Friday 04.29.05
A used Volkswagen Golf that had belonged to Pope Benedict XVI is
for sale on Ebay. My translations of questions from potential
buyers, and the seller's answers:
|
|
| Q: | Do you really
want to sell the car? | |
| A: | Yeeeeesssss!!!! |
| |
| Q: | Can it be used
with holy water in the windshield washer? | |
| A: | There are no
limits to creativity in this regard... |
| |
| Q: | ... You write,
that the original seats are still available. Are they leather seats,
and if yes in what color? ... | |
| A: | They are cloth
seats in the Highline series. In gray/black |
| |
| Q: | Does black or
white smoke come out of the exhaust? | |
| A: | That's a
good one ;-) |
| |
| Q: | The Pope had
a powerful stereo installed ;-) That isn't the stock radio in any case...
| |
| A: | No, I swapped
out the stock radio. Cardinal Ratzinger made do with the
original VW radio. |
| |
| Q: | Is it a nonsmoker car? | |
| A: | Yes |
Tuesday 04.26.05
Tommyjournal hasn't been updated much lately. Sorry 'bout that.
As soon as I can think of interesting stuff to say, I'll write some more.
In the meantime,
try this.
Thursday 04.21.05
The time has come that the American people know exactly what their
representatives are doing here in Washington. Are they feeding at
the public trough, taking lobbyist-paid vacations, getting wined
and dined by special-interest groups? Or are they working hard to
represent their constituents? The people, the American people,
have a right to know. I say the best disinfectant is full
disclosure. -Tom DeLay, 1995
Wednesday 04.20.05
I'm not a fan of Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI), but I will give him credit
for having made his views clear--in particular about the uniqueness and
preëminence of his church:
With the coming of the Saviour Jesus Christ, God has willed that the
Church founded by him be the instrument for the salvation of all
humanity (cf. Acts 17:30-31). This truth of faith does not lessen
the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world,
but at the same time, it rules out, in a radical way, that mentality of
indifferentism "characterized by a religious relativism which leads to
the belief that 'one religion is as good as another' ". If it is
true that the followers of other religions can receive divine grace,
it is also certain that objectively speaking they are in a gravely
deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have
the fullness of the means of
salvation. Dominus Iesus (ch. 22)
Monday 04.18.05
Politicianspeak at its best:
| Interviewer: | Have you ever
crossed the line of ethical behavior in terms of dealing with lobbyists,
your use of government authority or with fundraising? |
| Tom DeLay: | Ever
is a very strong word.
[...] | |
(from an April 12 interview; more
at Language Log.)
Tuesday 04.05.05
News of a survey on "blog consumption", as reported
in The Blog Herald:
The survey found that gay people read blogs more often than their
non-gay counterparts, with 27% of GLB adults frequently or
occasionally seek out blogs versus 18% of heterosexual adults,
and only 44% of GLB adults stating that they never read blogs
as compared to 59% of heterosexual adults.
Whether the results have any great consequence in the great scheme
of things is yet to be seen, but the statistics should provide some
solace to bloggers who actively target the GLB market.
Provide some solace--as if this were a burning question,
keeping bloggers up at night.
Tommy hastens to point out that he does not blog to target a "market",
and does not regard the act of reading as "consumption".
Eleven or so years ago, this letter to the editor appeared
in the Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco):
I see that the Vatican has just released a new catechism
(the first complete revamp of its kind in 400 years) with
statements of faith about all sorts of new sins.
About pornography the Church says: "It gravely offends
the dignity of those who submit to it ... It plunges
all of them into the illusion of a make-believe world."
Funny, I thought that described the Catholic Church.
Aaron Travis
Berkeley
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