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I'm thinking, I'm thinking!
(Hat Tip to http://www.fdtreport.com/ )
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Try this one too, called the best response by a candidate to Bhutto's assassination:
(Hat tip to http://arclightzero.wordpress.com/2007/12/29/an-unexpected-bonus-from-pakistan/ )
Well? I'm thinking. I'm thinking!
(Go to http://www.gopusanj.com/wordpress/?page_id=883 for a critique of the press and Thompson.)
(Image from artprints.com)
Guest Blogger Rubel Shelly writes about What Christmas Teaches:
There is a wonderful line from the American scholar Stephen L. Carter that is appropriate to the Christmas season: "Religion is, at its heart, a way of denying the rest of the world." He is surely, astutely and gloriously correct
Faith's view of this world is strangely skeptical. No, more than that. It is a posture of unequivocal distrust leading to rejection! When the world recites its mantras - you matter only if you are beautiful, the most important thing is money, winning is everything, Look Out for Number One - faith protests them all. It adopts a posture of doubt and incredulity. It lives in skepticism and disbelief.
I refuse to believe that selfishness is acceptable or that it is permissible to resent another's good fortune. I will not swallow the world's way of thinkng in order to justify prejudice, aggression, and hatred. No believer can be anything but incredulous about the claim of this world that she is entitled to anything she can get her hands on or that he should feel no guilt about exploiting others.
So distrust the alleged certainties of sense that cancel the mysteries of faith. Dispute the tendency of the masses to look forward only for the sake of declaring the impossibility of living with hope. Deny altogether the inevitability of such greed, hatred and violence that we cannot prove the reality of love.
The Bible warns against being blinded by this world and speaks of the danger of the blind leading the blind. That warning puts us on notice that things, people, and ways of thinking totally rooted in the finite world of time, space and matter will keep us from discovering, experiencing, and delighting in the greater realities of God, spirit and eternity that can only be known by faith.
Faith isn't self-deception. It is neither wish-projection nor wishful thinknig. It is our willingness to hear and stand with the things God has shown us through events and people as awe-inspiring as a trembling, smoking mountain in the desert and as modest as a baby's first cry in the village of Bethlehem.
So let Christmas deny the hold of this world on your heart. Let it open your eyes to what the willfully blind will never see, your ears to things the incorrigibly deaf can never hear. See Immanual - and know God is with us. Hear the song of angels - and receive God's peace given to anxious hearts. Hold the confusion, cynicism, and antagonisms of this troubled world suspect - and choose God's reign as your way of affirming the true realities.
Merry Christmas to all!
(Rubel Shelly's free weekly newsletter can be requrested at www.rubelshelly.com or GBCIII@aol.com.)
For unto you is born this day
in the city of David,.
a savior,
which is Christ the Lord.
This very heartwarming video honors our troops at Christmastide. 1 minute. It is already sweeping the blogosphere.
At the very end, the words "Fred Thompson" appear. It is apparently his very low-key way of bringing this touching video to America. Well done.
While I'm not yet backing any candidate, including Thompson, this is about as close to ideal as you can get in putting together a marvelous Christmas video about the troops without also shouting a campaign message at us.
Thanks, Fred, for heart and a sure touch.
Last night I saw "The True Story of Charlie Wilson", a 2-hour special on the History Channel, with the original Charlie Wilson himself and some of the other original characters the roles in the movie were based on, such as the 2 CIA agents, the Julia Roberts role and the belly-dancer's role. Fascinating.
And a reminder - that one person, or just a handful of people, can sometimes change the grand course of history. An all-out, grueling effort can fail, or make all the difference. Charlie Wilson and friends proved it again.
A review of "Charlie Wilson's War" is at http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071221/NATION/549681582/1008 .
Some of Reagan's old staffers have recently complained that the film gives too much credit to Charlie and the Democrats and not enough to the Republicans who also made this happen. Could be. I'll have a better idea after I see the film.
Meantime, "The True Story of Charlie Wilson" will play again on the History Channel on Friday, December 28, at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. (presumably Eastern Time.)
(Image from tjhunt at istockphoto.com)
In a U.S. Senate Report, over 400 prominent scientists disputed man-made global warming claims in 2007. These scientists, from more than 2 dozen countries, objected to major parts of the "consensus" on global warming. Though many are or were participants in the UN Panel on Climate Change (UN IPCC), they criticized climate claims made by the UN IPCC and by Al Gore. Most of these scientists spoke out as recently as 2007.
Climate skeptics "appear to be expanding rather than shrinking." (WaPo, 10/07, Juliet Eilperin). Even many progressive environmentalist scientists believe climate fear promotion has co-opted the green movement.
This Senate report lists the scientists by name, country and academic/institutional affiliation, with links to them and their statements. Many of them stated that many colleagues shared their view, but were afraid to speak out for fear of retribution.
Atmospheric scientist Dr. Nathan Paldor, Professor of Dynamical Meteorology and Physical Oceanography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, author of almost 70 peer-reviewed studies, explains how many of his fellow scientists have been intimidated:
"Many of my colleagues with whom I spoke share these views and report on their inability to publish their skepticism in the scientific or public media," Paldor wrote.
The scientists featured in this new report include some who have won Nobel Prizes for their outstanding contribution to their field of expertise and many shared a portion of the UN IPCC Nobel Peace Prize with Vice President Gore.
All are experts in diverse fields, including climatology, oceanography, geology, biology, glaciology, biogeography, meteorology, economics, chemistry, mathematics, environmental sciences, engineering, physics and paleoclimatology. All are also from prestigious universities and institutions worldwide.
See the entire report at http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=f80a6386-802a-23ad-40c8-3c63dc2d02cb .
(Image from corpuschristidaily.com)
Record low temperatures are being set all over the world, according to the Washington Times, here. Hundreds of people died in 2007, not from global warming, but from cold weather.
The mean global temperature has increased by only 0.7 degrees Celsius in the last 60 years, and by less than that for the last 9 years, even though CO2 keeps increasing in the atmosphere. The predicted worsening of hurricanes has not happened. 2007 was the third quietest year since 1966. In 2006, not even one hurricane landed on the U.S.
But, as David Deming writes in the Washington Times:
Unexpected bitter cold swept the entire Southern Hemisphere in 2007. Johannesburg, South Africa, had the first significant snowfall in 26 years. Australia experienced the coldest June ever. In northeastern Australia, the city of Townsville underwent the longest period of continuously cold weather since 1941. In New Zealand, the weather turned so cold that vineyards were endangered.
South America this year experienced one of its coldest winters in decades. In Buenos Aires, snow fell for the first time since the year 1918. Dozens of homeless people died from exposure. In Peru, 200 people died from the cold and thousands more became infected with respiratory diseases. Crops failed, livestock perished, and the Peruvian government declared a state of emergency.
Meanwhile, back in the U.S.:
Last January, $1.42 billion worth of California produce was lost to a devastating five-day freeze. Thousands of agricultural employees were thrown out of work. At the supermarket, citrus prices soared. In the wake of the freeze, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked President Bush to issue a disaster declaration for affected counties.
In April, a killing freeze destroyed 95 percent of South Carolina's peach crop, and 90 percent of North Carolina's apple harvest. At Charlotte, N.C., a record low temperature of 21 degrees Fahrenheit on April 8 was the coldest ever recorded for April, breaking a record set in 1923. On June 8, Denver recorded a new low of 31 degrees Fahrenheit. Denver's temperature records extend back to 1872.
Unusually cold conditions are returning to the Northern Hemisphere.
On Dec. 7, St. Cloud, Minn., set a new record low of minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit. On the same date, record low temperatures were also recorded in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
In the rest of the world, extreme cold weather is occuring.
On Dec. 4, in Seoul, Korea, the temperature was a record minus 5 degrees Celsius. Nov. 24, in Meacham, Ore., the minimum temperature was 12 degrees Fahrenheit colder than the previous record low set in 1952. The Canadian government warns that this winter is likely to be the coldest in 15 years.
Just in the last few days:
Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri are just emerging from a destructive ice storm that left at least 36 people dead and a million without electric power.
When it gets cold enough, no one will be worried about CO2.
Left in the dark and cold, Oklahomans rushed out to buy electric generators powered by gasoline, not solar cells. No one seemed particularly concerned about the welfare of polar bears, penguins or walruses. Fossil fuels don't seem so awful when you're in the cold and dark.
But will "warmie" scientists change their minds? Don't be silly.
If you think any of the preceding facts can falsify global warming, you're hopelessly naive. Nothing creates cognitive dissonance in the mind of a true believer. In 2005, a Canadian Greenpeace representative explained “global warming can mean colder, it can mean drier, it can mean wetter.” In other words, all weather variations are evidence for global warming. I can't make this stuff up.
Global warming has long since passed from scientific hypothesis to the realm of pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo.
David Deming is a geophysicist, an adjunct scholar with the National Center for Policy Analysis, and associate professor of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oklahoma.
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Jud was born on Christmas Eve, 2004.
He is just 2 years, 4 months old in this video, singing the Star Spangled Banner.
Six months after this video was taken, on November 7, 2007, Judson died from an extremely rare genetic, incurable, terminal disease, called Krabbe, a leukodystrophy....
This video shows the delightful charm and grace this very gifted youngster surely must have brought into the lives of those around him during his brief but extraordinary life.
For more information about Jud, go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/judson
(Hat Tip to Joan Archibald.)
(Image from geocities.com)
From Guest Blogger Norman Hoonan's email response to the post juet below this one, "Stranded in the Snow in a Car:"
"Your story about the snow and things of long ago reminded me of another time in my life. The following letter was written on the eve of my retirement from the United States Air Force. This letter was the genesis of what resulted in a reunion of hundreds that passed through the gates of St. Vincent's Home..".
October 1982
Vandenberg AFB, CA
Dear Sister,
It has been many years since I last saw you and as I approach my forty-third birthday I cannot help but think that all of my life you have been dedicated to a cause…a cause that I was but a small part…a cause that gave me my values…a cause that can only be repaid in heaven.
Reading your story, “They’re All Of My Children”, in the Fall River Herald News has brought back many a memory. As I read I could not hold back the tears that swelled up inside me…tears of joy…tears of hope…tears of wanting; wanting to say I love you.
All those years at St. Vincent’s Home and I never said, “I love you.” Well I want you to know that I have never forgotten you or St.Vincent’s Home, and I could never be thankful enough for the love and dedication you and the other sisters have bestowed upon me.
It was in September of 1945 when I first arrived at Saint Vincent’s and I departed in June of 1954. I visited you only once since that time…1958 or 1959, I’m not sure. It was sometime after you made a trip to Washington, D.C., in which I confirmed having seen you across the street. I’ve always regretted that moment of not having made the extra effort to change my direction and at least have said, “Hello.”
You know ever since that time, when ever I see a RSM in my travels I at least stop to say hello. I think the last time was in St. Louis, Missouri; however it was the RSM who spoke first. She said to me, “Do you think you know someone?” I said, “I was staring across the bus station when I recognized that familiar habit (which is no more) and just had to approach you, perchance you may be from St. Vincent’s.”
All those years have passed but I want you to know the memories of St. Vincent’s have been with me in times of crisis, loneliness, and love.
I remember when I first joined the U. S. Air Force and the discipline those “TI’s” tried to instill in me could not approach the cause and effect results that I received at St. Vincent’s. Whenever the going got rough, I just pictured that “TI” in a nun’s habit, and everything was just OK.
I remember when I studied in school about far away places that little did I know that someday I would visit such places. It was in the fifth or sixth grade (Sister Mary Bridgetta) that I first learned of the boat people in Aberdeem Fishing Village in Hong Kong, China. When in 1968 I was dining on a floating restaurant, observing the boat people as I was quietly saying my grace (I still do you know, before every meal), I recalled where I first learned of such extraordinary people.
I remember the loneliness of Christmas when I was driving across the upper peninsula of Michigan in 1970. Across all that vast emptiness of the winter snow, I felt a yearning that I once experienced at St. Vincent’s. The yearning and waiting (in the snow) for a visit from my dad at Christmas time. And all of the Christmases at St. Vincent’s…the Knight’s of Columbus Christmas parties, the AMVETS Christmas parties, and all the wonderful times we had then. Back then, Christmas was Christmas.
I remember when I received only one toy…a wooden duck on wheels that would quack, quack when pulled along. And, when I cried because someone broke my duck. When I look at my own children today, spoiled with all kinds of toys and not caring as I did for my duck, it makes me realize how important it is to shower your children with love and not toys.
Whenever and wherever I travel throughout the world, people always talk about the various foods; especially the bread! Well nobody, I mean nobody, could ever make bread like Sister Mary Regis. I’ve had bread in Sicily, Germany, Thailand, and just about everywhere and always I remember, Sister Regis made the best…crisp hard crust with soft white center that would melt in your mouth.
I read that you lost your book of names during the move from North Main Street. I’m Not sure I can remember them all but a few that come to mind are: Emile (Emo), Paul, and Ronnie Duclos, Frankie Nicholson, Armand Huard, Billie Oznick, Kenneth and Jo-Jo Brocheau, Richard (Roxie) Walker and brothers Billie and Joseph, Peter, Dan, and Charles Leary, Richard and Norman Mello, Billie Dennis (I think he had a brother also.), and now my memory is slipping. Where are they now? I know Joe Walker drowned in an unfortunate accident and he is remembered in my prayers. But the others are remembered to…
I suppose that I was the only one from my year group at St. Vincent’s to go to Vietnam during that unfortunate crisis, but I would like to know what happened to the rest of my classmates. It would be nice to have some kind of reunion someday.
Before I close this letter I want you to know the training and discipline that I received at St. Vincent’s has been with me all of my adult life…it will never leave me. I, even still, say my prayers each night before I fall to sleep. To some people that’s no big deal, but I still have to remind my children to do so. In fact, just raising a family is a big job for my wife and me and I often wondered how you could manage with twenty or thirty children when I have my hands full with just three.
My most sincere love,
Norman Hooben
(Norman adds that "the nun who is the subject of the commentary is Sister Mary Monice. She is now in a home for elderly nuns and sits quietly in her wheelchair remembering all her children." www.normanhooben.blogspot.com)
(Image from edalemountainrescue.co.uk)
This from Guest Blogger Deb Spaulding:
Hebrews 13:2 (NIV):"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it."
What is it like to entertain a stranger, to help someone you do not know? Have you ever received an extravagant gift of hospitality?
Long before seat belts and mini-vans, Daddy would load our luggage into the trunk of our 1962 Chevy, and off we would go to grandmother's for Christmas. On the way we would sing along with Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley on the radio, and watch for the North Star to appear.
One such Christmas Eve, we were caught in what seemed to be a blizzard. Gusts blew snow all over our windows, and over everything I could see, barely, through the back window. I had just dozed off when Dad pulled over to the side of the road. Startled, I sat up suddenly, wondering what was going on. A young woman was standing at the edge of the highway, her car wedged in the snow bank.
Shivering in the cold, she hoped someone might stop to help. My parents agreed to take her back home, wherever that was. We turned the car around and headed back toward the city. It was way out of our way, but we were far more concerned about the woman riding in the front seat of our Chevrolet. I will never forget the look on her face as she sat warming up in the passenger seat. She said "Thank you" over and over.
We dropped her off in front of her two-story flat. My Dad carried her luggage to the front door and waited to see her safely inside. We never saw her again.
It was very late when we arrived at our grandparent's home. But we knew that someone who once was lost had now been found.
Is there a stranger stranded along your highway? Maybe there is something you can do to help them get home. The best gift you ever receive is the gift you give away.
Deb Spaulding, Faith UMC, St. Charles, MO, www.songofdeborah.com.
(Click on "Play" arrow-button at bottom-left of screen to play video.)
From Guest Blogger Storm'n Norm'n Hooben, here:
"Logan is a 13 year-old boy who lives on a ranch in a very small town in Nebraska. Logan listens to Christian Radio station 89.3FM KSBJ which broadcasts from Houston, TX. Logan called the radio station distraught because he had to take down a calf . His words have wisdom beyond his years. "
It was a hard, painful situation for anyone, let alone a 13 year old boy. But how he handles it is tremendously inspiring. If you can keep your eyes dry while listening, you will do better than I did.
(Image from printsoldandrare.com)
Did you know that the U.S. Post Office gives people a way to answer a letter to Santa from poor kids? They read the letters, and set aside the ones that are obviously from a kid in need.
For instance, it might say "My brother needs some shoes real bad. Don't send me anything, just get him some shoes, please." Such letters are set aside and available for anyone who wishes to fulfill a poor kid's wish. They are gathered into just one post office in each city. You have to go to that particular post office to view the letters. Then you can pick one or more to answer. No dealing with a charity. This is one-on-one giving.
While it is hard to choose a gift for many of those we love, simply because they already have all they need, maybe all they want, sometimes it is almost a relief to give to someone who truly wants and needs what you are giving. This is a good way to do that. And to make some needy kid very, very happy this Christmas.
Need some help in finding these letters? You can go to www.beanelf.com for help and guidance.
(U.S. Air Force photos by Master Sgt. Jim Varhegyi)
These wreaths -- some 5,000 -- are donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine. The owner, Merrill Worcester, not only provides the wreaths, but covers the trucking expense as well. He's done this since 1992. A wonderful guy. Also, most years, groups of Maine school kids combine an educational trip to DC with this event to help out. Making this even more remarkable is the fact that Harrington is in one the poorest parts of the state.
Hat Tip to Robert Martin
George Friedman of Stratfor
There is a big difference between intelligence and news. George Friedman, founder of Stratfor, "The Private CIA," describes that difference, and why intelligence is more important than news, in this excellent video. 3 minutes.
(From Stratfor here.)
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Hand in Hand - Performed by Ma Li and Zhai Xiaowei.
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Zhai lost his leg when very young. She lost an arm in a car accident.
But their ballet won a dance competition on a Chinese TV network,
CCTV9.. Siimply stunning! Breathtakingly beautiful. Five minutes.
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Hat Tip to Robert Martin |
"Noelle"
In the prize winning movie "Noelle," Father Jonathan Keene - a cold, impatient Catholic priest - arrives in a tiny fishing village the week before Christmas to do what he does best - shut down a dying parish. But things take an unexpected turn as he becomes entangled in the various lives of the villagee's eccentric characters, including their beautiful librarian, the childlike priest he is displacing, and the magical experience of Mrs. Worthington's legendary Christmas Party, where everyone is welcome and anything is possible.
You should drop by!
See if it is playing at a movie near you by going to http://www.noellethemovie.com. If not, seeing if you can show it at your church, or another venue would be a great idea!
Warm, good family fun, and a heart-warming Christmas message - the kind of movie that should get around more..
Snowball the Dancing Cockatoo
Click on: Watch Snowball sing and dance on YouTube
The 11-year-old medium sulfur-crested cockatoo lifts his legs, squawks and bobs his head, flashing his bright yellow crest to the beat of the boy band's Everybody (Backstreet's Back). He even takes a bow with a vigorous bob of his head at the end of the 1997 pop tune.
When Snowball was given to a bird rescue shelter a few months ago, the man included the CD and instructions to watch his reaction.
Irena Schulz almost fainted at the sight.
I'm thinking, 'What on Earth is this? This is unreal,"' said Irena, who runs Bird Lovers Only Rescue with her husband, Chuck.
They have been contacted by people from around the world who watched Snowball's video on YouTube.
The northwestern Indiana couple have more than 30 birds in their home and many are available for adoption. "He makes a great spokesbird for the rescue," Chuck Schulz said.
Snowball has found his permanent home.
"He's my baby," Irena Schulz said. "He will stay here and be loved."
(Hat Tip to Robert Martin)
(Image from telegraph.co.uk)
"We need a 5-year freeze on biofuels, before they wreck the planet, writes George Monbiot in The Guardian, here.
The theory is that fuels made from plants will reduce carbon dioxide from cars and trucks. What is wrong with that? Just this:
Plants absorb carbon as they grow - it is released again when the fuel is burnt. By encouraging oil companies to switch from fossil plants to living ones, governments on both sides of the Atlantic claim to be “decarbonising” our transport networks.
First, this sets up a competition for food between cars and people.
The people would necessarily lose: those who can afford to drive are, by definition, richer than those who are in danger of starvation.
It would also lead to the destruction of rainforests and other important habitats(5).
This is already happening.
Since the beginning of last year, the price of maize (corn) has doubled(6). The price of wheat has also reached a 10-year high, while global stockpiles of both grains have reached 25-year lows(7). Already there have been food riots in Mexico and reports that the poor are feeling the strain all over the world...According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the main reason is the demand for ethanol: the alcohol used for motor fuel, which can be made from both maize (corn) and wheat(9).
Farmers will respond to better prices by planting more, but it is not clear that they can overtake the booming demand for biofuel. Even if they do, they will catch up only by ploughing virgin habitat.
Second, besides taking food from the poor, biofuel is already known to be worse for the planet than petroleum.
The UN has just published a report suggesting that 98% of the natural rainforest in Indonesia will be degraded or gone by 2022(10). Just five years ago, the same agencies predicted that this wouldn’t happen until 2032. But they reckoned without the planting of palm oil to turn into biodiesel for the European market.
This is now the main cause of deforestation there and it is likely soon to become responsible for the extinction of the orang utan in the wild. But it gets worse. As the forests are burnt, both the trees and the peat they sit on are turned into carbon dioxide. A report by the Dutch consultancy Delft Hydraulics shows that every tonne of palm oil results in up to 33 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, or ten times as much as petroleum produces(11).
I feel I need to say that again. Biodiesel from palm oil causes up to TEN TIMES as much climate change as ordinary diesel.
Similar impacts are happening all over the world.
Sugarcane producers are moving into rare scrubland habitats (the cerrado) in Brazil and soya farmers are ripping up the Amazon rainforests. As President Bush has just signed a biofuel agreement with President Lula, it’s likely to become a lot worse. Indigenous people in South America, Asia and Africa are starting to complain about incursions onto their land by fuel planters. A petition launched by a group called biofuelwatch, begging western governments to stop, has been signed by campaigners from 250 groups(12).
The British government is well aware that there’s a problem. On his blog last year the environment secretary David Miliband noted that palm oil plantations “are destroying 0.7% of the Malaysian rain forest each year, reducing a vital natural resource (and in the process, destroying the natural habitat of the orang-utan). It is all connected.”(13)
Then why are governments so enthused about biofuels? It is because they don't upset drivers.
(Biofuels) appear to reduce the amount of carbon from our cars, without requiring new taxes. It’s an illusion sustained by the fact that only the emissions produced at home count towards our national total. The forest clearance in Malaysia doesn’t increase our official impact by a gram.
So what should we do? Monbiot says:
We need a moratorium on all targets and incentives for biofuels, until a second generation of fuels can be produced for less than it costs to make fuel from palm oil or sugarcane.
I suggest a five-year freeze.
This would be very hard to do, because "...encouraged by government policy, vast investments are now being made by farmers and chemical companies. Stopping them requires one heck of a battle. But it has to be fought."
Monbiot's foottnotes can be found at the link at the top of this post. (See also here.)
Bernard Lewis: What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response
