My b-day gift from Karen & her fam...I should get it out of the living room before using it

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Is this a true "blizzard"? I turn to my friend, Wikipedia, for answers...

A blizzard is a severe storm condition characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, and heavy wave of snow. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. Ground blizzards are a variation on the traditional blizzard, in that ground blizzards require high winds to stir up snow that has already fallen, rather than fresh snowfall. Regardless of the variety of blizzard, they can bring near-whiteout conditions, which restrict visibility to near zero. Blizzards have a negative impact on local economies, and for days at a time can paralyze regions where snowfall is unusual or rare.

Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard.  To really go in-depth.

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Man Bites off Part of Doctor's Finger

7:40 a.m. update

The man detectives say attacked his doctor, biting off part of the doctor's finger, has been arrested.

Gregory Scott Powell, 45, of 4833 E. Riverside Drive, Fort Myers, is in the Lee County Jail this morning on charges of aggravated battery on a person age 65 or older after he allegedly bit off part of a doctor’s finger.

From Thursday's The News-Press

By Denes Husty III
dhusty@news-press.com

Dr. Paul Arnold turned his back for a moment on a patient who was upset because the doctor wouldn't write him a prescription.

That's when the patient, Gregory S. Powell, 45, of Fort Myers, allegedly attacked Arnold, 65, biting off part of one of the doctor's fingers.

"The doctor just turned his back on him for a moment to do something on the computer and he was viciously attacked," said Sgt. Lisa Barnes, Cape Coral police spokeswoman.

Detectives are searching for Powell. They have an arrest warrant charging him with aggravated battery on a person age 65 or older. That charges carries a maximum 30-year prison sentence.

The attack was reported by the doctor's staff Wednesday morning at Arnold's office on Cape Coral Parkway. Arnold, who has 29 years of experience, practices family and emergency medicine.

Officer Saturino Perez said that, when he arrived, paramedics already were treating Arnold, who was taken to Cape Coral Hospital's emergency room and later released.

The doctor said that Powell became "upset about not receiving a prescription medication," Barnes said.

Powell then "proceeded to bite Doctor Arnold several times, including a bite that actually removed a piece of a finger, including the finger nail," Perez said.

Arnold did not return calls for comment.

His staff said he is expected back in his office today.

 

Stories like this make me cringe. Obviously the patient isn't well, but his illness certainly can't be cured by the prescriptions he was asking for from the doctor. But as I read this story I realized something important: we all bite off doctor's fingers.

Allow me to explain. The role of a doctor, we realize is to help people (soon all doctors will be helping people for free, leaving stoplights as the only remaining barrier to achieving heaven on earth...but I digress). Here the man is going to a doctor whose role is to help others with his specialized expertise, yet the helper is the one who is attacked.

The doctor is human and fallible, and, while he certainly didn't deserve to be bitten by this crazy (and possibly rabid?) man, he himself has certainly had his own moments when he mistreated someone, even if it was as simple as cutting someone off in traffic.

God, however, is completely perfect and completely helpful to us, yet we as a humanity have turned our backs on Him. Even Christians have their moments of sinning against God. Part of this is a process for us to realize our sin and make corrections, drawing closer to and becoming more dependent upon God. But we are guilty of attacking the Good Doctor, nonetheless.

I don't have the gift of mercy, and I'm a little too proud of that fact. The other week I was with some youth, and we decided to play a new game. As I called everyone together, with the intent of explaining the rules, a seventh grade girl asked with a voice dripping of superiority if I was going to at least let them know how to play. It was my moment to rise to the challenge and quip back to her. In a patronizing tone I reminded her that I did, in fact, know what I was doing, and I thanked her for her untimely interruption, which was keeping us all from hearing the rules.

Should I have more grace? Knowing that from time to time we all attack the helpers in our lives; knowing that the Ultimate Helper also displays ultimate patience with all of us; knowing that the next time I bite the helper I would appreciate some grace and patience - I guess so...but I don't have to like it!

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Turkish TV gameshow looks to convert atheists

Fri Jul 3, 2009 8:21am EDT

By Daren Butler

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - What happens when you put a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist monk in a room with 10 atheists?

Turkish television station Kanal T hopes the answer is a ratings success as it prepares to launch a gameshow where spiritual guides from the four faiths will seek to convert a group of non-believers.

The prize for converts will be a pilgrimage to a holy site of their chosen religion -- Mecca for Muslims, the Vatican for Christians, Jerusalem for Jews and Tibet for Buddhists.

But religious authorities in Muslim but secular Turkey are not amused by the twist on the popular reality game show format and the Religious Affairs Directorate is refusing to provide an imam for the show.

"Doing something like this for the sake of ratings is disrespectful to all religions. Religion should not be a subject for entertainment programs," High Board of Religious Affairs Chairman Hamza Aktan told state news agency Anatolian after news of the planned program emerged.

The makers of "Penitents Compete" are unrepentant and reject claims that the show, scheduled to begin broadcasting in September, will cheapen religion.

"We are giving the biggest prize in the world, the gift of belief in God," Kanal T chief executive Seyhan Soylu told Reuters.

"We don't approve of anyone being an atheist. God is great and it doesn't matter which religion you believe in. The important thing is to believe," Soylu said.

The project focuses attention on the issue of religious identity in European Union-candidate Turkey, where rights groups have raised concerns over freedom of religion for non-Muslim minorities.

Detractors of the ruling AK Party government, which is rooted in political Islam but officially secular, accuse it of having a hidden Islamist agenda, a charge it denies.

Some 200 people have so far applied to take part in the show and the 10 contestants will be chosen next month.

A team of theologians will ensure that the atheists are truly non-believers and are not just seeking fame or a free holiday.

(Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Dominic Evans)

via reuters.com

Interesting game show idea. Maybe the US will have a version of this show before too long. I do like the oh-so-hokie quote from the guy who says that it doesn't matter which religion you follow, so long as you believe. What if my religion believes that gravity is nonsense and I jump off a building? (It doesn't, by the way).

The lesson in all of this: it is impossible to run out of reality show ideas.

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