Mangling the mother tongue

Posted on February 24, 2009 by David

According to the Telegraph, the top ten misquotes by British people are as follows:

1) A damp squid (a damp squib)

2) On tender hooks (on tenter hooks)

3) Nip it in the butt (nip it in the bud)

4) Champing at the bit (chomping at the bit)

5) A mute point (a moot point)

6) One foul swoop (one fell swoop)

7) All that glitters is not gold (all that glisters is not gold)

8 ) Adverse to (averse to)

9) Batting down the hatches (batten down the hatches)

10) Find a penny pick it up (find a pin pick it up)

Arbitrary North American irritations:

I could care less (I couldn’t care less)

Money is the root of all evil (the love of money is the root of all evil)

I’ve got less faults than you (I’ve got fewer faults than you)

I should have went to my grammar classes (I should have gone to my grammar classes)

There is bats in my belfry (there are bats in my belfry)

I should of attended my grammar lessons (I should have attended my grammar lessons)

I’m doing good (I’m doing well)

On a daily basis (every day)

Every person should check their words (every person should check his words)

Visa-versa (vice versa)

Its got it’s apostrophe in the wrong place (It’s got its apostrophe in the wrong place)

The trajectory of the Anglican Church (the direction of the Anglican Church)

As well, misplacing words in a sentence can be annoying (misplacing words in a sentence can be annoying as well)

Gaza: The Anglican Church of Canada takes sides – against Israel as usual.

Posted on February 23, 2009 by David

The ACoC is urging its members to write a letter:

In pressing for a lasting ceasefire, international leaders including Canada must recognize the recent violence as a symptom of decades-long failure of the international community, State of Israel, and leaders of the Palestinian community in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem to make difficult but necessary commitments to a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Canada must publicly recognize that no lasting peace is possible without justice, and without the adherence of all parties to the rule of law, especially those on which the international community has agreed, including the Geneva Conventions and the protection of non-combatants in militarily occupied territories. Ending the siege of Gaza and the Israeli occupation of the West Bank are two critical steps toward achieving justice and toward adherence to the rule of law.

The first paragraph is the decoy to create an illusion of impartiality.

In the second paragraph we get down to business. The ‘injustices’ singled out for special mention are: Israel’s siege of Gaza, civilian loss of life – presumably civilians in Gaza killed by Israelis – and the occupation of the West bank. No mention of the thousands of rockets fired at Israeli civilians from Gaza; no mention of the use of humans shields by Hamas; no mention of Hamas murdering its own people; no mention of the fact that Israel attempts to protect non-combatants, while Hamas deliberately targets them.

In short, another biased, pompously self-righteous, anti-Israel philippic from Fred Hiltz, the leftist interloper who has hijacked the Anglican church of Canada.

Diocese of Niagara: In Pursuit of Vindictiveness

Posted on February 22, 2009 by David

A brief summary of the plot so far:

Attempts to negotiate outside the courts
The parishes that left the Diocese of Niagara to realign with the Province of the Southern Cone have been taken to court by the diocese. ANiC’s lawyers have repeatedly asked the diocese to negotiate outside the courts; they were refused. Bishop Don Harvey has repeatedly asked Fred Hiltz to have one of the conversations that Hiltz is so fond of; he was refused.

The judge at the last court appearance ordered ANiC and the diocese to share the buildings and the cost of maintaining the buildings. The diocese has yet to pay anything towards the upkeep of the buildings, while, in St. Hilda’s case, having no compunction about driving out 100 people who need it with 5 people who don’t. If the diocese and ANiC could not agree on respective costs, the court ruled that an independent arbitrator mediate a solution. ANiC proposed an arbitrator early on; the diocese refused.

It appears that the diocesan lawyer is not completely daft though: it has occurred to him that the diocese will look bad in the next court appearance if they have obviously refused mediation. Therefore, they have recently sent an email to ANiC asking why there is a holdup on mediation; and they suggested the same arbitrator that ANiC originally proposed.

How much his this costing
The last court appearance was an appeal by ANiC. ANiC lost the appeal, so the diocese were awarded costs. The diocesan lawyers had charged $70,000 for the appeal. The judge viewed this as excessive and awarded them $20,000.

At the next costs hearing, the diocese will be asking for around $240,000 in legal fees; these fees are just for the court appearances that were to decide on whether the buildings were to be shared. ANiC’s legal fees are about one quarter. To gain perspective on this: an example of what the diocese has achieved at St. Hilda’s by spending $240,000, is that every Sunday morning, Cheryl Fricker from St. Aidan’s, Oakville attracts between 4 and 5 people from her own congregation to show up at an 8:30 service in St. Hilda’s building. That’s $4,615 per service or, over the year, $48,000 per person.

Vandalism!
Oakville is not a particularly rough part of Canada and it isn’t full of vandals whose calling in life is to remove church signs; St. Hilda’s has only experienced vandalism twice in its entire history. Someone obviously doesn’t like the diocese very much and has pinched their sign. The diocese has retaliated: we received an email from them threatening criminal prosecution if there is a repeat performance. And the neighbours have been asked to keep an eye open for nefarious sign-destroying miscreants. Vandalism has never been a particularly alluring temptation for me, but now – Must. Resist.

A Profusion of Prosecutions
Not content with taking all the ANiC parishes to court, the Diocese of Niagara is also suing the wardens of the parishes – personally. Who cares what for? It’s all about inclusion, after all.

Who paid whom
When St. Hilda’s was built the Diocese of Niagara lent the parish $4,000 to get started. Since then, the parish has paid back over $1,000,000 to the diocese in assessments and offerings. A diocesan bishop promised, in writing, that if the parish completed their building, the diocese would pay to pave the parking lot. It didn’t.

Whoever ends up winning the buildings in court, one thing is clear: they belong to the ANiC parishioners who have a legitimate use for them, not to the suits with backwards collars or the odious allotheist with the oven mitt on his head.

B minor Mass Et in unum Dominum

Posted on February 22, 2009 by David

From Bach’s B minor Mass, Karl Richter

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jhJPFRwxfs]

Yes Minister

Posted on February 21, 2009 by David

The secret diary of the Minister for Folding Deckchairs

Our private secretaries were waiting for us. Mine is a pleasant young woman called Jessica. I am also entitled to a car and a driver. Entirely pointless since the No159 and No3 buses run past my door.

Jessica explained the situation is complicated. Red boxes – lead-lined so that if the Minister is blown up, the Government’s papers will survive – cannot be carried on public transport. Second, there will be times when a vote is called without warning and we will need to get to the House quickly. Third, I might be glad of a lift home at 3am after an adjournment debate.

She also explained that the funding of the Government car pool is geared to encourage maximum use of the car. The drivers are on a low basic wage and dependent on overtime. Jessica said I will need a mobile phone, a pager and a fax at home. I offered mild resistance, but fear I shall have to give way. The first of what will no doubt be many little defeats at official hands.

While we were talking, in strolled JP. He made a little show of being pleased to see me.

‘Thank you for having me,’ I said. ‘Glad you decided to join us,’ he said drily. The sarcasm remained in the air long after he departed. Of course, he must know that I turned down the wretched job.

Outside, I ran into Labour MP Frank Field. He confirmed that the Government car service was a job creation scheme.

Life imitates art:

[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMbHTM07jBA]

Raunchy RCs

Posted on February 20, 2009 by David

h/t HolySmoke

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has come up with a list of exciting ideas to perk up your love life:

(1) Plan a picnic. If the weather is cold, spread a blanket on the living room floor. Romanticize the occasion by adding some wine, a rose, and mood music.

(2) “Tech-free” night. Turn off your cell phones, computer, the TV, and the lights. See what’s left to do without electricity. Sing old songs, have a pillow fight, recount stories of how you met, plan for the future.

(3) Be a tourist. Pretend you’re a tourist in your own town. Visit a museum, a scenic overlook, or a quaint neighborhood. Discover something new together!

(4) Midnight bowling. It’s more than just bowling! Some places have special music, lighting and gimmicks. Even without these, it can be a lot of fun if you don’t take it too seriously.

It goes on, but I might get too worked up if I display any more.

The really exciting stuff is going on in the comfort of the cloisters:

Indian nun claims sex is rife within Catholic Church.

The book by the former nun reveals how as a young novice she was propositioned in the confession box by a priest who cited biblical references to “divine kisses”. Later she was cornered by a lesbian nun at a college where they were teaching. “She would come to my bed in the night and do lewd acts and I could not stop her,” she claims.

And apparently this is not only to be expected, but is perfectly normal:

Dr Paul Thelekkat, a spokesman for the Syro-Malabar Catholic church said he had some sympathy for sister Jesme, and respected her freedom to express her views, but he believed her claims were trivial. “How far what she says is well-founded I can’t say, but the issues are not very serious. We’re living with human beings in a community and she should realise this is part of human life

Now I know why so many Anglicans are converting to Rome.

An Islamic perspective on Harry Potter

Posted on February 19, 2009 by David

Would Harry get past the Islamic Gestapo if we renamed him Muhammad Potter? Could the religion of peace bear it?

Some Muslim schools ‘make children despise the West’: Ban on cricket and Harry Potter

Some Islamic schools are promoting fundamentalist views and encouraging children to despise Western society, a report warns.

An investigation by the Civitas social policy think-tank found websites of some of the UK’s 166 Muslim schools are spreading extreme teachings, while a handful had links to sites promoting jihad, or holy war.

Examples include web forums forbidding Muslims from reading Harry Potter books, playing chess or cricket and listening to Western music.

In my early school-days, Lady Chatterley’s Lover was a banned book. As soon as the obscenity trial was over (E. M. Forster and his elite literary cronies had no idea what they were unleashing) and it became freely available, I saved up my pocket money and bought a copy. Naturally, along with thousands of other schoolboys whose hormones were out of control, I read it for its literary merit.

Thinking about it now, it is quite obvious that it doesn’t have much literary merit. And that brings me to Harry Potter: literary merit or not, I read the whole series with enjoyment.

I have a strong suspicion that J. K. Rowling has paid Muslims to ban Harry Potter in an attempt to increase sales.

Islam, hypocrisy and Anjem Choudary

Posted on February 19, 2009 by David

Muslim nut-case Anjem Choudary has called for people who get drunk to be flogged: Add an Image

The lawyer, who recently praised the Mumbai terror attacks, said anyone becoming intoxicated by alcohol should be given 40 lashes in public. He claimed alcohol was “the root of all evil”.

The 41-year-old made the remarks on his website Islam4UK, which argues that Britain should become an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law.

But he does have a few vices of his own, it seems:

According to media reports published in 2006, student friends say he called himself “Andy”, drank alcohol, indulged in casual sex, smoked cannabis and even took LSD.

And, in spite of the casual sex, he also doesn’t much like Valentine’s day:

BONKERS hate preacher Anjem Choudary has warned Brit lovers that if they celebrate Valentine’s Day they will rot in Hell.

Naturally, he hates Christmas:

The 41-year-old shocked Christians and even those of his own faith by branding yuletide festivities as “the pathway to hellfire”.

Anjem seems to be determined to create an Islamic dystopia; one in which he alone is free to indulge in alcohol, pot, casual sex, LSD – and Christmas.

No more standing on the Word

Posted on February 18, 2009 by David

If librarians have their way:

Librarians are being told to move the Bible to the top shelf to avoid giving offence to followers of Islam.

Muslims have complained of finding the Koran on lower shelves, saying it should be put above commonplace things.

So officials have responded with guidance, backed by ministers, that all holy books should be treated equally and go on the top shelf together.

Tyndale translated the Bible into the vulgar – or common – tongue so that common people would be able to understand it: it really is God’s word and exists to speak to commoners, not be above them.

The Koran should be put way above common things, though; preferably in the attic out of harm’s way.

Pope vs Pelosi

Posted on February 18, 2009 by David

From here:
It would appear from the two statements issued by the Vatican and the speaker’s office that Nancy Pelosi and Pope Benedict did not share the same views during her audience with the pontiff.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican Wednesday morning, but may not have had a meeting of the minds if the two statements from their offices are any indication.

No journalists were at the 15-minute encounter and the Vatican and the speaker’s offices have not released any photos. However, according to their statements it appears the pope and the politician attended two different get-togethers.

“His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church’s consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoins all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development,” the Vatican wrote, having released the statement moments before the two met.

Several hours later, Pelosi’s office gave her take on the tete-a-tete.

“It is with great joy that my husband, Paul, and I met with his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI today,” Pelosi said in a statement released hours after the meeting. “In our conversation, I had the opportunity to praise the Church’s leadership in fighting poverty, hunger and global warming, as well as the Holy Father’s dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel. I was proud to show his Holiness a photograph of my family’s papal visit in the 1950s, as well as a recent picture of our children and grandchildren.”

Nancy Pelosi, pro-abortion Catholic, evidently isn’t interested in the Pope’s views on protecting innocent life and, true to liberal form, is the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear, preferring to talk about less personally demanding topics such as world hunger and global warming. I wonder if she rode a bike to visit the Pope or flew in an aeroplane at taxpayer expense.

The Pope’s reference to “requirements of the natural moral law” as a defence for protecting unborn babies is interesting since it extends the principle of protecting the unborn – quite rightly – beyond Roman Catholicism to all who still believe in right and wrong: almost everyone on the planet with the possible exception of Anglicans.