CNN.com - Colonel: Porn led him to kill wife - Sep. 30, 2002 ANNAPOLIS JUNCTION, Maryland (AP) -- A lieutenant colonel at the Army War College pleaded guilty Monday to killing his wife, saying he beat and strangled her as they fought about his use of the Internet to find pornography.
Lt. Col. David Bartlett Jr., 46, reached a plea deal with prosecutors in the slaying of his 39-year-old wife, Suzanne.
Bartlett pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder, the military equivalent of second-degree murder. Prosecutors -- who had charged him with premeditated murder -- dropped assault and obstruction of justice counts.
Bartlett, the former branch chief of the operations research group at the Center for Strategic Leadership, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole at sentencing next month.
According to Bartlett, the couple argued for several days after his wife discovered he had been viewing pornography on the Internet. On March 19, he said, he beat her with an iron pestle and strangled her with a computer cord after she harassed him, called him names and shoved him.
Bartlett told police she never returned from a walk, but her body was found floating in a creek.
Well, Nihil Obstat finally found all the errors at Old Oligarch's blog. I'm surprised he/she didn't find them before - it was probably because I sometimes went in after O.O. to fix his spelling errors. Oh well. :)
This site: Critical Thinking On The Web, looks very cool. I will be poking around it for awhile. Link via Minute Particulars.
Fr. Riley gave an amazing homily today on the difference between mortal and venial sin, which included a run-down of the Ten Commandments and a description of a mortal and a venial sin that would offend against each one. Included in his descriptions was a statement that contraception is a mortal sin. I almost fell over. If you refer to my previous post, you'll see that Fr. Riley just preached on two of the topics I never thought I would hear from the pulpit.
I have been a Catholic since 1998, attending Mass since 1997. In that time I have not heard a priest speak against contraception during a homily. I asked the Old Oligarch, a cradle Catholic who has attended weekly mass all his life, how many times before today he had heard any preaching against contraception. He responded, "Once or twice." How sad.
When Father spoke against contraception, I expected some reaction from the congregation. Maybe a "Boo," or someone leaving, or everyone shifting in the pew, or something. Nothing happened, though.
This homily was very special to me because I have been somewhat bummed out all week from the revelation (via the discussions in the comments boxes on Amy Welborn's blog, and other places) that many of the so-called "Catholic bloggers" in the "Catholic blogosphere" are in fact sucking down The Pill as fast as Ortho-McNeil can produce them. Maybe I am naive, but the spirit in which many of these bloggers write made me believe they were truly orthodox, and I felt pleased that I had found a few like-minded people, which of course I now realize is not true. Maybe I am wrong to be disappointed, given my own multiple imperfections (I know it's hard to believe, but they do exist!), but I think there is a distinction between recognizing that something is a sin and acknowledging that one has fallen short and simply denying that one has sinned.
Charity has always been one of the most challenging virtues for me, and this is but one more example of my need for it, I guess.
I have been a Catholic since 1998, attending Mass since 1997. In that time I have not heard a priest speak against contraception during a homily. I asked the Old Oligarch, a cradle Catholic who has attended weekly mass all his life, how many times before today he had heard any preaching against contraception. He responded, "Once or twice." How sad.
When Father spoke against contraception, I expected some reaction from the congregation. Maybe a "Boo," or someone leaving, or everyone shifting in the pew, or something. Nothing happened, though.
This homily was very special to me because I have been somewhat bummed out all week from the revelation (via the discussions in the comments boxes on Amy Welborn's blog, and other places) that many of the so-called "Catholic bloggers" in the "Catholic blogosphere" are in fact sucking down The Pill as fast as Ortho-McNeil can produce them. Maybe I am naive, but the spirit in which many of these bloggers write made me believe they were truly orthodox, and I felt pleased that I had found a few like-minded people, which of course I now realize is not true. Maybe I am wrong to be disappointed, given my own multiple imperfections (I know it's hard to believe, but they do exist!), but I think there is a distinction between recognizing that something is a sin and acknowledging that one has fallen short and simply denying that one has sinned.
Charity has always been one of the most challenging virtues for me, and this is but one more example of my need for it, I guess.
Philosophy Test:
Here are my leading philosophical influences, according to the test:
1. Aquinas (100%)
2. Augustine (97%)
3. Mill (81%)
4. Ockham (77%)
5. Bentham (65%)
6. Kant (64%)
7. Epicureans (62%)
8. Aristotle (60%)
9. Spinoza (53%)
10. Prescriptivism (53%)
11. Cynics (46%)
12. Rand (42%)
13. Plato (37%)
14. Hume (24%)
15. Sartre (21%)
16. Stoics (17%)
17. Noddings (15%)
18. Nietzsche (11%)
19. Hobbes (5%)
link via Fr. Jim.
Here are my leading philosophical influences, according to the test:
1. Aquinas (100%)
2. Augustine (97%)
3. Mill (81%)
4. Ockham (77%)
5. Bentham (65%)
6. Kant (64%)
7. Epicureans (62%)
8. Aristotle (60%)
9. Spinoza (53%)
10. Prescriptivism (53%)
11. Cynics (46%)
12. Rand (42%)
13. Plato (37%)
14. Hume (24%)
15. Sartre (21%)
16. Stoics (17%)
17. Noddings (15%)
18. Nietzsche (11%)
19. Hobbes (5%)
link via Fr. Jim.
Yahoo! News - More Seek 'Religious' Mutual Funds
Wed Sep 25, 9:51 AM ET
By HOPE YEN, AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Disillusioned by the accounting scandals that helped decimate stock prices, a growing number of investors are seeking comfort in mutual funds that match their religious values and offer respectable returns.
(P.S.: The fact that the author's name is "Hope Yen" makes the story even better.)
Wed Sep 25, 9:51 AM ET
By HOPE YEN, AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Disillusioned by the accounting scandals that helped decimate stock prices, a growing number of investors are seeking comfort in mutual funds that match their religious values and offer respectable returns.
(P.S.: The fact that the author's name is "Hope Yen" makes the story even better.)
Kairos writes "I don't usually ask myself 'what would Jesus do?' because it usually turns out Jesus would do pretty much whatever was most convenient and least trouble. Or the opposite. Amazingly, Jesus is usually completely in sync with my present needs and desires."
Economist.com | The Antikythera mechanism The clockwork computer - An ancient piece of clockwork shows the deep roots of modern technology. Link via Fr. Jim.
The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Berkeley study finds youths more conservative than parents BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Teenagers are more conservative on issues such as school prayer and abortion than their parents, according to a study released Tuesday.
Political science professors Merrill Shanks and Henry Brady of the University of California, Berkeley, found the generation gap was most pronounced on issues such as school prayer - on which 69 percent of teenagers surveyed said it should be allowed, compared to 59 percent of adults 27 to 59.
When it came to federal funding of faith-based charities, 59 percent of college-aged adults supported it along with 67 percent of younger teenagers. That compares to 40 percent of adults in the older age bracket.
On the issue of abortion, 44 percent of those 15 to 22 supported restrictions while 34 percent of adults over 26 shared that feeling.
Political science professors Merrill Shanks and Henry Brady of the University of California, Berkeley, found the generation gap was most pronounced on issues such as school prayer - on which 69 percent of teenagers surveyed said it should be allowed, compared to 59 percent of adults 27 to 59.
When it came to federal funding of faith-based charities, 59 percent of college-aged adults supported it along with 67 percent of younger teenagers. That compares to 40 percent of adults in the older age bracket.
On the issue of abortion, 44 percent of those 15 to 22 supported restrictions while 34 percent of adults over 26 shared that feeling.
TIME.com: World -- The Legacy of Abraham He is beloved by Jews, Christians and Muslims. Can this bond stop them from hating one another?
A Postmodern Tribute to Zorak In 1994, the television programme Space Ghost: Coast to Coast came on the air...
notable For its Deconstruction of the tired yet Profitable Late-Night Talk show Format (see Leno, Letterman, Carson), the primary impact of Coast to Coast was its placement of Zorak, a former villain of the former hero-turned-idiot Space Ghost, as the voice of social and moral revolution.
Imprisoned, like the modern consciousness, by a white heterosexist bourgeois male overimpressed with his technological prowess, Zorak resists Space Ghost's consumerist, elitist ideologies by transgressive words and actions. His ironic wit and destructive acts against the System are incredibly revolutionary when placed in the context of ironic postmodern cartoonery.
Furthermore, Zorak, unlike the idiotic Brak (who has been ripped off by the Coen Brothers as both The Dude and Delmar in O Brother Where Art Thou?), has yet to be truly reproduced. For he is a paradigm of snarling revolution, the id in a bloated Westernist consciousness.
notable For its Deconstruction of the tired yet Profitable Late-Night Talk show Format (see Leno, Letterman, Carson), the primary impact of Coast to Coast was its placement of Zorak, a former villain of the former hero-turned-idiot Space Ghost, as the voice of social and moral revolution.
Imprisoned, like the modern consciousness, by a white heterosexist bourgeois male overimpressed with his technological prowess, Zorak resists Space Ghost's consumerist, elitist ideologies by transgressive words and actions. His ironic wit and destructive acts against the System are incredibly revolutionary when placed in the context of ironic postmodern cartoonery.
Furthermore, Zorak, unlike the idiotic Brak (who has been ripped off by the Coen Brothers as both The Dude and Delmar in O Brother Where Art Thou?), has yet to be truly reproduced. For he is a paradigm of snarling revolution, the id in a bloated Westernist consciousness.
I turn up 2nd on the Compuserve search for divorcing a schizotypal man, and I'm not even a member of the divorcing-your-schizotypal-spouse webring.
CNN.com - Producers apologize for 'Barbershop' jokes - Sep. 24, 2002 Jackson wants them cut for future editions
fidius.org: What's My Pirate Name? Your pirate name is:
Iron Morgan Kidd
A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you are that person. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!
Iron Morgan Kidd
A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you are that person. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!
The Real World: A Teenage Mother's life This blog is about the ups and the downs of being 19 and having a son.
I met Fr. Jim on Sunday. It's very weird to have a priest greet you by saying, "And you must be the embittered mantis!"
Test Results: I got the same score for both 4 and 5, and it said I was a 4. I felt this rating did not give sufficient indication of my multifaceted nature, so I included them both below.
Samizdata.net - Glossary This is a glossary of blog terminology, including obscure words directly related to blogging and expressions commonly encountered in the blogosphere (qv) which might be obscure to the uninitiated.
Move over American Idol. Here comes American President. - This is weird. I think it's bad, but can't quite put my finger on why.
ROME (Reuters) - Death is hardly something to look forward to, but one Italian funeral home is trying to make the afterlife a tad more tempting by using bikini-clad women to sell its coffins.
On its site http:/ www.cofanifunebri.it, the Rome-based funeral home and coffin factory Cisa features its hand-crafted caskets alongside models sipping champagne or reclining seductively on the lids.
"We wanted to make the whole idea of picking your coffin less serious, maybe even make people laugh a bit," Giuseppe Tenara, one of the partners, said.
Near-naked women are used to sell everything in Italy from computers to chocolate bars, but Cisa has taken the advertising ploy to new limits.
The page featuring the firm's "Madonna" coffin shows a pouting woman in zebra shorts and high-heel boots kneeling next to the casket, while in "Empire Style," a blonde donning a black G-string leans on a coffin and turns her backside to the camera.
"Unfortunately the site hasn't helped sales much, because we mostly get calls from far away places like Greece and Spain instead of Rome," Tenara told Reuters.
That hasn't stopped Cisa from creating an online "sexy calendar" with yet more temptresses frolicking among the coffins.
Still, not all clients have been charmed.
"Some people are scandalized, but we just explain that we're trying to make people laugh," Tenara said.
On its site http:/ www.cofanifunebri.it, the Rome-based funeral home and coffin factory Cisa features its hand-crafted caskets alongside models sipping champagne or reclining seductively on the lids.
"We wanted to make the whole idea of picking your coffin less serious, maybe even make people laugh a bit," Giuseppe Tenara, one of the partners, said.
Near-naked women are used to sell everything in Italy from computers to chocolate bars, but Cisa has taken the advertising ploy to new limits.
The page featuring the firm's "Madonna" coffin shows a pouting woman in zebra shorts and high-heel boots kneeling next to the casket, while in "Empire Style," a blonde donning a black G-string leans on a coffin and turns her backside to the camera.
"Unfortunately the site hasn't helped sales much, because we mostly get calls from far away places like Greece and Spain instead of Rome," Tenara told Reuters.
That hasn't stopped Cisa from creating an online "sexy calendar" with yet more temptresses frolicking among the coffins.
Still, not all clients have been charmed.
"Some people are scandalized, but we just explain that we're trying to make people laugh," Tenara said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)