• Hot Off The Presses

    Zimbabwe: Archbishop Tutu on the Arms Trade

    Archbishop Desmond Tutu comments on the “Ship of Shame” that was carrying Chinese arms for Zimbabwe. It seems to be headed back to China after offloading “construction materials” in Luanda, but it might be headed for Congo-Brazzaville. Others speculate that a ship-to-ship transfer is still possible. So far the biggest loser is China, whose reputation in Africa for doing business without bothering about human rights is now becoming a liability. Govern global arms trade | The Australian IN the present scandal of the attempt to ship tonnes of arms and ammunition to Zimbabwe, it is the Chinese who have spoken…

  • Clan: McTiVo - Music

    American Idyll

    Some people are really into American Idol, but I am not. I went through the lunch room the other day while a couple of Idol contestants were murdering U2’s classic “One” in some kind of live outdoor news-show venue. It sounded so awful… I wondered “what the hell is the fascination this country has with listening to people sing badly?” Both singers were completely off-key, both fighting to out-bellow each other, and working their hair and outfits even harder than their (blown-out) voices. It was not so much a duet as a duel. Thank God for iPod. I went back…

  • Religion

    Miraculous: Torah Saved and Restored By Many

    This is beautiful: From Auschwitz, a Torah as Strong as Its Spirit – New York Times The back story of how a Torah got from the fetid barracks of Auschwitz to the ark of the Central Synagogue at Lexington Avenue and 55th Street is one the pastor of the Lutheran church down the street sums up as simply “miraculous.” It is the story of a sexton in the synagogue in the Polish city of Oswiecim who buried most of the sacred scroll before the Germans stormed in and later renamed the city Auschwitz. It is the story of Jewish prisoners…

  • Blogs Wot I Read - Episcopal

    Zimbabwe: Presiding Bishop Speaks Out

    The crisis goes on in Zimbabwe, and voices continue to speak out. This time, it’s the Presiding Bishop’s voice. epiScope: Presiding Bishop speaks out on the crisis in Zimbabwe The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori Presiding Bishop and Primate The Episcopal Church Together with millions of people around the world, my heart has been drawn in recent months to the political and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Zimbabwe. The tragedy of that nation’s descent into internal chaos is magnified by the high sense of purpose and prosperity that a newly independent Zimbabwe brought to Africa and the world nearly three decades…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Mini-Posts - Only in Utah... - Religion

    Vatican: LDS Church’s Practice “Detrimental”

    Catholic bishops told to withhold parish information from Mormons – Salt Lake Tribune The Vatican letter calls LDS baptisms for the dead a “detrimental practice” and directs each Catholic diocesan bishop “not to cooperate with the erroneous practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” CNS reported. It annoys me that in 150 years, someone will baptise me according to the LDS doctrine of baptism for the dead, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it, other than mark the heavenly post “refused due to erroneous practice.”

  • Books - SciFi/Fantasy

    Not Recommended: The Vesuvius Club

    The Vesuvius Club: A Bit of Fluff (Lucifer Box Novels) Last night after a nice dinner at Bahama Breeze, my husband David and I decided to stop off at the nearby bookstore for a relaxing browse. After trolling the shelves, I ended up with two books, this one and a murder mystery set in the Upper Midwest. I’ve already finished this book, and I’ve started the second book – and glad of it. The book was published in 2004, to critical acclaim, and there are two more books in the series.  Mark Gatiss, the author, has an impressive body of…

  • Blogs Wot I Read - Hot Off The Presses - Uncategorical Weirdness

    Brilliant, Annie!

    It’s always fun recognizing someone you “know” in a news item: Blogger exposes life on the Underground – Yahoo News LONDON Reuters – Annie Moles blog about the London Underground rail system began as a New Years resolution to teach herself how to make an Internet Web site and has blossomed into a popular slice of commuter life. She’s been blogging just a bit longer than I have, but she’s made a much more brilliant success of it; Annie Mole’s Going Underground covers pretty much one topic, and covers it extremely well. Actually, it covers going out and having fun…