Showing posts with label quick shots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quick shots. Show all posts

Thursday, October 09, 2014

A couple of thoughts ...

A woman’s awra is her full body. 
She must cover her hair, torso, arms, legs and feet. 
The best way of covering everything is to wear a 
jilbaab/abaya and a scarf on the head. - Source

Beauty and culture.

I was at the grocery store last evening, and as I was exiting an aisle, I almost ran into a woman's cart as she came around the corner.  I looked up and was startled to see this gorgeous Muslim woman dressed in rich, dark hijab - her scarf around her head, her face exposed.  I have to tell you I stopped in my tracks.  She reminded me of the former Somali model, Iman Abdulmajid - so tall and beautiful.  The expression on her face seemed to become slightly sad, perhaps a bit irritated - and she quickly moved her cart to get around me with a whispered "excuse me".  I finally moved on to check-out.

Thinking about the experience later, I felt badly because I never said a word, never said excuse me, never adjusted my cart for her to get by.  I doubt that even if I told her I had been stunned by her beauty, that it would have been perceived as a compliment.  Indeed, it is likely she would have been insulted - not to mention very weird - LOL!  Anyway - I felt worse that she most likely interpreted my silent stare and blocking the aisle as prejudice.  That thought didn't occur to me until I left the store.  I wonder how many Muslims in this country feel discriminated against because of ISIS?  I'll be praying for that woman.

Many of the Muslim women I see are incredibly beautiful, and I kind of like how they dress as well.

I wish we were at peace in the world.

Taking advantage of religious people.

There is a story today of a Wisconsin priest who was scammed out of $300,000.00 by a woman who went to him for help.

Eau Claire (WQOW) - An Eau Claire woman has been charged with scamming a well-known priest out of more than $300,000.
Cheri Hofkes-Zerwas is charged with taking the money from father John Schultz, he was the longtime priest at Saint James the Greater Catholic Church in Eau Claire.
According to court documents Hofkes-Zerwas told Father Schultz that she needed the money to keep her electricity from being shut off, she owed money to social security and she was being extorted by a number of people.
Police were tipped off by a branch manager at Associated Bank when Schultz began withdrawing large amounts of money.
Police found that over the course of a year Hofkes-Zerwas was given more $300,000. We spoke with the attorney for the Diocese of La Crosse who is representing Father Schultz.
He told us that Schultz was scammed and that all of the money he gave to Hofkes-Zerwas was his own, none of it belonged to the church.
The criminal complaint says that Father Schultz kept a detailed ledger of all the money he gave her and the reasons why. - More here.

That is sad.  Fr. Schultz acted in good faith - he also used his personal savings.  As the article points out, priests are often called by people asking for money - sometimes legit, other times not.  The woman in this case gambled the money away.  As a kid one of my relatives hit on our parish priest.  He just got out of jail and went to the priest under false pretenses, asking for help to feed his family.  The money was used for booze.

Rectories attract scam artists as well as the poor most in need.  In the last few years, a couple of priests have been killed in robbery attempts.  Charity believes all things, as St. Paul says, but priests must be careful of being scammed or even framed.

Nothing Compares 2U

One of the most beautiful songs ever.  I was watching a local group (The Family) perform on local Public Television, and they performed Nothing Compares 2U, introducing it as a song Prince wrote.

I never knew Prince wrote it - I just knew Sinead O'Connor sang it and assumed she wrote it too.  Now that I know that, I can hear Prince's genius.

Anyway - Sinead did it best.  She was so beautiful in her youth!  Song here.

Nothing compares 2U...

Thursday, May 29, 2014

I had a dream I quit blogging ...

Apotheosis of Catholic Bloggers


But I can't remember it... and other thoughts.

I watched the Edward Snowden interview last night.

One of the things I think he has done is break through the regular programming of the American strategy for success and a 'nice life'.  The kid dropped out of high school and knows more than the average Stepford college grads currently on plan.   That was the very first mind boggling discovery about the guy the NSA ran up against.  

This morning I read some curious thoughts on Pope Francis which suggested to me higher education may have been wasted on some of the grads from Catholic colleges and universities ...

What would ever cause someone to write something like this:  
"Pope Francis and his cabal of heterodox prelates and their machinations to undermine Catholic life and thought ..." Or this: "This pope is a danger to Catholicism, and if you don’t see it, you’re either being fooled or you’re willfully ignoring the obvious."

Keep the faith - keep your kids out of Steubenville.

Bonus:

Oh!  Oh! Questions to consider ... Are you a celebrity priest?  From Catholic Answers:
How open is he to criticism? Does your favorite celebrity priest respond well to concerns raised about what he is teaching the masses?

Does he have "regular duties"? If a priest is not regularly offering Mass and the other sacraments, praying his breviary, and caring for souls in the ordinary manner of his calling as either a diocesan or religious priest, then something is bound to be wrong. 
Is he under the oversight of a bishop or religious superior?

(Now he is.)

So anyway.  I wonder what my dream was about?



Possible sign of delusion:  When someone with a blog claims to be able to see the truth amidst a pack of lies. 


Disclaimer: I may be wrong. ;)

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Mrs. Obama don't get paid.




"I just wanna get paid!"
President Obama spoke to women supporters today at a Denver event. 
"...I wanna make sure that when she's working she is getting paid the same as men, I gotta say that First Ladies right now don't, even though that's a tough job!" - Source
Really?  Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura complained about the same thing when he explained why his wife didn't do anything for the state. 

What?

Archbishop Hart blasts Melbourne Newspaper for publishing sacrilegious dog story.




I'm glad I didn't make a tweet, do a post, or write on anyone's wall making fun of it.

Story here...

Randy... Randy Travis.



A guy walks in to a convenience store naked, asking to buy cigarettes.  The clerk says, "Didn't you see the sign?  'No clothes, No service!'  Now get the hell outtta here!"

He can't be an addict, according to Damien Thompson, that is just a crutch...
There is no medical test for addiction: no brain scan or blood screening that enables a doctor to detect its presence.

And the disease model doesn’t just fail to meet scientific criteria: it doesn’t pass the common sense test, either. - Damien Thompson
So maybe Travis is just randy?

A-list Bloggers?



Really?

Are there really A-list bloggers?  A-list speakers?

Really?

Is there a wealthy donor out there
who could send money for
a trip to London?

So anyway - I watched the video of Barbara Marx Hubbard and...



I wrote the following in an email reply to a friend on the subject...

"I know about Theosophy too - I dabbled in the occult before my conversion - that stuff sticks to you like pitch - while listening to the tape of Barbara Marx Hubbard I felt an interior rush - an artificial feeling of bliss - almost like the threshold of feeling high - hard to explain.  A bad spirit, to be sure.  Anyway - Hubbard is filling a spiritual void in these fallen angels/sisters of the LCWR."

Which is precisely why I do not find the gathering in St. Louis amusing.

Once, the author Michael O'Brien told me I should not have my astrological sign available in my profile - explaining how even that connection to the occult can be bad.  I don't necessarily agree with that, however, if people think charms, images, and occult references are dangerous and open one to demonic influences, why on earth do they mockingly dismiss what the LCWR is doing by inviting actual occultists to address their conferences?  Especially when these same women continue to influence the Church in the United States.

It is no laughing matter.

Funny bloggers.



Fr. Longenecker.

I don't read everything he posts, but the fact that he invents all of these blogger personalities makes me laugh.

Remember how Jeffrey always called him Dwight in the com box discussions?  I miss Jeffie.