TheChurchMilitant

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Life sucks, then you kill.

CNews: 'Life sucks' killer wrote
Gunman spewed venom on website before rampage

MONTREAL -- On a goth website, Kimveer Gill describes himself as a potential killer and admits that his favorite video game is Super Columbine Massacre.

The Laval man, 25, writes: "Work sucks, school sucks, life sucks ... What else can I say."

On gothic lifestyle forums where he regularly participates, he signs his posts as "Fatality666" and finishes all his comments by: "Life is a videogame and you gonna die sometime."

He also says somewhere on a blog, "Give them what they deserve before you go."

His mother, who lives in Laval with him, just north of Montreal, confirmed that her son left last morning with her car.

"I didn't see him all day. I was looking for him" she said before bursting into tears.

Have mercy on her, Lord.

Gill wreaked terror for some 15 minutes yesterday afternoon -- killing one and injuring 20 -- at Montreal's Dawson College before he was finally gunned down.

Carrying an automatic rifle, two other guns and dressed head to toe in black, the man stormed into the sprawling Dawson College and began coldly cutting down students.

"Automatic"? Beware the pansy press' description of firearms. They have a political agenda and a hatred for those weapons most effective in stopping crazed gunmen. (Nota bene: Even the Canadian cops refused to negotiate with this cold-blooded killer. They gunned him down.)

A fully automatic weapon is a machine gun, kiddies. I doubt this knucklehead could find an automatic weapon in Iraq, much less Canada.

Another 19 people were injured, while hundreds of screaming and sobbing students spilled out onto city streets in the shadow of the fabled Montreal Forum hockey arena.

At least eight were in critical condition.

Police said the woman who was killed was 20.

The tragedy called to mind the 1999 horror of Columbine high school in Colorado.

The 25-year-old man showed up at Dawson College's doorstep around 12:40 p.m.

According to eyewitnesses, he started shooting at random one minute later.

A student present at the time told Sun Media the man had filtered through a crowd of smokers gathered at the school entrance.

"There must have been some 50 people," said Cy-rielle Vincent, 21, a social sciences student.

"We noticed him right away -- he stood out with his black coat and mohawk. Then he suddenly started firing away."

It was 12:41 p.m.

Then began the third shooting in a Montreal school after the Ecole Polytechnique (1989) and Concordia University (1992) tragedies.

Smokers gathered in front of the school ran for their lives.

SEE? Another tobacco related tragedy.

If only smoking had been banned , this never would have happened!

The shooter then entered the building, recalled Abdel-Malek Kettas, a 19-year-old student.

"I recognized the sound of a gun. It was an automatic weapon," Kettas said.
"I saw the guy enter the school. Two people who were wounded were lying on the ground."

Eyewitness said police arrived en masse at the school almost immediately.

Two officers who happened to be passing by the college, having been called for another crime, came almost face-to-face with the gunman.

Surrounded by police, the gunman repeatedly barked a single order each time the officers inched toward him: "Get back! Get back!"

The exchange ended with the attacker slumped on the floor, collapsed in a hail of gunfire.

Montreal police Chief Yvan Delorme confirmed that officers killed the gunman.

He said provincial police had been called in to investigate, customary in a killing involving the local force.

Delorme said the lessons learned from the Montreal Massacre about the need to co-ordinate emergency services and act promptly helped save lives.
"Before our technique was to establish a perimeter around the place and wait for the SWAT team. Now the first police officers go right inside. The way they acted saved lives (today)."

Amen to that, Brother.

Witness the toll of the sodomite infiltration of the priesthood.

The Morning Call: Abuse victims to address priests

On the Feast of Our Mother of Sorrows, (Friday September 15, 2006 - F.G.)sexual abuse victims in the Philadelphia Archdiocese will recount their stories of helplessness and horror at the hands of priests during an unusual gathering Friday called by Cardinal Justin Rigali.

Hundreds of priests are expected to attend the session in the auditorium at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood where two adults, who were abused by priests as children, and a parent of two victims will talk about the pain of having been betrayed by those they were taught to trust.

Mary Achilles, who was hired by the archdiocese in January as a victims' advocate, organized the meeting as a ''small, first step'' toward changing the culture of the Roman Catholic Church in its five-county region, which includes Bucks and Montgomery counties.

''The cardinal and his brother priests will gain a greater understanding of the lifelong trauma of being sexually abused by a priest,'' she said. ''They need to understand that, and the best way is to hear it from victims. It's not the same as reading it in the newspaper.''

But victims' rights advocates say the meeting is nothing more than a public relations gimmick designed to detract from the real issues of sexual misconduct by priests and the church's complicity in covering it up.

''We admire the survivors who will bravely share their experiences and hope that the priests will listen with compassion and open-mindedness,'' said Barbara Dorris, national outreach director of SNAP, the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests. ''But the long-standing, deep-rooted insensitivity and corruption in the archdiocesan hierarchy is the real problem and won't be ameliorated by this event.''

Achilles said that for the past 10 months, archdiocese officials have been looking ''inward'' at how the church handled reports of sexual abuse and its treatment of victims.

''We have a lot of changes to make,'' she said.

The meeting comes a year after a Philadelphia grand jury identified 63 archidiocesan priests as abusers and concluded that the region's former archbishops, Cardinals Anthony Bevilacqua and John Krol, covered up the abuse. Seventeen priests were defrocked, and others were relieved of their duties. Criminal charges can't be filed against the pedophile priests because Pennsylvania's statute of limitations on reports of sexual abuse has expired.

The victims' testimony will be broadcast live on the diocese's Web site at http://www.archdiocese-phl.org so parishioners and others can ''participate spiritually,'' according to the archdiocese.

Marie Whitehead, head of the Philadelphia chapter of SNAP, was invited to attend the meeting, but isn't sure she wants to sit in church with hundreds of priests and bishops.

''They're going to be in priestly garb,'' she said. ''They don't get how traumatic this can be. For some of us, it's like returning to the place where we were raped.''

Whitehead said she wasn't asked to share her story, and she questions how the archdiocese chose its speakers.

''None of the victims who have been very verbal were called,'' she said. ''I think it was a selective process. Who was invited and who wasn't doesn't make sense to me. I'd be curious as to why Cardinal Rigali is doing this now. I'm kind of cynical. A lot of things are done in response to something else.''

The only agenda the archdiocese has is to highlight the intense suffering of victims, Achilles said.

''It's not about anything other than victims talking about sexual abuse and their experiences since then,'' she said. ''Whether they are critical or not of the archdiocese wasn't a factor in their selection. They were people we knew. We have some level of connection with them.''

Archilles declined to say who would be speaking, but said Rigali regularly meets with victims.

Monsignor John B. Wendrychowicz of St. Agnes Church in Sellersville isn't sure if he can attend Friday's session, but hopes victims find comfort in sharing their stories of abuse.

''I think it's sort of cathartic, getting something that's not a pleasant experience out so others can understand their feelings and what they're going through,'' he said.

1990-96: Six parents complain to McAdoo police that Monsignor Stephen T. Forish tried to ''lure'' their children. Police keep watch on him, but no charges are filed.

Sept. 22, 1996: A 22-year-old Bethlehem man accuses Forish of approaching him and offering money for sex. When he refuses, the man says, Forish asks him if he knows any 15-year-olds who would be interested. Forish is arrested on prostitution charges.

How does a pervert like the man described below become a Catholic priest in the first place? That is simple. The Church caved in to the pressure of the zeitgeist and, in violation of its own rules and traditions, looked the other way as homosexuals entered the seminaries so they could gain access to underage boys.

Jan. 16, 1998: Forish is acquitted of all charges in Northampton County Court, partly because some jurors don't believe his accuser, an admitted drug user.

2002: Forish asks the diocese for permission to withdraw from active ministry so he can pursue his doctorate in psychology. He eventually takes post-doctoral residency in Westmoreland County and gets a counseling job in Armstrong County.

Aug. 6, 2006: Forish approaches a 26-year-old man in Greensburg and asks for ''sexual favors,'' according to state police in Westmoreland County. The man is one of four men Forish approached that night, police say. On Sept. 7, he is charged with harassment and disorderly conduct.

Have mercy, Lord, on this man and all others with disordered sexual desires masquerading as faithful priests.

King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, Requiescat in pace.

Whither Tonga?

Tonga's King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV died at the age of 88, ending a 41-year reign over Polynesia's last monarchy.

The king had been in ill-health for several years and spent most of this year in New Zealand receiving medical treatment. He died in Auckland's Mercy Hospital after other members of the royal family flew from Tonga to join him.

Tupou returned briefly to his impoverished country for his 88th birthday celebrations on July 4 but ill health prevented him attending most of the events held by the 115,000 residents in his honour.

Despite the growing strength of a pro-democracy movement in Tonga, the king -- who controls the parliament and appoints the cabinet and prime minister -- remained a well-loved figure to most Tongans.

"They may have criticised the king when they thought he was not giving them enough rights and freedoms but on the other hand they still had a lot of respect for him as the cultural head of the country," said Canterbury University Pacific Studies lecturer Dr. Malakai Koloamatangi.

"The king was very much loved, they had great affection for him."
After taking over the monarchy in 1965 after the death of his mother -- the revered Queen Salote -- Tupou did much to modernise the South Pacific archipelago of 169 islands, improving education, healthcare and infrastructure.

Once famous as the world's heaviest monarch -- tipping the scales at over 200 kilograms (440 pounds) -- the softly spoken Tupou led his subjects on a get fit campaign in his later years.

Even after his 70th birthday, the capital's airport would regularly be closed so he could ride a bicycle up and down the runway accompanied by bodyguards running beside him.

Tupou became a more isolated and eccentric figure in his later years.
A scheme promoted by a Korean Christian cult in the 1990s -- and enthusiastically adopted by Tupou -- to convert Tongan seawater into natural gas predictably came to nothing.

The impoverished country made about 30 million US dollars through selling Tongan passports to mainly Asian buyers from the mid-1980s. But a scandal erupted in 2001 when it emerged nearly 26 million dollars had been lost in speculative investments by the king's appointed court jester and former US banker Jesse Bogdonoff.

As the king battled ill health in recent years, much of the royal power passed to his eldest son, 58-year-old Crown Prince Tupouto'a and daughter Princess Pilolevu Tuita.

But both are controversial figures due to their stranglehold on some of the country's biggest businesses and lavish lifestyles which contrast to the poverty of most Tongans.

Tupouto'a controls the island's only power company, brewery, an airline and mobile phone company. Pilolevu has made a fortune based on leasing out valuable satellite communications slots over Tonga.

An undercurrent of resentment against the royal dominance of business emerged during pro-democracy protests last year which culminated in a six week public service strike.

During the strike a royal house and government cars were torched, school classrooms wrecked and a petrol bomb thrown at a house owned by business partners of the crown prince.

The death of the popular king is likely to refocus attention on the campaign for democratic reform. (Thanks to AFP for this obituary.)

Charity.

ZENIT: Released Iraqi Priest Praying for Captors
BAGHDAD, Iraq, SEPT. 13, 2006

(Zenit.org).- The Chaldean priest who spent almost a month in captivity said that he had an acute awareness of God's protection during his ordeal.

Just hours after his release Monday, Father Hanna Saad Sirop told the charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) about his hard experience in captivity and expressed his forgiveness of his abductors.

The 34-year-old Iraqi also expressed his gratitude for those who worked and prayed for his safe return.

Father Sirop, who serves at St. Jacob's Church in the Dora district of Baghdad, heads the theological section of Babel College, run by the Catholic Church in Baghdad. He had planned to go to Rome in early September to study, with the support of ACN.

An ACN communiqué today confirmed that the Chaldean priest telephoned his relatives and friends the minute he was released. The reunion with his loved ones was a "very big moment," he said.

Father Sirop stressed how prayer for his release has "united" large sectors of Iraq at a time of near civil war.

"I want to thank all those people who helped me with their prayers. That really was a miracle for me," he told ACN. "From the moment I was kidnapped, I felt God was with me. I began to say: 'God, you are my protector. You will be with me in my pain.'"

The Chaldean priest expressed to the international charity his willingness to forgive his captors. "I do not hate them," he said. "I pray for them -- I continue to pray for them."

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

II. CATHOLIC DOCTRINE ON THE VENERATION OF THE CROSS
In passing to a detailed examination of the Catholic doctrine on this subject of the cult due to the Cross, it will be well to notice the theories of Brock, the Abbé Ansault, le Mortillet, and others who pretend to have discovered that cult among the pagans
before the time of Christ. For a demonstration of the purely Christian origin of the Christian devotion the reader is referred to ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE CROSS AND CRUCIFIX. See also the works of Harlay, Lafargue, and others cited at the end of this section. With reference, in particular, to the ansated cross of Egypt, Letronne, Raoul-Rochette, and Lajard discuss with much learning the symbolism of that simple hieroglyphic of life, in which the Christians of Egypt seem to have recognized an anticipatory revelation of the Christian Cross, and which
they employed in their monuments. According to the text of the Second Council of Nicæa cited above, the cult of the Cross is based upon the same principles as that of relics and images in general, although, to be sure, the True Cross holds the highest place in dignity among all relics. The observation of Petavius (XV, xiii, 1) should be noted here: that this cult must be considered as not belonging to the substance of religion, but as being one of the adiaphora, or things not absolutely necessary to salvation. Indeed, while it is of faith that this cult is useful, lawful, even pious and worthy of praise and of encouragement, and while we are not permitted to speak against it as
something pernicious, still it is one of those devotional practices which the church can encourage, or restrain, or stop, according to circumstances. This explains how the veneration of images was forbidden to the Jews by that text of Exodus (xx, 4 sqq.) which has been so grossly abused by Iconoclasts and Protestants: "Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God," etc. It also explains the fact that in the first ages of Christianity, when converts from paganism were so numerous, and the impression of idol-worship was so fresh, the Church found it advisable not to permit the development of this cult of images; but later, when that danger had disappeared, when Christian traditions and Christian instinct had gained strength, the cult developed more freely. Again, it should be noted that the cult of images and relics is not that of latria, which is the adoration due to God alone, but is, as the Second Council of Nicæa teaches, a relative veneration paid to the image or relic and referring to that which it represents. Precisely this same doctrine is repeated in Sess. XXV of the Council of Trent: "Images are not to be worshipped because it is believed that some divinity or power resides in them and that they must be worshipped on that account, or because we ought to ask anything of them, or because we should put our trust in them, as was done by the gentiles of old who placed their hope in idols but because the honour which is shown to them is referred to the prototypes which they represent; so that through the images which we kiss, and before which we kneel, we may adore Christ, and venerate the saints, whose resemblances they bear."

Pray for us, all you angels and saints.

Today's first reading for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is Numbers 21:4-9.
Today's second reading is Philippians 2:6-11.
Today's Responsorial Psalm is Psalms 78:1-2, 34-35, 36-37, 38.
Today's Gospel reading is John 3:13-17.

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."

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Italian golf babe Sophie Sandolo: "La Bod Bella".

These aren't from The King Abdullah Gazette. Sophie starred in a calendar last year with a few "tasteful" nude shots in it.

Look out blue-staters! It's that pesky Bush and his Magical Mystical Weather Machine!

Roto-Reuters: El Nino weather pattern forms in Pacific

El Nino, an extreme warming of equatorial waters in the Pacific Ocean that wreaks havoc with world weather conditions, has formed and will last into 2007, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Wednesday.

Serial violator of The Natural Law Rosie O'Donnell lashes out because her conscience is rebelling against her defective will.

The simple-minded arch-dyke battles in vain against her God-given conscience in the only way she knows: Spewing hatred for The Truth.

WorldNetDaily: Rosie: Radical Christians pose Islamofascist threat

Rosie O'Donnell says "radical" Christians in America are just as much of a threat as the followers of radical Islam who piloted hijacked jetliners into New York's Twin Towers and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

JOHN BOEHNER IS RIGHT!

Once again, the Democrasses doth protest too much. Let us continue to tell everyone they are cowards and traitors.

New York Daily News: Dems boiling over war flak

WASHINGTON - Escalating election-year rancor, House Majority Leader John Boehner charged yesterday that Democrats are "more interested in protecting the terrorists" than in taking care of Americans.

The Ohio Republican infuriated Democrats and even got a slap on the wrist from the White House when he joined a high-stakes game of finger-pointing sure to continue through the Nov. 7 congressional elections.

"I wonder if they're more interested in protecting the terrorists than protecting the American people. They certainly don't want to take the terrorists on and defeat them," Boehner said.

Democrats said voters won't buy into the rhetoric.

Heehee!

"The American people know that we have been here on the firing line," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Ha! "Firing line", indeed. The only guns with which Senator Social Moderate is familiar are the ones his taxpayer-funded bodyguards carry to protect him from the voters.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) added, "I wonder if John Boehner is more interested in protecting his majority than protecting the American people."

Oh, Rahm! All the teenage girls simply swoon when you display your devastating wit!

Even the White House seemed to think Boehner had gone too far. Press secretary Tony Snow said Democrats are equals in fighting the war on terror.

For their part, Democrats sniped at President Bush's prime-time 9/11 anniversary speech, accusing him of playing politics with the issue and failing to reunite the country in the need to fight terrorism.

Snow brushed off the criticism, saying: "We're going to have a lot of political conflict this year. [That's] perfectly understandable, acceptable, predictable. That's the way it works."

Republicans believe they can win on the terrorism issue, but Democrats have become emboldened by polls showing shrinking confidence in Bush's handling of the war on terror.

Some Republican operatives think Democrats are walking into an an election year ambush by engaging on terrorism issues. "Any time you can force political attention away from Iraq and on to the [Democratic] alternative, it's good for us," said a top GOP campaign strategist.

Republicans blame House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for stoking the fires last week when she said catching Osama Bin Laden wouldn't make America any safer because "it's five years too late."

Genius! That is what passes for leadership in The Party of Blasphemy, Buggery, and 'Bortion.

Pelosi slammed Boehner's comments yesterday as "desperate politics of fear."

Will somebody please keep a microphone in front of this ignorant cow until after the November elections?

"It is long past time for Republicans to be honest with American people and stop questioning the patriotism of those who recognize that the President's Iraq policy has not worked, is making us less safe and must be changed," she said.

Pelosi and Reid sent a letter to the television networks and cable news channels asking that Democratic viewpoints on terrorism and Iraq receive equal coverage.

YES! YES! YES! Put 'em on the tube!

"There has been a complete absence of balance in the news coverage of national security issues," they wrote.

Still, that is no excuse for letting another dude do you-know-what with your primary egress for solid bodily waste...

NorthJersey.com: McGreevey sits down with Oprah

DAY 21: PLUTO HELD HOSTAGE

Dumbass Punter of the Day.

WBRC-TV: Colorado College Punter Arrested for Allegedly Stabbing Rival in Kicking Leg

The University of Northern Colorado 's reserve punter was arrested Tuesday, accused of stabbing his rival in his kicking leg.

Some folks in America held elections yesterday, just like they do in Iran.

First, here's the lesser-of-two-evils good news from the Maryland Soviet Socialist Republic:

AP: Rep. Cardin beats Mfume in Md. primary

BALTIMORE - Rep. Ben Cardin, a veteran congressman who voted against the war in Iraq, won the Democratic nomination to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Paul Sarbanes. Cardin had edged out his closest competitor, former NAACP head Kweisi Mfume, and 16 other candidates and will face Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele in November.

Now for the bad news courtesy of The Baltimore Scum:

House of Delegates - District 7 - GOP Primary
Maryland 32 of 32 Precincts Reporting - 100.00%
Max Winners=3

McDonough , Pat (i): 4,116 votes / 30.14 %

Jennings , J.B. (i): 3,701 votes / 27.10%

Impallaria , Rick (i): 3,565 votes / 26.11%

Laing , John: 1,458 votes / 10.68%

Volkoff , Nikolai: 815 votes / 5.97%

Thank you, Mr. Perusovic, for standing up for the ever-shrinking number of real Americans out there. You are a great example of what we once were and could be again if only we tried.

Good luck and may God bless you in all your future endeavors.

Now back to the "real" world.

La Schicklgruber continues to pretend to believe in representative democracy...
AFP: Hillary Clinton handily wins Democratic primary in New York

This is a story? In the the melting pot, of all places...
AP: Minnesotan may be Congress' first Muslim

The Repansycans sell their souls in order to maintain "control" of the US Senate...
AP: GOP moderate (Instant translation: Repansycan babykiller. - F.G.) Chafee wins R.I. primary

How can you tell we're not fighting this war like a real war?

Or, We couldn't blow Yamamoto to Hell 'cause he was in the can, and that wouldn't be polite.

TALIBAN GETS BURY LUCKY
FURY AS NICEY-NICE BRASS CALL OFF STRIKE ON FUNERAL

WASHINGTON - Taliban terror leaders who had gathered for a funeral - and were secretly being watched by an eye-in-the-sky American drone - dodged assassination because U.S. rules of engagement bar attacks in cemeteries, according to a shocking report.

U.S. intelligence officers in Afghanistan are still fuming about the recent lost opportunity for an easy kill of Taliban honchos packed in tight formation for the burial, NBC News reported.

The unmanned airplane, circling undetected high overhead, fed a continuous satellite feed of the juicy target to officers on the ground.

"We were so excited. I came rushing in with the picture," one U.S. Army officer told NBC.

But that excitement quickly turned to gut-wrenching frustration because the rules of engagement on the ground in Afghanistan blocked the U.S. from mounting a missile or bomb strike in a cemetery, according to the report.

Let Our Boys kill the bad guys, you morons! That is what WAR is!

Pentagon officials declined comment and referred The Post to Central Command officers in Afghanistan, who did not respond to a request for comment or explanation.

1, 2, 3...

Agonizingly, Army officers could do nothing but watch the pictures being fed back from the drone as the Taliban splintered into tiny groups - too small to effectively target with the drone - and headed back to their mountainside hideouts.

...4, 5, 6...

Military experts told The Post that rules of engagement are constantly adjusted on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq, depending on the severity of the threat posed by the enemy.

...7, 8, 9...

In Iraq, gun battles have raged inside cemeteries in Fallujah, and once-off-limits mosques are now subject to U.S. searches.

...10! Now that I have calmed down, I will attempt to remain cool and rational for the remainder of this post.

The lost opportunity in Afghanistan came amid a spike in Taliban activity in Afghanistan - a craggy country roughly the size of Texas that poses problems for U.S. troops hunting fighters in remote mountain areas.

Did we not learn the lessons of the criminal Goober II regime?

Taliban militants have launched their deadliest attacks since the terrorist regime was toppled by U.S.-led forces in late 2001 for providing a sanctuary for Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda camps.

U.S. troops and NATO allies recently reclaimed territory in southern Afghanistan from Taliban fighters following a bloody 11-day operation.

NATO leaders announced yesterday the hard fighting killed at least 510 Taliban insurgents.

And American and Afghan forces stormed a fortified compound in the Wardak province to arrest a dozen Taliban leaders who were planning a new wave of attacks.

"Five years ago, the Afghan national army was zero," Maj. Gen. Robert Durbin, who heads the training of Afghan soldiers and police, told CNN.

"We now have sufficient forces - that's why there is some tough fighting down in Kandahar." (Thanks to the New York Post and Laura Ingraham for the heads up.)

Pope Benedict XVI GETS IT.

No surprise there. The Holy Ghost chose him for a reason.

For those of you too lazy or complacent or ignorant to exercise your mind and your soul with the last post, here it is:

A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion into the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures. At the same time, as I have attempted to show, modern scientific reason with its
intrinsically Platonic element bears within itself a question which points beyond itself and beyond the possibilities of its methodology. Modern scientific reason quite simply has to accept the rational structure of matter and the correspondence between our spirit and the prevailing rational structures of
nature as a given, on which its methodology has to be based.

Yet the question why this has to be so is a real question, and one which has to be remanded by the natural sciences to other modes and planes of thought -- to philosophy and theology. For philosophy and, albeit in a different way, for theology, listening to the great experiences and insights of the religious traditions of humanity, and those of the Christian faith in particular, is a
source of knowledge, and to ignore it would be an unacceptable restriction of our listening and responding.

Here I am reminded of something Socrates said to Phaedo. In their earlier conversations, many false philosophical opinions had been raised, and so Socrates says: "It would be easily understandable if someone became so annoyed at all these false notions that for the rest of his life he despised and mocked all talk about being -- but in this way he would be deprived of the truth of existence and would suffer a great loss."

God and Reason at Regensburg.

Thank God we have another learned man sitting in the Chair of St. Peter. Take some time and read this speech by Pope Benedict XVI in which he discusses Reason, Islam, and orthodox Catholicism.

Papal Address at University of Regensburg

"Three Stages in the Program of De-Hellenization"

REGENSBURG, Germany, SEPT. 12, 2006

(Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered to scientists at the University of Regensburg, where he was a professor and vice rector from 1969 to 1971.

This is the version the Pope read, adding some allusions of the moment, which he hopes to publish in the future, complete with footnotes. Hence, the present text must be considered provisional.

Faith, Reason and the University Memories and Reflections

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a moving experience for me to stand and give a lecture at this university podium once again. I think back to those years when, after a pleasant period at the Freisinger Hochschule, I began teaching at the University of Bonn. This was in 1959, in the days of the old university made up of ordinary professors. The various chairs had neither assistants nor secretaries, but in recompense there was much direct contact with students and in particular among the professors themselves. We would meet before and after lessons in the rooms of the teaching staff. There was a lively exchange with historians, philosophers, philologists and, naturally, between the two theological faculties.

Once a semester there was a "dies academicus," when professors from every faculty appeared before the students of the entire university, making possible a genuine experience of "universitas": The reality that despite our specializations which at times make it difficult to communicate with each other, we made up a whole, working in everything on the basis of a single rationality with its various aspects and sharing responsibility for the right use of reason -- this reality became a lived experience.

The university was also very proud of its two theological faculties. It was clear that, by inquiring about the reasonableness of faith, they too carried out a work which is necessarily part of the "whole" of the "universitas scientiarum," even if not everyone could share the faith which theologians seek to correlate with reason as a whole. This profound sense of coherence within the universe of reason was not troubled, even when it was once reported that a colleague had said there was something odd about our university: It had two faculties devoted to something that did not exist: God. That even in the face of such radical skepticism it is still necessary and reasonable to raise the question of God through the use of reason, and to do so in the context of the tradition of the Christian faith: This, within the university as a whole, was accepted without question.

I was reminded of all this recently, when I read the edition by professor Theodore Khoury (Muenster) of part of the dialogue carried on -- perhaps in 1391 in the winter barracks near Ankara -- by the erudite Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an educated Persian on the subject of Christianity and Islam, and the truth of both.

It was probably the emperor himself who set down this dialogue, during the siege of Constantinople between 1394 and 1402; and this would explain why his arguments are given in greater detail than the responses of the learned Persian. The dialogue ranges widely over the structures of faith contained in the Bible and in the Koran, and deals especially with the image of God and of man, while necessarily returning repeatedly to the relationship of the "three Laws": the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Koran.

In this lecture I would like to discuss only one point -- itself rather marginal to the dialogue itself -- which, in the context of the issue of "faith and reason," I found interesting and which can serve as the starting point for my reflections on this issue.

In the seventh conversation ("diálesis" -- controversy) edited by professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the jihad (holy war). The emperor must have known that sura 2:256 reads: "There is no compulsion in religion." It is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under [threat]. But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Koran, concerning holy war.

Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the "Book" and the "infidels," he turns to his interlocutor somewhat brusquely with the central question on the relationship between religion and violence in general, in these words: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. "God is not pleased by blood, and not acting reasonably ("syn logo") is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats.... To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death...."

The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: Not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature. The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality. Here Khoury quotes a work of the noted French Islamist R. Arnaldez, who points out that Ibn Hazn went so far as to state that God is not bound even by his own word, and that nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us. Were it God's will, we would even have to practice idolatry.

As far as understanding of God and thus the concrete practice of religion is concerned, we find ourselves faced with a dilemma which nowadays challenges us directly. Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts God's nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and intrinsically true?

I believe that here we can see the profound harmony between what is Greek in the best sense of the word and the biblical understanding of faith in God. Modifying the first verse of the Book of Genesis, John began the prologue of his Gospel with the words: "In the beginning was the 'logos.'"

This is the very word used by the emperor: God acts with logos. Logos means both reason and word -- a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason. John thus spoke the final word on the biblical concept of God, and in this word all the often toilsome and tortuous threads of biblical faith find their culmination and synthesis. In the beginning was the logos, and the logos is God, says the Evangelist. The encounter between the biblical message and Greek thought did not happen by chance.

The vision of St. Paul, who saw the roads to Asia barred and in a dream saw a Macedonian man plead with him: "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" (cf. Acts 16:6-10) -- this vision can be interpreted as a "distillation" of the intrinsic necessity of a rapprochement between biblical faith and Greek inquiry.

In point of fact, this rapprochement had been going on for some time. The mysterious name of God, revealed from the burning bush, a name which separates this God from all other divinities with their many names and declares simply that he is, already presents a challenge to the notion of myth, to which Socrates' attempt to vanquish and transcend myth stands in close analogy. Within the Old Testament, the process which started at the burning bush came to new maturity at the time of the Exile, when the God of Israel, an Israel now deprived of its land and worship, was proclaimed as the God of heaven and earth and described in a simple formula which echoes the words uttered at the burning bush: "I am."

This new understanding of God is accompanied by a kind of enlightenment, which finds stark expression in the mockery of gods who are merely the work of human hands (cf. Psalm 115). Thus, despite the bitter conflict with those Hellenistic rulers who sought to accommodate it forcibly to the customs and idolatrous cult of the Greeks, biblical faith, in the Hellenistic period, encountered the best of Greek thought at a deep level, resulting in a mutual enrichment evident especially in the later wisdom literature.

Today we know that the Greek translation of the Old Testament produced at Alexandria -- the Septuagint -- is more than a simple (and in that sense perhaps less than satisfactory) translation of the Hebrew text: It is an independent textual witness and a distinct and important step in the history of Revelation, one which brought about this encounter in a way that was decisive for the birth and spread of Christianity. A profound encounter of faith and reason is taking place here, an encounter between genuine enlightenment and religion. From the very heart of Christian faith and, at the same time, the heart of Greek thought now joined to faith, Manuel II was able to say: Not to act "with logos" is contrary to God's nature.

In all honesty, one must observe that in the late Middle Ages we find trends in theology which would sunder this synthesis between the Greek spirit and the Christian spirit. In contrast with the so-called intellectualism of Augustine and Thomas, there arose with Duns Scotus a voluntarism which ultimately led to the claim that we can only know God's "voluntas ordinata." Beyond this is the realm of God's freedom, in virtue of which he could have done the opposite of everything he has actually done.

This gives rise to positions which clearly approach those of Ibn Hazn and might even lead to the image of a capricious God, who is not even bound to truth and goodness. God's transcendence and otherness are so exalted that our reason, our sense of the true and good, are no longer an authentic mirror of God, whose deepest possibilities remain eternally unattainable and hidden behind his actual decisions.

As opposed to this, the faith of the Church has always insisted that between God and us, between his eternal Creator Spirit and our created reason there exists a real analogy, in which unlikeness remains infinitely greater than likeness, yet not to the point of abolishing analogy and its language (cf. Lateran IV).

God does not become more divine when we push him away from us in a sheer, impenetrable voluntarism; rather, the truly divine God is the God who has revealed himself as logos and, as logos, has acted and continues to act lovingly on our behalf. Certainly, love "transcends" knowledge and is thereby capable of perceiving more than thought alone (cf. Ephesians 3:19); nonetheless it continues to be love of the God who is logos. Consequently, Christian worship is "logic latreía" -- worship in harmony with the eternal Word and with our reason (cf. Romans 12:1).

This inner rapprochement between biblical faith and Greek philosophical inquiry was an event of decisive importance not only from the standpoint of the history of religions, but also from that of world history -- it is an event which concerns us even today. Given this convergence, it is not surprising that Christianity, despite its origins and some significant developments in the East, finally took on its historically decisive character in Europe. We can also express this the other way around: This convergence, with the subsequent addition of the Roman heritage, created Europe and remains the foundation of what can rightly be called Europe.

The thesis that the critically purified Greek heritage forms an integral part of Christian faith has been countered by the call for a de-Hellenization of Christianity -- a call which has more and more dominated theological discussions since the beginning of the modern age. Viewed more closely, three stages can be observed in the program of de-Hellenization: Although interconnected, they are clearly distinct from one another in their motivations and objectives.

De-Hellenization first emerges in connection with the fundamental postulates of the Reformation in the 16th century. Looking at the tradition of scholastic theology, the Reformers thought they were confronted with a faith system totally conditioned by philosophy, that is to say an articulation of the faith based on an alien system of thought. As a result, faith no longer appeared as a living historical Word but as one element of an overarching philosophical system.

The principle of "sola scriptura," on the other hand, sought faith in its pure, primordial form, as originally found in the biblical Word. Metaphysics appeared as a premise derived from another source, from which faith had to be liberated in order to become once more fully itself. When Kant stated that he needed to set thinking aside in order to make room for faith, he carried this program forward with a radicalism that the Reformers could never have foreseen. He thus anchored faith exclusively in practical reason, denying it access to reality as a whole.

The liberal theology of the 19th and 20th centuries ushered in a second stage in the process of de-Hellenization, with Adolf von Harnack as its outstanding representative. When I was a student, and in the early years of my teaching, this program was highly influential in Catholic theology too. It took as its point of departure Pascal's distinction between the God of the philosophers and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In my inaugural lecture at Bonn in 1959, I tried to address the issue. I will not repeat here what I said on that occasion, but I would like to describe at least briefly what was new about this second stage of de-Hellenization. Harnack's central idea was to return simply to the man Jesus and to his simple message, underneath the accretions of theology and indeed of Hellenization: This simple message was seen as the culmination of the religious development of humanity. Jesus was said to have put an end to worship in favor of morality. In the end he was presented as the father of a humanitarian moral message.

The fundamental goal was to bring Christianity back into harmony with modern reason, liberating it, that is to say, from seemingly philosophical and theological elements, such as faith in Christ's divinity and the triune God. In this sense, historical-critical exegesis of the New Testament restored to theology its place within the university: Theology, for Harnack, is something essentially historical and therefore strictly scientific. What it is able to say critically about Jesus is, so to speak, an expression of practical reason and consequently it can take its rightful place within the university.

Behind this thinking lies the modern self-limitation of reason, classically expressed in Kant's "Critiques," but in the meantime further radicalized by the impact of the natural sciences. This modern concept of reason is based, to put it briefly, on a synthesis between Platonism (Cartesianism) and empiricism, a synthesis confirmed by the success of technology.

On the one hand it presupposes the mathematical structure of matter, its intrinsic rationality, which makes it possible to understand how matter works and use it efficiently: This basic premise is, so to speak, the Platonic element in the modern understanding of nature. On the other hand, there is nature's capacity to be exploited for our purposes, and here only the possibility of verification or falsification through experimentation can yield ultimate certainty. The weight between the two poles can, depending on the circumstances, shift from one side to the other. As strongly positivistic a thinker as J. Monod has declared himself a convinced Platonist/Cartesian.

This gives rise to two principles which are crucial for the issue we have raised. First, only the kind of certainty resulting from the interplay of mathematical and empirical elements can be considered scientific. Anything that would claim to be science must be measured against this criterion. Hence the human sciences, such as history, psychology, sociology and philosophy, attempt to conform themselves to this canon of scientificity.

A second point, which is important for our reflections, is that by its very nature this method excludes the question of God, making it appear an unscientific or pre-scientific question. Consequently, we are faced with a reduction of the radius of science and reason, one which needs to be questioned.

We shall return to this problem later. In the meantime, it must be observed that from this standpoint any attempt to maintain theology's claim to be "scientific" would end up reducing Christianity to a mere fragment of its former self. But we must say more: It is man himself who ends up being reduced, for the specifically human questions about our origin and destiny, the questions raised by religion and ethics, then have no place within the purview of collective reason as defined by "science" and must thus be relegated to the realm of the subjective.

The subject then decides, on the basis of his experiences, what he considers tenable in matters of religion, and the subjective "conscience" becomes the sole arbiter of what is ethical. In this way, though, ethics and religion lose their power to create a community and become a completely personal matter. This is a dangerous state of affairs for humanity, as we see from the disturbing pathologies of religion and reason which necessarily erupt when reason is so reduced that questions of religion and ethics no longer concern it. Attempts to construct an ethic from the rules of evolution or from psychology and sociology, end up being simply inadequate.

Before I draw the conclusions to which all this has been leading, I must briefly refer to the third stage of de-Hellenization, which is now in progress. In the light of our experience with cultural pluralism, it is often said nowadays that the synthesis with Hellenism achieved in the early Church was a preliminary inculturation which ought not to be binding on other cultures.

The latter are said to have the right to return to the simple message of the New Testament prior to that inculturation, in order to inculturate it anew in their own particular milieux. This thesis is not only false; it is coarse and lacking in precision. The New Testament was written in Greek and bears the imprint of the Greek spirit, which had already come to maturity as the Old Testament developed.

True, there are elements in the evolution of the early Church which do not have to be integrated into all cultures. Nonetheless, the fundamental decisions made about the relationship between faith and the use of human reason are part of the faith itself; they are developments consonant with the nature of faith itself.

And so I come to my conclusion. This attempt, painted with broad strokes, at a critique of modern reason from within has nothing to do with putting the clock back to the time before the Enlightenment and rejecting the insights of the modern age. The positive aspects of modernity are to be acknowledged unreservedly: We are all grateful for the marvelous possibilities that it has opened up for mankind and for the progress in humanity that has been granted to us. The scientific ethos, moreover, is the will to be obedient to the truth, and, as such, it embodies an attitude which reflects one of the basic tenets of Christianity.

The intention here is not one of retrenchment or negative criticism, but of broadening our concept of reason and its application. While we rejoice in the new possibilities open to humanity, we also see the dangers arising from these possibilities and we must ask ourselves how we can overcome them.

We will succeed in doing so only if reason and faith come together in a new way, if we overcome the self-imposed limitation of reason to the empirically verifiable, and if we once more disclose its vast horizons. In this sense theology rightly belongs in the university and within the wide-ranging dialogue of sciences, not merely as a historical discipline and one of the human sciences, but precisely as theology, as inquiry into the rationality of faith.

Only thus do we become capable of that genuine dialogue of cultures and religions so urgently needed today. In the Western world it is widely held that only positivistic reason and the forms of philosophy based on it are universally valid. Yet the world's profoundly religious cultures see this exclusion of the divine from the universality of reason as an attack on their most profound convictions.

A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion into the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures. At the same time, as I have attempted to show, modern scientific reason with its intrinsically Platonic element bears within itself a question which points beyond itself and beyond the possibilities of its methodology. Modern scientific reason quite simply has to accept the rational structure of matter and the correspondence between our spirit and the prevailing rational structures of nature as a given, on which its methodology has to be based.

Yet the question why this has to be so is a real question, and one which has to be remanded by the natural sciences to other modes and planes of thought -- to philosophy and theology. For philosophy and, albeit in a different way, for theology, listening to the great experiences and insights of the religious traditions of humanity, and those of the Christian faith in particular, is a source of knowledge, and to ignore it would be an unacceptable restriction of our listening and responding. (Emphasis mine.)

Here I am reminded of something Socrates said to Phaedo. In their earlier conversations, many false philosophical opinions had been raised, and so Socrates says: "It would be easily understandable if someone became so annoyed at all these false notions that for the rest of his life he despised and mocked all talk about being -- but in this way he would be deprived of the truth of existence and would suffer a great loss."

The West has long been endangered by this aversion to the questions which underlie its rationality, and can only suffer great harm thereby. The courage to engage the whole breadth of reason, and not the denial of its grandeur -- this is the program with which a theology grounded in biblical faith enters into the debates of our time.

"Not to act reasonably (with logos) is contrary to the nature of God," said Manuel II, according to his Christian understanding of God, in response to his Persian interlocutor. It is to this great logos, to this breadth of reason, that we invite our partners in the dialogue of cultures. To rediscover it constantly is the great task of the university.

[Translation of German original issued by the Holy See; adapted]

"Damn it, people, this is golf!"

Daily Telegraph: Sex slices golf readers

Sex sells, they say, but not when it comes to golf. There is a happy morality tale in the story of the magazine, Golf Course News International, which decided to revamp itself with, well, vamps.

From sober pictures of nicely manicured greens and sedate views of bunkers, it suddenly went in for semi-clad women and a cleavage on fire on its front cover.

Far from wooing a new audience of swingers (and we don't mean of a nine-iron), the move horribly backfired.

Sponsors withdrew, readers complained, circulation was threatened and now the magazine has reverted back to its usual, more sober, much safer, state.

They do say that men can only do one thing at a time and clearly the greatest of them all — never mind the propagation of the species — is golf.

Here's more evidence golfers take the game way too seriously...

Scotland on Sunday: From tee off to kit off: sexed-up golfing mag ends up out of bounds

The first new issue set the tone with a front cover depicting a blonde model in a black bikini top with a flaming golf ball disappearing down her cleavage. The justifying headline was: Women And Golf, The Burning Issue.

The edition also had a "world exclusive" on doctors prescribing more sex as an aid for playing better golf. But its most eye-catching feature was The Hunt For The Birdie Bucks. This was a piece on the female golfers most likely to be courted by marketing men - for their looks as much as their ability.

Italian professional Sophie Sandolo - known in her native country as "La Bod Bella" (Look here. - F.G.) - was captured posing on a green in a revealing string dress while Australian Carlie Butler was photographed in a tight, red glittery top.

Issue two opened with an article on "shaft king" Jim Davey, who runs a custom golf club fitting company, and an advert for a ball-washing machine, illustrated by a naked model squeezing a bar of soap. A spot-the-difference competition asked readers to identify 10 changes in a picture of a bikini-clad model against the background of a golf course.

The revamped magazine has not gone down well in traditional golfing circles, with the St Andrews Links Trust saying it was unlikely to display it at its practice ground any longer.

"It has caused a bit of stir and I can't see that the advertisers are going to like that sort of thing," said a spokesman. "A lot of magazines seem to have gone down this route but I don't think it works in golf."

At Turnberry, the Ayrshire course that has just got back on the Open Championship rota, golf course director George Brown said he thought he was flicking through Playboy magazine. "At first I didn't recognise it as GCNI and the further I got into it the more I realised it was not portraying our industry in the right way," he said. "It didn't do much for me and I have a crew of 30 young, healthy - if you know what I mean - greenkeepers working for me and I don't think it did anything for them either."

Calum Todd, one of Scotland's leading golf course architects, said he no longer subscribed to the magazine for which he used to contribute articles.
"When it changed I withdrew my name from it because I didn't want to be associated with this trash. It was a well-respected trade publication and a great forum for debate within the industry and among course architects. Now it's like a soft-porn magazine and I and many of my colleagues want nothing to do with it."

The British and International Golf Greenkeepers' Association, which represents the profession, said the magazine had "misread" its market.

"Greenkeeping is a now a serious profession and they are very qualified people so a lot of them feel that the way in which this publication is written is very insulting," said spokesman Scott MacCallum. "I have heard nothing but derogatory comments."

Letters in issue two confirmed that two major advertisers had withdrawn their business.

Issue three, out this month, has been toned down, but the cover still has an image of a glamorous model in strappy high heels swinging a club. Inside is another picture of "sexy Sandolo" as well as a feature on Brit Beauties Tipped For The Top.

Gareth Main, the editor who took over for the third issue, said the new owners had deliberately set out to attract a new audience. "This was basically to get attention because before it was dull and boring. Shots of women on the front were there to grab attention.

"There is a theory that sex sells but we concede it may have been taken a bit too far in the first two issues. But the good thing is that it got the magazine talked about. If we use similar material in the future then it will have to be justified and in context."

Main conceded that many of the adverts in the third issue had been placed by parent company Seoul Nassau. "But we hope that now we have toned things down advertisers will come back. We have a meeting with them next week."

Asked if golf clubs had told the company they would no longer display the magazine, he said: "That was the general consensus, yes."

From The More Money Than Brains Department:

And it is only $200, kiddies!

IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO GET RID OF YOUR SOCK LINES!

Tootsie Tanner

The Tootsie Tanner was developed as a convenient mini foot tanning bed that can be used in the comfort of your home. If you play golf, tennis, jog or participate in any outdoor activity, there is an unattractive result: The Dreaded Sock Line!

With the Tootsie Tanner, you can attain a seamless tan from your legs all the way down to your tootsies. You can not control the amount of UVB (burning rays) from natural sunlight. This unit controls both the UVA/UVB ratio and your exposure time.

All components are in compliance with UL and meet performance standards designated by FDA 21CFR1040.20 for sunlamp products. The Tootsie Tanner operates with a standard of 120V/90W.

Click here to see our full color brochure.

Click here for the Tootsie Tanner Image Gallery. (Thanks to Steve Czaban for the heads up.)

We golfers have been known to spend money on a lot of stupid things, but this one doesn't even pretend to improve your game!

Beautiful Italian Sports Car Update.

NBC 6: Lamborghini Driven By Hulk Hogan's Son Catches Fire

A Lamborghini owned by Hulk Hogan burst into flames Saturday on a Bay Harbor Islands road.

Next stop on the Hugo Chavez Commie Kool-Aid Comedy Tour: Shoah denial.

MSNBC: Chavez: U.S. may have planned 9/11

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday that it’s plausible that the U.S. government was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Arlington Texas nazis stifle schoolkids' creativity and stomps all over their joie de vivre.

NBC 5: Cleavage Ban In Arlington

Arlington students head back to school with new dress code rules that include a ban on cleavage.

Specifically, girls' necklines can be no lower than 4 inches from the collarbone.

Of course, there must be some racism thrown in for good measure...

The Arlington dress code also prohibits metal teeth caps called "grills" and stretched ear lobes.

CBS 11: Art Project Leads To Arlington School Lockdown

A Mansfield ISD high school located in Arlington was locked down Monday and swarmed by police officers responding to a call that turned out to be students wearing camouflage and carrying mock rifles as part of an art project.

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of St. John Chrysostom, priest, monk, preacher, bishop, archbishop, Patriarch of Constantinople, Doctor of the Church, and one of the greatest orators of his day. (Chrysostom means "golden mouthed".) Pray for us, all you angels and saints.

Today's reading for the Feast of St. John Chrysostom is 1 Corinthians 7:25-31.
Today's Responsorial Psalm is Psalms 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17.
Today's Gospel reading is Luke 6:20-26.

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

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."

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Align this!

These pinheads still hold meetings?

Who funds them now that the Soviets are gone? George Soros?

AP: Nonaligned countries want terrorism redefined

HAVANA - Iran, Syria, North Korea and more than 100 other nations are pushing to broaden the world's definition of "terrorism" to include the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

Converging on Fidel Castro's communist Cuba for a summit this week, members of the Nonaligned Movement complain of a double standard: powerful nations like the United States and Israel decide for the world who the terrorists are, but face no punishment for their own acts of aggression.

A draft of the group's joint declaration condemns "terrorism in all its forms," especially violence that targets civilians.

Terrorism should not be associated with any religion or nationality, says the draft. It singles out a favored phrase of President Bush in declaring that member countries "totally reject the use of the term 'axis of evil' by a certain state to target other states under the pretext of combating terrorism."

A Cuban official said sarcastically on Tuesday that the U.S. could one day accuse the entire Nonaligned Movement of supporting terrorism.

"Reading some news reports ... I'm left to believe that the axis of evil is growing," said Abelardo Moreno, Cuba's vice foreign minister. "Soon, the (axis of evil) will be made up of 118 countries."