Friday, August 11, 2006
Unhinged
Buy this book. Unhinged, by Michelle Malkin. Errata for this book are pasted below, in case you do purchase it.
Unhinged Errata
page 52: Due to a printer error, the last seven words of chapter 2 were cut off. The final sentence should read, "Karl Rove and his all-powerful Republican Dirty Tricks team sure work in mysterious ways."
page 119: Due to a formatting error, the following paragraph, which I wrote, appears to be an e-mail from an unhinged liberal reader:
The kindergarten ridicule of my maiden/legal name demonstrates just how nuts the lefties have become. On the one hand, they accuse me of exploiting my ethnicity to get ahead. On the other hand, they attack me for “hiding my ethnic heritage” by taking my husband’s name professionally when I got married more than a decade ago. Why can’t they get their ad hominem attacks straight? They can’t make up their minds because they’ve completely lost them.
Unhinged Errata
page 52: Due to a printer error, the last seven words of chapter 2 were cut off. The final sentence should read, "Karl Rove and his all-powerful Republican Dirty Tricks team sure work in mysterious ways."
page 119: Due to a formatting error, the following paragraph, which I wrote, appears to be an e-mail from an unhinged liberal reader:
The kindergarten ridicule of my maiden/legal name demonstrates just how nuts the lefties have become. On the one hand, they accuse me of exploiting my ethnicity to get ahead. On the other hand, they attack me for “hiding my ethnic heritage” by taking my husband’s name professionally when I got married more than a decade ago. Why can’t they get their ad hominem attacks straight? They can’t make up their minds because they’ve completely lost them.
A good cause
I thought I'd blog this because it's a really good cause. The pic is copyright 2005 by Heather Mills McCartney. I doubt she'd mind my blogging this, as it supports something extremely dear to her heart. Please visit the link indicated on the pic.
David Beckham
Yet another reason to smile...
A bit of fun in a world of fear
Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide
View Current Signatures - Sign the Petition
To: Major governments all around the world.
This petition is for the complete ban of Dihydrogen monoxide. Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there. Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death.
Dihydrogen monoxide:
- is the major component of acid rain
- contributes to the "greenhouse effect"
- it can cause severe burns in its gaseous state
- contributes to erosion
- accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals
- may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes
- has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients
Despite the dangers, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:
- as an industrial solvent and coolant.
- in nuclear power plants.
- in the production of styrofoam.
- as a fire retardant.
- in many forms of cruel animal research.
- as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.
Companies dump waste DHMO into rivers and the ocean, and nothing can be done to stop them because this practice is still legal. The American government has refused to ban the production, distribution, or use of this damaging chemical due to its "importance to the economic health of this nation." In fact, the navy and other military organizations are conducting experiments with DHMO, and designing multi-billion dollar devices to control and utilize it during warfare situations. Hundreds of military research facilities receive tons of it through a highly sophisticated underground distribution network. Many store large quantities for later use.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
View Current Signatures
The above is taken entire from this website.
View Current Signatures - Sign the Petition
To: Major governments all around the world.
This petition is for the complete ban of Dihydrogen monoxide. Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there. Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death.
Dihydrogen monoxide:
- is the major component of acid rain
- contributes to the "greenhouse effect"
- it can cause severe burns in its gaseous state
- contributes to erosion
- accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals
- may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes
- has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients
Despite the dangers, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:
- as an industrial solvent and coolant.
- in nuclear power plants.
- in the production of styrofoam.
- as a fire retardant.
- in many forms of cruel animal research.
- as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.
Companies dump waste DHMO into rivers and the ocean, and nothing can be done to stop them because this practice is still legal. The American government has refused to ban the production, distribution, or use of this damaging chemical due to its "importance to the economic health of this nation." In fact, the navy and other military organizations are conducting experiments with DHMO, and designing multi-billion dollar devices to control and utilize it during warfare situations. Hundreds of military research facilities receive tons of it through a highly sophisticated underground distribution network. Many store large quantities for later use.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
View Current Signatures
The above is taken entire from this website.
Saint Clare
Today is the feast day of Saint Clare, beloved of Saint Francis, and one of the most beloved of Catholic saints. She is the patron saint of the Eucharist, and is one of the most intriguing saints to read about. The following is taken from AmericanCatholic.org.
One of the more sugary movies made about Francis of Assisi pictures Clare as a golden-haired beauty floating through sun-drenched fields, a sort of one-girl counterpart to the new Franciscan Order.
The beginning of her religious life was indeed movie material. Having refused to marry at 15, she was moved by the dynamic preaching of Francis. He became her lifelong friend and spiritual guide.
At 18, she escaped one night from her father’s home, was met on the road by friars carrying torches, and in the poor little chapel called the Portiuncula received a rough woolen habit, exchanged her jeweled belt for a common rope with knots in it, and sacrificed the long tresses to Francis’ scissors. He placed her in a Benedictine convent which her father and uncles immediately stormed in rage. She clung to the altar of the church, threw aside her veil to show her cropped hair and remained adamant.
End of movie material. Sixteen days later her sister Agnes joined her. Others came. They lived a simple life of great poverty, austerity and complete seclusion from the world, according to a Rule which Francis gave them as a Second Order (Poor Clares). Francis obliged her under obedience at age 21 to accept the office of abbess, one she exercised until her death.
The nuns went barefoot, slept on the ground, ate no meat and observed almost complete silence. (Later Clare, like Francis, persuaded her sisters to moderate this rigor: “Our bodies are not made of brass.”) The greatest emphasis, of course, was on gospel poverty. They possessed no property, even in common, subsisting on daily contributions. When even the pope tried to persuade her to mitigate this practice, she showed her characteristic firmness: “I need to be absolved from my sins, but I do not wish to be absolved from the obligation of following Jesus Christ.”
Contemporary accounts glow with admiration of her life in the convent of San Damiano in Assisi. She served the sick, waited on table, washed the feet of the begging nuns. She came from prayer, it was said, with her face so shining it dazzled those about her. She suffered serious illness for the last 27 years of her life. Her influence was such that popes, cardinals and bishops often came to consult her—she never left the walls of San Damiano.
Francis always remained her great friend and inspiration. She was always obedient to his will and to the great ideal of gospel life which he was making real.
A well-known story concerns her prayer and trust. She had the Blessed Sacrament placed on the walls of the convent when it faced attack by invading Saracens. “Does it please you, O God, to deliver into the hands of these beasts the defenseless children I have nourished with your love? I beseech you, dear Lord, protect these whom I am now unable to protect.” To her sisters she said, “Don’t be afraid. Trust in Jesus.” The Saracens fled.
One of the more sugary movies made about Francis of Assisi pictures Clare as a golden-haired beauty floating through sun-drenched fields, a sort of one-girl counterpart to the new Franciscan Order.
The beginning of her religious life was indeed movie material. Having refused to marry at 15, she was moved by the dynamic preaching of Francis. He became her lifelong friend and spiritual guide.
At 18, she escaped one night from her father’s home, was met on the road by friars carrying torches, and in the poor little chapel called the Portiuncula received a rough woolen habit, exchanged her jeweled belt for a common rope with knots in it, and sacrificed the long tresses to Francis’ scissors. He placed her in a Benedictine convent which her father and uncles immediately stormed in rage. She clung to the altar of the church, threw aside her veil to show her cropped hair and remained adamant.
End of movie material. Sixteen days later her sister Agnes joined her. Others came. They lived a simple life of great poverty, austerity and complete seclusion from the world, according to a Rule which Francis gave them as a Second Order (Poor Clares). Francis obliged her under obedience at age 21 to accept the office of abbess, one she exercised until her death.
The nuns went barefoot, slept on the ground, ate no meat and observed almost complete silence. (Later Clare, like Francis, persuaded her sisters to moderate this rigor: “Our bodies are not made of brass.”) The greatest emphasis, of course, was on gospel poverty. They possessed no property, even in common, subsisting on daily contributions. When even the pope tried to persuade her to mitigate this practice, she showed her characteristic firmness: “I need to be absolved from my sins, but I do not wish to be absolved from the obligation of following Jesus Christ.”
Contemporary accounts glow with admiration of her life in the convent of San Damiano in Assisi. She served the sick, waited on table, washed the feet of the begging nuns. She came from prayer, it was said, with her face so shining it dazzled those about her. She suffered serious illness for the last 27 years of her life. Her influence was such that popes, cardinals and bishops often came to consult her—she never left the walls of San Damiano.
Francis always remained her great friend and inspiration. She was always obedient to his will and to the great ideal of gospel life which he was making real.
A well-known story concerns her prayer and trust. She had the Blessed Sacrament placed on the walls of the convent when it faced attack by invading Saracens. “Does it please you, O God, to deliver into the hands of these beasts the defenseless children I have nourished with your love? I beseech you, dear Lord, protect these whom I am now unable to protect.” To her sisters she said, “Don’t be afraid. Trust in Jesus.” The Saracens fled.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
The world we live in
In case you forgot that this is a post-9/11 world, there's today's reminder that we are all still very, very vulnerable. This is an AP photo, copyright 2006 by Matt Rourke, of various everyday items that are now forbidden on airplanes. Terrorists were planning to use such containers, filled with liquid explosives, to murder hundreds of people in-flight. Damned scary thought...Thank God for British vigilance.
Original AP/MSNBC caption: Items prohibited for air travel are seen collected before they are discarded at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006. Airports ratcheted up security and delayed flights in the wake of a terror plot discovery in Britain.
12:02 p.m. ET, 8/10/06
Original AP/MSNBC caption: Items prohibited for air travel are seen collected before they are discarded at Philadelphia International Airport in Philadelphia, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006. Airports ratcheted up security and delayed flights in the wake of a terror plot discovery in Britain.
12:02 p.m. ET, 8/10/06
Fake but Accurate, redux
This is the altered photo that Reuters pulled, taken by fauxtographer Adnan Hajj. Please visit Little Green Footballs for a really in-depth view of this story.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Good for her
Heather Mills has hired Princess Diana's divorce lawyer. Personally, my view of Heather has changed gradually over the past weeks until I am now finding myself in full support of her. Paul locking her out of their house, and firing off a ranting letter over two bottles of cleanser, that's just too much... Whatever happened to "all you need is love"?
Nagasaki 61
61 years ago today...
Monday, August 07, 2006
No Nukes Declaration, Japan
I'm posting this picture here both because the photographer feels it's so important, and because this week marks the 61st. anniversary of the atrocities committed against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Please click on the picture's caption.
Peace
This photo really says it all...
Hiroshima 61
I meant to blog about this yesterday, and simply ran out of time. I found this picture on Yahoo, and the picture's full caption gives the photo credit.
Hiroshima. Nagasaki. The evil that fell upon them sixty-one years ago must never, never be allowed to fall upon anyone else. Ever.
Hiroshima. Nagasaki. The evil that fell upon them sixty-one years ago must never, never be allowed to fall upon anyone else. Ever.
Pope Benedict pleads for peace
The following is copied entire from Catholic.org
Benedict renews cease-fire appeal, calls for peace in martyred Mideast region
8/7/2006
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (Catholic Online) – Pope Benedict XVI expressed dismay that calls for Israel and Hezbollah to end hostilities in the Middle East have gone unheeded, appealing again for an immediate cease-fire and renewed commitment for a just and lasting peace on a day that U.N. diplomatic efforts seemed to fail.
Faced with the “bitter consternation that so far voices calling for an immediate ceasefire in this martyred region have been ignored,” the pope said he felt “the urgency to renew my pressing appeal about this, asking everyone to make their active contribution to the construction of a just and lasting peace,” reported the Catholic news agency AsiaNews.
Benedict made the remarks to thousands of pilgrims in his reflection before the reciting of the Aug. 6 Transfiguration feast day Angelus from his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, a town just south of Rome.
Noting that “peace is above all a gift of God,” Pope Benedict urged both prayer and the commitment of people of good will to “obtain peace for the peoples of the Middle East overwhelmed by fratricidal conflict.”
“Let none,” he said, “shrink from this duty.”
The pope has repeatedly called on both sides to lay down their arms since fighting erupted on July 12 after Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.
Hezbollah killed 12 Israeli soldiers and three civilians on Aug. 6 in its deadliest rocket strike yet and Israeli bombs killed 19 Lebanese civilians as Lebanon rejected a draft U.N. resolution to end the 26-day-old war.
Sunday's deaths brought to 93 the number of Israelis killed, including 45 soldiers, the 12 reservists and 36 civilians. Israel's attacks on Lebanon through Aug. 6 have killed at least 606 people, including 524 civilians, 29 Lebanese soldiers and at least 53 Hezbollah guerrillas, according to the Associated Press.
Israeli warplanes repeatedly bombed Beirut's southern suburbs and Lebanon's southern and eastern regions on Aug. 7, killing at least 15 people, according to press reports, as both sides in the conflict sought to improve its position before a cease-fire resolution is voted upon by the U.N. Security Council.
Entrusting his renewed appeal for peace “to the intercession of the most blessed virgin,” Pope Benedict tied the meaning of the transfiguration of Jesus to the events of the day.
“On the transfigured face of Jesus shone a ray of the divine light that he guarded within. This very light radiates on the face of Christ on the day of the Resurrection,” he said. “With the risen Christ, truth and love triumph over deceit and sin. In Him, the light of God now illuminates the life of men and the path of history permanently.”
In his Aug. 2 general audience, Pope Benedict again appealed for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East, saying nothing justifies the shedding of innocent blood, especially from so many children of the region.
"Our eyes are filled with the chilling images of people's bodies – especially children's – torn apart. I am thinking particularly of Qana in Lebanon," the pope said. "I want to repeat that nothing can justify the spilling of innocent blood, no matter which side does it."
He urged the international community "and those most directly involved in this tragedy" to move immediately to a "definite political solution of the crisis," one "able to give a more serene and secure future to the generations to come."
At the previous Sunday’s Angelus recitation, the pope said that violence is not the answer to establish justice, to build a new order and to create a lasting peace.
"In the name of God, I address to all those responsible for this spiral of violence that all sides immediately lay down their arms," the pope said.
“To political leaders and international institutions, I ask that no effort be spared in order to obtain the necessary cessation of hostilities,” the pope said, “and thus to build, through dialogue, a lasting and stable coexistence of all the people of the Middle East.”
Pope Benedict pointed to the “hundreds of dead, many injured, a vast mass of homeless and displaced people, cities and infrastructures destroyed, while hatred and thirst for revenge seem to be growing in the hearts of many.”
"These facts clearly demonstrate that it is not possible to re-establish justice, create a new order and build real peace when there is recourse to... violence.”
He said that the events of the last three weeks show “the church's voice is at once prophetic and realistic when, in the face of war and conflicts of all kinds.”
“This,” he added, “is the path that humanity today must also follow in order to achieve the desired good of real peace."
Benedict renews cease-fire appeal, calls for peace in martyred Mideast region
8/7/2006
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (Catholic Online) – Pope Benedict XVI expressed dismay that calls for Israel and Hezbollah to end hostilities in the Middle East have gone unheeded, appealing again for an immediate cease-fire and renewed commitment for a just and lasting peace on a day that U.N. diplomatic efforts seemed to fail.
Faced with the “bitter consternation that so far voices calling for an immediate ceasefire in this martyred region have been ignored,” the pope said he felt “the urgency to renew my pressing appeal about this, asking everyone to make their active contribution to the construction of a just and lasting peace,” reported the Catholic news agency AsiaNews.
Benedict made the remarks to thousands of pilgrims in his reflection before the reciting of the Aug. 6 Transfiguration feast day Angelus from his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, a town just south of Rome.
Noting that “peace is above all a gift of God,” Pope Benedict urged both prayer and the commitment of people of good will to “obtain peace for the peoples of the Middle East overwhelmed by fratricidal conflict.”
“Let none,” he said, “shrink from this duty.”
The pope has repeatedly called on both sides to lay down their arms since fighting erupted on July 12 after Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.
Hezbollah killed 12 Israeli soldiers and three civilians on Aug. 6 in its deadliest rocket strike yet and Israeli bombs killed 19 Lebanese civilians as Lebanon rejected a draft U.N. resolution to end the 26-day-old war.
Sunday's deaths brought to 93 the number of Israelis killed, including 45 soldiers, the 12 reservists and 36 civilians. Israel's attacks on Lebanon through Aug. 6 have killed at least 606 people, including 524 civilians, 29 Lebanese soldiers and at least 53 Hezbollah guerrillas, according to the Associated Press.
Israeli warplanes repeatedly bombed Beirut's southern suburbs and Lebanon's southern and eastern regions on Aug. 7, killing at least 15 people, according to press reports, as both sides in the conflict sought to improve its position before a cease-fire resolution is voted upon by the U.N. Security Council.
Entrusting his renewed appeal for peace “to the intercession of the most blessed virgin,” Pope Benedict tied the meaning of the transfiguration of Jesus to the events of the day.
“On the transfigured face of Jesus shone a ray of the divine light that he guarded within. This very light radiates on the face of Christ on the day of the Resurrection,” he said. “With the risen Christ, truth and love triumph over deceit and sin. In Him, the light of God now illuminates the life of men and the path of history permanently.”
In his Aug. 2 general audience, Pope Benedict again appealed for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East, saying nothing justifies the shedding of innocent blood, especially from so many children of the region.
"Our eyes are filled with the chilling images of people's bodies – especially children's – torn apart. I am thinking particularly of Qana in Lebanon," the pope said. "I want to repeat that nothing can justify the spilling of innocent blood, no matter which side does it."
He urged the international community "and those most directly involved in this tragedy" to move immediately to a "definite political solution of the crisis," one "able to give a more serene and secure future to the generations to come."
At the previous Sunday’s Angelus recitation, the pope said that violence is not the answer to establish justice, to build a new order and to create a lasting peace.
"In the name of God, I address to all those responsible for this spiral of violence that all sides immediately lay down their arms," the pope said.
“To political leaders and international institutions, I ask that no effort be spared in order to obtain the necessary cessation of hostilities,” the pope said, “and thus to build, through dialogue, a lasting and stable coexistence of all the people of the Middle East.”
Pope Benedict pointed to the “hundreds of dead, many injured, a vast mass of homeless and displaced people, cities and infrastructures destroyed, while hatred and thirst for revenge seem to be growing in the hearts of many.”
"These facts clearly demonstrate that it is not possible to re-establish justice, create a new order and build real peace when there is recourse to... violence.”
He said that the events of the last three weeks show “the church's voice is at once prophetic and realistic when, in the face of war and conflicts of all kinds.”
“This,” he added, “is the path that humanity today must also follow in order to achieve the desired good of real peace."
