December 29, 2007
— Gabriel Malor Pope Benedict has given orders that bishops are to train exorcists to help combat the rise of Satanism. This is old news, at least in my home diocese which always keeps a trained exorcist on staff.
The initiative was revealed by 82-year-old Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican "exorcistinchief," to the online Catholic news service Petrus."Thanks be to God, we have a Pope who has decided to fight the Devil head-on," he said.
"Too many bishops are not taking this seriously and are not delegating their priests in the fight against the Devil. You have to hunt high and low for a properly trained exorcist.
Tell me about it.
I worked for a Catholic church from high school through college. In my first week I got a call that started like this: "This is going to sound strange, but I'm totally serious. Can you send someone over for an exorcism?" He then proceeded to explain that things were moving on their own and the house was making sounds and that it had been going on for a few weeks. He was nominally Lutheran, but they wouldn't do anything about it. Heh. We didn't either.
P.S. I just noticed some unintentional (?) humor in the Daily Mail URL to this story. it ends with "Satan=Santa." Hmmmm.
More: I meant to add this as part of the post earlier, but got distracted by my 13-month-old niece, who I'm visiting in Virginia.
The Vatican is particularly concerned that young people are being exposed to the influence of Satanic sects through rock music and the Internet.
UPDATE: Via the lovely moron RightwingSparkle, the Vatican denies that it is ordering an increase in exorcists:
"Pope Benedict XVI has no intention of ordering local bishops to bring in garrisons of exorcists to fight demonic possession,'' Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told reporters in Rome Friday.On Thursday, the Roman Catholic Web site Petrus said the pope planned to install more exorcists in every diocese next year and reintroduce a prayer during mass to St. Michael the Archangel, believed to be the prime protector against evil, The Telegraph in Britain reported Saturday.
Posted by: Gabriel Malor at
11:11 AM
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— Dave In Texas Ted Moustakis paid $6,000 for a poker visor supposed to have been worn by the android Data in Star Trek The Next Generation, but when he took it to have it autographed, actor Brent Spiner said he sold the original.
According to the lawsuit, Spiner recognized the visor as the one that had been sold by Christie's and told Moustakis that it wasn't the real deal. The actual visor had been sold by the actor himself some time ago.Moustakis, who became a Star Trek fan at age 7, said he was humiliated.
Oh. Now he's humilated.
Get a life, will you people? I mean, for crying out loud, it's just a TV show!
Posted by: Dave In Texas at
06:03 AM
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December 28, 2007
— Dave In Texas UPDATED and BUMPED: Last Call.
Hey, I managed to stay in the top 5 this week.
I just checked with wiserbud, it's Friday Saturday. Confirmed.
No Thursday game, but one tomorrow night. Elected representatives are whining about the Giants and the Patriots NOT Dallas and Green Bay, oh hell no that does rate. Anyhow it's the Last Week of the Regular Season, capped off with this yawner of a game between the Giants and the Patriots.
ace, a glimmer of hope. The Pats might care about a perfect season, but they might care more about winning it all. You never know with those commie bastards. This could be NY's chance.
It won't amount to shit. The Giants are going down the toilet like the big stinky you made last night in a fit of... whatever the hell you have fits of.
ahem. AoSHQI and AoSHQII standings.
1 PHenry 138
2 anotheranon 133
3 Mr_Wide_Stance 132
4 Bart, shoveling snow I sincerely hope I mean Merry Christmas 129
4 JarvisW 129
4 Bun in the Oven Slublog 129
7 Johnny Warmcuts 128
7 Dave in Texas 128
Does this shit go through the playoffs? I don't see why not. It's still football.
Posted by: Dave In Texas at
06:15 PM
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— Jack M. So sayeth the real Hugh Hewitt.
I can't make this stuff up. After a day of evoking the spirit of Mr. Hewitt's fawning, cheer-leading, Romney tongue-bathing, posts I have to face the simple fact: No matter how over the top I go, I simply can't out-Hugh, Hugh.
You win, Mr. Hewitt. Your man crush has transcended even the limits of satire. Congratulations!
Are the Iowa caucuses (cauci?) over yet?
Please?
Posted by: Jack M. at
05:09 PM
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— Ace Faster, please:
A nasal spray containing a naturally occurring brain hormone called orexin A reversed the effects of sleep deprivation in monkeys, allowing them to perform like well-rested monkeys on cognitive tests. The discovery's first application will probably be in treatment of the severe sleep disorder narcolepsy.The treatment is "a totally new route for increasing arousal, and the new study shows it to be relatively benign," said Jerome Siegel, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA and a co-author of the paper. "It reduces sleepiness without causing edginess."
Orexin A is a promising candidate to become a "sleep replacement" drug. For decades, stimulants have been used to combat sleepiness, but they can be addictive and often have side effects, including raising blood pressure or causing mood swings.
Posted by: Ace at
03:35 PM
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— Ace Cowards, Murderers Hardest Hit.
Posted by: Ace at
03:31 PM
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— Slublog Mike Huckabee has two things going for him as a candidate. His religion, and his social conservatism.
Mike Huckabee last year accepted $52,000 in speaking fees from a bio-tech giant that wants to research human embryonic stem cells, a non-profit working to expand access to the morning after pill and a group pushing to study whether tightening gun control laws will reduce violence.His spokesperson says this is evidence that Huckabee "isn’t afraid to speak to people who don’t agree with his message or personal philosophy." Sure, but did he need to take their money? There's a huge difference between creating opportunities for discussion and taking money from companies that create a product specifically designed to end pregnancy. A product, as the article points out, Huckabee has decried in the past.Huckabee opposes embryonic stem cell research, emergency contraception and stricter gun laws — all of which rank high on the list of deal-breakers for many of the religious conservatives whose support he’s ridden to the top of the Republican presidential field.
The payments — from drug-maker Novo Nordisk, which engages in stem cell research, the Public Health Institute, which works to expand access to “morning after” contraception and Grant Makers in Health, which is seeking to steer funding to studies of gun violence — highlight the delicate line Huckabee has walked on the profitable speaking circuit.
This, from the guy who makes such a big deal out of being the only true social conservative in the race.
I guess sometimes mammon wins out, though, huh?
Posted by: Slublog at
02:49 PM
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— Dave In Texas What's funnier?
That the Giants end the season with a meaningless game against the Pats?
Or that enterprising Giants ticket holders cash out?
I know what I think.
Posted by: Dave In Texas at
02:43 PM
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— Ace I thought I posted this hours ago but apparently it never went up.
Seems like premature speculation, given that the current official word is that she was killed incompetence of her security detail than by the actual assassins.
Still, if the government is covering up bullet wounds, that's pretty big stuff.
American and Pakistani military leaders are seeking to account for what may be renegade commando units from the Pakistani military's special forces in the wake of the assassination of Pakistan's opposition leader and former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.The attack yesterday at Rawalpindi bore the hallmarks of a sophisticated military operation. At first, Bhutto's rally was hit by a suicide bomb that turned out to be a decoy. According to press reports and a situation report of the incident relayed to The New York Sun by an American intelligence officer, Bhutto's armored limousine was shot by multiple snipers whose armor-piercing bullets penetrated the vehicle, hitting the former premier five times in the head, chest, and neck. Two of the snipers then detonated themselves shortly after the shooting, according to the situation report, while being pursued by local police. ...
A working theory, according to this American source, is that Al Qaeda or affiliated jihadist groups had effectively suborned at least one unit of Pakistan's Special Services Group, the country's equivalent of Britain's elite SAS commandos. This official, however, stressed this was just a theory at this point. Other theories include that the assassins were trained by Qaeda or were from other military services, or the possibility that the assassins were retired Pakistani special forces.
"They just killed the most protected politician in the whole country," this source said. "We really don't know a lot at this point, but the first thing that is happening is we are asking the Pakistani military to account for every black team with special operations capabilities."
I'm not sure what madness would cause the Pakistan government to lie about a cause of death so easily disproven. Nor what, precisely, that lie would obtain, even if believed. Claiming the death's immediate cause was a blow to the head sustained while escaping assassins doesn't really change the fact that assassins killed her in the first place. And I don't see how it would be incriminating to the government to announce she'd been killed by snipers; there are jihadi snipers in Pakistan, I'm sure, just as there are jihadi snipers in Iraq.
All in all, I don't get why the cover-up... unless Musharraf (or at least his top top people) are directly involved, something I find hard to swallow.
h/t to CJ.
Posted by: Ace at
01:19 PM
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— Jack M. Clearly, any statements made by this fellow are now to be considered skeptically, if at all.
What is this Ramesh Ponnuru fellow so afraid of? Does he not realize that the good people of Iowa (who have placed Governor Romney within 2 points of the lead in their state, no less!) represent America's traditional heartland values? Clearly his employers fellow writers at National Review understand the relevance of Iowans to the American political scene. Why, in their exceedingly good judgement, they published the following magazine so that, before they caucus, every Iowan would have the opportunity to read it. Twice.
I keep a copy on my nightstand. I find it soothing.
Unlike Mr. Ponnuru, I have full confidence that when Iowans head into the snow (in their Mitt-ens, fate she does truly shine upon her chosen acolytes!) to cast the most important votes in America's history, they will do so with their head's held high and their hearts full of joy, warmed by the patriotic fervor that they, and they alone, get to act as the leading vanguard on the Romney wave.
I was tempted to invite Ramesh onto my show today to explain this heresy, but then I remembered something important. Something meaningful.
Jesus was betrayed by a kiss.
Who have you kissed recently, Ramesh?
Because I know who you have kissed-off. And that's Iowa.
Posted by: Jack M. at
12:16 PM
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