Business Wire: Jones Soda Co. Bottling the Flavors of Christmas and Chanukah to Benefit Charity
Jones Soda Co. (the “Company” or “Jones Soda” or “Jones”), announces today that it is tossing aside the Turkey & Gravy and bringing Christmas Ham and Latke Sodas to the table this year with two new limited edition holiday themed packs. The Christmas Pack includes flavors such as: Sugar Plum, Christmas Tree, Egg Nog and Christmas Ham Sodas. While the Happy Chanukah Pack includes: Jelly Doughnut, Apple Sauce, Chocolate Coins and Latke Sodas. As always, both packs are kosher and contain zero caffeine.
Consistent with limited edition packs of past years, Jones Soda is teaming up with two great children’s charities donating a portion of proceeds from the sale of the Christmas Pack and Chanukah Pack to Toys for Tots and Vitamin Angels respectively this year.
The Christmas Pack provides everyone with a variety of Christmas flavors, both delicious and obscure. And through the creation of this pack, Jones is able to partner with Toys for Tots for the fourth consecutive year in a row helping children around the country have a merrier holiday. Jones Soda will be donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Christmas Pack to this charity with a minimum contribution of $10,000. Toys for Tots is one of the nation’s flagship and most visible Holiday Season charitable causes with local Toys for Tots campaigns conducted from October through December each year, in 456 communities nationwide.
The Chanukah Pack, complete with dreidel, was created with an audience of Rabbis and in the true spirit of the Jewish tradition. In continued support of this charity, Jones Soda will be donating a portion of the sales of the Chanukah Pack to Vitamin Angels with a minimum contribution of $10,000. Vitamin Angel Alliance is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization created in 1994 to fight malnutrition and childhood blindness around the world. For more information, please visit www.vitaminangels.org.
”With the anticipation of a child at Christmas, our team here at Jones looks forward to this tradition every year. Not only do we get to make some fun holiday flavors, but we get to raise money for some great charities,” said Peter van Stolk President & CEO. “How often do you get to sit back with family and friends and toast the season with Christmas Tree Soda?”
These limited edition packs will be available in select stores through the Jones Soda distributor network the week of November 11th. They will also be available for sale on www.jonessodastore.com. The packs will only be available in limited quantities, and on a first come, first served basis.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Best (as well as Worst) Idea of the Day.
Headline of the Day.
AP: Free Korea's 'Mr. Toilet' builds commode-shaped house in campaign to bolster worldwide hygiene
He's known as South Korea's "Mr. Toilet" for his campaigns as a politician to beautify public restrooms. Now, Sim Jae-duck is taking the lavatory life to a new level _ and moving into a toilet.
Sim is building a two-story toilet-shaped house set to be finished Sunday to commemorate the inaugural meeting later this month of the World Toilet Association. The group, supported by the South Korean government, aims no less than to launch a "toilet revolution," by getting people to open their bathroom doors for the sake of improving worldwide hygiene.
Uh...I beg your pardon...There seems to be a problem with the translation from Korean.
Representatives from 60 countries will gather in Seoul to spur the creation of national toilet associations of their own and spread the word about hygiene. Organizers argue the issue deserves greater attention and cite U.N. figures that some 2.5 billion people live without proper sanitation or water supplies.
"The toilet revolution should start with talking about toilet issues freely," said Song Young-kwon, head of the organizing committee for the five-day conference that opens Nov. 21.
The Seoul conference will be accompanied by a toilet expo featuring exhibits to excite the public about the cause: including a "Hansel and Gretel" bathroom made from cookies and candy that gives presents to children when they flush, and a "toilet gallery cafe" where people can sit on colorful commodes while drinking tea.
Sim, a lawmaker in the National Assembly, hopes his house in his hometown Suwon, some 45 kilometers (30 miles) south of Seoul, will help bring attention to the cause and is seeking a guest to pay US$50,000 to stay one night with the proceeds to benefit the association that hopes to work with developing nations to build more and better toilets.
Several candidates have already expressed interest, but Sim said he would choose someone who can appropriately represent his cause _ with the proceeds set to fund his foundation's work.
Visitors just wanting a glimpse inside the bowl will be charged a US$1 donation.
"Toilets stand central to people's lives," Sim said as workers scurried to put the finishing touches on the home _ including installing the final toilet inside.
Hmmm...Some people, apparently.
The toilet theme is central to the house named Haewoojae, or a "place to solve one's worries," shaped like a 7.5-meter-tall (24.6-foot-tall) toilet bowl. Thinking of how to push forward his cause of having better hygiene and sanitation, Sim tore down his former home to build the 1 billion won (US$1.1 million ) building.
In case they had any doubt about who would choose to live here, a plaque inscribed "Mr. Toilet's House" greets visitors. As a former mayor of Suwon, Sim spearheaded a campaign to beautify the city's restrooms _ part of a national push to spruce up the country's facilities for hosting events such as the 1988 Summer Olympics and 2002 World Cup.
A showpiece bathroom at the center of the 420-square-meter (4,520-square-foot) house is on display through a floor-to-ceiling window made of glass that turns opaque at the touch of a button. When guests enter to do their business, a motion sensor activates classical music.
Handel's Wassermusik, if there is any justice in this world.
The bathroom emerges into a spacious living room featuring a grand staircase and lined by windows curving around the rounded facade of the building.
The home has four bathrooms that include a whirlpool bathtub, urinals and large glass showers.
Occupants gain access to the roof balcony around the rim of the "bowl" by climbing up stairs through what would be a toilet drain _ which is equipped to collect rain for some functions to conserve drinking water. The home is encased in smooth, white-painted steel that appears similar to the ceramics used to make toilets.
Already, the home is drawing toilet pilgrims.
Visiting the house Friday all the way from Italy was Giuliano Pecorari, who came to show Sim his firm's stainless steel (US$3,670) digitally controlled toilets with lids that rise automatically when a person enters the bathroom and are fully self-cleaning.
Sim said he hopes visitors will be reminded of those living a life with less flush.
"The person who sits here and uses the toilets will have to think about those who don't have toilets," he said. "I believe all people can feel happiness in toilets."
Seriously, kiddies, hygiene is a matter of life and death in poor countries. That is why we must do all in our power to bring these countries freedom, representative government, and capitalism. The toilets will surely follow.
If we don't get that Kansas versus Hawaii title matchup, heads will roll!
EARTHtimes.org [???]: UPI:LSU leads latest BCS poll
LSU was the No. 1 team Sunday night when college football's latest BCS poll was released, while Ohio State fell from the top sport to No. 2.
The Tigers (9-1) -- who routed non-SEC foe Louisiana Tech, 58-10, Saturday -- assumed the top spot after Ohio State (10-1) was beaten at home, 28-21, by Big Ten opponent Illinois.
LSU had an average total of .9802.
Despite being idle, Oregon (8-1) was second with an average of .9383.
Spots 3-10 were occupied by Kansas (10-0), Oklahoma (9-1), Missouri (9-1), West Virginia (8-1), Ohio State (9-1), Arizona State (9-1), Georgia (8-2) and Virginia Tech (8-2).
Southern California headed the second 10, followed by Florida, Texas, Virginia, Clemson, Hawaii [9-0], Boston College, Boise State, Illinois and Tennessee.
Rounding out the BCS top 25 were Michigan, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Connecticut and Wisconsin.
The final BCS standings will be released Dec. 2. The BCS title game, featuring the top two teams, will be played Jan. 7 at New Orleans. [All emphasis mine.]
Norman Mailer, Requiescat in pace.
Ol' Normie, enabler of murderers and the dumbest dumbass of an entire generation of dumbass writers now knows The Truth. I doubt Mr. Mailer is pleased.
His friends all tell similar stories: Norman Mailer at a dinner party, awards ceremony or afternoon gathering, hobbling on canes up or down a few steps or a flight of stairs, short of breath, as if getting from one place to another was a struggle even greater than finding the right word to finish a paragraph. Then, he would be seated, and was himself again.
"We would talk about everything," novelist William Kennedy said of Mailer, who died Saturday at age 84 after spending more than two months in and out of hospitals. "He knew he wasn't going to live very much longer, but he would still talk of taking on the greatest subjects. He always was working on something."
"He was absolutely dauntless," said Jason Epstein, who edited several of Mailer's books at Random House. "He was quite weak in the end, but he still planned to write a seven-volume novel about Hitler."
Oy vey.
The Pulitzer-Prize winning Mailer, the eminent literary journalist, drama king and gentleman, eternal striver for the Great American Novel, seemed to embody in recent years not just one writer, but a generation for whom the printed word was a noble and endangered way of life.
More than such peers as Gore Vidal, William Styron or Kurt Vonnegut, Mailer was the writer as Writer, not a career to be printed on a business card, but a calling, an identity, with all the follies and privileges to which a man alert to his own gifts felt entitled.
Mailer made Vonnegut look like a genius and a humanitarian.
He wrote letters to the president, sounded off on talk shows, likened himself to Picasso, placed himself on a "plateau" with Jacqueline Kennedy.
More like a ditch.
"Some part of me knew that I had more emotion than most," Mailer, who married six times and stabbed one of his wives, once wrote. He cautioned himself not to "exhaust the emotions of others."
Dumbass. May God have mercy on his soul.
"He was interesting, because he was interested," said Vidal, a longtime friend and occasional rival. "He had a radical imagination, a way of approaching subjects that was never boring."
"He was by nature bound to a style of excess," said E.L. Doctorow, who worked with Mailer in the 1960s as an editor at the Dial Press. "There were times when you would be fed up with him, but if you could conceive of American culture of the past 50 years without Norman Mailer, you would find it a lot drearier."
Lightning struck early for Mailer, and he struck back. In his 20s, he was the prodigy behind "The Naked and the Dead," the World War II novel that made him instantly, and prematurely famous. He came back in his 30s as the master self-advertiser, the anointer of John F. Kennedy as "Superman" at the supermarket. In his 40s, he was the fighting narrator-participant in "The Armies of the Night"; in his 50s, the cool chronicler of killer Gary Gilmore.
His hero was the authentic, autonomous man — the boxer, or graffiti artist, or maestro of jazz, or the "Norman Mailer" who starred in "The Armies of the Night" and other works of journalism. The bureaucratic mind was his enemy, from the military leaders of "The Naked and the Dead" to the Kleenex box-like skyscrapers that appalled him when looking out from his Brooklyn town house, to the processed presidency of Richard Nixon.
"Nixon's crime is his inability to rise above the admiration for the corporation," Mailer wrote in 1974, commenting on the Oval Office tapes that would help drive Nixon from office.
Positively brilliant! No doubt Shakespeare wept when that was written.
"Throughout the transcripts, he is acting like the good, tough, even-minded, cool-tempered, and tastefully foul-mouth president of a huge corporation — an automobile man, let us say, who has just discovered that his good assistants have somehow, God knows how, allowed more than a trace of tin to get into the molybdenum."
It was easy to make fun of Mailer, with his chesty and sometimes foolish pronouncements, his nerve as a man in his 80s to write a 450-page novel about the childhood of Hitler, as told by an underling of Satan, with a bibliography citing Milton, Tolstoy and Freud.
But mocking Mailer was really just a way of putting down ourselves. Mailer's greatest risk was to presume that writing — and writers — mattered. To argue with him was good sport. To dismiss him was to dismiss literature itself.
Nope. Trust me, it really is a way of mocking Normie and all the other fruitless infantile rebels against reality.
Though he believed in reincarnation, we shouldn't count on such luck again. He was a man who saw the world whole and still forgave it.
If the Hindus are correct, and there is justice in the universe, little Normie Mailer will come back as a toilet plunger made in Slave China.
We have only started to miss him.
Who?
[Thanks to the AP for this obituary.]
The Catholic and Jewish crackups continue apace (and hand in hand)...
The Old Gray Whore of Babylon: Two Faiths Divided on Women's "Ordination" Ceremony
The Archdiocese of St. Louis and the Central Reform Congregation are on the same side when it comes to advocating for immigrants and the poor, often finding common ground in a zeal for social justice.
I blame the "reformed" Jews in this thing less than the idiot apostate broads who think they are still Catholic. There is no reason to expect liberal Jews to know or care about Catholicism.
But when the Jewish congregation offered its synagogue for an ordination of two women in a ceremony disavowed by the Roman Catholic Church, it drew the ire of archdiocese officials, who vowed never again to work with the congregation.
Amen to that. Actions have consequences, after all.
Maybe the Jews can call some unitarians nxt time.
The two women, Rose Marie Dunn Hudson, 67, of Festus, and Elsie Hainz McGrath, 69, of St. Louis, are scheduled to be ordained Sunday by a former nun as part of Roman Catholic Womenpriests, a small movement that began in 2002 and is independent from the Roman Catholic Church.
May God have mercy on their souls.
The Reform congregation’s rabbi, Susan Talve, informed the Rev. Vincent Heier, director of the archdiocese office for ecumenical and interreligious affairs, of the decision.
You too, Sue.
Mr. Heier told her it was unacceptable. “It’s not appropriate to invite this group, to aid and abet a group like this, which undercuts our theology and teaching,” Mr. Heier said he told Ms. Talve.
The Roman Catholic Church is framed in hierarchy, which sets rules and offers guidance for the faithful. The Jewish tradition has no centralized leadership, and congregations operate autonomously, answering to their own mission statement.
Thanks for the news flash, genius.
It was that mission that Ms. Talve and her congregation’s board relied on when considering the issue.
Ms. Talve said the women approached her this fall. “They said they were looking for a sanctuary, and that got my attention,” she said. “As Isaiah said, we are a house of prayer for all people.”
Dumbass. Isaiah is not pleased.
There are particularly nasty places in Hell reserved for those who dare mock Almighty God. That goes for rabbiesses as well as priestesses.
The congregation’s board voted unanimously to serve as host.
But the ceremony defies Catholic Church doctrine that allows only men to be ordained as priests and deacons.
The women are ignoring the warnings of Archbishop Raymond Burke, who said they would be excommunicated if they proceeded with the ceremony.
They have excommunicated themselves. All that is left is the paperwork.
Of the roughly 100 women who have been ordained as priests or deacons worldwide in the Womenpriests movement, including 37 in the United States, only the first seven were officially excommunicated by the Vatican, said a spokeswoman for the group, Bridget Mary Meehan.
Mr. Heier and Archbishop Burke pressed Ms. Talve and the board to withdraw their offer, saying the act would “cause pain” to the church.
“It’s akin to us inviting a group that is contrary to Jewish life,” Mr. Heier said.
Yeah. What if we had Neo-Nazi Bingo Night every Tuesday, eh, rabbi? How understanding would you and your congregation be?
Ms. Talve said she regretted that the church was pained by the decision, but added that denying the women would have hurt others. She said hundreds of practicing Catholics have called to thank her for taking a stand.
I doubt there were "hundreds". I know they were not Catholics.
But the archdiocese has clearly drawn a line with Ms. Talve and her congregation.
“This is not a lack of forgiveness,” Mr. Heier said, “but we have to stand for something. It’s a matter of principle.”
Amen to all that, Brother.
Some Sunnis seem to have figured it out.
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Ex-insurgents and al-Qaeda battle
Sunni former insurgents asked U.S. forces to stay away, then ambushed members of al-Qaeda in Iraq, killing 18 in a battle that raged for hours north of Baghdad, an ex-insurgent leader and Iraqi police said yesterday.
Let us hope this outbreak of reality quickly spreads.
The Islamic Army in Iraq sent advance word to Iraqi police requesting that U.S. helicopters keep out of the area since its fighters had no uniforms and were indistinguishable from al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to the police and a top Islamic Army leader known as Abu Ibrahim.
Abu Ibrahim said his fighters killed 18 al-Qaeda in Iraq members and captured 16 Friday in the fight southeast of Samarra, a mostly Sunni city about 60 miles north of Baghdad.
"We found out that al-Qaeda intended to attack us, so we ambushed them," Abu Ibrahim said. He would not say whether any Islamic Army members were killed.
Much of the Islamic Army in Iraq, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group that includes former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, has joined the U.S.-led fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq along with Sunni tribesmen and other former insurgents repelled by the group's brutality and extremism.
Golly. Now we just have to convince The Party of Blasphemy, Buggery, and 'Bortion that Our Boys are the good guys.
An Iraqi police officer corroborated Abu Ibrahim's account, but said police were not able to verify the number of bodies because the area was still too dangerous to enter.
Before the battle, the insurgent commander personally contacted Iraqi police in Samarra to tell them his plans, according to the officer and Abu Ibrahim. He asked that Iraqi authorities inform the American military about his plans, and requested that no U.S. troops interfere, they said.
The U.S. military said yesterday that it had no record of U.S. troops ever being informed about the operation, and that it was unclear whether Iraqi police followed through on Abu Ibrahim's request.
The police officer said the al-Qaeda in Iraq captives would not be transferred to Iraqi police.
Instead, he said, he believed the Islamic Army would offer a prisoner swap for some of its members held by al-Qaeda in Iraq. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because of the situation's sensitivity.
Meanwhile, farther east, in Diyala province, members of another former insurgent group, the 1920s Revolution Brigades, launched a military-style operation yesterday against al-Qaeda in Iraq there, the Iraqi army said.
About 60 militants were captured and handed over to Iraqi soldiers, an army officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to media.
Afterward, hundreds of people paraded through the streets of Buhriz, about 35 miles north of Baghdad, witnesses said. Many danced and fired their guns into the air, shouting, "Down with al-Qaeda!" and "Diyala is for all Iraqis!"
Like the Islamic Army, the 1920s Revolution Brigades includes former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party and officers from his army. Hundreds of 1920s members now work as scouts and gather intelligence for American soldiers in Diyala.
Heck, maybe the Baath Party should run one of these guys for US president. They seem smarter than the dimwits the Democrass Party is offering us. Especially Chris Dudd.
And at Baghdad's most revered Sunni shrine, the Abu Hanifa mosque, voices blasted from loudspeakers yesterday urging residents to turn against al-Qaeda in Iraq: "We are your sons, the sons of the awakening, and we want to end the operations of al-Qaeda. . . . We call upon you not to be frightened, and to cooperate with us."
"Awakening councils" have sprouted up in communities across Iraq, where members swear allegiance to Iraq's U.S.-backed government and disavow the insurgency. U.S. officials say the councils have been key to tamping violence in recent months.
The backlash against al-Qaeda in Iraq among the Sunni Arab community began in Iraq's western Anbar province last year. Americans recruited Sunni sheikhs to help oust al-Qaeda from their home turf, and the movement spread to former insurgents who once fought U.S. and Iraqi soldiers.
The next generation offers a glimmer of hope.
USA Today: H.S. junior wins legal battle over right to create 'The Pro-Life Club'
When school administrators told Stephanie Hoffmeier they wouldn't recognize The Pro-Life Club, the 16-year-old junior prayed to God and went to court.
"The suit put a spotlight on an often-misunderstood legal arena involving religion in public schools. Even some advocates of strict separation of church and state say religious speech by students at public school is protected under the Constitution and federal law," Washington's other newspaper reports. "School officials, conceding they were wrong, officially recognized the club Oct. 24, and Hoffmeier dropped the suit."
About 20 students showed up at the group's first meeting, which took place a few weeks ago at Colonial Forge High School in Stafford, Va.
Their mission, according to Hoffmeier's original proposal, was to "educate people about the biggest holocaust that is going on right here in the United States. To come together and pray to end abortion. To be a voice for my generation and a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves."
Click on the image to read a PDF of the complaint she filed in federal court in Alexandria, Va.
Notice the difference in the headlines from the organs of Big Babykilling...
MSNBC: Teen starts antiabortion club at school
UPI: Teen’s antiabortion club gets green light
Veterans Day
Today is Veterans Day [observed]. As you can see from the Department of Veterans Affair website, even they can't keep the day and date straight. It is time to get rid of the three day weekend nonsense.
Find a veteran and buy him a beer. Or, at the very least, shake his hand and thank him for risking his life so you don't have to.
Above: U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Gadson works with physical therapist Bob Barr during his rehabilitation at the Military Advanced Training Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington November 6, 2007. [Roto-Reuters]
Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.
Today is the Feast of Saint Paternus, Benedictine monk of Saint Pierre le Vif, near Sens, France. He was slain by evildoers whom he severely chastised. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.
Today's reading is Wisdom 1:1-7.
Today's Responsorial Psalm is Psalms 138:1-10.
Today's Gospel reading is Luke 17:1-6.
Everyday links:
The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today
ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome
Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.
St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.
Anima Christi
Soul of Christ, sanctify me; Body of Christ, save me; Blood of Christ, inebriate me; Water from Christ's side, wash me; Passion of Christ, strengthen me; O good Jesus, hear me; Within Thy wounds hide me; Suffer me not to be separated from Thee; From the malicious enemy defend me; In the hour of my death call me; And bid me come unto Thee; That I may praise Thee with Thy saints and with Thy angels Forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer to St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire
Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)
Prayer To Saint Michael The Archangel
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Prayer to End Abortion
Lord God, I thank You today for the gift of my life, and for the lives of all my brothers and sisters. I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the resurrection of Your Son. I am ready to do my part to end abortion. Today I commit myself never to be silent, never to be passive, and never to be forgetful of the unborn. I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement, and never stop defending life until all my brothers and sisters are protected and our nation once again becomes a nation with liberty and justice, not just for some, but for all. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer For Vocations
Send forth your Spirit, Lord, into the hearts of your faithful people, that we may be conscious of our vocation to holiness and sevice to others. Grant that many of us may dedicate ourselves to You through the priesthood and the religious life.We pray especially for the needs of our own parish and diocese. Grant that we may always have sufficient good and holy priests, and dedicated Sisters to serve our commumities.We pray, too, for religious orders; that generous men may join them to become zealous missionaries in preaching the Gospel in word and action, especially to the poor and abandoned.We make this prayer through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Redeemer. Amen.
Prayer Before The Crucifix
Behold, O kind and gentle Jesus, I kneel before Thee and pray that Thou would impress upon my heart the virtues of faith, hope, and charity, with true repentance for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment. At the same time, with sorrow I meditate on Thy five precious wounds, having in mind the words which David spoke in prophecy: "They have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones."
Divine Praises
Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.
Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints.
May the Heart of Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament
Be praised, adored and loved
With grateful affection at every moment
In all the tabernacles of the world
Even to the end of time. Amen.
Prayer to Saint Benedict
Sanctissime Confessor Domini, monachorum Pater et dux,
Benedicte, intercede pro nostra omniumque salute.
V. Domine Deus virtutum converte nos.
R. Et ostende faciem tuam et salvi erimus.
Oremus.
Excita, Domine, in Ecclesia tua Spiritum cui beatus Pater noster Benedictus Abbas servivit: ut eodem nos repleti, studeamus amare quod amavit, et opere exercere quod docuit.
Da nobis, quaesumus, Domine, perseverantem in tua voluntate famulatum: ut in
Diebus nostris et merito et numero populus tibi serviens augeatur. Per Christum Dominum Nostrum. Amen.
For those whose Latin is a bit rusty:
O most holy Confessor of the Lord, Benedict, father and guide of monks, intercede for our salvation and that of everyone.
V. Lord, God of armies, convert us.
R. Show us Thy Face and we shall be saved.
Let us pray.
Awaken, O Lord, in Thy Church the Spirit that our blessed Father Saint Benedict
obeyed, so that, filled with the same Spirit we may strive to love what he loved and practice what he taught.
Grant us the grace to persevere in the service of Thy will, so that our days may
see the people of Thy servants grow in merit and number. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Peace of the Day.
Sunday November 11, 2007 is Armistice Day. It commemorates the peace to end all war.
Pray for Father David Ajemian.
NY Post: CONAN PRIEST HOOD
Ahhh... The Post's headline writers are the most clever of all.
The priest accused of stalking Conan O'Brien was kind and caring, nothing like the obsessed man who allegedly told the late-night talk show host he was "tracking him through space and time," his seminary mentor said.
Obviously, priests can have problems like the rest of us...but Conan freakin' O'Brien?
The Rev. David Ajemian, a priest in the Archdiocese of Boston, was arrested last week while trying to enter a taping of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in New York City despite being warned to stay away by NBC security personnel. He was arraigned on charges including stalking and aggravated harassment and ordered held for psychiatric evaluation.
Ajemian, 46, was scheduled to appear in court Friday for an update on the case, said Jennifer Kushner, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan prosecutor's office.
His attorney, Eric Seiff, said Ajemian was being held at a New York jail, but declined to comment except to say "it will be worked out in court."
Ajemian, who allegedly began writing O'Brien in September 2006, has been placed on leave by the Boston Archdiocese and can't minister publicly. He was removed in June from his last posting, at St. Patrick Parish in Stoneham, after two years at the parish.
A spokesman at the archdiocese did not respond to questions about whether the move was related to the stalking allegations.
But on July 2, Ajemian wrote security officials at NBC questioning "why you chose to raise this matter with my superiors after I left you a clear message by phone several weeks ago that I would cease all contact with the show," according to court papers.
In the same letter, he called himself "a stalker of a very different order than the kind you are used to dealing with" and dared them to "tell Conan about your surveillance of me."
In a previous letter, Ajemian expressed frustration to O'Brien that he had been denied a spot in his audience after he'd flown to New York "in the dimming hope that you might finally acknowledge me."
"Is this the way you treat your most dangerous fans???" he wrote. "You owe me big time pal."
He also told O'Brien he knew where he lived and wrote, "Remember (mobster) Frank Costello once dodged a bullet in your building and so can you."
Ajemian's seminary mentor, the Rev. John Mark Hannon said Thursday he believes Ajemian can still be a good priest if he receives proper psychiatric help.
"He was a good seminarian. He was kind and generous and affable and concerned how people were," said Hannon, who mentored Ajemian before he graduated from St. John's Seminary in 2001.
"He's very likable," Hannon added, "it's just he's stupid, apparently."
Wow. And you folks accuse me of being less than charitable...
Ajemian, the son of former Time magazine journalist Robert Ajemian, attended Harvard University at the same time O'Brien did. Ajemian graduated from Harvard in 1983, while O'Brien graduated in 1985.
It was unclear if the two crossed paths there. O'Brien's roommate at Harvard, the Rev. Paul O'Brien, a priest in Lawrence who is not related to Conan O'Brien, declined comment.
NBC said Conan O'Brien would not comment on Ajemian.
After graduating from Harvard, Ajemian took a roundabout route to the priesthood. Among his jobs was work in 1990 as a legal assistant at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and he also worked as a teacher.
The Rev. Hannon, pastor at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Hanson, said Ajemian never spoke to him about O'Brien and never gave any indication anything unusual was happening in his life.
He's not a dangerous person, Hannon said.
"I still consider him a friend," he said.
Fyodor's Blog of the Day.
Black Aces - Bringing The NHL Perspective From Deep In The Heart Of Canada's Capital City.
I had not heard much about the new sweaters, but I did not assume everything was fine...
Most Predictable Situation: Players Hate The New Uniforms
The new sweaters repel the sweat right into the player's gloves and skates. Now Reebok is secretly trying to fix them and offering the older materials to players who request it. What a boondoggle.
Honourable Mentions: Vancouver Can't Score, Dustin Penner Isn't Performing, Phoenix Still Blows Big Time.
I'm guessing he means the Coyotes, not the City of Phoenix. Phoenix is a nice place to visit.
Once in a great while, ESPN gets it right.
A case in point is Triumph And Tragedy: The Ray Mancini Story airing on ESPN Classic Tuesday November 13, 2007 at 8:00 PM Eastern.
That day is the 25th anniversary of the WBA lightweight title fight between Ray Mancini and Korea's Deuk-Koo Kim. During that fight, Ray Mancini knocked out Kim who died 4 days later. Overwhelmed by grief, Kim's mother committed suicide 11 weeks later. Mancini was devastated and, until now, has not talked about the fight and Kim’s death in a tv interview..
Ray Mancini is a half-Irish, half-Italian working class Catholic kid from Youngstown, Ohio. His dad, Lenny [the original "Boom-Boom" Mancini] missed his shot at a world lightweight title in February 1942 because he was otherwise occupied: Uncle Sam drafted him to fight in World War II. Ray became a fighter to get a title for his dad.
Boxing is a brutal, beautiful, savage, glorious, dirty, sweet, crooked and yes, sometimes deadly game. But the men who participate in it know this.
Someday, the emasculation of mankind will be complete and boxing will be no more. Before that happens, the question we should be asking is this: How will men expend their aggression then?
Totalitarian Pennsylvania is a national joke.
Steve "Side-Saddle" Reed, Mayor For Life of Pennsylvania's capital, gets smacked by reality about as hard as he's beaten the city's budget over the years.
And he wonders why everyone has fled to the suburbs...
The Sentinel: Harrisburg mayor’s dream of the old West is readied for auction in Texas
The mayor of one of Pennsylvania’s most debt-laden cities spent millions of dollars in public money on everything from covered wagons to copper marshal’s badges for a museum about cowboys, Indians and the Wild West.
He did so even though the city is on the other side of the country from the prairies, mining towns and honky tonks of the old West and without telling city council members, who learned about it from a newspaper reporter.
Sound bizarre?
It’s true, and the other cowboy boot is poised to drop Saturday, when bidding starts on hundreds of items at a Dallas hotel — a step that council members forced to try to address a shortfall in the city budget.
The stakes are high for Harrisburg, a city of 47,000 that is best known as Pennsylvania’s capital, 95 miles west of Philadelphia and 1,400 miles east of Deadwood, S.D.
With the city deep in debt, council members will be watching closely to see how much can be reclaimed from the roughly $6.5 million that Mayor Stephen R. Reed said he spent on guns and other old West collectibles.
“If we get less, then it’s just a big mistake and it’s unfortunate for the people of Harrisburg,” said Councilman Dan Miller.
I guess we should be thankful ol' Bareback Reed did not blow the $6.5 million on statues of himself like Stalin did.
When Reed became Harrisburg’s mayor in 1982, his dream was to transform the decaying, shrinking city into a cultural destination, a “city of light” on the Susquehanna River.
Distopia, anyone?
Under Reed’s leadership, hotels and restaurants have sprouted in downtown and the number of businesses on the city’s tax rolls has more than quadrupled. A minor-league baseball team now plays on a park that rose from a trash dump on an island in the Susquehanna.
In 2001, Reed opened the National Civil War Museum on an abandoned reservoir overlooking the Capitol — even though none of the war’s major battles played out in the city. His dream of building the National Museum of the Old West next to it stalled.
“I still think it’s a good idea,” he told reporters at an unrelated public event Tuesday. But, “we need the money right now.”
The man is a certifiable lunatic. Or just an average politician.
Steve, the city had the money. You wasted the money. You are a thief and a liar.
Bad divine right monarch! Bad!
Reed did not return repeated messages The Associated Press left with an aide, but has defended his spending as perfectly legal. The auction will include items from six collections, and is being touted as the largest Western-related collection ever auctioned.
“This is your unique opportunity to share in this history,” Reed wrote in a letter printed in an auction catalog. “This is an auction like no other.”
To buy the items, Reed tapped an account at the Harrisburg Authority, where his expenditures were approved by officials he had appointed. The authority, which now includes council appointees, oversees parts of the city’s infrastructure and raises money by collecting fees on bond issues it brokers for government agencies.
At least one Harrisburg Authority official contends that some of the money Reed spent should have been off limits for the museums, and questions whether the mayor, in a shopping frenzy, unwittingly paid bloated prices for items that could be fakes.
Reed shelled out close to $30 million on old West, Civil War and other collectibles over 15 years — he even bought an Egyptian mummy — while the city was sliding deeper into debt, said the official, Eric Papenfuse, a council appointee who is the authority’s treasurer.
Certifiable.
City employees are only beginning to catalog what Reed actually bought. Many items, including a 12-gun schooner that was part of Gen. Benedict Arnold’s fleet during the Revolutionary War, are still stuffed into warehouses and storage rooms at city facilities, Papenfuse said.
Steverino heard Arnold had something to do with West Point and, being a brainless statist, naturally thought the schooner was perfect for his Wild West Extravaganza.
“The spending is staggering,” he said. “It’s unbelievable.”
About 800 of the thousands of old West items from Harrisburg are scheduled to be auctioned by Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries over two days beginning Saturday. Another two-day auction is scheduled in April and some items will be sold on eBay.
For sale are covered wagons, marshal’s badges, boots, chaps, saddles, “Wanted” posters, letters, photographs, maps, furniture, pottery, decor, artwork, pistols, rifles, knives and more. One item expected to fetch tens of thousands of dollars is a bright red Wells Fargo & Co. stage coach, still in working condition.
Claims about the size of the auction raised eyebrows among dealers. One said he believes the items should bring in more than Reed paid, claiming that a weak dollar is drawing many buyers, including Europeans, into collectibles.
Way to squander your country's heritage, you pinhead. Some decadent foreign potentate is going to use that stage coach as a place to deflower the new members of his harem.
[BTW, Hitler had a thing for cowboy stories, too. I guess men who are less than men like to fantasize about being real men. I wonder if the Mayor For Life parades around his house dressed as Patton?]
“The Western market today has gone extremely wild,” said Don Cappa, a Deer Lodge, Mont., collector and appraiser.
William W. Savage Jr., a professor of western American history at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., laughed out loud when a reporter described the plans for the museum in Pennsylvania.
It is not so funny if you have to live in the middle of the tyranny, Bill.
The Keystone State is known more for its Civil and Revolutionary War history — say, Gettysburg or Valley Forge — than Wild Bill Hickok or the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
If anything, Pennsylvania was something of a launching pad for explorers, being the birthplace of the Conestoga Wagon and the Pennsylvania Rifle, Savage said.
“I wouldn’t say it was the Wild West, but it certainly figures into frontier expansion,” he said.
Miller, the councilman, said that the way Reed pursued the idea was embarrassing. There was no public discussion, no professional to draw up a plan and no curator to create a collection.
“A responsible city would not have gone about it in this way,” he said.
That, kiddies, is the bottom line. The rule of men rather than the rule of law leads invariably to tyranny. Sure, it is only petty tyranny today, but remember that Stalin got his start robbing little banks in the middle of nowhere.
Sport is dying.
Sports Illustrated: Louisville sues Duke over cancelled games
The University of Louisville has filed a lawsuit against Duke University claiming breach of contract after the Blue Devils opted out of the final three games of a four-game football series.
The lawsuit, filed in Franklin Circuit Court, is asking for $450,000 in damages, or $150,000 for each of the three games.
The two schools were to meet four times between 2002 and 2009. Louisville beat the Blue Devils 40-3 in Sept. 2002, but Duke opted out of the final three games, to be played this season and in 2008 and 2009.
Duke, according to the suit, asked the Cardinals to find a replacement opponent and promised to pay Louisville only if the school could not find one after a "good faith" effort.
Louisville claims it could not find an opponent of similar stature [What? Is Brown all booked up? - F.G.] to fill the schedule and received "little, if any, help from either Duke or the ACC" in finding a replacement.
Louisville still has one open date on its 2008 schedule and two open dates in 2009.
The university added Murray State and Utah to the 2007 schedule after Duke and Vanderbilt backed out of games with the Cardinals, said spokesman Kenny Klein.
The Cardinals have contacted every member of the Football Bowl Subdivision to find a replacement, according to the lawsuit, but has been unable to find a school willing to play two games at Louisville in exchange for one return game.
A call to Duke University by the Associated Press wasn't immediately returned on Thursday.
Happy 275th Birthday to the Redemptorists!
The Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris [C.Ss.R. or Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer], a society of missionary priests, was founded by Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, 9 Nov., 1732, at Scala, near Amalfi, Italy, for the purpose of labouring among the neglected country people in the neighbourhood of Naples.
The Redemptorists are essentially and by their specific vocation a missionary society. According to their rule they are "to strive to imitate the virtues and examples of Jesus Christ, Our Redeemer, consecrating themselves especially to the preaching of the word of God to the poor". They take the simple vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and by the vows of poverty they are bound to refuse all ecclesiastical dignities outside of the congregation. To these vows they add the vow and oath of perseverance to live in the congregation until death. Their labours consist principally in missions, retreats, and similar exercises. In order to render these labours most effective, all their sermons and instructions should be solid, simple, and persuasive. On all their missions they are obliged to preach a sermon on prayer and one on the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In order to secure the salutary effects of their missions, they should, after four or five months, return to the places where they have given missions, and preach another, shorter course of sermons. On missions proper the rule obliges them to hear all the confessions themselves. Wherever the Redemptorists have parishes they labour in the same spirit, both in the pulpit and in the confessional. One of the great means of preserving truly religious fervour among all classes of the faithful is the Archconfraternity of the Holy Family, which they establish in all their parishes. They are also most solicitous in providing well-equipped parochial schools, and they take special care of growing youth.
Visit the Redemptorists here.
Visit the Redemptorists in North America here.
The Redemptorists do God's vital work all over the world every day, preaching His Word and saving souls. Please pray that more good men will answer God's call to join the Redemptorists and encourage your sons to think seriously about the priesthood.
Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.
Today is th Feast of The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. Today is also the Feast of Saint Orestes, a martyr of Cappadocia who was put to death by torture under co-Emperor Diocletian. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.
Today's first reading is Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12.
Today's Responsorial Psalm is Psalms 45:3-4, 6-7, 9-10.
Today's second reading is 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17.
Today's Gospel reading is John 2:13-22.
Everyday links:
The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today
ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome
Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is
The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.
St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.
Anima Christi
Soul of Christ, sanctify me; Body of Christ, save me; Blood of Christ, inebriate me; Water from Christ's side, wash me; Passion of Christ, strengthen me; O good Jesus, hear me; Within Thy wounds hide me; Suffer me not to be separated from Thee; From the malicious enemy defend me; In the hour of my death call me; And bid me come unto Thee; That I may praise Thee with Thy saints and with Thy angels Forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer to St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire
Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)
Prayer To Saint Michael The Archangel
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Prayer to End Abortion
Lord God, I thank You today for the gift of my life, and for the lives of all my brothers and sisters. I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the resurrection of Your Son. I am ready to do my part to end abortion. Today I commit myself never to be silent, never to be passive, and never to be forgetful of the unborn. I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement, and never stop defending life until all my brothers and sisters are protected and our nation once again becomes a nation with liberty and justice, not just for some, but for all. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer For Vocations
Send forth your Spirit, Lord, into the hearts of your faithful people, that we may be conscious of our vocation to holiness and sevice to others. Grant that many of us may dedicate ourselves to You through the priesthood and the religious life.We pray especially for the needs of our own parish and diocese. Grant that we may always have sufficient good and holy priests, and dedicated Sisters to serve our commumities.We pray, too, for religious orders; that generous men may join them to become zealous missionaries in preaching the Gospel in word and action, especially to the poor and abandoned.We make this prayer through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Redeemer. Amen.
Prayer Before The Crucifix
Behold, O kind and gentle Jesus, I kneel before Thee and pray that Thou would impress upon my heart the virtues of faith, hope, and charity, with true repentance for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment. At the same time, with sorrow I meditate on Thy five precious wounds, having in mind the words which David spoke in prophecy: "They have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones."
Divine Praises
Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.
Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints.
May the Heart of Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament
Be praised, adored and loved
With grateful affection at every moment
In all the tabernacles of the world
Even to the end of time. Amen.
Prayer to Saint Benedict
Sanctissime Confessor Domini, monachorum Pater et dux,
Benedicte, intercede pro nostra omniumque salute.
V. Domine Deus virtutum converte nos.
R. Et ostende faciem tuam et salvi erimus.
Oremus.
Excita, Domine, in Ecclesia tua Spiritum cui beatus Pater noster Benedictus Abbas servivit: ut eodem nos repleti, studeamus amare quod amavit, et opere exercere quod docuit.
Da nobis, quaesumus, Domine, perseverantem in tua voluntate famulatum: ut in
Diebus nostris et merito et numero populus tibi serviens augeatur. Per Christum Dominum Nostrum. Amen.
For those whose Latin is a bit rusty:
O most holy Confessor of the Lord, Benedict, father and guide of monks, intercede for our salvation and that of everyone.
V. Lord, God of armies, convert us.
R. Show us Thy Face and we shall be saved.
Let us pray.
Awaken, O Lord, in Thy Church the Spirit that our blessed Father Saint Benedict
obeyed, so that, filled with the same Spirit we may strive to love what he loved and practice what he taught.
Grant us the grace to persevere in the service of Thy will, so that our days may
see the people of Thy servants grow in merit and number. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Mary Anne Doe, Requiescat in pace.
I know Almighty God will have mercy on poor little Mary Anne's soul. Let us pray that her mother and father may seek His mercy through conversion, repentence, and confession.
Though the newborn baby's body was found in a dumpster behind the Lancaster YMCA, she is not being tossed away by the local community.
She now has a name, Mary Anne.
And her short life will be honored at a funeral to be held at 1 p.m. Friday at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, 501 E. Orange St.
"The most vulnerable and fragile human life is filled with dignity and deserves to be rejoiced in," said the Rev. Daniel Mitzel of St. Anthony Church.
Baby Mary Anne's funeral was planned by local people who stepped forward after her body was discovered Sept. 24.
The child's body, inside a tote bag from a state land title association, was found in a dumpster in the 500 block of Market Street. An autopsy showed the child was female and police are waiting the results of further tests.
Dolores Yecker, a lifetime member of St. Anthony and a member of its social justice ministry committee, was touched by the abandoned baby.
She talked with Mitzel, and the church decided to hold the funeral and donate a burial site at its cemetery off Ranck Avenue."When I read about this baby, there was just something about it that I felt so sorry for," she said today.
Yecker named the baby, giving her the first name of the mother of Jesus and the middle name of the mother of Mary. Yecker's own grandmother also had that name.
Blessed Mother, pray for us.
Saint Anne, pray for us.
Mitzel will be joined at the service by the Rev. Stephen Verkouw of Grace Lutheran Church, a North Queen Street church about a block from where the baby's body was found.
Also, the Rev. Kevin Brown of Ray's Temple Community Church of God in Christ and of the Downtown Ministerium will participate. A police chaplain also is expected to participate in the funeral, which will include a graveside service.
Chip Snyder of Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home has volunteered his services and a small white casket for the burial.
Snyder expects local florists will donate flowers. Also, a fund is being established to collect money for a headstone that likely will cost between $500 and $1,000.
In addition to celebrating the life of Baby Mary Anne at the funeral, Mitzel said he will note the challenge to respond to the needs of others in the community.
He hopes the community will embrace the service and that challenge.
"All people of faith are invited, all people of faith and prayer and good will," Mitzel said.
Donations for Baby Mary Anne's headstone may be sent to:
Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home
414 E. King St.
Lancaster, PA 17602
Any funds beyond the cost of the headstone will be donated to a local crisis pregnancy center.
Meanwhile, back in the other Georgia...
The Washington Times: President declares state of emergency
U.S.-allied President Mikhail Saakashvili declared a state of emergency yesterday in the capital of Georgia, where six days of demonstrations have fueled a worsening crisis.
Mr. Saakashvili has blamed Russia for fomenting the unrest in the former Soviet nation. His prime minister, Zurab Nogaideli, said in a televised statement that there had been an effort to overthrow the pro-Western government.
Putin's a dumbass. The age of czars and Party Chairmen is over.
“An attempt to conduct a coup was made, and we had to react to that,” Mr. Nogaideli said.
The emergency declaration “will temporarily ban demonstrations and protests and calls in the media for violence and the ouster of the government by force,” Mr. Nogaideli said.
He said the presidential decree would be submitted to parliament for approval in the next two days as required by the constitution.
Riot police earlier used tear gas and water cannons to break up demonstrations before bursting into the offices of a pro-opposition television station that went off the air moments later.
Georgia"s Imedi television station describes itself as independent but is seen as a key opposition mouthpiece by authorities. It has carried statements by opposition leaders and broadcast footage of police breaking up protests yesterday.
More than 100 people were hospitalized after police drove opposition demonstrators from two protests in the capital, Tbilisi. Police used nightsticks on some protesters and rubber bullets at one demonstration.
Whither Pakistan?
The Washington Times: Pakistan's moves may aid militants
President Pervez Musharraf's declaration of emergency rule has so alienated Pakistan's moderate middle class that many analysts fear he has created a power vacuum that will allow militant Islamists to flourish.
Pakistani police continued arresting opponents yesterday, adding to thousands of lawyers, human rights activists and campaigners for "civil society" who have been jailed since Gen. Musharraf suspended the constitution on Saturday.
Almost unnoticed in the domestic and international furor after the move was a prisoner exchange reported Sunday, in which 25 extremists were swapped for nearly 200 soldiers captured months ago in the tribal region of Waziristan.
"If indeed the reason for his virtual martial law was to fight extremism and terrorism, then he is not likely to rid Pakistan of it," said Naseem Zehra, a popular commentator and newspaper columnist.
Ayaz Amir, a political analyst, said Gen. Musharraf had a "good vision" but emergency rule highlights his government's biggest weakness.
"It is accountable to no one. There are no checks and balances," he said in a telephone interview from Washington.
"To face the challenge of extremism and terrorism, you've got to have the support of moderate and secular forces who have always opposed the Taliban. Now they are disaffected," Mr. Amir said. "This is no way to run a country."
'Conservative' and 'Republican' are not REPEAT NOT synonymous.
The Washington Times: Christian right scatters support in GOP
Christian conservative leaders, unable to coalesce around a single candidate, instead are spreading their blessings among several Republican presidential hopefuls — and drying up talk of a third-party "Christian values" ticket.
Alan Keyes for President!
The Rev. Donald Wildmon, who founded the American Family Association in Tupelo, Miss., and whose evangelical Christian message reaches several million radio listeners and Internet subscribers, will throw his support to Mike Huckabee today, a Republican close to the Huckabee campaign told The Washington Times.
Alan Keyes for President!
That support will come a day after the Rev. Pat Robertson shocked fellow evangelicals by endorsing Rudolph W. Giuliani, the only pro-choice Republican running.
Alan Keyes for President!
Merrill Matthews, an evangelical Christian and health care policy analyst at the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas, said Mr. Robertson's endorsement can mean one of two things: "Either abortion is no longer the defining issue for evangelicals that it used to be or the fear of a Hillary Clinton presidency is so great that at least some evangelicals will compromise on a three-decades-old non-compromisable principle to beat her."
Alan Keyes for President!
The doling out of endorsements began Monday when Paul M. Weyrich, who holds a regular Wednesday meeting of conservative leaders in Washington, gave the nod to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, who ended his run for the Republican nomination last month, yesterday embraced Sen. John McCain of Arizona. James Dobson, whose Focus on the Family reaches millions of followers through radio and newsletter subscriptions, is expected to reveal his choice this week.
Alan Keyes for President!
Some evangelical insiders predict that Mr. Dobson will back Mr. Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and an ordained Southern Baptist minister.
Alan Keyes for President!
The Robertson endorsement is considered a clear signal that the evangelical broadcaster thinks that the former New York mayor will emerge as the Republican nominee next year and is the candidate most capable of defeating Mrs. Clinton in the fall.
Alan Keyes for President!
"The theme of the endorsements of both Giuliani and McCain seem to be less about conservative beliefs and more about who can beat Hillary," said Jessica Echard, executive director of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum. "For Republicans to use that criterion is to hand over the primary process to the Democratic Party, rather than to the grass roots."
Alan Keyes for President!
"Eagle Forum is in no hurry to endorse a candidate," Miss Echard said. "We are still one year from the general election."
Alan Keyes for President!
But some Republicans professed to see value in Christian right leaders ending up all over the map.
Alan Keyes for President!
"This really indicates a maturing of the social conservative leaders in one sense: that they don't all fit into a phone booth and that they don't all fit into a mold," Republican elections lawyer Cleta Mitchell said. "The absence of a lock-step devotion to the same candidate makes social conservative leaders important to whichever candidate is endorsed. That is a good thing, not a bad thing."
Alan Keyes for President!
Mr. Matthews said the endorsements show that the Christian right has a pragmatic side and is not as rigid an ideological movement as it is portrayed.
Alan Keyes for President!
Mr. Robertson has a history of endorsing the ultimate winner of the Republican presidential nomination fight, including Bob Dole in 1996 and George W. Bush in 2000.
Alan Keyes for President!
Mr. Robertson's influence is not widespread as it once was. His "700 Club" reaches millions of viewers five days a week, but he is no longer associated with the Christian Coalition, which he founded after his failed Republican presidential nomination run in 1988.
Alan Keyes for President!
Many evangelical leaders across the country e-mailed each other expressing their shock over the surprise move by Mr. Robertson, who has built a reputation as a protector of the unborn.
Alan Keyes for President!
The practical effect of Mr. Robertson, still a major figure on the evangelical right, has less to do with how many followers he can turn out next November and more to do with the stamp of approval he puts on pro-life voters tapping the screen for a pro-choice candidate.
Alan Keyes for President!
"Many evangelicals have been saying quietly that given the choice between Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, they would vote for Rudy," Mr. Matthews said. "Pat Robertson's endorsement frees them up to say so publicly."
Alan Keyes for President!
Senator Token Update.
Ol' What'shisreligion babbles mindlessly about something or other as his hopes of being Hitlery's veep quickly fade.
The Washington Times: Obama confronts generational rifts
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama attacked his chief rival as out of step with the times and too locked in 1960s social and cultural battles to deal with new challenges that require a different and perhaps younger perspective.
Yeah, like he's any less a socialist. Heck, I know three year olds with collectivist tendencies.
As a matter of fact, having a mind like a three year old comes in handy on the fascist left.
"I think there is no doubt that we represent the kind of change that Senator Clinton can't deliver on, and part of it is generational," Mr. Obama told Fox News yesterday about the difference between himself and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. "I mean, Senator Clinton and others, they've been fighting some of the same fights since the '60s, and it makes it very difficult for them to bring the country together to get things done."
Mr. Obama began his presidential campaign with the message that a new generation of Americans needs to assume leadership and continue the progress made by the baby boomers who fought for civil rights.
For the first six months of the campaign, that message helped carry Mr. Obama to record fundraising numbers far ahead of Mrs. Clinton's. The senator from New York did not catch up until the summer.
Last month, Mr. Obama said he would begin to challenge Mrs. Clinton directly. [WATERBOARD HER! WATERBOARD HER! - F.G.] He and other Democratic candidates peppered her during a debate last week with tough questions about immigration and Iran.
Mr. Obama, Illinois Democrat, kicked off several days of campaigning in Iowa yesterday with a speech in Bettendorf. He touted his proposals introduced earlier this year to expand health care coverage, eliminate the income tax for retirees making less than $50,000 per year and cut taxes up to $1,000 for families.
He also proposed ways to make college more affordable.
"I'll create a new and fully refundable tax credit worth $4,000 for tuition and fees every year, which will cover two-thirds of the tuition at the average public college or university," Mr. Obama said. He pledged to "simplify the financial aid application process so that we don't have a million students who aren't applying for aid because it's too difficult."
...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
He said he would eliminate the current application for student aid and instead rely on parents' tax data to determine eligibility. He proposed a new Community College Partnership Program to determine the skills and technical education needed to help local industry, create degrees for emerging fields and reward schools that graduate more students.
Mr. Obama's higher-education proposal contrasts with that of former Sen. John Edwards, the North Carolina Democrat who also is seeking the presidential nomination.
Mr. Edwards has called for a plan to fully cover tuition and book costs for more than 2 million students in their first year of public college. He said he would reform the financial aid system by eliminating bank subsidies on student loans and allowing students to apply directly to the Department of Education. He estimates his plan would free up almost $6 billion a year to make higher education more affordable.
The Washington Times: Edwards, Obama unite against Hillary
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend" may be the new campaign motto for the two Democratic presidential hopefuls simultaneously working to topple Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
From The Evans-Novak Political Report for November 7, 2007
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The following is merely a sample of the latest ENPR.
Outlook
The transformation of congressional procedure into a knife fight as the session nears an end was typified by the maneuvers of Democratic leaders this week. They attempted to fold the controversial Labor/Health and Human Services (replete with earmarks) and Education appropriations bills into the non-controversial Military Construction bill (including Veterans benefits). The outcome is unclear.
In the midst of maneuvers over appropriations, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) rose Tuesday to offer a privileged motion for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney. Democratic leaders don't want this divisive debate, but Republicans do and prevented the Kucinich resolution from being tabled. The motion was finally referred to committee, preventing a bitterly divisive battle among Democrats.
Democrats are showing a little "buyer's remorse" about Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) as their presidential candidate even before they have "bought" her. Her waffling on New York Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer's bid to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens led some Democrats to describe her as somebody interested only in power. But she looks to be headed for the nomination.
Republicans are in a presidential quandary after the performance of former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday (see below). There is no party favorite, and Republican insiders are still waiting for somebody to step forward.
President 2008
Republicans:
Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) may have seriously wounded himself with his handling of the abortion issue on Sunday's "Meet the Press." Thompson unequivocally stated he opposed a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution, which is a plank in the Republican platform. Without prompting, he then attacked the idea of "criminalizing" abortion and locking up mothers who procure abortions -- images that are used as scare tactics by the pro-choice lobby. Throughout the long discussion of the topic, Thompson was incoherent at best and thoroughly objectionable to his party's pro-life base at worst. He backed away from his firm opposition to the platform, but he never quite set himself right on the whole issue.
While abortion might not have the weight this election that it has in the past, the pro-life base is still one Thompson cannot afford to upset. Many conservative activists who put the abortion issue near the top of their priorities would be ready to embrace Thompson as their nominee. His "Meet the Press" performance will, at the very least, make it very difficult for pro-life activists to campaign for Thompson.
This leaves the GOP field without a real anti-abortion leader since the withdrawal of Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.). Some pro-lifers trust the conversion of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), but many doubt it. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has a 100 percent pro-life record, but he has never been a leader on the issue, though he did pick up a Brownback endorsement this week. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.), a doctor, has also consistently voted against abortion, but to date, he hasn't made it much of an issue. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) has assuaged the fears of some pro-life voters, but he will never win over the hard-core abortion foes who go to church parking lots on the Sunday before Election Day campaigning for Republicans in many races. The most pro-life candidate remaining may be former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), possibly the least broadly conservative candidate in the field.
Rep. Ron Paul set fundraising records on Monday, pulling in $4.2 million in online donations in one day. This is the largest single day of online fundraising in political history, and the largest single day of donations for any Republican candidate ever. The donations, averaging a little more than $100 each, reflect the unmatched enthusiasm of Paul's supporters, who range from anti-war activists to libertarians to fed-up Republicans.
Interestingly, it was volunteer supporters with no affiliations to Paul's campaign who organized the fundraiser. For all the talk of candidates' using the Internet in 2008, Paul's campaign is the only one that is really doing it -- and he is doing it mostly by stepping back and letting his enthusiastic backers form their own networks of support.
Raising this sort of money could increase Paul's support. First, it suggests that he is a legitimate candidate and not the Dennis Kucinich of the GOP. This might make some potential supporters less wary about "throwing away their vote." Also, going into the early states, he will have a huge cash-on-hand advantage over everyone but Romney and McCain.
I would vote for Ron Paul before I would vote for Mayor McTerror.
Children of the '80s, rejoice!
Because Pylon is back and they are playing in Philadelphia Saturday night at the World Cafe Live!
In December of 1987, R.E.M. was chosen by Rolling Stone as “America’s Best
Rock And Roll Band,” an honor that was quickly dismissed by drummer Bill Berry.
“We're not the best rock’n’roll band in America." Pylon, he declared, was much
more deserving of the honor than his group. Yet, at the time, Pylon had been
broken up for four years.
But such is the legacy of Pylon. Word of mouth and a relatively small but
vital cache of music, often traded by hard-core fans and collectors, has kept
the story of the fiercely independent and highly influential band alive for
three decades.
The quartet was born in 1979 in the humid college town of Athens, Georgia. It’s hard to believe now, but back then there was no real music scene in the now-legendary city. The B-52’s had made their mark and quickly moved to the greener pastures of New York. Cover bands and redneck frat parties served the college community, leaving the more artistically inclined outsiders with plenty of free time to create their own little world. Pylon was born of this necessity and deftly rose to the occasion -- on their own terms.University of Georgia art students Randy Bewley(guitar) and Michael Lachowski (bass) teamed with drummer Curtis Crowe to fill out their repetitive “electronic experimentation” project, grinding out lock-step mechanical art rock that treaded danceable beats with the precision of a well-oiled machine. Two weeks after the addition of vocalist Vanessa Briscoe, the novice band debuted at a downtown party in March of ’79. Just a few shows and a few months later, they were opening for Gang of Four in NYC and Philadelphia.
Oh, man...Gang of Four! Commie dance music from the UK...
The “art-oriented, New Wave dance-party circuit” as Lachowski once referred to their clique, soon responded with a wave of new bands -- including an enigmatic garage band called R.E.M. Athens became a hotspot for music as The B's became the IT band of the New York scene, riding high on “Rock Lobster," and spreading the word about Pylon and the burgeoning Athens scene to anyone who’d listen.
Pylon's first single, "Cool" / “Dub” was released on Atlanta’s DB Recs label in early 1980, earning a slew of excited press that immediately heralded Pylon as a major underground act. The band’s jagged rhythms, scratchy guitar and insistent bass lines were the perfect foil for Vanessa’s whisper-to-a-shriek vocals and the band’s live shows were sweaty dance parties. Their debut LP Gyrate, was released in November of ’80 amid a heady time for the band. A string of sold-out club shows across the US was highlighted by an opening slot for The B-52's in New York's Central Park.
Glowing reviews came flooding in, including attention from Rolling Stone, Trouser Press and seemingly every other magazine on the planet. “Gyrate is a very good record that, in its humor, drive and purposeful innocence, sums up everything that’s best about the new American rock bands,” wrote Tom Carson in Rolling Stone. “[Pylon] bears scant relation to anything,” cooed a writer in NME. Pylon garnered a virtual torrent of positive reviews, all praising the band’s minimalistic approach, charming naiveté, artful use of space, persistent beat and quirky yet concise lyrics.
After Gyrate, the band soldiered on, releasing the stylistically adventurous Chomp while continuing to tour the US and UK to uniformly glowing reviews for their performances. The band remained an independent enterprise and when the project became more of a job than an exploration of art, they called it day with no one to answer to but themselves.
Many bands would be happy to relive those glory days, but damned if Pylon didn’t have another trick up their sleeve. In ’90 they reunited, released Chain and opened a string of well-received shows for R.E.M. before calling it quits once again the next year with a massive garage sale in their hometown the day after their final show. This time, they said, they were gone for good.
Or were they?
In the summer of 2004, fans and critics were shocked and pleasantly surprised to hear the rumors that Pylon had been secretly rehearsing at a practice space in Athens. Suddenly, on a balmy August day, word spread through Athens about a “secret” Pylon show, later that night. Naturally by showtime, the place was packed with old friends and fans who’d certainly heard of the band, but were too young to experience the real thing in person.
Pylon blazed through a set of their best-known material with Crowe bashing away on a set of drums borrowed from -- drumroll, please… yep, you guessed it -- old pal and long-time supporter Bill Berry. The band rocked with wild, wide-eyed and loose-limbed abandon, occasionally stealing glances at each other as if to assure themselves it was indeed happening after so many years of silence. For an all-too-brief brief moment, it was just like a hot summer night in Athens, circa 1981.
That brings us to today. After a string of successful gigs in Athens and Atlanta, Pylon is ready to create another era of their musical history. The very same line-up that ignited the Athens scene of the so-called Golden Age (and the only Athens band of any era to feature the original personnel) still has that spark and charisma that audiences and writers fell in love with the first time around. And the best news of all is that the outfit hasn’t altered their sound to pander to “modern” tastes, nor have they lost one ounce of their original style, humor and unrelenting art-school beat.
No one but Pylon sounds like Pylon. With an exciting live show and a newly re-mastered version of Gyrate, Pylon is back in action for their legion of old fans and a whole new generation of music lovers.
This is Pylon.
It starts at 11:30 PM, which is way past my bed time, but I have been waiting for this chance for twenty-five years.
This is why we invented naps, kiddies.
About Me
- TheChurchMilitant
- First of all, the word is SEX, not GENDER. If you are ever tempted to use the word GENDER, don't. The word is SEX! SEX! SEX! SEX! For example: "My sex is male." is correct. "My gender is male." means nothing. Look it up. What kind of sick neo-Puritan nonsense is this? Idiot left-fascists, get your blood-soaked paws off the English language. Hence I am choosing "male" under protest.