How to Build Up a 'Vampire Wars' Clan

The Facebook game Vampire Wars is a social game--- you invite your friends (or complete strangers) into your Vampire Wars clan. You need 5 clan members--- 'clannies' for each level you advance. So, on Level One, you'll need 5, on Level 10, you'll need fifty. So, what holds back many enthusiastic Children of the Night is the lack of clannies.

Some people--- especially folks like me with an autism spectrum disorder--- might decide to send invites to all their facebook friends and relatives and then get peeved at the ones that won't join. Not good--- a lot of folks don't like facebook games, or don't care for Vampire Wars--- don't tick them off. They will see your Vampire Wars activity on your Wall and if they are interested they will join without your nagging.

The best way to get more clannies is to search on Facebook for the groups that help you find Vampire Wars clannies: Here are a few that I have used:
Vampire Wars: Add 600+ Clan Members in 60 Minutes
VAMPIRE WARS: ADD AND INVITE EVERYONE
VAMPIRE WARS: Increasing Clans to 501 Overnight

All you have to do is post to the walls of these sites 'add me, mention Vampire Wars' and you will start getting friend requests from Vampire Wars players. Here is a hint--- before you start adding a hundred or so strangers to your friend list, start sorting the friends you already have into lists. Facebook makes this easy. Make a list for family, a list for school friends, one for Christian Fiction friends, one for people from your church--- whatever type of facebook friends you have, make a list for them. Then, make a new list for your new Vampire Wars friends.

Note that a person can be on more than one list, so that if your brother is also your Vampire Wars clannie, you can have him on your 'family' list and on your 'Vampire Wars' list.

How to add new Vampire Wars friends: When you visit the clan-building groups, invite a few of the most recent posters via a friend request. Be sure to mention 'Vampire Wars' in the request. When you are making this friend request you can add this potential friend to your Vampire Wars friend list--- do this.  Also when you receive a friend request which mentions Vampire Wars, add them to the Vampire Wars friend list before you press the accept button.

You might also go to the 'fight' page in Vampire Wars and look for people who only have a few clannies. Click on their vampire name, and you will go to their page. Click on their name there, and you will go to their facebook profile page, where you can make a friend request--- do mention Vampire Wars!. My profile page is: http://www.facebook.com/nissa.amas.katoj?ref=profile  --- feel free to friend me and mention why you want to be my friend--- Vampire Wars, fellow Christian Fiction writer/fan, blog reader, whatever.

The next step is to invite your new friend into your clan. Each person has a Vampire Wars invite link--- mine is http://apps.facebook.com/vampiresgame/status_invite.php?from=1716870330
If you click some one's invite link AND you are already their facebook friend, you will join their clan and they will join yours.  (If you 'unfriend' someone who is in your clan, they will remain your clan member unless you remove them from your clan.)

Personally, I don't 'unfriend' because I use my 'Vampire Wars' friends list to narrow down my news feed on my facebook home page. That way I can see any posting of bonuses my clannies have that I can share in.

SO, I hope this blog post will help people build up their Vampire Wars clans and have a good time. See you in Vampire Wars!

Resources:
Vampire Wars Strategy Guide for Beginners
How to Dominate Facebook Vampire Wars

Steampunk Christian Conspirators Needed!

If you are a Steampunk writer/blogger/fan of the Christian faith (Evangelical, Protestant, Catholic, Mormon...) post a link to your blog/website in a comment and you will be added to a new improved blog sidebar. (If you are a Steampunk writer/blogger/fan of Jewish, Muslim, Pagan or other faith, or undecided, post your stuff too!)

Great blog post at Mirathon: October's not Just Hispanic Heritage Month, for TOR it's Steampunk Month

Curses! The Curse of the Spider King blog tour has begun!

Well, I did know it was Monday yesterday.... I just didn't realize that the November blog tour had begun. So--- a day late and a dollar short--- it begins.

Since free speech on the Internet is being abolished I have to make this disclosure: I DID NOT get a free copy of this book from the publisher. I shelled out money of my own that I should be saving to pay my too-poor-to-buy-health-insurance fine.

The book is Curse of the Spider King by Christopher Hopper and Wayne Thomas Batson: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400315050
It's a children's book for ages 9-12, and is the story of seven seemingly normal kids who are actually Elven Lords from a fantasy world who were lost to this world as infants as a result of a battle. Follow the Amazon link above and you can read a number of reader reviews that will bring you up to speed on the story, which I haven't finished reading yet.

My initial reaction: maybe having seven mostly unconnected kid-heroes for this story is a bit much. As the story jumps back and forth from kid to kid, not to mention the sequences in the Elven world, I get kind of lost. Of course, some of my favorite books do the same thing, such as the alternate history novels of Harry Turtledove which have a large cast of unconnected characters. But Harry Turtledove's books all have Hitler in them, and the Curse of the Spider King has an absolute lack of Hitler. Booger!

Seriously, though, even though I'm not a big reader of children's books Curse of the Spider King is a good book which I seriously intend to finish reading sooner or later. It would make a good Christmas gift to your kids, grandkids, Sunday school class or whatever. I didn't feel it was as compellingly addictive as the Harry Potter series, but then, I'm weird and no one should take my reactions as typical of anything....

Here are some links related to the book that you might want to look at:
Wayne Thomas Batson’s blog - http://enterthedoorwithin.blogspot.com/

Christopher Hopper’s Web site - http://www.christopherhopper.com/
The Prophecies of Berinfell series Web site - http://www.heedtheprophcies.com/

The Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour members:
Brandon Barr
Justin Boyer
Amy Browning
Valerie Comer
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Shane Deal
Jeff Draper
Emmalyn Edwards
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Todd Michael Greene
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Tina Kulesa
Melissa Lockcuff
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika
nissa_amas_katoj
John W. Otte
Cara Powers
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Speculative Faith
Robert Treskillard
Fred Warren
Jason Waguespac
Phyllis Wheeler
Jill Williamson
KM Wilsher

MAJOR BLOG RENOVATION:
I am going to be changing this blog bigtime! Name, topics, sidebars, my own Secret Identity.... all will be changed/screwed up. Smart-a$$ suggestions from the public at large are welcomed during this time of transition.

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Can People with autism/asperger's become published Fiction Writers?

No matter how much I work on my writing I always have one source of doubt: is it even possible for someone like me--- a person with an autism spectrum disorder (Asperger's)--- to become a published writer?

Yeah, I know there are a lot of writers from the past like Herman Melville who are believed to have had an ASD. But I'm wondering about right here right now--- me.

One of the problems is that people with autism/asperger's have problems with social interactions, understanding the social rules that everyone else knows without being told. So can we learn to write about social interactions?

Actually, when it comes to that part I don't think it's that difficult. But there is another factor. In real life, people I meet don't choose to be my friend---even though I try to be nice to them, and to act like I'm 'normal'. So will people want to be a 'friend' of my writing? I mean, maybe no matter how good I get at it, people will be able to tell it was written by the kind of person that no one wants to be friends with and so they'll want to read something else instead.

And in these days the writer has to be involved with marketing their books and I'd imagine the last thing any publisher wants is to be saddled with some autistic person that isn't personable enough to do well at things like interviews and book signings....

I once tried to get in contact with other folks living with autism/asperger's by posting something on a writing forum, but the admin took offense because my reference to autism wasn't politically correct enough for him since I had the poor taste to joke. Well, I guess it's okay to mention it on my own blog, I've said a lot of stuff I shouldn't here and have had no complaints from Blogger.

I've searched the net for writer's forums for autistic/asperger people but I just find a lot of resources for parents/caregivers of those with autism. Don't know what to do about it really, so those I would whine about it on my blog where at least I'm not bothering anyone....

So--- enough of that. To update my life for anyone that cares--- I'm still working on my NaNoWriMo novel but have stopped to outline using the method in the book "First Draft in 30 Days", don't know how well that will work.

I have mentioned on this blog that I've had two kittens die recently. They were the two kittens out of the current batch that actually liked me enough that they'd purr when I picked them up. Recently, though, someone abandoned two half-grown kittens here and one of them is really friendly. I've named him Chan-ho, after major league pitcher Chan-ho Park, and the other kitten is named Chantho, after the alien in Doctor Who. You know, the one who started every sentence with 'chan' and ended it with 'tho'? As in, 'Chan that was one weird Doctor Who alien tho'.  The picture at the top of this post is of Chan-ho.

My Writing's Really gone to Hell this Nano

This year for National Novel Writing Month, I'm working on a project called 'Famine of the Heart' which is a dumb title since it sounds like a romance novel, and the actual story is a steampunk novel featuring sideshow freaks.

It's meant to be a lighthearted romp but the main theme seems to be.... hellfire. Specifically, the main character's mom is not saved (not in a state of grace) when she dies (killed while rescuing a child from a rampaging elephant.)

The main character Kerenza is quite sure her mother went to hell because: her mother had been guilty of the sin of adultery, when she is mortally injured she calls for a priest, but the priest who comes is actually an actor in a Roman collar, who cannot legitimately give absolution and also does not know how to encourage the dying woman to accept Christ.

The Christian theme of the story seems to be about forgiveness. Because Kerenza feels there is virtually no hope that her mother is anywhere else but in hell, she cannot forgive her father for having lured her mother into a life of adultery, and yet she knows that as a Christian she must forgive.

I know it's beginning to sound all boring, but there are also a lot of steam-powered machines and clockwork robots and stuff. And Kerenza is the only one who knows that an inventor's brother is Not To Be Trusted, and she really likes the inventor but they can't get involved because he's Jewish....

And then there are the conjoined twins, one of whom wants to be baptized and the other who doesn't want a drop of baptismal water touching him....

Which reminds me--- shouldn't I be working on my Nano novel right now? (I'm doing some outlining work for the next two days to figure out where the story is headed...)

My page at the NaNoWriMo web site.

No More Head Shaving. Ever.

Sometimes my eyes see stuff that just isn't there. Like when I noticed an ad reading 'No more head shaving.' OK, what it really said was 'no more shaving' but what my eyes saw at first was way better. Imagine never having to shave your head ever again, for the whole rest of your life. I hope there's a product for that.....

If you're wondering why this post is tagged 'axe-wielding homicidal maniac'--- LOOK BEHIND YOU!!!

Oh, No, it's Nanowrimo!!!

Ok, it's November. It's been November for a couple of days now. I've even flipped over the page of my calendar to November already. So why wasn't I aware until just now that National Novel Writing Month, AKA Nanowrimo, had started.

I'm going to do it, of course. I've never finished a nanowrimo, but during my first Nano, I did get saved.

It happened like this. I was a Norse Pagan and had been one for over a decade. I'd even edited a self-published Norse Pagan magazine until my stalker ruined that for me.

I was working at my Nano novel and had decided to pray about it. The question, as a Pagan, was which God to pray to--- Odin, Thor, Freya? As a Pagan I did not disbelieve in the God of Christianity, I just believed that He was just one tribal/ethnic God among many.

On impulse I decided to pray to the Christian God--- I gave Him a challenge. If He would give me measurable help with my novel, I would become a Christian.

I didn't really expect any help. And I didn't finish my Nanowrimo novel that year. But I did complete over 120 pages, which came out to 50 pages more than my previous best on any one writing project. And so I became a Christian.

I'm glad I did even though it meant I had to commit to a life of chastity because of my new faith, rather than being chaste in a unplanned way because of my unattractiveness.

So, participating in Nano is important to me even if I don't win. My nickname on the Nano site is 'ilsabein'. If you are participating in Nano, look me up!

Now, I must get to work naming the characters in my story (they are a family of freak show performers) and then I must start my first chapter. I have no idea where the story is going. But that's all right.

Obit: Maru the Kitten

Two days ago I found my favorite kitten, Maru, dead in the basement. Just the night before he seemed just fine, if a little skinny.

Maru was the son of my crazy cat Kitten-thief. When she had her three kittens, I took her into the house to make sure she could take care of her kittens properly. She freaked out and wouldn't go near them for a day. By the time I caught her and caged her, only one of the kittens, Maru, had survived in spite of the fact that I caged another mama cat with the kits.

Maru got very plump as an only kitten. From time to time I brought other kittens in to play with him. Later, when he got old enough, I let him and his mother out of the cage. Maru got brave enough to follow me out to the barn loft.

It's very sad when a kitten dies, but don't worry that I'm going to have a cat shortage. Someone abandoned two half grown kittens at my farm yesterday. I used to be really mad at people who did that, but that was before I found out how much the local animal shelter charges to take in a pet. If some one can't afford to feed their pet, how can they afford a fee to give it up? So, I have two more kittens to feed and to name. Should I call them Maru 2 and Spinelli 2?

Writing Christian Science Fiction: An Impossible Dream?

Writing science fiction and getting published has long been a life goal for me--- but Christian science fiction for a Christian publisher hasn't been a part of my plans.

In part it has been because I've considered it unrealistic. Christian fiction publishers are mostly evangelicals; I'm Catholic. And being Catholic isn't something I'd want to absolutely hide in my fiction. Would my work ever be accepted by readers?

But recently I've reconsidered and am reading books about how to write Christian fiction. None of the books have any high hopes for a work of Christian science fiction. The one that is most optimistic seems to indicated that 'spiritual warfare' science fiction is the kind that gets published, not something with space aliens.

The books have a lot to say about who is reading Christian fiction: mostly women, mostly evangelicals.... But who is reading Christian science fiction? Have there been any studies, formal or informal, of that? Perhaps I ought to ask some Christian science fiction writers what sort of people they believe are reading their books.

The second question: what do the readers of Christian science fiction most want to read? What Christian science fiction books are the most popular? What secular science fiction books are most popular with Christian readers?

I wish I could find the answers to such questions. Not that I would concoct some plotline based on what's popular. But knowing who the readers aare and what they like to read might help me pick what story-ideas might be the best one to pursue.

Haunt of Jackals by Eric Wilson, Day Four?

Yes, the blog tour is over, but I just found a great interview with author Eric Wilson over at Associated Content: Suspense Author Eric Wilson Talks About the Division Between Secular and Christian Fiction, Book Reviews, Dean Koontz, Blog Tours, and Being a "Hack"

I've written for Associated Content for some time now--- they pay writers around $3 for articles, plus paying for page views. If anyone out there is an Associated Content member, please comment with your user name/whatever name you use there so I can add you to my favorites. You might also add a link to your contributor page at AC.

GOAT UPDATE: my fainting goat, Luna Bug, was very sick after being caught in the rain (the other goats wouldn't let her in the shelter). She couldn't use her hind legs and was dragging herself around. Since she's pregnant, I despaired of getting her to live long enough to have her baby. But yesterday, she was able to get up on all four legs without my help and walked around. She may get better after all (as long as I keep her in a stall by herself.)

Haunt of Jackals by Eric Wilson, Day Three

Eric Wilson's Family Fought Reds
The most interesting thing I found on author Eric Wilson's web site was his bio, in which he tells that his parents smuggled Bibles behind the Iron Curtain. I wish he'd elaborated on that, it's interesting.

For the younger set, I thought I'd tell a little bit about Bible smuggling and the Iron Curtain. In the Communist view of things, Christianity is the enemy. It's competition to their own ideas, for one thing. And so Communist regimes have tended to be murderously hostile to Christians.

In the Communist revolution in Russia, the Bolshevik leader V. I. Lenin was so hateful against Christians that he ordered that the Grand Duchess Elisabeth, the sister of the Empress, be murdered even though she had become a nun and worked among the poor. He said she was even more dangerous than other aristocrats because of her Christian service.

(These events in Russia were anticipated in 1917 by the events of Fatima, Portugal, in which three shepherd children witnessed a vision of Mary in which, among other things, she warned that Russia would spread her errors throughout the world.)

The story of the horrors inflicted on Christians by the Communists, and upon people in general, is every bit as horrible as the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime. But it isn't told very often since it is an embarrassment to American Progressives. One story is of a woman who was told she was going to be sent to a labor camp because her father was a priest. She told them that her father was a farmer, not a priest. The authorities demanded how she knew her father wasn't a priest, since her mother was a Christian and had gone to the church. The woman was sent to the camp on this lame excuse.

Vampires and Christians
During the blog tour some of the participants have questioned whether Christians ought to write about vampires at all since vampires are evil. This is my two-cents on it. Christians can and do write about evil, and that includes writing about vampires --- look at the example of Bram Stoker, who wrote 'Dracula'.

Also, vampires are a fictional creature and each vampire-author's vampires operate by different rules. Some vampires can live without human blood, some don't have to kill their victims, not all are able to control human minds. Most vampire-authors make their vampires able to turn humans into vampires without the humans consent. Therefore, it is possible for a Christian to write a story including a good vampire--- even a Christian vampire. I have even read a story where a Catholic priest was made a vampire against his will (though he quit being a priest at that point, even though he only fed from volunteers).

(I've had the idea kicking around my head about vampires who subsist on communion hosts, since communion hosts are, in Catholic teaching, the Body and Blood. Lutherans could probably use the same fictional concept, since they have similar beliefs, but any Protestant/Evangelical might use that concept since after all God is perfectly free to sustain the 'life' of a Christian vampire by communion wafers no matter which theological belief about the sacrament is correct. If anyone thinks I should actually write the story, encourage me in a comment and I may do it. UPDATE: so far, one vote in favor.)

Some blog tour posts worth viewing are:
Vampires and Christian Fiction by Rebecca LuElla Miller
KM Wilsher reviews Haunt of Jackals by Eric Wilson
Haunt of Jackals Day 3 by Keanan Brand

Links to other blog tour participants

BLUE ARMY conspiracy: The motto of the Blue Army is 'One World Praying'. In the EWTN coverage of the 'One World Praying' event at the Blue Army shrine, one of the speakers mentioned a previous 'One World Praying' event where they went to Russia and asked both Orthodox and Catholic Christian groups to participate in the worldwide prayer event. They also asked Muslim groups to participate with their Muslim prayers, and they also were televised in that event.

Muslims are not Christians--- they believe Jesus Christ was a prophet only, and that Mohammed was a greater prophet. While Christians cannot compromise their faith on the issues on which Muslims and Christians differ, perhaps praying together as fellow religious believers will cause many Muslims to soften negative attitudes about Christianity and leave them more open to the Gospel.

The Catholic Verses by Dave Armstrong is now available as an e-book. Dave Armstrong was a Protestant campus missionary who became a Catholic. The Catholic Verses explores 95 Bible passages which historically have divided Catholics from Protestants, and which, Armstrong claims, support Catholic teachings. Armstrong also includes extensive quotes from the Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther (not the same dude as Martin Luther King) and John Calvin. This book is great for helping Catholics and those considering becoming Catholic discover the Biblical basis for the faith. Protestants who want to know what Catholics believe and what the Biblical basis for those beliefs are can also use the book if they don't mind the Catholic convert's point of view. (Too many Protestants/Evangelicals, when explaining why Catholicism is allegedly not Biblical, make big mistakes about what it is that Catholics really believe, such as the Evangelical author I read who believed that Purgatory was a second chance for the hell-bound soul. Actually, it's only the person who is destined for heaven who might go to Purgatory--- it's a place to get cleaned-up for heaven.)

Gay Marriage: No Dissent Allowed

If you've been watching the soap opera 'One Life to Live', you may have noticed the odd election storyline. Viki Banks decided to run for mayor. Obviously she was meant to be the Democrat since her opponent was labelled the 'family values' candidate and was arrested for his crimes before the election. At that point Viki's longtime enemy Dorian Lord stepped into the ring.

Dorian is hardly a family values candidate and has chosen as her main issue gay marriage--- hardly an issue in a mayoral race. Viki also is pro-gay marriage, as is every other character on the show.

I am a Gay person, though I am a Christian first and follow the teaching of the Church regarding my behavior. I used to enjoy the rare gay storyline on a soap or other television show. But now in the gay marriage age politics has reared its ugly head and now all gay characters are required to be stereotypical gay activists who spend all their time spouting the party line--- and all straight characters go along with it.

Before gay characters became a fact of soap opera life, gay people used to say they wanted to see characters like themselves on the soaps. I'm still waiting to see a character like myself--- a gay person who has chosen chastity in obedience to God. But my kind isn't welcome in the propaganda-land of modern television.

What is the thing with gay marriage anyway? Marriage is a sacrament. A sacrament is an exterior sign of an interior grace. And grace comes only from God. Therefore people who don't believe in God have no reason to want any sort of marriage whatsoever--- without God no interior graces can exist.

For someone to advocate for gay marriage, they must believe in a God--- but a God who lacked the courage to tell mankind that the sacrament of marriage was meant to include same-sex couples. Is there anyone out there who believes that picture of God makes sense?

When a government official or a judge demands that the sacrament of marriage should be revised into a government social program that includes same-sex couples, it reminds me of the Romans of the imperial age, who believed their Senate had the power to declare their deceased emperor Caesar Augustus to be a god. Before long you had the Emperor Caligula claiming to be a god while yet alive. Is there anyone out there who believes the Roman Senate had the power to turn Augustus into a god? Then why do we believe that current authorities have the power to compel God to change the requirements for a sacrament?

As a gay person and a Christian, I hate the gay marriage movement because gay marriage is a cheat on gay people. Gay marriage is not a legitimate form of the sacrament of marriage and no government official can make it so. And I don't like the fact that the media has decided that no opposing voices on gay marriage is to be allowed, not even on a fictional show. [Read this blog post quick before the Obama administration gets around to making the internet 'neutral' by taking away the free speech of fishy freaks like me.]

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BLUE ARMY Lina Lamont Cell: The story of the new Catholic church in Kazan, Russia. At the Blue Army shrine there are a number of national Pilgrim Virgin statues, including one dedicated to the nation of Russia. On a visit to Kazan, Russia, a leader from the shrine was asked by the mayor of Kazan, Ilsur Metshin, what they needed to do to get the Russia Pilgrim Virgin statue to Kazan. The leader suggested that a church be built for the city's 300 Catholics (Catholics are a minority in Russia, where most Christians are Orthodox.) On the next visit to Kazan, a large Catholic church was under construction. Ilsur Metshin, the mayor who authorized the funding and construction of the church, IS A MUSLIM.

Haunt of Jackals by Eric Wilson

When Jesus was resurrected, ancient scripture says many rose from the grave. Today, 36 from this group of undead remain. Known as the Nistarim, they are here to watch over the world.

When Judas hung himself, his blood mysteriously gave rise to another group of undead: the unholy Collectors. Now very much alive, they feed on souls and human blood.

On the Amazon.com page for Haunt of Jackals, this description caught my attention. Bigtime. And it wasn't because of the error where it says Judas 'hung' himself--- it should read 'Judas hanged himself'. (Which reminds me of my theology teacher's example of the misuse of proof-texting: 'Judas went out and hanged himself' with 'Go thou and do likewise'.)

This is a great example of using an odd little bit of history/theology--- the fact that 'many rose from the grave' at the time of the resurrection--- as a hook for storytelling. This could have been done in any work of vampire/undead fiction. This particular one is published by Thomas Nelson, a Christian publisher, but the idea could have been used in secular fiction as well, there would just need to be more swear words.

Is the book great? Don't know. I was too late to get a free review copy (was one offered?) and I'm way too poor to buy one on my own steam. If you want to know more about the book from someone who is actually well informed (and someone who blogs promptly on blog tour day), go to the review at The Least Read Blog on the Web. Other sources of info are: Eric Wilson’s Web site - http://www.wilsonwriter.com/ and
The Undead Trilogy Web site - http://www.jerusalemsundead.com/
There are also a goodly number of reviews at the Amazon.com web page for the book.

The Usual CSFF blog tour gang:
Brandon Barr
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jennifer Bogart
Justin Boyer
Keanan Brand
Amy Browning
Karri Compton
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Beth Goddard
Todd Michael Greene
Timothy Hicks
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Julie
Carol Keen
Dawn King
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika
nissa_amas_katoj
John W. Otte
James Somers
Speculative Faith
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Jill Williamson
KM Wilsher


Cat Update: Niki the cat--- or is it Viki? anyway it's the grey cat with a black spot on the back of her head---- who has been missing for about five months, came home today. Niki and her littermate Viki are the aunt and mother of my late and much lamented disabled cat, Claudius. I don't know for sure which was the aunt and which the mother, for years the only way to tell Niki and Viki apart was that when they were together one was friendlier, and one had a more distinct stripe on her tail. It was only this year that I noticed that one had a black patch on the back of her head, which was good because then Viki (or Niki--- the one without the patch) ran away and it was good I had a way to tell which was which that didn't require both of the cats to be present.

BLUE ARMY-Lina Lamont Cell: I've been a member of the Blue Army for some time now. The Blue Army forms local Prayer Cells, but of course as a person with an Autism Spectrum Disorder I wouldn't be very able to participate in one even if there were one locally available. So I've converted this blog into a Blue Army prayer cell just for me and for anyone who accidently stumbles on to this blog. I've made a commitment to put up short bits on my blog posts on: the message of Fatima (which is the message of Jesus Christ) and the culture of life, as well as opposition to socialism/communism and the culture of death. Blog posts with Blue Army updates will have a 'Blue Army' label (tag) like this one does.

This last Sunday there was a One World Praying event televised on EWTN, from the shrine of the World Apostalate of Fatima/Blue Army. Among the many things about the broadcast which intrigued me was the story of how the new Catholic church in Kazan, Russia got built. I will share the story in my next Blue Army update.

Is the Virgin Mary Impeccable (incapable of sin)? Dave Armstrong gives the Catholic answer to this question, which may surprise many Protestants/Evangelicals.

Obit: Spinelli the Kitten

No, it's not Spinelli (aka 'The Jackal') from General Hospital that has bit the big one, but Spinelli the kitten, sole surviving son of The Grey One 2, who has died suddenly of some cat illness.

He is survived by his mom, The Grey One 2, his foster-mom Tohru, and his former obsessed stalker, Kitten-Thief, his kitten-buddies Grey, Maru, Crooked-Tail, Claudius 2, and the orange-and-white unnamed kitten, and his person, nissa_amas_katoj. He was a friendly kitten, and not afraid of the dog.

I hope he's having fun pouncing on Jesus's robes in heaven.

Once upon a time, there was this miracle....

This is a true story.

Once upon a time there were these kids--- three of 'em. They were poor, they weren't educated, and they spent their time herding the sheep.

And one day they came home with this wild story that they saw this lady, and before long their families figured out that what they meant was that they had seen THE Lady--- Mary the Mother of Jesus. No one believed them. The mother of the oldest kid even slapped the girl around some to try to get her to admit she was lying.

But there was not much going on in this small town where they lived and so when the three kids went out to meet their mystery Lady again, a batch of curiosity seekers went along. They saw nothing. But they saw the kids allegedly seeing this Lady, and praying the rosary, and a lot of them were favorably impressed, and thought the kids might not be lying after all. Other people, when they heard the kids saying that in October the Lady said there would be a miracle that everyone could see.

The parents of the kids kind of freaked out over that bit. When October came and there was no miracle, the crowds would tear their kids to bits, wouldn't they?

The local authorities did not like what was going on. One day when the kids were going off to see the lady, a police official offered to give them a ride. But he didn't take them to the location where they went for the visions. He took them to the prison. He called the kids liars. And he told them they'd be boiled alive unless they admitted they'd been lying.

Now, in the country where they lived they had the kind of government where killing priests and religious people was not out of the question. So even more sophisticated people might have believed that he intended to kill these kids unless they admitted they'd lied.

The youngest kid, a little girl, was taken off first. "She's dead now," the police official said. Then the next youngest kid, a boy, was taken off. Finally the oldest girl was taken, and she was relieved to find the others had not been killed after all. None of the kids had, for even a moment, given in to the police official and said their visions were a lie or a hoax.

Finally the date in October arrived. Newspapers had been covering these events, often mockingly, and great crowds of curiosity-seekers came to see the predicted miracle.

What happened later became known as the Miracle of the Sun. Pious pilgrims saw it--- as did avowed atheists who came to the site only to mock. There were even accounts that people in nearby towns witnessed the Miracle of the Sun in their locations.

In addition to the Miracle of the Sun, in which the sun appeared to be falling toward the earth, and to be dancing in the sky, there was another inexplicable event. It had been raining heavily and people were soaked to the skin. At the conclusion of the Miracle of the Sun, the people's clothes were all dry.

This event happened in Fatima, Portugal, in Dec. 13, 1917. There were thousands of witnesses, many of whom gave evidence at various points of time. Some of them were interviewed for television about this in later years.

When I first learned about the events of Fatima, I was a Protestant and believed that any event involving visions of the Virgin Mary had to be false. Later I lost faith in Christianity, and believed that any event which involved miracles supporting the truth-claims of Christianity had to be false.

But the important thing about Fatima is that SOMETHING HAPPENED THERE. There is a lot of objective evidence that can be analysed in a scientific way--- if one is scientific enough to actually look at this evidence instead of looking for an excuse to dismiss the whole thing without examination.

I personally have come to believe, after a great deal of looking at the evidence, that what happened at Fatima came from God. But I don't ask anyone else to take my word for it. Look at the evidence. Read books about it. Watch the televised evidence of one of the eyewitnesses. Think it through. Come to your own conclusions based on evidence. Because I think a lot of the easy dismissive answers are based on the most superficial accounts of the events, and that really looking in to these things will show that like other aspects of real life, it is not easy.

There is a free DVD about the Miracle of the Sun which is available from the Fatima Gift Shop at http://giftshop.wafusa.org/index.htm.

[I don't really expect other people to be reading this blog. Who wants to read the reflections of some crazy cat lady with an autism spectrum disorder? But if by some chance you have read this, your comments or questions about Fatima are welcome.]

Critical of Nobel Committee? You're a terrorist!

If I was a bit surprised when Pres. Barack "Barry" Obama received the Nobel Progressive/Leftist Stupidity Prize--- excuse me, the Nobel Peace Prize--- I was shocked when some Dem accused critics of the Nobel committee's choice as being terrorists. It made me long for the good old days of the Bush presidency when Dems believed that free speech included the right to criticise the president and his allies.

Well, I'm afraid I must bow my head before the Collective and admit to my guilt--- I'm a terrorist. I believe that the Nobel committee is made up of absolute idiots possessed by the spirits of the Time magazine editors who awarded Adolf Hitler their 'Man of the Year' accolade. The evidence of this is Al Gore's award of a Nobel prize for his promotion of Global Warming hysteria.

You may object and say that Al Gore's campaign is just the sort of Progressive/Leftist Stupidity that the Nobel Peace Prize is designed to recognize. But you'd be wrong. Al Gore's global warming campaign is pure capitalism, as much so as any Billy Mays commercial.

You see, Al Gore founded and is part owner of a company called Generation Investment Management, which sells carbon credits. There are only two reasons why anybody on the planet would be stupid enough to spend good money on carbon credits. Either they believe with all their hearts in global warming and want absolution for their planetary sins, or their government believes in global warming and has passed a law requiring alleged greenhouse gas emitters (like poor farmers with flatulant livestock) to buy carbon credits or go out of business.

So when Al Gore makes a film full of lies and misinformation promoting global warming hysteria, he is just a capitalist promoting the sale of his product. Certainly the Nobel committee doesn't intend to reward capitalism. Isn't there some third-world murdering dictator they could have honored instead?

As for Obama's award--- isn't it a bit premature? He hasn't had time to accomplish much evil yet. He has placed a pro-death judge on the Supreme Court, but she hasn't had time to rule in favor of more abortions, euthanasias or assisted suicides yet. He hasn't even had time to fully institute taxpayer funded abortion and euthanasia, or managed to lock up any Christian pastors for 'hate speech' for reading the wrong Bible passage?

Couldn't the Nobel committee have waited a year? What if Barack Obama goes to a real Christian church next Sunday, gets saved, and develops respect for human life from conception until natural death--- or even decides that the Bill of Rights applies even to Republicans, Christians, Jews and other despised groups? That would really humiliate the Nobel committee.

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To learn more about Al Gore and his shameful capitalism, read The Really Inconvenient Truths: Seven Environmental Catastrophes Liberals Don't Want You to Know About--Because They Helped Cause Them by Iain Murray before the hate speech laws are passed and it becomes illegal to own, read, or even think about this book.

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Wow, I see I missed a whole month of blogging! Gee, maybe they should give ME the next Nobel peace prize for that! But now to the most important thing--- cat updates! I've actually gotten around to naming some of this year's kittens--- I'd already named Claudius 2 (who's a girl Claudius) and Maru and Crooked-Tail, but now I've decided that the friendly black-and-white kitten is Spinelli (after the General Hospital character) and the grey kitten is Grey (I was going to call him The Grey One but I already have a momma-cat called that.) Biwu (the daddy cat) has been spending his mornings cuddling with the whole kitten pile, and Negi (another male cat) has shown Maru and Spinelli how to sneak into the house whenever I open the door to the porch (my cats all live in the porch and basement, with outdoor access).