Oil import sources

For all the talk of our energy dependence upon the Middle East, I think it is notable that only 1 of the top 5 sources of oil in the US is from the Middle East. I got this table from the Energy Information Administration which is part of the Department of Energy.
...and yes, that is right. Canada really is our #1 source of oil.
So of the top 10 sources of oil, only 2 are in the Middle East (3 if you count N. Africa as Middle Eastern). And of the top 15 only 3 are on the Arabian Peninsula and 6 are Muslim countries. While on the other hand, 2 of our top 3 are right next door and 5 of the top 15 are in Latin America.

Crude Oil Imports (Top 15 Countries) (Thousand Barrels per Day)
Country	Jun-08	May-08	YTD 2008	Jun-07	YTD 2007
CANADA	1,883	1,840	1,888	1,905	1,881
SAUDI ARABIA	1,479	1,579	1,523	1,501	1,407
MEXICO	1,124	1,116	1,193	1,392	1,454
VENEZUELA	1,085	1,030	1,012	1,135	1,109
NIGERIA	946	851	1,036	893	1,022
IRAQ	693	583	674	573	476
ANGOLA	636	464	496	502	568
BRAZIL	280	318	221	121	158
ALGERIA	269	440	319	504	494
RUSSIA	228	119	109	29	135
KUWAIT	179	263	219	263	193
ECUADOR	178	162	192	166	195
COLOMBIA	177	245	182	143	108
CHAD	107	57	101	80	69
LIBYA	89	96	76	144	66

Did you know...?

A random bit of trivia here, The CSS Shenandoah (yes, CSS as in Confederate States Ship) was the only Confederate ship to circumnavigate the globe. It also raided Union commerce in the Bering Strait of all places.

Married Baptist Minister Converts and Becomes Priest

H/T to Steve Ray

The first known married Baptist minister turned married Catholic priest is about to be ordained (September 6).
David Harris is the only man to be ordained as a priest in the Archdiocese of Louisville this year and only the second Protestant convert ordained as yet in that Archdiocese.
The article is here.
One part I found very interesting about the article:

His wife and sons remain Baptist, but support him, as do other relatives.

"I'm real happy for him," said his brother, Mike, of Louisa. "My brother has always had a fantastic heart for people."

David Harris said his mother had the most difficulty with his conversion.

"We talk about it, we pray about it," he said. "At this point she's real supportive."

It has to be an awkward family life. Dad/Husband is a Catholic priest while everyone else is still Baptist.

Holy Card of Me Meme

Therese tagged me for the Holy Card meme.
What picture would I use for my holy card, should I make it to sainthood, and of what cause(s) would I want to be patron of?

I would want to be patron of Soldiers and military families. I should probably also put myself down for patron of procrastinators, but I'll do that later.

I tag:
Sunny

Rachel

Paul

Mark

Feast Day of St Christopher

If you look at a Saint of the Day site, you would know that today is the feast day of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. He is a great reformer and a Doctor of the Church, but today is also the feast day of Saint Christopher.
In case you didn't know, his name is Greek for "Christ Bearer". That is because according to his biography he literally carried the Christ child accross a river. However, it can apply to us Christophers today in a more metaphorical sense. We may never carry around God Incarnate, but we can carry Christ spiritually to others and to the world at large. Its a very missionary name when you stop to think about it.

St Gilles & St Maurus

As I was writing the post about St Christopher, I looked for pictures and I found the picture displayed in the St Christopher post. I like the portrayal of St Christopher and the Christ Child, but I wondered who are the saints on the right and left.

Because the picture is actually the center panel of a triptych (Moreel Triptych), I was able to look up info on it and identify the Saints as Sts Gilles and Maurus. I know that St Gilles was a hermit and he took an arrow for a beloved deer who kept him company, but that's about all I know. I don't know anything about St Maurus.

I will probably look up these two later, but if you are like me you have to know who the saints are and what is significant about their iconography.

"Is, Is" problem

Saint Picture Quiz VIII

Yes, he's holding his skin.

Saint Quiz 7

Saint Quiz 6

The patron saint against oversleeping.

Doubt

I, like everyone else I bet, doubt from time to time the Catholic faith and even God himself. But I some relief in knowing that even the apostles doubted. In today's Gospel reading, Peter doubted as he walked out on the water toward Jesus and he almost drowned. At the end of Matthew it says that the eleven were on a mountain worshipping Jesus, but some doubted. I mean they saw all the miracles. For crying out loud He was even raised from the dead, but still they doubted. Even still He chose these doubters as apostles. There's hope for me yet.

Saint Quiz 5

This time I didn't leave the name of the saint as part of the file name.

Saint Quiz IV

Not surprisingly this Saint is the patroness of breast cancer sufferers.

Not sure what to think of this

Cardinal Levada's Letter to Traditional Anglican Communion

I found this letter on the for the Traditional Anglican Communion. Its only a few paragraphs so I will not quote it here.

No more posting for a month

I have to go away for training. I am preparing to deploy with my brigade to Iraq. I will not be able to post until sometime in August.
With that said, here's the second saint quiz. This time I decided to add another saint pic just for fun.

Saint Picture Quiz

Inspired by Infused Knowledge, I too am hosting a Saint Picture Quiz.

Who can name this saint?

Ut Unum Sint

There might be a statement made by the vatican regarding the Traditional Anglican Communion within the next few months. I found this article through Catholic Answers Forums:

Traditionalists
wait for Vatican ruling

The
Church of England NewspaperJune 6, 2008AN ANNOUNCEMENT on the Vatican 's
relationship with the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) may be made following
the July 16-Aug 3 Lambeth Conference, sources in Rome tell The Church of England
Newspaper.Leaders of TAC, home to over 400,000 Anglo-Catholics who have left the
Episcopal and Anglican churches over the past thirty years, have been in talks
with the Vatican over creating an Anglican-rite enclave under the authority of
the Bishop of Rome.
While
the curia under Pope John Paul II had opposed attempts to bring Anglicans en
masse into the Roman Catholic fold, under Benedict XVI the Vatican appears to
have adopted a different line. Anglicans wishing to be received into the
Catholic Church are welcome to do so, as individuals, rather than as part of a
larger ecclesial body. The talks between TAC and Vatican , however, have focused
on allowing whole groups to enter the Catholic Church while maintaining their
own orders and liturgy.
The
National Catholic Register reported that "discussions at the Vatican on devising
a possible structure for [TAC] to come into communion with Rome are understood
to be nearing completion." It added that during their May 5 meeting, Archbishop
Rowan Williams asked Benedict that "any potential announcement be delayed until
after the Lambeth Conference."
However,
a spokesman for Dr Williams told CEN the report was untrue. The TAC issue
"didn't come up with the Pope," a press spokesman for the Archbishop said.The Rt
Rev David Moyer, former president of Forward in Faith USA and a Bishop in TAC,
also declined to comment on the negotiations with Rome , stating only that "We
in the TAC are on our knees for something positive to happen.
We
remain very hopeful."The Bishop of Fort Worth, the Rt Rev Jack Iker -- who is
currently in Rome on study leave -- told The Church of England Newspaper
"conversations with TAC - and others-have taken place at high levels in the
Vatican and that it is thought that the Pope is sympathetic to the dilemma of
traditionalists in the Anglican way."However, no formal dialogue exists between
TAC and the Congregation for Promoting Christian Unity -- the Vatican agency
tasked with ecumenical relations.
Speculation
on a possible Anglican enclave within the Catholic Church comes amidst a
tightening of views on women bishops within the Church of England. One
traditionalist leader speculated that theHouse of Bishops' decision to go ahead
with women bishops without providing safeguards for those opposed, may have been
predicated on the calculation that the Catholic Church would resolve the women
clergy issue for the Church of England.

I find that last sentence quite cynical. Not I don't think they should be welcomed into the Catholic Church, but its quite cynical to pass off dissenting views to another Church.
Gospel of St John 17:11 "And now I am not in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name whom thou has given me; that they may be one, as we also are."

Ut Unum Sint

Christ and His Church

Today (MAY 30) is the feast day of St. Joan of Arc


About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter.
– St. Joan of Arc

I got the pic from Our Lady's Tears, who in turn got it from Holy Cards for your Inspiration

Captain Catholic: The Movie

I have posted about Captain Catholic before. Those were about the short sketches that Tony DeGennaro uploaded to the internet. He made a movie a while back. I haven't sat down to watch the whole thing yet, but it looks like its just under an hour. From the preview it seems to have combined all the villains from Episodes I-III.
In the meanwhile since the release of his movie, Tony has also released Episode IV. Episode IV is on the Catholic position about immigration, illegal or otherwise. I plan on reviewing the movie and Episode IV later on, but for now that will have to wait until I have time.

Here are the links to the Episodes:
0
I
II
III
IV