll be a better post tomorrow.

Geniocracy.

While reading the Raëlian manifesto,"Geniocracy: Government of the people, for the people, by the Geniuses," I thought it a bit odd that there was no mention, within the book's 148 pages, of Raëlian cosmology or their belief as to how man came to be created. It is not until reading the back cover do we read anything pertaining to the extraterrestrial creatures called the Elohim . It is only then that we learn that Geniocracy is the form of government practiced on the home planet of these advanced creatures.

No, while reading the book, seeing no mention of the Elohim , one might well suppose that you were reading the Democrat Party's political platform statement. Originally published in 1977, it is amazing to see how many of the ideas expressed in the book are perfectly in tune with the philosophy of so many Democrats today.

From the beginning, the book criticizes democracy, as practiced in our time - referring to the system as, rather, a Mediocracy where the votes of the intelligent are canceled out by the votes of the idiots. Of course, democracy does have its flaws (as even Raël's polar opposite, Michael Voris points out.) but I seriously doubt that his proposal that we be governed by "geniuses" is a viable solution.

Of course, in Raël's view, in order for this form of government to succeed, it must be a world government. We must have a "world language" in order to establish a true union of all the people of this planet (He points out that this would not be a Universal language, because the World is not the Universe).

After the geniuses take control, we will no longer need to work, nor will there be any need what so ever for money. All work will be done by machines, operated by robots and computers, created by these self same geniuses. The right to work will be replaced by the right to fulfillment. "Everyone has the right to receive everything necessary to live comfortably from birth to death, without preconditions ". With everything provided for us through the largesse of the geniuses governing the planet, we will be free to do whatever we wish to do in order to find personal fulfillment.

There will be no military. There will be no religious schools.

"Tolerance" will be the keyword.

Children as young as 14 will be encouraged to engage in sexual activity ....... a so-called freedom gained by contraceptives .... and laws prohibiting sex between those over 18 with those under 18 should be, in Raël's view, abolished.

In the book, Raël points out that many may consider his point of view Utopian. He says, however, that it is only considered Utopian by those of us who aren't intelligent enough to understand that this is obtainable.

The book ends with a list of Short-term, Mid-term and Long-term goals; none of which have been obtained by the Raëlian's in the thirty three years since the publication of the book. Obviously, Raël isn't a genius or we'd be there by now. He hasn't reached his goal, but at least, the Democrat Party in the United States has done it's best to implement his ideas.

Today's Assignment.

After reading today's actsoftheapostasy post -Keeping it Rael- I decided that my assignment (to myself) for today would be to download and read the Raelian manifesto, Geniocracy: Government of the people, for the people, by the Geniuses.

I had to register on the site in order to download the ebook (on pdf) but, it's easy enough with a seldom used yahoo email address.

So far, I've read 94 of it's 148 pages. I'll be going to work soon, so the rest will have to wait.
I'll write more on this in a day or two, but I have to say right now, that these folks are even further out there than I could have imagined.

From an Email.

A friend sent an email to me containing a scanned image of an obituary from the local paper. Neither of us knew the deceased....the reason for sending it is because of one particular sentence in the obit;

"The family respectfully asked in lieu of flowers that memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society or to the campaign of whoever is running against President Barack Obama in 2012."

I did a Google search and found the original obituary online and determined that it's true. (Unsworth Obit)

I was reluctant at first to blog this, but since the family published this in the newspaper -and online to boot- I decided to put it up.

Qur'an Burning Video.

The video is just over seven minutes long.......most of that time spent watching this guy walk down the street, followed by a group of "reporters" shouting questions. Last time I checked, no one knows the identity of the Qur'an burning guy.
This video says more about the media in this country than it does about the -so called- news event.

September 11