The Michael and Cathryn Borden Memorial Book of the Day.*

Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease
By Gary Taubes.

...or, you think you know "fat" is bad for you, but you don't know.

The Old Gray Whore: Carbophobia

Gary Taubes is a brave and bold science journalist who does not accept conventional wisdom. In “Good Calories, Bad Calories,” he says what he wants is a fair hearing and rigorous testing for ideas that might seem shocking.

His thesis, first introduced in a much-debated article in The New York Times Magazine in 2002 challenging the low-fat diet orthodoxy, is that nutrition and public health research and policy have been driven by poor science and a sort of pigheaded insistence on failed hypotheses. As a result, people are confused and misinformed about the relationship between what they eat and their risk of growing fat. He expands that thesis in the new book, arguing that the same confused reasoning and poor science has led to misconceptions about the relation between diet and heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, dementia, diabetes and, again, obesity. When it comes to determining the ideal diet, he says, we have to “confront the strong possibility that much of what we’ve come to believe is wrong.” The best diet, he argues, is one loaded with protein and fat but very low in carbohydrates.

Taubes spent five years working on the book, which runs to more than 450 pages. The bibliography alone goes on for more than 60 pages. He also says he interviewed more than 600 doctors, researchers and administrators, though he adds that “the appearance of their names in the text ... does not imply that they agree with all or even part of the thesis set forth in this book.” Taubes does not bow to the current fashion for narrative nonfiction, instead building his argument case by case, considering the relationship between dietary fat and heart disease, carbohydrates and disease, diet and obesity. As a result, the book can be hard to read, tedious in many places and repetitious.

Yet much of what Taubes relates will be eye-opening to those who have not closely followed the science, or lack of science, in this area. (Disclosure: At one point he approvingly cites my articles on the lack of evidence that a high-fiber diet protects against colon cancer.) For example, he tells the amazing story of how the idea of a connection between dietary fat, cholesterol and heart disease got going and took on a life of its own, despite the minimal connection between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol for most people. He does not mince words. “From the inception of the diet-heart hypothesis in the early 1950s, those who argued that dietary fat caused heart disease accumulated the evidential equivalent of a mythology to support their belief. These myths are still passed on faithfully to the present day.” The story is similar for salt and high blood pressure, and for dietary fiber and cancer.

In fact, Taubes convincingly shows that much of what is believed about nutrition and health is based on the flimsiest science. To cite one minor example, there’s the notion that a tiny bit of extra food, 50 or 100 calories a day — a few bites of a hamburger, say — can gradually make you fat, and that eating a tiny bit less each day, or doing something as simple as walking a mile, can make the weight slowly disappear. This idea is based on a hypothesis put forth in a single scientific paper, published in 2003. And even then it was qualified, Taubes reports, by the statement that it was “theoretical and involves several assumptions” and that it “remains to be empirically tested.” Nonetheless, it has now become the basis for an official federal recommendation for obesity prevention...

*Who?

Right Wing Smile of the Day.

The Christian Science Monitor: Nancy Pelosi: Losers should "get the heck out of my yard"

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, second in line to the presidency, in some ways lives in a bubble of protection. She arrives for a Monitor-sponsored lunch with reporters in an armored SUV and bodyguards trail her into a hotel two blocks from the White House.

Ooooooooooooh! That is sooooooooo hot!

But whether at work or at home, the first woman speaker in the nation's history cannot escape the unhappiness of those – including a key part of the base of her party – who want Congress to move faster to end the war in Iraq. "I am well aware of the unhappiness of the base," Speaker Pelosi said.

Then do something, fool.

For more than four months, antiwar protesters have been "sitting outside my home, going into my garden in San Francisco and angering my neighbors, hanging their clothes from the trees, building all kinds of things, [putting] couches, sofas, chairs, permanent living facilities on my front sidewalk," she says. More recently protesters have taken up positions outside her Washington home.

FOUR MONTHS? Golly, I wonder who has been squashing this story...

Some fancy shootin'.

AP: Michigan officer's shots save skunk stuck in jar

Officer James Kellett knows it's his job to serve and protect — even when it comes to nature's stinky black and white creatures.

When a skunk with its head stuck in a salad dressing jar wandered into the Carrollton Township police station's parking lot, he grabbed a pellet gun and shot at the jar from about 40 feet away.

The shots cracked and shattered the jar, leaving a glass collar around the skunk's neck. With its head free, the skunk ran off.

"I didn't want to use deadly force, and it is a residential area," Kellett told The Saginaw News.
"The way he was when he took off, he was able to eat, breathe and spray — and do anything else skunks like to do."

Kellett didn't get much in the way of gratitude, but he's grateful the skunk didn't spray. But there is one bonus — the makers of T. Marzetti's salad dressing are sending the officer coupons good for free dressing as a reward.

The Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America Update.

CBS News: Pistol-Packin' Teacher Says It's Her Right

High school English teacher Shirley Katz insists she needs to take her pistol with her to work because she fears her ex-husband could show up and try to harm her. She's also worried about a Columbine-style attack.

Even if her fears are irrational, she has a right to protect herself. Yes, kiddies, Americans have the right to carry guns to ward off irrational fears. [Though a jealous and violent husband killing his wife is not that farfetched in these SEX IS DEATH times. Remember O.J. Simpson?]

But Katz's district has barred teachers from bringing guns to school, so she is challenging the ban as unlawful, since Oregon is among states that allow people with a permit to carry concealed weapons into public buildings.

"This is primarily about my Second Amendment right and Oregon law and the simple fact that I know it is my right to carry that gun," said Katz, 44, sitting at the kitchen table of her home outside this city of 74,000.

"I have that (concealed weapons) permit. I refuse to let my ex-husband bully me. And I am not going to let the school board bully me, either."

Of course, the primary reason our forefathers wrote the Second Amendment was to protect us from the government they were creating. You see, kiddies, America's founders had read a book or two and noticed how men with power tended to abuse that power.

In Oregon, a sheriff can grant a concealed-weapons permit to anyone whose criminal record is clean and who completes a gun-safety course.

Thirty-eight states, along with the District of Columbia, prohibit people from taking guns to school, according to the National Council of State Legislatures. But it's unclear how many offer an exemption for people holding concealed-weapons permits, since the council does not track such exceptions.

Superintendent Phil Long insists employees and students are safer without guns on campus at South Medford High School, where Katz teaches. The district plans to make that argument when the case comes before a judge on Thursday.

Yeah? If I am ever in South Medford High School and some jilted hubby or some lonely adolescent who never gets what he wants starts shooting, I know which teacher's room I will run to. I'm guessing Phil Long will be right behind me.

Katz's request appears to be rare. School security consultant Ken Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services in Cleveland, said he has never heard of a similar case while working in 45 states.

Katz won't say whether she has ever taken her 9 mm Glock pistol to school, but she practices with it regularly and has thought about what she would do if she had to confront a gunman. She would be sure students were locked in nearby offices out of the line of fire, and she would be ready with her pistol.

That is the best case scenario. Mrs. Katz better realize she may have to shoot around the innocents in an emergency. I suggest she take a "combat" shooting course.

Our safety plan at our school now is that if somebody threatening comes in, you try to avoid eye contact, and do whatever they say, and that is not acceptable anymore," she said. Shootings at Virginia Tech University and the one-room Amish school in Pennsylvania, "reinforced my belief we have to take action, we can't just acquiesce as we have been taught to do."

Katz never owned a gun until she and her then-husband, commercial photographer Gerry Katz, moved to Oregon from Atlanta eight years ago and bought 20 acres on a gravel road in the foothills of the Cascade Range.

"Being out in the country, we just felt we needed to have a gun here for personal safety," she said.

In 2004, Gerry Katz, who had a concealed weapons permit, was arrested for pulling a .38-caliber revolver after a confrontation that began in a parking lot with two men whose car almost hit his.

According to the police report, he did not point the weapon at anyone. The police seized it, and the charges were later dismissed. Gerry Katz said he never went back for his gun.

Shirley Katz said she bought her own gun in 2004 after Gerry Katz grabbed her by the throat and threatened to kill her - an allegation he denies.

He argues that her desire to take her gun to school is about reopening their divorce to get exclusive custody of their 6-year-old daughter.

Irrelevant.

"She's just scamming everybody," he said. "As soon as this thing started ... I called the principal at her high school and told her ... I am not coming to your school. I am not a threat to her. I have no desire to hurt her."

Oregon had a school shooting in 1998, when student Kip Kinkel killed his parents at home, then drove to school and opened fire in the cafeteria of Thurston High School in Springfield, killing two and wounding 25 others.

Since then, the Legislature has considered barring people with concealed weapons permits from carrying guns in schools, but the bills have failed, said Dori Brattain, general counsel to the Oregon School Boards Association.

Some South Medford students say they are uncomfortable with the idea of a teacher carrying a gun, especially since they cannot bring even scissors to school.

"I totally understand she wants to protect herself," said Lauren Forderer, 16, a junior. "But I don't agree she should bring her problems around 2,000 other people."

Even if she wins, Katz said, she may not bring the gun to school.

"The whole point of carrying concealed is no one should know you're carrying," she said. "So I feel like my carrying concealed on campus now sets me up as a target."

Exactly.

From The Unknown History Department:

AP: Haitians in U.S. Revolution get monument

Haitians learn it in school, but it's virtually unknown in the U.S.: In the Revolutionary War's bloody siege of Savannah, hundreds of Haitian soldiers were there for the colonies.

That contribution to American independence has been honored with a monument dedicated Monday in Savannah's Franklin Square. Life-size bronze statues of four soldiers now stand atop a granite pillar 6 feet tall and 16 feet in diameter.

"This is a testimony to tell people we Haitians didn't come from the boat," said Daniel Fils-Aime, chairman of the Miami-based Haitian American Historical Society, one of many Haitian Americans who came to Savannah for the dedication. "We were here in 1779 to help America win independence. That recognition is overdue."

In October 1779, a force of more than 500 Haitian free blacks joined American colonists and French troops in an unsuccessful push to drive the British from Savannah in coastal Georgia.
More than 300 allied soldiers were gunned down charging British fortifications Oct. 9, making the siege the second-most lopsided British victory of the war after Bunker Hill.

Thank you Haiti.

Haiti's role in the American Revolution is a point of national pride. After returning home from the war, Haitian veterans led their own rebellion that won Haiti's independence from France in 1804.

"It's a huge deal," said Philippe Armand, vice president of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America, who flew to Savannah from the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. "All the Haitians who have gone to school know about it from the history books."

Fils-Aime's group has spent the past seven years lobbying Savannah leaders to support the monument, which the city approved in 2005, and raising more than $400,000 in private donations to pay for it.

Fils-Aime said the historical society still needs $250,000 to finish two additional soldier statues.
As it stands now, the monument features statues of two Haitian troops with rifles raised on either side of a fellow soldier who has fallen with a bullet wound to his chest.

The fourth statue, a drummer boy, depicts a young Henri Christophe, who served in Savannah as an adolescent and went on to become Haiti's first president — and ultimately king — after it won independence.

It's unclear exactly what role Haitian troops played in the battle at Savannah because Haitian records from that era were destroyed by fire in the 1830s, said Scott Smith, director of Savannah's Coastal Heritage Society, which is dedicating a park on the battlefield site Tuesday.

But surviving records show 545 Haitian soldiers sailed to Savannah in 1779 — making them the largest military unit of the Savannah battle. The Haitians are also believed to have been the largest black unit to serve in the American Revolution.

May God have mercy on their brave souls.

Hey Columbia, take a look at the real world.

Gulf Daily News: Death to the dictator..!

Pro-reform students scuffled with police and supporters of Mahmoud J. Hungadunga yesterday and chanted "Death to the dictator" outside a Tehran University campus hall where the Iranian president spoke.

In reply, hardline students shouted, "Revolutionary president, we support you," pushing and shoving the protesters.

Yesterday's protest was the second rowdy reception Ahmadinejad has received at a university in less than a year.

Last December, students tried to disrupt his speech on another campus.

"Students should feel responsible in the international arena ... Today's world needs them," state television quoted the president as telling university officials and students in the hall. The television made no mention of disturbances outside.

"Fascist president, the university is not a place for you" and "Detained students should be released," they chanted as they marched towards the campus gates.

Hungadunga's supporters responded: "Hypocrites, leave the university" and waved religious banners. Pro-reform students said those allowed inside were handpicked supporters of the president.

They said some of those who have spoken out against the president and his government in the past two years have been detained or blacklisted from university courses.

John Henry is no more.

AP: Race horse great John Henry dead at 32

John Henry wasn't the friendliest horse — far from it. However, his ability to turn a humble pedigree into the resume of a champion made him a prime attraction at the Kentucky Horse Park, where he spent his final 22 years.

"We would always bring kids to John Henry's paddock and say, 'Here is a great champion,'" said John Nicholson, the park's executive director.

Grumpy yet beloved, the thoroughbred great died Monday after 32 years of defying odds — both in racing success and longevity.

The two-time Horse of the Year, who earned more than $6.5 million before retiring as a gelding to the park where he became an icon, was euthanized Monday night in his paddock there.

He survived several illnesses over the years but never recovered from a recent bout with dehydration, in which he experienced kidney failure that forced him to receive intravenous fluids. The horse was rapidly losing weight.

"John's always been known for his biting and kicking," said Cathy Roby, barn manager at the horse park's Hall of Champions where he was stabled. "He had gotten to the point where he really wasn't trying, where he just wasn't John anymore. He was just tired and he was ready to go."

Mike Beyer, the veterinarian who tended to John Henry until the end, said euthanasia was the only choice.

"We didn't want to get to the point where he didn't have dignity," Beyer said.

John Henry was retired 22 years ago to the park, where he was beloved by the public and, along with stablemate Cigar, one of the park's biggest attractions.

Foaled March 9, 1975, and an average runner early in his career, John Henry was the highest money-earning thoroughbred in history when he retired in 1985.

The gelded son of Old Bob Bowers out of Once Double won four Grade I races and Horse of the Year honors at ages 6 and 9, and collected seven Eclipse awards from 1980-84.

"What can I say about the legendary John Henry that has not already been said," Chris McCarron, who rode John Henry in 14 of his last races, said in a statement from the park. "John meant the world to my family and me. Everywhere he raced, his presence doubled the size of a normal race track crowd. He did so much for racing, even after he retired, that he will be impossible to replace. He will be sorely missed but forever in our hearts."

John Henry was loved not for a tremendous talent but because he was a fighter who would battle not to lose at any cost.

Although he never won a Triple Crown race, he was successful at the highest levels of competition on the dirt and the turf.

In his career, John Henry earned 39 victories, 15 seconds and nine-thirds in 83 starts and earned $6,597,947. He was inducted into thoroughbred racing's Hall of Fame in 1990.

John Henry was called "small," "ugly" and "bad-tempered" as a foal. He was sold at the January mixed sale at Keeneland for $1,100. He soon became known more for his disposition than his racing ability, often tearing buckets and tubs off the wall of his stall and stomping them flat.

He was sold to Harold Snowden of Lexington for $2,200 in 1977. Snowden chose to geld John Henry with the hope it would calm him and allow him to focus on racing.

He changed hands two more times until native New Yorker Sam Rubin and his wife, Dorothy, bought him for $25,000 sight unseen over the phone. John Henry's new trainer, Bob Donato, thought the horse would fare well on grass, and John Henry won six of 19 starts as a 3-year-old.
As a 4-year-old, John Henry won four of 11 races for trainer Lefty Nickerson. The following year, John Henry was sent to work with trainer Ron McAnally in California and his career blossomed.

McAnally trained John Henry with "carrots, apples and love," the horse park said. He visited during the horse's retirement and had seen him as recently as September, bringing the animal's favorite cookies and carrots, the park said.

From The Death Of The West Department:

Daily Mail: Monet masterpiece slashed by drunks

A masterpiece by Claude Monet was attacked by drunken louts in Paris. The vandals broke into the Orsay Museum in the early hours and tore a hole in The Bridge at Argenteuil - a key work by the French Impressionist. The painting suffered a four-inch tear in the middle, caused either by a punch or a blow from a knife.

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of Saint Paulinus of York, a seventh century missionary and bishop of York. A Roman monk, he was named by Pope St. Gregory I the Great to accompany Sts. Justus and Mellitus on their mission to England to advance the cause of evangelization undertaken by St. Augustine of Canterbury.

Paulinus labored for some twenty-four years in Kent and, in 625, was ordained bishop of Kent. He was also responsible for bringing Christianity to Northumbria, baptizing the pagan king Edwin of Northumbria on Easter 627, and then converting thousands of other Northumbrians.

Following the defeat and death of Edwin by pagan Mercians at the Battle of Hatfield in 633, Paulinus was driven from his see, and he returned to Kent with Edwin’s widow Ethelburga, her two children, and Edwin’s grandson Osfrid. Paulinus then took up the see of Rochester, which he headed until his death. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.


Today's reading is Jonas [Jonah] 4:1 - 11.
Today's Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 85:3-6, 9-10.
Today's Gospel reading is Luke 11:1 - 4.


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.

It Takes A Village To Staff A Gestapo Unit Update.

YOU WILL SAVE WHAT SHE SAYS WHEN SHE SAYS IT!

AP: Senatrix Schicklgruber (N-NY) proposes 401(k) accounts for all Americans

Families could get 401(k) retirement accounts and up to $1,000 in annual matching funds from the government under a plan offered Tuesday by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.

At a cost of $20 billion-$25 billion a year, the plan is Clinton's largest domestic proposal other than her plan for universal health insurance. The New York senator said it would be paid for by taxing estates worth more than $7 million per couple and would help narrow the gap between the rich and those who don't have enough savings for retirement.

Hee hee. "Narrow the gap."

At the same time, Clinton said she has given up another idea for a savings incentive — giving every baby born in the United States a $5,000 account to one day pay for college or a first home.

She made that suggestion last month before the Congressional Black Caucus, saying it was just an idea and not a policy proposal. The idea was criticized by Republicans, and she told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Tuesday that it's off the table.

Oops.

The campaign of her Democratic rival John Edwards suggested it was an example of Clinton setting her positions by polls. "Apparently, new polling data seems to have pressured the Clinton campaign to throw out the baby bond with the bathwater," said Edwards spokesman Chris Kofinis.

You'll get yours, Kofinis. Just you wait.

As for the retirement accounts, Clinton said during a campaign stop in small-town central Iowa, "They will begin to bring down this inequality that is eating away at our social contract." She said, "This is a major commitment to how I believe we can begin to right the balance again."

Hoo-boy! "Social contract", indeed. This Nazi cow must be on crack 'cause crack makes you imagine you know what the heck you're talking about.

Her campaign said that for every $7 million estate that gets taxed, at least 5,000 families would receive the matching funds.

And fairydust lollipops will sprout from our navels.

Clinton said she wants to create "American Retirement Accounts" in which each family could put up to $5,000 annually in a 401(k) plan. The federal government would provide a tax cut to match the first $1,000 for any household that brings in less than $60,000 a year and 50 percent of the first $1,000 for those that make $60,000-$100,000.

Her campaign said the accounts would be designed for adults of working age and not open to children, but that it wouldn't be a requirement that people work to participate. The matching funds would come in the form of a refundable tax credit that would be deposited into the 401(k) plan.

Higher income earners who don't have employer-sponsored plans could participate, but contributions to the accounts would count against the IRA contribution limit.

Blah blah blah....

She said she would encourage employers to have direct deposit from paychecks into the accounts.

Clinton said less than half the families in the United States have retirement savings accounts and those who have them aren't saving enough. She said she often meets people working even into their early 80s because they don't have enough savings.

Blah.

"We don't have much of a nest egg to fall back on," she said.

You can always fall back on those commie Chinese "businessmen" friends of yours.

Although the money would be intended mainly for retirement, she said people should also be able to use the savings to buy a house or pay for college and the government should consider letting workers use a portion for hard times like an illness or accident.

Clinton said the accounts should not be used to replace any part of Social Security and that she is committed to addressing the long-term challenges of that program.

"We have to fight and finally bury the idea of privatizing Social Security," she said.

The war this time.

AFP: White House denies leaking al-Qaida video

The White House on Tuesday denied being the source of a leak involving an Osama bin Laden video that a private intelligence firm said had sabotaged its secret ability to intercept Al-Qaeda messages.

Asked if the White House was the source of the leak, spokeswoman Dana Perino said: "No, we were not ... We were very concerned to learn about it."

The SITE Intelligence Group said it lost access that it had covertly acquired to Al-Qaeda's communications network when the administration of President George W. Bush let out that the company had obtained a bin Laden video early last month ahead of its official release, the Washington Post said.

"Techniques that took years to develop are now ineffective and worthless," SITE founder Rita Katz told the newspaper.

SITE monitors websites and public communications linked to radical Islamist groups and organizations deemed terrorist by US authorities and provides the information to clients, including news media companies.

It got hold of the bin Laden video before its release and provided it for free to the White House on the morning of September 7 but insisted that the video's existence remain secret until it spotted the official release, in order to protect its own work.

"Within 20 minutes, a range of intelligence agencies had begun downloading it from the company's website," the Post said.

By that afternoon the video and a transcript from it had been leaked to a cable television news network and broadcast worldwide, the Post reported.

According to Katz, this tipped off Al-Qaeda that its communications security had been breached by SITE.

White House officials said the matter would be referred to the Director of National Intelligence, and that the White House was not planning any internal investigation.

"When the White House receives information from an individual or a company, we refer that appropriately to the intelligence community. That's what happened here," Perino said.

"And I'll have to refer you to the Director on National Intelligence for any process problem they had in that regard."

Homeland security adviser Fran Townsend echoed Perino's "concern" and referred the matter to the nation's spy chief.

"This is going to be an issue for the DNI to look at so that we can understand what, if anything, happened, and how to deal with it to ensure that we fully protect those who cooperate with us," Townsend said.

Fyodor's Headlinks.

Stories that have absolutely nothing in common...or do they?

AP: Global greenhouse gases at critical levels

AP: Lohan says rehab was a 'humbling' experience

Steelers Update.

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Steelers' Parker carrying impressive load
No one, and that includes injured players such as Casey Hampton, Troy Polamalu and Hines Ward, can use the breather that the Steelers' bye week provides more than Willie Parker.

Prisuta: Steelers' work far from done

Focus stressed over Steelers bye week

Steelers hurting all around, yet off to 4-1 start

Penguins Update.

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Pens' Crosby back in practice
Sidney Crosby returned to practice after missing a session on Monday with a bruised right foot.

'EJ' in transition year with Pens

Quiet confidence

Shootouts critical for Pens again

Penguins Q&A: Rob Rossi answers your questions

NHL Network prepares U.S. launch

SEX IS DEATH. (Death is forever, but fornication - not so much)

I came to Carthage, where I found myself in the midst of a hissing cauldron of lusts. I had not yet fallen in love, but I was in love with the idea of it, and this feeling that something was missing made me despise myself for not being more anxious to satisfy the need. I began to look around for some object for my love, since I badly wanted to love something. —St. Augustine, Confessions


********* UPDATE 10/12/07 ****************************************

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gunman's suicide suspected

Of the dozens of bullets fired by Tyler Peterson as he mowed down friends and Crandon High School classmates in a fatal flurry, authorities said Tuesday, he apparently saved the last few for himself.

Evidence shows the 20-year-old Forest County sheriff's deputy and part-time Crandon police officer likely committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with his .40-caliber handgun as law enforcement officers closed in on him, hours after Peterson killed six young people, said Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.

Peterson left behind a chaotic, blood-soaked scene inside a white duplex where two victims died while trying to hide in a bedroom closet and another victim survived only by playing dead.

Peterson was hit by four bullets - one to his bicep, which came from a long distance, and three to his head. Two of the shots were nonfatal wounds underneath Peterson's chin, with the fatal shot entering the right side of his head, Van Hollen said. All three head wounds showed signs the gun was held against the skin.

How about that...you do not have to be a good shot to be a cop...or a mass murderer.

*********************************************************************

Times Online: Homecoming Pizza Party Hit By Murder Spree; Killer lawman ‘was scorned lover’


The people of Crandon, Wisconsin, were in shock yesterday after seeing their high-school homecoming weekend turn into a gun massacre.

Their grief was made worse by the fact that the trigger was pulled by Tyler Peterson - an off-duty police officer and sheriff’s deputy who was, apparently, popular within the community that he was paid to serve and protect.

Peterson had arrived at a “pizza and movie” sleepover party for seven of his friends in the centre of the town, which has a population of 2,000, at about 2am on Sunday.

After an argument, he returned at 2.47am with what was believed to have been his police-issue rifle, and fired 30 rounds, killing his ex-girlfriend and five others. One survivor remained critically ill yesterday.

Peterson, who also fired at a police car as he tried to escape, was only 20 years of age - the minimum required age to join the Sheriff’s department in Forest County. Hours after the slaughter he, too, was dead after exchanging gunfire with a police SWAT team. It is understood that he fled to a neighbouring town where he then took a family hostage.

Some details of the killings in this remote corner of northern Wisconsin remained sketchy. John “JB” Van Hollen, Wisconsin’s attorney general, told a press conference yesterday: “Violence so terrible and tragic will never make sense. We’re seeking answers too.”

Arm your daughters and teach them how to shoot.

Police confirmed that Peterson had recently split up with his on-off girlfriend of several years. It is believed that she was the first person he shot dead when he entered the apartment on Sunday morning.

SEX IS DEATH.

Three of his victims were still at Crandon High School while the others were, like Peterson, recent graduates.

Among the dead was Bradley Schultz, a 20-year-old student who had wanted to become a homicide detective. Raised with his two brothers by a single mother who was understood to be blind, he had only returned to town for the weekend homecoming. Sharon Pisarek, his aunt, said: “He was loved by everybody.”

He "loved" them to death.

The youngest victim was Lindsey Stahl, 14, a vegetarian and animal rights activist who was interested in global warming. Her half-brother, Ryan Coulter, 12, said: “She probably would have changed the world, you know.”

The killer’s family issued a statement through their local pastor, Bill Farr. “We feel a tremendous amount of guilt and shame for the terrible acts Tyler committed,” they said. “We do not know what we should do. We’re in shock and disbelief that he would do such terrible things. This is not the Tyler we knew and loved.”


Part 1: SEX IS DEATH. (Stories for boys) is here.
Part 2: SEX IS DEATH. (Distaff death) is here.
Part 3: SEX IS DEATH. (Joyously dispensing death) is here.
Part 4: SEX IS DEATH. (Sex is depression) is here.
Part 5: SEX IS DEATH. (When self-pleasuring becomes self-destruction) is here.
Part 6: SEX IS DEATH. (Sex is theft) is here.
Part 7: SEX IS DEATH. (A review of Bareback Mountain) is here.
Part 8: SEX IS DEATH. (What is the ultimate penalty?) is here.
Part 9: SEX IS DEATH. (Haven from reality) is here.
Part 10: SEX IS DEATH. (Sin-redemption-reasons-reason) is here.
Part 11: SEX IS DEATH. (Mommy loves you) is here.
Part 12: SEX IS DEATH. (George Gilder offers a clue) is here.
Part 13: SEX IS DEATH. (Post-killem depression) is here.
Part 14: SEX IS DEATH. (Whither womanhood) is here.
Part 15: SEX IS DEATH. (Saving psychology 1) is here.
Part 16: SEX IS DEATH. (Saving psychology 2) is here.
Part 17: SEX IS DEATH. (Fear of the boomers) is here.
Part 18: SEX IS DEATH. (The battle continues apace) is here.
Part 19: SEX IS DEATH. (Hot for teacher) is here.
Part 20: SEX IS DEATH. (Kids do the darndest things) is here.
Part 21: SEX IS DEATH. (Defects) is here.
Part 22: SEX IS DEATH. (Privates' privacy) is here.
Part 23: SEX IS DEATH. (National Condom Week) is here.
Part 24: SEX IS DEATH. (Wegenics) is here.
Part 25: SEX IS DEATH. (White wedding) is here.
Part 26: SEX IS DEATH. (Literally) is here.
Part 27: SEX IS DEATH. (Can't get me no satisfaction) is here.
Part 28: SEX IS DEATH. (Wrestle with mania) is here.
Part 29: SEX IS DEATH. (Press one for death/Presione uno para la muerte) is here.
Part 30: SEX IS DEATH. (Raunch culture) is here.
Part 31: SEX IS DEATH. (Gimme some of that sweet zombie lovin') is here.
Part 32: SEX IS DEATH. (The devil made me eat my baby) is here.
Part 33: SEX IS DEATH. (Mind control = womb control) is here.
Part 34: SEX IS DEATH. (The expense of playing with yourself) is here.
Part 35: SEX IS DEATH. (You can't always get what you want) is here.
Part 36: SEX IS DEATH. (Whom does a master serve?) is here.
Part 37: SEX IS DEATH. (Shootin' 5 for 8) is here.
Part 38: SEX IS DEATH. (Being a never-wed mom of four and an illegal alien is no picnic either) is here.
Part 39: SEX IS DEATH. (Duane indulges himself then goes out in a blaze of cowardice) is here.
Part 40: SEX IS DEATH. (The line is not fine at all) is here.
Part 41: SEX IS DEATH. (Worse than homelessness) is here.
Part 42: SEX IS DEATH. (Attack of the hooker dolls) is here.
Part 43: SEX IS DEATH. ('Benefits' for men - death for women) is here.
Part 44: SEX IS DEATH. (Even in India) is here.
Part 45: SEX IS DEATH. (The shifting sands of normalcy) is here.
Part 46: SEX IS DEATH. (It's not a sin, if you enjoy it) is here.

Elmo helps Our Boys.

Rocky Mountain News: Sesame Street' to help injured vets, their kids


It's not your typical Sesame Street episode.

There are no lessons in letters or numbers, but there are plenty of hugs and lots of talk about feelings.

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization that produces the hit kids show, is working on a DVD designed to help injured military veterans talk about their disabilities with their children.

Gary E. Knell, president and CEO of Sesame Workshop, said veterans and their families are looking to Sesame Street for help because the workshop produced a DVD last year to help military families discuss the strain of deployments.

More than a million children have parents in the military who have been deployed in the past six years. Roughly 18,000 military personnel in Iraq or Afghanistan have been wounded or injured seriously.

In the new production, Rosita, a fluffy blue mop-headed muppet, is upset because her father has returned home in a wheelchair.

Rosita angrily refers to the wheelchair as "that thing" and reminisces about dancing to salsa music and kicking a ball with her dad. With Elmo's encouragement, Rosita finds the nerve to talk with her parents about how she is feeling.

"Sometimes I feel a little sad, because things are so different now," Rosita says during a family outing to the park.

"I wish your legs were OK, Papi, and I wish you didn't have to go to the doctor so much. And I just wish things could go back to the way they were!"

Rosita's father tells her that although he may have changed, his love for her hasn't. He persuades her to hop on the back of his wheelchair so the two can try a new kind of dancing.

Retired Army 1st Lt. Ed Salau said it's important for families to find new activities to do together after a parent is injured. When Salau lost a leg in a rocket attack in Iraq, he immediately thought of his young children.

"All I was thinking about was, 'Am I going to be able to dance with my daughter or play soccer with my son?' "

Back home, Salau said he worked quickly to re-establish physical closeness with his children, which can be difficult for families. "Hugging still means everything it did before you were hurt," Salau says.

The invasion of America continues apace from coast to coast and border to border.

Another riotous belly laugh about how cool it is to break the law when you feel like it.

Lancaster New Era: Local refugee advocate charged

A refugee advocate who works out of Lancaster has been arrested at the Canadian border and charged with immigrant trafficking.

Janet Hinshaw-Thomas, 65, of Chester, is the founder and director of Prime — Ecumenical Commitment to Refugees, which has an office in St. Andrew United Church of Christ in Lancaster and another office in Lansdowne.

She was arrested Sept. 26 at a border station at Lacolle in Quebec, while escorting 12 Haitian people across the border. She was held overnight in jail and released on $5,000 bail, she said today.

Her charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

"It's very frightening, to be honest," Hinshaw-Thomas said today. "I do not relish spending my life in a Canadian jail."

Oooooooooooh! A Canadian jail!

Canada recently has faced a surge of immigrants, many from Haiti, traveling to border stations and seeking asylum, Hinshaw-Thomas said.

Haitians are very afraid of being deported to their country, because of unsafe conditions there, she said. If they cannot obtain legal status in the United States, they often turn to Canada for asylum, she said.

Hinshaw-Thomas said her group has made many trips to the Canadian border.

She said she e-mailed border officials five days before the Sept. 26 trip, notifying them she would be bringing the group of Haitians, which included five adults and seven children. Some of the people had been living in New Jersey, she said.

She told officials she was from a non-profit assistance group.

"There had been a lot of grumbling. They suspected that because we do this so regularly that we were earning money," which is illegal, she said.

That day, a criminal investigator at the border accused her of taking money.

She said Prime does charge a fee for taking families across the border, but it is for traveling expenses. Often, the agency loses money on the trips, she said.

Canada Border Services Agency spokesman Eric Paradis said the charges have nothing to do with whether Hinshaw-Thomas was profiting from helping the refugees, according to a story in The Catholic Register, a Canadian newspaper.

He said, "We had a person bringing in people who were there that did not have the proper documentation to enter Canada. This is not legal.

The invasion of America continues apace.

Can you guess how many paragraphs it takes this outpost of the AmericaLast media to get to the punchline in which we learn this pervert merely happens to be a twice deported illegal invader?

The Signal: Alleged Rapist to be Arraigned

The 29-year-old Canyon Country man who reportedly raped two women and attacked a third earlier this year will appear in court today for arraignment.

He faces 26 charges, most of which are related to the attacks, and is being held in lieu of $11 million bail, a District Attorney spokeswoman said.

Charges pertaining to rapes in January and March and a third attack in June were filed against Adrian Arriano, also known as Andres Gomez, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman with the county District Attorney's office.

Arriano could be sentenced to multiple life terms in prison if convicted.

Sheriff's Capt. Anthony La Berge said DNA evidence from the rapes will be compared to Arriano's DNA, and the results will be available within weeks.

The charges filed Wednesday are: one count of attempted murder, nine counts of forcible rape, four counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, three counts of sodomy, three counts of forced oral copulation, three counts of burglary, one count of false imprisonment by violence, one count of residential robbery and one count of assault to commit a felony during a burglary.

On Jan. 6 Arriano reportedly raped a 20-year-old woman after breaking into her apartment in the 19000 block of Stillmore Street. Then on March 29, he allegedly raped a woman in her 40s at knifepoint in her home in the 19500 block of Four Oaks Drive, less than a mile from the first attack.

Arriano, a twice deported illegal immigrant, reportedly lived in the same Canyon Country neighborhood where these attacks occurred.

Eight. The joke is on us.

Almost three months later, on June 26, he allegedly broke into Canyon Country resident Erin O'Brien's apartment, located near Soledad Canyon Road and Luther Drive, and attacked her. She screamed and fought back, prompting him to flee.

The victims in each of these attacks were present at a press conference held last week to announce Arriano's arrest, and called his capture a "miracle."

Arriano was arrested Sept. 10 after he reportedly tried to break into a woman's second-story condominium in Newhall.

Detectives noted physical similarities between Arriano and the wanted rapist. Additionally, during an interview with detectives, Arriano provided information about the rapes that had not yet been released to the public.

For the Sept. 10 incident, Arriano faces one count of first degree burglary.

An arraignment hearing for that case is scheduled for Sept. 26, Robison said, adding that it may change as a result of the sexual assault case.

Arriano is being held at Pitchess Detention Center North County Facility in Castaic.

Religion of Peace and Love and Equality for Women Update.

Express India: Saudi divorces wife for watching male TV host: Report

A Saudi man divorced his wife for watching alone a television programme presented by a male, an act he deemed immoral.

The man ended his marriage on the grounds his wife was effectively alone with an unrelated man, which is forbidden under the strict Islamic law enforced in the ultra-conservative kingdom, the Al Shams newspaper reported on Saturday.

Men in Saudi Arabia have the authority to divorce their wives without resort to the courts.

The Great Cartoon War continues apace.

The State: Turkish hackers target Swedish Web sites

Hackers in Turkey have attacked more than 5,000 Swedish Web sites in the past week, and at least some of the sabotage appears linked to Muslim anger over a Swedish newspaper drawing that depicted the Prophet Muhammad's head on a dog's body.

Uh -oh. Here we go again...

Around 1,600 Web sites hosted by server-provider Proinet and 3,800 sites hosted by another company have been targeted, Proinet spokesman Kjetil Jensen said Sunday. Jensen said hackers, operating on a Turkish network, at times replaced files on the sites with messages.

According to Swedish news agency TT, the Web site of a children's cartoon called Bamse was replaced by a message saying Islam's prophet had been insulted.

The incidents have been reported to the police.

Islamic law is generally interpreted to forbid any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry. Dogs also are considered unclean by conservative Muslims.

Conservative, eh? Naturally.

Goats, however, are considered wife material in the non-moderate mohammedan community.

Lucky dogs.

The Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda published the drawing by artist Lars Vilks in an Aug. 19 editorial. It triggered protests from Swedish Muslim groups and formal complaints from Muslim countries, including Pakistan and Iran. An insurgent leader in Iraq, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, put a $100,000 bounty on Vilks' head.

Similar caricatures of the prophet, first published in 2005 by a Danish newspaper and reprinted in other European newspapers, triggered furious street protests in Muslim countries.

Stefan Grinneby, head of the Swedish communication watchdog's Internet incident center Sitic, said attacks against Swedish Web sites from Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, have increased in the past three weeks. Some contained messages alluding to the drawing.

"You would need a very large police investigation to establish the connection to the prophet drawings, but considering the increase in recent weeks it is a fair assumption to make," he said.

Vilks said recently that he has no regrets about his portrayal of Muhammad, despite receiving death threats. He said Muslims living in the West would have to get used to disrespectful drawings of their religious symbols, "because here in the West we mock everything."

Sad but true.

He also said he may convert the dispute into a musical, with prominent roles depicting Iran's president, Sweden's prime minister and al-Qaida terrorists.

Hee hee.

Dumbass Story of the Day.

Pitt The Smaller fantasizes about the smartest guy he knows seizing power...

New York Daily News: George Clooney for President: Let the debate begin

It's one way to heat up the Oval Office.

Brad Pitt is urging fellow heartthrob George Clooney to run for President of the United States.

"George should do it! He'd be quite good," the actor told Parade magazine in a ringing endorsement of his charismatic friend and frequent co-star.

The 46-year-old hunk may already have Pitt's vote, but the notion of having an A-list movie star as commander-in-chief creates all kinds of complications.

If he ventures into full-time politics, he would follow in the footsteps of other entertainers such as Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood and Sonny Bono.

But let's face it: When it comes to good looks and intelligence, Clooney is in a different league.
Here are some of the pros and cons of having George as leader of the free world.

Just when you thought the clowns from Hollyweird were the dumb ones...

PROS: GO, GEORGE, GO!

1. Other leaders at the UN will be hypnotized by his charm, so they'll agree to anything and everything he says.

2. The idea of pressing the flesh will get a whole lot yummier.

3. That "Syriana" Oscar on the fireplace mantel would add a certain amount of glitz to the White House.

4. His "Save Darfur" campaign and regular visits to war-torn countries show he's not afraid to get his hands dirty.

5. His fashion sense is so impeccable, every photo opportunity flies the flag for American style.

CONS: MAYBE HE SHOULD STICK TO MOVIES

1. It would be very embarrassing if female soldiers in Iraq threw themselves at the commander-in-chief during a morale-boosting visit. Saltpeter in the rations, perhaps?

2. White House internships just got a whole lot more competitive.

3. Imagine his appointments. Supreme Court Justice Julia Roberts? Secretary of Defense Matt Damon?

4. The travel budget will go through the roof. Camp David isn't half as appealing as Clooney's Italian villa on Lake Como.

5. There will be no First Lady, but a First Girlfriend. And every woman in America will hate her guts.

Another triumph for evolution.

Long Beach Press-Telegram: Appendix useful after all

A much maligned organ famous for doing nothing but killing Houdini finally gets its act together and evolves into something useful before The Party of Blasphemy, Buggery, and 'Bortion decides to have it labeled an undifferentiated tissue mass.

Some scientists think they have figured out the real job of the troublesome and seemingly useless appendix: It produces and protects good germs for your gut.

That's the theory from surgeons and immunologists at Duke University Medical School, published online in a scientific journal this week.

For generations the appendix has been dismissed as superfluous. Doctors figured it had no function. Surgeons removed them routinely. People live fine without them.

And when infected the appendix can turn deadly. It gets inflamed quickly and some people die if it isn't removed in time. Two years ago, 321,000 Americans were hospitalized with appendicitis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The function of the appendix seems related to the massive amount of bacteria populating the human digestive system, according to the study in the Journal of Theoretical Biology. There are more bacteria than human cells in the typical body. Most of it is good and helps digest food.

But sometimes the flora of bacteria in the intestines die or are purged. Diseases such as cholera or amoebic dysentery would clear the gut of useful bacteria. The appendix's job is to reboot the digestive system in that case.

The appendix "acts as a good safe house for bacteria," said Duke surgery professor Bill Parker, a study co-author. Its location - just below the normal one-way flow of food and germs in the large intestine in a sort of gut cul-de-sac - helps support the theory, he said.

Also, the worm-shaped organ outgrowth acts like a bacteria factory, cultivating the good germs, Parker said.

That use is not needed in a modern industrialized society, Parker said. If a person's gut flora dies, they can usually repopulate it easily with germs they pick up from other people, he said.
But before dense populations in modern times and during epidemics of cholera that affected a whole region, it wasn't as easy to grow back that bacteria and the appendix came in handy.

In less developed countries, where the appendix may be still useful, the rate of appendicitis is lower than in the U.S., other studies have shown, Parker said.

He said the appendix may be another case of an overly hygienic society triggering an overreaction by the body's immune system.

Even though the appendix seems to have a function, people should still have them removed when they are inflamed because it could turn deadly, Parker said. About 300 to 400 Americans die of appendicitis each year, according to the CDC.

Five scientists not connected with the research said that the Duke theory makes sense and raises interesting questions.

The idea "seems by far the most likely" explanation for the function of the appendix, said Brandeis University biochemistry professor Douglas Theobald. "It makes evolutionary sense."

The theory led Gary Huffnagle, a University of Michigan internal medicine and microbiology professor, to wonder about the value of another body part that is often yanked: "I'll bet eventually we'll find the same sort of thing with the tonsils."

The Journal of Theoretical Biology: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00225193

Leave the driving to TerraMax.

The Salt Lake Tribune: Military tech: Drivers optional in new vehicles

Sitting high in the cab of the hulking lime-green TerraMax truck, a driver can be excused for instinctively grabbing the steering wheel.

There's no need. TerraMax is a self-driving vehicle, a prototype designed to navigate and obey traffic rules - all while the people inside, if there are any, do anything but drive.

During a recent test on property owned by manufacturer Oshkosh Truck Co., TerraMax barreled down a dusty road with its driver seat empty. It stopped at a four-way intersection and waited as staged traffic resolved before obediently lurching on its way.

If the Defense Department gets its way, vehicles such as TerraMax - about as long as a typical sport-utility vehicle and almost twice as high - could represent the future of transportation for the military's ground forces.

Consider 80 soldiers driving a convoy of 40 trucks across the Iraqi desert, said Joaquin Salas, spokesman for the Oshkosh, Wis.-based company. If most of those vehicles could drive themselves, the same convoy might manage with just 10 soldiers.

''You're reducing the number of people susceptible to enemy fire,'' said Salas, who served eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps. ''It's simply amazing technology.''

Congress has mandated that one in three ground combat vehicles be self-driving by 2015. The idea is to free personnel for nondriving tasks such

as reading maps, scanning for roadside bombs or scouting for the enemy - and to be able to deploy vehicles altogether unoccupied.

The military's research arm turned to industry and academia to help meet that goal. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has sponsored a series of contests since 2003 in which prototype vehicles must navigate rough terrain and avoid obstacles.

Oshkosh Truck, a public company that in August projected its 2008 sales would be about $7 billion, is fielding one of 35 teams whose vehicles passed qualifying tests this year. Some teams see the competition as a way to improve automotive technology.

Antonie Iorgovan, Requiescat in pace.

The man who wrote Free Romania's constitution ha left us...

Antonie Iorgovam was transferred Saturday evening from the Bucharest University Emergency Hospital to a medical clinic in Vienna. The Social Democrat Senator, who died at age 59, had been admitted to the “Matei Bals” Institute for Infectious Diseases for a routine check-up, as he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer some time ago and operated upon in Germany, about two years ago. His condition has deteriorated lately. The Senator was to undergo surgery in Vienna, yet his death happened before it.

Yesterday, Senators observed a moment of silence in the memory of their fellow MP, after Senate Speaker Nicolae Vacaroiu had announced that Iorgovan is dead. According to Vacaroiu, all the attempts by doctor-Senators, Sorin Oprescu especially, to find a solution for Iorgovan’s disease, both in Romania and abroad, failed. “When I spoke about the Constitution, I spoke of him as the father of the Constitution, Antonie Iorgovan. Not only that, he was an outstanding colleague, a good colleague, a fighter, a proponent of bill of laws. For us, I hold the belief ,this is a huge loss,” Vacaroiu said, quoted by Rompres. Also yesterday, the leadership of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), also observed a moment of silence in Iorgovan’s memory in the opening of the meeting of the National Standing Bureau. Rather reserved after Wednesday’s failed censure motion, The PSD President, Mircea Geoana, said that Iorgovan had been a distinguished politician and a landmark for Romanian politics. Iorgovan’s colleague and friend, Ion Iliescu, was more “generous” with his statements, saying the senator’s death is a loss for the entire Romanian society. He expressed his deep grief over the departure of his late collaborator, saying he was a fighter to the bitter end, although he could not win over the hard disease that killed him.

Liberals expressed yesterday, through the voice of the party’s president, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, their regret over the death of the social democrat senator. “I am sorry. He was one of those who had been actively and substantially involved with the drafting of the Constitution,” Tariceanu said. Also, National Liberal Party (PNL) Vice-President Crin Antonescu outlined that Iorgovan’s death is a great loss for the Romanian political life.

“The PSD senator definitely leaves behind some major accomplishments, a Constitution linked to his name and which, despite all the flaws or disputable aspects, was a major piece of work for Romania after 1990,” Antonescu said. The Democrats and the members of the Hungarian Democratic Union in Romania see Iorgovan’s death as a loss for the entire Senate, a view also shared by those with the Greater Romania Party.

Further more, Conservative Deputy Sergiu Andon mentioned that Antonie Iorgovan linked his name to the creation of the Constitution both through his special role in promoting the constitutional spirit and in creating a constitutional culture. “If Justice is somehow represented with a sword, then, Antonie Iorgovan was the sword bearer,” Andon said.

The Prahova charter of the PSD is in mourning after the death of Senator Iorgovan. The principal private secretary to the late senator, Lucian Costea, said that the senator’s dead body was to be brought to the country yesterday evening and interred at Bucharest’s Belu Cemetery. Those willing to pay their respects to the late senator can do it at the Senate headquarters, where the Senator will lie in state. In his turn, the president of the PSD Prahova, Marian Saniuta, said all of Iorgovan’s colleagues grieved over his death.

Antonie’s dream was to become an Euro MP and to work on the Commission for drafting the European Constitution, said lawyer Ana Maria Mihalcescu, Iorgovan’s partner in “Societatea de Avocatura” law firm.

Nine O'Clock: Ex colleagues say farewell to the late Senator Iorgovan

Dan Keating, Requiescat in pace.

I wonder how ol' Dan fared while trying to explain his lifetime of killing to his Judge...

Dan Keating, an IRA member and the last surviving veteran of Ireland's 1919-21 war of independence from Britain, has died, sources said. He was 105.

Mr. Keating joined the 1st Kerry Brigade of the Irish Republican Army in 1920 and, as a rifleman, took part in two major 1921 ambushes that left at least five police officers, four British soldiers and five IRA members dead.

"When you are involved in an ambush with a crowd of men, you wouldn't know who killed who. But the prospect never troubled me," Keating said in a March interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. He joined the IRA faction that opposed the 1921 peace treaty with Britain, and fought against former IRA colleagues in Ireland's 1922-23 civil war. He eventually was captured and spent seven months in a prisoner-of-war camp.

In a June 2006 interview, Keating said he considered the Irish Free State soldiers far more brutal than the British.

"They were worse than the Black and Tans," he said, using the nickname of Britain's auxiliary troops used during the war of independence, "and they committed some awful atrocities. In one week they murdered 19 people - comrades I knew only too well. They were just gone overnight."

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of Saint Andronicus, a hermit. He had a remarkable experience with his wife, Athanasia. Andronicus was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and became a silversmith. Marrying Athanasia, he went to Antioch, where they lost their two children, possibly in a local plague. Both Andronicus and Athanasia returned to Egypt, where they became hermits in the desert. Athanasia, who was dressed as a man, lived in a separate hermitage. After twelve years, a monk named Athanasius came to visit Andronicus. The two went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and then joined a monastery near Alexandria. When Athanasius died, a note was found identifying her as Athanasia, Andronicus' wife. Andronicus who died soon after, was buried with Athanasia. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.


Today's reading is Jonas [Jonah] 3:1 - 10.
Today's Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 129.
Today's Gospel reading is Luke 10:38 - 42.


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.