Bob Paris

Check out Bob Parks at Black and Right -

Bob Parks is a member/writer for the National Advisory Council of Project 21, Senior Writer for the New Media Journal, VP of Marketing and Media Relations/Staff Writer for the New Media Alliance

Check him out on YouTube, too!

Many thanks to Zo for pointing this very fine commentator out to me.

Boy! Am I getting an EDUCATION

Even CLINTON admits

Obama and the Congressional Democrats have resisted previous efforts to reform Fannie and Freddie! It's a VERY intriguing video!

(btw - do you know that President Bush, the "Evil W," has been working since Day One of his Presidency to make changes and rein in Fannie & Freddie? Including some 18 attempted measures this year alone? - but the Dems stall him out every time!)

Many thanks to my Italian friend for this link -

Troubled Fannie Mae CONTRIBUTES to OBAMA

And yesterday, John McCain finally hit Obama HARD, where it hurts:

John McCain today in Cedar Rapids, IA, said Barack Obama has done nothing to help the nation avert fiscal crisis:

"Senator Obama talks a tough game on the financial markets but the facts tell a different story. He took more money from Fannie and Freddie than any Senator but the Democratic chairman of the committee that regulates them. He put Fannie Mae's CEO who helped create this disaster in charge of finding his Vice President. Fannie's former General Counsel is a senior advisor to his campaign. Whose side do you think he is on? When I pushed legislation to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Senator Obama was silent. He didn't lift a hand to avert this crisis."

Could Obama get a Security Clearance?

His admitted former drug use, friends in the Chicago racket, his associations with William Ayers, 1/2 of his family foreign nationals and some actually citizens of hostile nations...

If Barack Obama were applying for a position as a grunt staffer on Capital Hill, he couldn't be hired because he couldn't pass security clearance.

But we could still see him elected to the White House by a nation of gullible sheep who are enamored of the concept of "change."

Pray for America.

Clay's Gay

No, I'm not going to publish the photo - although he looks a heck of a lot more groomed and self-respecting on the cover of People magazine than he did in photos announcing the birth of his son.

Clay Aiken, squeaky-clean Idol and self-professed Christian, has outed himself. He says he's going to be an honest dad.

Bilge and nonsense.

Look, Clay. Being gay isn't morally heroic. Self-denial is.

I feel sort of sorry for you, and always have done. You're cute as a bug, you had a rotten rap of male role models, and you're manifestly a mama's boy - it's a dangerous combination.

But, honey, you need to face facts. Being gay isn't set in concrete. The ancient Corinthians were gay and then some - and they converted to Christianity and gave up the pagan-associated behaviors (look at Paul's letters to the Corinthians - "Such WERE some of you - but you have been bought!")

Give it up. Make friends with some strong and decent straight guys who can teach you how to grow a pair.

Learn what real honesty is.

Adrienne loves me!

Adrienne loves me! Loves my blog! same difference -


First I must answer the questions below with ONE word answers, then I get to pick seven other bloggers to pass it on to - see instructions, below.


1. Where is your cell phone? briefcase
2. Where is your significant other? who?
3. Your hair color? greying
4. Your mother? heaven
5. Your father? heaven
6. Your favorite thing? Chant
7. Your dream last night? entertaining
8. Your dream/goal? Sainthood
9. The room you're in? living
10. Your hobby? music
11. Your fear? heights
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? married
13. Where were you last night? Chorale
14. What you're not? spiteful
15. One of your wish-list items? Rome
16. Where you grew up? Aberdeen
17. The last thing you did? ate
18. What are you wearing? slacks
19. Your TV? Dead
20 Your pet? cat
21. Your computer? MacBook
22. Your mood? low
23. Missing someone? yes
24. Your car? Ford
25. Something you're not wearing? yes
26. Favorite store? Macys
27. Your summer? revelatory
28. Love someone? yes
29. Your favorite color? varies
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? years

Now, for you recipients of this award, here's the deal:


* Display your award.

* Link back to the person who gave you the award.

* Nominate at least 7 other blogs. (I know that's a lot so just do what you can do)

* Put links to those blogs on yours.

* Leave a message on the blogs of the people you've nominated.

* Enjoy your award!

I nominate: Mary Rose at Catholic Prodigal Daughter
Peggy at The Simple Woman
Alfonzo (who needs to WORK HIS BLOG - at The Zo Nation!
chimakuni at Life Thoughts
Lala the Lady Nomad
QUEEN BEAN!! Fellow FlyBaby!
and Last but not least -
Chris (Yes - EDITED) at A Catholic View

Zo's got a NEW ONE -

Hey, y'all - it's the O-TEAM!!!!

A California couple, taking exception to the new politically correct law that eliminates the traditional language of Bride and Groom, are finding some opposition from the State. Read about it here

I applaud their tenacity! Shame on California! whose judges have legislated from the bench in defiance of public referendum results!

A BEAUTIFUL Video

from www.catholicvote.com - all Christians need to see this one. All Citizens need to see this one. Enjoy.

Update on Eddy

My friend S. wrote me about her "da," Eddy, who was diagnosed several months ago with brain tumor (see prayer needs, to the left). The family has moved to a new apartment which allows Eddy to stay downstairs more comfortably - Home Health services nurses are in regularly to check him and help -

But to top it off, her mother fell and broke her hip and has had to be in rehab!!!

I swear, things come in droves, don't they?


Please keep this family in your prayers!

The Simple Woman Daybook

FOR TODAY September 15, 2008
Outside My Window... The cat, Simon, is lying in the grass. I'm glad of this; at 2:00 a.m. he had brought me an almost-dead frog.... lying in the grass is much better

I am thinking... of some of the women I've met on FlyLady who carry such burdens of fear and doubt and sorrow - and how frustrated I am at my impotence to help.

I am thankful for...the approach of Fall, and cooler weather - new piano student this week - good med test results last night -

From the kitchen...sweet potato muffins!

I am wearing...black tank top, white slacks, lace-up "trainers" and socks. And my glasses.

I am creating... beauty and order in my home using the FlyLady routines! YEA!

I am going...to get a haircut soon.

I am reading...True Devotion to Mary by Louis de Montford (for Christian Spirituality), Church History by Fr. Laux and A Concise History of the Catholic Church by Thomas Bokenkotter (for Historical Foundations)

I am hoping...to pick up an additional two piano students this week

I am hearing...the ceiling fan clicking on its cycles, and the small fan on the desk whirring. Radio hasn't gone on yet; I've discovered it anaesthetizes me too thoroughly.

Around the house...It's Monday! Home Blessing Hour - dark clothes are hanging to dry, whites are filing the washer as I come across them. I have a bit to vacuum and dust, then I start my Zone 3 - the front room which will again by my study by the end of the week. (I think)

One of my favorite things...if the way the air smells now. We've had a lot of rain the past couple weeks, and I think it's causing the pine needles to start to break down - the air is so full of that sweetly sharp pine fragrance, and a hint of sweet of rotting wild grapes... I often feel restless here in this place, but I have to admit the changing seasons bring about sensory delights I've never encountered anywhere else. Compensations, I suppose?

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: Tomorrow I go for a haircut and (maybe) a pedicure at the high school, then on to Raleigh where I'll stop by the music store for music for my new student - and chorale practice! Also, I've gotten behind on my school schedule, so I'll be spending a lot of time listening to lectures, taking notes on the computer, and READING til I'm crosseyed! (Oh! - I have some winter vegs to set out in my veg bed, too)

Here is picture thought I am sharing...drawn by my friend "Angela Messenger"

The Disordered orientation of Abortion

Last night, late, I posted a Prayer Need (over in the box on the left-hand side of the blog, there) for D., a young woman who just found out she's pregnant and who is on her way to Planned Parenthood on Monday.

She is being steered in that direction by a woman who used to be a volunteer for that organization - and is promoting it as if she's still affiliated with them.

Ladies - it is natural for a woman to protect her children, after birth and before. It is natural for a woman to hold close to her heart the mysteries of a pregnancy, the secret glories of having new life formed in our bodies.

To deny those mysteries - to deny the humanity of our unborn - to deny the LIFE of our unborn - to call the unborn "parasites" -

This is a severely disordered behavior. It defies our womanhood. It defies the best and the noblest and the most beautiful and the most feminine of our womanly nature.

Fight. Fight against this wrong. Fight to remind women of our calling in cherishing, nurturing, and caring for the helpless and defenseless.

Fight. Pray for those who have been so deeply wounded that these disorders of denying Nature should be so openly manifested in their behavior and conduct.

Fight. Oppose these incidents of legislating from the bench that is "Roe v. Wade" and other bogus court rulings of recent years.

Fight. Protect the unborn, the weak, the helpless, the disenfranchised, the defenseless.

Fight. Remember our foremothers who opposed slavery. Abortion is a slavery to an evil master who cares not one bit about our worth as human beings, but cares only for the exploitation of our resources and our weaknesses and our fears in order to make his own profit. Remember that even the abolitionists and the suffragettes opposed abortion. Most of them even opposed contraception and activists like Margaret Sanger who only wanted to use abortion and contraception (two sides of one ugly coin) to eliminate nonwhites from her "Master Race" ideals.

Fight. Open your hearts, your purses, and if need be your homes to render the argument that women have no choice null. Open them so that women who are being pressured by selfish parents and even more selfish boyfriends and husbands can find refuge to do what is natural to them - to protect their children.

Fight. Tell the world that human life begins at conception. Tell the world that abortion profits and benefits only men. Tell the world that real women protect and love their children. Tell the world that abortion wounds women even as it kills our babies.

Fight.

UPDATE 1:42 p.m.: A prime example of the evil of utilitarianism - a hallmark of the Nazi holocaust - is reported in Lifesite News. Abortion, this radical feminist, Camille Paglia, admits, is killing - but it is a justified killing!

Ladies and gentlemen - if this doesn't bring brilliant illumination on just how far our Enemy is prepared to go to destroy souls, I don't know what will.

healthy!

Wow. Apologies, all, for being AWOL or MIA the past few days.

Dr's appts the past couple weeks. Annual check, blood work - elevated blood sugar, elevated cholesterol -

The sugar is okay - good results from the glucose tolerance test this a.m. - the Mammogram report indicates The Girls look good - cholesterol is a little high but I can make a few amendments to my diet to counter that.

Had a good chat with the nurse practitioner about weight loss strategies, etc.

All this is so important because in the past couple months I've been learning more and more about myself - and it's time for some changes. My home didn't reflect the essential, the ontological Me, so I've been working at keeping it tidier, and I've been dreaming about decorating options. Now it's time to work on my physical shell, my body - also to serve as an honest visual reflection of who I am.

Also doing some interior work. I was trained as a girl not to inconvenience others, not to take, but to give in order to be deemed worthy of acceptance. My mom's health also taught me that, if I wanted something, I had to be more aggressive in order to get it. These old ways of being are backfiring on me now. I don't want always to be a self-sufficient woman who needs no one and nothing, who has to all but overtly apologize for existing.

Book reviews coming up shortly - maybe. If I can screw up my courage long enough LOL

Favorite recently-discovered avatar

Here's an avatar for a gal on one of the websites I frequent. I think she is another Palin fan?

The difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull is lipstick.

THE SIMPLE WOMAN'S DAYBOOK

FOR TODAY MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2008...

So grateful to Mary Rose for introducing me to this - you can find the original here

Outside My Window...
The sun is streaming pale yellow through the scrub oak. The air has a glowing quality to it unique to this time of year, as fall approaches. Summer morning suns are direct and bold; this morning light is gentle and serene.

I am thinking...
what I need to do today.

I am thankful for...
Hanna didn't cause much trouble here. None for me, little for our community (we live away from flood risk)

From the kitchen...
Fresh-sliced peaches with homemade yogurt for breakfast!

I am wearing...
A new pair of sandals I'm trying to break in (it's working)- and a sweet white lightweight cotton top, reminiscent of an 18th-century bodice, lined around the neckline with lace. and shorts.

I am creating...
My to-do list for today, so I don't forget the essentials

I am going...
I hope nowhere today!

I am reading...
A variety of books for school, especially on Church History. Sneaking in a chapter here and there of Sense & Sensibility

I am hoping...
That rehearsal goes well tomorrow, and that what I dread will not come to pass.

I am hearing...
window fan, crickets, a blue jay

Around the house...
It's Monday - I'm about to go commence my Home Blessing Hour: remake my bed, dust & vacuum the bedroom, sweep the main bath, wipe down fixtures (a bit more detailed than Swish & Swipe) - get ready for tomorrow. STUDY.

One of my favorite things...
Is the way the sunlight is streaming through the pines and the scrub oaks.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
check the grape vines. Get to the Dr. to have that glucose tolerance test run. Work in the garden so my neighbor can plow it for me. Plant some collards & broccoli.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

testing, testing...



Anyway, the photo for the post is the American Beautyberry, which is something I'm looking at from my window. No, it's not mine - I can't find the cable to my camera! (grrrr...) but it's the same plant, so I thought I'd post it in lieu of my personal beautyberry bush photo.

~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

More from Alfonzo - on Abortion

The more I see of this guy - the better I appreciate him.

Where were you? meme

As seen on Adrienne's blog- and Angela Messenger's:

Where were you when the following events happened.

1. President Kennedy's Assassination - 22 November 1963.
I was only six, and couldn't have cared less. But I knew my parents were upset, and we went to my aunt's and uncle's to watch the funeral. My dad explained to me the riderless horse with an empty boot turned backwards. I was fascinated with the horses.

2. England's World Cup Semi Final v Germany - 4 July 1990 - Not being a sports fan, I barely remember this. I'd also just recently moved back home after graduating from Guilford, and I had my hands full as a single mom. I was shocked, but detached.

3. Margaret Thatcher's resignation - 22 November 1990 - Also not interested. I respected Maggie Thatcher, but it wasn't something I was interested in.

4. Princess Diana's death - 31 August 1997 - On my way home from a camping trip with my then-fiance and friends of ours, and saw it on a paper during a gas stop. Shocked. Royals weren't supposed to die such mundane deaths as in a car wreck. I'd never been enamored of Diana - admired her for her humanitarian work, shook my head over the more worldly and superficial elements of her life... Felt terribly sad for her little boys.

5. Attack on the twin towers - 11 September 2001 - I had had a sleepless night and was trying to take a nap when the hubby hollered at me from the living room. The first tower had just been hit. I came in and watched - it felt so bizarre and all my instincts were aware... then I saw the second tower hit. No doubt then, it was deliberate. Watched lots of coverage - had to run some errands to our bank, so I dressed and went, and that's where I was when the towers collapsed. They had a tv going in their lobby. There was little business - everyone was glued to the tv. As details filtered in of the Pentegon, and then the plane crash in PA - it felt as if we might be on the edge of the end of the world.

6. The election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger to the papacy - 19 April 2005 - I was home for lunch from my teaching job, and turned on the tv just in time to see the broadcast of the white smoke. Then the official came out and announced... "... Josephus..." and my mind froze - I knew of only one cardinal named Joseph - "Ratzinger!" and my knees gave out and I collapsed by the side of my bed, and wept for joy.

I'll tag whomever might be interested in answering this one.

John McCain for President!

So - what part of McCain's address to the Republican National Convention did you like best?

I copied the sentence - "What you fight FOR is the real test!"

I'm breaking a 32-year vow. Tomorrow I go to the county Republican hq to pick up signs to place in my yard.

And a graceful nod of the mantilla-topped head to Ann for the link -

Got an email overnight - let's see how it copies here:

Subject: Fw: 8 Years ago this March... How sad! :(

You might remember when this accident happened 8 years ago this March.

This Southwest Airlines flight from Vegas overshot the runway at Burbank

The plane smashed past the airport fence, careened across the street and ended up with a collapsed landing gear, right next to a gas station.

But that's not the amazing part!!!

Then follows the photo with the caption - which I can't reposition to wherever I want it, so we're stuck with it at the top.

Now - notice that the heading of this email is EIGHT YEARS AGO. In other words - the originator of this email (not my friend who sent it) is saying IT'S ALL BUSH'S FAULT.

I've got news for you, O Ye of Fragile Memorie: Gas prices were at this level THREE YEARS AGO, too.

I swear, the insane and deceitful tactics of the liberal Democrats are shameful. We had stability in our fuel prices and in all the costs of living that are connected to fuel prices for how many years? Because it's three years ago - with the election of the Democrats to the control of the House and Senate - that we began to see gas prices going up out of control.

Listen. I need some help. I keep running across references to Al Bore - er, Gore - being on record for saying that the government needed to tax and artificially raise the price of gas to $6/gallon in order to counter the effects of global warming. I can find lots of allusions to it, but not the source of it. Anyone know where it is? - I appreciate it.