President Tom Wants To Meet The Pope

Ahmadinejad has requested a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. To what end?

Vatican sources said earlier this week that it was not yet clear if the pope would meet individual heads of state attending the U.N. event or hold a collective audience for them in order to save time.

The Vatican has criticized Ahmadinejad for calling for Israel to be wiped off the map.

The Holy See has diplomatic ties with Iran and Pope Benedict has met Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. The pontiff has repeatedly encouraged dialogue to resolve differences over Iran's disputed nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at making nuclear bombs.

Who Is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? There is a full internal consistency in Ahmadinejad. Below are a few examples of his sayings, beliefs and actions. Whether one agrees or disagrees with them,
they all fit perfectly into a consistent pattern.

• He literally believes in the imminent emergence of the Mahdi – the Shiites promised one who is expected to appear to set aright a decadent and wretched world.


• He views himself as the vassal of Mahdi, working for him and being accountable to him.
  His main task is to prepare the world so to hasten the Mahdi’s coming. If this preparation requires much destruction and bloodshed, so be it.


• As a former mayor of Tehran, he developed elaborate detailed plans preparing the city
  for the arrival of the Mahdi.


• He allocated generous sums for extensive road improvement to a mosque at Jamkaaraan near the city of Qum where it is believed the promised Mahdi is hiding in a well since the age of nine, over 1100 years ago.


• He reportedly visits the well frequently and drops his written supplications into the well for the hidden Mahdi to act upon them.


• He has said in private that it was he who asked the Mahdi to inflict the massive stroke
  on Ariel Sharon.


• He sees the Jews as the sworn enemies of Islam. The hostility dates back to the time of Muhammad’s own treatment of the Jews in Medina. At first, expediently, Muhammad called the Jews “people of the book,” and accorded them a measure of tolerance until he gained enough power to unleash his devastating wrath on them.


• He says that the Holocaust is a myth. He is, in this respect, in good company with a number of other revisionist claimants.


• He wants Israel to be wiped out of the map or transferred to Europe.


• In his speech at the UN general assembly, he implored the Mahdi to come and save
  the world. He claimed that during his speech of some twenty odd minutes, a
  powerful light enveloped him and all participants were held transfixed unable to
  move their eyes.


• He believes that the earth is Allah’s and all people must either become believers of his brand of Islam or must perish as infidels najis (unclean) who by their very presence defile Allah’s earth.


• He believes that this earthly life is passing and worthless in comparison to the afterlife
  awaiting a devoted and faithful believer. Hence, he holds to the old belief that if a faithful kills an infidel, he goes to Allah’s paradise; and, if the faithful gets killed in the process of serving the faith, again he goes to Allah’s paradise. Hence, it is a win-win proposition for the faithful.


• Ahmadinejad is a true devoted Muslim. Being unpredictable, self-contradictory and inconsistent are major symptoms of the mentally unhinged.

By these standards of insanity, Ahmadinejad emerges as completely sane. He is fully predictable, consistent and has shown no self-contradiction. He does not even pretend that he misspoke or apologizes for his outrageous statements. He is not a typical politician who practices the devious art of doublespeak, deception and change of position to suit him.

He knows who he is, what hebelieves, what he holds as veritable truth and what his own mission in life is – serving as the instrument for the revered Mahdi whom Allah shall make him emerge from the well as soon as the world’s conditions hit the absolute hopeless bottom. Ahmadinejad sees himself as a driver who can play a critical role in doing just that – driving the world to the very bottom.

Iran's Anti-Catholicism coalition

Islam Will Conquer All The Mountain Tops In The World.

Past Posts:

• British Hostages Freed


• Ahmadinejad Wants To Visit 9-11 Ground Zero


• Nanazin Lives


• Lunatic Quote Of The Day

Talking Bubblehead

UPDATE: China doesn't respond to Stone's comments except behind the scenes where an official was overheard to say "What happens in China politically can't be any worse than Sharon Stone's acting in 'Streets of Blood' even with her panties on." Now that's really mean.

How embarrassing is it for Hollywood that Sharon Stone is out without someone monitoring her. What is she doing making comments in public? She can't utter a coherent sentence, a complete sentence, and golly gee, the Dalai Lama (although, I'm guessing Sharon spells it Dolly) is her good friend.

Painful just to watch her.

Oops, she doesn't like people to be unkind. Oh, well.

More Evidence Carter Is Dangerous To US Security

Former President Carter blurted out in a Welsh conference over the weekend how many nuclear weapons in the United States, Russia, Great Britain, France, and Israel's arsenal. Classified information that has never been confirmed.

Asked how a future US president should deal with the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran, the 83-year-old said: "The US has more than 12,000 nuclear weapons, the Soviet Union (sic) has about the same; Great Britain and France have several hundred, and Israel has 150 or more."

"We have a phalanx of enormous weaponry, not only of enormous weaponry, but of rockets to deliver those missiles on a pinpoint accuracy target," he said at a press conference in Hay-on-Wye, in Wales, on Sunday, according to a spokesman for the Guardian Hay Festival.

Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East but has a policy of neither confirming nor denying its arsenal.

Who does Carter think he is and why is our government allowing this 83 year old man to traipse around the world dive-bombing our security and our allies?

On This Day: Jesuits Banned In Massachusetts

Interesting historical tidbit today unseen for the military and business holiday. On this date in 1647, the Massachusetts Bay Puritans banned the Society of Jesus priests, God's Soldiers, on penalty of death if caught. No Jesuits were martyred for disobeying the law, but anti-Catholicism prejudice lived on in Massachusetts and experienced a revival up during the Irish immigration of the 19th century. It wasn't until Massachusetts produced a Roman Catholic president that state pride in it's native son was felt, his religion be damned, or at least tolerated.

New England Jesuits

Pictorial Gallery of Jesuits Work Around The World and links.

Psychiatrists Volunteer To Help Soldiers Come Home

It's so reassuring that when help is needed, Americans step up to the plate. In a media cycle of condemning the US government for not helping our soldiers when they come home to re-enter civilian society, private psychiatrists are offering free services to military with emotional problems.

On this Memorial Day, America's armed forces and its veterans are coping with depression, suicide, family, marital and job problems on a scale not seen since Vietnam. The government has been in beg-borrow-and-steal mode, trying to hire psychiatrists and other professionals, recruit them with incentives or borrow them from other agencies.

Among those volunteering an hour a week to help is Brenna Chirby, a psychologist with a private practice in McLean, Va.

"It's only an hour of your time," said Chirby, who counsels a family member of a man deployed multiple times. "How can you not give that to these men and women that ... are going oversees and fighting for us?"

There are only 1,431 mental health professionals among the nation's 1.4 million active-duty military personnel, said Terry Jones, a Pentagon spokesman on health issues.

About 20,000 more full- and part-time professionals provide health care services for the Veterans Administration and the Pentagon. They include psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, social workers and substance abuse counselors.

According to veterans groups and health care experts, that is not enough for a mental health crisis emerging among troops and their families.

"Honestly, much is being done by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs," said retired Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Xenakis, a psychiatrist. "But the need to help these men and women goes far beyond whatever any government agency can do."

The VA says it has seen 120,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have symptoms of mental health problems, half with post-traumatic stress disorder. Although rates are high from those two wars, most of the 400,000 patients seen in VA last year for PTSD were Vietnam-era veterans, officials said.

Civilian groups are trying to step in for troops from the current conflicts.

"There are over 400,000 mental health professionals in our great country," said Barbara V. Romberg, a clinical psychologist who practices in Washington. "Clearly, we have the resources to meet this challenge."

Romberg founded Give An Hour, a group of 1,200 mental health professionals donating one hour of free care a week to troops, veterans or family members. They have to commit to doing it for a year.

Romberg, in cooperation with the American Psychiatric Foundation, hopes to find 40,000 volunteers over the next three years, or about 10 percent of available civilian professionals. The effort to get the word out to those who need the help and to recruit and train volunteers is being backed by a $1 million grant from the Lilly Foundation.

Romberg's group is the largest of a number across the nation.

Nearly 200 also have volunteered for the Soldiers Project, started by psychiatrists at the Ernest S. Lawrence Trauma Center of the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies - and now operating in Chicago, Seattle and New York.

The Coming Home Project in the San Francisco area has dozens of volunteers. A group of veterans, psychotherapists and interfaith leaders, it offers everything from retreats and workshops to yoga and other stress management programs as well as the counseling.

Thank you to all of the volunteers.

Smile: You're On Google Maps

Live viewing of an automobile crash, a bikini car wash, a child possibly being shot by a pistol? What online sleuths have been able to find is more than directions on Google Maps.

Google collects the images for its Street View feature using cameras strapped to the top of vehicles, and some of the pictures uncovered by Street View sleuths even show the drivers of the Google vehicles paying tolls at interstate exits.

But other images uncovered in Street View are more notable for what is going on around the car. One sequence of images detailed by the Web site Gawker purports to show the many angles of a drug deal going down.

More Street Views.

Memorial Day

Tree Top View Of Kew Gardens

Can't get to London this summer to visit the beautiful Kew Gardens? Click on the 360 degree panorama camera view from the comfort of your home. Don't get dizzy!

Three different perspectives:

• Treetop walkway at Kew Gardens: Click to view 360 degree panoramic image
• Treetop walkway at Kew Gardens: Click to view 360 degree panoramic image
• Treetop walkway at Kew Gardens: Click to view 360 degree panoramic image

The £3 million steel structure, which runs for 650ft through the Capability Brown woodland at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, aims to help show the importance of trees to wildlife and the climate.

It is hoped it will be the highlight of Kew's summer festival celebrating trees.

The creators of the Xstrata Treetop Walkway hope people may catch a glimpse of animals such as the purple hair streak butterfly, which is rarely seen because it lives its entire life high up in oak woodland, as well as woodpeckers and nuthatches.

The permanent structure, which also includes a "Rhizotron" underground exhibit to highlight the root-life of trees, follows on from the success of a smaller temporary walkway at Kew several years ago.

Putting the huge steel structure in the middle of woodland posed significant challenges for designers Marks Barfield Architects - creators of the London Eye - who had to sink foundations as deep into the earth as the structure is high.

The steel walkway had to be secured without damaging the roots of the sweet chestnuts, limes and deciduous oaks, some of which are more than 200 years old.

As well as getting close to the trees, the structure promises a bird's-eye view of the site and the London skyline, including the Gherkin building and Wembley Stadium - when the weather and leaves allow.

Visitors to Kew will also be able to "tune into trees" through super-sensitive microphones, listening to them creaking and pulling up water from the roots, and see a series of other exhibitions celebrating trees and woodland.

Personal aside - The slideshow does cut the photographs off, and only gives a small view. You can see the entire photographs here from our Seventh Day Of Honeymoon at Kew Gardens. The first and last photographs are of the low and high tide of the river Thames in the morning and in the evening. The red fruit floating in the pond are cranberries from the United States, (which are not grown in England) showing the English how cranberries are harvested.

Cuba Has More Centurians Than Any Other Country In The World

What does Cuba have that the rest of the world does not have? Isolation from disease and germs, hard work, pedestrian lifestyle, limited food supply with ample fruit and vegetables, but little modern transfat fast food restaurants, and warm tropical climate.

Who says that global warming and Communism isn't healthy? Michael Moore will be so pleased.

But France says they have the oldest: France's Oldest Citizen 113 dies.

Solignac died early Sunday morning surrounded by her family, in a retirement home in Vorey-sur-Arzon in the central Haute Loire region, the town where she was born on September 7, 1894. Her funeral will take place on Wednesday.

She was married in 1921 to Michel Solignac, who lost a leg in World War I. Together they had a single daughter, and ran a small farm until Michel's death in 1961 when Clementine Solignac moved in near her daughter.

Until the age of 106, she led an independent life, cooking for herself each day on a wood-burning stove and milking her grandson's cows, according to relatives.

When asked about her age, she would reply "The good Lord has forgotten about me!"
France has a reputation for being home to some of the longest-living people on the planet. The oldest person on record was the Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122.

The country's oldest citizen is now 112-year-old Eugenie Blanchard, from Saint-Barthelemy in the French Caribbean, according to the INSERM medical research institute.

Currently, the world's oldest living person is a US woman from Indiana, Edna Parker, who celebrated her 115th birthday on April 20.

First Individual Female DNA Sequenced

Finally after researching individual male genomes, gorilla genomes, chimpanzee genomes, dog genomes, cat genomes, and even a playtpus genome, Dutch scientists know how women work.

Illegal Immigrants Finally Hear The Truth!

Well, it's about time that illegal criminals heard these words:

"I don’t doubt for a moment that you are good, hard-working people who have done what you did to help your families. Unfortunately for you, you committed a violation of federal law."~ Mark W. Bennett, a federal judge, to 270 illegal immigrants sentenced to prison terms in Iowa.

How To Identify Potential Terrorists

Haroon Siddique's insight into awareness of who and who isn't a terrorist. Do you know what to look for? A new test may flush terrorist wannabees into the light.

Avant-Garde Schools Allow Students Vote On How They Are Taught

British students are in trouble as it is, and Greater Manchester Co-Op schools are going to allow students a say in how the schools are run? Liberals have done more to ruin schools, than any reason in history. No wonder that more than 250,000 qualified teachers in Great Britain refuse to teach in a British classroom.

Co-op executives hope it will be the first of several to adopt a formula under which every pupil will have a say in a democratic forum designed to come up with ideas about their school's future.

The idea is to give pupils a glimpse of how a democratic institution should work so they can play their full part as citizens when they leave. The format recalls that of the independent Suffolk boarding school Summerhill, set up in 1921 by the educationist Alexander Sutherland Neill. All Summerhill pupils have a say in their curriculum and the running of the school.

Advisers to the former prime minister Tony Blair saw the trust scheme as an opportunity for businesses, private schools and faith groups to become involved in the running of state schools. Phil Arnold, the head of school development at Reddish Vale, said: "I think this is a real alternative for the way 'trust' schools operate."

Members of Reddish Vale's democratic forum will include pupils, parents, teachers and community representatives. "All pupils will have full voting rights," said Mr Arnold, "as will parents/carers and all organisations we work with in the public, private and voluntary sector.

Didn't any Manchester administrator research Neill's success or was it a failure and completely ignored? I did research Summerhill and I found this essay on the non-merits of Summerhill and the utter libertarian attitude of Neill, a fervid fan of Freud.

Neill opened his first school in 1922 during a journey through Europe, but he founded Summerhill, near Leiston, in England, in 1924. The little school existed for decades without a change. Through some twenty books and countless articles, he related the daily life of the school, never missing an opportunity to provoke argument, repeatedly describing a place in which the adult had not imposed his will, a place for play where total disorder reigned.

A great deal of the damage done to the school was done by the children: ‘The wear and tear of materials in Summerhill is a natural process...and if a boy needs a piece of metal for a boat keel, he will use my expensive tools if one of them happens to be about the right size’. Journalists called Summerhill the ‘do-as-you-please-school’ (Hemmings, 1972, p. 140). Many of the visitors indeed saw the school as ‘a Kafkaesque universe with dilapidated and sometimes vandalized buildings’. (Vallotton, 1967, p. 9). Yet the school, with its wooden buildings, its large park and trees, seemed, especially in summer, one of the most pleasant of places, a real country school such as Ferrière dreamed of at the beginning of the century.

In this school, however, lessons were optional. The children could play all day if they so wished, or do handicrafts in the workshop. The evenings were set aside for dancing, theatre and entertainment. If it had not been for the threat of the school being closed by the authorities, Neill would have placed no ban on sexual relations.
Friday evening was set aside for the general assembly. During that meeting, which was chaired by an elected pupil, the children explained their problems and discussed them, working out their own rules. In this assembly, Neill’s vote, like that of the other adults, had no greater weight than that of a pupil. This, says Neill, was the secret of the success of an educational technique learnt through contact with Homer Lane.

The originality, the provocation and success of the founder’s books were not always sufficient to protect the school from the risk of closure. After the Second World War, there was a dangerous decrease in the number of pupils and the Summerhill Society had to be founded in order to save the school. The education authorities never really accepted it. When they went back on their decision to close the school, some, as Hemmings (1972, p. 241) noted, interpreted this not so much as a mark of recognition as a kind of tolerance of ‘a mere relic’. Yet it was this same relic which, several years later, was to prove too small to take in all the pupils and visitors.

Humans are condemned to failure if they don't heed the lessons of the past. Children need cohesive structure and the basics of education: readin' 'riting, and 'rithmatic. They do not have the experience of age, nor do they place values on lessons that they will need later in life. This school will have a plan for failure for those who want to play all day. Oh let's teach self-esteem and self-awareness and not teach discipline. That'll work.

Knife Crimes Increasing Among British 12 - 20 year olds

12 Percent of Violent Crimes Committed By Children

Schools Told To Report Signs Of Gangs

Dick "Sock It To Me" Martin Dies

One of my favorite, shocking, hysterially funny shows I watched as a prepubescent teenager was the Laugh-In Show during the late 1960's. Sad to say that Dick Martin, that sweet, confused, half of the Rowan and Martin comedy team passed away at the age of 86. Click on the title link to read a full description of the energetic and talented Martin's career and life. Dan Rowan passed away in 1987.

Bless his sweet bippy!

I laughed so hard rewatching these clips. Remembering Dick Martin in the best way - laughing.

Will Obama-Loving Media Report Another Obama Mistake?

Another historical timeline faux pas by the Barack jock with his friend Hugo Chavez.

Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama made another gaffe on the campaign trail Friday when he suggested at a luncheon hosted by the Cuban American National Foundation that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez came to power while George W. Bush was in the White House.

Chavez was first elected president in 1998, and reelected in 2000, both occurring while Bill Clinton was serving his second term.

This was not the only gaffe Obama made in Florida Friday, for at another campaign stop, the junior senator from Illinois several times referred to the city of Sunrise as "Sunshine." This comes a week after calling Sioux Falls, South Dakota, "Sioux City," and two weeks after saying that America has 57 states.

Will Obama-loving media ever cover these gaffes?

I know they are tired, they have been at this for what? Eighteen months now? We're tired too, and I'm sure John McCain is tired, but if he made mistakes and lies like Hillary and Obama, the media would have been all over him like ants on honey and it would be plastered in every newspaper, on every newscast.

Richardson Says Hugo Chavez Supports Barack Obama.

Chavez Calls Cardinal A Clown

Edwards Fits Like A Glover With The Enemy

Chinese Aftershocks Compounds Tragic Devastation

China's worst earthquake in thirty years experiences more devastation from aftershocks. 71,000 more homes destroyed, six deaths, and over 1000 injured. Flooding feared most.

69 Dams Threaten Lives

Sichuan is home to the world's largest water project, the Three Gorges dam, located about 350 miles east of the epicenter. Authorities have said it was not damaged in the quake.

Another issue complicating rescue work has been new lakes that were formed from rivers blocked by landslides unleashed in the quake.

Some 1,600 soldiers and police were hiking to one such lake north of Beichuan, each carrying 22 pounds to blast a hole in the river blockage before it develops into a flood risk, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Bad weather meant they could not use helicopters to get to the lake. The State Meteorological Bureau said Sunday that parts of Sichuan would suffer "heavy and even in some areas torrential rains" later Sunday and Monday, warning of possible mudslides.

Only Military Insignia Should Be Worn On Uniform Sleeves

Word from the highest ranking military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen to his troops: Keep politics out of the military.

In particular, members of the Joint Chiefs have expressed worries this election year about the influence of retired officers who advise political campaigns, some of whom have publicly called for a change in policy or others who serve as television commentators.

Among the most outspoken were those who joined the so-called generals' revolt in 2006 demanding the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary, as well as former officers who have written books attacking the Bush administration's planning for and execution of the war in Iraq.

While retired officers have full rights to political activism, their colleagues still in uniform fear its effect on those trying to carry out the mission, especially more junior officers and enlisted personnel. Active-duty military personnel are prohibited from taking part in partisan politics.

"As the nation prepares to elect a new president," Mullen wrote, "we would all do well to remember the promises we made: to obey civilian authority, to support and defend the Constitution and to do our duty at all times."

"Keeping our politics private is a good first step," he added. "The only things we should be wearing on our sleeves are our military insignia."

Mullen said he was inspired to write the essay after receiving a constant stream of legitimate, if troubling, questions while visiting U.S. military personnel around the world, including, "What if a Democrat wins?" and, "What will that do to the mission in Iraq?"

"I am not suggesting that military professionals abandon all personal opinions about modern social or political issues," Mullen wrote. "What I am suggesting - indeed, what the nation expects - is that military personnel will, in the execution of the mission assigned to them, put aside their partisan leanings. Political opinions have no place in cockpit or camp or conference room."

He noted that "part of the deal we made when we joined up was to willingly subordinate our individual interests to the greater good of protecting vital national interests."

Mullen took his message directly to the U.S. Navy's newest officers on Friday, when he spoke to the Naval Academy's graduating class. Military personnel are obligated to give their unvarnished, even critical, advice to their civilian leaders, he told the class.

"If it's followed, great," Mullen said. "If it's not, we only have two choices: obey the orders we have been given, carrying them out with the professionalism and loyalty they deserve, or vote with our feet."

Thank Our Soldiers Of Peace

On this Memorial Day weekend, I want to thank from my heart all the brave men and women, those with us fighting today and those who have fought in the past.

Thank you to my Dad, United States Army, 328th Communications Recon Company, Army Security Agency, my Mom (dec.), Women's Royal English Navy, my father-in law, Jerome (dec.) United States Navy, my Uncle Phil (dec.) original United States Army Air Forces on Marianna, Guam, Uncle Jimmy (dec.), United States Air Force, Uncle Johnny (dec.), United States Air Force, my uncle Malcolm (dec.),British Army, Uncle John (dec.) British Army, Uncle Dennis, British Army, Uncle Joe, (dec.)British Army, my Uncle Donald, British Merchant Navy, my sister Marjorie, United States Air Force, my nephew, Chase, United States Marines. Thank you to all my friends across the country, Bill S., Dave, Art, Dan, Father Mark, and many others.

Thank a soldier today. God speed them all home soon.

Democrats Bill To End "The Few, The Proud, The Marines"

Do Democrats have no shame? On Friday, May 23, the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, Rep Paul Hodes, (D, NH) co-sponsored an amendment with Rep. DeLauro and Rep. DeFazio that would investigate our Defense Department on "Information Dominance" that would categorize any military mottoes, such as "The Few, The Proud, The Marines" as propaganda.

It came in the form of an amendment authored by Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., which also would authorize an investigation of the Defense Department's "propaganda" efforts by the Government Accountability Office.

Hodes' addition to the bill passed by voice vote and the overall bill passed the House by a large margin. The Senate will wait until after the holiday recess to consider it.
It's not as if the Pentagon brass, as they wage a global war on terrorism, don't have better things to do than sit down and answer foolish questions about public relations operations from a bunch of GAO bean-counters.

Besides, haven't congressional Democrats insisted all these years that it wasn't the military they had a problem with regarding the Iraq War? Haven't they been saying how much they support those in uniform, that our military leaders really agreed with Democrats that Iraq was unwinnable, and that it was only the civilians who run war policy in the Bush administration they were attacking?

According to Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., the Hodes provision could end up classifying even the U.S. Marines' slogan, "The Few, the Proud, the Marines," as a "concerted effort to propagandize" in violation of the law.

The Democrats' efforts to save America from good news in Iraq stem from a New York Times article last month charging that retired military officers appearing on TV were "puppets of the Defense Department" because they get frequent private briefings and talking points.

Catholicism Once Again Majority In Scotland

Catholics have reclaimed the largest population base in Scotland since the early 16th century, but not because of the Scots. Polish immigrants have now boosted the Catholic percentage to the top in Scotland.

The change is due to the huge numbers of Catholic Polish immigrants who are boosting church attendance, raising numbers by some 50,000 people since the last time figures were published in 2002. A spokesman for the Catholic Church said: "There are now more masses being said in Polish than in Gaelic in Scotland. At St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh, there are two Polish masses every Sunday. It has made a significant difference."

He claimed that the Polish-inspired revival was now boosting the Church in other areas. "In terms of vocations to the priesthood, we hit rock bottom a few years ago when we had only about four or five men training to become priests. Now there are 15 or 16."

200,000 Britons Leave A Year, 160,000 Immigrants Arrive

Independence For Scotland Works!

Belgian Churches Commit Religious Suicide

Meet The Press Tries To Salvage Obama's Campaign

This morning, Ted Russert, host of Meet The DePressed, along with liberal dowager Maureen Dowd, David Brody, Doris Kerns Goodwin, PBS's Gwen Iffil, Ruth Marcus, and Jon Meacham, were panicking. The entire guest panel struggled to showcase racist whites against Obama, while continuing to sabotage Hillary with clips of her ill-timed reference to Robert Kennedy's assassination in June, her whining about sexism, and Republican candidate John McCain hugging fundamentalist pastor John Hagee.

Clinton's remarks also included that her husband, Bill Clinton did not wrap up the presidential nomination until the middle of June. Doris Kerns Goodwin, presidential historian, substantiated that both Clinton's remarks were again false. Bill Clinton had taken the nomination by mid-April. Bobby Kennedy had just started to campaign for the White House not won the nomination.

Hillary's Snipergate

Hillary's Iraq Bombing Lie

Hillary Not Named For Sir Edmund Hillary

Hillary's Plant Question

Lies, Damn Lies, and the Clinton Administration

More Clinton Lies

What is it with this pathological inability for the Clintons to tell the truth?

Michael Goodwin, columnist for the New York Daily News calls Hillary a "dark soul" and just wants her to go away. Maureen Dowd portrayed Hillary and Bill's third presidential run as a "hostile takeover" and Maureen, an internationally known shrew and the epitome of hostile, should know.

Hillary, it is over but stay in as long as your little pea-pickin' heart wants to stay in. You're right, keep telling yourself, 'something bad will happen, something bad will happen, and it's not over till the convention.'

Operation Chaos scores again.

News Junkies Are Most Informed, Most Accurate

The Pew Research Center For The People And The Press reports that Rush Limbaugh babes and news junkies are above the majority of Americans in their knowledge of current events and political knowledge. I guess that would include all the liberals who listen to the show who make up the majority of Rush's listeners. No wonder there was no one listening to Air America.

News audiences vary widely in age, education, and how much they know about what's going on in the nation and the world. Most regular consumers of news are better informed, better educated, and older than the average American. But the audiences for some news sources stand out in this respect.

Judged by their answers to three news knowledge questions, the most informed audiences belong to the political magazines, Rush Limbaugh's radio show, the O'Reilly Factor, news magazines, and online news sources. Close behind are the regular audiences for NPR and the Daily Show.

Audiences with the highest educational achievement, by far, are the literary magazines and online news outlets. Readers of news magazines, political magazines and business magazines, listeners of Rush Limbaugh and NPR, and viewers of the Daily Show, and C-SPAN also are much more likely than the average person to have a college degree.

Some of these attentive and educated audiences also are older than average. The oldest audiences belong to the NewsHour (60% age 50 or older), the O'Reilly Factor (58%), Larry King Live (56%), network nightly news (54%), and Sunday morning talk shows (52%). The youngest audience ­ though also one of the most knowledgeable ­ belongs to the Daily Show, where just 23% are age 50 or older and 33% are under age 30.

After growing modestly between 2000 and 2004, the attentive audience for political, international, and business news ­ commonly referred to as "hard news" ­ is somewhat smaller in 2006. Currently, 27% of the public follows each of four kinds of stories, including news about political figures and events in Washington, international affairs, business and finance, and local government. Two years ago, this hard news audience accounted for 31% of the public. The decline was greater among Republicans (now 29%, down from 38% in 2004) than among other groups. Republicans and Democrats (28%) now exhibit similar enthusiasm for hard news.

The hard news audience is better educated and older than the average, though even among people with four year college degrees, fewer than a majority (39%) fall into this category. More men than women (32% vs. 22%) are hard news enthusiasts.

This news junkie for one, is so glad that the Man of the Year, Rush Limbaugh has Operation Chaos, and is the most important man on the Right. If John McCain becomes President, it will be because of Rush Limbaugh.

Queen Bees Rush To Be Most Powerful

The most informed, most accurate, most listened in America, Rush Limbaugh's insight on Democrat Majority Leader, Nancy Pelosi's need to be the most powerful woman in America is eye-opening.

Here we have Nancy Pelosi publically stabbing Hillary Clinton in the back.

RUSH: The Queen Bee Syndrome has reared its head once again in our nation's capital where Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, wants nothing to do with Mrs. Clinton leaving the Senate. She wants Mrs. Clinton not on the ticket; she doesn't want Mrs. Clinton as the nominee. Last night on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, the fill-in anchor Judy Woodruff spoke to the Queen Bee, Nancy Pelosi. Here's the question: "In fact, Senator Clinton said she's very much still in the fight. She's emphasizing the fact that if you count those disputed votes in Michigan and Florida, she's ahead in the popular vote."

PELOSI: How delegates are selected is by a process and the person who has the most delegates becomes the nominee of the party. It's not been about the popular vote. And the -- so we can have an elementary discussion if you wish, but at the end of the day, someone will have the winning number of delegates. Delegate vote is the currency of the realm at the Democratic National Convention.

RUSH: Thereby proving what I have been maintaining since May 7th, and that is, those of you Democrats who voted in the primaries, you have just been told you are worth (blowing a raspberry) by Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House. Your votes don't count. It's a delegate process, and the delegate process, the delegate vote, is the currency of the realm at the Democrat National Convention. They are perfectly willing -- she is anyway -- to keep Mrs. Clinton out of the White House in any way, shape, manner, or form to disenfranchise Democrat voters. This is coming from the top of the Democrat Party, Howard Dean -- Howard "George Wallace" Dean -- Nancy Pelosi. I'm telling you, this is one of the greatest acts of disenfranchisement of voters since the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Mrs. Clinton is right to compare this to ancient suffrage battles and slavery, poll taxes and the like, even though I suggested she do it, I nevertheless agree with her. Here is more from Nancy Pelosi. Judy Woodruff said, "Senator Clinton and her supporters have indicated they think there's been sexism aimed at her on the part of the press, on the part of people who don't support her. Have you seen this in the campaign?"

PELOSI: Senator Clinton is bigger than all of that. You know, she's a great leader in our country. I've not been in her shoes in terms of running for president, I don't know what her campaign has experienced, and quite frankly I don't watch that much television to compare and contrast who's handling the campaign one way or another. But let's reject sexism, let's reject racism, should that be part of these campaigns as well and just say we want the best possible person, whoever that may be.

WOODRUFF: How much of a setback will it be for women in politics if she doesn't win?


PELOSI: I don't think it's a setback at all. I think we have to look at how far women have come in this presidential election. A woman is down to the wire in contention for the presidential nominee.

RUSH: Did you hear that? Did you hear that, ladies and gentlemen? You women, the women for Hillary, did you hear that? It's not a setback at all. Look how close you got. Why, this is groundbreaking, Nancy Pelosi says. This is groundbreaking. This is not a setback at all. Now, you Clinton women, you people supporting Hillary know full well there's not another woman out there on the horizon to fulfill your dream of becoming president of the United States in your lifetime; and you've just heard a leading feminist in Washington say, hey, this is great, this isn't a setback. Misogyny isn't a setback; sexism is not a setback, because Nancy Pelosi doesn't care about you women, she cares about herself.

She wants to be the most powerful woman in Washington. She doesn't want Hillary Clinton anywhere near there. This is even adding more weight to my charge that the Democrats are on the verge of choosing somebody illegitimate to be their nominee.

Women are the most vicious of the species.

Al Franken's Sex Writings Worthy Of Congress?

Failed Air America radio host, SNL comedian, and dismally boring Al Franken's run for Senate is heating up with his published satirical writings on imagined sex fantasies.

The public airing of the column coincided with Republican objections to Playboy CEO Christie Hefner throwing a fundraiser for Franken.

In the column, titled “Porn-O-Rama!” and clearly intended to be humorous, Franken describes visiting a fictional sex institute where he participates in sex acts with machines and humans.

Franken writes of sitting in a virtual sex machine and choosing his preferred setting, then describes and evaluates the act. Later, he investigates other parts of the fictional institute and participates in other sexual acts that he describes.

In the same article, Franken jokes about his 12-year-old son researching a report on bestiality and using the Internet “to download some effective visual aids.” He makes up fake statistics comparing Playboy readers with readers of Hustler magazine.

Franken told The Hill last month that he’s not going to respond when Republicans bring up his past statements because “that’s all I’d do” — an allusion to the amount of material out there similar to the Playboy column.

Al Franken's run for office reminds me of the Italian porn star that is running for political office. I wonder how she will bill for her government duties? If Al Franken wins the heart of Minnesotans (rolling eyes - they must really be bored in the state) will he be writing amendments and bills with biting sexual satire nevermind his hopelessness in accounting and taxes?

I hope so... Minnesota would deserve that for voting for this disgustingly abject individual.

Michelle Malkin has more on Al Franken's illegal business activities.

The Blogger Who Destroyed Minnesota Democrat Al Franken's Chances

More Posts: Contraq-Iraq

McCain Healthy And Fit To Be President

Despite three bouts with melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, doctors expect him to live a long life.

The details of McCain's health are contained in 1,173 pages of medical documents spanning 2000 to 2008 that his campaign made available to the AP to make the case that he's healthy enough to serve as president, as well as to counter the notion that he's too old. The Arizona senator will turn 72 in August and would be the oldest elected president.

Like many aging Americans, McCain takes medicine to keep his cholesterol in check.

But Mayo internist Dr. John Eckstein, his longtime personal physician, lauded McCain's performance on a heart stress test — sweating it out for 10 minutes when Eckstein routinely sees patients decades younger quit at five or seven minutes.

"I think physiologically he is considerably younger than his chronologic age based on his cardiovascular fitness," Eckstein said in an interview Thursday. "I got a call from the cardiologist who said that he had not seen anyone that age exercise for that long in a long time."

McCain's most recent exams show a range of health issues common in aging: He frequently has precancerous skin lesions removed, and in February had an early stage squamous cell carcinoma, an easily cured skin cancer, removed. He had benign colon growths called polyps taken out during a routine colonoscopy in March.

The Vietnam veteran has degenerative arthritis from war injuries that might mean a future joint replacement. His blood pressure and weight were healthy, and his cholesterol good but not optimal — and he switched medication from the controversial Vytorin that made headlines this past winter to a proven standby, simvastatin.

His likely Democratic rival, Barack Obama, will be 47 in August. Obama, lean and agile and a frequent basketball player, says he has quit smoking. Neither he nor Democratic opponent Hillary Rodham Clinton has released health records.

Democrats Admit Lying About War

Pulitzer prize journalist Jeff Elmore and primo conservative blogger Michelle Malkin have great posts today on Democrats being caught admitting that they lie.

"I'll tell you my impression. We really in this last election, when I say we...the democrats, I think pushed it as far as we can to the end of the fleet, didn't say it, but we implied it. That if we won the Congressional elections, we could stop the war. Now anybody was a good student of Government would know that wasn't true. But you know, the temptation to want to win back the Congress, we sort of stretched the facts...and people ate it up."
- Representative Paul Kanjorski on August 28, 2007

When facts count, liberals are so gullible. No wonder the Daily Kos doesn't trust them anymore!

Fox Network Is The New Idol

Beating CBS's "American Idol" network for the first time in ratings for a season, Fox News Network is pleased. It means not only are conservatives watching the best-rated news shows on television, but that liberals and young people are watching it as well. The main factor?

The historic victory left Reilly only mildly excited. That's because Fox cultivates a young, hip image and concentrates its business on the 18-to-49-year-old demographic (where it was the top network for the fourth year in a row).

"We want as many people watching Fox as possible," Reilly said. "We have to be mindful, we have to keep our brand rooted in what it has been historically. We're not looking to turn into CBS."

Congratulations Fox News! Now... Fox News, can you please be a little less balanced and not use liberal apologists on your shows as much? They are on more than conservatives.

Amazing how the leftwing supposedly professional journalist can't get Bill O'Reilly's name correct. Ratings envy?

Parrot Closed Beak With Cops

What did you teach your African Grey Parrot to say?

• Polly Wanna Cracker?
• Cursewords?
• Flirtatious remarks?
• Whistling?

How about his name, your name and address? Yosuke, the Nakamura's pet parrot flew the coop and got lost, he was very friendly with the veternarians and staff, but was closed beak with the cops.

Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor's roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.

He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.
"I'm Mr. Yosuke Nakamura," the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.

"We checked the address, and what do you know, a Nakamura family really lived there. So we told them we've found Yosuke," Uemura said.

The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name and address for about two years.

But Yosuke apparently wasn't keen on opening up to police officials.

"I tried to be friendly and talked to him, but he completely ignored me," Uemura said.

Humpbacks Come Back

The humpback whale has been hunted and almost wiped out by whalers for centuries. Also known as the balleen whale, the humpback and the beautiful songs it makes was the focus of PBS Nature's documentary, "Song Of The Sea."

Good news for environmentalists: Researchers have completed the most in-depth study and population count on the whale and the prognosis is good. Humpback whales have made a remarkable recovery.

Dubbed Structure of Populations, Levels of Abundance and Status of Humpback Whales, or SPLASH, the project was spearheaded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration yet represents unprecedented international partnerships with foundations, agencies, and governments. Since 2004, 300 researchers from ten countries have worked together to photo-identify severalthousand humpback whales around the entire North Pacific.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The study released Thursday by SPLASH, an international organization of more than 400 whale watchers, estimates there were between 18,000 and 20,000 of the majestic mammals in the North Pacific in 2004-2006.

Their population had dwindled to less than 1,500 before hunting of humpbacks was banned worldwide in 1966.

"It's not a complete success, but it's definitely very encouraging in terms of the recovery of the species," said Jeff Walters, co-manager of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

The study, sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is the most comprehensive analysis ever of any large whale population, said David Mattila, science coordinator for the sanctuary.

At least half of the humpback whales migrate between Alaska and Hawaii, and that population is the healthiest, Mattila said.

Earthquake Leaves Millions Homeless

God help the people in China. The country's officials issue global appeal for 3.3 million tents for millions of earthquake victims. 80,000 dead.

The death toll in China's Sichuan province from last week's earthquake has risen to 55,239, with another 24,949 missing, a senior government official said here Friday.
The number of people injured in Sichuan is 281,066, the province's vice governor, Li Chengyun, told reporters.

Li added that the earthquake caused nearly 5.5 million buildings to collapse.

The number of people left homeless in Sichuan is over 5.47 million, he said, raising the figure from around 5.2 million given earlier in the week.

Chinese Officials Move Olympic Athletes To Lift Spirits They have over five million people without homes and they are worried about their athletes and winning in the Olympics?

"It's actually very serious. While we can manage people in such times, it is difficult to manage their feelings," Xinhua quoted Zhang Rongwei, head of a local sport institute, as saying.

"At present, the athletes' coaches are not satisfied with their training," Zhang said.

The Earthquake and the Olympics.

It's not about the selfish interests of a Communist country, but the innocent and helpless victims caught in a human tragedy.

God help the suffering and dying in China. WARNING: Don't watch the heart wrenching montage video made by Beijing native, Doven Sorge, if you do not want to see death.

Click here for how you can help.

More posts on China's Earthquake:

• China's Death Toll Continues To Rise
• The Milk Of Human Kindness

Italy Can Build The Big One, Why Can't The United States?

In light of the recent oil price debacle, the dim Dem's in Congress refusing to allow drilling in our own country to stave off reliance on the Middle East Shylocks, Italy is restarting their atomic plant program. What a great idea! Nuclear power!

The change is a striking sign of the times, reflecting growing concern in many European countries over the skyrocketing price of oil and energy security, and the warming effects of carbon emissions from fossil fuels. All have combined to make this once-scorned form of energy far more palatable.

“Italy has had the most dramatic, the most public turnaround, but the sentiments against nuclear are reversing very quickly all across Europe — Holland, Belgium, Sweden, Germany and more,” said Ian Hore-Lacey, spokesman for the World Nuclear Association, an industry group based in London.

The rehabilitation of nuclear power was underscored in January when John Hutton, the British business secretary, grouped it with “other low-carbon sources of energy” like biofuels. It was barely mentioned in the government action plan on energy three years earlier.

Echoing the sentiment on Thursday, Mr. Scajola said, “Only nuclear plants safely produce energy on a vast scale with competitive costs, respecting the environment.”

Why is it that Europe tried Socialism, it didn't work and they are now moving more towards capitalism? How is it that Europe has extremely high gasoline prices for decades and understands the need for more alternative energy sources, such as nuclear power plants? How come the United States Congress doesn't get it?

FORATOM

Safe Nuclear Energy

Nuclear Fact Sheets

India Opens Up Its Nuclear Power To Private Sector

China Prepares For Super Efficient Nuclear Energy

The Milk Of Human Kindness

What an amazing woman! A Chinese policewoman nursing babies of China's earthquake homeless victims.

7,476 MIlk-Fed Breasts Unite

People Who Think Breastfeeding Is Disgusting Are Boobs

Thanks Jennifer, mother of 8 beautiful breastfed children!

UN Turns Down Japanese Silver Mine As Heritage Site

The UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, that preserves world nations most historical sites, has turned down the Japanese government's request to include the Hiraizumi historic district three hundred year old Iwami silver mine in the Shimane Prefecture.

The advisory committee could not agree that the connection between Buddhism and the silver mine was a legitimate historical value worthy of protection.

Hiraizumi was the headquarters of a powerful samurai warrior clan led by the Oshu Fujiwara family. The clan ruled Hiraizumi and its wide surrounding area almost throughout the 12th century until vanquished by another warlord, Minamoto no Yoritomo, who established his shogunate in Kamakura in 1192.

During the Oshu Fujiwara rule, Hiraizumi developed into one of Japan's most advanced cultural centers outside the ancient city of Kyoto.

Its historic site is home to nine major monuments such as renowned Buddhist temples and traditional Japanese gardens, whose total area is 550 hectares. One of Hiraizumi's highlights is the Chusonji temple, which was completed in the early 12th century. Its centerpiece is Konjikido (golden-colored hall), which houses a number of gold leaf- covered Buddhist statues.

The Japanese government applied for World Heritage status for Hiraizumi in December 2006 on the grounds that its architecture and gardens are artistic masterpieces that recreate the Buddhist concept of heaven. Tokyo also contends that the spirit behind the historic monuments survives in today's performances of religious rituals.

Last August, ICOMOS sent a delegation to Hiraizumi and expressed skepticism about the site partly because it failed to see a clear connection between the Buddhist outlook on heaven and the nine major historic assets in Hiraizumi.

Do you think it would be more helpful for Hiraizumi officials to have a bigger case for the "Buddhist-heaven-historic assets in Hiraizumi" connection if they would have emphasized more "Buddhism" on their website and in their promotions. The only religion mentioned on the Iwami Silver Mine website is Christianity.

Francis Xavier, who brought Christianity to Japan, wrote in a letter, "The Castillians call this island (Japan) 'Silver Island'
cThis Silver Island is the only one of its kind that has been discovered." (Letter dated April 8, 1552, sent from Goa, India to Father Simon Rodriguez of Portugal) From this letter we know that Japan was one of the major silver producers of the time.

Exploration of Mabu - inside the Silver Mine.

Comrade Schumer

Self-serving, liberal Charles Schumer attacks Exxon.

Oil again faces the idiotic Congressmen who don't have a clue as to how to run a business, nevermind the largest corporations in the world.

Remember YOU are Big Oil!

Vandals Not Goths Attack Stonehenge

One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, site of religious worship for thousands of years, Stonehenge has been damaged by vandals overnight. Hammers and big rocks are never a good idea.

The night-time attack by two men last week involved the central megalith in the 5,000-year-old ring of standing stone, with English Heritage saying the vandals could have been looking for a souvenir.

A chip of stone about the size of a large coin was removed, while a 2.5-inch long scratch was left on the Heel Stone, at the centre of the UNESCO World Heritage Site,near Salisbury.

"Thanks to the vigilance and quick action of the security team at Stonehenge, very minimal damage was caused," said a spokeswoman for English Heritage.

"A tiny chip was taken from the north side of the Heel Stone with a screwdriver and hammer, but as soon as the two men were spotted by security guards they escaped over the fence and drove off.

"This is now a matter for the police," she added.

A spokeswoman for Wiltshire Police said: "Two male offenders were seen disturbing the monument with a hammer and screwdriver... It is believed they could be two men seen acting suspiciously on a previous occasion."

Stonehenge is one of the world's best preserved prehistic monuments. In around 2,600 BC, 80 giant standing stones were arranged on Salisbury Plain, where there was already a 400-year-old stone circle.

Below is our 2006 summer trip to Salisbury and Stonehenge. Interestingly before Stonehenge became a tourist trap, it was the local playing fields for the village children. My sister's better half remembers playing and sitting on the stones as a youngster thinking nothing of it. Sad that some people want to destroy our historical venues.

More posts on Stonehenge and Salisbury:

• Stonehenge Salisbury July 2006
• Stonehenge: Tourist Central
• Seven New Wonders Of The World
• Original Salisbury And Old Sarum
• Lovely Ending With A Day Titched' With An Abbey

Best Way To Wash Windows

You know, I never wash windows. Why? I can see out of them but also I just have so much to do. I think though with spring here (albeit summer temperatures) I need to wash my windows.

Did you know that the best time to wash them is on a shady day?

This is Florida... the Sunshine State... I guess I'll wait for a shady day!
If you want to know some great tips on washing your windows, click here.

Hispanics Sue Diocese And School Over English Only

More bullying from immigrant families over enforcement of a diocese-wide English only rule in schools. This lawsuit isn't in New Mexico, Texas, or California, but in the Midwest - Kansas!

Four Hispanic families are suing St. Anne's Catholic School over a policy that requires students to speak English at all times while at school.

The lawsuit, filed Monday, calls for an end to the policy and asks for an order barring similar policies at other diocese schools. It seeks the return of one student to the school who was allegedly kicked out for refusing to sign the "English only" pledge. And it asks for court costs and unspecified damages for discrimination and emotional suffering.

"Language is an essential characteristic of one's national origin," according to the complaint filed in the case. "The ban on Spanish at St. Anne's created an atmosphere of intimidation, inferiority and isolation for Hispanic students."

They are living in the United States, to preserve their culture, shouldn't they then stay in Mexico?

The Wichita Diocese does not charge tuition to its students and the St. Anne's Catholic School faculty have to put up with abuse and lawsuits?

The diocese has said the school enacted the policy in response to four students who were using Spanish to bully others and to put down teachers and administrators.

The majority of the school's 243 students are white. It has 75 Hispanic students, 27 Asian students and two who are black.

The parents claim in their lawsuit that since the school receives federal money for its free and reduced-price lunch program, it is subject to federal anti-discrimination laws. The district contends it is the students who receive the federal funding.

The students named in the lawsuit are bilingual U.S. citizens with no disciplinary records, court documents contend.

Lawyers for the Hispanic families contend bullying was not the initial reason the school enacted the policy, citing a letter the school sent saying that the more students are immersed in the English language the better their chance for improvement and success.

In a call to St. Anne's Catholic School, which educates students, pre-school through 8th grade, Kathy Harter, school secretary said that Principal Sr. Margaret Nugent could not answer questions due to attending mass with the school's kindergarten class. In a later return call back, Ms. Harter said that the incidents of bullying, shouting back in Spanish, and disrespect to the teachers leading to the English-only ruling were well documented. The diligent teachers involved have careers spanning 25-30 years, but did not speak or understand Spanish. The disruptive girls' body language and classmates translating the Spanish were part of the documentation.

The school is NCA accredited with the faculty having a total of 362.5 years of teaching experience, with 164.5 spent with St. Anne's Catholic School.

Both reasons that the school administration have provided, bullying and successful integration into the United States job market, are valid reasons to exercise control over school discipline.

Ms. Harter said that the phones had been ringing off the hook all day due to the volume of supportive phone calls from all over the country.

St. Anne's Mission Statement says: "At St. Anne School, we are all Christian disciples committed to life-long learning and growth." I hope that the school and diocese win their case and that the Hispanic immigrants grow in their respect for their teachers and more tolerance of speaking English. If they want to abuse their teachers and classmates in Spanish, they should go back home to Mexico and abuse their own homeland.

The Expensive Not So Friendly Skies

They know why you fly and they are going to charge every penny they can to keep their company going. With the escalating oil prices, the cost of flying leaves American Airlines losing so much money they are going to have to layoff thousands to stay competitive.

Just in time for summer vacations, American Airlines becomes the first airline company to charge for checking one bag. One bag. That means either carry on luggage or no luggage at all.

This doesn't carry on well for us travelers.

China's Death Toll 71,000 And Rising

Two victims were pulled out alive, one an 80 year old woman, eight days after earthquake.

Earthquake shatters China's countryside.

New Study Negates Shroud of Turin's Age

A new scientific study places the burial linen cloth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Shroud of Turin, eight hundred years later and well into the Middle Ages. The 14th century revered relic is a keystone within Catholic history not without controversial skepticism.

John Jackson, a physics lecturer at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, has convinced scientists who performed the age tests on the cloth housed in Turin, Italy, since in the 1500s to consider his suggestion that those tests may have been faulty, according to a report in the Denver Post.

The cloth long has posed mysteries because of its age and its negative image of a bloodstained and battered man who had been crucified. Believers claim it to be the miraculous image of Jesus, formed as he rose from the dead.

That theory, however, took a serious blow in the late 1980s when scientists including those at an Oxford University laboratory performed the age-dating process on a fragment of the material and came up with the results that it was no older than the 13th or 14th century, more than a millennium after New Testament times.

The Catholic Encyclopedia notes:

An animated controversy followed and it must be admitted that though the immense preponderance of opinion among learned Catholics (see the statement by P.M. Baumgarten in the "Historiches Jahrbuch", 1903, pp. 319-43) was adverse to the authenticity of the relic, still the violence of many of its assailants prejudiced their own cause. In particular the suggestion made of blundering or bad faith on the part of those who photographed were quite without excuse. From the scientific point of view, however, the difficulty of the "negative" impression on the cloth is not so serious as it seems. This Shroud like the others was probably painted without fraudulent intent to aid the dramatic setting of the Easter sequence:

Dic nobis Maria, quid vidisti in via
Angelicos testes, sudarium et vestes.

As the word sudarium suggested, it was painted to represent the impression made by the sweat of Christ, i.e. probably in a yellowish tint upon unbrilliant red. This yellow stain would turn brown in the course of centuries, the darkening process being aided by the effects of fire and sun. Thus, the lights of the original picture would become the shadow of Paleotto's reproduction of the images on the shroud is printed in two colours, pale yellow and red. As for the good proportions and æsthetic effect, two things may be noted. First, that it is highly probable that the artist used a model to determine the length and position of the limbs, etc.; the representation no doubt was made exactly life size. Secondly, the impressions are only known to us in photographs so reduced, as compared with the original, that the crudenesses, aided by the softening effects of time, entirely disappear.

Lastly, the difficulty must be noticed that while the witnesses of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries speak of the image as being then so vivid that the blood seemed freshly shed, it is now darkened and hardly recognizable without minute attention. On the supposition that this is an authentic relic dating from the year A.D. 30, why should it have retained its brilliance through countless journeys and changes of climate for fifteen centuries, and then in four centuries more have become almost invisible? On the other hand if it be a fabrication of the fifteenth century this is exactly what we should expect.

The Catholic Church does not require Catholics to believe in relics.


First Class Relics On Sale At Ebay.


Ebay's Policy On Selling Relics

9,000 Scientists Have A Right To Their Opinion

White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino stoically commented "I would say that everyone is entitled to their opinion, what's your next question?" after being asked about President Bush's reaction to 9,000 scientists signing a petition decrying the linking of global warming to human causation.

32,000 Scientists Sign Petition Negating Humans Affecting Global Warming.

"I Can Use Contraception and Still Be A Good Catholic Girl"

This is not the remark of a lovelorn parochial school teenager but Great Britain's ex Prime Minister Tony Blair's 53-year old wife, Cherie. No word from Tony Blair, who converted to Catholicism after leaving his Downing Street office last year.

"People seem to be quite shocked that perhaps a Catholic girl even uses contraception but it is really an important thing for women because one of the things about the book is about how women's lives have changed," Mrs Blair told Ms Kelly.

"One of the reasons women's lives have changed is that they have been able to control their fertility, it is an important issue."

Mrs Blair's remarks came after she spoke of the 10 "fantastic" years she had enjoyed in Downing Street, a time when she had met the Queen and two Popes.

She said meeting two Popes was a "huge thing" for a "good Catholic girl".

Mrs Blair's remarks on contraception come after Pope Benedict XVI earlier this month strongly defended the 1968 Papal encyclical Humanae Vitae, the controversial Papal document against artificial birth control.

The WWII song "How You Going To Keep 'Em Down On The Farm, After They've Seen Paree" comes to mind. How is the Catholic Church going to stop the blatant worldwide use of birth control?

Tony Blair Will Convert To Catholicism After Leaving Post.

Tony Blair Confirmation On Becoming Catholic

Think You Know All About Excommunication?

Tony Blair Becoming Catholic Deacon.

Muslim Political Correctness Expands Definitions

Asylum is no longer a nice word... In Britain, a nicer word is "sanctuary." Please change your p.c. dicitionary to reflect more "niceness." Just another under the radar tactic by a Muslim organization to infiltrate Western society.

A poll for the Independent Asylum Commission found that only 28% of people viewed "asylum" positively, and 33% viewed it negatively.

In comparison, more than 81% thought "sanctuary" had positive connotations. Slightly more people - 31.3% - most associated the word "asylum" with a place for the mentally ill rather than with safety for the persecuted, the poll said.

Ahead of the launch of the report today, a spokesman said there was "grave misunderstanding" among the public which threatened to undermine Britain's long tradition of offering help to those fleeing persecution.

"The commissioners advise those wishing to communicate effectively with the public to avoid using the term 'asylum' or 'asylum seeker' if they wish to convey messages about people seeking sanctuary from persecution," he said.

Ifath Nawaz, president of the Association of Muslim Lawyers and co-chair of the Independent Asylum Commission, said: "The public have to understand and support sanctuary and the system that provides it for those fleeing persecution.

Sin Bins Advised By Minister For Brats

Another symptom of socialism not working in education. Unruly students being placed in sin bins, the equivalent of juvenile detention in the United States. The difference between UK and US is that the UK sends them as young as five to sit and learn anger management skills.

The measure forms the centrepiece of a Government blueprint for overhauling the 'forgotten service' of 450 pupil referral units - so-called sin bins - for the country's most disruptive youngsters.

Mr Balls also raised the prospect of private firms running the units for profit, a development certain to infuriate many within his party and the teaching unions. The minister also gave his backing to '"studio schools'" where pupils will be treated like employees from the age of 14 and learn in a business-based environment.

Mr Balls said a "radical transformation'" of the education of the 135,000 children every year who cannot be taught in ordinary schools would see more sent to refertensionral units - but for a shorter time.

"We would like to be intervening at a much earlier stage and using alternative provision before you get into the world of exclusions at all," he added.

"If you are going to spot early young people who are at risk of going down the wrong track and intervene to give them support, then starting that in primary school is absolutely the right way to go."

Pupils could be sent to the units fulltime or spend only part of the week there.

Could the reason be no fathers in the home administering discipline and a sense of stability? At the same time that 135,000 children can not behave in the classroom, could the reason be a lack of family identity? Lack of a father in the home? Lack of discipline? An abundance of moral turpitude?

Women Win Right To Not Have Fathers In The Home. That's right, in Britain who needs men? How do you think boys feel growing up in a society that no longer values a man?

Fathers Ruled Unnecessary By British Courts.

Can you hear the screeching now to an undisciplined testesterone crazed child? "Just wait till your sperm donor sees how you turned out!" Oh yeah, that'll get him to behave.

Socialism does not work. Government is not the answer.

A family with a loving mother and father is the answer.

200,000 Britons Leave, 160,000 Immigrants Arrive Every Year

More shocking news from Britain on massive wave of immigration legal and illegal.

A raft of statistics released by Whitehall revealed 164,635 foreign nationals were granted UK passports in 2007 - the equivalent of one every three minutes.

The illegals are overstaying their passports and sneaking into the country.

"But we will not tolerate law breakers, which is why we will prioritise their expulsion from Britain. We are continuing to remove one person every eight minutes, last year that included a record number of foreign prisoners."

Obama Caught In A Not So Serious Grave Fence Straddling

Last Sunday, May 17th, Obama told his audience:

Obama said in a speech Sunday that "strong countries and strong presidents talk to their adversaries."

"That's what Reagan did with Gorbachev," he said, adding, "I mean, think about it: Iran, Cuba, Venezuela - these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying, 'We're going to wipe you off the planet."'

Obama said Iran was a threat partly because it had been emboldened by a war in Iraq backed by Bush and McCain. "Iran is the biggest single beneficiary of the war in Iraq," he said.

But after being lambasted by John McCain for being weak and empowering the enemy, Obama had this to say:

Obama has responded forcefully to the criticisms. "Let me be absolutely clear," he said Monday in Billings, Montana, "Iran is a grave threat." But it was not, he said, in a league with the former Soviet Union.

So which is it Obama? Does Iran pose a threat or not? Memories of Kerry's top ten flip-flopping statements including "I voted against the bill before I voted for it."

Flip-flopping is the modus operandum of the Democrat party. Whatever you do, lie to win. Fool the voters - what do voters know anyway?

The New York Sun: The Logic Of Lieberman

Foolish talk about John McCain selecting Joe Lieberman as his VP is circulating in the news. Citing that Lieberman's choice would influence Jewish voters.

Proponents of the idea say that Mr. Lieberman, an independent Democrat, would attract not only independents but the lunchpail blue-collar Democratic voters who have been averse to Senator Obama. It would signal that Mr. McCain aims to unite the country with his actions rather than just Obama-style rhetoric. It could help with Jewish voters in states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Jersey, and maybe even New York and California.

Skeptics of the idea say that the choice wouldn’t help Mr. McCain, and might even hurt him, particularly in respect of the party’s conservative base, which is already dangerously lukewarm toward the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee.

As if Republicans will then vote for Obama or Hillary? Or stay home and not vote? Not this election, Republicans are too mad about McCain's nomination to stay home. They don't want to vote for McCain but they WILL vote locally and vote against Obama and Hillary.

Britain's Hurtles Towards Future Of Big Brother, Frankenstein, and History

So many shocking news stories coming from Britain:

• Government wants access of yearly 3 billion private Internet email and 57 billion private text messages.
• Science gets support for research to create half human - half animal embryos.
• Catholic Labour Party not allowed to vote on monstrous issue.

Gordon Brown last night faced a direct challenge from the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales over his refusal to let Labour MPs vote with their conscience over laws on genetic research.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor said Catholic MPs must be granted a free vote on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

Former cabinet minister Stephen Byers also warned that the public would "look on in disbelief" if MPs could not follow their convictions.

Downing Street and the whips' office maintained that they would not allow Catholic MPs to vote against the legislation when it returns to the House of Commons next month.

At least one cabinet minister is believed to be preparing to quit rather than support the Bill, or take the compromise option of abstaining offered by the Chief Whip, Geoff Hoon. The Bill would allow the creation of hybrid human-animal embryos for research into diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

In his Easter Sunday sermon, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the head of Scottish Catholics, will describe the plans as "monstrous" and urge Mr Brown to allow a free vote.

The Bill would allow scientists to transfer nuclei from human cells, such as skin cells, into animal egg cells that have had almost all of their genetic information removed.

The resulting "hybrid" embryos, which would be more than 99 per cent human, would be grown for a maximum of 14 days, then harvested for stem cells – immature cells than can become many types of tissue.

Maybe that's why two million Britons have left their homeland in the last ten years?

Britain's Brain Drain.

Record numbers of Britons are leaving - many of them doctors, teachers and engineers - in the biggest exodus for almost 50 years.

Over a quarter of qualified professionals who have moved abroad had health or education qualifications

There are now 3.247 million British-born people living abroad, of whom more than 1.1 million are highly-skilled university graduates, say the researchers.More than three quarters of these professionals have settled abroad for more than 10 years, according to the study by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).No other nation is losing so many qualified people, it points out. Britain has now lost more than one in 10 of its most skilled citizens, while overall only Mexico has had more people emigrate.

The figures, based on official records from more than 220 countries, will alarm Gordon Brown as tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money is spent on educating graduates. The cost of training a junior doctor, for example, is £250,000.

The most popular destinations are English-speaking countries such as Australia, America, Canada and New Zealand and holiday areas including France and Spain.

Almost 60 per cent of those leaving take jobs, although hundreds of thousands of retired people live abroad.

But then there's this socialist perspective: Let all the professionals leave - we'll just replace them with non-English speaking "skilled" immigrants.

Danny Sriskandarajah, a migration expert at the IPPR think-tank, said: "There is a long-term trend of British people lured abroad by a slightly better lifestyle. They are actively targeted by countries such as Australia and New Zealand."

The emigration was leading to a rapid change in British society as large numbers of highly-skilled immigrants moved to this country to replace those leaving, he said.

"Britain has been lucky - although it has lost substantial numbers of people, it has attracted more than a million skilled immigrants to replace them. If they stop coming then that would be a problem."

Figures from the Office for National Statistics last year, suggested that 207,000 Britons - one every three minutes - left in 2006. The emigration rate is at its highest since just after the Second World War.

The term brain drain was coined in the 1950s following the mass emigration of scientists and other experts to America. Tens of thousands of people also left the country to escape the industrial unrest and high taxes of the 1970s.

Gives a whole new meaning to bare-back riding.

And then there's the modern day Lady Godivas letting it all down in Hyde Park for the new Lady Godiva film.

Archaelogists may have found 660-year old glass window of Lady Godiva.

More Than 32,000 Scientists Deny Human Intervention In Global Warming

The Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine has announced that they have received over 32,000 signed petitions stating denying that human activity is the cause for global warming. Scientists, 9,000 with PH.D's, include disciplines such as physics, climate research, mathematics, and engineers.

Global Cooling Documented.

Supreme Court Upholds Child Pornography Law

The Supreme Court of the United States has upheld (thankfully) the Child Protection Act on banning child pornography but also criminal charges for promoting child pornography even if you don't have it. United States Congress voted yes on the law but it was struck down and moved up to the Supreme Court for a final hearing. The law passed seven to two. The two judges who dissented? Liberal Supreme Court judges Ginsberg and Souter, of course. You remember Ruth Ginsberg? She's the judge who:

• Co-authored the book called Sex Bias in the U.S. Code in 1977 with a feminist, Brenda Feigen-Fasteau, for which they were paid with federal funds under Contract No. CR3AK010
• Called for the sex-integration of prisons and reformatories so that conditions of imprisonment, security and housing could be equal.
• Called for the sex-integration of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts because they "perpetuate stereotyped sex roles.
• Insisted on sex-integrating "college fraternity and sorority chapters" and replacing them with "college social societies."
• Casted constitutional doubt on the legality of "Mother's Day and Father's Day as separate holidays."
• Called for reducing the age of consent for sexual acts to persons who are "less than 12 years old."
• Asserted that laws against "bigamists, persons cohabiting with more than one woman, and women cohabiting with a bigamist" are unconstitutional.
• Objected to laws against prostitution because "prostitution, as a consensual act between adults."
• Wrote that the Mann Act (which punishes those who engage in interstate sex traffic of women and girls) is "offensive." Such acts should be considered "within the zone of privacy."
• Said that the concept of husband-breadwinner and wife-homemaker "must be eliminated from the code if it is to reflect the equality principle."
• Called for "a comprehensive program of government supported child care."
• Demanded that the United States "firmly reject draft or combat exemption for women," stating that "women must be subject to the draft if men are."

Thank you, President Bush for nominating conservative judges, like Judges Scalia, Alito and Roberts, who don't make the law but enforce laws and protect the Constitution.

Past history: ACLU Claims Victory In Getting Free Speech Rights For Child Pornographers

John McCain and Barack Hussein Obama: Two Views of the Supreme Court.

It's The Onion For Goodness Sakes...

I received my weekly AgBioWorld newsletter this week which helps promote the issues of GMO's and use of biogenetically modified foods throughout the world. Reading to the bottom of the scientifically sound newsletter was a post from an article in The Onion about a tomato genetically modified to be 31% more expensive and will wipe out four species of ladybugs. Somebody is going to believe this as factual. How many thousands of environmental whackso will read this and start a mission to banish this non-existing tomato from the earth?

Before the panic starts, before Sean Penn starts his week long fast, folks it's The Onion! Back off, people, it's a satire.

Huckabee Wants To Be Number Two

No wonder he's so being so nice, Mike Huckabee, former 2008 Presidential candidate, said he wouldn't mind being on the ticket with John McCain. He might be the moderate VP that Raegan Democrats and moderate Republicans would vote for.

Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister popular with the religious right, told NBC television: "There's no one I would rather be on a ticket with than John McCain."

He said that during his unsuccessful primary campaign against McCain, "there was no one who was more complimentary of him publicly and privately" than himself."But whether or not I do the best for him, that's something that only he can decide," added Huckabee, 52. "I'm going to support him because I think he's the right person for America. I think he has the kind of seasoning and maturity that this country needs."

Obama Admits Muslims Like His Middle Name

It's definitely not an asset when running for United States President to have a name similar to the most reviled terrorist leader in the world, and to have a middle name that is Muslim. But Barack Hussein Obama thinks it's an asset for Middle East diplomacy to have the perception of being Muslim. It makes him of the guys, one of the Hamas, who Obama plans on sitting down with and having afternoon tea and talking about how to get rid of Israel. He's so guilty of garnishing Middle East terrorism support that he took President Bush's excellent speech in Knesset as as personal insult of him, instead of who was being addressed: ex-President, anti-Semitic, Bush-basher Jimmy Carter.

It's a legitimate attack, because Obama's kumbaya foreign policy is dangerous. And his name, including the Hussein part, is fair game because Obama has declared it an international advantage.

He can want it both ways, but he can't have it.

The trouble started when Hamas adviser Ahmed Yousef said, "We like Mr. Obama" and added, "we hope he wins the election."

That's an endorsement, plain and simple. When John McCain jumped in, promising to be Hamas' "worst enemy," Obama got huffy and accused McCain of "divisive fear-mongering."

That's par for the Obama course. Michelle Obama once said anyone using her husband's full name is throwing the "ultimate fear bomb. When all else fails, be afraid of his name."

Maybe we should be afraid. Consider what Obama says in an interview in the current Atlantic magazine.

Asked by writer Jeffrey Goldberg if he was "flummoxed" by the Hamas support, Obama responds no and says: "It's conceivable that there are those in the Arab world who say to themselves, 'This is a guy who spent some time in the Muslim world, has a middle name of Hussein and appears more worldly and has called for talks with people, and so he's not going to be engaging in the same sort of cowboy diplomacy as George Bush,' and that's something they're hopeful about."

Be afraid. Be very afraid of this wolf-in-sheep's clothing pseudo-saviour, who's nothing but a friend of our enemies who want to destroy the United States.

Obama's Fantasy World

It's easy for Obama to mistake himself for Jimmy Carter - the worse President in American history , Obama has the same delusional policies.

Welcome Back, Carter

The 10 Worst Presidents in American History.

Senator Kennedy Fine After Seizure

Doctors say it wasn't a stroke and Kennedy should be out of the hospital in a few days. A complete biographical recap was provided in the article, but not one word of Mary Jo Kopechne, the person Ted Kennedy murdered at Chappaquiddick. Interesting how details get left out by the leftist media.

A Letter From Mary Jo Kopechne If She Had Lived To Be 65.

Kennedy Inspired To Write If I Did It - Part II

Ted Kennedy, an illegal immigrant amnesty supporter, objected to Judge Mukasy's appointment by pointing out supposed evasiveness on Mukasy's part and that waterboarding is illegal. Well, so is drinking and driving, leaving the scene of crime, and murdering a passenger by leaving her there to drown. Kennedy is an excellent resource for the horrors of drowning.

Who Came First? Chicken Or The Gecko Cracked Wide Open!

This is no yolk. I usually crack my eggs into a separate glass bowl before mixing, scrambling, of baking, but I have to start looking for lizards now? How would a whole baby gecko get inside an uncracked egg? If you can't decipher how this Australian freak of survival of the fittest happened, read the article.

Need help cooking? How To Crack An Egg

Tradition Of Heroes

Today is Armed Forces Day. If you are a Veteran or have a loved one in the military - tell them thank you for their service and for your sacrifice.

Ronald Reagan's Radio Address on Armed Forces Day, 1982.

Radio Address to the Nation on Armed Forces Day
May 15th, 1982
My fellow Americans:

Today marks the United States' 33d observance of Armed Forces Day, a tradition begun by President Truman to honor the men and women who serve our country in uniform. I want to take this occasion to reflect on the job they're doing and what it means to us.

One of the oldest truths in the world is that nothing worth having is cheap. And many times, the greater the good, the higher its cost. Keeping America free has cost us dearly over the centuries. Since 1776 we as a nation have lost thousands of lives and suffered thousands of injuries to guarantee our freedom. Preserving the peace also requires the daily toil of millions of men and women who, without fanfare and glory, serve to protect our freedom and security.

The men and women in our armed services are our final protection against those who wish us ill. The soldier, the sailor, the airman, and the marine in the United States and around the world are the ultimate guardians of our freedom to say what we think, go where we will, choose who we want for our leaders, and pray as we wish.

It is sad that these rights, which should belong to all people, are not fully enjoyed by most of the human family. It is sadder still that some in the world view such freedom as a threat to their right to rule over their fellow citizens, and so long as that's true, we can't afford to take our freedom for granted. It cannot survive without protection. And for their role in protecting our freedoms, we honor the members of our volunteer Armed Forces today.

Their jobs are difficult, requiring judgment, technical know-how, endurance, and in many cases exposure to danger. We ask them to put in long hours under trying conditions. Many serve far from their homes and families, prepared, if need be, to make the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. In short, they give us their all.

So, I would like to thank them today: the Army tank crew member in Germany or Korea, responsible for maintaining a 55-ton machine so that it's ready at a moment's notice; the sailor in the Indian Ocean who's been away from home for 4 months and is working 18 hours a day in a hot engine room or carrying chocks for returning aircraft; the Air Force security policeman guarding our nuclear alert aircraft in the Texas heat or the North Dakota winter; the Marine squad leader on Okinawa working with his men to provide the most efficient combat team in the world. All these people and the rest of their comrades in arms we thank today.

There is another group which deserves special thanks—the wives of our servicemen, wives who take care of the families and raise the children while their husbands are at sea or stationed far away, and wives who have left our shores to be in a faraway land with their husbands..

I had a letter the other day from one young wife describing what life was like where they were stationed. I could read homesickness between the lines, but not one word of complaint—only great pride in what her husband is doing. Their contribution is critical; the separation, the long hours, the hard work, and, up until recently, the low pay—all these have been burdens to them as well. The understanding and encouragement they give our servicemen is something we must all be grateful for.

So, on behalf of all you listening, I want to take these few minutes today to thank our men and women in uniform and their families and to ensure them their government and their fellow citizens are determined to provide them with the equipment, training, and, just as importantly, the respect they have so richly earned. With their help, the United States remains at peace.

Our allies enjoy the same benefit. Our national determination to defend freedom at the borders where it's threatened is fully matched by the quality and spirit of the more than 2 million soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who proudly wear the American uniform.

I received another letter from one of our ambassadors in Europe. He wrote that a 19-year-old trooper in our armored cavalry had asked that he send me a message. It was: "Tell the President we're proud to be here, and we ain't scared of nothing."

In James Michener's book "The Bridges at Toko-Ri," he writes of an officer waiting through the night for the return of planes to a carrier as dawn is coming on. And he asks, "Where do we find such men?" Well, we find them where we've always found them. They are the product of the freest society man has ever known. They make a commitment to the military—make it freely, because the birthright we share as Americans is worth defending. God bless America.

Thanks for tuning in. I'll be with you again next Saturday. Until then, God bless you.

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~Elmer Davis

It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you. ~Dick Cheney

God bless all our troops around the world and keep them safe. Thank a soldier today for your freedom. I am.

Pepperdine Professor Wrongly Denied Communion Over Obama Support

Professor Doug Kmiec, Pepperdine University faculty on constitutional law, was denied the Eucharist over his public support of Barack Obama for the 2008 presidential election. Obama's decision to have a Catholic advisory committee is outrageous considering his belief that human life - babies - are a punishment for sexually active teenagers but even more surprising is that there are Catholics who want to see him elected and want to be on a committee of a candidate that has the support of NARAL.

Canon lawyer Edward Peters says Professor Kmiec is due an apology from the Church . Read his explanation here.

Hezbollah High School Education

Hezbollah High, in Detroit, Michigan is the center of the Islamic indoctrination coming to a school board near you. Debbie Schussel, leading expert on Islamic terrorism and infiltration into the United States, foreshadows recent events which hasn't aroused any media attention.

The principal of Fordson Hezbollah High, Imad Fadlallah, is a cousin of Hezbollah spiritual leader, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah--who is on the State Department Terrorist List and who issued the fatwa to Hezbollah terrorists to murder over 300 U.S. Marines and U.S. Embassy officials (among countless other terrorist acts he's okayed).

Imad Fadlallah's wife, Susan, is the daughter of Hezbollah-backed Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who was Hezbollah's negotiator during the 1985 TWA flight 847 hijacking during which Hezbollah tortured to death Navy Diver Robert Dean Stethem. Before that, he was the head of the Shi'ite Amal Militia, which has been absorbed into Hezbollah.

As I also noted, Fadlallah--a supporter of Hezbollah, like many in his student body--gave students the day off in 2005 and "extra credit" if they campaigned at the polls on election day for candidates endorsed by the extremist Muslim group, Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC). AAPAC is headed by Hezbollah agent Osama Siblani, whose brother works for Al-Manara (Hezbollah TV) in Lebanon. Students from Fordson who took the deal were seen campaigning against Christian candidates at the polls, including Christian Arabs.

And then, there's Fadlallah's many extended trips to Lebanon on school time, with the Dearborn school district's full knowledge and approval--including the one close to the time of the Hezbollah-Israel War. Just who was he visiting and what was he doing there?

Well, the Imad Fadlallah saga continues. And it gets worse.

A few weeks ago, I attended a Dearborn School Board meeting. Not much happened, but at the beginning of the meeting, board members were given what was described as "a confidential investigation of a complaint by a Fordson student."

I knew what the complaint was about. It was the reason I was at the meeting. But the complaint wasn't discussed. That might have something to do with the fact that the man who handed out confidential copies of the complaint is John Artis, the man who is retiring as Dearborn Schools Superintendent and who has made a career out of being beholden to extremist Muslims.

The complaint is that Fordson Principal Fadlallah hit one of his students. And it's reportedly not the first time. Apparently, corporal punishment at Hezbollah High is a common behavior. Like the last time he allegedly hit a student, Fadlallah might have gotten away with it. But there was a witness in the room--reportedly another student--and a teacher walking buy his office heard the smack of his hand at the point of contact with the student body. The teacher is not backing down, despite pressure from the Dearborn Schools administration.

And Fadlallah and members of the Islamic community are pressuring the student who was hit and his family. Sources say Fadlallah sent four employees, including allegedly an Arabic translator, to tell the parents to keep quiet or bad things would happen to them and it "wouldn't be good for the (Arab Muslim) Community." Despite repeated behavior like this and an alleged grade-altering scam, which Fadlallah reportedly oversaw in order to inflate his school's performance), Fadlallah was allowed to keep his job. Dearborn is little Bint Jbeil (the Hezbollah stronghold in South Lebanon), after all.

But that's not the whole story.

Read Schussel's entire eye-opening article.

More From Debbie Schussel:

Muslim Doctor's Hypocratic Oath

Who Says Muslims Need 72 Virgins?

Is Fred Thompson's the Right's Republican?

Osama's Tape Vows To Continue Fight

On the 60th anniversary of Israel's statehood, a tape of Osama Bin Laden has surfaced which attacks the West's support.

The al Qaeda leader, who has placed growing emphasis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said it was at the heart of the Muslim battle with the West and an inspiration to the 19 bombers who carried out the attacks on U.S. cities on September 11, 2001.

"We will continue, God permitting, the fight against the Israelis and their allies ... and will not give up a single inch of Palestine as long as there is one true Muslim on Earth," he said in the message, posted on an Islamist website on Friday.

Bin Laden said Israel's anniversary celebrations were a reminder that it did not exist 60 years ago, and had been established on land seized from Palestinians by force. "This is evidence that Palestine is our land, and the Israelis are invaders and occupiers who should be fought," he said in the tape, which was addressed to the Western public.

The Saudi-born militant also said that decades of peace initiatives had failed to establish a Palestinian state, and the West had proved time and again that it sided with Israel.

"The participation of Western leaders with the Jews in this celebration confirms that the West backs this Jewish occupation of our land, and that they stand in the Israeli corner against us," he said. "They proved this in practice by sending their forces to southern Lebanon."

He also said Western media had over the years painted Israelis as victims, and the Palestinians who had been displaced from their land as terrorists.

Arson Suspect Arrested

Brian Crowder, 31, arrested after eyewitness called police.

Authorities said Brian Crowder set a small blaze that was quickly extinguished. They planned to question the 31-year-old about larger wildfires that have found ample fuel in developments in the region, where the state has not held controlled burns to cut back vegetation.

A resident alerted police after seeing Crowder throw an object from his car that sparked the fire, Palm Bay Detective Ernie Diebel said. The object was a glass bottle containing a flammable liquid, Palm Bay Police Chief Bill Berger said.

The resident described a dark car, and officers stopped Crowder's vehicle shortly afterward. Crowder got out of his car and fled, Diebel said.

Officers tracked Crowder through the woods with the help of other residents who spotted him running past their homes, police said.

Records show that Crowder has drug, burglary and automobile theft convictions dating from 1996. He was charged Wednesday with six probation violations.

John Edwards To Back Barack

Fox news is reporting that John Edwards, 2004 presidential Democrat candidate and former NC Senator will be supporting Barack Obama.

You Are Big Oil!

Let's be straight about our economy. Let's compare United States's market to the rest of the world:

As of April 10, 2008, the broad U.S. stock market had fallen 7.08 percent. The decline paralleled other developed world equity markets, with the U.K. market falling more than 8 percent, the German market more than 10 percent, the French market about 6 percent and the Japanese market nearly 7 percent. Emerging markets, which had recorded tremendous gains in the past several years, were not immune to the losses. In China the market fell nearly 19 percent, in India 26 percent and the Russian market almost 8 percent. The only region that experienced equity market gains was Latin America, where the Brazilian market was up about 2.5 percent, the Mexican market about 7.5 percent and the Chilean market nearly 12 percent. Indeed the pattern of losses was so widespread that in the developed world every single equity market, save one, recorded a loss year to date. The sole exception was the market in Finland which managed a very slight gain of a 0.25 percent.

But what about the oil prices? In a conversation about oil drilling yesterday, it was suggested that "oil companies should be regulated like utilities." Make them a non-profit entity. As if we don't have enough regulation to begin with, and that oil companies are not regulated at all. And who says utilities don't make profits or aren't in the business to make money?

Energy companies have had considerable dividends over the last few decades and are considered stable investments compared to other industries.

In this example Utilities, overall, suffer the lowest loss during an economic downturn – less than five percent. Many individual utility stocks do better, and it is those that you should search for. One can cut the sector loss by about 50% by selecting stocks with the strongest fundamentals. In any case, the 4.5% loss for Utilities is less than the overall dividend yield. Thus, one can argue that there has been no loss for Utilities [in recessions].

Oil companies are regulated with oversight by the federal government through FREC. They are not the evil, greedy corporations that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Harry Reid decry. Investor's Business Daily has the reasoning behind the liberals hate for oil barons:

With all the commotion in the media and in politics about the high price of gasoline, is there really some terribly complex explanation?

Is there anything complex about the fact that with two countries — India and China — having rapid economic growth, and with combined populations eight times that of the United States, they are creating an increased demand for the world's oil supply?

The problem is not that supply and demand is such a complex explanation. The problem is that supply and demand is not an emotionally satisfying explanation. For that, you need melodrama, heroes and villains.

It is clear that many people prefer to blame President Bush. Others prefer to blame the oil companies, who have long been the favorite villains of the left. Politicians understand that. Numerous times they have summoned the heads of oil companies before Congressional committees to be denounced on nationwide television for "greed," with the politicians calling for a federal investigation to "get to the bottom of this!"

Now that is emotionally satisfying. Which is the whole point. By the time yet another federal investigation is completed — and turns up nothing to substantiate the villainy that is supposed to be the reason for high gasoline prices — most people's attention will have turned to something else.

What about those "obscene" oil company profits we hear so much about? An economist might ask, "Obscene compared to what?" Compared to the investments made? Compared to the new investments required to find, extract and process additional oil supplies?

Asking questions like these are among the many reasons why economists have never been very popular. They frustrate people's desires for emotionally satisfying explanations.

If corporate "greed" is the explanation for high gasoline prices, why are the government's taxes not an even bigger sign of "greed" on the part of politicians — since taxes add more to the price of gasoline than oil company profits do?

When oil companies are profitable, middle class investment funds such as College Retirement Equities Fund, and mutual funds, Fidelity, Vanguard, and Capital Research & Management Company, to name a few benefit.

When Exxon makes money, millions of average Joes who work hard to make a living, make money.

"Lets look at the key points on page 4 of the review. I know people feel that big oil is evil because they make huge profits, so the first thing they see is "Record Earnings of $39.5 Billion", then they stop reading and proceed to jump up and down and cry about the injustice of the world. Since we are calmer and much more evenly balanced individuals, lets actually keep reading down two more lines and what do we find? "32.6 Billion in Distribution to Shareholders". So let me see, they made $39.5 Billion and gave shareholders, as mentioned before the owners of the company, $32.6 Billion.

So if I still have your attention, Exxon Mobil returned $7.6 Billion in the form of stock dividends (a payment made to all stock holders based on the number of shares they hold) which are basically profit sharing payments to the owners of the corporation. They also bought back $25 Billion in outstanding shares, this is done to maintain the market capitalization based on the number of outstanding shares that would have diluted the stock value when the company issues shares as part of business deals, as well as into the employee’s retirement fund and compensation plans.

So if you have not started jumping about cursing those cigar smoking fat cats in their wood panelled members only clubs counting their windfalls, lets look at who actually owns Exxon and see who benefited from these payout actions.

Who Owns Exxon?

To find this out we can use any of the hundreds of online stock quote services on the Internet. XOM is the ticker symbol on the NYSE. I used Business Week’s stock quotation system as it has an ownership tab. You can look at it here.

The first line we read states "Insiders control 0.05% of XOM through the 4,163,458 shares that they hold.", these are the fat cat cigar smokers everyone says make all the money. So they made a dividend as they tend to hold their shares unless they need the capital, so since 7.6 Billion was paid in dividends they received $3,800,000 in taxable dividend payments for 2006.

So who owns all the rest of the company’s stock? For that we look at Institutional Investors in the stock quote, these are the Mutual Funds, Retirement Plans and other investment companies, "52.64% of XOM shares held by institutional investors" so these are the funds that help to generate wealth for all the millions of regular people who invest in stocks through funds and other institutional vehicles. These are average people saving for retirement or investing in education plans to pay for college for their children, they received $4,000,640,000 dollars into their accounts.
That leaves 47.31% of the shares held by individual Investors, these are the people who actively and directly invest in the markets from all walks of life, like your barber or your colleague in the office who day trades instead of actually working, and of course those terrible rich people. They got the balance of the dividend payments, or $3,595,560,000.00 against taxed income for them.

Read all of the facts about who actually benefits from capital profits.

Remember YOU, the average hardworking American, you ARE big oil!

Canada, Russia Skate Toward World Ice Hockey Championship

Unbeaten Canadian and undefeated Russian hockey teams head to World Cup Ice Hockey Championship on Canada's territory.

Terrorist Bombs Kills Eighty In India

UPDATE: Bomb blasts reverberate on the tenth anniversary of India's first nuclear bomb tests.

Multiple bomb attacks kill more than 80 innocent bystanders in Jaipur, India, designed to kill as many humans as possible.

The explosions began around 7:30 p.m. One went off at a market near a temple dedicated to the Hindu monkey god Hanuman. Tuesday is the day of worship set aside for Hanuman, and the temple was crowded with people offering prayers on the way home from work.

Another bomb detonated near the Johari Bazaar, the city's jewelry market that is a popular destination for tourists. The tourist season ended in March, however, and there were no immediate indication that foreigners had been caught in any of the explosions.

Police said Wednesday that several people had died from their wounds in hospitals overnight, pushing the death toll from 60 to 80. The number of wounded also increased to about 200 from 150, after officials developed a better picture of carnage.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, as is the case with most bombings in India. But within hours of the blasts, authorities were suggesting that blame would eventually fall on Pakistan and the Islamic militant groups that India accuses its neighbor of backing.

Not the first time Muslims have attacked Hindus.

Indian authorities have blamed Pakistan-based Islamic extremist groups for a spate of bombings that have killed nearly 400 people in this predominantly Hindu country of 1.1 billion people since 2005. Pakistan, an overwhelmingly Muslim country, denies any role in the bombings.

The attacks have run the gamut from July 2006 train bombings that killed nearly 200 people in Mumbai, India's financial center, to small blasts like the one that struck a Muslim shrine in Rajasthan last year, killing two people.

Hagee Apologizes For Anti-Catholic Remarks

Too little too late... but it's enough for William Donahue, Catholic League President.

In a letter to William Donahue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, Hagee wrote: "Out of a desire to advance a greater unity among Catholics and evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful."

Donohue, one of Hagee's sharpest critics, said he accepted the apology and planned to meet with Hagee Thursday in New York.

"I got what I wanted," Donohue said in an interview. "He's seen the light, as they like to say. So for me it's over."

Clinton Winning West Virginia

Clinton wins in West Virginia for immediate naught.

Race a factor in West Virginia.

Love Thy Extraterrestrial Neighbor

Vatican announces it's okay to believe in spacemen, God created them, too.

The Vatican's chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, says that the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

In an interview published Tuesday by Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes says that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures.

The interview was headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother." Funes said that ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom.

Vatican Can Study From Space And More From Arizona

British Files Reveal UFO's real.

Nick Pope, who was responsible for investigating the sightings at the [UK} ministry, said: "While there's no evidence of little green men in these files, they should be of immense interest to sceptics and believers.

"Most of the UFO sightings here are probably misidentifications of aircraft lights and meteors, but some are more difficult to explain, and include UFOs seen by police officers and pilots, and cases where UFOs have been tracked on radar."

Welcome Back, Carter

Obama is running on change, but what's new about his rhetoric? It's not change, but the same old policies implemented by the most notably worst President in history, Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter in a new skin. Jeffrey Lord explains why in today's American Spectator. Lord's words are too important to scan and pick out phrases. Do liberal voters remember the consequences of electing a socialist Democrat to the White House with a Democrat majority in Congress?

Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive nominee of the Democrats, has in essence just defeated the heiress of the Clinton era by campaigning as the heir-apparent of the Carter era.The question for the rest of the year is this:

Are there enough voting Americans who survived the disastrous odyssey through the late 1970s that was led by blessedly now ex-president Jimmy Carter? While Ronald Reagan is rated in poll after poll by Americans as a great president, (most recently he rated second only to Lincoln), are there enough people who recall that Reagan's election came about because of Carter's... ahhh ... "performance" in the Oval Office? And will they be able to make the Obama-Carter connection for younger voters hearing terms like "windfall profits tax" for the first time? More to the point, can Senator John McCain do this?

The greatest charade of the year thus far is the idea that something "new" is being said in this campaign. By anybody. To be bluntly accurate, the only thing new is that one of the final two candidates is black. It seems to escape some that in a country even as young as America, 55 presidential elections (2008 is the 56th) covers just about all the ground there is to cover in debating any given next four years in the life of the United States. Consider.Since the 1788 election that produced (unopposed) George Washington as the first president, the agenda for presidential elections has been narrowed to one underlying issue: the role of government. Understood in that fashion, the following 220 years of American history can be read as if with Superman's X-ray vision. From slavery to abortion, the War of 1812 to the War in Iraq, from Lincoln's support for "internal improvements" to John McCain's disdain for congressional earmarks, the question at issue was the role of government. Whether dealing with the isolationism of Washington or Robert Taft or Ron Paul instead of the internationalism of Jefferson's chase after the Barbary pirates, Wilson's League of Nations or Ronald Reagan's determination to win the Cold War, the underlying question every time was the role of government.

This can be expressed in terms of its size (big or small), of its engagement with the world (the kind and quality of diplomacy) and its ability to protect American citizens (do we do it here or over there?). Yet always the issue is exactly the same. It is the underlying skeleton and vital organs of every question of policy facing the American people.

So too is it more than safe to say that America has seen every kind of candidate there is to be had in these 55 elections. Only the packaging is different in number 56, a truism of every previous election. Black this time for Obama, female for Hillary, there was Catholic for JFK. Short for Martin Van Buren, tall, skinny and hot tempered for Andrew Jackson. A failed haberdasher in Truman, a glossy movie actor in Reagan, a joke-cracking railroad lawyer in Lincoln and a school teacher in LBJ. A peanut farmer with Carter. Yet what each was saying both as candidate and president fell along one side or the other of the role of government argument. And as the string of American presidents and presidential campaigns gets longer, the newest candidates and the latest president have taken to looking backwards to select the presidential policies of admired predecessorsWhich makes the audacity of the Obama campaign more than amusing -- and amazing -- to watch. Consciously or not, Obama has selected the philosophical template of the Carter administration, from defunding the military, fighting the "special interests" down to imposing the windfall profits tax on the rich. Well, as Justice Clarence Thomas might say: whoop-dee-damn-do! This is precisely the philosophy of Jimmy Carter, although Carter had the good sense not to campaign as the pacifist he really is in 1976, waiting until the moment his hand came off the bible for that.

Is it possible that America really wants to return to those depressing days of gas lines and leisure suits? Of malaise and shock over the aggressiveness of America's enemies? The days when the policies Obama is advocating raised unemployment rates, interest rates and inflation rates into the double digits? When America's enemies looked the President of the United States in the eye -- and found he really wanted to kiss them on the cheek?After all of those 55 previous elections for president, with policy results seriously on record from George Washington to George W. Bush, it doesn't take much now to understand what doesn't work.

The policy failures, not only of American presidents but world leaders in general, are all right out there to be seen.Obama's windfall profits tax idea? A Jimmy Carter biggie. "Unless we tax the oil companies, they will reap huge and undeserved windfall profits," fumed Carter on national television in 1980. The New York Times agreed, warning darkly that "legislators who sit by idly while oil profits soar will have to answer to the voters." With Democrats controlling Congress they got their way. As if on cue, oil production -- fell. To the tune of 1.6 billion fewer barrels. America's dependence on foreign oil rose. Eventually even the Times was agreeing the tax had to be repealed, and by 1988 Reagan, who campaigned against it, signed the repeal (by a Democrat Congress no less) into law.

And Obama wants to do this all over again? Yes. It's not only not a new idea, it's not a better idea. Yet in terms of Obama, most tellingly it was a Carter idea.

Another Carter favorite was to appear to attack the wealthy, going after "rich businessmen" who enjoyed themselves with the "$50 martini lunch." Elected, Carter went after the martini business lunch tax deduction all right, but then quickly turned on the middle class with a Social Security payroll tax. Obama is already well on board with Carteresque rhetoric about "tax cuts for the wealthy." What taxes will a President Obama raise that, as with Carter, can't be discussed as a candidate?Appeasement and the notion that we can look evil in the eye and smile? Another Carter favorite (captured forever with the image of the American president kissing Brezhnev on the cheek at a Moscow summit in 1979) that more famously was the notion underpinning British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's desperate face-to-face sitdowns with Adolph Hitler. Didn't work either time, nor will it ever work as Obama seems to be seriously proposing with Iran.

Why? Because bullies are bullies -- be they Russian Communists, German dictators or Iranian mullahs. Senator John McCain succinctly sums up Obama's take as a lack of both judgment and experience, which surely is true.BUT OBAMA'S VIEWS are also something else. They are the product of a world view that has been around for centuries -- failing every time it's tried. Obama's campaign website says Obama "will take several steps down the long road toward eliminating nuclear weapons. He will stop the development of new nuclear weapons; work with Russia to take U.S. and Russian ballistic missiles off hair trigger alert; seek dramatic reductions in U.S. and Russian stockpiles of nuclear weapons and material; and set a goal to expand the U.S.-Russian ban on intermediate- range missiles so that the agreement is global." He also pledges to stop the research and deployment of a missile defense, the same system that Reagan created to end the Cold War.America was led down this philosophical garden path most recently by Carter. Whether advocated by Carter in 1979, Chamberlain in 1939 or a President Obama in 2009, the philosophy behind this idea has simply never worked. Period. Yet, to borrow from Reagan's line in his debate with Carter, here we go again. With all of the sweep of American history to look back on, with virtual libraries of history recording what works and what doesn't when running the American government, Obama has stunningly selected the Carter policies as his role model.

Tax cuts? Not for Obama. Military superiority? No, not for Obama. Do tax cuts work? Yes, as shown by Presidents Coolidge, Kennedy, Reagan and Bush 43. Military strength? Yes, decisively too. From Lincoln's Union Army to Teddy Roosevelt's Great White Fleet and his maxim to "talk softly and carry a big stick," from Wilson's Allied Expeditionary Force to FDR's vow to victory "so help us God" to Ronald Reagan's peace through strength, the idea of overwhelming military superiority works -- if the enemy believes you will use it. Or you actually use it.

But Obama, as with Carter, is having none of these approaches. From hiking Social Security payroll taxes to investing 20 percent less in defense budgets to telling Americans they had an "inordinate" fear of Communism, step by step Carter's policy selections and his decisions on the role of government led the American people down a dark and dangerous path that produced the worst economy since the Great Depression along with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and a beachhead in Central America with the Communist take-over of Nicaragua. When his policy towards Iran resulted in abandoning the Shah in favor of the extremist mullahs and the taking of American hostages, Carter's military was in such bad shape that American soldiers died in the Iranian desert during a miserably failed rescue attempt.

Perhaps more astonishing than his advocacy of a return to Carterism, Obama channels the Republican president to whom Carter was frequently compared-- Herbert Hoover. Obama is completely on board with protectionism, seemingly oblivious to the lessons of the Smoot-Hawley tariff that was a product of the Hoover administration in 1930. Upping the tariff on some 20,000 goods it is famous forever as the disastrous idea that deepened the severity of the Great Depression.

One has to wonder about the survival prospects down the road for the Democrats. They either can't get elected because their ideas are so bad -- extremist or tried and true failures -- or every once in a good while the latest crowd of American voters actually forgets their history (or never learned it in the first place) and gives a Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton a go at holding the reins. Enemies are then appeased, taxes raised, and judges go wild -- which in turn creates a new generation of conservatives who begin to understand why the last generation voted Republican.

The question for Senator McCain, accused by Obama of wanting to serve George W. Bush's third term, is whether he will hold Obama's feet to the fire on Obama's apparently passionate desire to serve Jimmy Carter's second.

Any network trying to run "Welcome Back Kotter" instead of the nightly news or for that matter, any network but TVLand, will find that it will fail miserably in today's society. My thanks to Jeffrey Lord for succinctly stating the obvious for the liberals who fail to remember history. Hopefully the United States won't be condemned to repeat it.

Democrats Responsible For High Gas Prices

Investor's Business Daily has the facts:

• For the past 31 years, Congress repeatedly prevented us from building any new oil refineries that we now badly need.

• More recently, congressional Democrats defeated and discouraged any bill that would let us drill in the deep sea 100 miles out. However, it's somehow OK for China to drill there.

• As a further indictment of our Congress, since the 1980s it has continually stopped all building of nuclear power plants while France, Germany and, yes, Japan, plus 12 other major nations, did build plants and now get 20% to 80% of their energy from their wise and safe nuclear plant investments.

• From 1990 to 2000, U.S. crude oil demand rapidly accelerated by 7.41 quadrillion BTUs, according to Department of Energy data. And our rate of foreign oil dependency dramatically increased while our domestic oil production steadily declined.

Under the eight Clinton years alone, U.S. oil production declined 1,349,000 barrels per day, or 19%, while our foreign imports increased 3,574,000 barrels per day, or 45%.

During this time, President Clinton vetoed ANWR drilling bills that would have clearly made Alaska our No. 1 state in the production of our own vitally needed oil supply, not only for all Americans but also for national defense emergencies.

Click on the title to read the entire article. It deserves more attention. If a Democrat gets into the White House expect the United States to parallel Europe with out of control taxes, $10 a gallon gasoline, and socialism replacing our federalist republic of our founding fathers.

Citizens for Principled Government: "Economic Stimulus Package should include more domestic oil."

Environmentalists, neighborhoods and even the government are fighting to keep them out of Americans' backyards.

US Military Forces Surpass Recruitment Goals

Newspapers citing worsening economy and more recruiters with higher bonuses, military recruiters are meeting their goals. But could it be less negative and almost no liberal media attention regarding the success in Iraq's military surge be behind the reason that Marines met 142% of their recruitment goals?

The Marine Corps enlisted 2,233 recruits against a goal of 1,577.

"The Marine Corps, if they continue to achieve the kind of success they have had,could meet their growth figures more than a year early," Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman told Pentagon reporters. That would mean by around the end of 2009.

The Army increased to 101% of their needs, while Air Force and Navy also saw more volunteers joining up.

I could see the Army, Air Force, and Navy contracting with volunteers who can't find a job using the excuse of the economy as the reason for more recruits, but the Marines?

Thank God, we have such brave men and women volunteers that love this country and want to protect it.

ICE Flows Through Iowa Making Headway

The Des Moines Register reports arrests of 300 persons in an illegal immigration raid at a Hasidic kosher meatpacking plant. A crowd of 200 sympathizers and supporters of illegal immigration, slavery, and employer abuse gather outside the Agriprocessors, Inc. in Postville, Iowa.

According to search warrants, ICE agents interviewed a former plant supervisor – identified as “Source 1” – in November 2007, who told them that the plant employed foreign nationals from Mexico, Guatemala and Eastern Europe. Roughly 80 percent of those workers were living illegally in the U.S., the supervisor said.

“Source 1” told federal agents that some employees were running a methamphetamine lab in the plant, and were bringing weapons to work. The supervisor confronted a higher-level manager about the drugs, and shortly after was fired.The supervisors also described an encounter with the plant’s human resources manager about three separate Social Security cards from different employees with the same number. The human resources manager "laughed when this matter was brought to her attention," the supervisor told federal agents.

In February 2008, a confidential informant identified as "Source 7," who has worked with federal agents in past immigration cases, detailed several incidents of alleged worker abuse at the plant.The source, who was lawfully employed at the plant, told authorities that a floor supervisor duct-taped the eyes of an illegal Guatemalan employee and struck him with a meat hook. The blow caused no serious injuries."Source 7" asked the Guatemalan to report the incident, but the employee said doing so could jeopardize his job.

In another alleged incident, Source 7 said, a floor supervisor identified as a Hasidic Jew pushed another illegal employee because he did not like the way the employee was moving meat.

A plant employee identified as “Source 11” told authorities that he/she was hired without presenting employment documents or filling out any forms. The worker’s first paycheck had a different person’s name on it, which was then cashed at another part of the plant.Undocumented workers were paid $5 an hour for their first three or four months on the job, the employee said, and then received a salary increase to $6 per hour.

Where is the Rabbinic community protesting and refusing to buy kosher meat from this supposedly "high values" company?

I can't imagine any intelligent person protesting the raids. Who supports slavery in this day and age?

Crowds outside the Cattle Congress complex in Waterloo continued to grow Monday evening. When the chained gates opened to admit a bus full of detainees at 8:15 p.m., the crowd of about 200 people screamed their support.

Waterloo Police Department Lieutenant M.W. McNamee told protesters that they had to move across the street to the sidewalk directly in front of the Cattle Congress grounds. “Unfortunately there’s not a lot of area where you can be. This is not conducive to have a vigil," McNamee said.

Mario Basurto, project coordinator of El Centro Latinoamericano, said the protest was spontaneous and would last until 10 p.m.

What is conducive about slave wages, duct-taping eyes, threats, fear of job loss, cruel behavior by employers?

Retired University of Northern Iowa professor Rosa Maria de Finlay approached the gate to offer her interpretation services, but she, too, was turned away by an agent.

De Finlay said she has stopped by Cattle Congress repeatedly today, checking the grounds for signs that people were being detained there. She said she saw no buses enter.

“I think the money we’re spending on all this is incredible. You and I will never know how much it costs. That money could be used for something else other than this crap, this nonsense,” she said.

Where was De Finlay in interpreting to these illegals that they should come across the border legally so that they would not have to put up with this kind of abuse? She is right about the money being spent on better priorities because of socialists like her who encourage breaking laws, we have to spend time and money stopping them. It's De Finlay's fault that the thousands of illegals across the country are being detained and/or in jail waiting deportation.

Updates daily on national security and immigration issues.

Updated: Music From The 80's That Didn't Suck

My husband, Tony knows his rock and roll. A guitar player, ex-band musician, music afficianado, able to name one hit wonders and their bands, obscure band members, he can "name that tune" in five notes. Here is his first CD list of music from the 80's that didn't suck. How many do you remember? Let me know if you agree or if you want to mention your own. All responses will be added.

• Men At Work: Who Can It Be Now
• The Stray Cats: Rock This Town
• The Waitresses: I Know What Boys Like
• Thomas Dolby: She Blinded Me With Science
• The Buggles: Video Killed the Radio Star
• Squeeze: Tempted
• Madness: Our House
• Dexy’s Midnight Runners: Come On, Eileen
• Wang Chung: Everybody Have Fun Tonight
• The Clash: Rock the Casbah
• DEVO: Whip It
• Human League: Don’t You Want Me
• Men Without Hats: Safety Dance
• Bananarama: Venus
• Kim Carnes: Betty Davis Eyes
  
• Eddy Grant: Electric Avenue


• Falco: Rock Me Amadeus


• After The Fire: Der Kommissar


• Chris DeBurgh: Don’t Pay The Ferryman


• Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians: What I Am


• Georgia Satellites: Keep Your Hands to Yourself


• Bangles: Walk Like an Egyptian


• Timbuk 3: Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades


• Dire Straights: Money For Nothing


• The Hooters: And We Danced


• Cyndi Lauper: She Bop


• Nena: 99 Luftballoons


• Tommy Tutone: 867-5309/Jenny


• Men At Work: Down Under


• Talking Heads: Once in a Lifetime


• Go-Go’s: We Got the Beat


• The Stray Cats: Stray Cat Strut


• Blondie: The Tide Is High


• Gary Numan: Cars


• The Vapors: Turning Japanese


• Effcee: Kids in America


• Howard Jones: Things Can Only Get Better


• Rick James: Super Freak (Part 1)


• The Cars: Shake It Up


• Prince: Little Red Corvette


• Philip Bailey and Phil Collins: Easy Lover


• Deniece Williams: Let’s Hear It For the Boy


• Robert Palmer: Simply Irresistible


• Bangles: Hazy Shade of Winter


• The Romantics: Talking In Your Sleep


• Cyndi Lauper: Girls Just Want to Have Fun

You can go to Rhapsody and download the music to make your own CD.

Tony is working on the second CD of "Music from the 80's that don't suck." Stay tuned.

Well, Tony got to work and here is the rest of the "Music from the 80's that Don't Suck." Enough for a total of 3 CD's.

• Funkytown – Lipps Inc.
• Kyrie – Mr. Mister
• I Want a New Drug – Huey Lewis and The News
• Take On Me – A-Ha
• Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) – The Eurythmics
• Maniac – Michael Sembello
• Freeze-Frame – J. Geils Band
• Trouble – Lindsey Buckingham
• Too Shy – Kajagoogoo
• I Want Candy – Bow Wow Wow


• Don’t Misunderstand Me – Rossington-Collins Band
• Sledgehammer – Peter Gabriel
• West End Girls – Pet Shop Boys
• Mr. Roboto – Styx
• Love Shack – The B-52s
• Pop Muzik – M
• Sunset Grill – Don Henley
• My one album selection: Billy Joel’s Stormfront

Tony says:

"There were several basic guidelines I followed when compiling this list. For starters, I wanted to compile a list of the aggressively unique songs such as “Der Kommissar” or “Rock Me, Amadeus.” Sadly, that very characteristic pretty much condemned the responsible artists to one-hit wonder territory.

Also, I tried to stay away as much as possible from my personal favorites such as Styx (who I have seen in concert a dozen times) and tried not to overpopulate the list with FM classic rock standards (although it’s impossible to leave off “Freeze-Frame” or “Simply Irresistible”). Lastly, I tried to limit myself to one song per artist (I know, I doubled up on Cyndi Lauper, The Stray Cats, and Men At Work). To get around that self-imposed limitation, I had to add in Billy Joel’s Stormfront album, which contains just about every one of my favorite Joel songs (with the exception of 1976’s “Angry Young Man” and 1978’s “Stiletto”).

You’ll notice that just about every tune is high-energy. Say what you want about the 80’s, the music had a pulse, artists weren’t afraid to be different (sorry, I refuse to put Culture Club on the list; I have my limits), and listening to the radio was a lot of fun. I miss that." ~ Tony

Natural Disasters Plague The Planet

Please pray for all those suffering tonight around the world. Donate to your local charities who are providing assistance to the major emergency agencies.

• Over 20,000 injured, 9,000 dead from 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Sichuan, China. Tremors were felt as far away as Pakistan, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Fox is reporting that 80% of the buildings in Sichuan, China are leveled. More here. Numbers of dead are expected to increase dramatically.


• Burma Cyclone Death Toll Could Top A Million


• Arson Set Fires Force Evacuation In Florida


• 22 Dead In Four States Hit By Tornados. NC Officials: Fatal Twister Could Have Been Worse

Church Opposes New Mortuary Method: Lyeing

There's something traditional about the purgation of fire. Opposed by the Catholic Church until the 1960's, funeral pyres are culturally historical, environmentally clean, and does return our bodies to biblical ashes. In light of the Church's turnaround in allowing cremation, even building the first diocese run crematory in New Jersey in 2007, cremation may become passé. The future of crematory practices is disturbing. Is lye really the environmental future of disposing of dead bodies? The Catholic Church opposes the new trend, arguing that it is not a dignified way of handling the dead.

... A new option is generating interest — dissolving bodies in lye and flushing the brownish, syrupy residue down the drain.

The process is called alkaline hydrolysis and was developed in this country 16 years ago to get rid of animal carcasses. It uses lye, 300-degree heat and 60 pounds of pressure per square inch to destroy bodies in big stainless-steel cylinders that are similar to pressure cookers.

No funeral homes in the U.S. — or anywhere else in the world, as far as the equipment manufacturer knows — offer it. In fact, only two U.S. medical centers use it on human bodies, and only on cadavers donated for research.

But because of its environmental advantages, some in the funeral industry say it could someday rival burial and cremation.

"It's not often that a truly game-changing technology comes along in the funeral service," the newsletter Funeral Service Insider said in September. But "we might have gotten a hold of one."

Getting the public to accept a process that strikes some as ghastly may be the biggest challenge. Psychopaths and dictators have used acid or lye to torture or erase their victims, and legislation to make alkaline hydrolysis available to the public in New York state was branded "Hannibal Lecter's bill" in a play on the sponsor's name — Sen. Kemp Hannon — and the movie character's sadism.

Alkaline hydrolysis is legal in Minnesota and in New Hampshire, where a Manchester funeral director is pushing to offer it. But he has yet to line up the necessary regulatory approvals, and some New Hampshire lawmakers want to repeal the little-noticed 2006 state law legalizing it.

"We believe this process, which enables a portion of human remains to be flushed down a drain, to be undignified," said Patrick McGee, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester.

The Church and Cremation: Why It Was Forbidden.

Macabre humor alert: I would never want to use lye, it sounds horrible. I can't imagine putting any family member through that process. But it does give a new meaning to having dead bodies lyeing around.

Wonderful Junction To Meet And Devour

I came across Awareness a few days ago and wanted to share an artist's blog with you. Her own blog description is delicious.

"A neo-renaissance, eco-epicurean savors, curates and shares slices from the surf's edge on the inspiration, imagination, the art of living, the living of art - and anything that screams Life."

Evelyn Rodriguez's Crossroads Dispatches is a wonderful appetizer of art, quotes, emotions, literary writings, discussion, and links to novels, art galleries, new age, and women's websites. I enjoyed feasting on her gallery of writing, relished the beautiful paintings filled with color, movement, and strong figures. It's museum quality blogging. It's a great way to spend a few lovely hours reading and gazing at the symbolic imagery of Life and Awareness.

Art credits: Spring is Coming, is an original oil painting by Linde

Top 100 Classical Music You Must Hear

I'm in a list mood today so here's the top 100 classical music selections that should be heard to be well rounded, courtesy of The Telegraph's musical critic, Michael Kennedy. The advice is you must hear them in more than one performance and listening to them in your IPOD doesn't count as a performance.

How many have you heard?

Top Ten Hells On Earth

School has four more weeks or so left in the school year. It's time to plan vacations - where are you planning to spend your summer?

AskMen.com has an important list of where you don't want to send a postcard from any time soon. One state in the United States is listed - Clue? It's devastated today from tornados. Another location just suffered earthquakes.

More reasons not to visit Hell on Earth? Corruption, oppression, disease, radiation, pollution, lawlessness, environmental extremes, and conflict. Read about all the hellish places and let me know where you have been that's been a nightmare and Hell on Earth.

Reminder: Family reunions aren't legitimate answers.

The Top 50 US Political Pundits

Interesting British review of the United States top fifty political pundits. Who's Number one? Well, it's not Rush Limbaugh. Let the wailing and gnashing of liberal teeth begin. This is a good way to get educated on who's making the decisions in our country. How many do you know? Now here's the most important question: How many have you listened to?

The Top 100 Most Influential Conservatives and Top 100 Most Influential Liberals

Finality: Russian Czar's Family All Killed

After decades of whispered rumors among Europe's royal houses, Hollywood films fanning the flames of royal pretenders identifying themselves as the only remaining survivors of the murdered Russian Czar Nicholas II's family, latest DNA technology confirms that all of the heirs to the Russian throne were slaughtered.

The remains of their parents—Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra—and three siblings, including the czar's youngest daughter, Anastasia, were unearthed in 1991 and reburied in the imperial resting place in St. Petersburg. The Russian Orthodox Church made all seven of them saints in 2000.

Despite the earlier discoveries and ceremonies, the absence of Alexei's and Maria's remains gnawed at descendants of the Romanov dynasty, history buffs and royalists. Even if Wednesday's announcement is confirmed and widely accepted, many descendants of the royal family are unlikely to be fully assuaged; they seek formal "rehabilitation" by the government.

"The tragedy of the czar's family will only end when the family is declared victims of political repression," said German Lukyanov, a lawyer for royal descendants.

Nicholas abdicated in 1917 as revolutionary fervor swept Russia, and he and his family were detained. They were shot by a firing squad on July 17, 1918, in the basement of the Yekaterinburg house where they were being held.

Rumors persisted that some of the family had survived and escaped. Claims by women to be Anastasia were particularly prominent, although there were also pretenders to Alexei's and Maria's identities.

"It was 99.9 percent clear they had all been killed; now with these shards, it's 100 percent," said Nadia Kizenko, a Russian scholar at the University at Albany, State University of New York. "Those who regret this news will be those who liked the royal pretender myth."

Remains of Czar Nicholas's Son May Have Been Found (2007)

Tsar Nicholas II's Coronation (1896) Scenes from the coronation of Russia's last Tsar Nicholas II in May 1896; this is one of the oldest filmed moving images in existence, and one of the first examples of a significant news event being filmed to be shown to audiences worldwide.

Mystery of the Romanovs - National Geographic video

100th Anniversary of Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all my readers! Click on the puzzle to put it together!

But it's not what the creator of Mother's Day had envisioned.

Anna Jarvis would want us to give mothers a white carnation — she felt it signified the purity of a mother's love.

Jarvis, who never married and never had children, got the Mother's Day idea after her mother said it would be nice if someone created a memorial to mothers.

Three years after her mother died in 1905, she organized the first official mother's day service at a church where her mother had spent more than 20 years teaching Sunday school.

Read more about Anna Jarvis and her life.

“To have them know we appreciate them, though we do not show it as often as we ought . . . Mother’s Day is to remind us of our duty before it is too late.”

—Telegram from Anna Jarvis read at the first Mother’s Day service in Grafton, West Virginia

Ann Jarvis's Handwritten Letter.

History and more links on Mother's Day.

Trivia tidbit: Anna Jarvis never had any children.

Mother's Day or Mothers' Day?

Call your Mom, she worries you know. Nobody loves you like your Mom does.

Ark Of The Covenant Table Remains Found

The remains of a table that legendarily held the Ark of the Covenant has been found by archaelogists in the ruins of the Queen of Sheba, the tenth century renowned beauty and Ethiopian ally of King Solomon.

According to the Bible, in 1 Kings 10, the Queen of Sheba journeyed to Jerusalem after hearing of King Solomon's wisdom to see if what she had heard was true. So impressed was she that she gave large quantities of gold, spices and precious stones to the king of Israel.

"It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom," she said. "However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness."

Ethiopian tradition claims the Ark, which contained Moses' stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written, was smuggled to Ethiopia by their son Menelek and is still in that country.

Archbishop Excommunicates Kansas Governor For Abortion Policies

Thank God, finally someone is acting to stop the "Catholic in label only", abortion rights liberal politicians. Kansas City's Archbishop Joseph Naumann has had enough. Trying to intercede with Kansas governor, Kathleen Sebelius, a Roman Catholic and morally ignorant abortion advocate, on her pro-abortion policies, Archbishop Naumann has publically declared Canon 915 on Governor Sebelius for her vetoing of an abortion reform bill, (HS SB 389).

Canon 915 states:

"Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion."

This is His Excellency's column about Governor Kathleen Sebelius's actions.

Gov Sebelius's response on vetoing the bill stated that she is working to reduce abortion and Kansas's abortion rate has gone down by approximately 11%. Archbishop Naumann responded in his column:

"In her veto message, the Governor took credit for lower abortion rates in Kansas citing her support for “adoption incentives, extended health services for pregnant women, providing sex education and offering a variety of support services for families.” Indeed, the Governor and her Administration should be commended for supporting adoption incentives and health services for pregnant women.

However, the Governor over-reaches by assuming credit for declining abortion rates in Kansas. Actually, lower abortion rates are part of a national trend. Our neighboring state of Missouri has actually had a steeper and longer decline in its abortion rate."

This isn't the first time she's vetoed an abortion reform bill. In 2006, Sebelius's news release stated:

Veto Message for SB 528:

Abortion is an important moral concern to all Kansans. My Catholic faith teaches me that life is sacred. Personally, I believe abortion is wrong.

That’s why I have worked to reduce the number of abortions in Kansas. In my three years as governor, abortion has declined 11.1%. My administration will continue to work to reduce these numbers even more. Next week, for example, I’ll sign into law an increase in tax credits for adoption and a budget that contains a 65% increase in funding for the Pregnancy Maintenance Initiative, which helps counsel women on options other than abortion. These common-sense steps will reduce abortion, and will provide real solutions for women facing this tragic decision. SB 528, by contrast, will do nothing to reduce abortion in Kansas. Instead, it will force women to provide intimate, sensitive health information to the government. Privacy is a fundamental concern to all Kansans. I worked to enhance Kansans’ health privacy as Insurance Commissioner, and I intend to protect it as Governor. As we have seen in recent months in Kansas, we can never take our health privacy for granted.

Therefore, pursuant to Article 2, Section 14 of the Constitution of the State of Kansas, I veto SB 528.

• When you accept tens of thousands of dollars in election contributions from Kansas's and the country's #1 abortion doctor, George Tiller and his Women's Clinic Services, you are pro-abortion.
• When you state that inalienable rights are not applied in utero, you are pro-abortion.
• When you veto the Kansas Comprehensive Abortion Reform Act, which would have forced Kansas abortion clinics and doctors to educate women, specifically mothers, that alternatives exist to abortion, you are pro-abortion.

Named as one of the top five governors in the country, Sebelius's government homepage has links to all the good news about her career but does not have one mention of abortion or of her actions of vetoing of the abortion reform act. I wonder why? Does she possibly know that she will be responsible for murdering thousands of innocent babies?

If Canon 915 doesn't change Governor Sebelius's policies, there is worse to come for her mortal sins.

Sidenote: I wonder if Archbishop Naumann asked permission first from Pope Benedict XVI before citing Canon 915 on the Kansan governor?

You can contact Governor Kathleen Sebelius and let her know how you feel about her grave actions. Writing a personal letter is better than calling, calling is better than emailing, using all three ways are good to communicate your disgust at her actions.

Office of the Governor Capitol,
300 SW 10th Ave.,Ste. 212 S
Topeka, KS 66612-1590

Voice 1-877-KSWORKS (1-877-579-6757)
Local 785-296-3232
For the Hearing Impaired 1-800-766-3777

Email the governor...

Read more in Edward N Peters, canon lawyer's blog "In The Light Of The Law - Staunching the Wound of Bleeding Kansas."

Will Ted Kennedy's abortion policies be next?

Carrot Juice Is Murder - Give Peas A Chance

Switzerland should adopt the Canadian band, Arrogant Worms' song "Carrot Juice Is Murder" as their national anthem. With the latest changes in their constitution in Switzerland, decapitation of wildflowers by a roadside is now considered a crime. How can that be? Well, the Swiss government has now determined that all plants have moral dignity and should not be killed. Michael Cook of Mercurator Net gives us the scary news.

The Swiss are amongst the best educated people in the world, but they are about to be educated even further. Prospective dog owners will have to pay for and complete a two-part course on the theory and practice of dog ownership. Anglers will also be required to take a course on handling fish with dignity.

The Swiss are pioneers in this field. In 1992 Switzerland was the first country in the world to begin to phase out battery hens. Since then the law has become even tougher. In 2006, for instance, a researcher was forbidden to give thirsty monkeys a drink of water because a reward mechanism to get them to carry out a task was deemed harmful to their dignity.

And if that is not absurd enough, it now seems possible that the ever-expanding boundaries of non-human dignity will include plants.

The Swiss Constitution requires respect for "the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms". The body in charge of interpreting this Delphic phrase, the Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology, has just released a discussion paper about the dignity of plants. In due course its astonishing conclusions could become law.

Amongst them is that "decapitation of wild flowers at the roadside without rational reason" is essentially a crime. In fact, the committee was unanimous in its agreement that any "arbitrary harm caused to plants[is] morally impermissible." Genetic modification of plants would be permitted -- but only if their "independence", including their reproductive ability, is ensured. This could mean, for instance, that producing sterile roses or seedless fruit would become an offence under Swiss law.

None of this is a joke. The world’s leading science journal, Nature, recently reported that Swiss biologists are worried. Funding for their work might get cut off if they offend the dignity of plants.

Switzerland’s passion for the dignity of all creatures great and small, however, rings hollow in view of its treatment of human beings. It is one of the few countries in the world where assisted suicide is legal. The best-known agency for DIY euthanasia, a Zurich-based group called – what else? – Dignitas, recently opened its thanatorium in the same building as Switzerland’s biggest legal brothel. Surely that violates one of the numerous provisions in the constitution guaranteeing human dignity. As it is now, there seems to be about as much bureaucracy involved in killing a Swiss goldfish as there is in killing a human being. (Special chemicals are required since flushing fish down the toilet has been deemed undignified.)

The poor, befuddled Swiss have clearly lost the plot on what dignity is and who is entitled to it.

This is what happens when the world gets led down the primrose path to socialism and liberalism. Plants deserve more dignity and respect than human life. People are the problem.

In fact, I'm sure if environmental whackos have their way, the Arrogant Worms' lyrics will be on Al Gore's lips at every fundraising speech he gives. Click on the video and sing along with the Worms...

Listen up brothers and sisters, come hear my desperate tale. I speak of our friends of nature, trapped in the dirt like a jail. Vegetables live in oppression, served on our tables each night.

This killing of veggies is madness, I say we take up the fight.

Salads are only for murderers, coleslaw's a fascist regime.

Don't think that they don't have feelings, just cause a radish can't scream.

Chorus:

I've heard the screams of the vegetables (scream, scream, scream)

Watching their skins being peeled (having their insides revealed)

Grated and steamed with no mercy (burning off calories)

How do you think that feels (bet it hurts really bad)

Carrot juice constitutes murder (and that's a real crime)

Greenhouses prisons for slaves (let my vegetables go)

It's time to stop all this gardening (it's dirty as hell)

Let's call a spade a spade (is a spade is a spade is a spade)

I saw a man eating celery,

so I beat him black and blue.

If he ever touches a sprout again,

I'll bite him clean in two.

I'm a political prisoner, trapped in a windowless cage.

Cause I stopped the slaughter of turnips by killing five men in a rage

I told the judge when he sentenced me, This is my finest hour,

I'd kill those farmers again just to save one more cauliflower.

Chorus

How low as people do we dare to stoop,

Making young broccolis bleed in the soup?

Untie your beans, uncage your tomatoes

Let potted plants free, don't mash that potato!

I've heard the screams of the vegetables (scream, scream, scream)

Watching their skins being peeled (fates in the stirfry are sealed)

Grated and steamed with no mercy (you fat gourmet slob)

How do you think that feels? (leave them out in the field)

Carrot juice constitutes murder (V8's genocide)

Greenhouses prisons for slaves (yes, your composts are graves)

It's time to stop all this gardening (take up macrame)

Let's call a spade a spade (is a spade, is a spade, is a spade, is a spade.....

I'm going to rebel against the insanity and start eating more vegetables. In fact I think I will have a large salad with my dinner vegetables when I go out tonight.

Thanks PLO for the heads of lettuce up!

Catholic Church Recognizes 17th Century Mary Apparitions

The Roman Catholic Church has approved the visions of 17-year-old Benoite Rencurel from 1664 to 1718 in Laus, in the French Alps. This proclamation puts the miraculous healing apparitions on the same scale as the Lourdes shrine in France.

Our Lady of the Laus appearing to Benoite Rencurel over 50 years, asked to have a church and a house for priests built in her honor, which Rencurel accomplished.

Okay... God works in mysterious ways. As I was sitting in my home office library, alone - writing this post to send out, scoffing just a little - the cable television sound in my living room turned on. I had to go into the living room and shut my sound system off. It's never come on before by itself in the five years we've had the television. I will tell you I have goosebumps from feeling that I'm being chastised for my incredulity at the Church's newest sacrarium announcement. First, his Holiness's Pope Benedict XVI's visit to America, then the flagrant display of Padre Pio's waxed body, and now an announcement verifying that Catholics have one more authentic shrine to visit and pray? It seems the Catholic Church is working overtime on its supernatural, or should I say spiritual reputation?

Timing is everything or does everything work in God's time?