http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26512112-5003402,00.html

Books prove prayer can cure cancer, says archbishop

TERMINAL illness such as cancer can be cured by prayer, the head of the Catholic Church in Australia said.

I'm always looking for good resources to figure out what to eat and what to drink that's vegan. Especially since this year I wanted to give some wine, and wanted to make sure it was vegan wine. (Here's a wikipedia entry on wine and veg*nism, in case you're unfamiliar with the issues.)

Been a whopping 7 days since my last post...that's atypical..

It's not tuesday but i have some pros and cons to discuss. so:

pros:

-Finally got together with a friend last night - had a gooood time...need to get together more often

-T has been much better lately since the breakup

-Sarah and Kristen should be coming in town soon and I'm looking forward to finally meeting them after two years of being vox neighbors!

-My tree makes me smile

-Got a couple new Snoopy's

-Every Rankin & Bass production ever made. Genius.

-The amusing pictures in my head of dressing up Baby Girl as Santa and Mary as Mrs. Claus, having them sitting in rockers sipping hot cocoa. Baby Girl (Santa) would also be eating oatmeal because of the Wilfred Brimley resemblance. She would not be discussing diabetes, however.

-The fact that my head works like that is a pro and con in and of itself.

And, here's a little elf:

 

 

 

 

 

~

I'm not sure I want my food to announce it's going to make my jiggly bits dance but this was a wonderful dinner on a hot evening:;

And how could I resist wine with a label like this?   It was actually pretty good and I've bought another bottle...  :

Those of you who used to be on Whitepage may be interested to know that cc is back on Vox. She used to live in Sydney  but is in the bush now. You can catch up on her here. http://cc1804.vox.com/

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26506144-952,00.html

BIBLE classes should be compulsory so children have a fundamental understanding of Christianity on leaving school, federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says.

"I think everyone should have some familiarity with the great texts that are at the core of our civilisation," Mr Abbott told the Herald Sun.

"That includes, most importantly, the Bible.

"I think it would be impossible to have a good general education without at least some serious familiarity with the Bible and with the teachings of Christianity.

"That doesn't mean that people have to be believers."

But former Howard government Islamic advisor Dr Ameer Ali, said Mr Abbott's remarks were "over the top".

"It's one thing to say every child needs a good knowledge of history and geography or science," Dr Ali said.

"But it is something else to say all children should have a knowledge of the Bible. That might hurt other people who have their own holy scriptures," he said.

And the Australian Education Union's federal president, Angelo Gavrielatos, said that religion was not a priority for schools.

"There is a place for comparative studies of religion in the curriculum, but ultimately we consider it a private matter for parents and their children," he said.

Read more on the Herald Sun's website.

You all know that I'm fucking nuts, so this will come as no surprise.

On Monday, I was at work, bored, staring down an afternoon with little to do. I did what anyone with a serious mental illness would do: I faked a headache and left work to go work on the house!

I put in a good five hours, feeling pleased that I was getting closer to being ready for my drywall contractor to work next week. The next morning, it occurred to me that I already had an excuse in place, so I called in sick. Good thing I did.

At about 9:30, my drywall contractor called to say that his schedule had changed. He could either start on Wednesday or he wouldn't be able to get to it until the new year.

My people, you know what I did. I said, "Start on Wednesday," and then I threw my ass in gear to get ready for him. I knew I had at least two more days of work to do, so I figured on at least 16 hours. It ended up taking a little longer than that. It was my first and hopefully my last home remodeling all-nighter. Because it's one thing to pull an all-nighter, sitting around eating pizza and studying. It's another thing to spend all night standing on a ladder, scraping, peeling, sanding, and priming.

At about 8 pm, I broke for dinner and went down the block to the nearest fast food place. In the shape I was in, I would normally have gone through the drive-thru, but the bathroom in my basement is sooooo cold. I was willing to face a little public humilation in order to put my ass on a toilet seat that was not glacial.

I took my pee break and went back out to order some dinner. People stepped away from me in line. At the counter, the cashier recoiled. Now I knew I was dirty, but until that moment I hadn't realized just how dirty. I had a cloud of dust and debris around me--the pulverized particulate of fifty years of bad wallpaper choices. And probably not a little in the way of lead paint chips. The cashier didn't even bother to ask if I wanted my food to go; she just bagged it up and handed it to me from arm's length. Only then did I notice the little semi-circle of dust and detritus that I'd left at the counter where I'd been standing.

But wait, there's more. At midnight, about 15 hours into my ordeal, I was dying. I could see I had at least 3 more hours of work and maybe 5 hours. I went out to the local quickie mart for coffee and another pee break in non-artic conditions. An elderly man stood by the counter chatting with the college age cashier. Clearly the old man had reached that point in life where he no longer really needed sleep, so he'd taken to hanging around pestering cashiers at all-night quickie marts.

When I approached with my coffee, the old man smiled at me and said, "Why don't you let me get that for you?"

I was already in a slightly stunned state, but I managed to say, "No, that's okay. I got it."

He persisted, but I already had my money out on the counter.

Having failed to buy me a coffee, the old man said, "Do you have some place warm to stay tonight?"

Yes, that's right, my people. I was so bedraggled looking that I was mistaken for a homeless person. I schlepped my crusty, dusty self back to my 2 bedroom gulag, and went on with the work. At 4:30, I put the last strokes of primer on all the cut wallpaper seams, and dragged myself home to shower and sleep for a few hours.

For the record, I do not recommend this, but I do now have sheetrock on my walls.

Well, the last order dates for the holidays have passed, and Santa's final sacks of festive MOOs are filling up fast. We're still taking new orders though, and we'll be shipping them out as fast as we can - so don't hesitate to order thank you cards for all your lovely pressies!

Just so you know, here's our warehouse and customer service closure dates over the holiday season.

Thursday 24th December - LIMITED HOURS: we'll be shipping orders in the morning, but going home in the afternoon to wrap presents.
Friday 25th December - CLOSED : we'll be at home feasting on mince pies and turkey.
Monday 28th December - UK CLOSED: we'll be buying new trousers to fit our expanded waistlines!! (please note this is a UK Holiday only).
Tuesday 29th December - OPEN: business as usual.
Wednesday 30th December - OPEN: business as usual.
Thursday 31st December - OPEN: business as usual.
Friday 1st January - CLOSED : we'll be trying out our New Year resolutions and nursing hangovers.
Monday 4th January - OPEN: that's it, holidays over, back to work!

It's also important to note that our StickerBook turnaround in the UK is severely delayed over the holidays. Any orders placed after the 20th December will not be dispatched until the week of the 4th January.

That's all for now - Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the MOO Warehouse Crew!

I thought long and hard about posting tonight. This is a time of year when I like to forget the crap of this world, I Iike to dwell on the good things in life. Those simple things we take for granted. Like good health, family, and the miracle of just being alive. But at this moment I am feeling rather despondent. For all his efforts, it seems that Obama will deliver a health system with cosmetic improvements. For all the efforts of a lot of good people, it seems that the Copenhagen talks will deliver a cosmetic "solution" to the climate change challenge that confronts us all. And I'll lay it on the line. Conservatives have brought us to this.

And I have to wonder why. All that Obama wanted to do was to make health care available to every American. I don't think that is unreasonable. After all, all other industrialised countries have provided for this basic necessity for their citizens decades ago.Yet, the richest country in the world refuses to do so. Instead, we are treated to a litany of lies and obfuscation that are really an insult to the intelligence of anyone with average intelligence. I really do feel for my many Vox friends who I know feel the way that I do. I do sincerely wish it was otherwise.

And it seems that the Copenhagen talks will be just that. Talks. And who will be celebrating the failure of the talks to deliver a plan to deliver the world from its folly? Why, those same conservatives who seem to think that so long as they resist change then that is all that necessary in this world. And it seems as though they have won. Only they haven't. We all lost.

Like I said, I'd sooner forget the crap. They sure make it hard, though. Maybe another whisky will help.

plus pumpkin lasagne.

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