Who is "Monkling" and why is there a monkling.com website? The origins of the Monkling story can be found here. The answer to why is a bit more complicated. Okay, I lied. It's really not complicated at all. Initially I started this website in order to learn html and assorted other web programming languages. The more I learned, the more I enjoyed messing around with stuff. This website is the evolution of that 'messing around.'

Over time, I’ve added a lot of things to my main page. Sure they’re all geared towards NY (like the traffic & weather boxes) or my interest in Italian but hey, it is, after all, my website. I also figured out how to pull in RSS feeds so I was able to add news feeds to this page. Then there’s my blog (see the link in the box to the left). Now that is the really fun part of being online. I use my blog to entertain people. People, in turn, leave comments telling me how funny I am, which then prompts me to try to be even funnier. Sometimes I pull it off, sometimes I’m not at all funny but I do try to keep my fans entertained. I hope you’ll check it out. (Hopefully you’ll pick a day where I’m actually funny.)

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Headline News:

Planned Parenthood Pushes Intensive Sex Ed for Kids
A new report by the International Planned Parenthood Federation is advocating that children as young as 10 be given extensive sex education, including an awareness of sex's pleasures.
Gov't-Run Climate Care?
Obama administration proposes new Climate Service to examine and report on global warming
• YOU DECIDE: Can New Agency Deliver Reliable Data?
• Africa-Gate? U.N. Fears of Food Shortages Questioned
• Embattled Climate Chief Publishes Racy Novel
• Dutch Allege New Mistakes in U.N. Climate Report
Jacko Doc Charged With Manslaughter
Conrad Murray accused of acting 'without malice' in King of Pop's death, according to criminal complaint
• SLIDESHOW: The Life and Death of Michael Jackson
• LIVESHOTS: Housley on Jackson Case | VIDEO
Aid Groups Launch Haiti Mass Vaccination Campaign
Aid groups say they are launching an emergency vaccination campaign for 140,000 people in Haiti to protect them against measles and other diseases.
Toyota Prius Recall Reportedly Coming on Tuesday
Japanese news agency says 270,000 hybrids to head for the shop
Iran to U.N.: We Will Increase Uranium Enrichment
Iran moves closer to being able to produce nuclear warheads Monday with formal notification that it will enrich uranium to higher levels, even while insisting that the move was meant only to provide fuel for its research reactor.
Body Found in Airplane Gear at Tokyo Airport
Japanese authorities said Monday they are trying to identify a body found inside one of the landing gear compartments on a Delta Airlines plane flight that arrived in Tokyo from New York.
Soldier Charged With Assaulting Daughter, 4, Over ABCs
A U.S. soldier has been accused of holding his 4-year-old daughter's head underwater because she would not recite her ABCs.
Chinese Spy Gets More Than 15 Years in Prison
A Chinese-born engineer convicted of espionage and other federal charges has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison.
Authorities: All Accounted For in Deadly CT Plant Explosion
The deputy fire marshal of the town where a power plant explosion killed five people said no one is believed buried in the rubble.
World's Tallest Tower Lookout Suddenly Shuttered
The Burj Khalifa's owner said Monday the observation deck of the world's tallest tower has been unexpectedly shut down, potentially disappointing thousands of tourists and marring the spire's image just a month after it opened.
17 Indian Soldiers Dead After Kashmir Avalanche
A massive avalanche plowed into an Indian army training center at a ski resort town in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday, killing at least 17 soldiers and critically wounding 17 others.

Belgian theologian blasts 'pseudo-compassion' and Vatican official's article
Rome, Italy, Feb 8, 2010 / 03:02 pm (CNA).- The celebrated philosopher and theologian Monsignor Michel Schooyans has published his thoughts on the contemporary misuse of the concept of "compassion." According to Msgr. Schooyans, the Vatican newspaper and the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, are complicit in promoting "pseudo-compassion."
Church in Costa Rica stripped of right to approve religion teachers
San José, Costa Rica, Feb 8, 2010 / 02:49 pm (CNA).- Costa Rica's Constitutional Court has stripped the Church of its right to choose which religion teachers it will hire, after reversing a 1972 law stating that the teachers must be approved by the Bishops' Conference of Costa Rica.
Secular states must not restrict religious freedom, cautions priest
Mexico City, Mexico, Feb 8, 2010 / 12:56 pm (CNA).- Father Manuel Corral, public relations director for the Bishops' Conference of Mexico, warned last week that the reform of Mexico's constitution establishing the country as secular must not "muzzle" religious freedom.
Church will never stop condemning abuse, states Pope Benedict
Vatican City, Feb 8, 2010 / 11:01 am (CNA).- The Holy Father met with members of the Pontifical Council for the Family on Monday to mark the start of their 19th Plenary Assembly.  In his address, he stressed the importance of providing for the rights of children, including an intact family with a mother and father.
Dominican sisters to appear on Oprah Winfrey Show
Ann Arbor, Mich., Feb 8, 2010 / 02:52 am (CNA).- The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist have made waves across the nation for their rapid growth and their devout orthodoxy. Now, they are once again in the national spotlight, being featured on the popular Oprah Winfrey Show.
Coalition seeks repeal of Klan-era ban on religious garb in Oregon schools
Eugene, Ore., Feb 7, 2010 / 07:42 pm (CNA).- Religious freedom advocates have asked the Oregon legislature for an immediate repeal of a decades-old law that bars Oregon teachers from wearing religious dress in public schools. The law, originally an anti-Catholic measure, was implemented with the support of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s.
Benedict XVI joins Italy in celebrating National Day for Life
Vatican City, Feb 7, 2010 / 01:31 pm (CNA).- Following the recitation of the Angelus on a crisp, clear winter day in Vatican City, Pope Benedict expressed his solidarity with the Italian bishops in celebrating the "National Day for Life." The Holy Father reiterated his call for integral human development in the fight against poverty.
God's grace makes it possible for weak men to answer 'divine call,' declares ...
Vatican City, Feb 7, 2010 / 11:52 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI tailored his message before the Sunday Angelus around the "divine call" of the Lord presented in today's Liturgy. The Holy Father taught that through the examples of Isaiah, Peter and Paul man can realize his "call," regardless of the limitations.
Cincinnati archbishop holds video conference with high school students
Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb 7, 2010 / 08:51 am (CNA).- The new Archbishop of Cincinnati Dennis Schnurr on Thursday held a video conference with nine Cincinnati-area Catholic high schools. He took questions from students in the archdiocese's widest test of the technology yet.
Church honors patron of Sudan, St. Josephine Bakhita
CNA STAFF, Feb 7, 2010 / 04:59 am (CNA).- On Monday, February 8, the Church will commemorate the life of St. Josephine Bakhita, a Canossian Sister who kidnapped and sold into slavery in Sudan.