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LONDON (CNS) -- A book bound in the skin of an executed Jesuit priest was to be auctioned in England. The macabre, 17th-century book tells the story of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot and is covered in the hide of Father Henry Garnet. The priest, at the time the head of the Jesuits in England, was executed May 3, 1606, outside St. Paul's Cathedral in London for his alleged role in a Catholic plot to detonate 36 barrels of gunpowder beneath the British Parliament, an act that would have killed the Protestant King James I and other government leaders. The book,...

I made my way through the crowds on the bank of the River Thames and stood in line to buy my ticket for the Tower of London tour. Yes, the Tower — that infamous prison that held martyrs such as St. Thomas More. William the Conqueror, who commissioned the Tower in 1078, intended it to protect the city against invaders.Most people in line with me at the ticket booth were probably hoping to catch a glimpse of the Crown Jewels. I, on the other hand, came to pay homage to the martyrs’ crowns earned here at all too great a...

On my way up to the Edinburgh Fringe (The Headmaster’s Son – Underbelly, 7.30pm) I stopped off for a gig in Newcastle and stayed with my friend Jeremy. He has two children, an inquisitive seven year old boy and his shy younger sister, who wasn't quite sure about me. At breakfast she made herself a small hide out of cereal boxes which blocked me out or her in depending on which way you look at it. She would occasionally suspiciously peep over the top, but mainly remained hidden, though the silliness of such a construct made us both giggle, so...

State field director predicts second, even first in Iowa It seems like when we're young, we like to break a few rules.  Staying out a little too late, sneaking a drink before that official legal age, or backing a candidate who's outside the established mold (YEEEEEAH!) Several of those dynamics were on display Saturday at Olive Court, a notoriously wild tailgate spot three blocks from Iowa City's Kinnick Stadium.  It was here, just a year ago, that John Kerry was infamously photographed with a beer bong.  And into the anarchy marched the Ron Paul revolution. Ron Paul wasn't imbibing...

The Ron Paul Juggernaut By David KnowlesNov 6th 2007 8:14AM This morning, a collective gasp of dismay was heard coming from the Republican party candidates for president. The news? Texas congressman Ron Paul has set a new GOP single-day fundraising record. In a 24-hour period Mr. Paul raised $4.2 Million dollars through on-line donations. The astonishing total suddenly has people wondering: Is this guy for real? Though he may not win the Republican nomination, his candidacy can no longer be written off as "the longest of long shots." He's raising top-tier money, and attracting thousands of new supporters every week,...

From The Times November 7, 2007 Ron Paul raises $4.3m in a day on the back of notorious terrorist Tom Baldwin in Washington Guy Fawkes, a 17th-century English mercenary and terrorist who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, is an unlikely figurehead for a US Republican presidential candidate. But Ron Paul is neither a run-of-the-mill Republican nor a typical presidential aspirant. His supporters announced yesterday that they had smashed Republican fundraising records by hauling in a total of $4.3 million (£2 million) for his campaign from more than 37,000 donors over the previous 24 hours. And they...

November 5 was celebrated in New England as Pope Day (that is, Anti-Pope Day). The neighborhoods of Boston would make images of the Pope, the Jacobite Pretender, and Guy Fawkes, and burn them; there were also fun-filled brawls in which one neighborhood's gang would try to steal the images of another. Washington banned these festivities in his General Orders, November 5, 1775 (see the George Washington Papers website at the Library of Congress to read the original). He calls it "a ridiculous and childish custom," especially at a time when we are "solliciting, and have readily obtain'd, the friendship and...

   Ban ... on Guy Fawkes Fury over 'PC' Guy Fawkes ban By VINCE SOODINNovember 02, 2006           FURY erupted today after Guy Fawkes night was banned by “politically correct” council chiefs and replaced by a Bengali folk tale.  Tower Hamlets Council in east London has chosen an “alternative theme” for fireworks night - traditionally based on the attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament.Instead council bosses have shelled out £75,000 on a fireworks display based on a Bengali tale called Emperor and the Tiger.Sunday’s display at Hackney's Victoria Park is expected to attract 20,000 but...

Yeah, yeah. I know. I've already posted a couple of other DUmmie FUnnies editions in the past few weeks on the subject of V For Vendetta which you can read HERE and HERE. However, the laughable obsession of the Left over this movie seems to be continuing unabated. And now, in addition to the DUmmies, we also have the Daily Kos KOmmies engaging in Vendetta fantasies as we shall see. For those of you unfamiliar with this fantasy flick, it is based on a graphic comix novel of the same name. In the movie, Britain is under the fascistic...

When I openly mocked the DUmmie passion for the V For Vendetta fantasy in yesterday's EDITION of the DUmmie FUnnies, little did I realize how SERIOUSLY those D For DUmmies take that movie. Today, I found two MORE DUmmie threads about V For Vendetta. Obviously the DUmmies are not shy about making complete fools of themselves in grand style as you can see in this THREAD hilariously titled, "Why NOT march on the WH wearing V for Vendetta masks?" In addition, the Inner DUmmie Film Critic made its appearance in this THREAD titled, "Anybody watch 'V' for vendetta...." So...

Stand by for some really great laughs on Sunday, November 5. Some Dummies, taking their cue from the movie, V For Vendetta, are actually planning to gather in front of public buildings around the country wearing dopey Guy Fawkes masks as you can see in this THREAD titled, "Remember, remember the 5th of November....". Yeah, that's just the ticket, DUmmies. Leading into the midterm elections, make complete FOOLS of yourselves. This doesn't totally surprise me since the DUmmies instantly took to this fantasy flick in which Britain is ruled by an EVIL rightwing regime. The DUmmies have fantasized themselves...

Around this time of year, my American friends ask me about Guy Fawkes night. What’s that all about, they want to know? Is it really a big thing over there in England? Well, I am totally out of touch, but when I was a kid, Guy Fawkes Night — November Fifth — was a huge thing, second only to Christmas on the fun scale. There were fireworks; there was a bonfire; on top of the bonfire was a Guy — a dummy, of course, not an actual person — who got burned up when you lit the bonfire. In the...

The Gunpowder Plot What exactly was the Gunpowder Plot? The Gunpowder Plot is the name given to the conspiracy to blow up the Houses of Parliament on 5 November 1605, which was discovered the night before. The origins of the plot remain unclear and it is doubtful that the truth will ever be known. Generations of historians accepted it was an attempt to re-establish the Catholic religion. Others, in more recent times, have suspected that the plot was the work of a group of agents-provocateurs, anxious to discredit the Jesuits and reinforce the ascendancy of the Protestant religion. Who was...

"It is necessary to salvation that every man submit to the Pope." (Boniface VII Unum Sanctum, 1303)