By now we’ve all heard about the murder in
This is where I’m coming from.
I told my daughter about the
This has sharpened my appreciation for the religious freedom that my family and I enjoy in this country.
Forgive me Lord that I take it for granted.
What? How can anyone in their right mind be upset over this? It's a literary reference, people:
Gov. Mitt Romney has apologized for referring to the troubled Big Dig construction project as a "tar baby" during a fundraiser with Iowa Republicans, saying he didn't know anyone would be offended by the term some consider a racial epithet.If you are a Republican you can't say it, but if you're the Boston Herald you can:
[...]
Black leaders were outraged at his use of the term, which dates to the 19th century Uncle Remus stories, referring to a doll made of tar that traps Br'er Rabbit. It has come to be known as a way of describing a sticky mess, and has also been used as a derogatory term for a black person.
"Tar baby is a totally inappropriate phrase in the 21st century," said Larry Jones, a black Republican and civil rights activist.
Fehrnstrom produced copies of editorials and columns from Boston newspapers using "tar baby" in a context similar to Romney's. One example from 2004, a Herald editorial, used the term about the Big Dig itself.(Link via Drudge Report)
"It just goes to show you that not everyone is aware the term is considered offensive to some people," he said.
On the one hand I understand why they would want to restrict the number of churches but on the other hand, any law used there can be used elsewhere and I don't want religious institutions restricted:
They are not the words one expects to hear from a politician or a Southerner, and Leonard Scarcella is both: "Our city has an excessive number of churches."That last quote is so funny, I laugh every time I think about it.
Scarcella is mayor of this Houston-area community, which has 51 churches and other religious institutions packed into its 7 square miles.
With some 300 undeveloped, potentially revenue-producing acres left in Stafford, officials are scrambling to find a legal way to keep more tax-exempt churches from building here.
"With federal laws, you can't just say, 'We're not going to have any more churches,' " Scarcella said. "We respect the Constitution, but 51 of anything is too much."
Stafford, population 19,227, is the largest city in Texas without a property tax, and it depends on sales taxes and business fees for revenue. Nonprofits have been attracted by its rapid growth and minimal deed restrictions. "It's thrown everything out of balance, plus providing zero revenue. Somebody's got to pay for police, fire and schools," City Councilman Cecil Willis said.
[...]
In one quarter-mile section near the city center, parishioners can choose among 17 churches. There are three small churches in the Quail Ridge Plaza shopping center, and three large brick churches on the street behind it. Down the road, the Evangelical Formosan Church is tucked behind a muffler shop.
"If you can't find religion in Stafford, Texas, you ain't looking hard enough," Bane said.
[...]
Willis said he asked the last six applicants why they wanted to build a church in Stafford. "Every one of them said they prayed about it, and God said to come here," he said. "I can't compete with that, so here we are."
Who is this cease fire being negotiated with? Do we negotiate with terrorists? And this is an understatement:Rice did not provide significant details on how the UN resolution she will seek would address the difficult political problems between the two states. Lebanon and Israel have disputed their border and other issues for decades.
The problem is much bigger than a border dispute, it's about the annihilation of Israel. And there's no mention of Hezbollah. Does anyone believe that if this peace talk is between Israel and Lebanon, that Lebanon can control Hezbollah?
And then there's this:
In Beirut, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said the attack on Lebanese civilians in the town of Qana showed a cease-fire is the only option.The Prime Minister of Lebanon is to blame for the deaths since he allowed Hezbollah to put the arsenal around the neighborhoods. If he wants to protect his citizens then he should disarm Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who agreed to the bombing suspension, expressed "great sorrow" for the deaths, but blamed Hezbollah for using the area to launch rockets into Israel.
Israeli planes hit targets in southern Lebanon on Monday after Hezbollah guerrillas blasted an Israeli tank and injured three Israeli soldiers, breaking a brief respite in 20 days of fighting.I guess this is why you don't have a cease fire with mass murders, they don't stop fighting when you do.
But Peretz made clear in a speech to parliament that Israel would not agree to an immediate cease-fire and had plans to expand its operation in LebanonRead the rest of this artice here.
Remember when George Bush was laughed at when he used the words "axis of evil"?
Well, he is sooo getting the last laugh now.
(HT Right, Wing Nut and Investors Daily)
I'm sorry but I'm not buying that these are normal citizens. Sorry but from what I've been reading this sounds like Hezbollah.
(Link via Drudge Report)
Go check out the pictures of Hezbollah fighting in civilian clothes in civilian neighborhoods. This is why the death toll among civilians is so high and how it's impossible for Israel to know who they are fighting and to reach the enemy without killing the innocent.
THIS is the picture that damns Hezbollah. It is one of several, smuggled from behind Lebanon's battle lines, showing that Hezbollah is waging war amid suburbia.It's no surprise that mass murders could care less about innocent men, women and children who are not involved in this war at all. Why should we expect anything more from them?
The images, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun, show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons.
Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon.
The photographs, from the Christian area of Wadi Chahrour in the east of Beirut, were taken by a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.
[...]
The images include one of a group of men and youths preparing to fire an anti-aircraft gun metres from an apartment block with sheets hanging out on a balcony to dry.
[...]
"Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets," he said.
"Until the Hezbollah fighters arrived, it had not been touched by the Israelis. Then it was totally devastated.
"It was carnage. Two innocent people died in that incident, but it was so lucky it was not more."
Well, the Carnival is up! And boy was that an experience! Not only did I have to do the photo hunt but I had to write my own Carnival entry and that took forever because it must have a hundred links and then I couldn't remember the name of a stupid book I read in seminary and the guy wrote like a thousand books and I couldn't even remember the proper spelling of his name and it took me a good twenty minutes before it dawned on me just to search the Westminster Bookstore. Plus I decided to get fancy and include some new ways to display graphics that I discovered this week (using CSS) but that didn't work the way I wanted, so I had to give up after wasting an hour.
Click on the chicks for the Carnival and my entry is here. (By now you must have guessed what my favorite things are :-)
This was an easy week for me, since I love to go to zoos and aquariums. I had a lot of pictures to choose from. This is one of my favorites, it is a lorikeet from Australia and it was taken at the Philadelphia zoo. They allow the visitors to feed the birds nectar from a cup (and yes, I have got shots of my girls feeding the birds).
Please pray for this woman, she lives in a country that hates Christians and women. She probably won't get justice or protection from the government:
(Compass Direct) Freed on bail, a Pakistani man charged with raping Ribqa Masih has continued to threaten the young Christian woman who accused him of pressuring her to convert to Islam by violating her. "I'm afraid to go outside," said Masih before breaking into tears. "Mentally, I've been too disturbed to study." Masih had finished her high school examinations and was awaiting the results in September 2005, when wealthy Muslim neighbors in this town near Faisalabad kidnapped and raped her, she said. Among them was Muhammad Kashif, who was granted bail on a technicality the law gives to criminal suspects suffering from illness. His illness is psoriasis.Read the rest here.
He was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence:
Mel Gibson was stopped early this morning for speeding on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.OOPS!
When Gibson's interactions with the Sheriff's deputy raised suspicions that he was driving under the influence of alcohol, he was arrested, Whitmore said.
"We arrested Mr. Gibson on suspicion of driving under the influence, and we took him into the station without incident and we released him and gave him a citation," he said. "We will now prepare the case."
[...]
In a 2004 interview for ABC News, he told Diane Sawyer: "I would get addicted to anything. Anything at all, OK?" When Sawyer asked him more specifically if it was alcohol, he said "Yeah, yeah mostly. It was, yeah."
Saying addiction was his "flaw," he acknowledged to Sawyer that he'd driven under the influence of alcohol in the past. While working on the film "Mrs. Soffel" in Toronto in 1984, he reportedly ran a red light and drove into another car after consuming enough alcohol to put him over the legal limit.
"I used to drive inebriated. I mean, this is, this is the height of careless stupidity. And when you think about that kind of insanity and that you, I look back at that now and I go, what was I thinking?" Gibson told Sawyer.
It appears to be related to the war:
At least five people were shot - one fatally - this afternoon at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle by a man a witness said was upset about "what was going on in Israel."Read the rest here.
Police spokesman Rich Pruitt said there was one shooter, who was apprehended without incident outside the Jewish Federation Building located on the corner of Third Avenue and Virginia Street. Pruitt said there were at least two victims on the third floor of the building.
[...]
The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle was established 1926. According to its Web site, its mission is to "ensure Jewish survival and to enhance the quality of Jewish life locally, in Israel and worldwide."
I use Bloglines for my reciprocal blogrolls (on both blogs) and I don't just use it for the blogroll, I actually read the blogs in my blogroll. If you want me to read your blog, a good way to do it is to link to me then let me know and I will read your blog.
So tonight, I was reading one of my favorite Cute Gun blogs (which I also read in Bloglines) and I discovered that he exceeded his bandwidth for the month and I was thankful that I had subscribed to him because I was able to read his last four posts. But I was bummed that he would be out of commission until the end of the month. I guess he's just too popular. If only I had those kinds of problems :-)
Not even England can top America in freedom:
Her late husband put the sign up more than 30 years ago when members of the church called at their house on Christmas Day.
But police were forced to act after receiving a complaint.
"We were informed by a member of the public who found the sign to be distressing, offensive and inappropriate," a police spokesman said. "Officers attended the address and the sign was voluntarily taken down."
Makes me want to sing "God Bless America!"
When you hear stories like this:
The UN Security Council passed a statement expressing shock atKeep in mind information like this:
Israel's attack on a UN observer post in Lebanon which killed four peacekeepers but making no condemnation.
The United States had refused to allow any criticism of Israel in the statement. But China's envoy complained that the final version was "watered down" after any hint of condemnation was taken out.
"The security council is deeply shocked and distressed by the firing by the Israeli Defense Forces on a United Nations observer post in southern Lebanon on July 25," said the statement passed unanimously by the 15 nation council.
There were three incidents of firing close to UN positions in the last 24 hours from the Israeli side. It was also reported that Hezbollah fired from the vicinity of four UN positions at Marwahin, Alma Ash Shab, Brashit, and At Tiri.Hezbollah is putting UN personnel at risk. Why? Because they don't care about the safety of civilians, they are terrorists. They don't care who is killed if they did, why would they put their arsenal in civilian locations? They don't care about the civilian deaths because they don't care about the civilians. They have one focus and that is the destruction Israel at any cost.
"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" [Hebrews 4:16]. Delivered on Lord’s-Day Morning, November 19th, 1871, by
"It is a throne, and who sits on it? It is grace personified that is here installed in dignity. And, truly, to-day grace is on a throne. In the gospel of Jesus Christ grace is the most predominant attribute of God. How comes it to be so exalted? We reply, well, grace has a throne by conquest. Grace came down to earth in the form of the Well-beloved, and it met with sin. Long and sharp was the struggle, and grace appeared to be trampled under foot of sin; but grace at last seized sin, threw it on its own shoulders, and, though all but crushed beneath the burden, grace carried sin up to the cross and nailed it there, slew it there, put it to death for ever, and triumphed gloriously. For this cause at this hour grace sits on a throne, because it has conquered human sin, has borne the penalty of human guilt, and overthrown all its enemies."
C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
I confess, I have strayed from the cross and have taken my eyes off Jesus Christ. What an oasis of refreshment these words are for me in my spiritual desert.
May they minister to your soul too.
Here is an article about it. It seems like a great opportunity to network. I hope everyone enjoys their chance to meet other women bloggers.
If you had a Senator like this (this is a link, Glenn) wouldn't you feel proud too? I mean, he doesn't waste his time with things like the war in Iraq or the war in Lebanon or lowering our taxes or making sure Americans have affordable gas by allowing off-shore drilling. No, he spends his time making sure no one has cheap cigarettes:
Lautenberg, who co-sponsored the law banning smoking on airlines, this week urged the Senate's food service managers to stop selling cigars, cigarettes and other tobacco products in retail operations in the Senate complex.Isn't it interesting how Congress is exempt from these laws? Ah, the life of privilege that our lawmakers experience. It must be nice.
Stocking tobacco "undermines our efforts to curb youth tobacco use" and sends the wrong message to schoolchildren who visit the Senate, he said in a letter.
[...]
The Senate effectively provides tourists and local residents with an economic incentive to buy cigarettes on their visits, he argued, because they are sold without sales or excise taxes. Off Capitol Hill, the District and Maryland impose excise taxes of $1 per pack, plus sales taxes.
[...]
Last month, the House banned smoking in all food service areas, interior courtyards and other public areas of the House office buildings, including within 25 feet of any public entrance. The exceptions are two designated smoking areas, a room adjacent to the food court in the Longworth building and a room across the hall from a carryout in the Cannon building.
Lawmakers, however, can still light up in the Speaker's Lobby, a room just off the House chamber that is closed to the public. That room, like other parts of the Capitol complex, is not subject to Washington's new ban on smoking in most indoor workplaces and restaurants.
When I saw this story about Cindy Sheehan buying land in Crawford, the first thought I had was "Stalker." This woman is a little too obsessed with Bush. I think her family needs to plan an intervention (and I'm not kidding about this) since her grief has caused her to become unhinged:
War protester Cindy Sheehan has purchased a 5-acre plot in Crawford with some of the insurance money she received after her son was killed in Iraq.Um, if I were him, I certainly wouldn't want to meet her, she may try something.
The group she helps lead, Gold Star Families for Peace, says on its Web site that it will return next month to protest the war in Iraq in the small town near Waco where President Bush has a ranch. Like last year, Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004, will again demand to meet with the president.
"We decided to buy property in Crawford to use until George's resignation or impeachment, which we all hope is soon for the sake of the world," Sheehan said in a newsletter set to be sent to supporters Thursday. "I can't think of a better way to use Casey's insurance money than for peace, and I am sure that Casey approves."
My driving license was going to expire this month, so I went to the DMV Monday to give myself a couple days in case my paperwork is rejected (which is a very real possibility in NJ). My husband had to go back three times and he has talked to others and no one was able to get their driving license the first time so I wanted to make sure I had enough days to gather the necessary paperwork. I had most of it assembled because of my trip to Canada and I had checked the website and thought I had everything that I needed. I hate going to the DMV, so I didn't want to go there more than once. It feels like I leave the US and enter the Soviet Union everytime I go there.
We get there around 12:00 and I go up to the information booth and the woman directs me to the desk I need to go to. At that desk I get a number, I'm 61 and they're on 26. So we wait. I warned my daughters before we left the house to bring something to read and we sit there reading until my number is called an hour later. I hand over what I thought was a marriage license (since it says marriage license on it) but it turns out it's only a receipt. I say, "It says license and this is what they gave us when we were married." It's just a receipt was the reply. So, I silently put my paperwork away as the guy is blathering on about where to get a license and at the end he says, "Ok?" I just turn away and say to my girls, "This is what a bureaucracy is like" and I walk away. Samantha said later that he treated me like a child (which is normal in these places -- they are very unprofessional). I decide not to waste my time asking why the heck they make a person wait an hour to find out that their paperwork isn't acceptable. What a brain dead process and since there is no incentive to be innovative, it is a process that will continue.
We stop for lunch and then go to Target and while we do this, I call my husband and mom for phone numbers so that I can get the right marriage license from the municipality that we were married in. I could get it the next day, so I tell the girls we are going to the beach after I pick up my license and there is a DVM not too far from the city hall and the beach.
When Doug gets home, he suggests we check the safe to make sure that we didn't miss the marriage license when we were looking for paperwork for my trip to Canada . We find what I need buried at the bottom of the safe (hidden under multiple copies of our will) and I even find a copy of my birth certificate with my little baby feet on the back and a raised seal, I add it to my collection of documents to be on the safe side.
The next day we get ready for the beach but we get out later than I wanted (I even had to turn back after driving for 15 minutes because I forgot my camera). We get to the DMV and it is a very busy place and guess who is standing right in front of the DMV? Larouche supporters! Can you believe that there is anyone dumb enough to still support this guy? And what was so funny was they had a sign that said that Bush was dumber than a rock (oh my gosh, rocks and glass houses, guys). As we were going in, they attempted to engage me in conversation and I'm in a hurry and just give him my cold stare that I reserve for daughters who talk back to me one too many times and say, "There is just no way" but he persists and I just wave him away and enter the building. I'm here on a quest to get my license and I will not be distracted by the delusional.
I go to the reception desk and she directs me to the next desk. At that desk I'm asked if I have my paperwork, and I answer with an emphatic and confident, "yes!" She directs me to the guy next to her. I hand him my birth certificate (the one with the cute baby feet and raised seal) and he says that it wasn't the right one. But I will not be denied a license this day, oh no you don't! I coldly and triumphantly whipped out my other birth certificate with the raised seal that I used when I got married (my mom had lost my original birth and I had to get a new one from the city of Boston and then she found it years later and gave it to me) and for good measure said, "Here is my social security card and a proof of address. I'm not leaving here without a license." He looked at me and silently processed my paperwork and handed it all back to me with a number. I did it!!! I knew I was in. Ha! And it only took two tries. I beat the system at it's own game! Take that bureaucrat, you have been vanquished.
So, I wait five minutes, a woman calls my number (good thing Samantha was with me or I wouldn't have known it was called), she looked at my paperwork and sent me to the cashier/photographer. I paid the $24 (which I think is a bargain because I'll have the license for 4 years). I stand next to the blue screen and smile as commanded by Samantha ("make sure you smile, Mommy") and I get to accept or reject my photo. It's not bad, so I accept it. I actually look younger in this photo than I did 4 years ago.
With driving license in hand, we triumphantly leave the DMV only to be confronted by this "Maybe we should bring the troops home and send Dick Cheney over there instead." And I laugh at the idiotcy of the remark and walk away. I won't let the insanity of a Laurochee spoil my triumph. I have a driving license in the state of NJ and I won't have to do this again for 4 more years. Yes! I'm golden.
Off to the beach, but first we have to stop at Barnes and Noble because Sarah finished the book she brought with her. Then we pick up subs from Jersey Mike's and then it's off to the beach where we spend the day being blasted by the wind. The water was really cold, so we didn't go into the ocean much. But we enjoyed ourselves. Here are some shots:
We meet my parents and sister for dinner at the Windmill and had ice cream afterward at the Lighthouse. Then we hit the Borders on the way home because Sarah had almost finished her book. I bought a couple mysteries and this book.
It was a good day and I have to say that, though there are way too many people working at these DMVs with very little work to show for it, I think I was out of there in record time (only fifteen minutes). Not bad for NJ.
To all Jewish women using J-Date, don't date Darren Sherman, avoid him like the plague and here is why.
(Link via annavenger -- and really, everyone is entitled to her opinion :-)
The grieving process, who doesn't go through it in this life?
At one time or another, we all experience grief.
And grief can take many forms.
One aspect of grief that I have been experiencing recently is the fact that I have to leave my present church family to find another one. (I blogged about it here). The Lord has convinced me that it is the right thing to do. I accept that. I also know that this break of fellowship with some that I have come to know as family will be difficult. Some will not understand why the Lord has called our family away, some might be glad to see us go, who knows? The bottom line is, I will miss some of them. It is going to be a grieving process. I wonder if those who I may continue to have contact with, you never know who you might run into in the grocery store, will treat me differently? Many of you have probably experienced leaving a church already, this is my first time. I did not have the privilege to grow up in the "church" so right now this feels like a death to me.
And now to underscore this "death", the Lord has given my husband and I the imminent death of a close church friend. Our friend is in his last stages of cancer. His wife called me on Sunday to say that it was probably time to say good-bye to Ed. My heart is breaking. Breaking for my friend who is watching her husband slip into eternity. Breaking for her children who will never have their father attend their high school graduations or be at their weddings.
As I have been thinking about all of this, I found comfort with the fact that our Savior knows exactly what we're experiencing. He was well acquainted with grief [Isaiah 53:3] and knows exactly what death feels like.
I am seeking comfort from His Word.
"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery"...
...Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need".
[Hebrews 2:14-15, 4:14-16 ESV].
I know firsthand the devastation of cancer, both my parents died from this disease. My Savior also knows firsthand the devastation of death, whether it be the physical death of a friend or the grief over broken fellowships I am confident that I will receive mercy and find grace in my time of need.
I hope you know that too.
Hallelujah, what a Savior.
I expect the Mommy Bloggers are going to be all over this article (if they aren't already) -- fisking it in fine detail. I bet this woman will wish she had kept her self-centered thoughts to herself:
Of course I love my children as much as any mother, but the truth is I found such events so boring that I made up any excuse.Here is the bottom line, something you were not taught and should have been, it is not all about you. Life does not revolve around you. You are not the center of the universe. Motherhood is about sacrificial love, about loving your kids more than yourself. You seem to think that it's all about you and that they should just put up with you because that's who you are and there is really nothing your kids can do, can they? They're stuck with a mum who loves herself more than her kids. Who cares more about her happiness than their's.
[...]
My children have got used to my disappearing to the gym when they're doing their prep (how boring to learn something you never wanted to learn in the first place).
They know better than to expect me to sit through a cricket match, and they've completely given up on expecting me to spend school holidays taking them to museums or enjoying the latest cinema block-boster alongside them. (I spent two hours texting friends throughout a screening of Pirates Of The Caribbean the other day).
Am I a lazy, superficial person because I don't enjoy packing up their sports kit, or making their lunch, or sitting through coffee mornings with other mothers discussing how Mr Science (I can't remember most of the teachers' names) said such and such to Little Johnny and should we all complain to the headmaster.
Because I have categorically said: 'I am not a waitress, a driver or a cleaner,' my children have learned to put away their plates and tidy up their rooms. They've become brilliant planners, often inviting their friends to come for the weekend (because I've forgotten to bother).These kids know that their mom doesn't really care about them so they've learned to take care of themselves. How sad for them and how sad that she is triumphant about it. Proud of her self-centeredness, proud of her lack of sacrificial love. Proud of the fact that she isn't much of a mother at all. How sad when she realizes one day that being the center of the universe can be really lonely. How sad for these kids that their mom couldn't keep her thoughts to herself.
Frankly, as long as you've fed them, sheltered them and told them they are loved, children will be fine. Mine are — at the risk of sounding smug — well-adjusted, creative children who respect the concept of work. They also accept my limitations.
They stopped asking me to take them to the park (how tedious) years ago. But now when I try to entertain them and say: 'Why don't we get out the Monopoly board?' they simply look at me woefully and sigh: 'Don't bother, Mum, you'll just get bored.'
How right they are.
The approximately 20-page book has been dated to the years 800-1000. Trinity College manuscripts expert Bernard Meehan said it was the first discovery of an Irish early medieval document in two centuries.(Link via True Grit)
[...]
"There's two sets of odds that make this discovery really way out. First of all, it's unlikely that something this fragile could survive buried in a bog at all, and then for it to be unearthed and spotted before it was destroyed is incalculably more amazing."
He said an engineer was digging up bogland last week to create commercial potting soil somewhere in Ireland's midlands when, "just beyond the bucket of his bulldozer, he spotted something." Wallace would not specify where the book was found because a team of archaeologists is still exploring the site.
"The owner of the bog has had dealings with us in past and is very much in favor of archaeological discovery and reporting it," Wallace said.
Crucially, he said, the bog owner covered up the book with damp soil. Had it been left exposed overnight, he said, "it could have dried out and just vanished, blown away."
The book was found open to a page describing, in Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations' attempts to wipe out the name of Israel.
So, it wasn't Lincoln Chafee (that's who I thought it was) or Rick Santorum (that's who Rush thought it was -- I thought Rush was nuts to think it was Santorum) but Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele:
Well, he does so, but don't quote him on it (hehe).Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's Senate campaign acknowledged yesterday that he was the anonymous candidate quoted by a Washington Post political reporter as saying that being a Republican was like wearing a "scarlet letter" and that he did not want President Bush to campaign for him this fall.
The campaign made the disclosure after a day of speculation in the blogosphere and among political reporters about which Republican Senate candidate had made the disparaging remarks reported by Dana Milbank in the Washington Sketch column in yesterday's Post.
[...]
State Democratic Party Chairman Terry Lierman pointed out in a statement that Steele has held fundraisers with the president, Vice President Cheney, Bush adviser Karl Rove and National Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman.
"He has taken millions from Bush and his top aides and even endorsed Bush in a prime-time Republican National Convention speech in August 2004," Lierman said.
During a luncheon with reporters at which he agreed to be quoted only as a Republican Senate candidate, Steele criticized the Iraq war effort and Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina and said congressional Republicans have "lost our way," according to Milbank's report.
Asked whether he would invite Bush to campaign for him, he replied, considering Bush's low approval rating in Maryland, "to be honest with you, probably not."
Steele spokesman Doug Heye did not dispute the accuracy of Steele's quotes in the paper but said Steele spent little time at the luncheon talking about the subject and said the article did not include some comments Steele made praising Bush.
"When he agrees with the Republican administration, he absolutely does so," Heye said. "When he disagrees, he speaks his mind."
Other Republicans kept a stiff upper lip [don't you just love the editorializing in a news report]. Dan Ronayne, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Campaign, said there would be no drop in national party support for Steele.They better continue to support him, could you imagine Kweisi Mfume as a Senator? Please Maryland, don't do this to us. (BTW, you might want to click on the link and vote whether you want universal healthcare.)
I am so happy with the Senate that I could almost forgive them for being such jerks over off-shore drilling. They have done something to help parents out! How great is that?
The Senate voted yesterday to make it a crime to take a pregnant girl across state lines to obtain an abortion without her parents' knowledge, handing a long-sought victory to the Bush administration and abortion opponents.I found this interesting:
The bill would help about three dozen states enforce laws that require minors to notify or obtain the consent of their parents before having an abortion. It would bar people -- including clergy members and grandparents -- from helping a girl travel to another state to avoid parental-involvement laws. Violations could result in a year in prison.
Democrats are pushing back, accusing Republicans of trying to frighten and divide the electorate rather than tackle tough issues such as high gasoline prices and the Iraq war. Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), an antiabortion Democrat who voted for the bill, will spend part of the summer stressing the need to prevent unwanted pregnancies, aides said.They've been trying to do something related to gas prices for a while but you people keep blocking it! And haven't you guys voted several times (and just recently, as well) over this issue? We aren't leaving Iraq and there is no time table, isn't it time for you guys to just shup up about Iraq?
Opponents said the Senate measure could threaten the safety of girls, saying parents might beat their daughters if they find out about plans for an abortion. The proponents' approach "is not to deal with the reality of young people" in troubled families, said Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.). He cited the case of an Idaho man who impregnated his 13-year-old daughter and then killed her when he learned she had scheduled an abortion.So, we should not have a law protecting children from adults who try to interfer in the parent/child relationship because there is one extreme case of a man killing his child? Parents have been given the responsiblity to protect their children from harm and the government should recognize that right and protect it. Thankfully, there are men like Sen. Mitch McConnell who get it.:
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) hailed the passage of the abortion measure, saying: "What opponents of this bill forget is that no parent wants anyone to take their children across state lines -- or even across the street -- without their permission. This is a fundamental right, and the Congress is right to uphold it in law."You want to talk about relity, this is it:
Proponents of the Senate bill said it would protect girls from being pressured by their boyfriends into having an abortion. "It's an affirmation of parental rights," said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). "An underage child cannot obtain an aspirin at school without parental consent," he said, adding that parents' role in their young daughter's decision about abortion is far more significant.Boyfriends pressuring their girlfriends to have an abortion is more of a reality then any parent harming their child because they want to have an abortion.
AlanDP or Ron of Blogonomicon has published (this is a link, Glenn):
What really happened to the Anasazi people? Was Jack the Ripper someone's second choice? What was the famous Ranger tracking in Gypsy's Gulch? These and other questions are answered in Hell's Hangmen: Horror in the Old West as twenty-two of today's most talented writers bring you fantastical tales with a Western Flavor. Thrill to those eerie days of yesteryear as tales are spun by Steven Shrewsbury, Lee Clark Zumpe, Lawrence Barker, John Sunseri, Pasquale Morrone, Jacob Bayne, William Jones, JW Schnarr, John Hubbard, Gene Stewart, Ron Shiflet, R.M. Ridley, Kris Ashton, Hana K. Lee, Rob Rosen, Robert J. Santa, Charles Black, Alan D. Peschke, Jason Andrew, Joe McKinney, Joshua Reynolds, and Matthew Baugh.
OK, so you see a guy with a knife running around chasing someone just like out of a horror movie, what do you do? Well, if you listen to the police (that's a link, Glenn ), you would do nothing:
A knife-wielding grocery store employee attacked eight co-workers Friday, seriously injuring four before a witness pulled a gun and stopped him, police said.A knife-wielding grocery store employee attacked eight co-workers Friday, seriously injuring four before a witness pulled a gun and stopped him, police said.OK, so what is the lesson learned from this officer? Well, if confronted by a knife-wielding maniac, we should do nothing even though we have a gun. We should do nothing and hope that we don't get stabbed or that the person that is being chased isn't stabbed to death before the police get there. Yes, that sounds like a plan.
[...]
Ingram, chasing one victim into the store's parking lot, was subdued by Chris Cope, manager of a financial services office in the same small shopping center, Memphis Police Sgt. Vince Higgins said.
Cope said he grabbed a 9mm semiautomatic pistol from his pickup truck when he saw the attacker chasing the victim "like something in a serial killer movie."
"When he turned around and saw my pistol, he threw the knife away, put his hands up and got on the ground," Cope told The Associated Press. "He saw my gun and that was pretty much it."
[...]
The spokeswoman said officials from the St. Louis-based company were on their way to the scene.
Higgins said police were pulling into the parking lot as Cope was confronting Ingram.
"We commend him," Higgins said. "But we don't encourage people to take that kind of risk. He could have been hurt."
I went from cranky to the pit of despond all within 24 hours. I got my report card this morning and it was a case of good news/bad news. The good news was that I got a B in doctrines of salvation II (thank you, Dr. Tipton! I thought I would be getting the B- in that class) but I got a B- in hermeneutics (*sniff* *sniff*). I'm depressed now. I have lost my will to learn and just want to eat chocolate. The only thing that makes me feel better is thinking about Dr. Silva getting a D- in Greek. When I think of that, it makes me feel better that I got such a low grade in one of the foundational classes (the one that all the other NT and OT classes are based on) needed for my degree. The one that is directly related to my major and the one that helps me do my job better (writing Bible studies). Why would any publisher want to publish a Bible study written by someone who got a B- in her hermeneutics class (*sniff* *sniff)?
Sarah said "At least it wasn't a C or a D or what if you had failed?" And she also said "Poor Mommy, it's so hard being a perfectionist." She knows me so well.
The great debate over coffee or chocolate rages on as Glenn enters the fray. Just as I concede defeat he says a pox on both your houses (or words to that effect) and pronounces his judgment of what is the true color of the background.
Upated to add: it appears that Glenn made a mistake as to the blog in question and will have to re-evaluate the situation. Stay tuned for his assessment. I will link when he has rendered his verdict.
I'm going to do a public mea culpa and humbly ask your forgiveness for questioning the integrity of the New York Times. I'm just an ignorant housewife and can't really comment on what's going on in the Middle East because I don't have anonymous sources and I'm not a professional journalist. Evidently, only trained professionals are able to comment on what reporters publish. Please forgive my ignorant ramblings and feel free to ignore anything that I say that I don't have direct expertise in.
So, since I am so ignorant and I'm not a trained professional with years of expertise, the only way that I will be able to prove what I said was true is empirical evidence, we will wait for the news that some Arab leader has compared our actions to Iran. If that happens, then the reporters were correct and not biased and knew what they were talking about. If that doesn't happen then I should be able to safely say, The New York Times is a piece of bleep.
I set out to find the evidence today and came across this instead:
Mideast diplomats were pressing Syria to stop backing Hezbollah as the guerrillas fired more deadly rockets onto Israel's third-largest city Sunday. Israel faced tougher-than-expected ground battles and bombarded targets in southern Lebanon, hitting a convoy of refugees.Hmmm, why are Arab leaders trying to disarm Hezbollah? Why aren't they being neutral? If they disarm Hezbollah and we arm Israel, how is that fair? Don't they know that New York Times reporters stated that they would be upset over the fact that Israel was armed by America? I have it on good authority that the reporters know "their area inside and out" and that they have "talked and talked and reported in this area for years." So, they really should know what they are talking about and can't be questioned by a housewife with a blog.
With Israel and the United States saying a real cease-fire is not possible until Hezbollah is reined in, Arab heavyweights Egypt and Saudi Arabia were pushing Syria to end its support for the guerrillas, Arab diplomats in Cairo said.
Syria, one of Hezbollah's main backers, said Sunday it will press for a cease-fire and was willing to engage in direct talks with the United States to help end the fighting between Israel and the Islamic militant group in Lebanon.Hmmmm? It looks like Syria is willing to talk peace and they don't appear to be condemning the U.S. for it's actions. But I don't understand, what about the professional journalists who have anonymous sources? What happened to the comparison of America and Iran? If anyone would make that charge surely it would be Syria? There must be something wrong here. I will keep checking the news and let you know when I find the smoking gun. Please help me out by emailing me if you see an Arab leader (at the national level of course) condemning America for arming Israel. How long do you think I have to wait before it's safe to call The New York Times a piece of bleep?
But Syrian officials said Damascus would only cooperate within the framework of a broader Middle East peace initiative that would include a return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967, and warned they will not stand by if the Israelis step up their offensive.
"Syria and Spain are working to achieve a cease-fire, a prisoners' swap and to start a peace process as one package," Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal was quoted as saying by the Spanish daily newspaper ABC. "Syria is working on achieving real, comprehensive, fair peace based on the withdrawal from all the occupied territories, including the Golan."
It was unlikely that Israel would agree to such a deal, but the remarks were the first indication of Syria's willingness to be involved in international efforts to defuse the Lebanese crisis.
I've looked at it again and I think it is definitely a chocolatey color.
BTW, I'm tried tired and cranky! So, don't be surprised if I'm "feistier" than usual.
Updated to add: As you can see I have a problem with transposing letters (I have the same problem with numbers as well) when I'm tired. It's weird but I also have a problem transposing phrases. Just a heads up for future posts.
The ACLU will be taking the case of the nuts who are protesting at funerals:
A Kansas church group that protests at military funerals nationwide filed suit in federal court, saying a Missouri law banning such picketing infringes on religious freedom and free speech.Read the rest here.The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit Friday in the U.S. District Court in Jefferson City, Mo., on behalf of the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church, which has outraged mourning communities by picketing service members' funerals with signs condemning homosexuality.
The Carnival's up. There are some interesting submissions this week. A number of poems about summer and some cute kid stories. Go check it out, click the chicks to get there.
I could not believe the following quote when I read it on Hugh Hewitt's blog:
The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel was made with relatively little debate within the Bush administration, the officials said. Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign in a way that could be compared to Iran's efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah.They are comparing us to Iran???? Are they nuts? What do they expect us to do? Sit on the sidelines and wait for our ally (our ally for heaven's sakes) to run out of ammunition? Don't they understand that Hezbollah are terrorists and we are at war with terrorists? Of course they don't -- they must think our job is to be neutral and not take a side in the conflict. To push for a cease fire.
My husband sent me a link to this article. It started out in an interesting direction, an article about the signs of our times. The medical establishment trying to kill a father before his time:
A medical resident--we called her "Dr. Death"--at the Intensive Care Unit at Long Island's North Shore Hospital chased us down the hallway.She even was thankful for the stand of Christians in this fight against euthanasia:
"Your husband wants to die," she told my mother, again. Just minutes before I had asked her to leave us alone.
[...]
"Dr. Death" was just one of several. A new resident appeared the next day, this one a bit more diplomatic but again urging us to allow my father to "die with dignity." And the next day came yet another, who opened with the words, "We're getting mixed messages from your family," before I shut him up.
I've never been one of those Jews who makes facial contortions at the mere mention of the Christian Right; I actually agree with them on some matters. And this experience with my father has given me a new appreciation for the fight many evangelicals have waged against euthanasia.And then she veered off into intolerance and bigotry:
But I'm offended that so many conservative Christians believe that theirs is the only path to salvation. I'm sick of being proselytized. We Jews enjoy a more basic type of faith, a direct relationship to God that requires no salvation, no penitence, no supplication. We do not proselytize. And we don't worry about the next life; we conduct mitzvahs--good deeds--that enhance life for ourselves and others in the here and now.When I first started to read the article, I thought it would make a compelling case for how life has been devalued in our society and how we value quality of life above all else. If your quality of life is compromised, then you might as well die.
Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."It is our job to do so. Our Lord and Savior has commanded us to do so, it's not an option. We don't get to put aside the word of God because it makes others feel uncomfortable. Read the book of Acts, over and over again the apostles were arrested and thrown into jail for telling others about Christ, why do you think that we would stop just because you don't like it. People are thrown into jail in India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China, Vietnam, just because they tell others about Christ. We will tell others about the gospel no matter what are the consequences because that is what we do.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Acts 4:11-12 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."If you try to make us give that up then you are forcing us to give up our religion. I will continue to proclaim that Christ is the only way to salvation because that is what He claims and since He is God, I think He would know :-)
I found this to be interesting:
The lesbian couple whose landmark lawsuit helped Massachusetts become the only state in America where same-sex couples can marry legally have split up, a spokeswoman said on Friday.Yet! And not in the public eye? Of course they are in the public eye. No nation in the history of man has every sanctioned the union between the sexes and the judges in this case legislated from the bench and approved these unions. You wanted to force the nation to approve your union and now a court has done so. You forced the public to view your union as acceptable, you forced it out where all the world could see it and now you have to live with the nation and the world saying, "Ha! Just another set of divorced parents, just what the world needed." (And I'm being mild, I could have said a lot worse because you deserve it.)Julie and Hillary Goodridge and six other gay and lesbian couples sued Massachusetts for the right to marry and won when the state's highest court ruled narrowly for them in 2003.
Their suit helped spark a nationwide debate on gay marriage.
The women "are amicably living apart," Mary Breslauer, a spokeswoman for the couple said. "As always their number one priority is raising their daughter, and like the other plaintiff couples in this case, they made an enormous contribution toward equal marriage. But they are no longer in the public eye, and request that their privacy be respected."
They have not filed for divorce.
I feel really bad about the people of Lebanon, their government is ineffectual in dealing with Hezbollah. Hezbollah could care less about them and demonstrates their contempt by placing military targets in civilian areas. And Israel is going to finally do something about the terrorists who have been at war with them for many years and they are going to do it in Lebanon. This leaves the Lebanonese in great danger but with no real stake in the war (except to finally get rid of Hezbollah but at a great expense to them).
And even though I have sympathy for their plight, But I really can't understand this attitude:
The plight of Tyre's people is the story of the latest Arab-Israeli conflict writ small: In nine days of attacks that Israel says have targeted the infrastructure of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Lebanon's civilians have suffered inordinately, with more than 300 dead, many times that number wounded and 500,000 displaced. As this city awaits the brunt of an Israeli attack that most think is imminent, resignation, hopelessness, occasional defiance and a sense of abandonment course through the beleaguered population.Who do they think evacuated the foreigners? Don't they realize that it was the foreigners' governments that evacuated them? It is Lebanon's job to protect its people, a job that they have failed to do. And since the government has failed you, shouldn't you do something to ensure your safety? A twenty year old doesn't have the ability to walk to safety?
"They evacuate the foreigners, bring them to safety, and they leave us like dogs in the street," said Therese Khairallah, sitting with friends in an alley near the seashore. "A small mistake turned into this mountain of a disaster, and we're the victims."
[...]
Why is it that the people of the south -- the women and the children -- die? And the foreigners are the only ones who can leave? What about the Lebanese?" Muhanna asked. "Why the foreigners and not us?" His friend Mohammed Aidibi, 20, jumped in. "The Lebanese aren't considered people," he said. "Foreigners are the only ones who have the right to live."
I love it! A cleric who hailed the terrorists as martyrs and is banned from England because of it, wants to flee Beirut and return to England:
The mad mullah, who hailed terrorists as "“magnificent"” martyrs, bought a £150,000 bolthole in the exclusive Doha district of Beirut.Afraid to live with the consequences of terrorism? Too bad!
In March he boasted: "When I left England I bought a one-way ticket out. I never want to see the place again."
But cowardly Bakri changed his tune as soon as bombs started dropping.
He contacted the British embassy asking to be allowed back to see the six children he deserted. Bakri said last night: "What concerns me is my safety. I'’d be happy with a month'’s visa but this morning they told me I couldn'’t because I'm not a British citizen any more."
[...]
Syrian Bakri can'’t return there because he faces 20 years' jail over a coup bid.
Over 20 years in the UK, Bakri sponged £300,000 in benefits. He preached violence and praised the 9/11 al-Qaeda terrorists as the Magnificent 19.
Since it was old news (it's be 24 hours), I wasn't going to say anything about the stem cell veto but I was over at GOP bloggers and read this:
Nary a veto was issued against massive spending bills, although Americans would have supported a President who showed at least some semblance of fiscal conservatism. Now, President Bush will veto his first bill to block an initiative that a clear majority of Americans support?And I got a little ticked off. I think it's a wonderful first veto because it shows you how important this issue is to Bush. There is no reason why the government needs to fund mengelesque experiments on human embryos. If it has so much promise, let private industry fund it. Bush hasn't made it illegal by vetoing the bill.
So there is war raging in the Middle East and Bush has vetoed his first bill and I have all kinds of pictures and stuff to blog about my Niagara Falls trip but the big question of the day is: what color is the background of this blog? Coffee or chocolate?
Why get your news filtered by the American press? Go read the news from those who are living it here. This is a link to The Truth Laid Bear's compilation of Israeli, Palestinian and Lebanese bloggers.
(Link via Hugh Hewitt)
CNN is reporting that Iranians were present at the North Korean missile launch:
One or more Iranians witnessed North Korea's recent missile tests, deepening U.S. concerns about growing ties between two countries with troubling nuclear capabilities, a top U.S. official said Thursday.Bush said that there was an "axis of evil" and this proves it! Just like WWII, we are going to have to fight this war on many fronts. We took out one part of the axis but will we have to ability to take out the other two?
Hill said the six succeeded in hitting their target range.
But U.S. officials have long said that Iran and North Korea have been collaborating and have expressed serious concerns that cash-strapped Pyongyang was keen to sell missiles and possibly also nuclear material.
"Our understanding is that North Korea has had a number of commercial relations in the Middle East with respect to missiles," Hill said.
I just got in from my trip and as I'm driving home, I start to get sleepy. I have to keep making myself stay awake. When we near home, I wake up the girls to get them ready to get out of the car and to have something to do that keeps me from falling asleep. Just after I say, "Wake up, we're almost home." My headlights catch a deer nursing her two fawns in the middle of the road! I swerved to avoid hitting them. It was the weirdest thing! Why in the world would she nurse in the middle of the street. It's not like it's a deserted road -- it's a well traveled road.
Seems like Bush pulled the rest of the world leaders to a more supportive position toward Israel. And they are finally proposing to do something useful in the Middle East and disarm terrorists! What took them so long. I'm amazed that they might send in internation troops to disarm the terrorists:
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Monday for the deployment of international forces to stop Hezbollah from bombing Israel, an issue that has overshadowed the summit of world leaders.Israel has had to do what no other country has done and that is show restraint toward terrorists. It's about time they go in and disarm the terrorists. America would have been in Lebonan at the first bombing. Israel has shown incredible restraint.
[...]
The comments by Blair and Annan came a day after world leaders forged a unified response at their G-8 summit to the crisis in the Middle East, blaming Hezbollah and Hamas for the escalating violence and recognizing Israel's right to defend itself — although they called on the Jewish state to show restraint.
"I am most pleased that the leaders came together to say, look, we condemn violence. We honor innocent life," Bush said before heading into a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "For the first time, we've really begun to address with clarity the root causes of the conflict ... and that is terrorist activity — namely Hezbollah, that's housed and encouraged by Syria."
Bush also asserted that the militant Islamic group is financed by Iran. However, the G-8 statement makes no mention of Syria or Iran. Russian President
Vladimir Putin told reporters that Russia blocked the effort to name Syria.
"If we don't have enough grounds to blame somebody, we cannot ... put them in documents on such a serious state level just based on assertions," Putin said.
[...]
The statement was a compromise between a U.S. position strongly supporting Israel's right to defend itself against terrorist attacks and the views of other G-8 countries that Israel was engaging in excessive force.
The statement was carefully written so that different countries could claim it said different things.
French President Jacques Chirac said it was evident from the statement that the G-8 was calling for a cease-fire on both sides of the conflict. But Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, disagreed, saying, "There was no push by any country for a cease-fire."
The Bush administration insisted the call for halting Israeli airstrikes was conditioned on Hezbollah releasing captured Israeli soldiers and ending missile attacks on Israel, although the statement was not clear on these points.
It looks like Rick Warren will not be going to North Korea to preach this week, he is going to meet with "leadership" in order to prepare to preach in 2007:
Dr. Rick Warren confirmed plans to visit the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on July 17 to meet with church and business leaders, despite the current standoff over recent missile firings by the isolated communist country.
"Regardless of politics, I will go anywhere I am invited to preach the Gospel," said Dr. Warren, pastor of Saddleback Valley Community Church in California and best-selling author of "The Purpose Driven Life" and "The Purpose Driven Church."
Contrary to recent media reports, Dr. Warren's visit to North Korea later this month is to meet with leadership in preparation for his return to preach in March 2007, in conjunction with the 100th Anniversary of the Pyongyang Revival in what is now the capital city.
In late June, prior to his departure on a 35-day tour of 13 Asian and African countries, a delegation of South Korean businessmen working with representatives from North Korea visited Dr. Warren at Saddleback Church. They told him they had quietly received permission to hold the first public outdoor Christian service in North Korea in 50 years.
Knowing the impact of his books in South Korea, the delegation invited Dr. Warren to be the preacher at the event to be held at a 15,000-seat stadium next spring. Since the United States does not maintain diplomatic relations with North Korea, this group will facilitate his participation.
Dr. Warren arrives in South Korea on July 12 for meetings with government, political and church leaders, including pastoral training and large evangelistic events at outdoor stadiums in Seoul and Busan. After speaking to US troops at a military base near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), Dr. Warren and his team will cross the border to meet with the invitational committee in Kaesong.
Dr. Warren said that he hopes that through these visits he can promote religious freedom in a country where individual faith practice has been tightly controlled and virtually prohibited since 1945.
I have some links that I wanted to post before I went to bed, but I'm too tired. I hope to do it in the morning, if I get up early enough. Life is interfering with blogging again. More on that later :-). If you haven't checked out the Blogging Chicks Carnival, go do it, there are some great posts.
The Carnival is up (thank you, Lord!) I didn't think I was going to make it (there were quite a few late entries). This week we had a dream theme. Click on the chick to get there.
I discovered an interesting site this week and I keep meaning to blog about it and didn't get the chance. I found it in the comment section of Malissa's Merry-go-round. (It was Jennifer's link.) The site is called morgueFile and it is a free repository of really good photos, they are indexed by topic, so they are searchable.
Searching for tea, I found this:
Searching for tulips, I found this:
And searching for fruit, I found this:
There were over 400 entries for flowers alone. This is a great resource.
I put up a review of "The Devil Wears Prada" (warning: I've been told I should warn people that my review contains spoilers but I don't agree since I'm not saying anything that you can't discern from the commericals) and I also put up an entry for the Blogging Chicks Dream Theme Carnival (early, though not early enough to be in the top 10). Go check it out here.
I don't know about you, but I'm very concerned about the mounting tension going on in the world right now.
Here's a fair assessment:
The breakout of tensions on several fronts in the Middle East ignited the market turmoil. Hezbollah fired two rockets from Lebanon into Israel's third-biggest city, Haifa, after Israeli forces bombed Beirut's airport and other targets.
Meanwhile, violence is heating up in Iraq and Afghanistan despite the installation of democratic governments, and the U.S. and European allies are moving to take their nuclear confrontation with Iran before the U.N. Security Council. Rebel attacks in Nigeria yesterday also raised fears of further disruptions in exports from Africa's largest oil producer.
"Geopolitical fears have sent stewing tensions to a boiling point," said John E. Silvia, chief economist with Wachovia Securities.
My Refuge and My FortressNone of us knows what the outcome will be in the middle-east and the effect it will have on the rest of the world, but I can take comfort that no matter what happens to me, my heavenly Father has me secure; "under his wings".
91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
21 He [that] changes times and seasons; [and] he [that] removes kings and sets up kings; (Daniel 2:21).I may be concerned, but I am also thankful for His faithfulness!
So, you make a mild aside about a blogger referring to poop a little too often (something the blogger has said about herself) and then you're accused of thinking it's a sin to poop. What the heck is that about? Where did I say that? Does the fact that I'm a Christian freak people out so much that they lose common sense? I guess it's funny to poke fun at the backward Christian who doesn't understand the workings of the body and thinks references to poop are somehow unbiblical.
I guess I should mention this so that there isn't any kind of misunderstanding here. I would make poop references as well if I were the mom of small children but as a mom of older kids if I referred to their poop, they would kill me. In fact if they read this post (and sometimes they do) they will probably be appalled that I mentioned them and poop in the same sentence. In fact in my house if I even say the word pee or poop, everyone yells, "TMI." It's just not done :-)
So we have a difference in age of children and of personal preferences, not in religion :-) (That I even have to say that shows you how silly the Internet has become.)
BTW, I do think she is a good writer and that even her poop and butt stories can be funny.
Wow! You poll 789 potential voters and you can predict this:
Republicans are in jeopardy of losing their grip on Congress in November. With less than four months to the midterm elections, the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that Americans by an almost 3-to-1 margin hold the GOP-controlled Congress in low regard and profess a desire to see Democrats wrest control after a dozen years of Republican rule.What I think is funny is the headline:
[...]
The AP-Ipsos survey asked 789 registered voters if the election for the House were held today, would they vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate in their district. Democrats were favored 51 percent to 40 percent.
Most Americans plan to vote for Democrats
I guess this is a naive new blogger type observation but it's amazing to me how cowardly people are about making critical comments. I have to give it to Patrick, he was bold and brave enough to post under a name. It may not even have been his but at least he wasn't anonymous. It makes me respect him more.
Anonymous commenters, it is hard to take what you have to say to heart because you are not a real person to me. I just think of you as a voice calling from a dark alley and even if you say something that is not that bad (as was the case yesterday), I still look at it with suspicion because you chose to engage in public discourse under the cover of darkness. Yech, it's kind of slimy. And I have the added feeling of revulsion when I see anonymous comments because the spam bot leaves anonymous comments -- I'm having a pavlovian response to anonymous comments now. Spam or a critical comment, either way it's not good!
If you are interested in the Lebanese reaction to the fighting in their country, then check out these bloggers and the blogs in their blogroll. I think people are upset that Hizbollah dragged them into a war but some think that they should stand with them anyway. Many are upset over the loss of tourist revenue.
(Link via Hugh Hewitt)
I can't wait until this trial:
The CIA officer whose identity was leaked to reporters sued Vice President Dick Cheney, his former top aide and presidential adviser Karl Rove on Thursday, accusing them and other White House officials of conspiring to destroy her career.Why didn't she sue her husband? I thought Novak learned she was CIA from Wilson's Who's Who entry. Seems like Wilson did more to blow her cover than anyone.
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Valerie Plame and her husband, Joseph Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador, accused Cheney, Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of revealing Plame's CIA identity in seeking revenge against Wilson for criticizing the Bush administration's motives in Iraq.
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