The Great Separation

Name the Caption, Baby.

Goo Goo. - Here's an item I've got up on eBay at the moment. The look this baby is giving is... well, funny. So I thought it would make a great "name the caption" post.

Incidently, based on the name on the back I think the child's name is Thelma. Not that that will give any inspiration for a caption, but one never knows.

Another Christian Carnival Hits the Blog-o-Sphere.

Come one, come all. - Hey folks, well it is that time of the week and the Christian Carnival is jamin' over at that parable of a guy's site, Parablemania.

So go pop yourself some popcorn, sit down, lean back, shovel some exploded kernel and enjoy.

Christian Girl Abducted Second Time in Egypt.

They hate you because of me - A seventeen-year-old girl in Egypt has been abducted for a second time in as many months in an effort by Muslims in that country to force her to convert from Christianity.

WorldNetDaily™ reports:

...the girl, whose name was not identified, had been abducted from a district in Cairo on June 2 and that local police are believed to have aided the Muslim abductors. Barnabas Fund's charge of alleged police involvement could not be confirmed independently.

..."During her initial abduction (April 6) she reports that she was sexually abused and drugged in order to manipulate her. A cross tattoo on her hand was forcibly removed," Barnabas Fund said. Her abductors allegedly tried "to force her to convert to Islam, and one now claims to be her husband," the organization added. Egyptian law specifically forbids the marriage of a girl under 21 without her parents' consent and also makes it illegal to convert a Christian girl under the age of 18, Barnabas Fund said.

The Barnabas Fund is asking for prayer in this situation. I suggest we give it to them.

Reported too, is how the police obstructed things the first time around.

Pastors Need Liability Insurance to Preach?

What happened to Free Speech? - I guess free speech is only available for the like of Michael Moore.

WorldNetDaily™ is reporting that preachers in Pennsylvania are thinking that they may need liability insurance to preach from the pulpit because of new "hate-crimes law." The law of course is in regards to protecting the sin of homosexuality.

"It is a measure of our times that religious leaders have lately considered taking out liability insurance to cover remarks made from the pulpit," said Becket Fund President Kevin J. Hasson.

Of particular concern to pastors is the amendment's expansion of the definition of "harassment" to include "harassment by communication" – which means one could be convicted on the basis of spoken words alone.

The Becket Fund group has promised to represent any pastors for free if they are charged with the new hate-crimes law.

The Great Separation continues.

Update on Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun and Stuff.

It's a war. Believe it or not. - Jeffrey Gettleman and Nick Madigan or the New York Times (yeah, yeah. I know) are reporting some more information on the capture of Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun who was recently shown on Arab TV blindfold and awaiting death by evil Iraqi insurgents.

They are reporting:

The American marine who is being threatened by his kidnappers with beheading had deserted the military because he was emotionally traumatized, and was abducted by his captors while trying to make his way home to his native Lebanon, a Marine officer said Tuesday.

The officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he believed that Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun was betrayed by Iraqis he befriended on his base and ended up in the hands of Islamic extremists.

The scuttlebutt is that after seeing a fellow Marine sergeant obliterated by a mortar from an enemy attack he was traumatized. Who wouldn't be?

Anyway, he began to talk to some of the fellow Iraqi Muslims on base and they agreed to help him go AWOL. They then turned him over to the enemy.

I find the story plausible but it's too story book for me. You know what I mean? I don't know. I think it better to wait for the dust to settle.

According to an AP story by Todd Pitman, Hassoun's eldest brother denies the NYT report.

Over at Drink this..., the tallglassofmilk pens on the subject of hostage beheadings:

The Turkish hostages were freed. Outstanding! I'm curious if anyone thinks the perpetrators didn't go through with the beheadings because these hostages were Muslim...

The fact that Hossoun, or any hostage, is Muslim does play upon the outcome I think. Make no mistake, the evil men holding this U.S. Marine are willing to follow through with their threats despite his religion. The fact is that their type has done so before. And because he is a U.S. Marine, I'm sure they believe him to be a traitor and infidel. But I believe his Muslim status will play a more influential part in the outcome.

Regardless, my hope for Hossoun remains for his safe return.

These beheadings continue to remind me that though we do not view this war in a religious light, the enemy does: Commander of the Khobar Terrorist Squad Tells the Story of the Operation.

"The four of us entered the company together. We met the Arab clerks, and greeted them. We asked them: 'Where are the Americans?' They were all in shock, and said: 'What's going on? Who are you?' We told them, 'We are Mujahideen, and we want the Americans. We have not come to aim a weapon at the Muslims, but to purge the Arabian Peninsula, according to the will of our Prophet Muhammad, of the infidels and the polytheists who are killing our brothers in Afghanistan and Iraq. We want you to show us where they are.'...."

..."We went to one of the buildings. Brother Nimr, may Allah's mercy be upon him, shoved the door until it opened. We entered and in front of us stood many people. We asked them their religion, and for identification documents. We used this time for Da'wa [preaching Islam], and for enlightening the people about our goal. We spoke with many of them.

"At the same time, we found a Swedish infidel. Brother Nimr cut off his head, and put it at the gate [of the building] so that it would be seen by all those entering and exiting.

"We continued in the search for the infidels, and we slit the throats of those we found among them. At the same time, we heard the sound of the patrols and the gathering [of the security personnel] outside. These cowards did not dare to enter. About 45 minutes or an hour had passed since the beginning of the operation.

"We began to comb the site looking for infidels. We foundFilipino Christians. We cut their throats and dedicated them to our brothers the Mujahideen in the Philippines. [Likewise], we found Hindu engineers and we cut their throats too, Allah be praised. That same day, we purged Muhammad's land of many Christians and polytheists.

"Afterwards, we turned to the hotel. We entered and found a restaurant, where we ate breakfast and rested a while. Then we went up to the next floor, found several Hindu dogs, and cut their throats. I told the brothers to leave them on the stairs so the troops of the Taghut would see them when they burst in, and be terror-stricken. [3] But it seems I thought too well of these cowards, because they did not enter [the hotel] until after we had left.

Of course there are some that have yet to view this as a war at all.

Hillary Clinton Showing Her True Color.

It's minus the blue and white. - Red? Yeah, that's the color.

The socialistic/communistic streak shows it's pirate clad Freudian id in Hillary Clinton's recent statements at the recent fund raiser in California.

SFGate.com is running Beth Fouhy's AP report:

Headlining an appearance with other Democratic women senators on behalf of Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is up for re-election this year, Hillary Clinton told several hundred supporters -- some of whom had ponied up as much as $10,000 to attend -- to expect to lose some of the tax cuts passed by President Bush if Democrats win the White House and control of Congress.

"Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you," Sen. Clinton said. "We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

Boy, how's that incentive to vote for them?

Notice the key word "give" in Mrs. Clinton's second sentence. They are not going to 'give' the tax cuts to us. As if the money wasn't ours to begin with, but instead comes from the hollowed halls of D.C. Yes, hollowed.

But her last sentence can't get any more socialistic in thought. They're going to take things away from us!

Well, excuse me, but that's the same attitude of the thief that once broke into my home. I'm sure he felt it was for his common good too.

Next she'll have us working strictly for Mother Russia America.

[Hat tip to Drudge.]

Michael Moore's More Lies.

The walking talking moneymaking liar. No, not Bill Clinton. - Here's something interesting from those resourceful people at The Smoking Gun.

It seems they uncovered some intriguing facts on Michael Moore who claimed to be an Independent politically. Of course it will be no surprise that he is actually registered as a Democrat in New York.

The surprise is that he is registered on two voter rolls.

Now here's the good part: Moore is simultaneously registered to vote in Michigan, where registrants aren't even given the option of party affiliation (so he's not an Independent there either). According to Antrim County records, Moore registered last April from his lakefront spread in northern Michigan, where he reportedly splits his time, but has yet to vote in Michigan. He transferred his drivers license to Michigan from New York around the same time, though Moore has a Volkswagen Beetle registered from his Manhattan home.

Hey! There's a Person in that Womb!

It's Alive! - I was taught in my public school upbringing that the "foetus" growing in the womb of an impregnated woman was a mass of tissues, a foreign growth not unlike a tumor.

Well, if it's like a tumor it must be cut out.

Thankfully, that teaching never took. Instead, it was the respect for life in all it's imperfect forms which my parents instilled in me despite the best efforts of the public school system.

Today, because of the work of Professor Stuart Campbell of London's Create Health Clinic, I'm reminded about how right my parents continue to be and how wrong groups like the misnamed Planed Parenthood remain to this day.

Professor Campbell has pioneered what is arguably the most detailed views inside man's first world of exploration, the womb. In this protective world, the child early on begins exhibiting behaviors of touching, feeling, looking, and even smiling.

The photo above is of a child, a person, who at eight weeks along in life is already kicking and moving around with new found abilities.

The BBC is running a picture series that I suggest all view.

Joe Carter of the evangelical outpost pens in considering the wonder of these images:

As the Creator molds a new member of the human family within a mother’s womb we are able to use tools developed by man’s ingenuity and intellect to admire the magisterial process.

Remarkable.

Indeed. And humbling.

(Hat tips to the Drudge Report, the evangelical outpost, and Ex Nihlo.)

Husband Blows-Up Wife's Kitchen!

Gag me with your cooking! - Just how do you judge when a person's culinary abilities are deficient?

When that person's mate explodes the kitchen.

Ananova™ reports:

A Romanian man faces charges after he tried to blow up his kitchen because his wife was such a lousy cook.

Viorel Leahu, 41, from Todiresti, said he decided to punish his wife for her terrible food.

Stranger still, is that he claims his inspiration comes from two United States Republicans, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Well, let me qualify that. Viorel claims his inspiration comes from the movies of Willis and Schwarzenegger.

He bombed the kitchen by opening the gas taps and throwing a lighter onto the stove. For that, he injured his hand and now faces as much as three years in prison.

Hopefully the prison food will be a better culinary delight.

"Adventures in Odyssey" Coming to the Computer.

Bits worth Byting. - A new computer software company calling itself Digital Praise has been signed to produce computer games based on "Focus on the Family's" successful "Adventures in Odyssey" series.

The Digital Praise website posts the following information:

The company is currently in development on two computer game titles starring the characters, places, and themes of the wildly popular Adventures in Odyssey radio theater series, Adventures in Odyssey and the Treasure of the Incas and Adventures in Odyssey and the Sword of the Spirit. Featuring Whit, Eugene, and Connie and introducing some new faces as well, these interactive games for the PC and Mac are sure to provide many hours of skill-building and entertaining game play for your children ages 8 to 12. They also teach important virtues like gentleness, patience, kindness, self-control, and cooperation.

I would hope the company would look at porting these to the widely available console system formats, like Game Boy, Game Cube, X-Box, and Playstation2.