SIGNS IN MALAYSIA

Click on the picture for the large view and then, don't ask, don't tell!

Thanks to Wade, who says that he's been looking for funny signs for me in Malaysia, but "most Malaysians speak far better English than is common in the US!" I don't doubt it, but apparently his compliment does not apply to absolutely EVERYONE.

OUR SUPPER TONIGHT...

...included dearly-priced boiled crawfish, the first of the season. Crawfish are not yet plentiful because of our extended cold weather this winter.

With the crawfish we had boiled fresh artichoke. We pull the leaves off and dip them in a dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar, black pepper, and a dash or two of Tabasco. When we get down to the heart and stem of the artichoke, we break them up and dip into the same dressing. Mmm-mmm good!

WEST VIRGINIA TRAFFIC STOP

A man in West Virginia had a flat tire. He pulled off on the side of the road and proceeded to put a withered bouquet of flowers in front of the car and another one behind it. Then he got back in the car and waited.

A passerby rubbernecked the scene as he drove by and was so curious he turned around and went back. He asked the fellow what the problem was.

The man replied, "I got me a flat tar."

The passerby asked, "But what's with the flowers?"

The man responded, "When you breaks down they says to put flares in the front and flares in the back! I doesn't understand it neither. But, you stopped, so, I guess it works! You got a extry spar?"


DO NOT blame me, especially if you're from West Virginia. Blame Paul (A.).

PLEASE PRAY

Please pray for my cousin Marylynn who has throat cancer and is probably close to the end. She is conscious but cannot speak, and her whole body is quite swollen. Pray that she may be free from pain and at peace in this last stage of her life.

Please pray for healing for my friend of 60 years who has colon cancer, with spread to nodes. She had surgery to remove two thirds of her colon and is receiving chemotherapy now. So far, she is not ill from the chemo. Please pray that the chemo will do its job and that she will continue to feel well.

SCG's friend Charlotte had a set-back in that she had to return to surgery for breast cancer to have more tissue removed because the margins of the section that was taken out were not clear. She says that she feels as if she's on a roller coaster. She's right. I remember. That's exactly the feeling. Details at Wake Up and Live.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!!

When the sun rose in the valley of Megiddo and shone off of the gleaming spears of the Egyptian army of Thutmosis II (at the first recorded battle in human history) the King of Kadesh and his assembled Canaanite allies looked at each other and said....

When the South Wales Borderers of the British army of Lord Chelmsford heard the thunder of the assegais pounding on the buffalo hide shields of the approaching Zulu impis below Isandalwanna they said...

When the Germans in the trenches at Ypres in 1916 heard a strange rumbling and clanking coming from over no-mans-land they looked out from over the tops of their trenches and thought....

Custer and the Seventh....well, you know....

WHO DAT?

Having more fun than the law should allow ;-)

The silliness continues. Don't blame me. Blame my Florida (not Miami) friend.

TIMES ONLINE SUPPORTS WHO DAT NATION

Click on over to the site of the Times Online to read the article and watch the video of the Brits who support the Who Dat Nation against the NFL.

Thanks to my Florida (not Miami) friend.

GOOD NEWS FOR GENERAL SYNOD OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

From Simon Sarmiento at Thinking Anglicans:

Readers may recall this General Synod motion (See below) which is being debated next Wednesday. And there is this amendment (See below).

A paper rebutting the claims made about the Episcopal Church, compiled by me, has been issued to General Synod members.

That paper can now be read in full here.

The motion proposed to General Synod by Lorna Ashworth reads:

“That this Synod express the desire that the Church of England be in communion with the Anglican Church in North America”.

The ACNA motion amendment reads:

The Bishop of Bristol (the Rt Revd Mike Hill) to move as an amendment:

Leave out everything after “That this Synod” and insert:

“(a) recognise and affirm the desire of those who have formed the Anglican Church in North America to remain within the Anglican family;

(b) acknowledge that this aspiration, in respect both of relations with the Church of England and membership of the Anglican Communion, raises issues which the relevant authorities of each need to explore further; and

(c) invite the Archbishops to report further to the Synod in 2011”.

My heart beat faster when I read the list of persons whom Simon consulted in writing his paper.

In compiling this note I have consulted David Booth Beers, Chancellor to the Presiding Bishop and Mary E. Kostel, Special Counsel to the Presiding Bishop for property litigation and discipline. I have also been assisted by: the Revd Tobias Stanislas Haller BSG, the Revd Scott Gunn, and Ms Susan Erdey of the Church Pension Group.

Simon's paper is a clear and concise refutation of erroneous claims and charges now circulating amongst the members of General Synod of the Church of England against the Episcopal Church, which demonstrate misunderstanding or ignorance of the polity of the Episcopal Church. Thanks be to God that one Englishman understands the governance of the Episcopal Church! (I'm joking, of course, because other Englishmen besides Simon understand the polity of TEC.)

Of course, all of the leaders of the Church of England could have consulted with the same persons. I wonder how many took the trouble.

Simon's final paragraph in his paper reads:

Natural justice requires that people take responsibility for their actions. No one has forced individual clergy or laity to leave the Episcopal Church — and they do have the right to do so if their consciences are wounded by the decisions of that church. It is, however, a matter of both church and civil law — and natural justice — that they do not have any right to retain property given in support of the church when they choose to leave it.

Do I hear an "Amen!"?

BAD NEWS - GOOD NEWS

The bad news:

The bullying by classmates and taunts of "homo" only got worse after Jacob began dyeing his hair and wearing eyeliner in eighth grade. One student scrawled "I hope you die" on his shoe, he said; another drew a pocket knife on him.

Jacob's grades dropped, and he missed school from fear. His father tried repeatedly to get school officials in their working-class village in upstate New York to help protect his son from harassment. The response by the Mohawk Central School District, according to a federal lawsuit, was to do "virtually nothing."

The good news:

The 15-year-old might soon get a measure of satisfaction. The lawsuit filed by Jacob and his father against the school district with the New York Civil Liberties Union could be close to settlement, according to both sides.

The negotiations come as the U.S. Department of Justice seeks to intervene in the case, citing the "important issues" it raises in enforcing federal civil rights laws.

"There is a growing recognition across the country that schools need to take harassment based on gender expression and homosexuality seriously," said NYCLU attorney Corey Stoughton. "If there is a settlement in this case, that's an affirmation of that principle."
....

Mohawk School Superintendent Joyce Caputo said the district denies allegations in the lawsuit, but she stressed they are working with the NYCLU and the Justice Department to settle the suit in a way that benefits everyone.

Well, it's about time Ms Caputo. Nothing like facing a lawsuit with the feds involved to get the powers moving. And it's way past time for the Title IX antidiscrimination law to be applied to harassment of gays.

From the AP.

TODAY AND YESTERDAY

Good morning all. Today's weather begins miserably - chilly, rainy, dark. I'm thankful that today's weather did not come early as my schedule yesterday was rather full:

9:00 AM - Grandparents Day at my granddaughter's new school. Grandpère and I were quite impressed with the school.

11:15 AM - Leave the school and head to one of our two Mexican restaurants for lunch.

2:00 PM - Go to audiologist for a check-up to see if my new hearing aids are working right. She tells me that I have cotton in my right ear.

3:00 PM - Pick up my granddaughter at school, because she had to stay after school to take a math test, but the test was postponed. Race across town to her house for her to be home for her younger brother's arrival on the school bus.

3:30 PM - Back across town to the doctor's office for removal of cotton from ear, which turns out not to be cotton, but a fungus.

4:15 PM - Back to the other side of town to stay with my grandchildren until my son gets home from work.

7:00 PM - Drop off prescription to treat fungus.

7:10 PM - Back home.

This morning, we just now received a call from my granddaughter asking us to pick her up from school, because she is not feeling well. She has a headache and is a little freaky, because she is almost never sick and takes it quite hard the few times that she becomes ill.

The picture above is of the chairs in El Paso Restaurant here in Thibodaux. The purpose of the picture is to cheer me up and to cheer you up, too, if you need cheering up. The waiter informed us that the chairs and tables in the restaurant were made in Guadalajara. They're bright, playful, and - well - cheerful.

The rain is now a downpour.

"WHO DAT?" GETTING OUT OF HAND?

This judge found in favor of the Who Dat Nation.

On Wednesday, Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Michael Bagneris ordered a Feb. 1 jury trial delayed in light of the New Orleans Saints' historic trip to the 2010 Super Bowl.

"The court takes judicial notice that Saintsmania permeates the city of New Orleans," Bagneris wrote in a one-paragraph ruling in an asbestos lawsuit, filed in 2005 by Dano Paul Becnel against Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Inc., and about 20 others
....

"Many prospective jurors for the parish of Orleans, several attorneys involved in this litigation and court personnel plan on traveling to the promised land -- the Super Bowl in Miami, Florida," wrote Bagneris, a 17-year veteran of the Civil District Court on Loyola Avenue.

"The court recognizes that this pilgrimage enhances the chances of the Who Dat Nation to acquire the long sought-after Holy Grail: the Vince Lombardi trophy."
....

Reached at his office Wednesday afternoon, Bagneris said that he won't hold any jury trials next week because of the Saints making their first-ever Super Bowl appearance.

"After the victory, everyone will be in a really good mood," Bagneris said. Asked if he expects the Saints to beat the Indianapolis Colts on Feb. 7, the judge nearly scoffed.

"How could anyone doubt that, after watching such a divine intervention on Sunday," he said, referring to the Saints' win over the Minnesota Vikings.

Bagneris set a new trial date for Feb. 9, exactly one week before Mardi Gras.

I dunno. A week before Mardi Gras? If the trial goes into the height of the Mardi Gras season....

Realists know that between Thanksgiving and the beginning of the Lenten period, there's no good time to do business in New Orleans or south Louisiana.

Thanks to Paul (A.) for the link.