I have heard several folks say that all of this snow and ice is from El Nino, and try to convince me that “Global Warming” is still very real.  While El Nino does affect weather to some degree, it is not as reliable a predictor as most of us think.  There are simply far too many variables at play, and weather is a very cagey thing!

Stu Ostro, Senior Meteorologist at the Weather Channel has written some great articles about El Nino.  The following excerpt is from “Oh no, it’s El Nino!” which he published on September 14, 2006:

WHAT EL NINO IS

-A climate phenomenon that influences weather patterns. It specifically refers to above-average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean (such as those highlighted in the recent map above).

-The opposite of El Nino (below-average SSTs in that portion of the Pacific) is known as La Nina. When SSTs are near average, that is called the “neutral phase.”

-El Nino and La Nina are related to both SST changes and the natural ebb and flow of trade winds across the tropical Pacific. The associated fluctuation in atmospheric pressure is known as the Southern Oscillation. The whole oceanic/atmospheric process is known as ENSO (El Nino/Southern Oscillation).

WHAT EL NINO IS NOT

-A storm. A flood. A drought. A hurricane. A weather event or pattern. (At times when its influence is particularly strong, such as when a very active southern jet stream and storm track are present during winter, that is sometimes referred to as an “El Nino pattern,” El Nino being a descriptor of the related, predominant weather pattern. However El Nino itself is not a weather pattern per se.)

-Abnormal or bizarre. Both El Nino and La Nina are a natural part of our world, and have likely been so for many thousands of years.

-The sole cause of individual weather events or the sole influence upon seasonal weather patterns. (The water/land/atmosphere/sun climate “system” is very complex.)

-Something that necessarily increases the amount of weather and climate calamities. There are certain locations that do typically experience specific kinds of impacts such as drought or flooding, but plenty of extremes and disasters of all kinds occur around the world when El Nino is not present. El Nino just tends to shift them around.

WHAT EL NINO DOES

-El Nino has a direct effect upon the atmosphere over the tropical Pacific.

-It has an indirect influence upon weather patterns in other parts of the world, including in and near the United States. The strongest influence in North America is during the “cold season,” i.e. from late autumn through winter and into early spring.

-The degree of this influence at any given time and place depends in part on El Nino’s intensity, which can vary, and on other weather and climate factors.

“Even though you can’t see or hear them at all, A person’s a person, no matter how small.”
~Dr. Seuss~

Today is the annual March For Life in Washington, D.C., in protest of the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.  I am happy and amazed to report that this is also Alex’s third time to go.  He is passionate about a great many things, but one of the things that he is most passionate is the right to life.

He has traveled to the March with our youth group from St. John the Baptist Church, and one of the most exciting parts of his “pilgrimage” is that he will be attending Mass this morning celebrated by Cardinal Rigali, who was one of the religious leaders who presented the Manhattan Declaration back in November!  Then, Alex will get to serve at the special North Carolina Mass with both Bishop Jugis from our own Diocese of Charlotte and Bishop Burbidge, from the Diocese of Raleigh.

And, of course, he will get to march.  We are still free here in the United States, and we can still protest peacefully.  I am so proud of my son that he wants to participate and make his voice known, because the smallest members of our society cannot yet fight for themselves.

WooHoo!!!!  Coakley conceded, and R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-A-N Scott Brown took over Ted Kennedy’s seat in the Senate!  It is almost too good to be true. . . I feel like I am dreaming . . .

America *is* still awake!  We are fighting back!!  Oh, I hope all those other Senators and Representatives are absolutely quaking in their boots up in their little ivory towers.  What a powerful message the voters of Massachusetts have sent tonight!  And just in time for the March For Life in D.C. this Friday (which Obama will undoubtedly ignore, since it opposes his culture of death).

Oh, I am so happy, and finally, just a tiny bit hopeful.

I am a headline news reader.  I rarely bother to read the whole story unless the headline really, really grabs me.  I think I am, sadly, typical.  But in my defense, I have to say that the headlines have been screaming doom and devastation for so long that it’s very difficult for me to summon up the courage to look past them, into the actual articles.

Tonight’s headlines on Yahoo! illustrate my point perfectly:

Haiti hit by largest earthquake in over 200 years
AP sources: Employer health mandate may be dropped
AP Exclusive: Obama wants $33 billion more for war
Cold weather and growing sales mock death of fur

Okay, I actually read the article about the earthquake in Haiti.  Those poor, poor people!  As if their very existence was not suffering enough.  My heart goes out to them.

The healthcare thing has begun to sound like a permanent droning in my ears. “Obama” wants this and that (yet they keep showing pictures of Pelosi. . . ewwww) and they keep changing their minds.  At first, I was really concerned.  Now I’m beginning to think they’re going to carry on for years, and accomplish nothing.

Obama wants more for the war.  Of course he does.  He totally lied about getting our military home.  Change?  Yeah. Sure.

Now, the “death of fur” thing is funny to me.  All of those self-righteous people who condemned others for wearing fur must have forgotten about how furs were one of the key ingredients to surviving  winters all over the globe throughout history.  And, when people get really cold, they want what works best.

So, I’ve come to the conclusion, yet again, that the world has gone mad.  I just hope everybody else can see it, too.  Sometimes it gets a little old being the only one to proclaim that the emperor has no clothes!

And now, for the part of 2009 that really didn’t personally concern me.  Macabre as it may sound, the part of the Oscars that I most enjoy is their tribute to the stars that have died that year.  Well, this year, I found a list of those who left us this year, and decided that some of them were worth mentioning here.  I think it is a true sign that I am getting older that I actually knew who more than half of the people were, and even had an opinion on most of them.  Not that my opinion matters much, but I do remember many years in which I had no idea who all those people were who had died, or why anyone would care.

So, I am categorizing them in my own way:  The “Greats” (Those who really made a difference for this world, and often risked their lives in doing so, or who just lived that long), The “Too-Young-To-Die” (Those who should have lived a few more decades, at the very least), The “Well Known and Loved” (I think that one is pretty self-explanatory), The “Rich and Powerful” (again, self-explanatory, except that these may not have bee so well-loved, at least not by yours truly!), and The “Not Well-Known-But-Important-Anyway” (maybe not household names, but still famous in their own right).  There is, of course, some overlap, but I’m generalizing, so please allow me some discrepancies.

GREATS

Marek Edelman (Last surviving leader of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising against the Nazis); Harry Patch (Last surviving British trench soldier from World War I); Millvina Dean (Last survivor of the Titanic); Maria de Jesus (World’s oldest person, age 115)

TOO-YOUNG-TO-DIE

Brittany Murphy (Actress, age 32);  Chris Henry (Bengals, age 26); Stephen Gately (Irish Pop Singer, age 33); Andy Kessler (Skateboarding Pioneer, age 48) Michael Jackson (Superstar, age 50); Dolla (Roderick Anthony Burton II) (Rapper, age 22);

WELL KNOWN AND LOVED

Roy E. Disney (Nephew of Walt Disney); Patrick Swayze (Actor; and he could qualify for “Too-Young-To-Die”, as well); Farrah Fawcett (Actress); Ed McMahon (Sidekick on the Tonight Show); David Carradine (Actor, Martial Artist);  Dom DeLuise (Comedic actor, director); Bea Arthur (Actress); Natasha Richardson (Stage and screen actress, qualifies for “Too-Young-To-Die”, as well); Paul Harvey (Broadcasting Pioneer); Ricardo Montalban (Actor);

RICH AND POWERFUL (Well-Known, but Not Necessarily Well-Loved)

Oral Roberts (Evangelist); Edward Kennedy;  Walter Cronkite (Legendary Anchorman);

NOT WELL-KNOWN-BUT-IMPORTANT-ANYWAY

Don Hewitt (Creator of 60 Minutes);  Les Paul (Guitarist & Inventor); John Hughes (Director of “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club”, two of my favorite movies); Billy Mays (TV Pitchman); Jack Kemp (Congressman and NFL quarterback);  Dave Arneson (Co-creator of the game Dungeons & Dragons);  Alan Livingston (Creator of Bozo the Clown; former president of Capitol Records who signed the Beatles and Frank Sinatra);  Millard Fuller (Habitat for Humanity founder)

I felt very sad when Farrah Fawcett died, and I think I actually grieved when Michael Jackson died.  No, I was not a huge fan, and I really never cared for much of his music, at least not anything he did after “Thriller”.  But growing up, Michael Jackson was as much a part of our lives as school, or dinner.  He was everywhere, and everyone knew him.  Listening to his songs that came out in the early 1980’s brought back so many very good memories.  How could I not grieve?  And, like him or not, he was freakishly gifted.  And finally, for what very little it’s worth:  I do not, and never have, thought he was a child molester.  If you want to know my reasoning behind that (and I would be shocked if anybody even cared!!) then email me, or leave a comment, and I’ll explain.  I also loved Dom DeLuise.  He was just somebody you wanted to hug!  And finally, I felt a tremendous amount of sadness when Paul Harvey died.  I knew his voice as well as my own father’s, and probably welcomed it more.

So, tomorrow is a new year, and a new decade.  Thank God!!!

I have been looking at 8 inches of snow on my back deck for 12 days now.  It is *COLD* out there! I have been reading that this winter and last are the coldest on record.  People all over the globe are seeing record snows and low temperatures.  Yet, this morning I read this on AOL’s “Wallet Pop“:

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that a typical U.S. household will spend less money on heating bills between October of this year and March of 2010 due to milder weather and lower cost of natural gas.

It is absolutely mind-boggling to me that the “experts” still can’t see what’s in front of their frozen little noses:  climate is cyclical, and “Global Warming” is on the way out!

But, I guess the real truth is that there is a tremendous amount of money and power in the propagation of the “Global Warming” myth.  If they can keep it going, then they can monitor our every move and control our industry, in the all hallowed name of saving the environment.

Let me make this VERY CLEAR:  our family does NOT have health insurance.  I would rather keep it that way than submit to anything our government is trying to push on us at this point!!

This made me cry, and I don’t even like Rap or Hip Hop.  But wow. . .it is really powerful. I am so glad blacks are sending out messages like this, because most abortion victims are black.  Tell me it’s not a racist movement . . .

Anyone who knows me very well knows that math is “not my bag, Baby!”, so I asked a friend to have her math whiz hubby double check the following numbers, just to make sure they jived.  Sadly, they do.

A vehicle at 15 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline.

How good a deal was that ???

Okay, I’ve spent way to much time on this blog lately posting political stuff.  It’s time to get down to brass tacks, and talk about something that is going to affect each and every one of us, or at least our descendants, at some point.

According to Yahoo!’s Weird Science, the Andromeda Galaxy is hungry, and is feeding on other galaxies, and we’re next!

The Andromeda galaxy, our nearest neighbor in space, turns out to have a nasty appetite. Using a telescope scan, astronomers have found evidence of Andromeda’s galactic meals. From the AP:

“What we’re seeing right now are the signs of cannibalism,” said study lead author Alan McConnachie of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Victoria, British Columbia. “We’re finding things that have been destroyed … partly digested remains.”

Earth’s galaxy, the Milky Way, is next on Andromeda’s snack list. John Dubinksi, co-author of the project, says the two galaxies are headed toward each other at a rate of 75 miles per second. But not to worry: We won’t be dinner for another few billion years.

Be afraid.  Be very afraid!!

This is from Catholic Online.  I think it’s excellent.

Dear Mr. Obama: An American Mom Writes President Obama
By Jennifer Hartline
8/14/2009

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) – I have in front of me a letter I received from you in response to a letter I wrote to you regarding abortion in the U.S. You thanked me politely for taking the time to share my views on abortion and said, “This is a heart-wrenching issue.”
I just haven’t been able to get one little question out of my mind since reading your letter. Why?

Why is it heart-wrenching? Why would my heart be rent by making a perfectly legal and morally acceptable choice to have an abortion? Why should anyone’s heart be torn by this choice? The highest law of our land says that there is nothing wrong with choosing abortion. If no law is being broken, why should my heart or anyone’s heart be troubled?

In the short time you’ve been President, you have strategically worked to expand abortion access around the country. In fact, you promised in your campaign that your first task upon taking office would be to sign into law the Freedom of Choice Act, which would eliminate virtually every existing restriction on abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy, and even lift the ban on partial-birth abortion. (You said you considered that one a legitimate medical procedure.)

I’m trying to understand, Mr. Obama, but it just doesn’t make any sense. Why would you work so methodically to increase the occurrence of something so heart-wrenching?
As a woman, I can testify to the fact that when I make decisions to protect my privacy or the autonomy of my body, there’s nothing heart-wrenching about it. I am not the least bit torn or conflicted about defending myself in those ways. Indeed, it is my body – the one God gave me and the one He expects me to care for wisely and honorably. My body – like yours – was made to be holy.

If the choice to “terminate a pregnancy” through abortion is merely about a woman’s right to privacy and autonomy, there should be nothing difficult about it at all. If there are no grounds to declare it illegal, inhumane, or morally wrong, then indeed there should be no conflict of the heart whatsoever.

But you and I both know that is not the case, because you and I both know quite well that there is something very, very morally wrong with abortion.

No one can pretend the other person in this equation doesn’t exist. No one – not even you – can deny that abortion ends a human life. Whether the medical profession classifies that person as an embryo, a fetus, or a newborn, the indisputable fact is we’re talking about a new human being. Not an eggplant or a seahorse. This person is not an extension of her mother’s body, but a distinct, separate individual with her own body and soul.

Abortion does not tear the mother’s body limb from limb, or burn her body with chemicals, or suction her body into a vacuum, or stab a hole in her skull and suction out her brains. Abortion does all these hideous things to another human being. That is the reality of this wretched “choice.”

No thinking, civilized person can deny it. We all know in our hearts, in the depths of our souls that abortion kills a human person. There is a very strange and powerful sort of delusion going on, then, for that is the only way to explain how so many people can stubbornly, arrogantly and blindly cling to the notion that abortion is legitimate “reproductive health care” and a “right” of all women.

I ask you again: what is so heart-wrenching about availing myself of legitimate reproductive health care?

Those who demand abortion rights must constantly prop up the illusion in their minds that they’re not hurting anyone or doing anything wrong. It helps their cause to use more palatable language, like “terminating a pregnancy” rather than killing a baby. (Mr. President, I’ve been pregnant four times and I can assure you that every single time, I was pregnant with a baby. The only way to terminate a pregnancy is to terminate the baby.)

Ah, the baby… could that be the source of all the heart-wrenching? But we’ve already decided we’re not going to even acknowledge the humanity of the baby, so what’s the problem? Just get rid of the unwanted tissue already and be done with it.

“Pro-Choice” advocates must continually shout the mantra of “women’s rights” in order to keep from thinking about the mangled little body lying on the instrument table after the “procedure.” If they stop for even a moment to consider the actual results of abortion, all arguments for its legality would necessarily collapse in a heap around them. No one with an ounce of humanity could stomach this gruesome brand of “medicine” without the protection of narcissistic and evil delusions of choice and rights.

The enemy of every human soul has deceived and deluded us into rationalizing the unjustifiable murder of our own children. You are being deceived, Mr. President, by the father of lies. The prince of darkness has persuaded many of us to reject our natural instinct to protect our young. He has convinced too many women that they can simply destroy their own child and walk away unscathed. It is not so. Abortion leaves only a trail of death and despair. It is not freedom for women; it is bondage to brokenness.

You now stand in a position to set in motion changes to our nation that may last for decades or longer. You can either use the power in your hands for life or for death. I grieve to think that you will persist in your path of death for our country; that my children will inherit the destructive fruits of all that you seem intent on pursuing. I beg you to hear the truth, to hear the cry of the voiceless little ones. I beg you to choose life.

Do not include abortion funding in your health care reform. The purposeful death of a human being can never be considered health care. Do not continue to demand that our nation’s collective tax dollars be spent on the mass-killing of the unborn. The truth is laid out before you in the purest light; without shadows, without doubt. “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20

There is nothing heart-wrenching about choosing life, Mr. President. No shame, no regrets, nothing lost. Only blessings gained. I continue to pray for you, that you will have the courage to protect all human life, especially the weakest and most defenseless. I pray that you will use your position of power to bring life – not death – to our nation. I pray that the Lord of Life and Prince of Peace will bless you and guide you and that you will welcome His revealing light. Choose life, Mr. President. It is the only way we will survive.

——

Jennifer Hartline is a Catholic Army wife and stay-at-home mother of three precious kids who writes frequently on topics of Catholic faith and daily living. She is a contributing writer for Catholic Online

I am a fishy American.  I absolutely think that Obama’s Healthcare plan is G-A-R-B-A-G-E.

The White House wants us to go tattle on anyone who might be spreading “false” “rumors” about the proposed healthcare plan.  Since when in this country, the greatest country in the world, Land of the Brave and Home of the Free, do we spy on each other and report to Big Brother?????

I am sure that there are those of you who don’t believe me.  Check out the White House Blog for yourselves:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care.  These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation.  Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

Senator John Conryn (R-TX) brings up an interesting point.  He has this to say, directly to Obama:

“Do your own past statements qualify as ‘disinformation’? For example, is it ‘disinformation’ to note that in 2003 you said: “I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care plan”?

Yeah. . . Obama didn’t count on Americans actually thinking for themselves, and why should he?  They sure as heck didn’t when they voted last November!

Make no mistake:  if the White House is asking Americans to out each other over a health care plan, there is more to come. The White House is already compiling an “Enemies List”.  Wonder if my liberal family members and friends will come see me in prison???

Beginning tomorrow, on the Feast Day of St. Thomas More, OneNationUnderGod is launching a prayer campaign for “Catholic” politicians, who claim to be Catholic, but whose voting records are very much in opposition to that claim. So, OneNationUnderGod is asking for prayer pledges.  What that means is that you sign up to pray for a politician, on a week-to-week basis, for their conversion.

From their website, explaining the campaign:

In a spirit of hope and Christian charity, OneNationUnderGod is launching a prayer campaign specifically focused on the conversion of Catholic politicians to further foster a Culture of Life in our country.

This effort will commence on June 22, 2009–the feast day of St. Thomas More, whom Pope John Paul II proclaimed the patron saint of statesmen and politicians. A 16th-century English chancellor who refused to accept King Henry VIII as the head of the Church of England, St. Thomas More held a passion for the truth that enlightened his conscience and led him to know that, just as man must be one with God, so politics must be with morality.

Many Catholic politicians support policies that reject a fundamental right to life.  Although these policy makers have been indelibly configured to Christ and the Church through Baptism, by denying these basic human rights, they stand outside full communion with the Church.

In the 1995 encyclical Evangelium vitae, John Paul II reiterates what the Catholic Church has always taught: that lawmakers have a grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that contradicts humanity’s fundamental right to life.

Months ago, we discovered that 50 percent of Catholic politicians currently serving in the 111th Congress have accepted large donations from pro-abortion lobby groups while reinforcing their support for abortion rights legislation.  These elected officials are deeply confused about Catholic teaching on the morality of abortion.

Catholic legislators who support abortion rights fail to recognize that legitimate social policy must be guided by absolute truth.  Many of these legislators cite “primacy of conscience” to justify their support for abortion rights, embryonic stem cell research and euthanasia.  However, a properly formed conscience recognizes the essential truth of Catholic teaching—that human life is sacred and inviolable from the moment of conception until natural death.

Over the past few weeks, we have contacted bishops of these pro-abortion Catholic members of Congress, to shed light on the politicians’ pro-abortion voting records and the money they have received from abortion lobbyists. We have respectfully asked that they continue to minister to these lawmakers.  Their spiritual direction gives invaluable insight to our Catholic legislators, reaffirming “that life is entrusted to man’s responsibility.”

Please, it only takes a few moments a day to pray for our politicians!  Even if you’re not Catholic, you can commit to pray for our leaders!  You can click here to make a prayer pledge.

This little movie, that came out in 1948, is almost 10 minutes long, but worth every second. For those of us who grew up on Bugs Bunny, you’ll enjoy the format! Back in the 1940’s, folks were a lot more focused and clear-headed than we are today, it would seem.  Let me know what you think.

Props to Matt Archbold over at Creative Minority Report for his incredible parody of Lord of the Rings!

Click this link to read it:Lord of the Czars

Absolutely brilliant!