Episcopal Church self-destruct sequence watch: "abandoned the Communion"

Support for charges against Bishop Andrew Smith : Anglican Communion Network

Bishop Andrew Smith declared that some pastors were "not in Communion" and conducted a
putsch on their parishes complete with intimidating thugs.

This was a gutsy roll of the dice for the gay takeover of the ECUSA. If they win here, no priest and no parish will be free to dissent: Resistence is futile as the old Star Trek show would put it.

On the other hand, if this is reversed, it will be a lifeboat for the Episcopalians who cling to their own traditions which until a few years ago included a condemnation of homosexuality.

Too many of these and it's a sign of the end times : Yahoo (Germany)

Translated (somewhat) to English

Offline

a²bog will go offline on temporary basis from October onwards. This status remains until further notice. To be exact, until I get Internet connection in the new place.

I'm moving! New chapter of the life! Yay!

Unknown cardinal breaks secrecy, describes conclave : Catholic World News

Breaking his oath of secrecy, a member of the College of Cardinals has given a detailed description of the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, an Italian television network has reported.

In defense of CWN, there was no longer a secret to protect. Only "Limes" is culpable for offering to publish it first. What I take away from this is that there is (1) at least one cardinal who cannot be trusted by his brother cardinals and (2) this anonymous coward cardinal must have maximim trust in "Limes" that his anonymity can and will be protected.

What benefit does the Cardinal obtain from this? What other secrets would he be willing to give up and for what price?

Heather Mills Stalks Jennifer Lopez (their headline, not mine)

Gigwise.com

Paul McCartney’s wife Heather Mills has taken matters into her own hands when it comes to her work for PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals).

Mills had threatened to stalk fur lover Jennifer Lopez until the singer stops wearing fur.

Events however took a turn for the worse on Tuesday when during a violent confrontation with some of J.Lo’s security guards Mills lost her prosthetic leg.

Imagine the negative media impact of a story like this if the Mills were a conservative or a pro-life figure.

From the PETA gets a pass Dept.

How in a non-violent protest does one lose a prosthetic leg?

In the name of Allah, the merciful and compassionate God, we pray. Amen. : Catholic World News

The Washington Post has the details. It was at
Catholic University of America a reception for His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn al-Hussein of Jordan.

In English it is incorrect to say that "Allah" and "God" are identical. For people who know they are not identical it is bad faith on their part to insist on an identity which does not exist when misunderstanding is foreseeable (or even intended).

What we share with Muslims is significant but not enough to have a common understanding of what is meant by "God/Allah's blessing", "God/Allah's peace", etc. Because starting with God's nature, we disease: Peace as "order+freedom" or as "submission".

Muslims view our understanding of God to be a blasphemy. A devout Muslim would have his tongue torn out rather than to invoke the Holy Trinity in prayer at a Muslim university in Pakistan or Algeria.

What do we believe?

CCC 841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day." (quoting Lumen Gentium 16)

I wish Cardinal McCarrick had read Jimmy Akin's article in This Rock before he gave that prayer.

Cardinal McCarrick could have made the reference to "God" and not risked a misunderstanding.

What misunderstanding? That Muslims worshipping God as instructed by Mohammed have a means of salvation. Muslims can and are saved but they are saved by Jesus and not by their obedience to the Koran.

In terms of explaining this to other Catholics I would go beyond saying that Muslim doctrine is lacking elements of the truth (i.e. incomplete) but it contains with certainty errors which cannot reconciled to the truth. To conform ones life to the Koran as interpreted by the most radical Islamists is a stumbling block to salvation.

What could be next? To have a bishop invoke a prayer to the Goddess Gaia?

Once a basketman; Always a basketman!

"Once a basketman, always a basketman."

That statement was quoted from a Taiwanese TV series, I think. Nevertheless, it is well-said. Once a basketman; you're always a basketman. I just can't say enough and express how much my love is towards the game.

I haven't been able to play basketball often nowadays. I guess that also explains my expansion rate of the waist size. Haha.. *embarrassed*

Nevertheless, I managed to play for the first time in almost few months. I was no longer at my best anymore. Struggle with fitness, stamina, speed and everything! Gosh. I was so much weaker than I used to be. I felt old.

Despite those, I still managed to create the highlight of the night. Use your imagination if you have one. Hehe..

Leading a fast break from the defensive end, I drove all the way to the basket from the left wing. I had 2 team mates trailing behind me. With one defender in my way, I made a little flip with my right hand, a no-look-behind-my-head-alley-oop-pass to one of my teammate, and he finished it off nicely! It was the bomb of the night. If he could dunk, it would have been picture perfect! Whoooa! The feeling I had was indescribable. It was priceless.

Priceless... Ya diggit, dawg?

When being a Good Samaritan becomes a choice between competing goods.

Financial talk show host, Bob Brinker
is more extreme than me. He believes that as a percentage, relatively few residents will return to the low ground in and near New Orleans and it makes little sense to make this area weatherproof to a cat-5 hurricane. He also believes that wherever they are now, the displaced people may need financial assistance.

In the weeks to come, I think the question of land vs. people will grow in visibility and importance. Is it the best use of money from all Americans to make every square foot of Katrina's Ground Zero floodproof?

In other word's: Are we restoring private real estate to its pre-hurriance value with public money?

I'd directly support the families with vouchers for food, clothing, shelter, and schools.

Forget about debit cards! The records show that they were used in strip clubs, casinos, bars, etc.

After 55 Years, Korean War Veteran to Get Medal : AP Tibor Rubin kept his promise to join the U.S. Army after American troops freed him from the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria during World War II. A Hungarian Jew, Rubin immigrated to New York after the war, joined the Army and fought as an infantryman in the Korean War. In 1951, Chinese troops captured Cpl. Rubin and other U.S. soldiers and he became a prisoner of war for 2 1/2 years. More than five decades later, after a relentless campaign by grateful comrades and Jewish war veterans, President Bush on Sept. 23 will give Rubin the Medal of Honor. As with all Medal of Honor winners, Corporal Rubin's story is both painful and inspirational.

The Inspector General

There's a scandal in New York that bears greatly on the anticipated $200 billion proposal to rebuild New Orleans and other devastated areas of the south.

We know that about half the money went to businesses outside of lower Manhattan.

Here's an example of the coverage:
36 Million in 9/11 loans went to Tampa : Tamba Bay 10

and another
Congress must keep 9/11 loan disaster from repeating : Yakima Herald

and a more complete account from the
Associated Press

The government's $5 billion effort to help small businesses recover from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was so loosely managed that it gave low-interest loans to companies that didn't need terrorism relief - or even know they were getting it, the Associated Press has discovered.

While some at New York's ground zero couldn't get assistance they desperately sought, companies far removed from the devastation - a South Dakota country radio station, a Virgin Islands perfume shop, a Utah dog boutique and more than 100 Dunkin' Donuts and Subway sandwich shops - had no problem winning the government-guaranteed loans.

Like the waste, fraud, and abuse from so many other programs, we face it now on a grand scale. Already Congress threw money at FEMA. Congress can be very generous with other people's money.

The President's Speech on the Rebuild of La.,Ala.,Miss.

I thought it was a good speech but not a great speech and it had nothing that I'd consider memorable.

The President needed to make a speech to avoid the criticism that he didn't have an idea how to proceed.

I think the poorest of the areas affected and especially New Orleans will probably obtain a better quality of life whereever they settle down while the rebuilt happens.

Now the property owners in the flood zone will want to rebuilt upscale apartments and I suspect that New Orleans will have in 10 years a larger much more focused city on entertainment like Las Vegas and have entirely new demographics.

The Democratic party lock that this state had is doomed. The returning property owners will make this a red Republican state.

It's important to recognize how scattered the people vicitms are now. There's a family in my parish from La. and the kids will be going to my son's school. Helping rebuild the infrastructure and helping the victims may require writing two big checks.

He beat the system

'Drunk Boating' Fracas

Mayhem broke out in a Long Island courthouse yesterday after drunken-boating charges against an air-traffic controller were thrown out — and his lawyer and pals started throwing punches at reporters covering the tragedy that took the life of a young girl.

The family of victim Brianna Lineck was outraged at the prosecution's decision and left the proceedings in Central Islip early rather than see Steven Fleischer walk out of court a free man...

Suffolk prosecutor Nancy Clifford asked Judge Glenn Murphy to drop the charges against Fleischer because no booze was found in his blood.

Fleischer initially refused to take a Breathalyzer test and cops were not able to get a warrant forcing him to do so for four hours.

Another look at this story in Newsday

I'm not a boater, so how do boats collide like this unless there's some negligence?
It's not as if there's lanes that the boats have to travel in.

Pray after you get over the shock of this story

Baby's Corpse Found At Building Where Newborn Thrown Out Window

A mummified corpse of an infant was found Wednesday in the same airshaft where police had rescued a newborn allegedly tossed out a bathroom window by his teenage mother just a day earlier, authorities said.

Lucila Ventura, 18, a high school junior, was arrested Wednesday and charged with throwing her newborn son out a third-story window and into the air shaft at the West New York apartment building. Ventura was charged with attempted murder and other charges.

Trash piled at the bottom of the shaft broke the baby's fall, and he survived. The baby was in critical condition at Jersey City Medical Center with a skull fracture.

When investigators returned to the scene Wednesday, they discovered the remains of a full-term baby beneath the cigarette packages and other trash.

Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said the baby died at least a year ago, but its gender and cause of death haven't been determined.

Choosing between Caesar and Christ

Catholic judge to take leave from Chappaqua church: Westchester Journal-News

Westchester County Judge Charles Devlin is taking a leave of absence as deacon of a Roman Catholic church in Chappaqua to comply with Cardinal Edward Egan's ban on deacons holding public office.

Devlin, 57, has been a permanent deacon at the Church of St. John and St. Mary since 2000. Gov. George Pataki appointed him to the county judgeship in the spring and he is now running for a 10-year term.

One has to wonder why if he had ambitions to be a judge (or an office holder) in 2000, he would undertake the formation process for the permanent diaconate. Did he have an understanding with the Chancery that he would get a dispensation and not merely an authorized leave of absence?

Going to the dogs or Dogs are People, too

The concern for the dogs, at least to me, trivialized the human suffering.

I think that some pet-oriented charities are trying a bit too hard to get a piece of the Katrina compassion that ought to go to humans first.

Because of the cruel treatment by first responders and people supervising the evacuation some pets were abandoned and presumably died.

I hope that with all the cat and dog food and kennel services that these donations are buying that humans are not being denied food and shelter.

Raymond Arroyo reveals it all about Mother Angelica, PCPA, and EWTN

Sunday Night: tapes the MSM is not playing but Drudge is

There's a bigotry of low expectations about the people of New Orleans that is
disgusting:

• You couldn't expect the police to return to restore order. They had to think
  of their families and themselves first.
  
• You couldn't expect the bus drivers to report on Sunday, so the buses had to be left unused and even parked on the low ground.
  
• You couldn't expect a mandatory evacution to be taken seriously.
  
• You couldn't expect the poor of New Orleans not to loot as poor as they are.
  

Mayor Nagin's attitude on Sunday night as the Drudge show was airing was "No problem. It's all under control. Everyone either evacuated or made it to the Superdome for safety." There was no discussion of the actual implementation of the city's own emergency plan which called for a much greater response by first responders both before and after a hurricane landfall.

Any fair investigation of what happened is going to give the public comments by Nagin and Blanco on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday some serious criticism.

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Required Reading The New York Public Library has issued "Books for the Teen Age 2005". Copies are being distributed now in libraries. The section on religion and philosphy "Do You Believe?" contains books on all of the world's major religions and a few obscure ones with one exception: Missing from the list is a book on Christianity. The only mention in its 40 pages of listing is as a one of several religions in a opinion analysis book of American teens. I have forwarded this to the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

Federal, State, and Local Gas Taxes

all represent an underserved windfall to the government.

If politicians want to complain about money taken from the consumers' pockets they should look into the mirror.

I knew Schumer said no to a rollback of federal gas taxes, but it's instructive to learn that Hillary refuses to take a position and the MSM are not pressing her to.

Jeanine Pirro who is running against Hillary is pointing this out.

Meeting the public in the name of the Catholic Church

The first question asked as we were setting up. Where's the nearest Catholic Church?
Answer: St. Joseph's on Waverly Place and Sixth Avenue.

A question was asked the bread becoming Jesus. After explaining the New Convenant and Jesus as the Lamb of God and the sacrifice for all given up to the Father. The response was "awesome". Amen to that. It is awesome.

A more sophisticated question came up on how do we change after death and become one with God.

The answer a friend gave is that we are made in the image and likeness of God, and given all sorts of gifts by him (grace and free will are at the top of the list) but it is for our human nature. We are human and will always be finite whereas God will always be infinite.

That's a great answer. I thought more about what death changes in us: we lose our bodies and our ability to act in this world. After the Final Judgment, those in the Lord will obtain a glorified body, in that sense we become more like Jesus but never become Jesus. We never lose our shared human nature and unique personal identity.

9/11/2001 + 4

My concern this year is not for the people like myself with a direct personal connection. Two people who died were co-workers of mine from jobs, coincidentally the same age as me. My concern is for the people of the United States whose lives were not touched. Will they remember?

I am disgusted with my local leaders lack of spine with respect to the memorial at the World Trade Center site.

Bloomberg and Pataki act as if they wish the 9/11 families would just go away and let them turn over the memorial to anti-American artists. Michelle Malkin has been blogging on this.

Rudy Giuliani said this two years ago

If we don't do this correctly—if we let some minor memorial be dwarfed by office space—people a hundred years from now will say this generation did not understand the significance of that world-altering day. Sept. 11 must not lose its resonance as time dulls the sharp edges of our collective memory. Ground zero is the site of the worst attack in the history of this country. I pray it will be the worst attack in the history of this country a hundred years from now. Done correctly, a memorial will inspire people. It should not symbolize the loss of our world before Sept. 11 or of an America that no longer exists. It should symbolize our survival and our triumph.

I hope that when I write +5 or +6 that a fitting memorial is planned and being built.

Could Katrina have been the greatest incident of euthanasia in U.S. history?

We had to kill our patients : Daily Mail U.K.

Doctors working in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans killed critically ill patients rather than leaving them to die in agony as they evacuated hospitals, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

With gangs of rapists and looters rampaging through wards in the flooded city, senior doctors took the harrowing decision to give massive overdoses of morphine to those they believed could not make it out alive.

I'm not using my own National Guard soliders, but I'm asking for four more divisions

Political Issues Snarled Plans for Troop Aid : New York Times

As New Orleans descended into chaos last week and Louisiana's governor asked for 40,000 soldiers, President Bush's senior advisers debated whether the president should speed the arrival of active-duty troops by seizing control of the hurricane relief mission from the governor.

This is strange. Do you recall a press conference on Monday or Tuesday where
Kathleen Blanco asked for 40,000 soldiers from the President? -- because I don't.

At the time when the Times reports Blanco was being denied troops, everyone (including the Times) was asking "Why isn't the Louisiana National Guard deployed in New Orleans"?

Handing out $2000 for just showing up. What could go wrong with that?

FEMA says it will end debit card plan : AP

On Thursday, the Red Cross began distributing its own debit cards at the Astrodome. The Red Cross assigned appointment times to the refugees, but many people started lining up anyway and waited for hours. Many fainted in the heat, and police had to be brought in for crowd control.

Around Houston, poor people who heard that the government was giving out money tried to get into the Astrodome complex for cards, prompting officials to lock the gates. By Thursday evening, electronic freeway signs in Houston were flashing, "There are no debit cards at the Astrodome."

But that was a lie as the next sentence is:

FEMA issued 4,200 cards to families at the Astrodome on Friday, and officials said they were confident they have covered everyone still staying at the shelter.

English Talk

Today, our main highlight is on vocabulary. This, I believe is among this most frequent made mistake among the Malaysians, regardless East or West. Introducing the stars of the day, I present you... 'Accent' and 'Slang'.

People often the word slang in the place of accent. People are easily confused the word slang, thinking that that word actually carries the meaning of accent. This is actually incorrect. Example of the error:

"David talks with a British slang."

which they are actually trying to say:

"David talks with a British accent."

If you lookup for the meaning of slang. You will get these:

Slang (noun)

A kind of language occurring chiefly in casual and playful speech, made up typically of short-lived coinages and figures of speech that are deliberately used in place of standard terms for added raciness, humor, irreverence, or other effect.

Language peculiar to a group; argot or jargon: thieves' slang.

more information can be obtained from Dictionary.com

As for the word accent,

accent

n 1: distinctive manner of oral expression; "he couldn't suppress his contemptuous accent"; "she had a very clear speech pattern" [syn: speech pattern] 2: special importance or significance; "the red light gave the central figure increased emphasis"; "the room was decorated in shades of gray with distinctive red accents" [syn: emphasis] 3: the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people; "the immigrants spoke an odd dialect of English"; "he has a strong German accent" [syn: dialect, idiom] 4: the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch); "he put the stress on the wrong syllable" [syn: stress, emphasis] 5: a diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a vowel to indicate a special pronunciation [syn: accent mark] v 1: to stress, single out as important; "Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet" [syn: stress, emphasize, emphasise, punctuate, accentuate] 2: put stress on; utter with an accent; "In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word" [syn: stress, accentuate]

more information can be obtained from Dictionary.com

So, slang is not accent, nor accent is slang. Please bear that in mind, and try to correct yourself or your friends in future.

Practice good english. It helps!

Cheers!

Catholic Evidence Guild

The team will be out in Washington Square Park (New York City) this Saturday from 1 to 4 PM near the Garibaldi statue. (weather permitting)

Meet Catholics and non-Catholics and participate, observe or pray.

Joke: School Day Morning

I got this joke courtesy from forwaded message in the Instant Messenger. I'll share it here:

______________________________________________________

One Early morning a mother went to her sleeping son and woke him up.

MOM : "Wake up, son. It's time to go to school."
SON : "But why, Mama? I don't want to go to school."
MOM : "Give me two reasons why you don't want to go to school."
SON : "One, all the chilldren hate me. Two, all the teachers hate me."
MOM : "Oh! that's not a reason. Come on, you have to go to school."
SON : "Give me two good reasons WHY I *should* go to school?"
MOM : "One, you are fifty two years old and should understand your responsibilities. Two, you are the Principal of the school.

English Talk

Somehow I just feel like bringing this issue to the attention. It's gonna be English, a language concern. I have noticed that people here in Malaysia have some serious problems with the language they're using. It all started with people trying to be cool, or trying to pick up some slang they thought which would be cool to use it in their daily conversation.

Here is a first to many mis-slang (that's what I name it here, misuse of slang) -- Damn. The word 'damn' is pretty much misused here. It is understandable where the slang was picked from. Thanks to heavy American movie shown in the cinemas, Malaysians, namely pennisular here started using Damn all over the place.

Firstly, the word damn is to be used to emphasis how bad the situation one is in. This is how it is meant to be used. e.g. "Damn, this ain't good. We ought to do something!" or "Damn! How could I missed that shot? I was wide open.." or this may sound bit offensive, but to God I swear, I have no disrespect to You, I just want to bring a valid example up. "God damn it!" (obviously, it's swearing, and show of disappointment, and dissatisfaction.)

Now, the damn in very Malaysian way:

"I am damn hungry.."
"That show is so damn nice.."
"Ooooh.. Brad Pitt is so damn cute.."
"Damn nice-lah, this fella.."

In the sentence, you condemn the object in the conversation anyhow you look at it. It just doesn't sound nice. Damn isn't the right word for stressing or emphasizing one situation. It is just wrong, and it does not sound nice at all! Never!

If you search "Damn" in Dictionary.com, you will get this in as the return of result:
As verb (verb means action, for those who don't know):

To pronounce an adverse judgment upon. See Synonyms at condemn.

To bring about the failure of; ruin.

To condemn as harmful, illegal, or immoral: a cleric who damned gambling and strong drink.

To condemn to everlasting punishment or a similar fate; doom.

To swear at.

As an adjective (to describe a noun: a noun means an object):

to express dissatisfaction or annoyance

So, before you start to damn at anything, think twice before you start using the word damn. Do NOT ever condemn the meaning of damn.

Practice good English daily! Even you are at a chat, or typing text messages! Make it a habit. Cheers!

International Front for Jihad against the Jews and Crusaders.

Although "al-Qaeda" is the name of the organization used in popular culture, the organization rarely uses the name to refer to itself. In formal communications Bin Laden has called the organization the International Front for Jihad against the Jews and Crusaders.

Indeed the use of the name "al-Qaeda" dates from early 2001, when the American government decided to prosecute Bin Laden in his absence and had to use anti-Mafia laws that required the existence of a named criminal organisation. Bin Laden himself said in 2001, "We used to call the training camp al-Qaeda ["the base"]. And the name stayed."

CNN

Photo of the Day

This picture was taken on the 21st January 2005. Location would be at Melaka, Taman Dahlia. Shutter speed at 1/8 second, with Aperture at F/3.2. Exposure compensation was set to -1.3 step to enhance the color of the sky.

Birthday Dedication

Happy Birthday dedication goes to my cousin, who turns 24; and another old friend of mine, who turns 22. Have fun and enjoy! Be happy and stay happy! Cheers!

Is "free will" part of the material or spiritual domain?

Parasitic Hairworm : New York Times

...When it is fully grown, it faces a difficult problem, that of returning to water. So it has evolved a clever way of influencing its host to deliver just one further service - the stricken grasshopper looks for water and dives in.

The suicidal behavior of the infected grasshoppers has been studied by a team of biologists from the French National Center for Scientific Research in Montpellier, France, led by Frédéric Thomas and David Biron.

They did their fieldwork around a swimming pool on the border of a forest near Avène les Bains in southern France. Hordes of infected grasshoppers - more than 100 a night - arrive at the pool during summer nights at the behest of the parasites.

The biologists captured grasshoppers before their suicidal plunge and removed the worms.

The worms grow to several times the length of the grasshopper's body before they emerge. Because of their unusual size, it is easy to extract and analyze the different sets of proteins that they produce before, during and after they compel their hosts to drown themselves.

"We found the parasite produces and injects proteins into the brain of its host," Dr. Thomas said.

It's part of the foundation of my belief that there's more to me and you than the material composition of our bodies, more to thought that a brain. In some mysterious way the brain might be a gateway to the spirit but not a container for it.

Discoveries like the one above challenge that: We may not be a ghost in the machine but just a machine. I still think Descartes doesn't have all the answers so don't worry about me.

Rush on Broadway

Yes. I bought a ticket to this Katrina benefit event at the New Amsterdam Theater on Tuesday, October 18, 2005 7.00 PM.

If you did as well, we can have a blogger get together beforehand.

Police, residents loot New Orleans stores after storm : Knight-Ridder

How can Bush be blamed from that?

Has there ever been in the history of the United States law enforcement such as large desertion from duty as the New Orleans Police Department experienced?

Can you imagine the men and women of New York Police Department and the New York Fire Department not reporting for duty when there was an increased risk of death and injury?
I can't.

What would Madalyn Murray O'Hair do?

You can see the answer over at

the NoGod blog

Cardinal Egan's priorities

Did anyone hear Cardinal Egan on the WABC radio program Religion on the Line?

It was not quite what I expected. After saying in perfunctory fashion that victims of the Hurricane need our prayers went on to talk about the money. The cash that the different organizations need for relief and his interactions with them. Then he went on to talk about his personal connections to the bishops in the affected area. In a odd way he made the focus of this (a) about money and (b) about Cardinal Egan.

I have been discussing this with priests and more voice needs to be given to the spiritual problem.

My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?

As Christians we are called to explain that God has not forsaken us. This world is a place of trial for us and we exist in a state opposed to nature because of the sin of Adam and Eve.

These are not words of comfort but words to start to explain to people who find their faith shaken by the great loss of life, property, and heritage.

The crisis has its material dimensions but it is also a great spiritual storm as well. We need to speak more about that -- especially as the great count of the dead begins.

Where is the World Trade Center? asks the tourist.

It was destroyed in 2001 with the loss of nearly 3000 lives is my answer.

I recently moved my office from midtown to the World Financial Center. I worked for another company with offices at 22 Cortlandt Street, next to the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001.

Everyday I walk past the area where so many were killed and when there is even today no memorial to this attack on the United States and to the people who died there on that day.
video tour

As soon as I leave the secured area of my company, I'm in a lobby full of tourists and as I walk around lower Manhattan there are few signs and landmarks that point to the location of the site of the World Trade Center, so I'm helpful in pointing out how to get to the corner of Church and Vesey Streets.
Google Satellite Photo

The 4th anniversary this year falls on a Sunday so it is certain to be low-key.

Number 7 World Trade Center burned to the ground. This held the city's emergency command center. The mobile command center to which they fled later had to be abandoned as well.

Number 7 is already being rebuilt. The outside covering facade is being installed this week.

Turkish Elementary, Amity School To Open In Sunnyside This Fall : Queens Chronicle

Last year, in a sweep of Catholic school consolidation in Brooklyn and Queens, the Queen of Angels Catholic School in Sunnyside closed.

Community members lamented declining enrollment in boroughs that once were, with large Irish- and Italian-American communities, solidly Catholic.

But the Queen of Angels School (41-12 44th St, Sunnyside NY 11104) will once again have elementary school children running through its halls when the Turkish American Multicultural Education Foundation opens the Queens Amity School in its place this September. "It’s 99 percent sure," said Zafer Akman, the 27-year-old director of TAMEF. The organization is still negotiating the lease with the diocese, but is hoping to come to an agreement to open the private school in the next few days.

What this article gets wrong is the area remains solidly Catholic with many new Catholic residents from Mexico, the Carribean, Central and South America, and the Philippines.

The support of these immigrants for religious education is weak relative to the support among recent immigrants from Islamic countries, so Catholic schools are closing and Islamic schools are opening even though numerically, there are still far more Catholic children in the area than Muslim children.

Second Collection

In the Diocese of Brooklyn the second collection for the Catholic University of America went on as usual. Next weekend will be the collection for the victims of Hurrican Katrina.

Makes sense given the lower-than-average attendence at my Mass today.

The City of New Orleans Disaster Plan

looks to me like a good one.

Except for one thing, it wasn't implemented.

Once the mandatory evacuation notices were given and ignored, there should have been forced evacuations and every form of high-capacity vehicle in the city should have been deployed to move everyone out. Apparenty nothing was done to provide transport for people without personal means of leaving the city.

Some are complaining about the word refugees. They are people seeking refuge. Besides being homeless, many have no cash, no food, nothing.

Owen to Premiership? Owen to Newcastle

"Owen Signs Four-Year Deal with Magpies"

After months of speculation, it is finally confirmed that English wonder boy (wonder if I still could call him that, he's 25 now) is returning to England with Newcastle United. I read the headline with disbelief. Few months ago, Owen has got his name linked to several leading clubs in England, namely Arsenal, MU, Liverpool and even Chelsea.

It is really a surprise that there is no other club who would bid for Owen's signature. Arsene Wenger was the first to openly to admit his admiration on Owen's ability, but he will have no place for the England striker. He claimed that he has already got Frenchman Thierry Henry, who plays very similarly to Michael Owen. Manchester United was reported to say that they will have the money to fund Michael Owen's transfer should Sir Alex wants the England striker. With the way they are playing at the moment, scoring 11 goals and yet to concede a goal in all competitive matches this season, they show that they do not really need Michael Owen after all. Liverpool is understood to refuse to match the asking price from Real Madrid, reported to be 17 million pound. The European champion has other department to invest on, to strengthen their squad for their challenge in the season. As for Chelsea, I don't think they really need a striker anyways. Their wingers and midfielders have done more than enough to cover their striker's ass woes.

That left Owen with no choice, but to sign with bottom-tabled Newcastle United. He desperately needs to get his bum off Real's bench, and Newcastle desperately needs to start scoring goal (they have yet to find the net in all the premiership game this season).

Speaking of Newcastle United, Graeme Souness may have gotten away from the axe in August. He may think that it is a sign a relief. But, true nightmare begins now. Despite late acquisition of Owen and Nolberto Solano before the closure of transfer window on 31st August. The Toons are doubtful to able to ignite the spark they have had some 10 years ago. Realistically, they could be in relegation dogfight this season. Jean-Alain Boumsong had displayed comical error, which Rooney fully capitalized on the chances given in MU's recent 2 nil success in St. James' Park. Rooney scored the first and set up the second for strike partner Ruud.

Alan Shearer is no longer a 15-20 goal per season striker. He's ageing already. Should Souness be sacked this season. I can see that the successor would automatically be Alan Shearer.

Only God knows how the Magpies' fate will turn out to be. For sure, he may have kept his job beyond August, but Graeme Souness' nightmare has just begun. Owen's four-year contract, may not last that long, if Newcastle fails to spark, or if they are relegated (hard to imagine, but that was what happened to Leeds few years ago)

We'll see how it goes. International break this weekend. World Cup qualifiers up next.


Prediction for the season?
English Barclays Premier League:
Champions: MU (simply becos I am an MU supporter, and that they are playing pretty well this far)
Runners-up: Arsenal
**Haha.. Biased! I don't like Chelsea anyways..

Spanish:
Champions: Barca
Runners-up: Real Madrid
**It will be tight this season...

Italy:
Champions: Inter Milan
Runners-up: Juventus
**Inter looks sizzling hot with Adriano, Figo and some recruit from Real Mdrid.

Prayers, not Politics

for the people who have been affected by this storm and its aftermath.

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