Right As Usual

I woke up this morning sneezing, one after another. The dreaded allergies have kicked up again. Before I return to Cleveland for the summer, I'm going to ask that my son and husband tear out the wall-to-wall in our bedroom. That should eliminate most of the problem. Today is the day of the family gift exchange. About 25-30 people get together, and get their number. # 1 picks a gift from under the tree, # 2 has the right to either take a new gift, or take the gift from the previous person. If # 1 has his gift taken, he takes another one from the tree. As the number of gifts to steal grows, the game gets wild. To help someone secure a gift, family members forms teams. Generally, the very youngest participate only as helpers. But, by 10 or so, they're in the game. It's good training for office politics, junior high, and the like. I wasn't sure my daughter would be able to come. She finally decided to rent a car for a few days. Her husband will join us when he ...

I've always known that many Britons absolutely hate and detest Catholics with a fervor, but the inclusion of one of the original men of conscience in this list of most Worst Britons seems, to me, to take their prejudices to a new low: The "greedy" Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was nominated by Professor John Hudson, of St Andrews University, as the 12th century's worst villain. "He divided England in a way that even many churchmen who shared some of his views thought unnecessary and self-indulgent," he said. "He was a founder of gesture politics. "Those who share my prejudice against Becket may consider his assassination in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December, 1170, a fittingly grisly end." Tags = Religion

As shown in my weight loss tracker, I've dropped another couple of pounds. Apparently, the de-stressing brought on by huge amounts of unstructured time has been beneficial, overall, to my health. I'll be bringing back some aids to that continued weight loss, including: Prevention's cookbook for weight loss digital scale and body fat monitor yoga mat exercise bands Tags = Weight Loss

Some things worked out just like I planned them - but, fortunately, the aspects I didn't plan were a GOOD surprise! I received a HUGE surprise from my husband. An offhand comment I made in the fall about wanting my great-grandmother's diamond ring (my brother was planning to sell it and split the cash with the others) was heard, and acted upon. It fits perfectly, and is a delightful antique setting, three stone ring. I also got the MP3 player I've been coveting. No, not the IPod - I think it's a hugely overhyped gizmo, that virtually SHRIEKS "I don't understand how to use technology without those cute little icons and buttons for idiots". Also, all the junk food I could eat - the diet starts when I return to SC. My grandchildren were wonderful and beautiful, as usual. My granddaughter was given several dress-up outfits - TinkerBelle, Snow White, and Dorothy ruby red slippers (she already had the dress). Oh, and a Cleveland Browns cheerleader outfit. ...

Don't stop to finish this - just click the link to A Texan Abroad . I don't often cry - but I did this morning. Rhianna is a military wife, currently living abroad. She has multiple posts today, and they are all worth spending time reading. Don't forget to copy the link, and include it in any email you send out today. I know the recipients will thank you for letting them in on the site. To the troops in the field, and those at home, Merry Christmas! May this be your last Christmas away from your loved ones - not because we "cut and run", but because we've increased the number of people around the world who will take up their own defense against terrorists. Tags = Military

Via the Freedom Folks , comes this picture of Arlington cemetery. Tags = Military

On December 8, 2005, Peggy Noonan asked some of the questions I've been pondering What does it mean that your first act on entering a country--your first act on that soil--is the breaking of that country's laws? What does it suggest to you when that country does nothing about your lawbreaking because it cannot, or chooses not to? What does that tell you? Will that make you a better future citizen, or worse? More respecting of the rule of law in your new home, or less? I suggest you read it. Noonan is no anti-nativist; she freely credits the immense benefit that the ability to immigrate gave to her ancestors, and, by extension, to her. Like the majority of Americans, I come from a long line of grateful immigrants. If some of them tried to enter today, they might have a very long wait, if they qualified at all. Nonetheless, I favor tighter controls over the current situation, which lets the lawbreakers in more readily than the rule-abiders. Think of it - you are increasing the nu...

I can't believe the reaction from Mexicans to the proposed border wall. For those who haven't been following the debate on ILLEGAL immigration (I felt the need to put that in CAPS to make it clear that I do not oppose, in fact, welcome LEGAL immigration), The House finally developed some guts, and passed a bill to buid a wall between Mexico and the US. Not doing so is like having your neighbors wander through your house day and night, without knocking, but continuing to leave the door unlocked. Hard to complain about it to the cops in that case. From Guardian Unlimited : Fernando Robledo, 42, of the western state of Zacatecas, says the proposals could stem migration and disrupt families by breaking cross-border ties. "Could stem migration" - we certainly hope so! Don't want your family "disrupted"? Stay home. What's the Mexican government going to do? The government is scrambling to fight on two fronts. On Monday, it announced it had hired Allyn...

Fox News is reporting on the Debra Lafave case. That's the one with the young teacher having sex with a student. See below: A Florida reading teacher charged with having sex with a minor pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior as part of a plea deal that does not include any jail time. "I accept full responsibility for my actions," Greco Middle School teacher Debra Lafave, 25, said during Tuesday's trial in Tampa. The deal provides that Lafave will not serve any jail time in connection with multiple sex acts with a 14-year-old student unless she violates the terms of the plea agreement, which includes three years of house arrest and seven years' probation. "To place an attractive young woman in that kind of hell hole is like putting a piece of raw meat in with the lions," Lafave's attorney, John Fitzgibbons, said in July of the possibility of jail time. "I'm not sure she would survive. That's the offici...

The End of the Rainbow has a provacative post: We have schools here that used to be 80% to 90% black and now, after a period of 10 years, are 80% to 90% Latino. As this trend spreads, blacks either can move to other neighborhoods or watch their children stuck in schools listening to Spanish all day. Yet nobody speaks up for our children the way pro-immigrant organizations do for immigrant children. As a result, our children are getting the equivalent of half a day of school. Why should our children be deprived? My two-bedroom house near the Coliseum is worth about $100,000. A comparable house two doors away sold for $135,000 and the buyers put five immigrant families in it. A black family can’t pay that and can’t live like that. In the American culture, we have one family to a house. Each of my immigrant neighbors has seven or eight children, while we Americans have two or three. Before long, all these children are going to need a place of their own. Does a black homeowner have to put...

As a teacher for many years, I've noticed the recent increase (or, at least, the recent rise in prosecution) in female teachers who have sex with students. My initial response was "Yuck!", followed by the thought that these women were clearly strange, unusual, and an incredibly tiny minority. Maybe I was wrong. WorldNet Daily has a round-up of these crazy "ladies", and there's more than I ever dreamed. I'm dumbfounded - I just can't fathom their actions. But, in their honor, I'm creating a New Tag. Tags = Stupid People

Thanks to Mark Shea's Catholic and Enjoying it , I found a reference that you have to see to believe. Scientists have begun blurring the line between human and animal by producing chimeras—a hybrid creature that's part human, part animal. Chinese scientists at the Shanghai Second Medical University in 2003 successfully fused human cells with rabbit eggs. The embryos were reportedly the first human-animal chimeras successfully created. They were allowed to develop for several days in a laboratory dish before the scientists destroyed the embryos to harvest their stem cells. In Minnesota last year researchers at the Mayo Clinic created pigs with human blood flowing through their bodies. And at Stanford University in California an experiment might be done later this year to create mice with human brains. The idea is that, by tinkering with the animals, you can create a line that is closer to human, and, thus, facilitate experimentation that benefits humans, such as drug testing or ...

Eternity Road continues to be one of my favorite stops on the Blogroll. Francis Porretto is special - he posts long and thoughtfully, and his take on current events is always from his Catholic perspective. Click on the title to read what he has to say about Christmas. Among them: Store decorations have become so relentlessly secular that a Martian might well imagine that this buying blitz has no relation whatsoever to Christmas. and One can raise quite a few eyebrows and blanch an equal number of cheeks by responding to "Happy Holidays" with "Merry Christmas, and may the grace and peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Redeemer of Mankind, be yours throughout the new year. Yes, I actually did that. More than once, in fact. I know I'm a bad boy. But it was just too tempting to resist. Tags = Religion

It's not just wrong, it's un-American. What is? A press witness describes the execution. Williams did not struggle. He spoke to his witnesses during the process. It took almost ten minutes to find the second vein. Two men and one woman among Williams's supporters made black power signs during the process. At death announcement someone shouted that California has killed an innocent man. The witnesses were told when they went in that they were not allowed to make outbursts. It comes as no surprise to me that Williams was the kind of man who attracted friends to whom the rules do not apply. Dora Owens, stepmother of a victim, who had stared passively at Williams throughout the execution, began to cry after the outburst. Maybe she was crying at the end of her long wait for justice or maybe she was crying at the tragedy of a man, the man who shouted, who doesn't grasp the concept of justice. The man who shouted that accusation used the words of justice, but he didn't re...

I found this on Captain's Quarters - if you don't read his blog daily, you're missing one of the best. In her Star-Tribune article, Kersten highlights local Army medic Sgt. Joe Buhain of Rochester and his dedication to saving lives on the battlefield, regardless of which side his patients fought: What do you do if you are an Army medic and you are asked to provide medical care to an Iraqi terrorist who has just killed or maimed some of your buddies? Staff Sgt. Joe Buhain of Rochester knows the answer. ... Buhain, 35, found it emotionally taxing to treat terrorists who had detonated explosives under coalition Humvees or killed innocent children. This is a perfect example of what differentiates us from the enemy - we honor our Creator and our Constitution by living up to their highest ideals. We endeavor to treat all men as though they are equal, all men as we would like to be treated, ourselves. As the few instances of abuse demonstrate, we sometimes fail. But w...

I just returned from my doctor's - I'll be not picking up anything heavy for a few days. I've another bout of tennis elbow. Most aggravating, since I haven't played in years. The arm is tender, due to a cortisone shot AND a flu shot. Hey, why wreck up both arms? The minor problems in my left wrist and right middle fingers is, apparently, due to arthritis. Not rheumatoid, just the ordinary old-age, wear & tear kind. Swell - that does wonders for my self-esteem. Minor doses of ibuprofen should do it, along with wearing a wrist brace. I'm going to try to take it light on blogging for the next few days, at least. When you pay for medical advice, the least you ought to do is take it. Tags = Health and Wellness

Bush has often been accused of being too meek in defending his actions as President. Not in this matter : Facing angry criticism and challenges to his authority in Congress, President Bush on Saturday unapologetically defended his administration's right to conduct secret post-Sept. 11 spying in the United States as "critical to saving American lives." Bush said congressional leaders had been briefed on the operation more than a dozen times. That included Democrats as well as Republicans in the House and Senate, a GOP lawmaker said. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she had been told on several occasions that Bush had authorized unspecified activities by the National Security Agency, the nation's largest spy agency. She said she had expressed strong concerns at the time, and that Bush's statement Saturday "raises serious questions as to what the activities were and whether the activities were lawful." Often appearing angry in an eight-mi...

I just attended the Christmas concert at my school today. Fine youngsters, wonderful singing. As I thought about it, I asked myself: Why hasn't the ACLU come down with both feet on a majority Black school? After all, most of them have gospel choirs, and, if they're anything like the ones I've heard, they sing about God, Jesus, and the like. Don't bother to email, I know the reason: Because the families would open a large economy size can of Whoop-a$$, that's why! In general, Black families take their religion seriously. They wouldn't hesitate to jump right in the face of someone who kept them from singing their Christmas music. So, that means that the ACLU is not against public worship, but they're against White people's worship. Racists. Tags = Religion

My bags are packed, I've printed out my ticket, and I'm just waiting for my ride. Sounds like a good time to rant. The anti-death penalty types are hard at work, milking the execution of Tookie "the sociapath" for all it's worth (not much). The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler is in fine form: Tookie was a sociopath, period. A particularly vile sort of sociopath. What sociopaths do is pretend, lie and steal, anything that they perceive will get them closer to their goal which in Tookie the Turd’s case was getting away from the gurney awaiting him in St. Quentin, by any means possible. He didn’t want to die because he was afraid of it. The “big, bad boy” who had no trouble sending other people off to an early grave over $100 was pissing his pants at the thought of dying himself. Funny when you think of it, but not at all strange for a sociopath like Tookie the Twit. And, like all other sociopaths worshipping at the Holy Church of Self, writing a few childrens’ books a...

I've been packing for my CHRISTMAS trip (no, it's not a generic "holiday" trip), and decided to check out Dr. Sanity How in heaven's name did all the political correct assininity become so prevalent? How did it sneak up and like the Grinch, sneaking down from his mountan, steal Christmas away from us? Isn't it time to say "enough is enough" to this mind-boggling insanity? "Cold in the Night"? Trees of color?? Red and Green offensive? What is the matter with these people? Who died and made them holiday fuehrers? Does the multicultural mob live in thrall to the White Witch? Or are they simply PC Grinches? Holiday Fuehrers - I love that. Thinking about "The Grinch that Stole Christmas" made me think about the whole thing - what makes Christmas so special? It may be partly cultural - the English, Germans, and Celts that first populated a good part of the founding states had a long tradition of celebrating the holiday (except for the ...

I found the slider bar that's tracking my weight loss (yes, I know it's not showing any, but this is Day 1) on Ticker Factory . It's mostly for preggos and those wanting to be, but the ticker can be adapted for many uses. Got to go now, I'm running late for work. Tags = Blogging

Tookie met his end this week. Death didn't come quickly, either in terms of the 20 years he spent on death row, or in the last minutes of his death, when the doctors tried to insert a needle in his muscular arm. I expect that he was tense, and tighten up his arm in response. Too bad - I really didn't want him to suffer. That may seem contradictory, but I would feel the same about a pitt bull who was being put down - the animal would be to dangerous to live, but I would derive no pleasure from seeing the animal tortured. However, I was not the family of Tookie's victims. They might have wished for all the pain that could legally be delivered. I hope not - I'd like to think they could demonstrate a greater mercy than that. And, in general, that's the kind of response that most crime victims exhibit. I'm kind of amazed by that - I have a vengeful streak, and I can be somewhat unforgiving. Fortunately, most people are better than that. Tags = News and Poli...

My first thought, which I was going to title this post was "good riddance". I decided against that because I'm not going to stomp on his grave. He will be executed, and he will have justly earned it. But I'm going to take the high road. I won't demean him - he, himself, has done that for me. Really, what was this about? A murderer who had redeemed his horrible life through the wonder of artistic endeavors? Hardly. His books aren't changing many lives - the top seller sold 330 books. Heck, failed poets do that well. I'm not surprised that he lost his clemency bid. The "how could you execute this artiste" dodge went out the last time, when Norman Mailer helped Jack Abbott, author of "In the Belly of the Beast", get sprung. He followed his release with a fatal stabbing of an unlucky waiter. Folks, just because a person can express themselves doesn't make them a good person. Nor does it excuse heinous acts. Tags = Crime and ...

Hard as it is to believe, MSNBC has acknowledged that Bush is gaining in the polls. But, wait - the MSM has managed to find a dark side to the good news. Oh, dear. Now you know that the only groups that could possibly like "that dreadful man" would be, by imputation, equally dreadful President Bush’s improved standing with whites, men, Catholics and other core supporters has been a key factor in pushing his job approval rating up to 42 percent. That’s the highest level since summer. The fun part of the article comes when they state that one of the reasons for his slide in the polls was that he was put on the defensive in September and October after the slow government response to Hurricane Katrina. Well, at least they did mention that the problem with Hurricane Katrina was that "government" dawdled, instead of moving swiftly. They don't, however, mention that the problem was LOCAL - and the perps were Democrats. Oh, well, you can't have everything. Tags ...

The International Red Cross has made a compromise suggestion to Israel: After almost six decades of rejection, Israel saw the road cleared yesterday for its emergency and disaster relief organization to join the International Red Cross. The price of admission was relinquishing its symbol, the Red Star of David. Instead, the Red Cross approved a new "neutral" symbol -- a Red Crystal, which Israel must adopt to become a member, possibly next spring. The Star of David may still be used at home, and on foreign missions it can be put inside the Crystal, provided the host country agrees. From the Wall Street Journal, via Crossing the Rubicon2 That solution is absolutely unacceptable to me, and I would hope it would be to Israel. Contrast the above with the one permitted the Islamic aid organizations. I see no reason for Israel not to continue using the symbol below, without embellishment. The only reason to exclude Israel is anti-Semitism. Who will be next? Will Christians be tol...

Ya' gotta see the new GOP video . It uses Democrat's own words to make a point. It's called Retreat and Defeat, and it's awesome (and I seldom use that word). Tags = News and Politics

I found a test "Are You Ready to Have Sex" via Common Sense Runs Wild . Q: Which of the following is NOT true about HIV, the virus that causes AIDS? Only gay people and druggies get that. You can get it through tainted blood transfusions. You can get it through unprotected sex with an infected partner. You can get it through protected sex with an infected partner. When I checked the last answer, I was told that was WRONG! But, haven't the AIDS activists been telling us that, with a condom, we'd be SAFE? As in, SAFE SEX? In fact, the very next question asks: Q: What type of contraception BEST protects against HIV and STDs? A condom. TWO Condoms used at the same time. Diaphrams Withdrawl before ejaculation. I guess spelling isn't important. Or the fact that, if the teen reading these questions is anything like the ones I teach, the term ejaculation is unlikely to be fully understood. The next question is the one that is REALLY interesting Q: What is the best age...

What does "one man, one vote" mean to the average American? For most of us, the phrase conjures up the intended meaning - that each person of legal age should have the right to have their voice heard in the public arena. To that aim, the US Constitution mandates a census, which is to count each person in the US. Now, for me, I always assumed that the adjustment of Congressional seats would reflect legally present people, at least. Not so. And, because of the way the re-apportionment is currently done, someone in Congress thinks there ought to be a law: A Republican lawmaker yesterday proposed changing the US Constitution to exclude non-citizens from the census for the purpose of drawing congressional districts, a move that effectively would deny them a voice in US politics. Under the present system, as determined by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, the Census Bureau counts all individuals living in the country, once every 10 years. These data are used when drawing up ...

Found on One Cosmos Homosexuality is a genetically caused condition that renders one incapable of engaging in sexual relations with the opposite sex. Its opposite, heterosexuality, is an arbitrary gender identification caused by cultural conditioning. Pornography is a type of expression that is protected by the first amendment, while religion, especially Christian religion, is a dangerous type of expression from which we are protected by the first amendment. There's more - click on the title link. Tags = [tagname]

I mean, they might just Explode! Here's the thing - I just found out that the Winter...uh...THING...you know, the reason for the season? It's actually based on an ancient religious tradition. I hear that the name CHRISTMAS may even - possibly - have a connection with something to do with religion (OK, I know that's ony a rumor, but I felt I needed to pass it on). Worse, the replacement for that C*******s word may have a - I become faint at the possibility - religious base. It's true! The secular word replacement HOLIDAY is may be POSSIBLY, MIGHT be derived from the words HOLY DAY. Oh, the inhumanity! This post was inspired by A Face Made 4 Radio, A Voice Made 4 the Internet , who posted on an incident in Manhasset. Tags = Christmas

After too many months of dial-up, I finally have high-speed. What a difference! I could access a high-speed connection at work, but with all kinds of restrictions. Plus, the network at work is virus-ridden. The infections twice knocked out my wireless card access. So, I think I'm better off to skip it. This connection, finally, un-hooks me from using the phone line. At last, I can move the laptop to where I want it. I may even be able to get access on the porch on sunny days. A priority will be to get access in the new house. Tags = Internet

I have a news source on the Blogroll that I periodically check out - Watching America. It offers English translations (unfortunately, machine-translated, so the syntax is sometimes a little odd) of European and otehr world news sources. It can be an eye-opener to see the venom that drips from their fangs when they contemplate the crude uncivilized barely human American people's actions in the world stage. Tags = News and Politics

Follow the title's link to vote for a most deserving media blog finalist in the Weblog Awards. Michael Yon is, right now, leading by a wide margin, but I want to make sure that he cinches it. Tags = Blogging

I heard about this DISGUSTING situation from Little Green Footballs . He referenced Atlas Shrugs , who is sponsoring a boycott - do go there, it's very handy, and has all the links. The People's Truth Forum wanted to book the Marriott for a conference - and that's when the trouble started The Georgetown Marriott Conference Center rejected a "terrorism" symposium on the grounds that the sponsoring organization was too controversial and the venue inappropriate for this type of forum. Concurrently, another Marriott Hotel in the Washington area is hosting the Council on American- Islamic Relations' annual conference – and participating as a panelist at the gala will be an alleged coconspirator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. According to the Georgetown Marriott executives, the decision to reject the event, being hosted by the People's Truth Forum, a fact-based, non-partisan organization, was based upon business considerations: "The event would ...

I've added another blogger that I think needs to be seen America's Son , a miliblogger who has a strong point of view. As I read his critique of the media's mis- reporting of the war, I thought about how America will change once these soldiers, marines, and sailors return. So many of them have taken up blogging, that I suspect they will not fade quietly into the landscape after their re-entry. I'm thinking that the MSM oldies might want to check into the status of their retirement, sock a little away in their IRA, and get ready to leave. It'll be like the return of the WWII vets, aged, hardened, and impatient with the old ways things have been done. Look for the next election to include more than a few vets, and for them to throw their collective weight towards throwing the incompetent rascals out. Tags = News and Politics

Begging to Differ's thoughts on blogging are sticking with me, and I'm finding it affecting what I'm focusing on today (see post below). I found another soapbox rant (his words, not mine) just after posting, that asks some very important questions. Namely, what's really important in life? The money spent on paparazzi pictures of pretty boring celebrities could be used to build orphanages in AIDS ravaged Africa and feed hungry people here in America. Apparently one magazine paid almost four hundred thousand dollars for a picture of Brad Pitt walking on the beach with Angelina Jolie. Four hundred thousand dollars! How about Nick and Jessica’s imminent split or Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s divorce? Who cares about what type of toilet paper the Desperate Housewives use. Or what Paris Hilton has to say about anything? Who cares? Apparently the world does because that’s all we ever hear about. Ask around - huge numbers of your family, friends, and acquaintances spend a...

I just read a post, courtesy of Viking Pundit , about the changes that have occurred in blogging over the last few years. REASONS WHY POLITICAL BLOGGING IS POINTLESS (FOR MOST OF US, ANYWAY) 1) Paul Simon said it best in The Boxer: "A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." There is ample evidence to support whatever harebrained theories each of us wants to believe. The proliferation of blogs adds to the volume and apparent legitimacy of all information, true and false, crazy and sane. We are ala carte consumers of information, taking in only that which pleases us. The original mission of Begging To Differ was quaint but naive. It's not just that The Truth is out there but no one wants to see it. It's not even there in the first place. 2) The blowhard factor is real. The vast majority of political blogs purport to engage in advocacy, but have tiny audiences. The result is a tenor and tone of smug self-satisfaction. This is not to say that all politi...

I just came home from the best concert I ever attended - the Hallelujah Singers sang with our high school choirs. It was an amazing experience. The group , whose CD you can order on the link, is different, dazzling, and delightful (that's it for the D's). They billed the concert as "A Gullah Christmas". Having moved to this area only a short time ago, I felt I owed it to myself to find out what the culture was about. Wow! I mean, WOW! They took my breath away. I sat there, too stunned to applaud, with tears in my eyes. The singers appeared in the movie "Forrest Gump", which also had its location scenes shot locally. Trust me on this, you will want the CD for this year, and every year thereafter. It's a classic. You can check the sound out by going to this site, and downloading a sample MP3. Tags = Music

Ace of Spades HQ has a post on the Tookie race to avoid his just punishment. As Ace points out: whatever complaints his defenders have about certain evidence, it is uncontested that this guy founded the ultraviolent Crips gang. I know you're not supposed to look beyond the actual evidence, but give me an f'n' break. You don't found the Crips and expand it across the nation by holding charity bake-sales and knitting scarves for the homeless. He's never broken with the gang. He says he "regrets" his influence on the young. As he should. But, frankly, that's not enough to keep him from dying by lethal injection. Every now and then, someone who realizes that I oppose killing the helpless (unborn and elderly) says "but you're for capital punishment!" I suppose they think that I've never considered the APPARENT contradiction in that stance. Well, I have. And the fact is that criminals facing death for their crimes asked for what they...

I've been checking out my Blogroll, and it occurs to me that some of the listed blogs are on hiatus, gone, or 404. I'll be cleaning it out over the next month (probably most of that will be done when I get back to Cleveland after the 17th). So, if you read this and are in the mood to boost a favorite blog, drop me a line , giving me the URL. I promise that I'll look at every one, and add the worthy to the list. I'm particularly interested in the lesser-known bloggers - after all, we were all new once, and deserve the chance to shine. Thanks for your help. Tags = Blogging

Pete Singer is at it again. No, not the tall one in the Peter, Paul, and Mary trio. The one whose entire career is dedicated to the idea that some of us are more fit to live than others. "By 2040, it may be that only a rump of hard-core, know-nothing religious fundamentalists will defend the view that every human life, from conception to death, is sacrosanct," says Princeton University's defender of infanticide. "In retrospect, 2005 may be seen as the year in which that position (of the sanctity of life) became untenable," he writes in the fall issue of Foreign Policy. Singer sees 2005's battle over the life of Terri Schiavo as a key to this changing ethic. That's what I, along with a lot of others said at the time. It wasn't just about one woman and her family's fight to let her live. It was about securing a beachhead for a principle. Tags = Life Issues

The Avian Flu, according to WorldNetDaily , may be showing signs of mutating to human-to-human transmission. Naturally, WHO, the World Health Organization is frenziedly spreading the alarm: With one small genetic adjustment in Influenza A, or H5N1, millions of people could die, warns World Health Organization Regional Director for the Western Pacific Shigeru Omi. Omi has called for health ministers and representatives to launch an all-out war on the deadly strain. If the virus acquires sufficient human genes, allowing transmission from one person to another, an estimated 2 million to 7.4 million people around the world could die, the WHO estimates. Let's keep some perspective here, folks. The fact is that, normally, diseases take one of two routes: High fatality rate, but petering out quickly Low fatality rate, but spreading widely An example of the first is Ebola - despite the panic at its inception, it just doesn't spread that widely, and it is relatively easy to deal with...