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:

Obama Feels Heat to 'Change Course' After Jobless Rate Climbs
New employment figures renew Republicans' call for Obama to replace his economic team and ratchet up game plan, as the president sought to put the best face on what many say is just more evidence of an economy stuck in neutral. | VIDEO Fox News Poll: Little Confidence in ObamaStimulus? Not by That NameUnemployment On the Rise OPINION: Repeat Mistakes of '37 Collapse
Magnitude 7.0 Quake Rocks New Zealand
Strong earthquake strikes close to New Zealand's second-largest city, reportedly collapsing buildings and severing power lines, though there are no immediate reports of injuriesUSGS: Quake Fact Sheet
Earl Moves North, New England Not in Clear
Hurricane Earl spares much of the Mid-Atlantic coastline, dumping heavy rain but weakening to a Category 1 storm — however a hurricane warning remains in effect for southeastern Massachusetts, where wind, rain still pose threat | | FULL COVERAGE: Hurricane EarlWEATHER CENTER | TRACKER | LOCAL COVERAGE | VIDEO Wind Scale | Follow Earl UREPORT: SUBMIT | VIEW
Poll: Americans SayIraq War Worth It
Fox News Poll: Despite its contentious history, most American voters appear to have made a positive judgment about the country's efforts in Iraq, and think the U.S. 'did the right thing'Fox News Poll: Obama Approval Up From Summer LowGates: 'Tough Days Ahead' in Afghan South | VIDEO Muslim GI: Koran Says I Can't Fight for U.S.
Double Hand Transplant Patient Shows New Hands
The recipient of a rare double hand transplant says he feels "fantastic" and can wiggle fingers on both his new hands.
Farm Workers: Go Ahead, Take Our Jobs- VIDEO
Clinton: Peace Talks Could Be 'Last Chance'
Scientists Get Unique View of Earth-Size Sunspot- Hawking Picks Physics Over ...
BP Removes Blowout Preventer From Gulf Well
Iranian Opposition Leader's Home Attacked- Iran Threatens at Anti-Israel Rall...
Lebanon Readies Itself for Hariri Tribunal
7.2 Magnitude Quake Rocks New Zealand

Sistine Chapel has too many visitors, warns Vatican Museums director

Vatican City, Sep 3, 2010 / 03:17 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Twenty thousand visitors a day are taking their toll on Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel masterpieces. At the conclusion of a summer project to remove four years of dust from the Sistine Chapel's famed walls and ceiling, the director of the Vatican Museums cautioned that "excessive" traffic without sufficient counter-measures spells bad news for future viewers.
Founder of Catholic reproductive health institute reflects on answering call ...

Omaha, Neb., Sep 3, 2010 / 02:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholic medical professionals, clergy and lay people from across the United States and around the world are gathering this weekend to honor the legacy of the papal encyclical "Humane Vitae" and commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction based in Omaha, Nebraska. 
Rhode Island parish prepares for Hurricane Earl

New Shoreham, R.I., Sep 3, 2010 / 11:54 am (CNA).- Despite Hurricane Earl's projected path, which could see the Category 3 storm lashing some parts of the Rhode Island coast with tropical storm force winds by late Friday, Fr. Joseph Protano Jr. is undeterred in his mission as the pastor of the only Catholic Church on Block Island.
Catholic elementary school makes run at $500,000 prize

Lee's Summit, Mo., Sep 3, 2010 / 11:11 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Our Lady of the Presentation Catholic School, a 480 student elementary school in Missouri is competing for half a million dollars in a Kohl's department store online contest that ends Friday night. Though they still hope to be among the winning schools, they can already see the positive effects the contest has had on the community.
Bishop Olmsted says 'divisive' attempted ordination of woman harms Church

Phoenix, Ariz., Sep 3, 2010 / 05:54 am (CNA).- The Catholic Bishop of Phoenix responded Wednesday to a priest's reported participation in an attempted priestly ordination of a woman. Urging prayers for all involved, he said such actions are "divisive" and have "profoundly harmful consequences."
Full recovery expected for Ambassador Kmiec

Malibu, Calif., Sep 3, 2010 / 02:40 am (CNA).- Reports from Malibu, California indicated on Wednesday that the U.S. Ambassador to Malta, Douglas Kmiec, was expected to make a full recovery from what are now described as "moderate" injuries from an August 25 car accident. Sister Mary Campbell was killed in the accident, which also seriously injured Monsignor John Sheridan.
Pro-life leader criticizes professor's support for coercive sterilization

Front Royal, Va., Sep 3, 2010 / 01:18 am (CNA).- A British professor's call to sterilize by force members of society who would be "inadequate parents" prompted criticism from the interim head of Human Life International (HLI), who warned that the view is more mainstream among academics and derives from a society where life is controlled "at our whim."
Spanish officials thank Catholic Church for 'important role' in release of Cu...

Havana, Cuba, Sep 2, 2010 / 10:04 pm (CNA/Europa Press).- During a visit to Cuba, two officials from Spain's Socialist Party expressed gratitude to the Catholic Church for its "important role" in securing the release of several political prisoners.
Italian doctor condemns culture that fears children

Vatican City, Sep 2, 2010 / 09:16 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- According to an Italian neonatal doctor, "pedophobia"—the fear of children—is an obstacle to the realization of the full rights of children today. In an article published in L'Osservatore Romano to mark the 20th anniversary of a U.N. convention for children's rights, he made a case for making children, born and unborn, more accepted in society.
Recently retired Vatican secretary promises to continue defending immigrant r...

Vatican City, Sep 2, 2010 / 08:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, the Vatican's former secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People, has promised to continue voicing his opinions on the rights of immigrants, though he recently stepped down from the Vatican post.