Bookworm Room

Tweet I have a new post up at PJ Lifestyle, and I would like it to get as much readership and distribution as possible, because it’s about a very special young man and a very important topic: Autism is a painfully mysterious syndrome. We don’t know what causes it, although we do know that about [...]

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Tweet O Holy Night is my favorite Christmas carol.  In an earlier post, I put up a video of Josh Groban singing it.  Old Buckeye responded with a link to this beautiful rendition by Ernie Ford (whom I always knew just as a funny guest on the I Love Lucy show, and Gordon MacRae, one of [...]

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Tweet I have to admit that having Obama for another four years in the White House, having Harry Reid serve as Majority Leader for another two to four years (at least) in the Senate, and having Israel poised on the brink of a major war with another Iranian proxy, doesn’t give me that warm, comfy [...]

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Tweet I don’t believe it was a monster hit with the little girls, but I like Mulan.  It’s an equity feminist movie, with Mulan competing at game level, rather than whining and changing the game.  Here’s the best, and most inspiring, song from the movie:

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Tweet Fall is my favorite time of year.  It always has been.  Spring is beautiful and exciting — for nature.  As a spectator, it’s one of the finest shows our world has to offer.  But it’s fall that is the season of possibilities for people. Fall is when the harvest is in and people start [...]

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Tweet I want to talk about Kate Middleton.  She is, in my humble opinion, an exceptionally lovely young woman.  Her father-in-law may have chosen his wife badly, but her husband did a fine job.  To begin with, she and Prince William genuinely seem to like each other, which is a rarity in royal relationships.  She’s [...]

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Tweet There are a few things I’ve read or heard that have completely changed the way I live my life.  The first and most important was Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends and Influence People. His light, accessible prose completely changed my life. I started looking at the people around me, not as adversaries whom [...]

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Tweet Tom Elia, who blogs at The New Editor, watches this video reel regularly to get himself in the right frame of mind for the political fight facing us:

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Tweet I’ve been thinking about death lately.  Not in a morbid, depressed way, but in a more philosophical way.  Someone fairly close to me, someone I have liked a great deal and respected even more over the years, died recently.  The death was neither unexpected nor was it tragic.  Her loved ones are handling things [...]

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Tweet Have a tissue ready for this one, filmed in Seattle Children’s Hospital.  Here’s the back story.

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Tweet The friend who sent this video to me noticed what’s so fascinating:  the pragmatic approach the Brazilian rescuers had.  Without any undue energy or hysteria, they just waded into the surf and did what needed to me done:

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Tweet My mother is a testament to the wonders of modern medicine.  But for the drugs, surgery, and implanted equipment upon which she relies, she would have been dead a long time ago.  Perhaps even more importantly, to the extent that she’s not dead, she has a fairly good quality of life.  Thanks to cataract [...]

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Tweet A Susan Boyle-esque surprise on Britain’s Got Talent.  Simon Cowell divided his feelings between head and heart.  His head’s right, but I’m glad he followed his heart: UPDATE: I should add that this video is about three years old, but it’s new to me.

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Tweet I’ve been sitting on this one for a while, because I didn’t want to ill-wish a positive trend, but I’m happy to report that my Mom is doing extremely well.  She was in the hospital last week and came out a new woman.  For the first time in years (perhaps decades) she’s . . [...]

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Tweet As I’ve mentioned at this post, one of the negatives in my life is the fact that my mother is a deeply unhappy person.  Conversing with her subjects me to a never-ending stream of complaints about her life:  her physical surroundings, the food she hates, the people who are mean or boring, her failing [...]

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Tweet I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this here before, but my dog is perfect.  Her perfection isn’t always obvious to the uninitiated.  Those who don’t know what’s really important might think that, because she’s a mutt, she’s a little goofy looking.  They may feel that her habit of slipping on the kitchen floor and [...]

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Tweet If you have a good monitor, watch this video at maximum size.  It’s stunning: (Or, if the embed code doesn’t work, go here.)

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Tweet I just have to pat myself on the back here, because I came up with a genius idea.  We bought our Christmas tree (er, pardon, Hanukkah bush) today.  Prices this year have been surprisingly low, so I ended up purchasing a 7′ tall tree for all of $40.00.  It’s a gorgeous tree. Getting a [...]

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Tweet There’s a distinct possibility that this is the best half time show ever, combining heartfelt patriotism, pitch perfect music, and marching the likes of which most of us haven’t seen outside of a Busby Berkeley movie.  Even better — no wardrobe malfunctions. (If the video doesn’t show, go here to watch it.)

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Tweet I got the following in an email from a good friend: Meghan Kinney’s achievement-packed life took a bit of a turn recently, offering a up a tough, new challenge, which she’s faced with her typical determination. A member of the 2008 US Olympic Synchronized Swim Team, and the captain of the current team in training [...]

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Tweet The happy video for today: Hat tip:  Hot Air (P.S.  Remind me, please, how bad we Judeo-Christian westerners are with our racist modern medicine and charitable acts.  When I see videos such as this one, I tend to forget all the lessons of my two minutes of anti-Western hate.)

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Tweet During WWII, too few in Nazi occupied areas extended help to beleaguered Jews. In the aftermath of the war, the State of Israel recognized those righteous people. The criteria for those who achieve the honor of “Righteous among the Nations” are few and demanding: Since 1963, a commission, headed by an Israeli Supreme Court [...]

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