.:[Double Click To][Close]:.

Nadya Suleman Is Californian Oxtuplets Mom (Picture & Video)

Nadya Suleman Californian Oxtuplets dilevery team medical staffs
Nadya Suleman is Californian Oxtuplets mom. Nadya Suleman (also Nadya Suleiman), an unmarried mom, gave birth to oxtuplets (six girls and two boys) via C-section at the Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center in California on January 26. The eight babies (labeled as A-H) weighing between 450gram and 1.5kg were delivered with 46 physicians and staff present during a course of 5 minutes. Previously, Nadya already has 6 children (two of them are twins) aging from 2 to 7.


Nadya Suleman Californian Oxtuplets Birth Hospital Press Conference Video

As mentioned above, Nadya Suleman is a single mom, so she conceived all of fourteen babies using donated sperms after in vitro fertility treatment. The newly born oxtuplets came from the same sperm donor whose identify was not revealed.

Nadya Suleman oxtuplets are the second set of live-born octuplets in the US. In 1998, the Chukwu Octuplets were born in Houston, Texas.

'Hero Of Hudson' Online Game, Free to Play!

'Hero Of Hudson' Online Game

'Hero Of Hudson' online game is a free video game that everyone can try their hand to make a Captain Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger's heroic landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on Hudson river not in the real but virtural world. Click here to play free.

Super Bowl 2009 Commercial: Cars.com David Abernathy Lifetime of Confidence Video

Super Bowl 2009 Commercial Cars

2009 Cars.com Lifetime of Confidence Super Bowl Ad. Even confident people need help car shopping. David Abernathy was literally born confident. He dove headlong into every challenge and opportunity life presented him, with great success. But despite all his confidence he always uses Cars.com when buying a new car.
But with the current economy recessing further in USA, we think there must be fewer than usual who'd like to spend their not-easily-owned-money to buy a new car in 2009!

Super Bowl 2009 Commercial- Pepsi Max- I'm Good- Video

Very hilarious! Kudos to PepsiCO!

Never forgetting means actively remembering

There has been a lot in the news this past week about the Holy Father lifting the excommunications of the four bishops ordained illicitly, in a schismatic act, by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1988. Like the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum, this is something I do not personally understand, but my not getting it, even in my own mind, means little to nothing. I trust the Holy Father's judgment.

I am disturbed by so many recent manifestations of anti-Semitism in the world, especially in Europe and the Middle East, but even in the U.S. Foremost among these is Bishop Richard Williamson's denial of the murder of some six million Jews by the German Reich in concentration camps in the 1930s and '40s on Swedish television. These idiotic views deserve nothing but the strongest repudiation. Of course, Williamson is one of the four bishops whose excommunication the Holy Father graciously lifted. To their credit, the other three have denounced his delusional views and called on him to remain silent on such matters. His words are despicable. If he is now in communion with the Holy Father his first act of obedience should be a long silence. It is made even more disturbing in light of the Church's centuries-long record with regard to European Jewry, which is sad and indefensible, a denial of the humanity of Jesus Christ and a repudiation of the indispensable role of Israel in God's plan to reconcile to the world to Himself.

As to the denunciations of Israel's act of self-defense in Gaza, it seems clear that Israel cannot let random and persistent rocket attacks against towns and villages from Gaza go unchecked. Can you imagine our government doing such a thing were we to be attacked from just across any of our borders? Gaza City is one of the most densely populated places on planet earth and the Hamas cowards who indiscriminately shoot rockets into Israel take full advantage of this fact, using women, children, schools, mosques, and hospitals for military advantage, which international laws prohibit. They then use Israeli retaliation, which at times is arguably disproportionate, against these acts of cowardice to successfully curry world favor, using the media and even other nations and international organizations to execute their propaganda campaign. It may interest some to learn that international law permits the targeting of sites that are otherwise protected when they are being used for military advantage.

"War is hell", as General Sherman observed while marching to the sea. Hence, violence should be avoided whenever possible, but when it becomes necessary, violence needs to be proportionate and methodical, inflicting only the minimum amount of damage necessary to achieve the objective, the ultimate objective being the restoration of peace. Certainly there are lamentable actions that occur during military campaigns. We have to be careful when denouncing a wrong action not to deny the right of a country to self-defense. Even in our years long campaign in Afghanistan, the moral justifiability of which is not in dispute, there have certainly been unethical, illegal, and immoral actions taken by elements of U.S. and coalition forces, actions that have resulted in unnecssary deaths, destruction, and suffering. However, even in the face of horror, reason must not elude us as it did Turkish P.M. Erdogan this week at Davos with his theatrics during a speech by Israeli President Shimon Peres. After all, Pres. Peres shared a Noble Peace Prize with the late Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. What has Erdogan done to further the cause of peace between Israel and the Palestinians? If you answered "Nothing, except to move Turkey from a moderate, even friendly, position with Israel to a more hard-line, somewhat antagonistic stance" you'd be correct. Especially in light of the Republic of Turkey's shabby human rights record as it pertains to the treatment of Armenians, Kurds, Christians, and other ethnic and religious minorities, Erdogan has no moral high ground from which to shout denunciations. Although maybe he was seeking to ingratiate himself with European leaders, whose favor he needs to successfully gain Turkish membership in the European Union.


The cowardice of Hamas, which is a terrorist group whose main preoccupation is the destruction of the State of Israel, is made worse by the fact that they are using territory previously occupied by Israel, from which Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005, to fire rockets indiscriminately into Israel. What other nation would the international community denounce for protecting their citizens and territory? I am sorry, but just as I see some residual anti-Catholicism in much anti-immigration fervor in the U.S., I see residual and latent anti-Semitism in the positions of many large European countries as regards the Israeli-Palestinian question. I assess that this is also fuelled by their fears concerning radical and potentially or actually violent elements within the Muslim populations of their countries. Of course, this does nothing to explain former Pres. Carter's anti-Israeli stance, which one sincerely hopes the Obama Administration resolutely ignores in their Middle East engagement.

A hanging question for us is how can we get so worked up and retaliate in so a great a manner when attacked ourselves, then turn around and denounce a country who is almost daily attacked by terrorists for defending themselves by seeking to end these attacks? Do not misunderstand, we were right to respond to the attacks on the World Trade Center by taking out the Taliban and seeking to dismantle Al-Qaeda, thus preventing Afghanistan from continuing to be used as a base of worldwide terrorist operations from whence other attacks could be financed, planned, trained for, and executed.

So, what is the answer? How can a lasting peace, which can only be a just peace, be achieved? I suggest that a necessary first step is that the U.S., the U.N., and Islamic states must do more than merely denounce Hamas, but take actions that force Hamas to relinquish control of Gaza, bringing it once again under the rule of the Palestinian Authority. Under no circumstances can Islamic states, again, be complicit in allowing a terrorist group to govern a territory, no matter how small. Hamas must not be allowed to continue to act independently and in a belligerent and bellicose manner against Israel, refusing to acknowledge the right of the State of Israel to exist and then crying foul. Do not misunderstand me, the plight of the Palestinian people is misery. They require just solutions to a myriad of problems. In order to achieve a just and lasting peace, they must have leaders who recognize that waging persistent and perpetual war will never allow the conditions necessary to reach that desired end state.

Tuti Yusupowa, 128-year-old Uzbekistan Great Grandma, Is World Oldest's People

world oldest woman Tuti Yusupowa

World verified oldest people French Jeanne Calment
Jeanne Calment (Wiki)

World's oldest person ever verified is France's Jeanne Calment [Wikipedia], who was born on 21 February 1875. When she died on Aug. 4, 1997, Calment aged 122 years and 164 days.

Jeanne Calment's record has probably broken by Tuti Yusupowa, a 128-year-old great great grandma from a village in a remote region of Uzbekistan. Though the birth year on her passport issued in 1997 from Uzbekistan's Interior Ministry only shows Tuti Yusupowa was born in 1880, Xinhua is reporting Ms. Yusupowa was born on July 1 of that year.

Safar Hakimov, a state official who is working a field survey to discover people aged over 100 in the central Asian country, claimed Yusupowa is the world's oldest woman.

Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland's Prime Minister Is World's First Gay Government Head

First gay prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir pic
Johanna Sigurdardottir [wikipedia], Icelandic Minister of Social Affairs who is a lesbian, is to be installed as Prime Minister of Iceland on Saturday, January 31, 2009. Sigurdardottir replaces Geir Haarde who resigned over the domestic outrages for collapsing Iceland's economy as a care-take Prime Minister. After taking oath of office, Ms. Johanna Sigurdardottir, 66, will become Iceland's first female PM and the world's very first openly gay female head of government. She is expected to take her embattled country through to the end of general elections to be held in May .

Red Dwarf revived



The Red Dwarf cast is reuniting! This indescribable television series has been referenced twice on Καθολικός διάκονος, here and here.


A diaconal bow to Fr. Erik over @ Orthometer for this good news!

Evan Rachel Wood: I'M Not Attracted to Mickey Rourke

Mickey Rourke Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood and Mickey Rourke are an item? Evan Rachel Wood, creepy singer Marilyn Manson's former girlfriend, was romantically linked to The Wrestler co-star Mickey Rourke by Fox News's gossip column Pop Tarts after its spies "spotted" the pair smooching on the recent SAG award after-party.

21-Year-Old Evan Rachel Wood Busted Making Out With Movie Dad

Stranger things have happened - after all, this is Hollywood. Evan Rachel Wood, 21, hit headlines last year after she started dating Marilyn Manson (19 years her senior) but since their split in December has she now moved on to 56-year-old veteran actor Mickey Rourke?

The two attended Grey Goose’s Official SAG after-party at the Shrine on Sunday evening but were spotted leaving together enroute to the later after party at the Four Seasons Hotel. According to Pop Tarts spies, the actress went upstairs with Rourke (whose second marriage ended over a decade ago) when he suddenly grabbed her for a lip-lock in the outside area of the swanky five-star hotel.

However, Evan Rachel Wood denied such alleged affair with Mickey Rourke, she told Rolling Stone, "I'm not attracted to him, he's too old for me. Nothing ever happened and nothing ever will."

Nevertheless, Rachel Wood was indeed seen passionately kissing Rourke's cheek (picture) at the Venice Film Festival in May, 2008. [Image: Youtube.com/Dose.ca]

Stimulating an important debate

Well, we have a "stimulus" plan that has passed through the House. We can only hope that the Senate shows some restraint and eliminates everything in the bill that is not stimulus, but funding for new programs that will exist in perpetuity. A stimulus package should not be used as an end run around the normal appropriations process. The rhetoric and immediacy of getting Congress to act too quickly, without an opportunity to exercise their due diligence, is far too reminiscent of Hank Paulson's Chicken Little tactics to get the TARP passed. My hat is off to those members of the House who voted against this Trojan Horse crammed full of pork, which includes all House Republican representatives, plus 11 Democrats.

At least President Obama nixed an insane part of the stimulus, talked up so technocratically by Speaker Pelosi on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos last Sunday, that would have allocated some $200 million for contraception. I particularly like Pelosi's attempt to answer the question put to her by Stephanopoulos as to how this ties into economic stimulus:

"Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."

So, do the economy and the government exist for the human person, or vice-versa? It seems that for people who think like Speaker Pelosi, it is the latter. The state is not in the business of dictating whether we have children, or how many we might have. Therefore, it has no business asking us to fund $200 million for something that goes under what can only described as the Orwellian moniker "family planning services". I do credit Speaker Pelosi for not employing newspeak, but calling it contraception. I do not want to leap to dramatic conclusions, but this kind of thinking frightens me. Nonetheless, we must begin from a positive hypothesis. In Is It Possible to Live This Way?: An Unusual Approach to Christian Existence, Vol. 2 Hope, Giussani talks about going to a meeting of some women, who were also mothers, with a friend. Upon leaving the small gathering, his friend said of the women: "They have the responsibility of bringing to the world the reason that makes it worthwhile having children." Don Gius adds: "Those people are people called to cry out to the world the why of working, of living and of dying...." (pg 55). I think that a nice summary of our royal, priestly, and prophetic calling given us in Baptism and strengthened, that is, confirmed in Confirmation, that for which the Eucharist and Penance empower us.

Faith and hope are not something added on to life, that extra little something that gives us a pragmatic basis for being nice. Rather, faith shows us our destiny, the very reason for which we exist, for Whom we exist, in Whom we live, move, and have our being. Hope is the certainty about our future that arises from faith, which is faith in Jesus Christ, in his on-going and all-pervasive Presence, by the power of the Holy Spirit, which is why we pray- Veni Sancte Spiritus, veni per Mariam.

Indeed, as His Excellency, Archbishop Francisco Javier Martinez, wrote some years ago now, "the Eucharist is the only place of resistance to annihilation of the human subject." If not already, it is a state-of-affairs that we are rapidly approaching. A state not brought about by the current political regime, but a road we have been on for awhile now, the same road that led to us getting so disastrously off-course economically. It is the path of not putting first things first, of relegating first things to the margins in the sorely mistaken belief, indicative of hubris, that human beings are sufficient unto ourselves. This view of things in the secular West also explains the gap.

"No mo, no mo..."



This song is beautifully descriptive and a day early traditio. Well, it's only 2.5 hours early. Perhaps not caring is the key to the door of meaning... just a thought...I don't really think so, but it is a tempting alternative, at least this evening.

Patrick Swayze "Determined to Die With His Boots On"

Pancreatic cancer-stricken Patrick Swayze on The View

Actor Patrick Swayze (pic above), who has fight against deadly pancreatic cancer for one year, was said to have stop his medical treatment. National Enquirer is reporting the 56-year-old Canadian actor has decided to cease treatments for his pancreatic cancer because doctors have told him that there is little else they can do.

"There's nothing more doctors can do for him. His condition is inoperable and they have stopped the chemo. He's still losing weight and he's very weak. Patrick regards himself as a cowboy, and is determined to die with his boots on and no regrets." A family friend told the tabloid.

Gentle blogs

Okay, I am tardy in doing this. Since I was given The Lemonade Award by The Ironic Catholic, it is up to me to identify other bloggers who show good attitude and gratitude. In other words, blogs of gentility and, this being the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, probably Gentile blogs, too. I did not consider blogs already identified by The Ironic Catholic or on Deep Furrows. So, many of the blogs I would otherwise identify have already identified. Of course, I certainly recognize both of those blogs as wonderful cyber-spaces:

Come to See
Always and Everywhere
Vitus Speaks
Faith's Mystery
The Deacon's Bench
Naru Hodo

Hierarchy update

Yesterday, the Holy Father appointed 63 year-old Msgr. Robert Guglielmone, rector of St. Agnes Cathedral of the Diocese of Rockville Center, the diocese for Long Island, New York, as the bishop of the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, which has been vacant since His Excellency, Bishop Robert Baker, was transferred to the Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama in August 2007.

With this, the Holy See's fourth appointment already this year, there are now seven sede vacante dioceses in the U.S.: Biloxi, Mississippi; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Duluth, Minnesota; Gallup, New Mexico; Oakland, California; Owensboro, Kentucky; St. Louis, Missouri.

While on the subject of bishops, it is important to note that today, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, marks the fourteenth anniversary of the episcopal ordination of His Excellency, Archbishop George Niederauer, which took place in The Cathedral of the Madeleine. It was five years ago yesterday that I was ordained a deacon by then-Bishop Niederauer, also in The Cathedral of the Madeleine.

Chelsy Davy Prince Harry Split (January 2009)

Prince Harry and girlfriend Chelsy Davy pic Prince Harry and girlfriend Chelsy Davy split

Chelsy Davy and boyfriend Prince Harry's off-and-on relationship is now off again. News of the World is reporting Chelsy Davy and Prince Harry have split after a five-year romance. Cause? Chelsy Davy is tiring of the playboy lifestyle of the Prince, according to her friends. (Images: Youtube.com)

Happy Niu (牛) Year!

Happy Niu  Year

Wish All Chinese Readers of Random Citations a very Happy Lunar and Prosperous Chinese New (Niu, 牛) Year! Go Xi Fa Cai! Gung Hay Fat Choy! Gong Hei Fat Choy!

Bloggin'

Please don't miss Deacon Greg Kandra's article on blogging in America, which I subscribe to and read, despite not always agreeing with their editorial positions, as recently with terrorism. His article is A Virtual Church: Give us this day our daily blog....

I have posted several items on blogging and, like most bloggers, I have a tortured relationship with my efforts. Suffice it to say, my blog is not for the faint of heart or even the mildly curious. I am nothing if not passionate. Writing publicly brings clarity because I feel a responsibility to be both accurate and honest. So, blogging does not allow me the luxury of the lazy opinion on important matters, as with our bailout/stimulus plans. It is no secret, to use an example, that I really wanted to believe and vote for Pres. Obama last summer and into the early fall. In the end, reason and conscience forbade me from doing so. Even after less than a week of him being in office, I am glad I did not. I need to add that I do not pretend that a President McCain would've been a lot better and the prospect of a VP Palin is still something that makes me shudder.

I still do not use a site meter, nor will I ever on this blog. In the interest of full disclosure, we do use a blogpatrol site meter for The People of St. Mary Magdalene blog, which is a parish effort that is withering on the vine, like a lot of good ideas. As useful as I find blogging and as many people as I have gotten to know, many of whom I have actually met in person, church cannot ever be exclusively virtual, it must be real, even constitutive of reality.

Molly Ringwald Panio Gianopoulos Twins Expecting

Molly Ringwald Pregnant twins
Molly Ringwald (Creative Commons/Wikipedia)

The Secret Life of the American Teenager actress Molly Ringwald is pregnant with twins.

Molly Ringwald, and husband, Greek writer Panio Gianopoulos, 33, are expecting boy/girl twins according to People. Molly Ringwald babies' due date is expected in August.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Molly Ringwald Photo 1
Molly Ringwald Photo 2
Molly Ringwald Photo 3 
Molly Ringwald and Panio Gianopoulos Picture 1

It is learned Molly Ringwald's twins pregnancy will be written into the storyline of Secret Life Season 2 currently aired on ABC Family.

Ringwald, 40, and Gianopoulos, 33, married in 2007. Their first daughter Mathilda Ereni was born 4 years earlier in 2003.

"Goodbye Bush" Veet Women Hair Removal Products Advertisement

Goodbye Bush Veet Hair Removal Product Advertisment

On the following day of January 20 when Barack Obama succeeded George W. Bush as President of USA, Veet, Australia's depilatory products brand, ran an ad depicted only by two major words Googdbye Bush on a newspaper. Couldn't be any more fit! Travolution photographed this "brilliant and hilarious" ad and shared it with everyone on Twitpic.

What sacrifice?

With talk of an eight hundred and fifty billion dollar economic stimulus package, plus the seven hundred billion dollars already allocated for Mr. Paulson's buds in the financial industry, and trillion dollar deficits for the foreseeable future, one might well ask, Where are these trillions of dollars going to come from? Including the seven hundred billion dollars already allocated for the TARP, our national debt is rapidly approaching eleven trillion dollars.

We are not simply going to print money, which would flood the world with U.S. dollars and lead to hyper-inflation, which would further tank the economies across the world, and make our currency useless. The money to fund all this deficit spending, as Peter Schiff, writing in the Wall Street Journal points out, must be borrowed from sources who actually have the cash to loan us. These sources are primarily other governments, like China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. Each of these countries already owns hundreds of billions of dollars of U.S. debt in the form of interest-bearing Treasury notes. The yield on these notes, according to Schiff, is a "paltry 2%-3%".

In his inaugural address, President Obama spoke of sacrifice, but one might well ask, as Schiff does in his article, who is it that our president is calling on to make sacrifices? It is certainly not anybody in the United States. Schiff notes that the U.S. accounts for less than 5% of the world's population, but we "account for more than 25% of global GDP". Our current economic situation will inevitably lead to this advantage shrinking dramatically and what GDP growth we achieve will be made possible only by massive infusions of foreign financial capital, but not through the financial markets as investment. Rather, the money will flow to our economy through the U.S. government, which, in turn, will borrow it primarily from these and other countries. I have written more about the effects of this over on Cahiers.

It bears noting that the money loaned to us by these countries is money they cannot use in their own countries to provide education, adequate healthcare, transportation infrastructure, etc. When the president of the U.S. himself is forecasting trillion dollar deficits he is doing so in the expectation that these countries will continue to buy Treasury notes, let them mature, take their 2-3% interest only to put the principal and likely the interest right back into low-yielding U.S. Treasury notes. So, it seems, that the expectation is for people in other countries to sacrifice in order for us to retain our disproportionately high standard of living. In the words of Peter Schiff, "We are planning to spend as much as we like, for as long as we like, and we will let the rest of the world pick up the tab."

I readily grant that this is no different than what was being done under the previous administration, even before the meltdown late last year, but this was an administration in which the vice president went on record as believing that deficits did not matter- I'm not sure what he thought mattered. This prompts the question, How is this change? We also need to inquire about the plan to get out of the hole we are in. All I hear is the sound of more digging. It bothers me that the economic team assembled by the new president are some the same geniuses who played key roles in getting us into this current crisis. Besides, like the repeal of the Mexico City policy, this policy cannot be very helpful in our efforts designed to re-build relations with the rest of the world.

A deep diaconal bow to Paper Clippings for bringing Schiff's article to my attention.

An objectively wrong decision

Well, it looked a lot like politics as usual today with President Obama's signing of an Executive Order that reversed what is known as the Mexico City Policy. It is called this because President Reagan announced it in a speech he gave in 1984 at the U.N. International Conference on Population held in Mexico City. The Mexico City policy stipulates that no monies given by the U.S. government to foreign NGOs can be used to fund abortions or abortion-related services. The rule also prevents foreign NGOs that receive U.S. money from presenting abortion as a possibility to the women they seek to serve. Hence, the policy is known by proponents of abortion-on-demand as "the global gag rule".

It is important to point out that the policy does not extend to NGOs based in the United States because such a denial has been determined to be unconstitutional. The Mexico City policy was in force from 1984 until the first few days of the first Clinton Administration, when then-President Clinton overturned it by another Executive Order issued on 22 January 1993, the twentieth anniversary of the Supreme Court's unfortunate Roe vs. Wade decision. The Mexico City policy was once again put into effect with yet another Executive Order signed by Pres. Bush on 22 January 2001.

I gave a hearty guffaw to the idea put forward by a reporter for NPR, which she no doubt received from the White House Press Office, that by not reversing the Mexico City policy on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, Pres. Obama sought to de-politicize the issue. Wow! That is spin at its worst and least creative and most disingenuous. I agree with Ashley Horne from Focus on the Family that it is not possible to "reduce abortions by channelling more money to the abortion industry". What do we offer the world? Abortion on demand! Who does this offend? All traditional cultures. The gap widens. Besides, the right to life is not a political issue, it is not an ethical issue, it is a fundamental moral issue.

David Gibson, who I respect a great deal, but with whom I disagree on this issue, offers some insights worthy of consideration on his blog Pontifications. I will take the bait and answer the question he poses in the title of his post: Obama's Mexico City repeal is not a pro-life policy, just as not repealing it on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade does nothing to de-politicize the issue. It is the kind of logic that asserts, counter-intuitively and contra the facts that abortions went up during the Bush Administration, when the truth is that from the administration of George H.W. Bush on, abortions in the U.S. have been on the decline, including during both Clinton Administrations. I fact-checked this during the campaign early last fall. Given all this, I stand by Ms. Horne's assertion.

Gibson's post puts in me mind of a sign that hung on the door of the office of one of my logic professors: Gambling is immoral; say no to Paschal's wager- Torture is immoral; say no to torturing your conscience. I am sorry to sloganeer. If nothing else, I offer this as diakonia to the truth of the axiom that is never permissible to do evil that good may come of it.

Yang Xin, Zhu Haiyang's Virginia Tech Decapitated Victim

Yang Xin (or Xin Yang, 杨欣 in Chinese), was Zhu Haiyang's Virginia Tech decapitated victim.  So far it's unknown what's the motive behind Zhu Haiyang's horrific and gruesome slaying against Yang Xin who was said to a Canada-educated First Degree holder. But here are unofficial counts read from a post at C3online.cn.

Yang Xin, Zhu Haiyang Virginia Tech Decapitated Victim
Yang Xin (or Xin Yang) arrived only 13 days in US when murdered

Yang Xin, 22, from Beijing, just arrived at Virginia Tech for studying accounting on January 8. On that day, it was said Zhu Haiyang picked her up. And in the following days, Zhu temporarily accommodated Yang as the latter could not find a house on campus during the Winter break. During this short period, Zhu Haiyang had developed affectations on Yang Xin, but later only found she had an engaged boyfriend in China and would get married soon, as a consequence, Zhu resorted the violence to end Yang's life.

Update: Yang Xin graduated from Canada's Memorial University.

An alumnist of Memorial University has been murdered in the United States. Memorial's Department of Student Affairs says 22 year old Xin Yang of Beijing graduated from Business at Memorial in 2007, and worked here in the city for a short time. 2 weeks ago she began her graduate studies in accounting at Virginia Tech. According to Virgina Tech's website, on Wednesday evening, Yang was attacked by another student with a knife in a campus restaurant. The suspect - a 25 year old male doctoral student, was charged with first degree murder. [Vocm.com]

Zhu haiyang, haiyang zhu Yang Xin or Xin Yang Murder photo
Zhu Haiyang Photographed at his Master Degree convocation

We said in the earlier post, Zhu Haiyang's previous private life was a little messy, it seemed so did Yang Xin.  Citrus1111 said in a message on Hoopchina.com Yang had a nickname called "Socket" when studying in Canada, hinting she might have made some boyfriends there and had sexual intercourses with them.

Zhu haiyang, haiyang zhu Yang Xin or Xin Yang Virginia Tech Murderer photo
Zhu Haiyang took a picture by himself when laying on the sleep matress on a bed train

Zhu haiyang, haiyang zhu, Yang Xin or Xin Yang Virginia Tech Murderer photo
Zhu Haiyang attended an international conference in 2006 (Zhu Haiyang Photos at QQ.com)

Zhu Haiyang (Picture), Virginia Tech Ph.D Student, Decapitated Yang Xin, Fellow Chinese National

Virginia Tech Slaying

Zhu Haiyang (朱海洋 in Chinese),once hailed as a model student by his previous school--Shanghai Ocean University, is now a first-degree murder. Zhu Haiyang was alleged of decapitating fellow Chinese national, Yang Xin (杨欣 in Chinese)using a kitchen knife in Virginia Tech yesterday January 23, 2009.

At approximately 7:00 pm Wednesday (0000 GMT Thursday), Yang Xin, a 22-year-old graduate student from Beijing, was killed at an Au Bon Pain cafe on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, university officials said.

They added that emergency contact records suggest that Yang and the student who murdered her, Zhu Haiyang from Ningbo, China, knew each other. According to officials, witnesses said Zhu, 25, attacked Yang with a knife.

"There were seven witnesses in the cafe. There had been no argument, no shouting" when the young woman was attacked, said Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski, confirming that Yang had been decapitated.

The Collegiate Times, the university's newspaper, said police received a 911 emergency call minutes after the assault and the officer who arrived at the scene found Yang's head had been cut off. The murder weapon, a large kitchen knife, was found at the scene.

In a copy of a police affidavit published by the Collegiate Times, the officer said that when she arrived at the scene she found Zhu holding Yang's head in his hand.

"This is horrible and tragic. Especially when we know that Virginia Tech has got its share of hardship and horror," Owczarski said.

[...]

Zhu was charged with first-degree murder and was being held at a county jail. He had not had a record with university or local police, the school indicated.

Yang had arrived at Virginia Tech in early January to begin studies in accounting. Zhu was a PhD graduate student in agriculture and applied economics. [AFP]

Zhu haiyang, haiyang zhu photo
Pictured: Zhu Haiyang was photographed on his convocation at Shanghai Ocean University (上海海洋大学,the six large Chinese characters in the pic) which was calligraphied by Jiang Zemin (the three smaller Chinese), the former Chinese President.

This is an extreme sad sorry for me, because we know something about Zhu before from a close friend who once studied together with him at the afore-mentioned Shanghai university. Although Haiyang is a talented student, especially doing very well in English, his private life is a bit messy. Because he is handsome, Zhu Haiyang was attracted to some of female course mates when doing his Master Degree, several of whom even might have one-night stand with him. Zhu's father is a Professor teaching at a University in China. 

zhu haiyag, haiyang zhu Virginia Tech photoZhu Haiyang, or  Haiyang, Zhu

Zhu Haiyang Photo at QQ Qzone

"... contestants in a suicidal race..."

I had to go to work early in the morning a few Saturdays ago. Instead of news, I decided to tune in to X96, a local fav station. This song came on. I smiled, laughed, twitched, and drove. All-in-all a good commute:





I still know every word of this song. It is an incredible meditation on alienation, which was something that Marx nailed.

Fr. Thomas Dominic Kraft, Order of Preachers Friars

I had multiple phone calls today informing me of the death of Fr. Tom Kraft. Below is a post from him his website:


Dearest family and friends of Fr. Tom:

It is with deep sadness and sorrow that I write this final installation of updates on Fr. Tom for this website. I cannot even begin to express the grief that I feel, let alone the grief that his family is enduring. The tears that flow from my eyes are difficult to bear as is the burden of the pain that weighs down heavily upon me. I can sense yours as well. Know that Fr. Tom is with us to give solace and comfort. Also know that every ounce of strength left in me will be expended in prayer on your behalf.

Let us grieve and celebrate the life of our dearly beloved friend and priest. Please join me and the Dominican community next week for the following services at Blessed Sacrament Church:

Vigil Service (Office of the Dead and the Rosary) Tuesday, January 27 at 7:00 PM

Funeral Mass Wednesday, January 28 at 10:00 AM

Blessed Sacrament Church 5041 9th Avenue NE Seattle, WA 98105

I remain always yours in Christ,

Jesson

Anne Hathaway Is 2009 Oscars Best Actress? (Photo)

Anne Hathaway Photo
Anne Hathaway @ 2009 Critics Choice Awards (Picture credit: Albert L. Ortega/PR Photos)

Anne Hathaway has been named for her Rachel Getting Married role in the category of Best Actress In A Leading Role during today's 2009 Academy Awards nominations. Her rivals include Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet, Melissa Leo and Meryl Streep.  Though we love the afore-mentioned four, we hope to watch Anne Hathaway winning an Oscar Award when the 81th Academy Awards (2009) is live broadcasting on ABC starting 8:00ET/5:00PT on February 22, 2009. If Anne Hathaway eventually would have been 2009 Oscars' Best Actress, wish Angelina Jolie would not give her another "side eye"? :-).

Victoria Beckham Does Russian Vogue February 2009 (Pictures)

Victoria Beckham covers Russian Vogue February 2009 Picture
Victoria Beckham covers Russian Vogue February 2009
Victoria Beckham is featured on the cover of the Russian Vogue February 2009, wearing a cap and sucking her thumb.
Victoria Beckham does Russian Vogue February 2009 PictureVictoria Beckham on Russian Vogue February 2009 Picture

The former Spice girl-turned-designer models and discusses a series of her own new dress collection on the magazine's latest Russian edition.

What do you think of these Posh-designed outfits? Creative or just continue her usual style?

Oscar Nominations 2009 Announced

Academy Awards Oscar Golden Statute pic

Nominations for Oscar 2009, or the 81st Academy Awards, have been revealed in California today January 22, 2009. Actor Forest Whitaker and Sid Ganis , Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President, announced the nomination list (below) of 2009 Academy Awards at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. As Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were successfully named in their respective Best Actor and Best Actress category, Brangelina could be the first Hollywood couple who would win little golden statutes at an Oscar.

2009 Oscar Nominations Full-list:

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Richard Jenkins - "The Visitor"
Frank Langella - "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn - "Milk"
Brad Pitt - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke - "The Wrestler"

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway - "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie - "Changeling"
Melissa Leo - "Frozen River"
Meryl Streep - "Doubt"
Kate Winslet - "The Reader"

Best Actor In A Supporting Role

Josh Brolin - "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr. - "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman - "Doubt"
Heath Ledger - "The Dark Knight"
Michael Shannon - "Revolutionary Road"

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Amy Adams - "Doubt"
Penelope Cruz - "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Viola Davis - "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Marisa Tomei - "The Wrestler"

BEST DIRECTOR

David Fincher -"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Ron Howard - "Frost/Nixon"
Gus Van Sant - "Milk"
Stephen Daldry - "The Reader"
Danny Boyle - "Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Courtney Hunt - "Frozen River"
Mike Leigh - "Happy-Go-Lucky"
Martin - "In Bruges"
Dustin Lance Black - "Milk"
Andrew Stanton - WALL-E

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Eric Roth and Robin Swicord - "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
John Patrick Shanley - "Doubt"
Peter Morgan - "Frost/Nixon"
David Hare - "The Reader"
Simon Beaufoy - "Slumdog Millionaire"

Best Foreign Language Film
"Der Baader Meinhof Komplex"
"The Class"
"Departures "
"Revanche"
"Waltz with Bashir"

Best Animated Feature Film
"Bolt"
"Kung Fun Panda "
"WALL-E"

BEST ART DIRECTION
"Changeling"
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button"
"Dark Knight"
"The Duchess"
"Revolutionary Road"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Changeling" Tom Stern
"Slumdog Millionaire," Anthony Dod Mantle
"The Reader," Chris Menges
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Claudio Miranda
"The Dark Knight," Wally Pfister,

BEST FILM EDITING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight," Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon," Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
"Milk," Elliot Graham
"Slumdog Millionaire," Chris Dickens

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
"Australia," Catherine Martin
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Jacqueline West
"The Duchess," Michael O'Conner
"Milk", Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road," Albert Wolsky

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
"Encounters at the End of the World"
"The Garden"
"Man on Wire"
"Trouble the Water"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"Slumdog Millionaire," "Jai Ho," A.R. Rahman
"Slumdog Millionaire," "O Saya," A.R. Rahman & M.I.A.
"Wall-E," "Down To Earth," Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance," James Newton Howard
"Milk," Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E," Thomas Newman

BEST MAKEUP
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Colleen Callaghan, Fionagh Cush
"The Dark Knight," Peter Robb-King, John Caglione Jr.
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army," Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

BEST SOUND EDITING
"The Dark Knight," Richard King
"Iron Man," Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes
"Slumdog Millionaire," Tom Sayers
"Wall-E," Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
"Wanted," Wylie Stateman

BEST SOUND MIXING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Mark Weingarten, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce
"The Dark Knight," Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo
"Slumdog Millionaire," Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
"Wall-E," Ben Burtt, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick
"Wanted," Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Eric Barba
"The Dark Knight," Chris Corbould, Nick Davis, Paul Franklin, Tim Webber
"Iron Man," John Nelson

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
"Manon on the Asphalt"
"New Boy"
"The Pig"
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)"

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"La Maison en Petits Cubes"
"Lavatory - Lovestory"
"Oktapodi"
"Presto"
"This Way Up"

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
"The Conscience of Nhem En"
"The Final Inch"
"Smile Pinki"
"The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"

Link: OSCAR.com - 81st Annual Academy Awards - Homepage

Lindsay Lohan Sam Ronson Joint Bank Account

Mean Girls' star Lindsay Lohan and DJ girlfriend Sam Ronson reportedly set up a joint bank account already. It was said the set-up of joint bank account is Lohan's commitment to Sam and an early indication that Lindsay Lohan-Sam Ronson gay marriage may be substantial one day.

Lindsay Lohan Samantha Ronson pic
Lindsay Lohan Sam Ronson (Youtube.com)

"Lindsay was reportedly earning £122,000 [$200,000] per episode for her stint on 'Ugly Betty' last year and she's put that into a joint account to show Samantha how much she loves her....Having a joint account with Sam is a huge step for her [marriage]." A source blabbed.

Paris Hilton Is Year 2008's Worst Actress?

Hotel Heiress Paris Hilton Photo
Paris Hilton (Photo by Glenn Francis)

Hotel heiress, singer and actress Paris Hilton could be Year 2008's Worst Actress! According to Us, Miss Hilton has been nominated in the Worst Actress category of the Razzies Awards for her film The Hottie & the Nottie. Paris Hilton, wish you good luck not to win such a awkward award!

Barack and Michelle Obama "First Dance" Video

Barack Obama Michelle Obama First Dance

First Dance Video! Youtube video here is President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama affectionately danced for the first as the First Couple in US when pop diva Beyonce sang At Last at the Neighborhood Ball at the Washington D.C. Convention Center the night of Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009.

Hierarchy update

Yesterday, with his third U.S. episcopal appointment of this new year, the Holy Father named fifty-one year-old Msgr. Edward J. Burns from Pittsburgh as bishop of Juneau, Alaska. This appointment leaves eight dioceses in the U.S. without ordinaries:

Biloxi, Mississippi; Charleston, South Carolina; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Duluth, Minnesota; Gallup, New Mexico; Oakland, California; Owensboro, Kentucky; St. Louis, Missouri.

The number of bishops currently serving beyond the mandatory retirement age (i.e., bishops whose resignations the Holy Father has not accepted) is now eleven.

Archbishops: Cardinal Egan of New York; Hughes of New Orleans; Curtiss of Omaha, NE; Brunett of Seattle, WA.

Bishops: D'Arcy of Ft. Wayne/South Bend, IN; Murray of Kalamazoo, MI; Moynihan of Syracuse, NY; Tafoya of Pueblo, CO; Cullen of Allentown, PA: Higi of Lafayette in Indiana, and Carmody of Corpus Christi, TX.

Dick Cheney in Wheelchair

Dick Cheney Wheelchair

Former Vice President Dick Cheney pulled a back muscle yesterday and had to take a wheelchair when attending President Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony. Hope he recovers soon!

Marcia Cross Husband Tom Mahoney Has Cancer

Tom Mahoney, husband of Desperate Housewives actress Marcia Cross, has been diagnosed with an unspecified cancer, People is reporting.

Marcia Cross Tom Mahoney wedding photo
Tom Mahoney and Marcia Cross wed in 2006 (Photo source: Ce.cn)

"He is currently under treatment and is responding very well," Cross's rep Heidi Slan told to the mag.

Marcia Cross Tom Mahoney Pic 1
Marcia Cross Tom Mahoney Pic 2
Marcia Cross Tom Mahoney Pic 3
Marcia Cross Tom Mahoney Pic 4
Twins Eden and Savannah Mahoney Photo

Tom Mahoney, a stockbroker, and Marcia Cross stated dating early in 2005 and got engaged in August of the same year. The couple wed in a lavish wedding at Church of Our Savior Episcopal Paris in San Gabriel in June, 2006.

Their twin daughters Eden and Savannah Mahoney who were conceived after  in vitro fertilization were born in February, 2007.

David & Victoria Beckham Armani Underwear Ad Photo: The Beckhams Together In Bedroom For Armani Underwear Ads (Spring/Summer 2009)

David and Victoria Beckham bedtime scene Armani Underwear Ad Photo Spring Summer 2009

David & Victoria Beckham Emporio Armani underwear ad photo

David & Victoria Beckham are promoting together for the latest Emporio Armani underwear advertisement from the Italian label's 2009 spring/summer collection.

The Beckhams continue their black-and-white Armani underwear ads style, featuring together in an intimate bedroom scene this time. David is lying across a bed only in a tight white pants while Posh sitting on the floor in lacy lingerie just in front of her AC Milan footballer.

Verifying Christ

I am back home after spending a wonderful weekend with many companions in and around New York. In addition to gleaning much for myself and for our School of Community here in Utah, I have a lot to share over the coming week or so. This morning I just have one thing from my experience this weekend. Those of us who belong to Communion & Liberation, the so-called celini, like all groups, have our own special language, celini- speak, which I have taken to calling celinese. Like all such phenomena, this is helpful and hurtful, useful and useless, depending on when we lapse into it. When we use it to discourse or to make our experiences abstract it is an abuse. The worst thing is to use it to reduce and categorize the experiences of others. Conversely, when we use it as method of verifying and explaining our experience, especially among others who share Don Gius' charism by applying his method to life, it is useful and even inspiring. Celinese arises from the teachings of Msgr. Luigi Giussani, whose name I pronounce with all the laziness of an anglophone person from the Western U.S.

There are some celinese locutions that I love and others that grate on me. There are two phrases that I love because they express well and succinctly the existential position in which I often find myself with regard to my circumstances. The two phrases are interrogatives: How do I stand in front of this? and How do I face this? What I love about these questions is that they explicitly accept that we must face reality, stand in front of reality. By asking them we embrace the truth that every circumstance is an opportunity and very often, as Fr. Carrón says, a challenge, to verify Christ. If we stand in front of reality without Christ behind us we will be run over by something more powerful than a New York subway train, certainly by forces more powerful than ourselves. So, what must be verified is that Christ, who is always already present (i.e., He is the "Something that comes before"- the theme of our Diakonia), is met in reality and not through some kind of mystical incantation. We stand in front of reality as we experience it, as we face it in its entirety, as Msgr. Albacete says, "nothing is excluded".

Will.i.am "America's Song" MP3 Download for Free

President Barack Obama and first wife Michelle Obama
(Photo credit: Presidential Inaugural Committee/Flickr)

To honor of the president Barack Obama, singer Will.I.Am together with composer David Foster has written America's Song. The new song was performed live yesterday on Oprah Winfrey Show by Will.I.Am himself, Faith Hill, Bono, Mary J. Blige and Seal. Courtesy of Oprah.com, now you can download this song featuring the afore-listed artists' voices for free with the following link! Don't hesitate, or else the download link will be expired at 5:00pm Easter Time, January 20, 2009.

Free Download Will.i.am "America's Song" MP3

Vintage Madonna 1979 Nekid Photo Christie’s Auction February 12, 2009

 Lee Friedlander’s vintage 1979 Madonna photo

A vintage Madonna photo by photographer Lee Friedlander has geared up to be auctioned at Christies in New York on February 12, 2009. The image named Nude was taken in 1979 and is a gelatin silver print which measures 13 x 8 5/8in, or 33 x 21.9cm. It was estimated to fetch $10,000 - $15,000.
Link

Update (Feb.13, 2009): Lee Friedlander’s vintage 1979 Madonna photo was auctioned. It was bid for $37,500 by phone buyers. Madonna, then a cash-strapped student, received $25 for the entire photo shoot. [CNN]

Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience First Look (Video)

Jonas Brothers The 3D Concert Experience Movie Trailer pictureJonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience in Disney digital 3D will hit the theaters on 27th, February. It's a concert film of the Burning Up Tour performed by the band with special guests, including country music singer Taylor Swift and Disney star Demi Lovato. The soundtrack of the film will be available on 24th, February.

Get your firs peek at the clip below features lots of scenes from the movie of Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience!

Kimora Lee Simmons Pregnant with Djimon Hounsou‘s Child

Kimora Lee Simmons Djimon Hounsou pic
Djimon Hounsou Kimora Lee Simmons are expecting.

Kimora Lee Simmons is to be a mom for the third time. E!Online is reporting the 33-year-old head designer of Baby Phat is pregnant with the child of partner/boyfriend Djimon Hounsou, Blooding Diamond star and two-time Oscar-nominated actor. This will be the first baby together for the pair.

Kimora Lee Simmonsdaughters Ming Lee and Aoki Leepic picture
Ming Lee and Aoki Lee Simmons

Kimora has two daughters, named Ming Lee Simmons and Aoki Lee Simmons (picture above), from her first marriage with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. [Images: Youtube.com]

New York and the Ramones... that works

.



Traditio for a Friday with the Ramones.. "and I think to myself, 'What a wonderful world'"

Katie Holmes Miu Miu Photos (Spring/ Summer 2009 Campaign)

Katie Holmes Miu Miu Campaign Photo Spring Summer 2009

Katie Holmes Miu Miu Spring/Summer '09 Campaign Photo (credit: Miu Miu)

Katie Holmes Miu Miu Spring/Summer '09 campaign Photos shot by Mert & Marcus have been revealed!

Katie Holmes changed her usual routine to cool style with the dark makeup and short haircut in the series of striking photos for Italian fashion brand Miu Miu. Evoking "a certain Fellini-esque chaotic excess", the 30-year-old actress shows off a sense of dramatic and mystery in the Miu Miu Spring campaign pictures.

Katie Holmes Miu Miu Spring Summer 2009  Campaign Photo

Katie Holmes Miu Miu Spring/Summer '09 Campaign Photo (credit: Miu Miu)

Katie Holmes MiuMiu Campaign Photo: Victoria Beckham Lookalike or Not?? (Spring/summer 2009)

Katie Holmes Miu Miu Spring summer 2009 Campaign Photo   

Katie Holmes Miu Miu Spring/Summer '09 Campaign Photo  via sohu

Katie Holmes has signed as the new face of Italian design house Miu Miu.

Presenting as "a luminous icon radiating a sense of mystery and theatricality" in the label’s spring/summer ’09 ads campaign, Katie Holmes looks cool in a gold sleeveless one-piece dress with smoky eyes make-up.

Gross! Do you guys believe Suri Cruz's mom now is inspired from her former best friend Victoria Beckham?

Amy Winehouse Crawling, Begging for Drinks (Pic)

Amy Winehouse Crawling Begging for Drinks photo Amy Winehouse, the troubled 25-year-old who is holidaying in Caribbean, was spotted crawling on the ground with her clothes and hair in disarray. The Back to Black singer was begging for alcohol outside the luxury St. Lucia restaurant. 

Phew! Amy Winehouse was alleged stealing other vacationers' drinks after the resort staff refused to serve her any more alcohol.

According to Dailymail, Amy Winehouse announced that she was off drugs for good after meeting Josh Bowman, a clean-cut young rugby player on her Caribbean holiday. But just days after the 21-year-old returned to England, she seemed to be back in her old routine.

Errr... poor Ms Winehouse, you do need help!

Engaging reality realistically

As is so often the case, Paper Clippings has posted a thought-provoking response to a pie-eyed assessment of the state of the world, namely the take of the editors of America magazine on the causes of and solutions to terrorism.

I could not agree more with the assessment given by Paper Clippings. Christians, at least as it pertains to many of the causes of tension between Islam and the West, should be on the side of those decrying the many imperialistic impositions of the decadent West on the rest of the world. The real gap, as Pope Benedict has insisted and which I have documented and commented upon extensively, is not so much between Islam and Christianity, but between those who hold religious faith (i.e., the vast majority of people in the world) and the secularists, the elite super minority who seek to obliterate what we hold most dear. It is propaganda to assert, à la Christopher Hitchens and others, that religion is the cause of all the evils in the world, just as it is caving in to ideology to resort to economic determinism, which the editors of America do in this unfortunate editorial. Nothing could be further from the truth. That so many people buy this nonsense bodes ill for us. It is downright insidious for secularism to wear the sheep's wool of religion, thus being co-opted by ideology and disseminating its propaganda.

I hate to bandy about terms like "the elite super minority," which is why I linked to what I have already posted on this matter. It is not a conspiracy as much as it is a case of amnesia. Nonetheless, asserting that all Islamic and other traditional cultures need is a healthy dose of Western secularism and capitalism, especially given the state we have driven ourselves to, both culturally and economically, is as much nonsense as George Wiegel's diagnosis of the last election. It is tired, worn out, pabulum.

Rihanna Spying on Chris Brown!

Rihanna is said to have set rules boyfriend Chris Brown to follow on his European tour starting later this month. According to ANI, she has banned female members of his entourage from being alone with him in his room and said no girls can be there past midnight. Also, Chris Brown was forbidden to meet British pop singer Alexandra Burke.

Rihanna
Rihanna (Picture credit: Adam Bielawski/PR Photos)

Now it seems there is more than that! Popcrunch cited Chicago Sun-Times as reporting, Rihanna is even spying on Chris Brown. According to the celebrity gossip blog, Rihanna has reportedly hired a female private investigator to make periodic drop-ins to ensure Brown is behaving himself like a good boy during the tour. This might still not be enough, Rihanna herself is planning on making several "surprise” visit.

Jennifer Garner No.2 Baby Name Meaning: Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner Named Second Daughter Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck

Jennifer Garner Pictures, Images and Photos
Jennifer Garner and daughter Violet Anne picture embedded from Photobucket

Jennifer Garner and husband Ben Affleck have named their second daughter Seraphina Rose Elizabeth, who was born on January 6 in a Los Angeles hospital.

The couple didn't reveal the meaning behind the name of the newly-born baby girl. But Pamela Redmond Satran, the baby names' expert authored the Baby Name Bible, who also runs Website Nameberry, tells the possible meaning of Violet Anne's little sister's name on her web site:

Seraphina’s name, which means fiery or ardent in Hebrew, comes from the Seraphim, the high order of six-winged angels. Spelled Serafina in Spanish and Italian, this elaborately feminine name is in step with the Isabellas and Gabriellas so popular today, yet is far more distinctive.

Jen and Ben have proven their baby naming know-how with this gorgeous choice, a great match for Violet, and it’s sure to rise up the popularity list along with that of her big sister.  Much more unusual than Violet, Seraphina hasn’t ever appeared in the Top 1000 of the Social Security list in the past century.

Rose is the middle name du jour, a flower name match for Violet.  And, like many young Americans following the British tradition, the couple has chosen two middle names (although some people have already expressed the objection that it wasn’t fair for this baby to get one more than her big sister).

Seraphina hasn’t appeared much in popular culture references, though a couple of its variations have.  With the Latin  Serafina spelling, it was the name of the passionate heroine of Tennessee Williams The Rose Tattoo, and just last year it was a  character played by Eva Green in The Golden Compass.  It’s also reminiscent of Sarafina, the South African hit musical that played on Broadway in the 90s.

Victoria Beckham Giorgio Armani Underwear Ads (Photos)

Victoria Beckham Armani Underwear Ads photo

Victoria Beckham Armani underwear ads photo: (Credit: Giorgio Armani)

Following in her husband David Beckham’s footsteps, Victoria Beckham now also features a series of black and white underwear ads for Italian fashion brand Giorgio Armani.

Victoria Beckham Giorgio Armani Underwear Ads photo

Victoria Beckham Armani underwear ads photos: Courtesy of Giorgio Armani

Victoria, 34 and mother-of-three, reveals her stunning figure in the first batch of the Armani lingerie ads campaign photoshoots.

But, as you know well, nowadays it's a digital era, and anyone can be made to look good with lighting and air-brushing work using the Photoshop-like software(s). So, Posh Spice possibly has been brushed.

Fergie and Josh Duhamel Wedding Photos (US Weekly)

Fergie and Josh Duhamel tied the knot on January 10 at the Church Estates Vineyards in Malibu, California, but their wedding photos were not revealed until now Us Weekly published them.

Fergie and Josh Duhamel Wedding Photo
Us Weekly Fergie and Josh Duhamel Wedding Photos Issue

As the Fergie and Josh Duhamel wedding picture shown above on the mag cover, Fergie, 33, was in a white wedding gown designed by Dolce & Gabbana, and Duhamel, the 36-year-old groom, wore black suits and white ties also by Dolce & Gabbana. The couple wedded in a private traditional Catholic ceremony which was estimated to cost about $1 million.

You guys can pick up the new issue of Us Weekly to get a spread of eight pages of Fergie and Josh Duhamel's wedding album and other interview details.

Justin Gaston Miley Cyrus In Bed Facebook Pictures Leaked

Miley Cyrus Personal Facebook Pictures with Justin GastonPersonal Justin Gaston Miley Cyrus Facebook PicsJustin Gaston Miley Cyrus Personal Facebook Pics

Disney teen sensation Miley Cyrus seemingly has ignited right another scandalous photo frenzy about herself. Pictures showing her and boyfriend Justin Gaston in bed were leaked from Miley Cyrus Facebook's account, according to the online information. Not as risque as her previous MySpace pictures showing bra or exposing belly, Miley Cyrus and Justin Gaston in bed Facebook pics were well clothed and very safe for watch. Source: Miley Cyrus personal facebook pictures with Justin... @ Aol