Tom Faranda's Folly

Rugby: Dubai seven-a-side, first day

Portugal shocked both South Africa and England to go into the Cup quarter Finals. Canada also there.

 

Jay Leno on the President and the press

Amusing - "... this is very dangerous to the White House ..."

 

Rugby: Wales vs. New Zealand

Check the Welsh 15 man lineout. It worked, but at that point the All Blacks didn't seem too interested.

 

Here's what the referee and touch judges (now called assistant referee's!) missed in the first minute of the game. Hore was cited after the game and received an eight week suspension - reduced to five weeks because he has a good past record and was "contrite". It's a serious concussion with memory loss for the Welshman.

Two polls: one on Twinkies, and another on Socialism

Off Rasmussen -

57% Have A Favorable Opinion of Hostess Twinkies

and

Favorables: Socialism 24% Capitalism 68%

 

Lovely story - "NYPD Officer Larry DePrimo's act of kindness becomes a Facebook sensation"

Great photo along with the story - it was snapped by a tourist -

You have to like what NYPD Officer Larry DePrimo did for a barefoot man in Manhattan one frigid night this month. In fact, more than 260,000 Facebook users have "liked" DePrimo's actions, a number that's growing every day.

UPDATE - Here's a CNN video

Washington Post on entitlement reform and the President needs to lead

Good editorial. Not going to happen though. What will happen will be the standard political finger pointing.

Mr. Obama has fueled a campaign-style effort to pressure Republicans to give ground on taxes. That’s fine, but it won’t be enough. At some point, he has to prepare the American people — and his own supporters most of all — for the “hard decisions” required to put the country on a sound financial footing.

An essay: "Why Social Conservatives Should Be Patriotic Americans ..."

On the website, The Public Discourse. It's actually a response to another article, but stands on it's own right. Not a quick read - I almost skipped it - but worthwhile.

Rather than reject liberalism for its excesses, we should take up the more modest task of recovering the principles of liberalism once embraced by our founding fathers and Abraham Lincoln.

Good op ed by Romney's chief campaign strategist

I never heard of this guy - Stuart Stevens - but then I don't follow the minutiae that closely.

Mitt Romney: A good man. The right fight.

I appreciate that Mitt Romney was never a favorite of D.C.’s green-room crowd or, frankly, of many politicians. That’s why, a year ago, so few of those people thought that he would win the Republican nomination. But that was indicative not of any failing of Romney’s but of how out of touch so many were in Washington and in the professional political class. Nobody liked Romney except voters. What began in a small field in New Hampshire grew into a national movement. It wasn’t our campaign, it was Romney. He bested the competition in debates, and though he was behind almost every candidate in the GOP primary at one time or the other, he won the nomination and came very close to winning the presidency.

In doing so, he raised more money for the Republican Party than the party did. He trounced Barack Obama in debate. He defended the free-enterprise system and, more than any figure in recent history, drew attention to the moral case for free enterprise and conservative economics.

When much of what passes for a political intelligentsia these days predicted that the selection of Rep. Paul Ryan meant certain death on the third rail of Medicare and Social Security, Romney brought the fight to the Democrats and made the rational, persuasive case for entitlement reform that conservatives have so desperately needed. The nation listened, thought about it — and on Election Day, Romney carried seniors by a wide margin. It’s safe to say that the entitlement discussion will never be the same.

Nice. Hit the link for the other seven paragraphs.

Rugby: Ireland vs. Argentina

Great game for Ireland. And Argentina beat Wales just two weeks ago.

 

Guaranteed hit: 100,000 turn out for premier of "The Hobbit" in Wellington, New Zealand

That's half the city population. You can be sure the Farandas will be going before Christmas. It was a tradition for the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy ...

"It's great to have so many people come out to celebrate the movie," Jackson told the News. "It's very humbling. New Zealand is a very small country, it's a very young country, I just think we like to celebrate when we punch above our weight. We sometimes do quite well in sports, and now we're doing okay in movie making too."

The premiere in the USA is December 6th, in New York. 

And here's a little video, courtesy of the Telegraph (UK) -

The cast of the first prequel to “The Lord of The Rings” trilogy gathered for a Maori benediction before a morning press conference at Wellington’s Te Papa Museum.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/estimated-100-000-show-hobbit-premiere-article-1.1209280#ixzz2DWzRPUAS

The cast of the first prequel to “The Lord of The Rings” trilogy gathered for a Maori benediction before a morning press conference at Wellington’s Te Papa Museum.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/estimated-100-000-show-hobbit-premiere-article-1.1209280#ixzz2DWzRPUAS

The cast of the first prequel to “The Lord of The Rings” trilogy gathered for a Maori benediction before a morning press conference at Wellington’s Te Papa Museum.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/estimated-100-000-show-hobbit-premiere-article-1.1209280#ixzz2DWzRPUAS

WSJ columnist: "How Obama's 'Life of Julia' Prevailed"

A very good column in yesterday's WSJ, by Bill McGurn.

... while flipping channels with the remote, I stopped on an MTV show about a working mom whose whole life was upended when her partner announced that he was splitting. It caught my attention because this mother lived in a nice apartment that looked like one in my suburban New Jersey town, and she was applying for food stamps.

This wasn't your caricature "taker"—the woman had a real job. With her partner leaving, however, she could no longer afford the rent, and she would have trouble providing for her two young boys alone. As she walked up to an office to sign up for food stamps, she said something like, "I can't believe I am applying for public assistance."

Her situation provoked two questions. First, how could her boyfriend just abandon his sons without having to pay child support? Second, what is the conservative response to a woman who finds herself in this situation?

The show comes back to me in wake of the thumping Mitt Romney took in the presidential election among the demographic this mom represents: unmarried women. During the 2012 campaign, we conservatives had great sport at the expense of the Obama administration's "Life of Julia"—a cartoon explaining the cradle-to-grave government programs that provided for Julia's happy and successful life.

The president, alas, had the last laugh. For the voting blocs that went so disproportionately for the president's re-election—notably, Latinos and single women—the Julia view of government clearly resonates. To put it another way, maybe Americans who have reason to feel insecure about their futures don't find a government that promises to be there for them when they need it all that menacing.

The dominant media conclusion from this is that the Republican Party is cooked unless it surrenders its principles. I'm not so sure. To the contrary, it strikes me that now is a pretty good time to get back to principles—and to do more to show people who gave President Obama his victory why their dreams and families would be better served by a philosophy of free markets and limited government.

Let's concede that those who are pushing to expand government have one huge advantage. Their advantage is that their solutions are immediate, direct and easy to explain.

And McGurn goes on from there giving the answer to the problem.  Excellent column.

Backpacker Magazine top rated Connecticut hike

It's a 15.9 mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail, starting in Massachusetts.

Long ago - like 45 years! - I hiked at least part of this when I was working at YMCA Camp Sloan in Lakeville, CT.

Rocky and rugged, this 15.9-mile trek travels through two states, crests the tallest peak in Connecticut, and links four summits in Massachusetts.

 

Drinking (alcohol) and weight gain

Short article in the NY Times this morning.

The study, which used nationwide data collected between 2007 to 2010, found that the average adult consumes about 100 calories worth of alcohol daily — an amount that for many people could contribute to excess weight gain. In fact, the study found, many Americans consume far more than 100 calories of alcohol a day: 20 percent of men and 6 percent of women drink more than 300 calories worth daily, roughly the amount in two 12-ounce cans of beer or two-and-a-half glasses of wine.

Dr. Nielsen and her team found that on a given day, one third of men and 18 percent of women have at least one alcoholic drink. All told, among those who drink, alcohol accounted on average for about 16 percent of their daily calories.

******

Race and ethnicity seemed to have little influence on the amounts consumed. But income played a role: the highest earners also had the highest levels of imbibing.

Ralph Reed on religion and republicans

In yesterday's Wall Street Journal.

Round Up the Usual Social Conservative Suspects

The media trope that the Grand Old Party resembles a Star Wars bar scene of theocrats and religious zealots has by now become a cliché. A Huffington Post columnist recently alleged that the Republican Party is "a rump parliament of Caucasian traditionalism: white, married, churchgoing—to oversimplify only slightly." New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd claimed that Republicans lost in 2012 because they "tried to force chastity belts on women and made Hispanics, blacks and gays feel like the help," leading voters to "give white male domination the boot." Juan Williams of Fox News concluded that demography is destiny and "the cycles of history have turned against the GOP."

We've seen this movie before. In 1992, when George H.W. Bush lost the White House, the political cognoscenti blamed the convention speeches of Patrick Buchanan and Pat Robertson and what one commentator called the "hate-fest in Houston." A similar pattern prevailed after losses in 1996 and 2008. When Republicans lose, the chattering class always blames religious folk.

Conservative evangelicals are arguably the largest single constituency in the electorate. According to a postelection survey by Public Opinion Strategies, self-identified conservative evangelicals made up 27% of voters in 2012, voting 80% for Mitt Romney compared with 19% for Barack Obama. This represented a net swing of 14 points toward the GOP ticket since 2008 and made up 48% of the entire Romney vote. Mr. Romney, a lifelong Mormon, actually received more evangelical votes than George W. Bush did in 2004.

White Catholic voters, meanwhile, went to Mr. Romney by 19 points, the largest margin among that constituency for a GOP presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1972. This was no doubt due in part to their revulsion over the Obama administration's harsh mandate on religious charities to pay for health services, such as contraception, that assault their conscience and compel them to violate their faith. Catholics who frequently attend Mass (about one in 10 voters) broke two-to-one for Romney.

Contrary to the prevailing stereotype, evangelicals and Catholics aren't single-issue voters. They care about jobs, taxes and the deficit, and their support for Israel rivals that of the Jewish community. They played an indispensable role in re-electing the Republican House majority, and in electing 30 Republican governors and hundreds of state legislators and local officeholders in recent years. Jettisoning these voters and their issues would be like a football coach responding to a big loss by cutting the team's leading rusher.

To be sure, the Republicans need to build bridges to Hispanics and minorities, women and younger voters. But unlike the conventional wisdom, social issues properly framed are one of the keys to a stronger, more diverse Republican coalition.

More if you hit the link.

Rugby (Women): USA vs. France

 

There is no formal IRB world ranking for women's rugby, but on the widely accepted unofficial rankings, USA is fifth and France third. There's a brawl just past the three minute mark.

BONUS! 5 biggest hits - and the last one is pretty good!

Backpacker magazine's top-rated NY State hike.

Of interest to some of us. Also will be posting NJ and CT top hikes according to Backpacker mag.

Mt. Marcy, in the Adirondack's.

They suggest doing it in winter! Nope ...

Japan: more adult diapers being sold than baby diapers

So what does that say about the outlook for Japan?

The article is from Bloomberg Business, where a guy is making the contrarian case for buying Japanese stocks.

Last year, for the first time, sales of adult diapers in Japan exceeded those for babies.

Accordingly, in his Nov. 14 note, “The Sun Also Rises?”, James Hunt, portfolio manager of Tocqueville’s International Value Fund and a rare Japan bull, concedes: “One of the questions we are asked most often by investors is why we would invest in Japan. Normally, there is a slight tone of derision in the question, as if to say: ‘Everyone knows that Japan has poor demographics, a huge public debt and weak growth prospects.’ And of course, all of these things are true.”

Hunt says his case for Japan boils down to its deeply contrarian pull: “Everyone thinks Japan is sinking into obscurity,” he writes, “and this negative sentiment provides us with the opportunity to buy what we consider to be excellent global franchise businesses at attractive valuations.”

Noting that Japanese equities have lagged their U.S. counterparts by 25 percent over the last two years, Hunt writes, “The storm of negative factors affecting Japan combined with the poor market performance is just of the sort of situation that piques our interest.”

And of course he could be right ...

London Fletcher: how to be an NFL star linebacker at 37 years old

I was watching the Thanksgiving Day game between Dallas and Washington and the commentators were talking quite a bit about Fletcher and his 235 consecutive game streak, his pro bowl appearences, and his high level of play for so many years. And then he intercepted Tony Romo!

So I googled him. It turns out he's "only" 5'10" tall, which is relatively short for a linebacker (but he weighs 245).

Fletcher was an undrafted free agent going into the NFL and in fact played football at John Carroll University, which is a Division III school!

This past January the Washington Post had a good short Q & A interview about his fitness regimen which is well worth a read. There's nothing extraordinary about it, by professional athlete standards, and as he says twice "I've been blessed with good genes." This will be required reading for Tim ...

Redskin London Fletcher’s fitness regimen

 

Larry Hagman

I can honestly say, I never watched Dallas. It debuted when I was living in the Caribbean. When we got back to NY, Brigid did watch it a bit.

BUT, I did watch I Dream of Jeannie occasionally when I was ub high school.

From the LA Times, a nice profile on Hagman's interesting life:

Larry Hagman dies at 81; TV's J.R. Ewing

Dog adopts tiger cubs

In Russia. The dog is a Swiss Shepherd.

 

Some better highlights from the Stepinac-White Plains Turkey Bowl game

Posted on the Stepinac website, so no mistakes shown from Stepinac (like the fumble in their own end zone...)

Stepinac 19, White Plains 18

The Jets-Patriots Thanksgiving game

A comedy of errors - for the Jets.

Patriots 49 - Jets 19

 

Further proof that there's none stranger than the English

From the Associated Press.

 

Rugby: New Zealand vs. Italy

Played in Rome last Saturday. Entertaining scores.

 

With incredible rally, Stepinac defeats White Plains in Turkey Bowl.

Down 0-18 halfway through the third quarter, the varsity comes back, and scores the winning touchdown with 32 seconds left.

Tim and the other JV starters dressed for the game, but none of them got in.

Here's the Lohud article, and below it some pictures and a couple of videos I took. I didn't have my monopod, so a little shaky.

Stepinac storms back to stun White Plains in Turkey Bowl

This is the second most attended high school football game in Westchester - probably 4-5,000 people. Here's part of the crowd.

The White Plains HS sports facility is excellent.

Brigid, at the top of the stadium - and wearing her USS Winston Churchill hat. Did you know there was a destroyer in the US Navy named for Churchill?

Tim on the sideline. He's #68, not his usual #40, which one of the varsity players already had.

I had not planned on doing any videoing, but when it came down to crunch time, in the last two minutes, I figured, why not? I didn't have my trusty monopod - hence some shake. 

Here's the winning touchdown, with 32 seconds. Dan Hoffer throwing to Christyn Lopez, who was the man in motion before the snap. If you listen, you'll hear Brigid say something a bit amusing at the end of the video.

The final play of the game, as White Plains is stuck in their own end - and a bit of the celebration.

A last article, off the MSG varsity website.

Stepinac wins classic Turkey Bowl over White Plains

 

State Trooper saves a life on the Tappan Zee Bridge

Happened Tuesday. Evidently the man was delusional. Great job Trooper Katz!

Tackle thwarts leap off Tappan Zee Bridge

While Katz is feeling great about the rescue, he’s uncomfortable taking much credit, much less acknowledging his heroics.“It’s a positive experience,” he said. “But I was just fulfilling my duties as a state trooper.”

Forbes offers a guide to talking politics at the Thanksgiving table

Too late for this year, but next year ... And ... Works for Christmas dinner!

Not too long; I've excerpted the first few paragraphs

A Guide To Talking Politics At The Thanksgiving Table

“And remember, no talking politics. Most of the people there will be liberals and you know how badly they react to opinions different from their own. Remember what happened last time.”

Do I ever. Living among outspoken, educated liberals who worship at the altar of diversity, yet react with shock and horror when confronted by opposing viewpoints, is a constant challenge. It’s especially difficult for someone who enjoys a good verbal joust even more than sports junkies love watching steroid-enhanced musclemen bash each other while chasing a pigskin ball.

It’s really not that hard once you get used to it—bobbing your head up and down with a neutral grin on your face, tongue firmly clamped between your teeth—especially if the wine is good. But remaining silent in the face of a string of progressive inanities ending with the question, “Don’t you agree?” is nearly impossible. A friendly smile and a simple “no” never seem to suffice.

The room grows quiet as if someone just discovered a whiskey salesman in the middle of a temperance convention. Heads turn to the alpha dog, wondering whether he picked up the scent. He sizes you up before he speaks, gathering his audience to deliver a crushing rebuke, sure of the admiring glances that will be his as soon as he puts you in your place.

And then all hell breaks loose.

Ha! Pretty amusing so hit the link. Luckily, the people in my family circle are open-minded and agree with me...

Nice for Thanksgiving - a short piece about Birth Haven

A place for women and their born and unborn babies. Birth Haven is located in Newton, Sussex County, northern New Jersey.

FOX doesn't allow embedding of their videos - so go here - Helping Women in Need

 

Rugby: Samoa vs. Wales

Played in Cardiff as the autumn European tours continue.

 

Ultimate gunner: guy scores 189 points in college basketball game

Short article with a picture and embedded video.

It only took 108 shots for Taylor to make a mockery of the college basketball record books.

 

Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks were amazed by the feat when they heard about it after their victory in New Orleans.

"I never heard of nothing like that. That's like a video game," Anthony said, an incredulous look on his face. "How can you shoot 100 times, though?"

He joked that from now on when someone asks if he's taking too many shots, he'll mention "that someone shot it 108 times."

Raymond Felton also was astounded by the 108 shots.

"His elbow has got to be sore," Felton said.

Post a Comment »

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/grinnell-taylor-nets-record-138-points-article-1.1205502#ixzz2CrJrFSgy

Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks were amazed by the feat when they heard about it after their victory in New Orleans.

"I never heard of nothing like that. That's like a video game," Anthony said, an incredulous look on his face. "How can you shoot 100 times, though?"

He joked that from now on when someone asks if he's taking too many shots, he'll mention "that someone shot it 108 times."

Raymond Felton also was astounded by the 108 shots.

"His elbow has got to be sore," Felton said.

Post a Comment »

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/grinnell-taylor-nets-record-138-points-article-1.1205502#ixzz2CrJrFSgy

Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks were amazed by the feat when they heard about it after their victory in New Orleans.

"I never heard of nothing like that. That's like a video game," Anthony said, an incredulous look on his face. "How can you shoot 100 times, though?"

He joked that from now on when someone asks if he's taking too many shots, he'll mention "that someone shot it 108 times."

Raymond Felton also was astounded by the 108 shots.

"His elbow has got to be sore," Felton said.

Post a Comment »

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/grinnell-taylor-nets-record-138-points-article-1.1205502#ixzz2CrJrFSgy

Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks were amazed by the feat when they heard about it after their victory in New Orleans.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/grinnell-taylor-nets-record-138-points-article-1.1205502#ixzz2CrJZJojh

Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks were amazed by the feat when they heard about it after their victory in New Orleans.

"I never heard of nothing like that. That's like a video game," Anthony said, an incredulous look on his face. "How can you shoot 100 times, though?"

He joked that from now on when someone asks if he's taking too many shots, he'll mention "that someone shot it 108 times."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/grinnell-taylor-nets-record-138-points-article-1.1205502#ixzz2CrJkpeNw

Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks were amazed by the feat when they heard about it after their victory in New Orleans.

"I never heard of nothing like that. That's like a video game," Anthony said, an incredulous look on his face. "How can you shoot 100 times, though?"

He joked that from now on when someone asks if he's taking too many shots, he'll mention "that someone shot it 108 times."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/grinnell-taylor-nets-record-138-points-article-1.1205502#ixzz2CrIzg0L8

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/grinnell-taylor-nets-record-138-points-article-1.1205502#ixzz2CrIzg0L8

Federal workers want out of any budget deal

They've already contributed enough.

This is the sort of stuff that drives people in the private sector - and especially small business people - nuts. But hey, they won the election.

Federal workers, the coalition wrote in a letter, have contributed more than their fair share toward reducing the debt and are the only group that has been targeted so heavily.

“Federal and postal employees and their families are hardworking, middle-class Americans who are struggling during these tough times just like other Americans,” the group wrote. “No other group has been asked to financially contribute the way they have, and it is time our nation’s leaders found other ways to reduce the deficit than continually taking from those who have dedicated their lives to public service.”

Teenage boys and bodybuilding

An interesting piece (and perhaps not very well-researched article, if you look at the corrections the needed to make after publication) on a possibly growing problem of high school and junior high boys.

Having just gotten back from the gym with Joe and Tim this evening, I can say that they both have a healthy attitude toward fitness training. Tim of course doing it for sports, and I've given him the OK to use the supplement creatine. He turns 16 next month.

Pediatricians are starting to sound alarm bells about boys who take unhealthy measures to try to achieve Charles Atlas bodies that only genetics can truly confer. Whether it is long hours in the gym, allowances blown on expensive supplements or even risky experiments with illegal steroids, the price American boys are willing to pay for the perfect body appears to be on the rise.

In a study to be published on Monday in the journal Pediatrics, more than 40 percent of boys in middle school and high school said they regularly exercised with the goal of increasing muscle mass. Thirty-eight percent said they used protein supplements, and nearly 6 percent said they had experimented with steroids.

Over all, 90 percent of the 1,307 boys in the survey — who lived in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, but typify what doctors say is a national phenomenon — said they exercised at least occasionally to add muscle.

“There has been a striking change in attitudes toward male body image in the last 30 years,” said Dr. Harrison Pope, a psychiatry professor at Harvard who studies bodybuilding culture and was not involved in the study. The portrayal of men as fat-free and chiseled “is dramatically more prevalent in society than it was a generation ago,” he said.

While college-age men have long been interested in bodybuilding, pediatricians say they have been surprised to find that now even middle school boys are so absorbed with building muscles. And their youth adds an element of risk.

Mystery of the Mayan Calendar explained: Why world ends in 2012 ...

Sent to me by my friend Theresa. ... Makes sense.

News Flash! Twinkies Saved!!

Maybe. For the moment.

Hostess and the Bakers Union have agreed to mediation, preventing a shutdown, CNBC reports.

And here is how they're made ...

How the beloved twinkie is made

Pot calls kettle black; NYT criticizes Washington Post's business plan

In the "media and advertising" section of the NY Times Business Day. A thinly disguised opinion piece with purported inside info.

For the record, I read the Washington Post every day online (it's free). Unlike the NY Times it does separate it's news organization from it's opinion pieces and editorializing.

Whole article is 21 paragraphs. The author is David Carr and here's his NY Times bio. Here's a small bit of added info about Carr in his wikipedia entry.

Ms. Weymouth declined to comment for this column, but I spoke with many people at The Post about why she can’t seem to find her footing. These people say they like her personally, and she continues to have the ferocious support of Donald Graham, her uncle and the chief executive of The Washington Post Company, as well as the rest of the family. But many staff members worry that she is overseeing the decline of one of journalism’s crown jewels.

 

NY Times political calculator Nate Silver on the 2014 prospects (already!)

Nate Silver was dead on with his predictions for 2012; mostly he exmaines all polling data and takes into account historic tendencies.

Here are his thoughts on the House races in two years. It's not a very long article; has one chart.

Democrats Unlikely to Regain House in 2014

One should never say never when it comes to forecasting the outcome of an election two years in advance. But it might take a major scandal in the Republican party, or for Republicans to splinter into factions, for Democrats to have more than a remote chance of winning the House.

Rugby: USA vs. Tonga

Played in Wales yesterday. Tonga's world ranking is 12th, the USA 17th.

 

The Madonna statue at Breezy Point

This statue at Breezy point in the Rockaways, which  survived the Superstorm and has been much publicized, now rates a fine, short, NY Times article. Hit the link for the awesome photo, which was not the original photo, which you can see here.

Amid the Ashes, a Statue of Mary Stands as a Symbol of Survival

Where the McNulty home once stood on the corner of Oceanside and Gotham, a few blocks from the Atlantic Ocean on the spit of land in Queens called Breezy Point, there now remains a charred, twisted ruin. Flooding and fire have left behind nothing but the foundation. Within it are strewed a dislodged bathtub, an air-conditioner casing battered into a helix shape, a mailbox coated with ashes.

As if all that loss were not loss enough, the storm spared a few tormenting reminders of life before its arrival. In the scorched shell of a cedar closet, screen windows stand neatly stacked. Three rolls of paper towels sit on a pantry shelf, toasted as delicately brown as cookout marshmallows.

So, yes, at the corner of Oceanside Avenue and Gotham Walk, the house inherited by the elderly McNultys’ niece Regina after the couple died, is a place of tragedy. It is also, astonishingly, a place of faith. For the one part of the home to survive intact was a statue of the Virgin Mary that Mary McNulty placed in her garden years ago.

The statue is one of the only recognizable remnants of the swath of Breezy Point where more than 100 homes burned to the ground while a flood kept firefighters from reaching it. Since the waters withdrew early on Oct. 30, the image of the Breezy Point Madonna has reached the nation, indeed the world, through vivid news photos. Pilgrims have come to leave offerings: a bouquet of yellow roses, four quarters, a votive candle, a memorial card for the victims of Sept. 11, a written admonition that healing begins with acceptance.

There's a bit more and very worth reading, if you hit the link.

Rugby: European tour, New Zealand vs. Scotland

From last Saturday.

 

Further proof that the Jesuits are the world's most confused religious order.

Oh, so confused.

That fine Jesuit university, where my father got his college degree and I - long ago - got an MS.

From the website of the Hudson Valley Coalition for Life (HVCL) - click through and read the prattling of a Fordham thologian, explaining how "the disagreements between us are remarkably narrow."

Leading all-out pro-death philospher Peter Singer speaking at Fordham; is this stupid, or is it us?

 

 

Here's a rogue economist's take on things

Peter Schiff is a kind of extreme free market economist/investor (he's tried to run for the Senate a couple of times from Ct. but never got very far).

Unfortunately, I think there may be more than a little element of truth in this interview.

This could happen.

We’re in that spiral right now; this is how democracies die. We’re in a situation, votingwise, where we have more people in the wagon than we have pulling it. The way you get elected is you promise to people who are riding in the wagon more free stuff, an easier ride; and you also promise to whip the people pulling the wagon a little harder and make them do a little bit more.

And as you do that, there are always people pulling the wagon who decide they are tired of pulling the wagon, and they want to jump in with everyone else. So you get even more people looking for something from government and you have fewer people to pay the bills. And this is where we are—a disintegrating nation.

There's more to what he said then that. Hit the link for the whole interview; it's a five minute read.

Sweden vs. England - amazing soccer goal

In injury time, as Sweden wins. This was just a couple of days ago. The same player scored all four of Sweden's goals.

 

Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) on the Benghazi attack

In a minute and a half video, the Senator lays out the issues. Off CNN.

 

Videos: the Hamas military chief killed by Israeli strike

The first vid is 10 seconds and shows the hit. I am against the death penalty. On the other hand, since Hamas is at war with Israel, it could be viewed as an act of war and not an execution.

However, what if other people - completely innocent - "collateral damage" - were killed? This is exactly what we're doing with our drone strikes, right?

The second one minute video shows the aftermath.

Here's commentary by AlJazeera

Rugby: Fall International, Wales vs. Argentina

Played in Cardiff. Worth noting that Graham Henry, the All Blacks World Cup winning coach spent quite a few weeks working with Argentina over the summer.

 

Croton Point trees were clubbed by Superstorm Sandy

Last Tuesday Brigid and I did a quick early morning walk at Croton Point, from where the small RV parking area is.

We were shocked by the damage out beyond the RV area, but I suppose we shouldn't have been. The trees would have taken the full force of the wind, with no protection. Crotonites who frequent Croton Point will know the area.

Redtail Hawk interlude (2 pictures) - can you see the bird?

And in takeoff mode ...

The next two pictures are where the road splits and the side road goes winding a bit downhill, past the oldest wine cellars in NY State - built by the Underhill family in the early part of the 19th century. But the road is totally blocked by the fallen trees.

More damage as we head to Teller's Point.

At the end of the Point, we had a sudden overflight by a military helo -

And Brigid at the end of Teller's Point

We took the rest of these pictures on the walk back.

Two trees down here -

Here's a young maple tree, that had been snapped off at it's base. You can see how the trunk fits perfectly with what was left in the ground.

For me, this was the most amazing thing. Five trees standing close together on the bay side of the Point, and a bit sheltered by other trees. All sheared off at about their halfway point.

So -pretty amazing. We're going to give these pictures, as well as the ones we took before and after the storm at Senaqua and Croton Landing (you can find them by putting "Croton Landing" in the search engine of this blog, on the right) to the Croton Historical Society. Of course, we took a lot more then we posted - well over fifty on Croton Point - but I've spared you the rest.   

 

 

 

Nat Hentoff: Obama's win is Constitution's loss

Nat Hentoff, former Village Voice columnist, and first Amendment expert (though not a lawyer) with very eclectic (or "idiosyncratic" as his wiki bio states) views on a number of issues. He's now 87 years old.

I now share with you, fellow American citizens, this chilling description of the essence of four more years of our maximum leader. In a recent op-ed for the Washington Post, Kurt Volker shows what that portion of the electorate who cared enough to vote gave us and the rest of the world. This is what America has now come to stand for

Hit the link, it's a fine column and not very long. I especially liked this bit:

The fateful questions for the future of this nation are why did he win, and will his re-election show the victorious way for future presidents to come?

Many Americans’ choice to discard the Declaration of Independence reveals an alarming ignorance of their history, including why their country is – or is supposed to be – unique among all other nations in the world.

The depth of this ignorance explains why throughout the long, fiercely divisive presidential and congressional campaigns, there were hardly any references to Obama’s persistent contempt for the Constitution. This was the case among loyal Obama Democrats, of course, but also among Republicans and independents.

What makes us Americans was not an issue!

 

 

Very amusing Jeanne Robertson: "I have us somewhere to stay"

Very funny. "Left Brain" is the hubby. My liberal fruends will be offended by her accent ... For three other Jeanne Robertson stand ups, type her name into the search box.

 

Catholic Bishop: Church will not obey HHS mandate

The new Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Very unfortunately, past experience tells me these guys may just be blowing smoke. I hope not.

Catholic bishops regard the mandate as a violation of religious freedom, compelling them to provide services they morally oppose. The church has always seen its charitable work, hospitals and schools as part of its broader ministry, said Bishop Richard Pates of the Diocese of Des Moines.

"It's just as much a part of our faith as saying prayers inside of church," he said.

indeed.

 

Good column on the doleful Jets - and Tebow

I watched a bit of the Jets on Sunday. They uhhh, weren't very good.

I don't know who this columnist is; guess he follows the Jets as part of his beat.

Tebow Must Be Freed From The Jets, The Worst Game Show On TV

PS. I don't think it's all Sanchez' (the QB) fault; Jets just don't have many good players around him.