quote of the week

"The New York Times (proudly publishing all the secrets unfit to spill since 9/11) and their reckless anonymous sources (come out, come out, you cowards) tipped off terrorists to America's efforts to track their financial activities.”

-Michelle Malkin, “The Terrorist-Tipping Times”

Blabbermouth New York Times. They’re at it again…sinking ships with their loose lips. In the last two days, Townhall alone has published seven columns on the disregard the NY Times has shown for national security.

It almost makes a person wonder if the NY Times is actually written by terrorists.

Found: WMDs

For months, war protestors have been shouting, "No WMDs!" The Left has relentlessly harassed President Bush for lying about their existence and using that as a ploy to bring the US to Iraq.

Fox News reported Thursday that a declassified report from the National Ground Intelligence Center revealed that since 2003, the US has uncovered over 500 WMDs.

Admittedly, I have felt doubtful about the presence of WMDs, but not about President Bush's intentions for the War on Terror. In light of what I've learned, I have renewed trust in our president.

30.00

30.00. It must be a special day. And that number will mean something in a moment.

At the crack of dawn this morning, I hauled myself out of bed and got ready for work. (4:45 a.m.) I always hate buying gas now for a multitude of reasons.

One, the outrageous prices. It’s practically an occasion for gnashing one's teeth. Two, I always have to do it at an inconvenient time. Sometimes I think, Oh I’ll buy gas after work. Fat chance. When I get home around 4 pm, I’ve already sat through some traffic, and I know there’s a line at the gas station. So then I think, Oh I’ll buy gas before work. Big fat chance. At 5:20 a.m., I totally don’t feel like standing outside in the cold for five minutes paying an exorbitant price for gas.

I put off buying gas for yet another day, and then one day realize that my tank is empty, so I’m forced to purchase gas at another inconvenient time so I’m late for work.

But, that doesn't have much to do with 30.00.

Today, I knew I had to buy gas, and I even left enough time to do so. Not only that, but as I drove up to the gas station, the sign read $2.89 for unleaded. Cheap! I could have danced for joy.

Not only that, but the gas gauge stopped exactly at $30.00. What are the odds of that? I survived my gas adventure and the sun shines in full glory. It’s going to be a good day.

new layout

As you've probably noticed, I've switched blog templates (at least temporarily). Please let me know what you think! I've been feeling like the post font on my other template is too small to easily read. I'm trying to make my blog more reader friendly.

Hate it? Love it? Too boring?

united they stand

Looking at Google headlines this morning, I came across a story by Liz Sidoti, “Democrats, Republicans Spar Over Iraq War,” focusing on statements Democrats made about the polarity of opinion about Iraq. One quote in particular snagged my attention.

" 'One hundred percent of the Democratic caucus believes it's time for change. One hundred percent of the Republican caucus believes it's time to stay the course,' Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said during debate, voicing the Democratic view of the likely vote outcome as well as the choice facing voters this fall."

Durbin seems to have already forgotten last week’s vote on an amendment for a timetable to pull troops out of Iraq. The House voted 256-153 rejecting the amendment. The Senate voted 93-6 against the amendment.

Last time I checked (last week), Democrats weren’t solidified in their stance to pull out of Iraq. Let’s take a look at those percentages. 63% of the House voted against. 94% of the Senate voted against. Don’t try to tell me there are only six Democrats in the Senate.

On a related note, I just realized that Senator Durbin is the same man I wrote about in January [see “Alito confirmation questions-is he musical?” ]. Durbin questioned Supreme Court Justice Alito because he wouldn’t reveal his musical preferences.

If “One hundred percent of the Democratic caucus believes it's time for change,” then there wouldn’t have been such a huge majority vote against the Iraq timetable amendment.

Solidarity? I think not.

a deadly future

I recently viewed the movie Gattaca, a sci-fi movie, in which society analyzes each human's DNA to determine their status in life. The hero, Vincent Freeman (played by Ethan Hawke), works as a janitor because of a heart defect. In direct contrast, Vincent's parents carefully select their second son for desirable traits to achieve as much perfection as possible. Vincent's longing to go into space causes him to decide to disappear from society, undergo dramatic physical changes, and re-emerge as someone with the "right" DNA to go on a space mission.

While watching the film, I felt aware of our society's trend towards these kind of practices, but didn't realize just how far we've fallen. Yesterday, Guardian Unlimited published "Improved Embryo Test Cuts Risk of Hereditary Illness."

"British scientists announced today an advanced screening test for embryos, using a form of DNA fingerprinting, which could help prevent couples passing inherited disorders such as cystic fibrosis on to their children."

This screening test won't prevent couples from passing inherited disorders on; instead it will involve the elimination and death of children with those inherited disorders.

We're closer to Gattaca than I thought.

quote of the week (or the sometime inbetween)

"Our media today seem absolutely allergic to good news, especially when it comes to Iraq."-Brent Bozell

In his column titled "No TV Time for Heroism and Victories," Bozell highlights the media's scanty and pessimistic coverage of the Iraq war .

coffee

There is such a thing as a good coffee story. There’s the one about my dad, who is the ultimate coffee connoisseur with his gourmet roasted coffee. Or the story my mom likes to tell about when she was a child, and she knew *one* family with an espresso machine. I personally like my tale of downing a tall black coffee in 10 minutes and being unable to stop moving afterwards. Sometimes these aren’t so much stories as juicy rumors. Like the one about the coworker whose coffee cup never gets washed. Can I just say—GROSS!

I clung to my clean coffee cup righteousness façade as though I would always keep my cup in the best of conditions. I say clung, because my claim on coffee cup purity is now a thing of the past. As I sit at my desk, I’m looking down into my coffee cup, which isn’t particularly dirty, but is graced by a dark, brown swirled film of coffee remains (Folger’s, Coffeemate creamer, and Equal sugar). The red straw I stirred that coffee with three (it could be five days, I couldn’t say) days ago, is actually stuck to the bottom of my cup.

This particular coffee cup has the “love verse” from Corinthians printed on it, and I’m just thankful it doesn’t say love is not lazy. The only problem with my work location is the distance from my desk to the mini kitchen. Sometimes it takes a lot of nerve to walk a dirty cup across the hall. I wouldn’t want anyone to actually find out what a loaf I am. Since I’m not actually so slothful that I would pour fresh coffee on icky sticky coffee goo, I’ll probably have to give up and wash my cup tomorrow when I want more coffee. Or, I’ll just bring in another cup.

rose in bloom

"God has sown his name on the heavens in glittering stars; but on earth he planteth his name by tender flowers."-Jean Paul Richter

good art illustrated

After my post about how good art should be defined, I thought it would be appropriate to provide an example of good art. This painting, “A Christian Martyr Drowned in the Tiber During the Reign of Diocletian,” fulfills the three requirements I listed: skill, beauty, and an explanation of life.

I found this painting on The State Hermitage Museum website, which has a wide variety of art including sculpture, artifacts, painting, and watercolor.

"A Christian Martyr Drowned in the Tiber During the Reign of Diocletian"



This is an oil painting done in 1853 by Hippolyte Delaroche (commonly called Paul).

I looked up Diocletian (person in the title of painting), and found that he reigned as emperor over the Roman Empire from A.D. 284-305. Along with Constantine, he established an absolute monarchy. Diocletian demanded absolute respect from his subjects. Some time toward the late period of his reign, Diocletian issued an edict that “all churches should be demolished, that the sacred Scriptures should be burned, that all Christians should be dismissed from public office, and that those who secretly met for public worship should be punished with death.”

marriage amendment

This weekend, President Bush impressed me with his stand in protection of the institution of marriage. On June 7th, just two days away, the US Senate will be considering a Constitutional amendment that would define marriage as union between a man and a woman.

According to a poll from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 63 percent of Americans opposed gay marriage in February 2004. The articles I read from the MSM regarding the upcoming debate didn’t sound hopeful about the passage of such an amendment. In “Bush Backs Amendment Banning Gay Marriage,” Nedra Pickler wrote, “It [the amendment] stands little chance of passing the 100-member Senate, where proponents are struggling to get even 50 votes. Several Republicans oppose the measure, and so far only one Democrat _ Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska _ says he will vote for it.”

In previous posts, I've focused on marriage and homosexuality.
Marriage Keeps People Healthy, Wealthy and Wise
A Great Evil

Orson Scott Card also wrote an excellent article on this topic, “Homosexual 'Marriage' and Civilization.” He explains what the breakdown of the family and traditional marriage will do to our society.

What do you think? Should the protection of marriage be a federal or state issue?