Well…

If you decide to switch the style of the site, please remember its “not broken”, you just have to refresh the page manually after you change the style.

It wasn’t working at all until I commented out the following line:

header(”Location: “.get_settings(’siteurl’));

If that line is not commented, the script does not change the cookie for the style of the site.

So, basically, you can change the style if you are willing to “refresh” manually after you make your choice. If you know how to correct this problem, let me know.

Patterns of Global Terrorism - 2003

There were 190 acts of international terrorism in 2003, a slight decrease from the 198 attacks that occurred in 2002, and a drop of 45 percent from the level in 2001 of 346 attacks. The figure in 2003 represents the lowest annual total of international terrorist attacks since 1969.

A total of 307 persons were killed in the attacks of 2003, far fewer than the 725 killed during 2002. A total of 1,593 persons were wounded in the attacks that occurred in 2003, down from 2,013 persons wounded the year before.

In 2003, the highest number of attacks (70) and the highest casualty count (159 persons dead and 951 wounded) occurred in Asia.

There were 82 anti-US attacks in 2003, which is up slightly from the 77 attacks the previous year, and represents a 62-percent decrease from the 219 attacks recorded in 2001.

Thirty-five American citizens died in 15 international terrorist attacks in 2003:

* Michael Rene Pouliot was killed on 21 January in Kuwait when a gunman fired at his vehicle that had halted at a stoplight.

* Thomas Janis was murdered by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia terrorists on 13 February in Colombia. Mr. Janis was the pilot of a plane owned by Southern Command that crashed in the jungle. He and a Colombian army officer were wounded in the crash and shot when the terrorists discovered them. Three American passengers on the plane — Keith Stansell, Marc D. Gonsalves, and Thomas R. Howes — were kidnapped and are still being held hostage.

* William Hyde was killed on 4 March in Davao, Philippines, when a bomb hidden in a backpack exploded in a crowded airline terminal. Twenty other persons died, and 146 were wounded.

* The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) denies any connection to the suspected bomber who claimed he was an MILF member.

* Abigail Elizabeth Litle was killed on 5 March when a suicide bomber boarded a bus in Haifa, Israel, and detonated an explosive device.

* Rabbi Elnatan Eli Horowitz and his wife Debra Ruth Horowitz were killed on 7 March when a Palestinian gunman opened fire on them as they were eating dinner in the settlement of Kiryat Arba.

* The deadliest anti-US attack occurred in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 12 May when suicide bombers in boobytrapped cars filled with explosives drove into the Vinnell Jadewel and Al-Hamra housing compounds, killing nine US citizens. Killed at the Vinnell compound were: Obaidah Yusuf Abdullah, Todd Michael Blair, Jason Eric Bentley, James Lee Carpenter II, Herman Diaz, Alex Jackson, Quincy Lee Knox, and Clifford J. Lawson. Mohammed Atef Al Kayyaly was killed at the Al-Hamra compound.
Alan Beer and Bertin Joseph Tita were killed on 11 June in a bus bombing near Klal Center on Jaffa Road near Jerusalem.

* Howard Craig Goldstein was killed in a shooting attack near the West Bank settlement of Ofra on 20 June.

* Fred Bryant, a civilian contractor, was killed on 5 August in Tikrit, Iraq, when his car ran over an improvised explosive device.

* Three Americans were among the victims of a deadly truck bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad’s Canal Hotel on 19 August. They were Arthur Helton, Richard Hooper, and Martha Teas. UN Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello was also among the 23 fatalities.

* Five Americans were killed in Jerusalem on 19 August when a suicide bomber riding on a bus detonated explosives attached to his body. They were Goldy Zarkowsky, Eli Zarkowsky, Mordechai Reinitz, Yessucher Dov Reinitz, and Tehilla Nathansen. Fifteen other persons were killed and 140 wounded in the attack.

* Dr. David Applebaum and his daughter Naava Applebaum were killed on 9 September in a bombing at the Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem.

* Three Americans were killed on 15 October in Gaza Strip as their US Embassy Tel Aviv motorcade was struck by an apparent roadside blast. They were John Branchizio, Mark T. Parson, and John Martin Linde, Jr. All three were security contractors.

* Lt. Col. Charles H. Buehring was killed on 26 October in Baghdad during a rocket-propelled grenade attack on the Al-Rasheed Hotel. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul D. Wolfowitz was staying at the hotel at the time of the attack.

* Two Americans, William Carlson and Christopher Glenn Mueller, were killed in an ambush by armed militants in Shkin, Afghanistan, on 27 October. Both were US Government contract workers.

Note:

Most of the attacks that have occurred during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom do not meet the longstanding US defi nition of international terrorism because they were directed at combatants, that is, US and Coalition forces on duty. Attacks against noncombatants, that is, civilians and military personnel who at the time of the incident were unarmed and/or not on duty, are judged as terrorist attacks.

[Via: State Dept]

Cell Phones for Soldiers was created by two teenagers, 13 year old Brittany Bergquist and her brother, 12 year old Robbie Bergquist of Norwell Massachusetts. After reading a story about a soldier who ran up a huge phone bill calling home, the two teenagers decided to try and help. Their goal is to try and help our soldiers serving in Iraq and elswhere pay for calls home. They plan to provide as many soldiers as possible with pre-paid cell phones or calling cards.

Go. Help. Now. Go. Donate. Now.

On April 17, 2003, Pope John Paul II delivered the ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIA at Saint Peter’s.

Then, on April 25th, John “waffles” Kerry received Communion at a Catholic Church near his home, showing a total lack of respect for the Pope and the Catholic Church as a whole.

The day after Cardinal Francis Arinze, the Vatican’s leading prelate dealing with the Sacraments, said pro-abortion politicians should be refused Communion, Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry received Communion at a Catholic Church near his home.

On April 26th, the following hit the news wires:

“The pope has spoken. What’s the holdup?” asked American Life League president Judie Brown. “We are seeing bishops who are fully aware that there are pro-abortion political figures in their midst who claim to be Catholic. Yet not all of these bishops are using all of the tools the Church gives them to deal with the scandal this creates.”

Some of these politicians insist they may receive Communion because, despite their anti-life political stances, the Church can’t judge the state of their hearts. In Boston, for instance, a spokesman for Archbishop Sean O’Malley was asked about denying Communion to Sen. John Kerry. The spokesman was quoted as saying that the archdiocese “does not hold to the practice of publicly refusing Communion to anyone,” leaving it to the individual to decide. But Pope John Paul II answered that argument in his 2003 encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia:

The judgment of one’s state of grace obviously belongs only to the person involved, since it is a question of examining one’s conscience. However, in cases of outward conduct which is seriously, clearly and steadfastly contrary to the moral norm, the Church, in her pastoral concern for the good order of the community and out of respect for the sacrament, cannot fail to feel directly involved. The Code of Canon Law refers to this situation of a manifest lack of proper moral disposition when it states that those who “obstinately persist in manifest grave sin” are not to be admitted to Eucharistic communion.

As far as Catholics are concerned, Pope John Paul II is the one God talks too. There is no human on earth more holy than the Pope. John Kerry says he is a devout Catholic. If he is, why does he disparage the Church by insisting on taking Communion when the Pope says he shouldn’t? Why are some bishops insisting on giving Communion when the Pope says they shouldn’t? Does following their hearts make them holier than the Pope?

Even though taking Communion represents a Catholic’s most physical representation of his/her relationship with Christ, one must still follow the teachings of the Church to remain close to Him.

Along comes Nancy Pelosi, who jumps in with,

“I believe that my position on choice is one that is consistent with my Catholic upbringing…”

Even I, as a non-Catholic, know that the “position of choice” is NO WAY even close to Catholic beliefs. She for one, is a total nut-job.

Basically, John Kerry (and others) are saying that their beliefs (as politicians) should not be dictated by the Church. Kerry (and the others) should also remember though, that in the end, they as individuals, not politicians, will have to answer for what they are doing.

A recreational diver forgotten at sea by a boat crew drifted five hours in the ocean and prayed “God, I don’t want to die” before a teenager aboard a century-old tall ship spotted him and fellow Boy Scouts pulled him aboard.

Dan Carlock, 45, was left in the ocean by his scuba diving group Sunday and drifted for hours about seven miles offshore.

…

The spacecraft engineer for Boeing Satellite Systems and three dive buddies entered the water at about 8:45 a.m. Sunday, but Carlock had problems equalizing the pressure in his ears and he fell behind.

He tried following his partners’ bubbles, but he lost them.

He decided to end the dive after 15 minutes, but he was 400 feet down current from an oil platform where the boat was anchored. He blew his whistle to attract attention.

“I figured when the dive was over they would realize I was missing and come looking for me,” Carlock said.

If this is how his friends treat him, I would hate to see what would happen if his enemies took over.

Kudos to the Boy Scouts for being alert.

Zell Miller, Georgia’s maverick Democratic senator, says the nation ought to return to having senators appointed by legislatures rather than elected by voters.

Miller, who is retiring in January, was first appointed to his post in 2000 after the death of Paul Coverdell. He said Wednesday that rescinding the 17th Amendment, which declared that senators should be elected, would increase the power of state governments and reduce the influence of Washington special interests.

That would make things interesting, although special interest groups would never let things go back to the way they were. :roll:

Miller has ruffled the feathers of Democratic colleagues before. Though elected as a Democrat, he has endorsed President Bush for re-election, sided with Republicans on virtually every key issue and written a best-selling book in which he accuses his party of being out of touch with Southern voters.

They are out of touch with Southern voters, and the reason their feathers are ruffled is because THEY know it.

If I hadn’t already added Jim McDermott to my moron list, I would sure add him today.

Rep. Jim McDermott, Washington Democrat, yesterday did not say the words “under God” as he led the House in its daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Rep. Pete Sessions, Texas Republican, accused Mr. McDermott of “embarrassing the House” and proving that “he and those like him stand more for the liberal left than they do for our friends and neighbors.”

“The liberal wing of the Democrat Party launched yet another salvo today in its ongoing battle to drive a wedge between Americans and the values and ideals we hold dear,” Mr. Sessions said in a statement last night.

…

“Congressman McDermott already knew that he had a problem with the words ‘under God,’ based on two votes he cast. The question is why he put himself in the position of embarrassing the House in this way,” Mr. Sessions said.

When asked about yesterday’s Pledge incident, Mr. McDermott’s spokesman, Mike DeCesare, said his boss “hesitated, unsure of what he should do because the words ‘under God’ are under court review.” Mr. DeCesare confirmed that his boss did omit the words.

What would possess a man to act like this in the House Of Representatives?

The House has been reciting the Pledge every morning since 1988, alternating between members of both parties to lead it, according to a C-SPAN Web site discussion on the topic. Recitation of the Pledge is listed in the official House rules as the third action in the daily order of business.

Recitation of the Pledge is listed in the official House rules as the third action in the daily order of business… The Pledge still contains the words “under God”, and will even after the Supreme Court makes their decision. Rep. McDermott should consider the ramifications of taking matters into his own hands, and should be ashamed of himself.

With the air gushing out of John Kerry’s balloon, it may be only a matter of time until political insiders in Washington face the dread reality that the junior senator from Massachusetts doesn’t have what it takes to win and has got to go. As arrogant and out of it as the Democratic political establishment is, even these pols know the party’s got to have someone to run against George Bush. They can’t exactly expect the president to self-destruct into thin air.

Do you really think they would do something like this?

I can’t stand John “waffles” Kerry, but who else would they get to run that has even more popularity than him? Hillary?

While I agree that the results from last week’s show seemed very biased (and not based on actual talent shown), I do not think the show is “incredibly racist”… yet…

British Rock star Elton John, a guest judge this month on the U.S. talent hunt TV series “American Idol,” said on Tuesday that he found the voting by the national viewing audience “incredibly racist.”

I do think that Elton John should have checked his facts a tad better as well, since Fantasia had never been in the bottom three before, and Latoya was only there once (I think).

“They have great voices. The fact that they’re constantly in the bottom three — and I don’t want to set myself up here — but I find it incredibly racist,” John said at a news conference promoting his Radio City Music Hall concert backed by an orchestra of students from London’s Royal Academy of Music and The Juilliard School of New York.

Let’s hope the teeny boppers out there stop voting for “popularity” and start voting for talent…

By the way, didn’t Diana DeGarmo do a GREAT job last night?

The Washington Post has put together a nice page that lets you see and read about each soldier who has died in Iraq.

Take a moment to read about the honorable men and women who are faithfully serving our country and fighting for freedom in the world.