One word: Mantastic!
Excerpt Italicized:
It's really quite simple. Ravioli-ish pockets of dough are filled with Guiness and then deep fried. Judging by the below video, the beer just spills out onto the plate after the first bite.
(ORIGINAL LINK) Fried Beer... The Name Says It All - The Consumerist
Empire State Building management recently denied requests to have blue and white lights displayed in honor of Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday , and their decisionn is getting support from an unlikely group………… fellow “Catholics”.
On the eve of Thursday's rally to protest that decision, the management company got some support from an unlikely source – a coalition of groups representing "progressive Catholics" who have come out on the side of the building's owner, Anthony Malkin of Malkin Properties.
Catholics for Choice and several other liberal lay Catholic organizations endorsed a letter to Malkin supporting his decision and blasting The Catholic League's president, Bill Donohue, for mounting what they said was a "self-promotion campaign" in organizing the rally.
Donohue "is doing the opposite of what Mother Teresa ... would have wanted him to do," said David Nolan, director of communications for Catholics for Choice, a Washington-based group that "supports a woman’s moral and legal right to follow her conscience in matters of sexuality and reproductive health," according to its website.
Do they have a point? Do they really have faith? Or are they finding excuses not to be strong in the faith?
(Original Link) FOXNews.com - Empire State Building Gains Some Catholic Support for Saying 'No' to Mother Teresa
(Related Artilce) Empire State Building Goes Red for Communist China - FOXNews
Was the Iraq war expensive?
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a non-partisan fiscal watchdog of the federal government, has pointed out how the costs of the entire Iraq war is less than the federal deficits in each of the ongoing wars’ years.
Excerpts Italicized:
As President Obama prepares to tie a bow on U.S. combat operations in Iraq, Congressional Budget Office numbers show that the total cost
According to CBO numbers in its Budget and Economic Outlook published this month, the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom was $709 billion for military and related activities, including training of Iraqi forces and diplomatic operations.
The projected cost of the stimulus, which passed in February 2009, and is expected to have a shelf life of two years, was $862 billion.
It is also interesting to note that the stimulus bill passed in 2009 was more expensive than all 7 years of the Iraq war. Also, this years deficit is projected to be larger than the cost of the Iraq war.
So many are quick to point out how expensive the Iraq war has been / is but do those same people have a grasp of how much anything else in government costs (let alone the money the government is borrowing from future taxes just to keep things going) ?
(Original LInk) FOXNews.com - CBO: Eight Years of Iraq War Cost Less Than Stimulus Act
We fill our lives with things, so many things. What are your most important material possessions?
Excerpts Italicized:
A Las Vegas woman who had been missing for four months was found buried beneath a mountain of garbage and clutter in her own home.
Bill James brought the search for his wife Billie Jean to a horrifying conclusion on Wednesday when he spotted her feet sticking out from the pile of junk that filled the room from floor to ceiling.
The collected clothes, trash and knickknacks in Billie Jean James's house was so vast that sniffer dogs had searched the home without finding her corpse, The Associated Press reported.
Sari Connolly, a friend of' Billie Jean's, said she had become so obsessive in her hoarding that she kept people out of her home, even refusing to let them use the bathroom.
"She became this hoarder person, and she wouldn't let anyone come in her house," Connolly said.
Cassell told the AP that the house had only small amounts of clear space so that people could get around, and that the home was filled with strong odors from animals, garbage and food.
Billie Jean is not the first person whose hoarding instincts proved fatal. In May, an aging Chicago couple was trapped for two weeks after being buried in their belongings. When they were rescued, they were found to have rat bites on their bodies.
What possessions could you really give up? It is easy to judge these people as crazy, but is it not just as bad to be obsessed with one thing a great deal as it is to be obsessed with so many things a little?
Could you give up your cell phone?
(ORIGINAL LINK) Las Vegas Pack Rat Found Dead in Her Hoarded Possessions
In a troubling sign of the times, the US birth rate has dropped to levels not seen since the Great Depression.
Excerpts Italicized:
Forget the Dow and the GDP. Here's the latest economic indicator: The U.S. birth rate has fallen to its lowest level in at least a century as many people apparently decided they couldn't afford more mouths to feed.
The birth rate, which takes into account changes in the population, fell to 13.5 births for every 1,000 people last year. That's down from 14.3 in 2007 and way down from 30 in 1909, when it was common for people to have big families.
Last spring's report, on births in 2008, showed an overall drop but a surprising rise in births to women over 40, who may have felt they were running out of time to have children and didn't want to delay despite the bad economy. Women who postpone having children because of careers also may find they have trouble conceiving, said Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington-based demographic research group. "For some of those women, they're going to find themselves in their mid-40s where it's going to be hard to have the number of children they want," he said.
How important is family? If it is the most important thing, as most of us will say. Then why do so many choose to have only a single child (or two) when we say that we get so much out of it. If shoes were the most important thing to a person, would they not have several pairs. What about video games, TVs, or reading??…. for those who find these things so important, do we not have many? If we find children so important, then why do we find so many excuses not to have more children?
(ORIGINAL LINK) Recession may have pushed US birth rate to new low
The President is set to visit another Catholic college. This time to highlight progress being made after the events of Hurricane Katrina. But many Catholics are upset with a secular politician (whose beliefs and policies are in direct opposition to Christian teachings) using a religious (one would think) institution for such functions.
Excerpts Italicized:
Some Catholics don't agree with the fact that the president is being allowed to speak at Xavier University, a Catholic institution, because it is giving a platform to someone who is very publicly opposed to the teachings of the Catholic church.
They argue that his positions on issues of life -- abortion and stem cell research specifically -- means that he should not be given the chance to speak so openly at a Catholic university.
It all goes back to a 2004 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) statement on "Catholics in Political Life." It reads in part, "The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."
The President will not be using the time to speak about politics. He will instead use the time to congratulate the state / college for its achievements, but is this right? .Has Cat holism become so secular in the US that politicians are comfortable with identifying themselves as Catholic, or participating in functions at “Catholic” colleges? Are the colleges so excited by the potential visit by a secular leader, that it takes precedence over religious belief? What does it take to be a “real” Catholic / Christian today?
Is Obama Violating a Catholic Bishops' Position with Katrina Speech Location? | Foxnews.com
LOL…This is GREAT!!
(ORIGINAL LINK) Possibly The Best Review Of Wendy's, Or Anything, Ever - The Consumerist
(ORIGINAL LINK) Minnesota GOP: Republican women are hotter than Democrats - Yahoo! News
Is the way some mourn the loss of loved ones offend us so much that we would prevent them from doing so?
A Federal Court has ruled that the crosses along a stretch of Utah highway is an endorsement of religion and must go.
Excerpts Italicized:
The 14 crosses erected along Utah roads to commemorate fallen state Highway Patrol troopers convey a state preference for Christianity and are a violation of the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.
The ruling reverses a 2007 decision by a federal district judge that said the crosses communicate a secular message about deaths and were not a public endorsement of religion. It's the latest in a recent rash of mixed-bag rulings on the public use of crosses.
A three-judge panel from Denver's 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in its 38-page ruling that a "reasonable observer" would conclude that the state and the Utah Highway Patrol were endorsing Christianity with the cross memorials.
When will this stop?
(ORIGINAL LINK) FOXNews.com - Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Utah Memorial Crosses Along Highway
How accommodating should we be to changing our school day holidays for minority religions? Should it be based on the student population (percentages), should it be adjusted on a state or federal level, or should all faiths be given an equal representation for the prized days off?
Excerpts Italicized:
Federal and state laws prohibit schools from penalizing students for missing school on religious holidays. In many school systems, these have long included Good Friday and the Jewish holidays of Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah and Passover.
In many districts with sizable Catholic or Jewish populations, schools have traditionally closed on these holidays. But now the list of religious holidays increasingly includes Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha, which honors the Prophet Abraham. Some schools no longer administer tests on those holidays; others won't schedule school events, including sports activities, on the night before the holidays; and some districts are choosing to close their schools entirely.
Some school districts are making the accommodations due to functional issues associated with holding school, tests, or events on days when a substantial number of students and faculty will be absent; others have decided that they simply want to be inclusive of their Muslim community, no matter what the size.
But critics warn that schools may be heading down a slippery slope that will open the door for more extensive accommodation requests from the Muslim community, as well as demands from other minority religious communities looking for the same treatment.
And a special note on Middlesex County, New Jersey:
"South Brunswick just recently decided they're going to close for two Islamic holidays and one Hindu holiday. The county in which South Brunswick is in has the highest concentration of Asians -- 19 percent -- in the state."
In the future, the state may find that the only solution is to abolish religious holidays. One step closer to a truly secular society.
(ORIGINAL LINK) FOXNews.com - Debate Grows as U.S. Schools Adjust Calendars to Observe Muslim Holidays
New Jersey, corrupt? No, I don’t believe it.
New Jersey becomes the first state to ever be charged with fraud by the the US SEC. The state settled the charges without admitting or denying them.
Maybe this will lead the state to embrace a new policy of honesty :o)
(ORIGINAL LINK) New Jersey Charged With SEC Fraud, Settles
A Russian Tycoon, who has apparently gained a new urgency in his faith, has given some rather interesting new rules for his employees.
Excerpts Italicized:
Russian tycoon has told 6,000 workers at his private dairy company that they'll be fired if they've ever had an abortion, or if those who are "living in sin" don't get married within two months.
Vasily Boiko, who officially changed his name to Boiko-Veliky, which means "Boiko the Great," has set a deadline of October 14 -- a Russian Orthodox Church holiday -- for any of his unmarried employees who live with a partner to get married, or get fired.
"We have about 6,000 employees, most of whom are Orthodox, and I expect them to be faithful and to repent," Boiko told Reuters last week. His order came in an internal memo to workers at Russkoye Moloko, which means "Russian milk" and whose products are sold in many Russian supermarkets.
I’m not sure if this is great or terrible..lol…First of all, you cannot force faith on someone. Second, It is admirable to want the best for others, but we must try to lead those around us to better themselves. And of course, have patience.
(ORIGINAL LINK) Russian Tycoon Vasily Boiko Orders His Workers to Find God or Be Fired
With the government of Indonesia doing nothing to stop persecutions of Christians by some Islamic “Hard-Liners”, many Christians are fighting for the right to worship.
Some excerpts (Italicized):
Christians were warned last week against worshipping on a field that houses a shuttered church in the industrial city of Bekasi, but 20 members of the congregation showed up anyway, opening their service with a hymn.
The act of defiance enraged 300 Islamic hard-liners, many of whom hurled shoes and chanted death threats before pushing past a row of riot police, chasing down members of the group and beating some with sticks.
"It's nonsense," said Yudi Tambunan of the Batak Christian Protestant Church, vowing to return every Sunday until their request for a house of worship, made more than two years ago, is approved.
"The constitution guarantees our right to practice our religion," he said. "And we want to do that on our own property, in our own church."
Hard-liners have also become more violent, according to the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, a human rights group, which said there have already been 28 attacks on religious freedom in 2010, including everything from preventing groups from performing prayers to shutting down or burning houses of worship.
The institute said there were 18 such incidents in all of 2009 and 17 in 2008.
Although most Indonesians are moderate and oppose violence, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government has been slow to intervene because it relies heavily on the support of Islamic parties in parliament.
Christians have quietly applied and reapplied for permits so they could build their own churches, sometimes putting construction on hold for years as local authorities weigh the risks of angering hard-liners.
"The Batak Christians deserve to be stabbed to death," yelled Murhali Barda, who heads the local chapter of FPI. "If they refuse to go home we are ready to fight."
An argument broke out between Barda and three female members of the congregation. He grabbed one by the neck and other hard-liners started punching them. All the while, men chanted from a truck and clerics made speeches saying "Leave ... We will not let you perform prayers here!"
"God is great!" the crowd cheered in response.
By comparison, it is easy to be a Christian in the United States today. In Indonesia, with similarities to the Roman persecutions of the early church (to a lesser extent), being Christian can cost you your life.
(ORIGINAL LINK) Religious minorities in Indonesia push back - Yahoo! News
An update to a previous post: http://thewellnet.blogspot.com/2010/08/churchgoers-strippers-protest-one.html
“The pastor in his neatly ironed blue shirt stood with arms open, waiting to embrace the crying stripper who repeated that she is not a whore. After a long pause, she accepted.”
“That emotional standoff today was the culmination of a broader confrontation between churchgoers and strippers that has been boiling for four years in Coshocton County.”
“The leaders of both factions said today that they will sit down this week to negotiate for the first time.”
But one has to remember that the path to salvation is sometimes long and narrow.
"Our hearts are with Jesus, but our bodies are at the Foxhole," Gina Hughes said.
"Our hearts are with Jesus, but our bodies are at the Foxhole," Gina Hughes said.
There is a lot of work to be done. Prayers, lots of prayers.
Churchgoers reach out to strippers after service, but all is not resolved | The Columbus Dispatch
An Israeli soldier posted some “un-sensitive” photos on her Facebook page recently.
Some Excerpts (Italicized):
“A former Israeli soldier posted photos on Facebook of herself in uniform smiling beside bound and blindfolded Palestinian prisoners, drawing sharp criticism Monday from the Israeli military and Palestinian officials.”
“The incident was a reminder of the fraught relations between Israeli soldiers and the West Bank Palestinians under their control.”
"This shows the mentality of the occupier," Khatib said, "to be proud of humiliating Palestinians. The occupation is unjust, immoral and, as these pictures show, corrupting."
“The comments by the woman and her friend in an exchange below one photograph suggested how casually the picture was treated, including jokes and sexual innuendoes.”
"You're the sexiest like that," her friend wrote.
"I wonder if he's got Facebook!" the woman in the photograph responded. "I have to tag him in the picture!"
Is this wrong? Are we in such a rush to post things on Facebook that we don’t think about what we are doing? Does this show a lack of taking something like terrorism seriously? Should we mock prisoners in such a way? Can the entire nation of Israel be judged based on the actions of a few? This will of course be used to fuel sentiment by the Palestinians that they are victims or prisoners in their own land. Sad.
(ORIGINAL LINK) On Facebook: Israeli soldier posed with bound Arab - Yahoo! News
In our hyper-sexualized culture, is anyone even surprised?
Some Excerpts (Italicized):
“Gossip Girl” star Taylor Momsen, who turned 17 yesterday, is speaking publicly about her affinity for sex toys.
Momsen, who is not legally of age to enter venues that sell sexual paraphernalia, recently divulged intimate details to Disorder Magazine. When asked if she is currently single, Momsen confirmed, and also added that she is “bored of men” and that her “best friend is her vibrator.”
Dr. Bill Donohue, President of The Catholic League says:
“Our society was a much happier place when Annette Funicello pranced around as a ‘Mickey Mouse Mouseketeer,’ and now we have Taylor Momsen prancing around with a dildo in hand," he said. Looks like this gal's got lots of issues. No wonder she voiced her insanity in a magazine called Disorder.”
Dr. Scott Turansky of the National Center for Biblical Parenting echoed similar sentiments.
“Taylor Momsen is projecting a negative image that will result in failure in her life," he told FOX411.com. "Sadly, she is influencing other young women to follow in her steps. Unfortunately the fame and fortune of Miss Momsen is misleading and many of these girls will find out only too late that they're following the wrong model.”
Just another instance of what our culture is today?
(ORIGINAL LINK) FOXNews.com - Taylor Momsen Too Young to Be Talking About Sex Toys, Critics Say
As tools like Google Earth are used more and more, governments are using such tools to monitor citizens. A little scary?
Some Excerpts (Italicized):
“High-tech eyes in the sky — from satellite imagery to sophisticated aerial photography that maps entire communities — are being employed in creative new ways by government officials, a trend that civil libertarians and others fear are eroding privacy rights.”
“But Walter supported using Google Earth images to help identify about 250 Riverhead homes where residents failed to get building permits certifying their swimming pools complied with safety regulations. All but about 10 eventually came to town hall.”
“Walter said the focus was safety, not filling town coffers with permit money, which averaged about $150 depending on the size of the pool. A 4-foot fence is required, gates have to be self-closing and padlocked. All pools must have an alarm that sounds when sensors are activated indicating someone is in the pool.”
“Riverhead resident Tony Villar said the town's action "could be considered Big Brother looking down at you."
"But at the same time, if the government can listen to your telephone conversations in the name of terrorism," he said.”
“Standing outside the Riverhead Public Library, Walter Casey of Flanders agreed. "I think it's a great intrusion on people's privacy; they should use it on the politicians' backyards."”
“In Greece, officials are struggling with a debt crisis and have sought to catch tax-evaders by using satellite photos to spot undeclared swimming pools — indicators of taxable wealth.”
Is it wrong to hide a swimming pool? Sure, but is it right to be under such surveillance?
(ORIGINAL LINK) Smile! Aerial images being used to enforce laws - Yahoo! News
Is it okay to play “God” to ease the suffering of others? Is cloning animals for food / research playing “God”?
Demand for food (namely meat) has grown so much in relation to our planets ability to cultivate such numbers, that cloned animals have been introduced into our food chain to meet said demand.
This has caused various protests across the world, and in some cases bans by some countries of any cloned meat / dairy products.
Is it “cruel” to clone an animal?
Would it be a good idea if they gave people the option to buy cloned products if they were labeled correctly? That is assuming of course it was safe for consumption….
(ORIGINAL LINK) Protests over cloned animals in food chain
What is the difference between a week after, and two months after? Are we qualified to make such distinctions? Who are we to make such distinctions? At what point is life important? How smart must something be before we deem it valuable? How much of a contribution must life be able to make before it is deemed important? If we can fight for the protection of nature and animals, how can we ignore babies? If the distinction between human life and a “fetus” is the age of the life, then are premature babies considered life? If it is all about the address (location, i.e. the fetus being in the womb / baby being outside the womb) then what crime is it if someone intentionally tries to kill a mothers fetus in a homicidal rage?
As society and science make it easier to end pregnancies at home, will abortions become more prevalent? With anything in society, as things become easier to do, they also become more prevalent. In the end abortion is about one question, is your life more important than another.
Are our personal desires more important than how it will affect the lives of our children? Or, in other words, would we use another for our own goals? Would we say no so fast if we would never see or know the person we would use? How can we say that our children mean everything to us when we can find opportunities when they can mean so little? Who are we as a people to condone such behavior? Who are we as a people to stand by and do nothing?
(ORIGINAL LINK) FOXNews.com - FDA Approves 'Week After' Contraceptive Pill
Has our society come to a point where these strippers think that they could win the public PR battle? Where their vocation has become so accepted, that they feel they could have a moral high ground?
“Every weekend for the last four years, Dunfee and members of his ministry have stood watch over George's joint, taking up residence in the right of way with signs, video cameras and bullhorns in hand. They videotape customers' license plates and post them online, and they try to save the souls of anyone who comes and goes.”
“Now, the dancers have turned the tables, so to speak. Fed up with the tactics of Dunfee and his flock, they say they have finally accepted his constant invitation to come to church.”
“It's just that they've come wearing see-through shorts and toting Super Soakers.”
The strippers even had the gaul to quote scriptures on their signage.
(ORIGIANL LINK) Churchgoers, strippers protest one another inpCoshocton County | The Columbus Dispatch
A bunch of high school students were asked to stop singing by a Park Police Officer.
“They told them to stop singing,” … “I was taken aback. You wouldn’t expect a display of national patriotism to be censored."
“U.S. Park Police confirmed that the students were in violation of federal law and their impromptu performance constituted a demonstration in an area that must remain “completely content neutral.”
The area they were standing in and singing is an area that is restricted for this type of activity,” said Sgt. David Schlosser. “The United States Park Police is absolutely content-neutral when it comes to any sort of demonstrations in these areas.”
In spite of this, they sung anyway :o)
“Instead of doing as they were instructed…. the students resumed the song – an impromptu form of civil disobedience. “
At what point does law lose sight of the spirit of the law? At what point have we become so afraid to offend anyone, that we are afraid to do anything? Or is this just a case of bureaucracy serving itself and not the people?
(ORIGIANL LINK) FOXNews.com - Students at Lincoln Memorial Told to Stop Singing National Anthem
At what point can we trust people enough to employ them? To work with them? To use services provided by them?
An excerpt:
“Jen thought nothing of dropping her laundry off at the local laundromat until she got it back. Wrapped around her underwear she found this orange band boasting: "All Our Employees Have Passed A Psychological Exam For Honesty & Personal Integrity." Now she's a little sketched out and would like to know if this the sort of the reassurance you want or expect from your local laundromat.”
Are we going to require psychological tests for all forms of employment? If so, what happens to all of the people that “fail”? What choices do we leave for them? And how much do tests really measure our true psychology?… Or are they just testing your ability as a test taker?
(ORIGINAL LINK) Is It Weird For Laundromats To Boast That They Psych Test Their Employees? - The Consumerist
Kill two birds with one stone?
“The bride wore a gray suit. The groom wore a prison jumpsuit - and handcuffs.”
“And a Pennsylvania judge was doing double-duty after having just handled proceedings in the groom's drug case.”
“Judge Leonard Zito said he had never gotten such a request before, but "we're a full-service court."
“And when Zito asked whether anyone knew any reason why the marriage shouldn't proceed, the three-year mandatory minimum sentence that Barndt faces if convicted didn't come up.”
“The pair even managed to exchange a kiss over the objections of prosecutor Michele Kluk.”
When you really love someone, I guess nothing can keep them apart. I guess they also felt like they were short on time :o)
(ORIGINAL LINK) FOXNews.com - Pennsylvania Man Gets Married in Handcuffs After Drug Hearing
How imortant are libraries today? One city in New Jersey (Camden), they are lanning on shutting down their entire library system.
Some excerpts:
"CAMDEN, N.J. - New Jersey's most impoverished city will close all three branches of its public library at year's end unless a rescue can be pulled off."
"Camden's library board says the libraries won't be able to afford to stay open past Dec. 31 because of budget cuts from the city government."
"Paul LeClerc, president of the New York Public Library, said he started noticing a large increase in library attendance when the stock market went into its steep decline. And that attendance has continued to build. "We've got more people visiting us now than we've had in half a century," he said"
Whose fault is it? Overspending by the city of Camden? Budget cuts from the state? Or lack of usage / interest from the public? Libraries, once a community center of education and entertainment in most communities, has been relegated to antiquity in some cases. Several hundred channel television, the Internet, and even the prolification of book stores has cut into the usage / relevancy of many libraries across our nation. Have they reached a point where they should move on, or have we neglected a pivotal cornerstone of the American culture? Then again, this is Camden. And I would be afraid to go outside, let alone let people know that I could be a book reading nerd. :o)
(ORIGINAL LINK) Camden Closing Library System – FOX NY
Angry?
Some Excerpts:
“The U.S. government is spending $22 million to train workers in foreign countries to learn tech skills and English so they can outsource American IT jobs.”
“According to InformationWeek, the U.S. agency known as USAID (United States Agency for International Development) is partnering with outsourcing service companies in countries like Sri Lanka to teach more than 3,000 workers technology skills in tools like Enterprise Java.”
“To make it easier for those workers to work with American companies who have outsourced work, American taxpayers are also paying to train the workers in English.”
In our current economic environment, when Americans struggle with high unemployment and the fear of an economy that can get worse, it is frustrating to think that the U.S. Government (or specifically YOUR tax dollars) is paying for the training of foreign worker to take over the very jobs that we (Americans) are losing. Is it not the responsibility of a sovereign government to put it’s citizens first? Whatever the reasons that propelled these actions, we cannot deny that no one in these foreign countries have done anything wrong. So we cannot be angry with anyone looking for a job themselves. The question is can we be angry with our own government? Should the U.S. be primarily concerned with with it’s own people, or should everyone look first and foremost to the global community?
(ORIGIANL LINK) Get angry: your tax dollars are being used to train foreign IT workers to take your jobs | ZDNet
In a sign of how troubling a economic time we are in, a record number of Americans are now recieving food stamps.
An excerpt:
“The number of Americans receiving federal aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, soared to a record 40.8 million in May, according to government data released shortly before the Senate voted to cut billions from the food stamps budget.”
How important are programs like these? Should they continue? If so for how long? And lets all hope / pray that the need for such programs will fall in the near future.
FOXNews.com - Record Number of Americans Receiving Food Stamp Benefits
Have we become such a selfish, superficial society that this may seem even a little acceptable? Are we so eager to find reasons to use each other?
(Excerpts Italicized)
“Holly Hill was depressed and nearing bankruptcy – she had just broken up with her wealthy lover, a man she naively thought would leave his wife to spend the rest of his life with her.€”
“A former psychologist, Hill even quit her job to be at John's beck-and-call. When he dumped her, she was left penniless and alone..”
“So Hill decided her heart would not be broken again, despite the fact that she wanted a man to take care of her. She still had needs, after all.”
“Love? No way. She didn't want a lover. She wanted a sugar daddy.”
After putting in a help wanted ad specifically looking for a “sugar daddy” (aka someone she could use) she got numerous responses.
“Hill had numerous replies to her ad; so many in fact, she had to start interviewing potential candidates. The thrill of being in control after such a devastating heartbreak made her feel empowered and erotic.”
Have we turned relationships between the sexes as something little more than an exchange of services (sex / money)? Is this something that we would hope for our children? Something that God would be proud of us for? So many of us want so many things, but what is truly important? And is using another for our own goals the right thing to do?
(ORIGINAL LINK) Help Wanted: Woman Seeks Sugar Daddy - Sex | Erectile Dysfunction | Sexual Health - FOXNews.com
A US appeals court has ruled that the couple who named their children after famous Nazis’ should not regain custody. Should they have been taken away in the first place? If so, what other reasons are deemed acceptable when taking away a families’ children? Can we take away children if their parents’ religion is deemed extreme? How long until certain elements of Christianity (i.e. Charismatics, Home-Schoolers, etc) are considered unacceptable?
Some Excerpts:
“Adolf Hitler Campbell, 4, and his sisters, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation, 3, and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie, 2, were taken from their New Jersey home in 2009.”
“A family court had earlier found there was insufficient evidence of abuse.”
“The panel found that the parents, who both suffer from unspecified physical and psychological disabilities, had "recklessly created a risk of serious injury to their children by failing to protect the children from harm and failing to acknowledge and treat their disabilities".”
Are their ideals about the Nazis acceptable? Of course not. Does such belief usually follow / go along with hatred? Probably. But how much power do we want to give the government in deciding how we ALL should raise our kids? I (personally) would only agree with taking the kids away when there is obvious physical abuse. Or if they are exposed to too much Mylie Cyrus :o)
(ORIGINAL LINK ) BBC News - US court denies parents custody of Hitler and sisters
Human nature does not change. We want to feel safe, and we want to prepare for events that can harm us. But how many of us think that there is sufficient risk to warrant such a (what some would consider “crazy'”) investment?
Some excerpts:
“Jason Hodge, father of four children from Barstow, Calif., says he's "not paranoid" but he is concerned, and that's why he bought space in what might be labeled a doomsday shelter.”
"It's an investment in life," says Hodge, a Teamsters union representative. "I want to make sure I have a place I can take me and my family if that worst-case scenario were to happen."
Do we really have reason to be afraid?
(ORINGINAL LINK) Doomsday shelters making a comeback - USATODAY.com
I know the purpose of bureaucracy is to serve bureaucracy, but this? I know this is not the first time I’ve heard of a story similar to this, but it does not get old. Shouldn’t the purpose of bureaucracy be to serve the people, and not the other way around?
Some excerpts:
“Except this entrepreneur was a 7-year-old named Julie Murphy. Her business was a lemonade stand at the Last Thursday monthly art fair in Northeast Portland. The government regulation she violated? Failing to get a $120 temporary restaurant license.”
"I understand the reason behind what they're doing and it's a neighborhood event, and they're trying to generate revenue," said Jon Kawaguchi, environmental health supervisor for the Multnomah County Health Department. "But we still need to put the public's health first."
“After 20 minutes, a "lady with a clipboard" came over and asked for their license. When Fife explained they didn't have one, the woman told them they would need to leave or possibly face a $500 fine.”
Does bottled water and Kool-Aid present a public health danger?
UPDATE: Oregon officials reverse decision, say kids don't need license to run lemonade stand.
"Realizing the error of their ways, county officials have now issued an apology, meaning the little girl's horribly unsafe lemonade can be unleashed upon the world once more."
In his decision, Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen said that while county health department workers were "following the rule book" when they stopped the girl and her mom from selling lemonade, he asked them to use "professional discretion."
"A lemonade stand is a classic, iconic American kid thing to do," he said. "I don't want to be in the business of shutting that down."
It is nice to see happy endings :o)
(UPDATE LINK) http://consumerist.com/2010/08/update-officials-say-little-kids-dont-need-health-dept-license-to-run-lemonade-stand.html
According to the article:
“The raising of livestock consumes two-thirds of the planet's farmland, and is a major source of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, tons of edible, sustainable protein swarms all around us, free for the taking. In a new policy paper being considered by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Belgian entomologist Arnold van Huis makes the sensible recommendation that the western world eat more insects.”
“Introducing a bug-rich diet to the western world might be more of a challenge”
“A challenge”, no kidding. Would you be interested in this? Would this perhaps be a benefit to mankind?
Can sharing your faith’s beliefs on matters dealing with homosexuality be a form of discrimination? What happens when it is perhaps decided, one day, that your own beliefs are deemed offensive? At what point is religious opinion deemed “Hate Speech”? Are his words protected by the First Amendment?
“Adjunct professor Kenneth Howell said he was fired at the end of the spring semester after sending an e-mail explaining Catholic beliefs on homosexuality to his students preparing for an exam.”
In his email from May 4th, Mr. Howell wrote:
"Natural Moral Law says that Morality must be a response to REALITY…… In other words, sexual acts are only appropriate for people who are complementary, not the same."
Is this “hate speech”, as the university originally claimed?…
Despite our increasing amounts of education, the “middle-class” life that many of us dream of is growing increasingly harder to attain. Whether it is due to the effects of Globalism (and jobs going overseas..) or the global economic crisis, these statistics give a sobering account of the state of our being….
Some Excerpts:
• 61 percent of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.
• 66 percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.
• Only the top 5 percent of U.S. households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.
• For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together.
• In the United States, the average federal worker now earns 60% MORE than the average worker in the private sector.
• or the first time in U.S. history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.
• This is what American workers now must compete against: in China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour and in Cambodia a garment worker makes approximately 22 cents an hour.
What can we do to turn the tide around??? Is it time for the ideals traditionally given to meaning of "middle class" be re-examined??
In a classic tale of David and Goliath, the FBI is threatening Wikipedia with legal action if they do not remove their official seal from their page.
Some excerpts:
“As the New York Times reported on Tuesday, the FBI's deputy general counsel actually sent a letter to Wikipedia [pdf] late last month demanding that the site take down a high-resolution rendering of the seal "because it facilitates both deliberate and unwitting violations" of federal restrictions on the use of the image. Indeed, it is a federal crime to "manufactur[e], sel[l], or posses[s] any badge, identification card, or other insignia, of the design prescribed by the head of any department or agency of the United States." And according to the FBI's crack legal team, posting an image of the seal as illustration of an encyclopedia entry constitutes manufacturing, selling, or possessing such an insignia. (Maybe they confused Wikipedia with the villainous WikiLeaks?)”
“Wikipedia's lawyers clearly had fun with the request [pdf], particularly because the bureau, in citing federal law, conveniently omitted the words "badge" and "identification card," apparently to make it seem like the law simply governed images as opposed to fake credentials. "While we appreciate your desire to revise the statute to reflect your expansive vision of it," the site's lawyers wrote, "the fact is that we must work with the actual language of the statute, not the aspirational version ... that you forwarded to us." The site went on to politely decline the request and indicate it would gladly see the feds in court: "Badges and identification cards are physical manifestations that may be used by a possessor to invoke the authority of the federal government. An encyclopedia article is not." “
Clearly, the FBI does not have anything better to do.
( ORINIGAN ARTICLE LINK ) FBI fights to protect its seal from Internet encyclopedians - Yahoo! News
Does this give hope to the future of Christian communities??
“A new study estimates the number of Amish has increased nearly 10 percent in the past two years alone, to a total population of 249,000, compared with about 227,000 in 2008. That figure was just 124,000 in 1992. Nearly all Amish descended from a group of about 5,000 in the early 20th century.”
"They are sort of challenging some of the mainstream assumptions about progress and how you achieve the good life and happiness," said Elizabethtown professor Don Kraybill, the study's director. "They're not merely surviving; they're thriving, and growing at this very rapid rate."
I’d like to think so, and they can do it with so little :o)
APNewsBreak: Study says Amish expanding westward - Yahoo! News
