The Peaceful Gnome

ScienceDaily (2007-12-30) -- In a finding that defies conventional culinary wisdom, researchers in Italy report that cooking vegetables can preserve or even boost their nutritional value in comparison to their raw counterparts, depending on the cooking method used. Woo hoo! Steam them veggies!

The holiday eating season is finally drawing to a close. I topped it off with several days of Christmas feasting involving ham and mashed potatoes and pie and ice cream and eggnog and cookies and cakes and candy and all the rest of the goodies people hurled in my direction. I turned nothing down, I ate it all! :-P~ Then my immune system crashed, what with my body being too busy trying to digest all of that food and I came down with a nasty cold the day after Christmas. I'm convinced that is why I got it, my body was weakened by too much sugar, meat and alcohol. Overdosing on sugar : Eating or drinking 100 grams (8 tbsp) of sugar which is the equivalent of about two cans of soda, can reduce the ability of white blood cells to kill germs by forty percent. The immune-suppressing effect of sugar starts less than thirty minutes after ingestion and may last for five hours. In contrast, the ingestion of complex carbohydrates, or starches, has no effect on the immune system. ...

Uncle Remus Judy Wallman, a professional genealogical researcher, discovered that Hillary Clinton's great-great uncle, Remus Rodham, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture is this inscription 'Remus Rodham; horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.' Judy e-mailed Hillary Clinton for comments. Hillary's staff of professional image adjusters sent back the following biographical sketch: 'Remus Rodham was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with...

And now, brought to you by Bush and Friends, Blowback! Starring nuclear armed Pakistan collapsing into anarchy and civil war. Watch and fear as our short sighted and foolish imperial policy of backing the vile murderous dictator of Pakistan with billions of dollars in military aid over the democratically elected government blows up in our faces. Watch in horror as REAL weapons of mass destruction vanish into the underground of terrorists and Islamic fanatics. Watch as our Glorious Leader claims it's all because they hate our freedoms! Watch as FOX claims it has nothing to do with the Empire and we just need to stay the course... until we are all vaporized by the blowback I suppose... Bhutto Assassinated in Attack on Rally At Least a Dozen Others Also Killed By SALMAN MASOOD and GRAHAM BOWLEY 26 minutes ago An attack on a political rally killed the Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto near the capital, Islamabad, Thursday. Witnesses said Ms. Bhutto was ...

Here is a picture of Lora and Serenity at church recently:

Ron Paul was interviewed on the Fox network about a donation he got from a white supremacist group. He refused to agree to give it back, check out the interview:

I just got back from the Christmas program at Messiah. Serenity, Mike and Lora were all in it so I was the only family member in the audience :-) Serenity was wonderful, she gave out her lines clearly and loud enough to hear, no mumbling and stumbling from my granddaughter. If there is one thing Serenity has no problem with it's talking! Getting her to stop is another matter altogether. I've been toying with the idea of homeschooling for Serenity. I'm in the midst of doing some online research. I have a number of reasons for thinking of this. First is that I am convinced that public schools are really not good for learning anything other than obedience to authority. That is their primary purpose as far as I can tell. The idea of government indoctrination camps for 6 year olds just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I also don't agree with much of what is taught in public schools, from the glories of the American Empire and the flag waving hyper-propaganda the k...

Here is one of those rare instances when I agree with John Warwick Montgomery. In reference to the case in the Sudan, where British volunteer school teacher Gillian Gibbons was imprisoned for allowing the children to name a teddy bear Muhammad, after one of the pupils in the class, Montgomery commented: "You'll pardon my opinion on this, but I would outlaw the Muslim religion on the very same basis that I would outlaw the Aztec religion. The Aztec religion holds to human sacrifice. I would not allow that religion to prevail, nor would I allow Islam to prevail, because the moment that they get into any situation of power, the result is this kind of thing, which is against human rights and against human civilization. And I don't care that there's some lovely Muslims around. I'm sure there were some very fine Aztecs as well." http://www.kfuoam.org/mp3/Issues7/montgomery.mp3

I just got this from my sister Kari, now this is Holiday Reality: 1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls. 2. Drink as much eggnog as you can and quickly. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an 'eggnog-aholic' or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it! Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. 3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand-alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat. 4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a spo...

Katharina von Bora Luther Katharina von Bora (1499-1552) was placed in a convent when still a child and became a nun in 1515. In April 1523 she and eight other nuns were rescued from the convent and brought to Wittenberg. There Martin Luther helped return some to their former homes and placed the rest in good families. Katharina and Martin were married on June 13, 1525. Their marriage was a happy one and blessed with six children. Katharina skillfully managed the Luther household, which always seemed to grow because of his generous hospitality. After Luther's death in 1546, Katharina remained in Wittenberg but lived much of the time in poverty. She died in an accident while traveling with her children to Torgau in order to escape the plague. [From " Commemorations Biographies , " Lutheran Service Book, LCMS Commission on Worship]

In the end, God will bring justice upon the earth, only we who are in Christ will live. Isaiah 40:18-41:10, Revelation 8:1-13 Revelation 8 The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer 1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, [ a ] flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. The Seven Trumpets 6 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. 7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail a...

Here is yet more proof that Rick Warren is a heretic and is helping people to go to hell rather than preaching the gospel of salvation through Christ. From the Christian Post: Rick Warren Counsels Jews on Recruiting Congregants Megachurch pastor Rick Warren attended a large Reform Jewish gathering last week to share tips on how to build a community. Warren - who saw his church expand from seven people meeting in his house to 22,000 people worshipping in an expansive treasure island-like campus – said the key to holding onto visitors is involving them in a small group. “We believe congregations have to grow large and small at the same time,” Warren said Thursday, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper. “We don’t really feel like people are in the congregation until they’re in small groups.” The “Purpose-Driven” pastor spoke to thousands of Jewish leaders Thursday night at the Union for Reform Judaism’s biennial convention in San Diego . With the hol...

I didn't realize we did a commemoration of Adam and Eve, cool, today is the day... Adam and Eve Adam was the first man, made in the image of God and given dominion over all the earth (Gen 1:26). Eve was the first woman, formed from one of Adam ' s ribs to be his companion and helper (2:18 - 24). God placed them in the Garden of Eden to take care of the creation as his representatives. But they forsook God ' s Word and plunged the world into sin (3:1-7). For this disobedience God drove them from the Garden. Eve had to suffer the pain of childbirth and be subject to Adam; Adam had to toil amid thorns and thistles and return to the dust of the ground. Yet God promised that the woman ' s Seed would crush the serpent ' s head (3:8 - 24). Sin had entered God ' s perfect creation and changed it until God would restore it again through Christ. Eve is the mother of the human race, while Adam is representative of all humanity and the Fall, as Saint Paul writes, " Fo...

From today's readings this encouraging word comes to me: Isaiah 34:1-2, 34:8-35:10, Revelation 6:1-17 Isaiah 35: 8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. How can one such as I survive the journey through this life? I am on the Way (this is what Christianity was called before Antioch, see Acts 24:14 .) So, since I have been baptized into Christ, "even if they are fools they shall not go astray" applies to me. At least that is how I read it this rainy early morning.

The first from the book of Revelation: Revelation 5 The Scroll and the Lamb 1Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?" 3And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5And one of the elders said to me, "Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals." 6And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7And he went and took the scroll from the right hand ...

Anthony Sacramone has, by far, the best description of Pullman's trilogy I have seen, read it here. ...Look, here’s the thing. The movie may be harmless in itself. Frankly, it could be Mary Poppins on ice. But I wouldn’t pay one red cent to see it or take any child I know to see it. What matters here is context , and the film’s context is the phenomenal success of a trilogy of tales intended to instill in children a red-hot hate for religion in general and in Christianity in particular... Be sure to read the whole First Things blog article , it's great stuff.

Government action generally splits the difference between “useless” and “harmful.” William N. Grigg in a blog post about "The Fence."

“I have never been one who is comfortable talking about my faith in the political arena. In fact, the pandering that typically occurs in the election season I find to be distasteful. But for those who have asked, I freely confess that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior, and that I seek His guidance in all that I do. I know, as you do, that our freedoms come not from man, but from God. My record of public service reflects my reverence for the Natural Rights with which we have been endowed by a loving Creator. The right of an innocent, unborn child to life is at the heart of the American ideal of liberty. My professional and legislative record demonstrates my strong commitment to this pro-life principle.” -- Ron Paul’s ‘Statement of Faith’