We must respect all religions, mustn’t we?

Instead of burning Qurans, I have heartburn.  Out of California (where else?)

As 18 doves flew into the skies over the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament Saturday night, more than 100 diverse Sacramentans blessed copies of the Quran with roses of love.

Again and again they uttered the refrain, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me” at the entrance to the downtown church framed by white statues of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. A musician with a white guitar accompanied them.

Representatives of Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, B’hai, Mormon, Sikh, Vedic Druid and Muslim beliefs read scriptures from the great religious texts - including six...READ MORE

Recently there has been a rash of desecration of the Eucharist during communion time.  As a result, there have been some calls to restore communion on the tongue.

That is one solution.

Here is another.

A priest in Valencia Spain witnessed a young man during communion take the Eucharist and throw it on the floor.  The priest then decided on a course of action that one could properly call old school apologetics of the corporal kind.

The priest slapped the young man across the face and dragged him from the Church and loudly pronounced him a ‘blasphemer.’

There are different schools of thought on this.  Some will undoubtedly say that the priest should have counseled the young man on...READ MORE

My house lies within the cone of uncertainty.  That sounds bad, doesn’t it?

As of this writing, my house on the east end of Long Island is on the western edge of the possible path of Hurricane Earl as it heads up the east coat.

I have been watching it all week and preparing.  I have already begun removing any potential projectiles (anything not strapped down) from my yard and putting them in the garage.I went to the store days ago to stock up on milk and bread before the rush hit. Since I have five children there is no fear any of it will go to waste.

It has been a while for us Islanders, but we have been through this before.  You get prepared and you see what happens.  There are...READ MORE

There has been a lot of commentary on Glenn Beck’s “restoring honor” rally in Washington this past weekend.  President Obama ignored it.  Newscasters spun it.  And people argued over the size of it.

But hands down, the silliest thing anyone has said on this topic (and maybe any topic) comes from the politically liberal commentator Bill Press.

As the topic turned to the rally, it was noted that most of the rally focused on a return to God and patriotism.

Speaking on CNN, Press said that speaking about God in a ‘sacred’ space like the Lincoln Memorial is ‘inappropriate.’

Talk of God is inappropriate at a “sacred” place?  A sacred place? 

Many people have rightly been pointing out that...READ MORE

Truth be told, I do not give much consideration to the sensitivities of others.  While I accept that sometimes you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, I also think its a good thing when the jars of honey and vinegar are labeled correctly.

I prefer sharp lines and clear distinctions.  That is my nature.  As anyone who knows me or anyone who regularly reads me can tell you, I don’t much mind confrontation either.  And feelings get hurt sometimes, after all that is what they are there for.

All this preamble is intended to convince you of my bona fides when it comes to tactics of a more aggressive nature when trying to make a point.  Why?  Because these people are off their rocker.

...READ MORE

The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson famously said “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”

May I humbly suggest that as far as the hobgoblins of little statesmen go, inconsistency trumps.

The story of the day that won’t go away is the building of a mosque/Islamic Center just a few blocks away from ground zero.  This story was given additional legs, as if it needed it, by the politically-inept comments of the President in support of its construction some ten days ago.  These comments were followed the next day by supposedly clarifying but conspicuously contradictory comments.  So accustomed are we to such backflips that...READ MORE

Boy this sounds bad. Have you heard of the Hindenburg Omen?  I never had until yesterday and I wish I never did.  Oh it sounds bad, real bad.  And it has just been triggered so stock up on beef jerky and Fruit Loops, its going to be a bumpy ride.

In a nutshell, the Hindenburg Omen is a complex set of financial indicators that when they occur are supposed to presage a complete collapse of the market.  As it turns out, all the criteria were satisfied last Thursday and thus the egg timer of doom has been set in motion.  And for all you doubters out there you should know that the Hindenburg Omen was created by a blind mathematician.  A blind mathematician!  You don’t get more serious and...READ MORE

I, like many others, giggled when I first heard about the antics of a Jetblue flight attendant.  As the story goes, Steven Slater was treated rudely by some passengers who did not listen to instructions to sit down and was accidentally hit in the head with a bag.  But what the understandably frustrated flight attendant did next has landed him in some legal hot water and has apparently made him a bit of a folk hero.

As you have probably heard, Mr. Slater allegedly took to the plane’s microphone and hurled a number of expletives (apparently including the f-bomb) at the unruly passengers, grabbed some beers, popped the escape hatch, and slid down the emergency slide.

I fly extensively for my...READ MORE