Coucoumellisms

  But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.  ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.  Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and  foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will  be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’   (Matt 22:11-13)   I came across another version of the "Which of These Made a Vow of Poverty?" memes on facebook the other day, and I re-posted it with my own commentary, but I'd like to add a few things; one was pointed out by a friend, and the other I came across while reading Bible stories to my two youngest. WHAT is the point of this meme? That it is morally wrong to wear ceremonial robes to a ceremony? So what now? We can't wear wedding dresses to a wedding? We can't wear graduation robes to a graduation? Military personnel ...

I love Hallowe'en.  I dress up every year and take the hobbits trick-or-treating.  I think Hallowe'en is just as much for adults as it is for kids (minus the candy). But WHAT is up with Hallowe'en costumes for women?  It doesn't matter what you wish to dress up as on Hallowe'en there is a skimpy woman's costume for that at the store.  For some strange reason, little girls can still be princesses and yes, even vampires, and the costumes are not skimpy.  But get into adult sizes, and suddenly the costume makers have either run out of material or got the measurements wrong for the women's costumes.  Just the women's costumes, for some reason the men's costumes are fine. Who designs these things anyway?  Most likely men.  But they wouldn't, if women weren't BUYING them. Well women, we don't have to buy them.  Hallowe'en is supposed to be about having fun, not about who can be the most trashy. My daughter wanted to be a war...

I just read yet another article on the subject of this "plague within the Catholic Church", so bear with me while I rant once again. According to this article (I think it was Le Journal de Montréal), pedophilia has been a plague within the Church all throughout history, the first record of it being in 300 something after Christ. Now, I won't deny this, but to put this into perspective, I can pretty much guarantee you that pedophilia has been a scourge EVERYWHERE for a very long time.  Not just within the Church, and most likely in higher numbers outside of the Church.  As is the case today. I have known a lot of priests and religious, and a lot of Catholics.  I do not personally know any pedophile priests, nor do I personally know any victims of priests.  However, one of the ex-coaches of my children's soccer club is a pedophile, now serving time in jail.  (Why do I not hear anyone questioning the integrity of the soccer club?)  Also, someone living a...

Season of the Witch promised to be full of angry, power-hungry, cruel, tyrant Catholic priests and did not disappoint on that account, excepting perhaps one single priest. Its view on the Crusades was the usual simplistic and uninformed crap. For your information, in 712, Arab Muslims invaded Spain (a christian country) from Morocco, and they didn't stop there. When did the Crusades take place? The first (and only successful one) took place in 1095. So just how long did it take Christian countries to get their act together, and stop battling each other long enough to get together to fight a common ennemy? Hmmmm, you do the math. No, the Crusades weren't about power-hungry, hate-filled Christians attacking the peace-loving, minding-their-own-business Muslims, simply because not sharing the same fatih made them enemies of Jesus Christ.  Not only is that extremely simplistic, it is quite simply wrong. These particular muslims; Sarrasins, were neither peace-...

I have always loved dresses.  There is just something so romantic, so flirty, so feminine and girly about a nice dress.  When I wear a dress, I'm a princess, a lady, a classy babe.  You could twirl me around a dance floor or take me to tea.  We could walk down a red carpet or take the boardroom by force. I also like my jeans.  When I wear my jeans, no mountain is too high to be scaled; no children's toy too lost to be found; no river too far to walk; no chore too hard to be done.  When I'm in my jeans, I'm your best friend, the one you're comfortable with.  We could curl up in a corner and chat or roll in the autumn leaves.  Clothes are just clothes, but they have the ability to take us places in our minds and in our hearts.  Clothes reflect how we feel about and perceive ourselves.  Clothes are fun.  Clothes can take you away from reality and inspire the imagination.  Why else is Hallowe'en (and the ensuing costume pa...

So apparently, (don't ask me for references, this was a comment made to me by someone), the pope has banned vuvuzelas. Huh? Yeah, all the journalists were saying, at least he's letting us keep our chairs.  (This said in a smug tone, with a smirk) So I am supposed to be ashamed to be Catholic now, because the pope has banned vuvuzelas? 1.  I doubt the pope banned them himself, I suspect that the people who work with him to organize public audiences probably banned them. 2.  Technically, I'm sure vuvuzelas haven't been banned per se, not in general as the first comment seemed to suggest.  Catholics may still blow vuvuzelas at soccer games without having to visit a confessional afterwards.  They've probably just been disallowed from public audiences with the pope, because... 3.  ... as hard as this may be for some people out there to understand, some of the catholics (I'd even hazard a guess that most of the catholics) going to see the pope in a...

I found out from Maryssa's catechism teacher last night that the parishes are no longer allowed to send announcements for catechism through the school system anymore.  So, parents who want their children to go to catechism will no longer be informed of the availability of classes, nor the inscription times.  The parish will have to rely on ads in newspapers from now on.  (If that doesn't get banned too in future) Now if no one were allowed to put publicity through schools, that would be one thing, but I happen to have sent publicity through my kids' school myself, in hopes of recruiting new players for my daughter's soccer team.  I have also received all kinds of publicity from summer camps and other places through the school. So it's quite obvious that we are only banning one group here. Wouldn't you call that discrimination? I sure do. What about my right to information?  Why is it that a minority "élite" can decide for me what kind of info...

My books were sent to me on February 16, 2010 from a place 5 hours away from me. It only takes five hours to get there from here by car. Yep, only five. It is March 25, 2010 today, exactly five weeks and 2 days since they were sent. Is it just me, or is there a problem here? Five weeks and I have still got nothing to show for it? I paid over $50 just for the shipping. That makes a $200 package more or less. I'd really like to have it now if you don't mind. Thank you very much.

... but this is weird. It is supposed to be a complementary copy, so at no charge to me. The receipt inside confirms this, as my total comes to $0.00 even including shipping. However, I had to pay $20.62 in importation fees! What the heck is that? It breaks down into $1.32 in GST, $17.10 in BROK FEE (broker's fee I imagine?) $0.85 in BROK GST, $1.35 in BROK QST. How do they get all those fees on a free item? Any percentage of $0.00 is $0.00 as far as I know... and what is this BROK FEE? Does this mean that, had I decided to ship the books I did buy to eventually do book signings somewhere, that on top of the outrageous shipping prices, ($120.00+ instead of $50.00+) I would have had to pay outrageous importation fees too? It's a good thing I had it sent to my friend instead!!!

I used to listen to CHOM FM, the classic Rock station in Montreal, quite a bit. In the past year however, they annoy me more often than not. First it was the suggestive condom ads running all hours of the day, despite the fact that people's kids may be listening along. Then there were the ads for the big Convention on everything sex-related. If you don't know what such and such a term is, if you think such and such is referring to it's original innocent meaning, then you need to come to this sex conference, they claimed. Uh well, I beg to differ. I have no idea what such and such a term is, and I do not wish to know. I also happen to naively think that such and such other term still refers to its originally intended innocent meaning, and I do not wish to be informed otherwise. I do not believe that true love requires sex to be anything but simple. Simple straightforward honest sex with the person you love, the person you are faithful to forever, is enough. Ther...

Sometimes neutrality is better. Noone gives and noone receives. Sometimes it is better neither to expect anything nor give anything in return. Sometimes it's just less depressing to not to give at all. It can actually be a relief to not have to pretend to not notice that one is the only person not on the receiving end. Sometimes, whether it be the needy friend who only shows up when they need something, or a member of the family who doesn't pitch in, it is better to distance oneself and neither be disappointed, nor trying to pretend not to care. Because sometimes, it is better for one's own personal mental health, not to give oneself reason to be depressed. Sometimes, being on equal ground is much better than either giving or receiving.

Gotta love the health system here. We have 4 or 5 drop-in clinics. I have two boys with ear infections right now. I call the clinic closest to home at about 7:45. The message tells me that the clinic is only open at 9:00. So I call back at 9:00. At 9:00, I get a message telling me that the clinic is compete for today, no spots are available, please call back tomorrow from 8:00. What the h@#%!!! So I call all the other clinics and they are ALL already full, no spots available! Already all full, at 9:00 am. Where are all the doctors? Maybe I should just drive the 45 minutes to the border and pay to see an american doctor? It would probably take me less time to drive the 45 minutes, see the doctor and drive back, than to sit in the hospital all day. It is always pretty much the same, and it must be worse now that everyone is freaking out over H1N1. I don't want to try out the hospital. If you can go there and wait 6 hours in the waiting room wiht no H1N1, I shudder to think what it mu...

Hier j'ai reçu ceci du Bloc Québecois: "À Ottawa, il n'y a qu'un seul parti qui se tient DEBOUT pour le Québec, et c'est le Bloq Québecois." Ah bon. Mettons que si le Québec au complet pensait exactement comme le Bloq Québecois, ce serait peut-être vrai. Mais ce n'est pas le cas. " Pas un mot sur Kyoto dans le budget du gouvernement Harper!" qu'on nous dit. Euh... c'est peut-être parce que, contrairement au parti BQ, le parti conservateur n'a pas été compètement dupé par la nouvelle religion Verte? Lisez là-dessus, et vous verrez que toute la propagande "Gazes à Effet de Serre" ne tient pas vraiment debout. Oui nous faisons face à de la pollution, oui nous devons prendre des décisions écologique, mais le sois-disant réchauffement de la planète n'a rien a voir avec nous. La terre se réchauffe et se refroidie depuis des millions d'années, dans le temps médiéval, la terre était plus chaude qu'aujourd'hui. Mo...

You know what I don't like about special interests groups, as compared to generalized human rights groups? When a special interest group gets too much power, they tend to forget everyone else and focus only on their own rights. They forget that other groups of people have rights too, and they start to see these other groups of people as competition. If other groups of people have interests that conflict their own, for instance, they see their rights as being trampled on. In other words, no one other group may have "rights" that conflict with their own. Didn't our mothers all teach us to share when we were children? Apparently not. Because today, many feminists view embryos and foetus's as competition. A foetus's right to life infringes on a woman's "right" live hers as she sees fit. I guess some people's mothers forget to teach them that you have to live with the consequences of your acts as well. Because, in most cases, if there is a...

http://www.lifenews.com/int1070.html How's that for a fricken idiot? Has he checked the birth rate in the UK recently? In 2007 it was 1.90 kids, just under 2 kids per woman. In 2008, it went down to 1.66 per woman . That's already quite a bit less than 2 kids per woman. If a few rare people are having more than two kids, it only balances out the many more that aren't having kids at all... I hate it when people say stupid things, hoping the rest of us are stupid enough to believe anything. Maybe, just maybe, the current economic problems are due in part to the DECLINE of the birthrate? Did he ever think about that? Maybe, just maybe, all those OLDER people not working anymore, but needing to be supported by a constantly declining younger population is causing part of the problem? Did he ever think of that? Maybe, just maybe, if you criminalize women (like China does) for having more than 2 children, the birth rate will be then so low, (because of all the women STILL not havi...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1056415/Teach-pleasure-gay-sex-children-young-say-researchers.html?Gay You know, I'm not going to go bashing gays, or beat them up, or whatever. But honestly, could they back off of our children? Heterosexuals don't teach the pleasure of hetero sex to kids at five. Just BACK OFF OKAY! Someone else had this to say and I totally agree: The economy is going to hell in a handbasket. Tax payers are feeling the bite in their pocket and yet having to subsidise our financial services industry because of banking practices that push beyond the boundaries of boldness and yet our government can find a spare £600,000 to advocate teaching five year olds about homosexuality? Five year olds! These children aren't even of the age to read Biff, Chip and Kipper and yet the government finds a spare £600k, in what Alistair Darling calls the worst economic climate for 60 years, to learn whether their sexual attitudes require exploring? Unbelievable. You...

I think I signed on to this Care2 newsletter because they had something to do with human rights somewhere... but since then I have been receiving e-mails like the following: Hello Jeanne, Last week, the U.S. state of Alaska announced its plans to challenge the federal decision to protect Cook Inlet beluga whales under America's Endangered Species Act in court. America's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service declared the whales, with a population of roughly 300, an endangered species in October 2008. Express your disappointment by signing the petition letter to Alaska's Governor, Sarah Palin >> The state of Alaska is well known for its amazing wildlife and stunning natural beauty. But scientists have determined that if nothing is done, these magnificent whales that may have once numbered as many as 1,300 are headed toward extinction. You may recall Governor Sarah Palin's now-famous words, "Drill, baby drill!" spoken durin...

Lorne Gunter, National Post Editorial Page, Wednesday, January 21, 2009 Well, at least Barack Obama doesn't have that goofy, Gomer Pyle grin on his face the way George W. Bush did every time he made an important speech. Mr. Bush often had serious things to say and sometimes said them very well. His Sept. 20, 2001, address to Congress -- "you are with us or you are with the terrorists" -- is a case in point. (Umm, I beg to differ... I believe that was a bit extreme myself. I don't believe that it was so black or white. Jeanne) Still, Mr. Bush frequently had a tough time getting listeners to believe he was taking important subjects seriously because of his infuriating cat-that-swallowed-the-canary smirk. By contrast, Mr. Obama can deliver a stem-winder with all the gravitas and pace it deserves ... perfectly punctuated ... by poignant ... pauses. So powerful are his oratorical skills, it's easy to imagine him prompting swells of patriotic pride in a fast food worke...

According to this interesting (albeit sometimes confusing) article: http://www.itsonlysteam.com/articles/landscheidt_minimum_part2.html , we are now at the end of an interglaciation period of an ice age. The period when the ice cover recedes. Any time between now and the next 800-1000 years, we should be entering the next ice age, and glaciation period. And when this happens, the temperatures will drop rapidly within a few years only. That, to me, is more scary than the whole global warming conspiracy. I would much rather live on a warm planet than an extremely cold one. This also refutes the whole idea of global warming, as this whole warming up and cooling down and warming up again as already happened, a number of times, in fairly recent history... if the global warming "experts" cared to look at the evidence... I, for one, am enjoying this year's COLDER winter, having more days to skate on the pond, not having to jump on right away before it melts.... I was gettin...

It isn't about the gift so much, nor how much it cost. It isn't even really the "thought that counts" either, since one can think about getting a gift, but never get around to doing it. It's about the effort put into it to please the person you intend it for. It isn't just effort put into finding or making the right gift, it is the effort put into having it on time, and the effort put into the presentation of said gift. A birthday gift is no longer really a birthday gift if it is thrown into your lap two days after your birthday with no gift wrapping on it. A Christmas gift is no longer a Christmas gift if it is finally bought three months later. Presentation and timing are everything. What is inside the gift is less important. Obviously, a well-thought out gift is something picked out with a particular person in mind, knowing his/her tastes exactly. But sometimes you can't find the perfect gift. Or maybe you can't afford it. Or maybe you don...