Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.
Thanks to the Summa Mamas.
Surely, in this case, the economic and cultural concerns intersect. In daily life, the separation between economy and morality is all but impossible to maintain. Paying your bills is good personal finance and good business. But it is also reflects the moral obligation to keep one's promises.
To treat one's employees fairly or to put in a good day's work show prudent economic management and are the right way to treat others. In a market economy, there are rewards for those who keep promises and work honestly and diligently. Investors who consider the broad picture and think long term do better than those who do not.
and not last and maybe not least
Stepping into the Oval Office, each of us [the awardees] was introduced to the President and Mrs. Bush. We shook hands, received our awards with photo op and participated in informal conversation. He and the First Lady were asked about the impact of the Presidency on their marriage and, with an arm casually wrapped around Laura, he said that he thought the place may be hard on weak marriages but that it had the ability to make strong marriages even stronger and that he was blessed with a strong one. He noted that it would be a mistake to come to the Oval Office and entertain a mission to "find yourself." He said that with all of the pressures and responsibilities that go with the job, you'd best know who you are when you put your nameplate on the desk in the Oval Office. He said he knows who he is and now America has had four years to learn about who he is.
When we departed the I said to him, "Mr. President, I know you to be a man of strong faith and have a favor to ask you." As he shook my hand he looked me in the eye and said, "Just name it." I told him that my step-Mom was at that moment in a hospital in Kalispell, Montana, having a tumor removed from her skull and it would mean a great deal to me if he would consider adding her to his prayers that day. He grabbed me by the arm and took me back toward his desk as he said, "So that's it. I could tell that something is weighing heavy on your heart today. I could see it in your eyes. This explains it." From the top drawer of his desk he retrieved a pen and a note card with his seal on it and asked, "How do you spell her name?" He then jotted a note to her while discussing the importance of family and the strength of prayer. When he handed me the card, he asked about the surgery and the prognosis. I told him we were hoping that it is not a recurrence of an earlier cancer and that if it is they can get it all with this surgery. He said, "If it's okay with you, we'll take care of the prayer right now. Would you pray with me?" I told him yes and he turned to the staff that remained in the office and hand motioned the folks to step back or leave. He said, "Bruce and I would like some private time for a prayer."
As they left he turned back to me and took my hands in his. I was prepared to do a traditional prayer stance -- standing with each other with heads bowed. Instead, he reached for my head with his right hand and pulling gently forward, he placed my head on his shoulder. With his left arm on my mid-back, he pulled me to him in a prayerful embrace. He started to pray softly. I started to cry. He continued his prayer for Loretta and for God's perfect will to be done. I cried some more. My body shook a bit as I cried and he just held tighter. He closed by asking God's blessing on
Loretta and the family during the coming months. I stepped away from our embrace, wiped my eyes, swiped at the tears I'd left on his shoulder, and looked into the eyes of our President. I thanked him as best I could and told him that me and my family would continue praying for he and his.
As I write this account down and reflect upon what it means, I have to tell you that all I really know is that his simple act left me humbled and believing. I so hoped that the man I thought him to be was the man that he is. I know that our nation needs a man such as this in the Oval Office. George W. Bush is the real deal. I've read Internet stories about the President praying with troops in hospitals and other such uplifting accounts. Each time I read them I hope them to be true and not an Internet perpetuated myth. This one, I know to be true. I was there. He is real. He has a pile of incredible stuff on his plate each day - and yet he is tuned in so well to the here and now that he 'sensed' something heavy on my heart. He took time out of his life to care, to share, and to seek God's blessing for my family in a simple man-to-man, father-to-father, son-to-son, husband-to-husband, Christian-to-Christian prayerful embrace. He's not what I had hoped he would be. He is, in fact, so very, very much more.(Hat tip to Dan Lanuti for passing this along.)
Thanks to Tom McMahon.
From The Detroit News, Oct 27, 2004
I just found out that my current trip will be cut a little shorter, so I will get to watch election returns at home. The down side is that after 6 days in Michigan, I'll be back in St. Louis for two weeks. It makes me wonder why I gave up my St.L. apartment.
[By "The Americanist"] Psst.... "pro-choice" simply means the woman gets to decide. It doesn't mean women in comfortable shoes who think they're pagan goddesses. It doesn't mean sex without consequences. It doesn't mean that men are pigs -- nor paragons. It simply means that SHE gets to decide. Not the government. Not ... you guys. She does.
So long as the baby is inside her body -- and it is HER body -- the civic issue is: her body, her choice.
The less pro-life folks admit that as a simple fact, somehow found in the Consttution and upheld by the Supremes for 31 years, and continue t preclude its centrality to the argument (as the bishop did by excluding that most women actually CHOOSE to give birth), the more you alienate the very folks you want to persuade.
And a little later, in a discussion about the term "pro-choice":[The Americanist said:] "So long as the baby is inside her body -- and it is HER body -- the civic issue is: her body, her choice.
There, straight out, is the arrogant fallacy.
My money, sitting on deposit in Joe's bank, is not Joe's money but mine. He is responsible to me for his stewardship. The owner of a beating heart inside me with a gene map different from my own is not me, and that being is not mine to dispose of. He or she is being held in a trust account for which stewardship I am responsible.
Accepting this is part of being a grown up."
"A civilized society sometimes, when necessary, restricts the right to make particular choices when it is in the interest of society as a whole or those of its members not in a position to otherwise protect themselves. The use of "right to choose" when applied to whether or not to abort is a euphemistic label designed to eliminate the word "abortion" from discussion of the topic and should be acknowledged as such. "
In a nutshell, that's what I think.
Your turn.
Not So Greenpeace
Environmental regulations are notoriously difficult to keep up with, what with all the paperwork and communication required. Just ask Greenpeace.
The radical environmental group and habitual filer of lawsuits is learning how the other side feels after prosecutors in Alaska filed criminal charges against it for violating state environmental laws. It seems a Greenpeace boat, the Arctic Sunrise, entered Alaskan water without the required oil spill prevention plan and proof of financial responsibility should a spiill occur. The vessel, which can carry 128,000 gallons of fuel and lubricants (Exxon Valdez, anyone?), was sailing near Ketchikan to protest logging activities.
The state charges that when the environmental group was notified of the violations on July 14, the ship's agent agreed to remain anchored until the situation was fixed. Instead, the Arctic Sunrise left port that very morning and went joyriding in environmentally sensitive areas during peak salmon runs, without care or consideration for the catastrophic impacts that would occur from failure to have the necessary resources to initiate a response." The case goes to trial in October.
As for Greenpeace, it sounds, well, positively corporate in its explanation. The organization pleaded not guilty at its arraignment. But it has also blamed its decision to go sailing on a communications mishap and noted that a "clerical error" was behind its lack of proper documentation. According to the Washington Legal Foundation, a lawyer for Greenpeace was also quoted as saying that environmental regulations are "getting to be more complicated in this day and age." You don't say.
So here's a quick synopsis of what's up with me, for what it's worth. I now live back in Ann Arbor where I telecommute when I'm not needed on site at one of the company locations. This is a bit difficult since I'm currently restricted to a dial-up connection, the speed of which leaves a good deal to be desired. You may often find me in my Annexe Office, which is Panera Bread where there's a free high-speed wireless connection.
I'm delighted to be back at Christ the King parish. It's wonderful. Ask anybody.
A particular pleasure is to be living with my daughter M again. She's a wonderful companion. I only wish J weren't so allergic to this house. Anybody want to give a good home to the two reasonably lovable cats who make her sneeze?
A secret and trivial delight is that I thought I was going to miss the chance to experience football season in Ann Arbor, but here I am back again. Go Blue!
See, I am as fixated on trivial things as I've ever been. But I have to work my way back into this blogging thing. Any questions from the floor?
We made this trip in the first week of July. The "Canada Day" celebrations that took place in Stewart on July 1 were very vanilla. They included a "jaws of life" rescue equipment demonstration, a Name the Babies Contest, and the Annual Community Potluck Dinner in the early evening.
Three days later on July 4, Hyder spiced its national celebration with dashes of politically incorrect cayenne. There was an Ugly Vehicle Contest featuring pickups held together with duct tape and decorated with moose antlers (unlike the shiny ones in the driveways). There were parades of children with pets, toy guns and cowboy costumes. There was a Wilderness Woman Contest. Contestants raced to split wood, wash clothes, shoot a bear, flip pancakes, change a baby, and put on lipstick. The winner did it all barefoot.
Even Hyderites recognize their limits--in an earlier year's self-staged July 4 fireworks display, they had accidentally burned down their fire hall with the fire engine inside. So this year Hyder hired Canadian experts to stage the pyrotechnics. The show started around midnight, during the late evening barbecue. Stewart residents courteously joined in the fun, bringing new government trucks and a poodle.
Citation of, and/or quotation of, articles [from] mainstream-media publications by The Blog from the Core — especially those in The New York Times — assume that the article was written by the one given credit for writing it; that assertions as to the time and place of authorship are true; that assertions of fact in the article are, indeed, factual; that any individuals mentioned or quoted are, indeed, who they are said to be; and, that quotations are substantially correct and were actually said and/or written by the person or persons to whom they are attributed. The Blog acknowledges that this assumption is quite shaky.OK, I'm jealous. I want some cool disclaimers too, but I'm not interested in the usual legalese. How about this:
It is unreasonable to infer that any of the opinions expressed herein are based on anything more than whimsical intuition or wishful thinking. You may rely on them only at your own risk. I wouldn't, if I were you.Hmmm. It's a start.
When you wake up this morning, you'll notice a new crown in town. It wasn't stolen. It didn't fall from the sky. The Lakers didn't squander it, and the referees didn't conspire it. The Pistons -- write this verb down -- won it. Got that, Phil? Got that, Shaq and Kobe? They won it. They captured it.
How did Reagan do this? He felt something was true. He studied it; he questioned it; he read about it. He concluded it really was true. But he knew that what was true was unpopular, and it would hurt him if he held it high. He held it high anyway. That was his way of showing his love.
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Everything that is most precious in life is a form of love.
Art is a form of love if it be noble;
labor is a form of love if it be worthy;
thought is a form of love if it be inspired.
Benjamin Cardozo, Supreme Court Justice, 1931
D | Delicate |
E | Exhausting |
E | Earthy |
P | Philosophical |
Y | Yum |
O | Old |
G | Glorious |
R | Refreshing |
T | Tough |
The last word is not “Cancer,” or “Absence;” it is not “Loss,” or “Death.” The final word is Christ crucified, that most foolish of words which is simply, as Paul says, the “power of God unto salvation.” Christ crucified is, to the ears of the faithful, the ultimate word of hope, for it is nothing less than the King of the Universe defeating death by death. Our beautiful King refused to meet the world of sin and death on its own terms, refused to fight in a tit for tat struggle for supremacy. Instead, he simply died bearing our iniquity, that deathliness of sin. No games, no struggle with death, for death is not worth the effort. Instead, he died with nothing but love for us and the whole of creation. And, having borne our sin and folly into hell itself, it is in the power of that love that he was raised on the third day, with death behind him. - Thomas of Endlessly Rocking
"The kids... It is like they are in denial. No one talks of our leaving, but they know. Instead, they play and play and play w/ us. But, the one thing, hugs and 'I love you' and stuff like that all the time. They are going to be so lost w/out us."
We've shared thoughts on this blog about how much our soldiers abroad miss their families, and how much their families miss them. There's another side, though. The above quote is something Joe Roche wrote about the Iraqi children his unit must leave behind.
When you order a hamburger at a McDonald's drive-thru, the person who's taking your order is actually located in the Philippines. Your hamburger is physically cooked by workers in China, then transmitted almost instantaneously to the United States via a high-speed Digitized Beef Patty Line (DBPL). All of this happens in less time than it takes you to pick your nose. (And soon even that will be outsourced.)
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