Limbo is....peopled by all history's unbaptised children, many gazillions more than can fit into even a big Starbucks. Limbo divides into Limbus Patrum, the temporary resting place of the souls of good persons who died before Jesus's resurrection, and Limbus Infantium, home for children who die without being freed from original sin (ie baptised). It is the latter that Pope Benedict XVI will abolish later today at a mass in Rome.
Until the Foley flap unfolded, most analysts had assumed it would not be quite as bad as that this time. Only about 40 House seats are in play, compared with over 100 in 1992. Competitive Senate races are far fewer and even tighter. But in Foley's wake, political calculations are changing. Now, twin nightmares keep the lights burning late in the West Wing.
One is that the Foley affair may accelerate the alienation of the socially conservative, evangelical Christian base which represents the Republicans' core support. The other is the prospect of a Democrat-controlled Congress turning President George Bush's final two years in office into one long, multi-pronged investigation into the propriety, legality and honesty of his administration's actions since 9/11, particularly over Iraq.
Gin and tonic. Man in prison for 19 years for stealing bread gets parole. Bloke in charge marks his card. Man steals from kind bishop. Bishop takes pity. Man's life is changed. Ten years on. Man is mayor and factory owner. Factory lady exposed as having illegitimate child. Lady sacked and becomes prostitute. Lady dies. Man's life is changed. Man buys lady's daughter from comedy bar owners. 10 years on. Boy falls in love with daughter. Revolution in air. Girl dressed as boy brings letter from first boy professing undying love for daughter. Man reads it. Man's life is changed. Interval. Revolution. Many die. Boy marries daughter. Man leaves. Comedy bar owners return. Make boy realise man saved his life. Man led to heaven by factory lady and girl who was dressed as boy. Finale.
Rosamund Carr, who died on September 29 aged 94, abandoned her life as a Manhattan socialite and moved to Central Africa with her adventurer husband; she remained there for more than 50 years and chronicled her experiences of the beauties and tragedies of the region in Land of a Thousand Hills — My Life in Rwanda (1999).
BMW owners have been named as the worst drivers in Britain in a poll of more than 5,000 motorists.
The survey showed that the image of the BMW driver has not changed since they came to symbolise the brash winners of the boom-bust economy of the 1980s.
"They seem to be unable to use signals, expecting others on the road to have psychic powers," said Ian Vince, co-author of The Myway Code, who organised the survey.
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"We were really surprised that BMW drivers got so many votes. We expected Chelsea Tractors and 'White Van Man' to come in higher.
"The BMW is a smug car and perhaps there is some envy towards the drivers from those of us in our Fiestas."
The Church of England is to offer a speed-dating service to help lapsed worshippers find the church of their dreams.
Representatives of 10 churches will meet potential converts in a hotel lounge.
They will have five minutes with each of them, one to one, to try to sell them their particular place of worship and brand of Christianity.
The event is aimed at young people toying with returning to church but too busy to find one that suits them.
In his speech today to the UK Conservative Conference, party leader David Cameron opposed reductions in taxation, endorsed same-sex marriage, praised government-controlled healthcare as "one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century," omitted any words of praise for the British mission in Iraq, attacked Tony Blair for drawing too close to the United States, aligned himself with a more liberal approach to Britain's surging crime rates, urged the Anglican Church to admit non-Anglicans to church schools while endorsing more state funding for Muslim schools.
LYRIC
Through early morning fog I see
visions of the things to be
the pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see...
[REFRAIN]:
that suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
and I can take or leave it if I please.
I try to find a way to make
all our little joys relate
without that ever-present hate
but now I know that it's too late, and...
[REFRAIN]
The game of life is hard to play
I'm gonna lose it anyway
The losing card I'll someday lay
so this is all I have to say.
[REFRAIN]
The only way to win is cheat
And lay it down before I'm beat
and to another give my seat
for that's the only painless feat.
[REFRAIN]
The sword of time will pierce our skins
It doesn't hurt when it begins
But as it works its way on in
The pain grows stronger...watch it grin, but...
[REFRAIN]
A brave man once requested me
to answer questions that are key
is it to be or not to be
and I replied 'oh why ask me?'
[REFRAIN]
'Cause suicide is painless
it brings on many changes
and I can take or leave it if I please.
...and you can do the same thing if you please.
Researchers at the University of Exeter surveyed nearly 500 children. They included children aged 7-11 in ten junior schools and children aged 11-14 in one comprehensive, one Church of England, one Methodist and two independent schools. Nearly half the children were Christian and nearly a third were Muslim.
...
While most of the children knew that Jesus had a reputation as a caring person, fewer than one in ten believed that Jesus was, or is, God. A third found Him “a bit confusing” and more than a quarter thought him “hard to believe in”. The children struggled to understand Jesus’s death and Resurrection, and resorted to the language of magic to describe him, linking the miracles with the magic tricks of Paul Daniels.
In reference to the Resurrection, one boy asked: “If he rose from the dead, how come he ain’t here now?” Others wanted to know why Jesus didn’t help them today, and why he doesn’t “come down” and tell everyone He is true.
A CHILD'S-EYE VIEW OF CHRISTIANITY
Q: What does the Bible say about the birth of Jesus that makes Christians believe he is special?
A: Jesus is the prophet of Allah
Q: Why is the cross an important symbol for Christians?
A: Because he was crossified on a cross
... Because Jesus was crusified on one to replenish our sins ...
... Because he hang himself
Q: What do you think Christians mean when they say that Jesus is the “Son of God”?
A: God is a dad to Jesus, but God and Mary weren’t married
Q: Why do you think Jesus chose fishermen like Simon and Andrew to be his disciples?
A: Because he liked fishing. And fishing is a wise sport.
...To fight for him
Q: According to the Bible, why did some people want to arrest and kill Jesus?
A: Because everybody thort he was a wizard.
... Some for shopping the cheats, and one for money.
... Because he heeled people on days he shouldn’t.
... They thought he would become rich
Q: What do Christians celebrate on Easter Sunday?
A: Chocolate
... When he rowed into Jerusalem waving palm trees
... Christmas
[a]...story about the Jewish people arrested by police a few days ago in the run-up to the Jewish New Year. What were they arrested for by those beloved guardians of our free society at the Met? Yes, you guessed it. They were handcuffed and led off to the cells at Charing Cross police station - under suspicion of inciting anti-Semitism.
Charlie Crist: Bear with us. Crist, Florida’s GOP candidate for Governor, is another famously-closeted occasionally-outed always-denying Republican… from Florida. Florida’s already home to Katherine Harris, whose disastrous spectacular campaign has meant that many would-be Republican voters may stay home. Now add in that funny picture we put up top of Crist with Foley. It could turn into the candidates one real weakness, if his loser opponent could manage to make it stick. But it’s a long shot.
...Douglas Hutchinson, a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto...this week received an official blessing to puff away on campus to his heart's content - or discontent, as the medical case may be.
Anti-tobacco types can relax a little, however. Professor Hutchinson, a 10-a-day man, is only doing it for health reasons. Clean, green marijuana joints, rather than the dreaded nicotine sticks, are his drug of choice.
According to news stories, Prof Hutchinson has been regularly toking up for more than a decade now. Until last week, however, his self-administered "therapeutic treatment" for an unspecified medical condition had been a private arrangement.
“Keep the ‘Art’ in ‘Smart’ and ‘Heart,’ ” Sydney McGee had posted on her Web site at Wilma Fisher Elementary School in this moneyed boomtown that is gobbling up the farm fields north of Dallas.
But Ms. McGee, 51, a popular art teacher with 28 years in the classroom, is out of a job after leading her fifth-grade classes last April through the Dallas Museum of Art. One of her students saw nude art in the museum, and after the child’s parent complained, the teacher was suspended.
The impulse to draw up extensive biographical lists of notable homosexuals of the past began with the 19th century homosexual scholars in German-speaking countries. Parallel tendencies occur with scholars representing other minority groups, where such lists seem to function to provide historical witness of the collective worth of an ostracized group. This "hall of fame" approach has recently been criticized as skewing homosexual and lesbian history towards an unrepresentative elite, effacing historical variety and class differences. The search for famous homosexuals also provokes a largely fruitless series of debates over whether figures of the past, such as Socrates or Caesar, were truly homosexual.
Kinky Friedman, irreverant country singer, satirist and self-proclaimed "equal opportunities offender", was his usual ebullient self as he bounded on to the stage at the latest stop in his remarkable campaign to become governor of Texas.
"You know the definition of politics?" the former frontman of the Texas Jewboys band asked a packed audience at the Flying Saucer bar in San Antonio. "Well, 'poli' means more than one and 'tics' are bloodsucking parasites!"
...
Despite a racism row over a 26-year-old tape of him using the word "nigger" during a comedy routine, Friedman appeared relaxed. "I offend everyone," said the man whose best-known musical hit, They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus No More, took satirical swipes at just about every group.
"I have always used humour as a weapon to attack bigotry. I don't pretend bigotry doesn't exist. I'm a realist, not a racist. I've campaigned against racism for years but this is the price you pay for taking on the entrenched interests of the two-party system. Somebody organised this hit job pretty well, but they only attack you when you're carrying the ball, and we're carrying the ball."
He outlined his eclectic political platform: his social policies range from support for prayer in school and more police on the streets to backing gay marriage and decriminalising marijuana to clear space in prisons for real criminals "like paedophiles and politicians". Friedman says he has not touched hard drugs since 1985.
He has a predictably unconventional plan for dealing with the influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico. As well as deploying 10,000 National Guards along the border, he proposes placing five Mexican generals in charge of their side, putting $2 million in a holding account for each and deducting $10,000 for every illegal caught crossing. "It's a joke but it also happens to be a good idea."
It is no surprise that the authorities in Australia have been warning people not to refer to the British as whingeing poms during the coming Test series. Observers have commented on the wave of politeness that has been sweeping the country lately, forcing thousands of ockers to flee their homes for fear of being engulfed by good manners.
There are reports of a move to change the national song to May I Have the Pleasure of the Next Waltz, Matilda?
All Cretans are liars.
You are a liar.
Therefore you are a Cretan
