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January 15, 2005
Weekend Blogjam
How did that "guns cause crime" argument go again???
Is the Shrub going all Sensitive and New Age on us? Only time will tell...
So... what are your family's favorite Yuletide traditions???
Lord knows we don't want people managing their own retirement accounts, because Social Security is such a great deal.
The French-looking Senator from Massachusetts shows us how real diplomacy is conducted as he hobnobs with our real allies...
Sen. John Kerry, who has relatives in France and speaks French, was traveling Friday to the country that was treated like a liability during his bid for the U.S. presidency.But this was not a social call for the Massachusetts Democrat. He was meeting with President Jacques Chirac to discuss the Middle East and, later, holding talks with Foreign Minister Michel Barnier.
Kerry, who lost the November election to President Bush (Good Lord, will someone please break the news to the man?), is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and his trip to Paris closes a European and Middle East tour that included trips to Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Israel and the West Bank.
Y'all come back now, you hear?
Just one more reason why they hate us:
THE spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiah says he is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of Aceh's tsunami survivors because of the humanitarian assistance from Australian and US military forces.A spokesman for Abu Bakar Bashir said the Indonesian cleric, who is on trial for terrorism, regarded the relief operations by Australian and US military personnel as a dangerous development, overshadowing the role of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI).
"We are suspicious of the presence of foreign soldiers and their show of force and the minimum publicity given to assistance from Arab states," said Fauzan Al Anshari, a spokesman for Bashir's militant Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia group.
"It's dangerous, this idea by Acehnese that US and Australian forces are their guardian angels - more popular than the TNI."
Downplaying the mercy role of troops working to rebuild where more than a 100,000 people were lost when the tsunami struck on Boxing Day, Mr Anshari warned that they would promote prostitution and the consumption of alcohol in the devoutly Muslim region.
Interesting item from Lane Core: Should Episcopalians become Roman Catholics?
This was a big discussion item at the last church I attended - many of the congregation had 'defected' down the hill to the Catholic church. Kind of funny when you think about it: half the 'Piskies are joining up with Lutherans and the other half are talking about returning to the Catholic Church. That ought to tell you something about the current state of affairs.
Another heartwarming tale of children, snatched from a fate worse than death...
John Donovan has an interesting contest going on.
I guess they were too busy to take it to the shop....
Posted by Cassandra at January 15, 2005 06:48 AM
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Comments
On the matter of Episcopalians becoming Catholics, there is now and long has been a division in the Episcopalian church between "high" Episcopalians -- referring to proximity to "Roman" practices rather than the inhalation of particulated weed -- and "low" Episcopalians. My family's tradition was quite low church -- I recall my Virginian grandfather referring to a particular rector as "awfully high church" with just a hint of anti-Catholic derision. The rector who married us, though, an Anglican with a parish in Chicago, was so "high" (in part from the intensity of the "smells" served up with his "bells") that he would refer to Catholics only as Romans, insofar as we all were part of one holy apostolic church.
Me, I keep my head down.
Posted by: Jack at January 15, 2005 09:35 AM
Our little church in Yucca was very 'high church' - our deacon was a Brit, we did the bells and incense and the whole 9 yards. It was a tiny church and my then-teen boys were the only two acolytes. Since I was about 14, during services I have always had a hard time not laughing when they ring the bells at the Eucharist (horrid joke I won't share in print).
My boys knew this and had told our priest, who also found it amusing, so now all of us were struggling not to laugh.
One of the things I do love about 'high church' is that all that ritual is usually accompanied (I find) by a healthy sense of humor. I personally like Rite One and the older language - our new minister called it "an abomination"; something to which I took umbrage.
The funniest moment was when our visiting mission priest brought his guitar to Holy Communion and started walking up and down the aisles, strumming and singing. I thought our 70-year old deacon(whom I dearly loved) was going to have apoplexy :)
Posted by: Cassandra at January 15, 2005 09:56 AM
On the subject of ritual, I always like to refer to my 'Piskies as the BudLite of Christian universe:
"Catholic Lite": all of the ritual, none of the guilt.
Alternatively:
"Catholic Lite": tastes great, less fulfilling.
Posted by: Cassandra at January 15, 2005 09:59 AM
Thanks for the link Blog Princess.
Posted by: Pile On® at January 15, 2005 06:16 PM
De nada, senor :)
Posted by: Cassandra at January 15, 2005 08:04 PM
Thanks for the link!
Posted by: Zendo Deb ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at January 15, 2005 10:30 PM