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Here are two posts that will give you a lot to think about today:
Everyone has been talking about this Supreme Court decision today. People at work were outraged by it (as am I), and while I haven't had time to read many blogs today, just a cursory look tells me that the blogs are all over this, too. Accidental Verbosity has commentary and plenty of links -- such as this comprehensive roundup on Arguing with Signposts.
I can't help but notice the political divide on this. Most of the conservative Justices opposed this decision, and the conservative and libertarian blogs rightly see this as a serious threat to property rights and the Constitution itself.
Judging from some of the lefty blogs linked on the above roundup, the left seems to support this decision. At first, this doesn't seem to make sense. After all, isn't the left supposed to be against government and big business running over the little guy? But then you have to remember that the far-left opposes property rights and believes the government should have the power to take land from individuals for "the common good". Since the left in this country is getting more and more radicalized, it makes perfect sense that they would support this decision.
After the Terri Schiavo autopsy results were made public, some were saying that those of us who are against what was done to Terri owed Michael Schiavo and his supporters an apology.
Well, you know what? I will apologize when hell freezes over. Here's what perfectly demonstrates this man's (lack of) character -- her gravestone. Michael Schiavo couldn't resist being vindictive to the very end. He couldn't resist the opportunity to make sure he gives Terri's family the finger every time they visit her grave.
How anyone could continue to defend this dirtbag is beyond me. How anyone could defend the callousness of this gravestone is beyond me. The usual bloodless libertoids are defending it, of course, but I don't expect much from them anyway...they are beyond hope.
The gravestone is disgusting on so many levels. First, there is the "departed this earth" date, which is the day she collapsed and sustained brain damage. Then there's the "at peace" date, which is the day she actually died. Finally, there's the inscription -- "I Kept My Promise". As usual, it's all about Michael Schiavo, not Terri.
(Via Dean Esmay.)
For what it's worth...
You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.
What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com |
(Via Fructus Ventris.)
Basically, all I can do is say "amen" to this post by the Anchoress. Some excerpts:
So, the Terri Schiavo’s autopsy report came out. And it told us very little that was new. She was in a bad way. Her cortex was not “mush” or a “sack of fluid” but her brain was severely damaged. She was blind. Her brain was shrivelled. Hello? The woman was totally dehydrated and yes, when you are dehydrated your brain will shrink.I haven’t read anyone, anywhere, who has written down that simple fact.
The autopsy confirmed what no one denied: Terri Schiavo was in bad shape. She was severely brain damaged. [...]
[The autopsy] does not answer the question of what, exactly happened to Terri Schiavo to cause such massive brain damage. It does not tell us if she was, as conventional wisdom insists, “bulimic.” It doesn’t tell us why broken wheelchairs were never fixed, why nurses who put washcloths into Terri’s hand would have them smacked out of her hand by a husband who would warn, “that is therapy.” [...]
What the Autopsy of Terri Schiavo tells us with enormous lucidity is that the Deatheaters appetites have been whetted. With the release of this report which - as I say - tells us almost nothing we didn’t know, the Deatheaters are not simply feeling vindicated, they are feeling victorious…not just victorious but…gleeful.
It seems to me that when an innocent life has been snuffed out, that is not, perhaps, a time for glee. Quite possibly it is a normal thing, in some circles, to celebrate the destruction of life and then move on to the next battle or party or “pressing issue.” To my way of thinking, when a world has ended, respectful silence is in order, as are time for remembering, and prayers for regretting where we have fallen short.
Also, don't miss this comment if you think living wills are the answer.
Update: Welcome all Dean's World readers! I've decided to open the comments up on this post.
I'm ending my moratorium on this subject now that the verdict is in. I absolutely believe that Michael Jackson is a pedophile. I also just knew that he would be acquitted, and unfortunately I was right.
I think the main reason he got away with it is that the mother of the boy involved was a thief and a grifter. Therefore, the jury didn't believe her or the boy. My theory is that this woman pimped her ill son out to Jacko and got mad when the gravy train ended. Next, she will probably sue Jacko and get a lot of money.
I just can't get over the idiotic fans waiting around for the verdict to be read. Do these people have lives? Jobs? One idiot woman actually released doves when the "not guilty" verdicts were read. It is to puke...
Well, I learned something new (the hard way) last night. I learned that if you are allergic to Motrin (Ibuprofen), then you will most likely be allergic to Aleve (Naproxen) as well. I'm okay...I took Benedryl for the reaction (I ended up having to take four over an hour and a half period). But still, it's an...unnerving experience.
I just want to make up for the nasty things I said in this post. Naturally, I was frustrated and disappointed that I couldn't get Tiger to connect to the Internet. But now that I've solved that problem, I have to say that Tiger is pretty nice so far. The Dashboard is really cool. I haven't explored a lot of the widgets available yet, but one I added is called DashFlix, which shows what NetFlix movies you currently have and what's in your queue.
I'm not a fanatic when it comes to computer systems. I use and like both Windows and Mac. They both have their good and bad points. A good point about Apple is that I could upgrade to the Tiger system right over the Panther system without needing to reformat and reinstall. While you can do the same with Windows, it's not something I would recommend. With Windows, it's best to back everything up, reformat and do a fresh install. The reason for this is that over time, Windows collects a lot of junk in the registry. That's why every year or two, I back everything up on my Windows PC, format the disk and install Windows from scratch. In fact, I'm going to do this again on my PC pretty soon, because the current install is starting to run slower and have a few problems.
What can I say...it's rainy and a little windy so far. The wind will pick up a little, but don't think it will be that bad. The NOAA was predicting that it may strengthen into a minimal hurricane before making landfall, but they seem a little more skeptical of that now. It looks like it's going to make landfall about the same area where Hurricane Ivan did.
The power just flashed off and on as I wrote this.
This is nothing like Ivan. Ivan was very, very frightening. Here is my Hurricane Ivan post and here is the first post after Ivan -- a week later.
Update (2:15pm): Unlike Ivan, T.S. Arlene's eye is going right over us, instead of to the west of us. Right now, there is no wind, just a misting of rain, and I thought I could see sunlight trying to peek through!
Update (2:30pm): Here's a radar shot of the eye going over Pensacola. Click for a larger view:
Update (8:50pm): The NOAA has dropped all warnings for the area. Arlene is now a depression and has moved out of the area. We haven't had much wind or rain since before the eye went over.
I have to admit that I took a semi-educated guess on one of the mathematic questions.
| Your IQ Is 135 |
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(Via The Anchoress.)
You know, if this storm is the only storm we get this year, I'll be happy. I mean, even though it will be windy and rainy, I'll take it over an Ivan -- or worse -- any day.
However, the fact that we are already getting a storm this early in the season makes me very ill at ease...
Last night I installed Tiger, the new version of MacOS X, on my iBook and I can't say I'm happy with it right now. I am unable to connect to the network with it and when the iBook is running, it does crazy things to my router, causing it to continuously reboot itself. The only way I can stop it is to turn the iBook off or sleep it, otherwise I can't use the network on my main PC.
I worked with the settings a little while last night and got it to quit rebooting my router. However, even though it says that Airport is connected to the Internet, Safari tells me otherwise. I got too tired to continue working with it and I had to go to bed.
This morning I quickly checked the Apple discussion forums and found that other people are having similar problems. Supposedly, an update will resolve some of these issues, but in order to get the update I have to be able to, you know, connect to the Internet with my iBook.
**rolling eyes**
So, this evening, I will have to figure out how to get my iBook on the network again. And yes, I already tried using Ethernet to connect to the router directly and that didn't work either.
But remember folks, Apple is perfect in every way and never has any problems...they are not at all like those incompetents at Microsoft. [/sarcasm]
Update: W00t! It's working now! I was too tired to think of trying this last night, but here's what I did: I bypassed the router altogether and plugged the iBook directly into the cable modem via Ethernet. (I found out through reading many discussion threads that the issue was Tiger not liking my D-Link wireless router.) I was able to get connected and I downloaded the updates (which fix the problems Tiger has with D-Link routers). Then I put everything back the way it was and tried setting up the wireless connection again and it worked!
I have seen the light. I now understand why they hate us. As an American, I sincerely apologize for such evils as Gore Vidal, Madonna, Liza Minnelli and Elvira.
I will now become a pacifist and give all my money to Amnesty International.
Not.
Wow, the hurricane season just started on June 1 and we are already have a tropical depression out there. It looks like it will become a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico and will make landfall somewhere on the Gulf Coast this weekend. It's doubtful that it'll strengthen into anything more than a tropical storm -- the water in the Gulf just isn't warm enough yet.
They are predicting that this year will be an "above-average" year for hurricanes.
The idea of investing in some hurricane shutters is sounding better and better...
I wish somebody would write that kind of "for Dummies" book. Because the terminology surrounding this subject always confuses me and makes my eyes glaze over. So, via the Thinklings, here's an eschatology quiz to help shed some light on what I think on this subject:
You scored as Amillenialist. Amillenialism believes that the 1000 year reign is not literal but figurative, and that Christ began to reign at his ascension. People take some prophetic scripture far too literally in your view.
What's your eschatology? created with QuizFarm.com |
Update: Sven, who wrote the eschatology quiz, has a post that explains all of the terminology.
Read this blog post linked by Alicia about a Catholic woman working at a very anti-Catholic non-denominational Christian school. The nastiness directed at this fellow Christian by other Christians is the type of thing that makes me deeply ashamed of some of my fellow Protestants.
For example, this woman got nasty looks for wearing a crucifix. You know what? This Lutheran wears a crucifix too, sometimes. (In fact, I'm wearing one right now.) The altar at my Lutheran church has a crucifix on a stand (along with a large, plain wooden cross high up on the wall above the altar). One time I mentioned this on a conservative forum I go to sometimes, and the people there seemed incredulous...they couldn't understand how a Protestant church -- especially a Lutheran church -- could have anything to do with a crucifix.
I know the objections some Protestants have to the crucifix. As my Pentecostal Grandma used to say: "Christ is no longer on the cross!" Well, frankly, their objections to the crucifix are wrongheaded. (Sorry Grandma.) I know Christ is risen. The crucifix simply portrays why Christ had to rise again in the first place -- He suffered and died for our sins first. I think that is just as important to remember as His resurrection.
Protestants need to quit reacting to a crucifix the same way a vampire would react to one. When they act like a crucifix is something shameful and bad, it seems like they are trying to sanitize what Jesus went through for us. I don't think that's a healthy thing to do -- I think it leads to a sort of "Fluffy Bunny" Christianity.
One more request I have of my fellow Protestants...would you please, please quit using terms like "Romanist"? It sounds very bigoted, like you've been reading way too many Jack Chick tracts. It's really embarrassing. Thanks in advance.
I was told by one of my readers that I should go ahead and post my ranty rants that I spiked a while back. So here are the condensed and slightly toned down versions of those rants.
First, regarding the anti-pro-Terri trolls, my rant basically boiled down to this:
[rant]
Would you people just shut up already about "theocracies" and other stupid paranoid crap. Look, you got your way -- she's dead. You don't have to look at the icky disabled woman anymore. Now SHUT UP and get lost!
[/rant]
Then there is the rant about certain left-wingers who act as enablers for Islamists while hating on Christians. Here is an example what irritates me the most about these people:
[rant]
There's a left-wing, feminist blog that I've visited on occasion that demonstrates this ridiculous mindset. I remember this blogger calling Daniel Pipes a "wacko" because he has said that perhaps radical Islamists deserve a little extra attention when it comes to national security. At the same time, this blogger has an "enemies list" on her sidebar which includes several Christian groups (which, of course, are lumped in with extremist groups who advocate violence). There are no Islamists on her enemies list. I find this kind of disconnect really bizarre. To these people, it is bigoted to acknowledge in any way that radical Islamists -- who really do dream of subjugating the world in a Muslim theocracy -- are a grave threat to our national security. However, if a Christian merely voices concern over certain social issues, suddenly they are a threat to freedom and democracy itself! These oh-so-PC lefties are so deluded -- they don't even realize that Islamists are a far bigger threat to their freedoms than any Christian in this country. These people are fools and they will be the death of us all. The only consolation I have is if the radical Islamists get their way, the appeasers -- for all their groveling -- will be just as dead or enslaved as the rest of us.
[/rant]
Okay...I feel better now...
No, not really. But I am changing the focus of this blog a bit. I find that I really am not interested in blogging about politics anymore (or at least not national politics). Maybe it will interest me again in the future, but for right now, it just doesn't. I will continue to post on dealing with the Islamist threat and terrorism, but I consider those topics to be beyond mere politics.
I will continue to blog about social and cultural issues -- from a conservative perspective, of course. I will also try to blog more about religion and my faith -- from an orthodox Christian perspective. (More personal musings on faith and Scripture can be found on my faith journal, An Appeal to Heaven.)
I want to focus more on local things -- things that happen in the area where I live. My previous post is an example of this kind of focus. This includes posting about how the BRAC will affect this town (and perhaps me personally). However, I feel I must be very careful when posting about the BRAC. After all, I'm hardly unbiased and I don't want to get myself in trouble.
I would also love to post more fun things. For example, I'd like to blog about music once in a while. However, I may save the music posts for my Live 365 radio station blog/website.
I have also made a rather superficial change -- if you will notice, I now sign off as "Susan B." instead of "susan b." For years, I've used the all lowercase affectation. I don't really know why I started doing it, except to be different, I guess. I just thought it looked better. But now, for some reason, I've decided that "Susan B." looks better.
I don't know...there seems to be a lot of blogger frustration lately. I've been having a lot of the same doubts as well. I guess this shift in focus is a way of dealing with it.