The Forgotten Refugees

Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5.

No matter what your views are on the Arab-Israeli Conflict, this documentary tells about an important part of it that is usually overlooked or is completely unknown by too many. A well-made and very interesting film.

You can also buy the DVD at Amazon here.

Victim 0001

Excellent podcast about the life of the late Fr. Mychal Judge from RTÉ Radio 1. Check it out.

En Route

A cleverly-made and very enjoyable short film found on YouTube. It speaks to the common human question of "what would my life be like if I had done 'X' instead of 'Y' in the past?". This also really shows just how far computer graphics have come along because considering the low budget the special effects were actually quite good. Check them out for yourself as can be seen in this video and also see this interview with writer/director Colin Levy.

Remembering 9/11

I honestly didn't want to remember this day. Nevertheless, the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 has come. God help us all and continue comforting the families of the fallen. For E. at the Pentagon that day, may his soul rest in peace.

Franciscan Father Mychal Judge, chaplain to the Fire Department of New York, was in one of the Twin Towers ministering to the injured when an object fell on him, killing him. Fireman carried his body into St. Peter’s church.

"The firemen in shock came in with the priest’s body," Father Rutler recalled. "He was the first officially recorded death. They put his body in front of the altar. It was very moving. There is a picture of the Crucifixion over the altar. I remember blood coming down the altar steps. I shall always remember that scene."

Read the rest of Fr. Rutler's memories of 9/11 at the National Catholic Register. Pax vobiscum.

UPDATE: Box Turtle Bulletin has a good post today with more about Fr. Judge and others who lost their lives on 9/11.

UP-UPDATE: I highly recommend this excellent and moving documentary about the late Fr. Judge called Saint of 9/11. It can also be found online at YouTube, the first part of which starts here.

The King's Speech

At the risk of offending any Canadian Roundheads out there, I recently had the chance to watch this movie and really enjoyed it. Colin Firth did a remarkable job portraying King George VI and Geoffrey Rush was hilarious as Lionel Logue! Buy a copy or rent one because it's quite good and I highly recommend this one.

The Envoy

I recently finished reading this book and the story it told was just amazing. I'd heard of Raoul Wallenberg before of course, but really only a few brief facts about him and never knew that the Nazi he tangled with in saving Jewish lives was none other than the notorious Adolf Eichmann. Wallenberg wasn't alone in his efforts to save Jews from annihilation in the death camps and the book gives some detail about these other good diplomats, but he is the main focus. All in all this is a very fascinating account of a time period that can still surprise one at the level of brutality and pure evil that was unleashed upon the world, yet also such incredible acts of compassion, faith, goodness and grace.

The Best World News Pics by Reuters

Yeah it's Reuters, but these are still some really good photos.

56-Year-Old Man Brought Back To Life After 47 Minutes

Stories like this one just reaffirm my belief in God...

Memorial Day

Simply an amazing story, words fail me...


h/t - Ace of Spades

"Currahee!"

If this doesn't make you a lil' misty-eyed, you have a heart of stone. This lieutenant is an inspiration to all of us and I can't say enough about General Petraeus. You have shown your quality, sir.

UPDATE (5-12-09): The automatic playing of the embedded video is driving me nut, especially the same CBS commercial, so I'm removing it and putting up a link to this instead. It is still a fantastic and moving video to see: '60 Minutes': A Remarkable Recovery

h/t - Hot Air

3 Year Old Girl Granted Wish From Santa

I'm too much of a curmudgeon to get teary-eyed about this.

*sniff!*

Dammit!

h/t - The Voice in My Head

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

Willard Wigan just might know the answer to that age old question.



I doubt that even the biblical Job had the patience of this incredibly gifted artist!

Awesome 3D Chalk Art!

I found this photo in an old email while cleaning out my personal account yesterday. Amazing work in chalk of all things by artist Julian Beever.

Exoskeleton suit helps paralyzed people walk

Awesome! Just think of the future possibilities as the technology improves.

"Last Lecture" Professor Dies

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, whose "Last Lecture" went viral on You Tube late last year, passed away today from terminal cancer. He was 47. An amusing and moving lecture he gave, something many people obviously agree with me about. God comfort his family and may his last lecture continue to inspire others to reach for greatness.

Wear sunscreen.

Given all the boring commencement speeches graduates will hear this year, I believe we should look back on one of the greatest of all times set to music by Baz Luhrmann.

Full text of Mary Schmich's popular speech.

Polish Savior of Warsaw Ghetto Children Dies

Irena Sendler, a Polish woman who saved thousands of Jewish children during World War Two by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, died in the Polish capital on Monday after a long illness, local media said...

Using her position as a social worker, Sendler regularly entered the ghetto, smuggling around 2,500 children out in boxes, suitcases or hidden in trolleys.

The children were then placed with Polish families outside the ghetto, created by Nazi Germany in 1940 for the city's half a million strong Jewish population, and given new identities.

But in 1943 Sendler, who led the children' section of the Zegota organization which helped Jews during the war, was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo.

She only escaped execution when Zegota managed to bribe some Nazi officials, who left her unconscious but alive with broken legs and arms in the woods.

"People who stand up for others, for the weak, are very rare. The world would have been a better place if there were more of them," Marek Edelman, the last surviving commander of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, said on national television... (Yahoo! News)

Considering the number of people who actively partipated in the Holocaust or for some reason did nothing to help the victims of Nazi terror, stories of "Righteous Gentiles" like Ms. Sendler are encouraging to read. A true heroine and someone to emulate in similiar times of trouble.

This man has the luck of the Irish...

The good kind that is:



Amazing...

Rick Monday's Greatest Play

Thirty-two years ago today...



h/t QandO & Hot Air

Luckiest man alive

I'd say that this shows evidence of the Divine.