Daily Inklings

Daily Inklings is on hiatus until further notice. My readers can find me on my life journal and crafting blog, Thought Suite.

Via Drudge Report, OJ Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas earlier today for…armed robbery of sports memorabilia?

Here’s more, and the story is convoluted.

Captain James Dillon says Simpson faces charges including robbery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary with a firearm.

(snip)

“O.J. came in, did not break in, trying to get his stuff back. He did not have any gun. He did not have any gun with him. He and his people confiscated the stuff. That is basically what happened. There was no break-in, O.J. was not the one with the gun, and he did not steal anything,” said Ricchio.

Fromong concurs O.J. did not have the gun but says his legitimate items were taken. “O.J. was there. There were people, there were guns there and the stuff that O.J. is claiming was his a lot of the stuff they took he had been paid to sign it was designed and produced by my company.

And, Fromong says, there is no doubt in his mind this was not a friendly encounter of any sort. “No O.J. did not have the gun. He did bust in with the guys but there were guns present and guns pointed one — well, I can’t go into a lot — there were guns there. This was basically a home style invasion.”

The police will be holding a press conference to discuss the arrest later this afternoon.

Why do I smell a publicity stunt (for that book of his)?

A tip o’ the bonnet to: Stop the ACLU.

Technorati tag: OJ

In remembrance of those who died that day:

Tim Ward was born on Valentine’s Day, 1963, the son of Susie Ward Baker of Rancho Bernardo and the apple of his mother’s eye. He lived in nearby Scripps Ranch with his companion, Linda Brewton. He was an IT project manager for the Rubio’s Baja Grill chain of restaurants. He was an accomplished chef who would pack a chocolate confection in a picnic basket, an animal lover with a West Highland terrier named Sherman, and a devoted San Diego State Aztec fan who would travel to their games.

He was a passenger on Flight 195 when it was hijacked by terrorists and flown into the second tower of the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001.

Sources:

Legacy.com
Timothy Ward Wikipedia
North County Times

My other tributes:

Christine Lee Hanson, 2, Groton, MA.
Thomas R. Clark, 37, Summit, NJ
* * * * * *

Technorati tags: 2996 Project, 9/11.

Never to be forgotten:

Christine was the 2 1/2 years old daughter of Peter and Sue Hanson. She was born on Feb 22, 1999. She was the granddaughter of Eunice and Lee Hanson of Easton, Connecticut, and the great-granddaughter of Ok-Hee Kim of California. She was a beautiful, happy, outgoing little girl who loved to talk on the phone with her “Namma” Eunice, telling her of her time at day care and ending the conversation with “I love you, Namma.” She was attending Knowledge Beginnings in Chelmsford, MA.

On September 11th, 2001, they were on Flight 195 bound for California on their way to a Disneyland vacation and a trip to visit Sue’s relatives when their plane was hijacked and flown into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. Her father held her and her mommy in one arm while expressing his love and saying goodbye on the cellphone to her grandfather Lee.

Christine Lee Hanson is the youngest victim of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

An article about Cristine’s Lullaby.
Listen to Carl Schroeder’s beautiful elegy, Christine’s Lullaby.

Sources:
Peter, Sue, and Christine–In Memoriam.
Christine Lee Hanson Wikipedia.
September 11 Memorial Wiki.

My other tributes:
Thomas R. Clark, 37, Summit, NJ
Tomothy Ward, 38, San Diego, CA
* * * * * * *

Technorati tags: 2996 Project, 9/11.

The King of the High Cs, Luciano Pavarotti, has died at his home after his battle with pancreatic cancer. I remember the highly successful Three Tenors back in the 90s, which included Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo; I enjoyed watching them on PBS.

Condolences to his family and friends.

Michael Yon now has a YouTube to augment his frontline dispatches. He has sixteen excellent videos posted. Check them out!

For this week’s blogburst, Jay at Stop the ACLU had reposted a classic, his well-written post of the top ten list of why we need to stop the ACLU.

Crossposted from

Stop The ACLU was started on February 9th, 2004. We started with high hopes, and we realized we were facing a goliath. There were many reasons why we thought the ACLU needed to be countered, and they are numerous. We wanted to provide a way to inform the public of the ACLU’s agenda, as the MSM sugar coated it. We wanted to be a central database for people to gather, exchange ideas, and get actively involved in real ways of stopping them. It is a monumental task, exhausting, time consuming, and often frustrating. But it is a fight worth fighting.

We would be nothing without our supporters. To all of you, we appreciate the continued support. We have called you to action and you have answered.

There are many reasons to stop the ACLU. For this blogburst I decided to list my top ten list.

10. The ACLU was founded by Communist, with communist ideals, communist goals, and they continue to impose a Communist like agenda on America daily. The founder of the ACLU, Roger Baldwin stated clearly…

“My chief aversion is the system of greed, private profit, privilege and violence which makes up the control of the world today, and which has brought it to the tragic crisis of unprecedented hunger and unemployment. Therefore, I am for Socialism, disarmament and ultimately, for the abolishing of the State itself. I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class and sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.”

9. The ACLU does not believe in the Second Amendment.

ACLU POLICY: “The ACLU agrees with the Supreme Court’s long-standing interpretation of the Second Amendment [as set forth in the 1939 case, U.S. v. Miller] that the individual’s right to bear arms applies only to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia. Except for lawful police and military purposes, the possession of weapons by individuals is not constitutionally protected. Therefore, there is no constitutional impediment to the regulation of firearms.”ACLU Policy #47

#8. Their outright hatred of the Boyscouts. They are currently doing everything in their power to hurt this organization. They attacked their free speech right to exclude gays, and are threatening schools, and fighting in court to get their charters shut down. The oppose the military supporting them, and will sue the pants off any school that attempts to charter them.

#7. The ACLU are pro-death. Not only is the ACLU pro-abortion, it’s the ACLU’s top priority. It most definitely takes a backseat to free speech for the ACLU. As a matter of fact, the ACLU has fought against the free speech rights of those that oppose it. If it’s abortion or euthanasia, as long as it’s pro-death you can count on the ACLU to support it. The only exception to the ACLU’s pro-death stance, is if it is a convicted criminal; in this case they are against death.

#6. The ACLU advocate open borders. Not only have the ACLU opposed the Minute Men, a group who are simply exercising their freedom of speech, protesting and stepping up where the government is failing, but they have helped illegals cross the border.

#5. The ACLU is anti-Christian. The list is endless on this one. Under the guise of “separation of Church and State”, the ACLU have made a name for itself on being rabidly anti-Christian. This is one area where they are most hypocritical. They oppose tax exemptions for all churches, but fight for them for Wiccans. They are against Christianity in school, but oddly remain silent as our children are taught to be Muslims. Whether its baby Jesus, ten commandments, or tiny crosses on county seals, the ACLU will be there to secularize America, and rewrite our history.

#4. The ACLU Opposes National Security. The ACLU have opposed almost every effort in the arena of national security. From the bird flu to bag searches, the ACLU have been against it. No matter what kind of search someone tries to do to protect people, the ACLU have proved they are against them across the board. Its kind of ironic that they don’t practice the principles they preach.

Take a walk into the NYCLU’s Manhattan headquarters - which it shares with other organizations - and you�ll find a sign warning visitors that all bags are subject to search.

#3. The ACLU Defend the enemy. They have a long history of this one. They defended the P.L.O. in 1985. They defended Quadafi in the 1980’s. And they continue today. They have told Gitmo detainees they have the right to remain silent, as in not talking to interrogators. One issue that really disturbs me is their refusal of funds from organizations such as the United Way that were concerned the money would be used to support terrorism.

In October of 2004, the ACLU turned down $1.15 million in funding from two of its most generous and loyal contributors, the Ford and Rockefeller foundations, saying new anti-terrorism restrictions demanded by the institutions make it unable to accept their funds.

“The Ford Foundation now bars recipients of its funds from engaging in any activity that promotes violence, terrorism, bigotry, or the destruction of any state.”

The Rockefeller Foundation’s provisions state that recipients of its funds may not “directly or indirectly engage in, promote, or support other organizations or individuals who engage in or promote terrorist activity.”

#2. The ACLU supports child porn distribution and child molesters like NAMBLA.

As legislative counsel for the ACLU in 1985, Barry Lynn told the U.S. Attorney General�s Commission on Pornography (of which Focus on the Family President Dr. James C. Dobson was a member) that child pornography was protected by the First Amendment. While production of child porn could be prevented by law, he argued, its distribution could not be.

There is no doubt the The ACLU are perverting the Constitution.

#1. The ACLU fufills its agenda using my tax money. What more can I say on this one?

There are countless reasons the ACLU needs to be stopped. So don’t just stand by and complain, do something. Get involved. Here are some ways you can get involved to help us stop the ACLU.

Support and donate to organizations fighting them in Court. Here are the ones at the forefront.

ACLJ
Alliance Defense Fund
Thomas More Law Center

Join the Stop The ACLU Coalition

Help us write Churches to get involved.

Tell your Congress to support the Public Expression of Relgion Act of 2005. This legislation seeks to limit attorney’s fees in Establishment Clause cases to injunctive relief only.

SIGN THE PETITION TO STOP TAXPAYER FUNDING OF THE ACLU

This was a production of Stop The ACLU Blogburst. If you would like to join us, please email Jay at Jay@stoptheaclu.com or Gribbit at GribbitR@gmail.com . You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll. Over 115 blogs already onboard.

Technorati tag: stop the aclu blogburst

A Texas couple had file a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the recently-added words “one state under God” to the state pledge. But a federal judge ruled against them.

“With today’s ruling, a federal judge denied the plaintiffs’ attempt to prevent Texas schoolchildren from pledging their allegiance to ‘one state under God’ - just as they pledge to ‘one nation under God,’” Attorney General Abbott said. “The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly held patriotic acknowledgments of the Almighty such as these are completely consistent with the U.S. Constitution. Texans can rest assured that we will continue vigorously defending their children’s ability to recite the state Pledge of Allegiance each morning.’—from The Southeast Texas Record

The state pledge, which is VO.LUN.TA.RY, is recited after the national Pledge of Allegiance. Voluntary. That means doing or saying something deliberately, under one’s own free will, without constraint or an expectation of reward. Is the definition too deep for atheists to understand??

A tip o’ the bonnet to Jay at Stop the ACLU

0204~~It’s full moon and the lunar eclipse has begun. A sliver of the moon (at about 11 o’clock) is covered by the Earth’s shadow. The night is clear and still; not a cloud in the sky! We on the West Coast will have a perfect view.

“Path of the Moon through Earth’s umbral and penumbral shadows
during the Total Lunar Eclipse of Aug. 28, 2007.
(Pacific Daylight Time).” © Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA’s GSFC.

So what am I doing awake at this time? Well, once I start writing I keep at it until the muse stops musing. I got into the flow of my writing, which actually has the moon in its title, and didn’t realize how late it has gotten. My eldest son came in to tell me that the total eclipse is starting so I immediately went out in front to see.

I’m logged onto Free Republic. I know, as in times past, that we would have Freepers on skywatch. A fellow Freeper, WSGilcrest, is posting photographs even as I type. The images are what I’m also seeing here in San Diego.

0235~~The moon is 3/4 covered, but still visible and rose-colored. See WSGilcrest’s photos.

From Space.com:

Because some of the sunlight that strikes our Earth is diffused and scattered by our atmosphere, its shadow is not completely dark; enough of this light reaches the Moon to give it an eerie coppery glow even when it’s totally eclipsed. It is anticipated that during the upcoming total eclipse the Moon will glow brightest across its lower portion, while its upper part (closest to the center of the shadow) will appear a deep shade of brown or gray.

0250~~The moon, luminous and rose-colored, is now in total eclipse.

From the NASA site:

August’s lunar eclipse is well-placed for North and South America as well as the Pacific, eastern Asia and Australia. All of North America will witness some portion of the eclipse, but western observers are favored. The early umbral phases will be in progress at moonset for observers in Maritime Canada. From the eastern USA, the Great Lakes region and Ontario, the Moon sets in total eclipse. Only observers to the west of the Rockies (including Alaska) will be treated to the entire event. All phases of the eclipse are also visible from islands of the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand and eastern Australia. Various stages of the eclipse are in progress at moonrise for eastern Asia. No eclipse is visible from Europe, Africa and western Asia.

0412~~The moon is still eclipsed by the Earth’s shadow, but it is now showing a sliver of it’s own bright moonlight (at about 10 o’clock) indicating the total eclipse is ending.

I’ve seen eclipses in the past but tonight’s was cool! I hope when we again have a nightsky event, it would be a clear night like tonight.

And I hope to have a camera handy.

Technorati tag:total eclipse

Here’s my update since February:

6. Lilith by George MacDonald. His prose style took some getting used to, but the story itself is fine. I may need to re-read it.

7. Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. Yet another re-read. King Theoden’s death a few yards from Eowyn always gets me to tears, and the Hobbits—Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin—always delight me. Rich and multi-layered, thought-provoking, passionate and poetic; I will never get tired of reading this trilogy.

8. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by TS Elliot. I love cats. So does Mr. Elliot right down to their antics and naming, and the names are downright unique and interesting. I look at my cats and can see the Jellicle in them. There’s Miss Bayles, who like “Macavity” is the cause of many unsolved mysteries in this house–what happened to the shrimp? Miss Bayles just looks at me with apathy, licking her whiskers. There there’s the late Col Tibbs who strutted about like “The Rum Tm Tugger”, Sully who must not be disturbed like “Ol’ Deuteronomy”, and Shoelace my “Rumpleteaser”. I’ve owned my copy of this book since high school where it ended up in my mother’s outdoor shed surviving the El Niño deluge, rot and molds, and moving about. It’s back in my hands, smelling a little funky but still a lot of fun to read.

9. The Best of HP Lovecraft by HP Lovecraft. Mr. Lovecraft wrote many of his stories with recurring themes on age, with tombs and buildings so old they hold unnatural and even terrifying secrets, evil old people, and things and beings older than mankind; on the horrors of cold and snow; strange foods; music that summons up evil; colonial New England and its growing decay; and the cosmos and science, its misuse with awful mutations and consequences. But his claim to fame is the Cthulhu theme. He also seemed to have liked cats—he wrote many of them in the stories. There are no sexual themes good or bad, thank goodness. Overall I like his stories; I especially liked “The Colour Out of Space”—great science fiction. But in the end, I still much prefer fantasy stories based in Perelandra, Earthsea, Narnia, or Middle Earth.

10. The Sonnets by William Shakespeare. A great collection of love sonnets, even though I still prefer Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s. I prefer reading (and watching) his plays for pleasure, but this collection is worth studying.

11. Eragon by Christopher Paolini. ZZzzzzzzzz.

12. Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Great collection of essays, but I skipped “Economics” for now; “Solitude” is my favorite.

Okay, I have ways to go before I reach 50, and it’s almost September. I have stacks of books here, so it’s not for lack.

Anyway. Here are books I’m currently reading.

*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling. I pre-ordered this book as I had all the others, but only got started on it just this month. Like all her books, written for children, her prose style is simple, but fun.

*These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer, a wonderful romance novel set in the Georgian Period. I read this book as a college student and thus began my journey into writing historical romance novels, not that I believed I could do better (because I haven’t–hehehe), but that her works are inspiring and historically descriptive in a grand scale.

*A Grief Observed by CS Lewis–this one hits home with me, so I sometimes need to put it down for a bit before I continue.

Books on deck:

*The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer
*Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
*Night Train By Arthur Chrenkoff
*The Children of Hurin by JRR Tolkien
*Finding God at Harvard by Kelly Monroe

Crossposted: 50Book Challenge, Thought Suite.

UPDATE~~Here’s my first post explaining the 50-book challenge:

The 50-Book Challenge.

Also there’s a link above where I crossposted to the challenge, if you wish to join.

For 2007: The 50-Book Challenge: Books 1-5

Good grief, this month DID rush by! I can already feel a bit of change into Autumn. The humidity had gone down, and there’s a cool breeze. School had already started for me.

My poem below is featured in the Final Thought section of the August/September issue of Travel Girl Magazine. The artwork is appropriate, too. The magazine is available at Barnes and Noble.

* * * * * * * * *

August rushes by like desert rainfall,
A flood of frenzied upheaval,
Expected,
But still catching me unprepared.
Like a matchflame
Bursting on the scene,
Heat and haze of crimson sunsets.
Like a dream
Of moon and dark barely recalled,
A moment,
Shadows caught in a blink.
Like a quick kiss;
One wishes for more
But it suddenly turns to leave,
Dragging summer away.
____© 2001 Elizabeth Maua Taylor

Ha! For once I have a day off! No appointments, no commitments, no group meetings, no work, no classes. A beautiful sunny day with a cool breeze, I decided to go to town this morning and do some”antiquing”. More on that in another post.

I purposely stopped scheduling any classes and appointments on Fridays, and today is the first such Friday. This will be my own personal Sabbath Day. My weekdays have been crammed with too many obligations/medical appointments/classes/studies, and although I need to fulfill those commitments, it has become unhealthy for me. I even dropped one of my classes—it was too stressful to find a parking space on campus (what was I thinking???)–and signed up for another online class instead. My weekends are just as busy; Saturdays I have an art class on campus, and Sundays I have yet more obligations. I need one day to forget about all that, and just relax and have fun. And in the spirit of fun, I decided to join a Friday meme.

Last night I switched themes—I’ve been doing some virtual housework here, rearranging the furniture and working at the side bar. I’ve also added some sites. I want to go back to blogging, and need to make a daily discipline of it (and hope it doesn’t turn into a chore, but a thing I enjoy).

Anyway, on to the meme.

* * * * * * *

Appetizer
Say there’s a book written about your life. Who would you want to narrate the audio version?

Viggo Mortensen. He has a winsome voice, and I believe he would understand where I’m coming from. He’s also a fellow poet.

Soup
Take the letters from your favorite kind of nut and write a sentence. (Example: Perhaps every avenue needs understanding today.)

Hooo boy. Let me think….Okay.

“Sitting upon newly folded laundry, our whippersnapper, endearing rumpleteaser Shoelace enjoyed egging down Sully.” *groan*

Anyway. Shoelace is my 2-month-old kitten. Sully is my befuddled old cat, poor thing!

Salad
If you could go back in time and spend one week in another decade, which decade would you choose?

The very first decade with the first week of creation at the Garden of Eden. I want to see God’s very first creations; the freshness, the vibrancy, the beginning of it all!

Then I want to shake Eve by the shoulders and ask her, “What do you mean, the devil made you do it!?”

Main Course
Name a song that brings back memories for you.

“The Captain of Her Heart” by one of my favorite people, Kurt Maloo of Double! It was the song that played at the time my husband frequently travelled on business. He also loved this song. It had become my signature song over the years and each time I hear it, I would remember his homecoming and our reuniting and how wonderful it was. This song have become even more special for me during this time.

Click on the title and enjoy!

Dessert
Do you prefer to wash your hands in cold water or warm water?

I like not-quite warm water, or tepid.

Et voilà! Good fun, and a good writing exercise! =^)

Project 2996 continues this year but in a scaled-back format of last year’s. There’s no sign up this year. Here’s more:

1a. Just go to the page and pick a name.

…or…

1b. Take a look at the top of my sidebar and take the name in the “One of the Fallen” box as your assigned name. This box will show a new name each time the page is loaded.

…or…

1c. Choose the same name you had last year. Just remember, you should look for new information and write a new post. These people deserve at least that much from us.

2. Then research that name and post a tribute to your blog on 9/11/2007.

3. A few days before 9/11/2007 I’ll put a page up that will allow everyone to leave links to their tributes.

4. In the meantime you can join the Project 2,996 Forum, for research help, or just to talk with others about Project 2,996.

I’ve picked two names who hadn’t receive a tribute last year: Timothy Ward, 38, of San Diego; and Christine Lee Hanson, 2, of Groton, MA (she’s the youngest 9/11 victim). I will also repost my tribute of last year with a possible update.

We will never forget!

Technorati tag: project 2996

GodBlogCon 2007 will be held at the BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas. I’m going and I’ve registered for it. GodBlogCon had been a spiritually uplifting event. It sounds even more exciting for this year! I’m looking forward to it!

Technorati tag: godblogcon