Why We Have Children

This is an amazing story by Timothy Dalrymple. Beautiful stuff. I was going to put it on The Reader but it's just too good. It's called "Why We Have Children:"

I hate the memory of it. I hate it.

I hate how stiff my daughter's body felt in my arms that night. I hate how vacant and soulless her face had become, unmoving save for the veined whites of her eyes as the irises fluttered up under the skull.

It happened on a cold October evening, when an early snowfall still covered the streets north of Boston. We parked beside our friends' home, and I noticed the flush of red in my daughter's cheeks. I checked her brow—it was hot. I should have done something more, but I thought perhaps she had simply over-heated in her coat and car seat. So I took her inside and watched as she tried to play. On most days our daughter, thirteen months old, was an overflowing wellspring of energy and laughter and fleet-footed enthusiasm. On this day, something seemed off.

Do yourself a favor and read the rest at his blog at Patheos.

Federal Judge Voids All Of ObamaCare!!!

This is not the end of the road, it is the closer to the beginning. But Wow.

President Barack Obama’s health care reform legislation, assailed as an abuse of federal power in a 26-state lawsuit, was ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. judge.

U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson in Pensacola, Florida, declared the law unconstitutional in a ruling today. Then- Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum filed suit on behalf of 13 states on March 23, the same day Obama signed into law the legislation intended to provide the U.S. with almost universal health-care coverage. Seven states joined the litigation last year, and six signed on this year. Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli sued separately on March 23 and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt filed his own suit on Jan. 21.

And I hear that due to a severability clause in the law, he threw out the whole kit and kaboodle!

More to come and feel free to discuss!

Update I: The Ruling can be found here!

Update II: Remember when Nancy scoffed at being asked if Obamacare was constitutional. She mocked the questioner saying, "Are you serious? Are you serious?"



Well, I guess the answer is Yes. We're serious. Very serious. And it looks like the judge was too.

What's A Internet?

I loved this. Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric discuss the Internet in 1994. It is no knock on them that they didn't know, after all it was 1994. But still. My kids don't even understand that there was once a world without the interwebs.



ht. HotAir

Please Say This at My Funeral

I attended a funeral recently of a man I used to work with. Something happened there that got me thinking. I can't tell you how many Catholic funerals I've been to where I was assured that the deceased was with God in Heaven. And I wonder, why do we say this.

Here's the thing. Those in Purgatory need prayers. Lots of them. So we need people to pray, not be assured that their loved one is in Heaven.

Why do we take the players off the field just when they're needed? Here's what I want you guys to say at my funeral:

Matt Archbold was fairly despicable at times. He was meaner than he was kind, proud of his humility, and not all that nice to his family or friends. Vain. Sarcastic. Selfish. While these may be qualites of a good blogger, they do not bode well for sainthood.

We have no reason to suspect that Matt Archbold is in Heaven. In fact, I'd just about guarantee he's not. If God in his infinite mercy somehow allowed Matthew to enter Purgatory it would be a reflection of His mercy rather than any attributes Matt evidenced throughout his life.

Let us all assume, to be safe, that Matthew is in the bottom rung of Purgatory. Matthew's fingernails are firmly dug into a cliff at the furthest edge of the Purgatory city limits and he's hanging on there, his little feet dangling over Hell.

And the only way you can get him out of there and nearer to Heaven is through your prayers. Pray now. Pray on the ride home. Pray when you get home. Pray. Pray. Pray for days, weeks, and years to come. Please pray.

Matthew's salvation depends on you so even though Matthew has surely disappointed God and everyone he ever knew. Please don't disappoint him. He needs your prayers.

On the way out of Church, please sign up for the phone bank so you too can volunteer to call anyone who ever knew Matt to remind them to pray for him. Or you can sign up to go door to door asking people in your neighborhood to pray for Matt on a daily basis at around 6 p.m. (around dinnertime because that was Matt's favorite time of the day.) Please have some Masses said. Lots of them.

So vehement was Matt on this point he has instructed us to lock you all in the Church for 24 hours. After 24 hours of diligent prayer you will be allowed to leave after signing your promissory note to pray often for Matt's soul. That promissory note will be considered a legal contract and be notarized. If you fail to live up to your contract you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

In short, please pray as if Matthew's soul depended on it. Because it does.

Mayflower Crosses the Tiber

Want to know the real reason for the widely abused and misunderstood concept of the separation of Church and State?

America was founded by those fleeing state imposed religion. Many of those fleeing this oppression left jolly old England. If there remains any in England of the same spunk as the pilgrims of yore, they would be loading up the Mayflower right about now.

Opposition to the ordination of female Bishops has been growing within the Anglican General Synod. Some Members of Parliament are afraid that the Synod might, in line with 2,000 years of Christian doctrine, reject female Episcopal Ordination. Well they just cannot have that!

Continue Reading @ National Catholic Register >>>>

Exorcism Movies Are A Right Wing Plot

An article entitled "The right-wing agenda of the exorcism movie" over at Salon.com shows one thing very clearly, when you are a liberal, even the simplest acknowledgment of actual evil in the world is a right wing plot.

The author, Alex Mar, attempts to make the case the exorcism movie genre is a mindless conservative exercise and its raison d'etre is simply to drive the simple minded away from faith in medicine and science and into belief in the devil (and consequently God). An excerpt.

The exorcism movie is the most all-American of "spiritual" films, reducing complex religious beliefs to something more palatable: a take-charge action adventure with clear, targeted results. Much like the Roman Catholic Church, this brand of Hollywood horror frames evil as a diagnosable disease to be cured through extreme treatment, and its spiritual discussion rarely goes beyond the black-and-white "Is there a devil, or isn't there?" It's a clear, explicit test of faith in which there's finally no room for doubt -- unlike in everyday experience of spirituality. The genre has a familiar cast of characters, conflicts and a specific message about the nature of evil. Is also a genre with a remarkably conservative slant -- a tradition that dates back across the last 70 years.

Do exorcism movies reduce complex religious beliefs into simpler good v. evil tales? You betcha. They are movies.

Alternatively. Do liberals repeatedly make movies in which they reduce complex political beliefs into simple stories about good (liberals) v. evil (conservatives, corporations, the Church, etc)? All the time. And they win Oscars.

So liberals don't mind evil depicted in movies per se, they only mind when its not conservatives.

Pro-Life & Pro-Contraception?

Michael Voris on a House Divided.



Yeah. What he said.

Great Joyful March for Life Video

So these are the anti-choice extremists that the media and the Department of Homeland Security would have us be so scared of. I don't know. They look kinda' joyful to me.



Thanks to Frank Weathers

CCHD Director Responds--And So Do We

Last week, CMR published a story about the Director of the Catholic Campaign For Human Development (CCHD). In the piece we brought to light the fact that while Director of the CCHD, an ostensibly Catholic organization, Ralph McCloud simultaneously held the position of treasurer in the succesful campaign of a pro-choice Democrat to unseat a pro-life Republican in Texas.

Even though Director McCloud declined to return our calls to him prior to publishing the story (4 calls in fact--more on that later), he has now decided to respond to us.

In his response he asserts that CMR's accusations are false. Mr. McCloud, we understand, has sent his response to us and to the CCHD Diocesan Directors as well.

His response (which we reprint in its gloriously inept entirety at the end of this post) can be summed up thusly.

You can't hold him accountable for being the treasurer of a pro-choice campaign because:

Defense #1) Even though Wendy Davis and he were good enough friends after 4 years on the City Council and they worked on many issues together, guess what? He never asked her about her position on abortion. She must have only taken the pro-choice position AFTER he agreed to (even though this position seemed to be known by many people in the district prior to her announcement.) So, even though he is "deeply and consistently pro-life" and "committed to upholding the teaching of the Catholic Church on the life," he never even thought to ask about her positions on the Catholic "non-negotiable" life issues before lending his name to the campaign? It strains credulity, no?

Further, as Directory of the CCHD he is responsible for vetting organizations on these very Catholic "non-negotiables" before issuing them grants. Yet, he never even thought to ask?

If we are to take Director McCloud at his word, and I suppose we must, then he is freely admitting his own incompetence in an area that is vital to his job function. Not a very good defense.

Defense #2) Even though he agreed to be campaign treasurer, it was an honorary position and so he didn't have to do anything. While it is true that Texas law imposes no obligations on the position of Treasurer that does not make it honorary. Accepting the position and allowing his name to be used on signs and literature for this campaign is material support for the campaign. In essence, he is vouching for her by allowing it. Further, he endorsed her campaign as well.

So even though McCloud asserts that he didn't do much, at the very least, he lent his name in support of the candidate. Further, as treasurer of the campaign he could have and should have been in a position to know that Davis received contributions from several pro-choice groups. The "I wasn't a very good treasurer" defense does not seem like a really good excuse.

Defense #3 (and my personal favorite), When he accepted the position at CCHD just months after accepting a position on the ongoing pro-choice Davis campaign (it would last another year), he completely forgot. So even though he acknowledges that he should have resigned his position in the pro-choice Davis campaign, he completely forgot that he was treasurer.

He forgot. That is his excuse. He should not be held accountable because he was too incompetent to remember. Don't get me wrong, I have forgotten a lot of things in my life. I have forgotten to buy milk, I have forgotten to take out the garbage at night, I have even forgotten my birthday, but I cannot imagine that I could ever forget that I am treasurer of an ongoing campaign. Credulity is again strained to the breaking point. One cannot but wonder if McCloud was ever asked to disclose such things as part of his hiring at CCHD and how he answered?

So in essence we got the whole story wrong because even though McCloud and Davis were co-workers and such BFF's that she asked him to vouch for her by being treasurer, the topic of abortion never came up and he never thought to ask. Plus, he wasn't a very good campaign treasurer, so poor in fact that he completely forgot that he was treasurer for an entire year while Director at the CCHD.

We got it wrong because we should have known that Mr. McCloud is grossly incompetent. As far as defenses go, this does more harm than good, no?

Lastly, as for his assertion that we only called him for comment the night before and the morning of publishing, not true. We actually placed two additional calls to the CCHD (not his personal CCHD number) two days earlier that went un-returned. We can only guess at what tales of incompetence led to those calls being ignored.

In my opinion, Mr. McCloud, through his actions in accepting the position of treasurer of a pro-choice campaign, his admitted negligence in asking the required questions, and his failure to resign the position after accepting the CCHD position, he has shown himself to be unfit for his position at the CCHD. This is precisely because in his actions and his feeble attempts to explain them away, he demonstrably lacks the kind of judgment that the director of the CCHD needs to adequately and reliably perform the critical grantee vetting process.

The response.

Facts Regarding Ralph McCloud and Accusations circulated by “Creative Minority Report”

In a blog posting on January 19, 2011 “Creative Ministry Report” wrongly asserted without talking to me, that I, while heading CCHD in 2008, was “simultaneously working as a highly placed campaign official for a pro-choice politician seeking to unseat a pro-life politician….CMR believes Ralph McCloud and the CCHD should explain McCloud's actions to Catholics concerned about the sanctity of life. Does the Catholic Campaign for Human Development only care about human development of some while turning its back on the unborn? Calls to McCloud and the CCHD were not returned.”

· I served as a member of the Fort Worth City Council representing District 8 , a low income community and focused my efforts on crime, housing, employment and related issues. In August of 2007, my colleague on the Council and a partner in these efforts Wendy Davis asked me to serve in to serve as treasurer of her campaign for Texas State Senate. Since the position was purely honorary and Ms. Davis was a friend and colleague on the Council and served a district adjacent to mine I agreed. We had worked together for 4 years on issues affecting very low income communities in Fort Worth.

· I was unaware that she subsequently took a position on abortion that conflicted with my own strong pro-life convictions. We had never discussed or worked on issues related to protecting the unborn or abortion. At the time I gave my permission to serve the honorary role as treasurer, Ms. Davis had taken no position on abortion nor accepted any campaign funds.

· In Texas elections, the treasurer designation is an honorary designation with no formal responsibilities or duties. I attended no meetings, received or made no reports, I made no contributions, and did no fund- raising or campaigning. I was not actively involved in her campaign or in any way.

· Accusations suggest that I worked in Ms. Davis’ Campaign and for the Conference of Bishops simultaneously. I have never worked in Ms. Davis’ campaign. I left Fort Worth to serve as Director of CCHD in January 2008.

· Since my appointment to Director of CCHD, I have worked and lived in Washington DC. I have worked for the United States Conference of Bishops only. My short visits to Fort Worth were only to visit family and attend to my aging parents. I have not been involved in any campaign, and certainly not involved in the Davis campaign for Texas State Senate.

· Prior to my appointment to director of CCHD, I received the endorsement and encouragement of my Bishop and always had the full support of the bishop and his predecessor for work for the diocese and my service on the City Council.

After moving to Washington, I should have formally resigned from the honorary post treasurer but I had simply forgotten I had agreed to be listed and given all that was going on personally and professionally, it didn’t occur to me. I have since asked to be removed as treasurer. I deeply regret if my role as treasurer and my failure to resign has caused any confusion or misunderstanding.



I am deeply and consistently pro-life, beginning with protecting the lives of unborn children, the most vulnerable in our midst. More importantly, CCHD is fully and completely committed to upholding the teaching of the Catholic Church on the life and dignity of all. I am proud of my role as Director in insuring that CCHD abides by these principles and am working to strengthen them in carrying out the review and renewal of CCHD accepted by the Bishops last fall.



As for not returning calls, the first inquiry from the Creative Minority Report was made on a phone call placed to my office at 12:57 AM on Wednesday morning, just before 1 AM on the day the item was posted. Another call and message was left at 9:16 AM, 45 minutes before these inaccurate accusations were posted.

Gov't Looking Into Pro-Life Stealth Technology

The U.S. military is reportedly looking into state of the art stealth technology employed by pro-lifers at least once a year.

Said one Pentagon official: "Once a year on the same day they announce the time and the date they're going to have thousands of people march into Washington D.C. but every year they come and go without anyone even noticing them. It's quite amazing."

This is especially worrisome since the Department of Homeland Security previously labeled "opponents of abortion" as likely to engage in acts of terror.

This startling stealth capability is best shown by comparing the media's coverage of the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert rally that included live break-ins and extensive coverage by the media but there was hardly any mention at all of a pro-life rally attended by thousands more.

The Pentagon is reportedly looking into how these pro-lifers essentially invade a city without anyone noticing. Their hope is to employ such capability to update their own stealth ground attack maneuvers.

This pro-life operating capability has oddly become more effective the larger the crowds have become. In 1974, 20,000 people marched in the March for Life and were hardly noticed but in the past few years hundreds of thousands of pro-lifers have managed to enter the capitol of the United States of America without hardly any notice.

This invisibility seems to be effective on about 60% of the population, especially on the coasts.

An Ivy League researcher published a study of "Method of Anti-Choice Invisibility in the Physical Theory of Diffraction." The researcher attempted to interview pro-lifers for the paper but failed to locate even one, indicating that their stealth capabilities work exceedingly well on the coasts and on college campuses.

Oddly, liberal activists tend to have an exact opposite capability in that even if only a dozen anti-war or liberal activists show up anywhere with signs, it seems to attract the notice of all media organizations and the culture at large.

White House administration officials speaking on condition of anonymity said they're hoping that pro-lifers stealth capability proves so effective that perhaps pro-lifers might disappear the other 364 days a year.

For Better or For Worse

Another inspiring American Idol story via Chelsea Zimmerman This is a heckuva guy.


Please check out Chelsea's blog Reflections of a Paralytic for some insightful commentary.

Mom Jailed for Sending Kids to Better School

Locking children into failing schools just wasn't enough. Now, we're locking up mothers for trying to send their kids to better schools.

This is madness. A mother has been sent to jail for lying about her residence because she was attempting to send her kids to a better school district.

If you ask me, the union thugs and their cohorts in Congress and state legislatures around the country should be the ones facing time for locking children into failing schools.

Time Magazine reports:

Much of the poltical rhetoric on education reform has centered on the ability of parents to send their children to better schools, particularly in situations where they were forced to send them to schools that were failing. But in the case of Kelley Williams-Bolar, her desire to get her children better educational placement landed her in jail, and may well derail her aspirations of becoming a teacher herself.

Williams-Bolar, 40, and her two children live in housing projects in Akron, Ohio. For two years, she sent them to school in the Copley-Fairlawn district, where her father lived, because it was a safer environment -- the high crime rate in her area drove her decision. The suburban school district hired a private investigator to find their residential records and it turned out she listed the children as living in that district, although they actually stayed with her.

Technically, that qualifies as a felony since she falsified records, and Judge Patricia Cosgrove sentenced her to two concurrent five-year prison sentences. She suspended the sentence, though, in favor of a 10-day jail sentence, 80 hours of community service and three years probation. She had been working as a teaching assistant for special needs children and earning a teaching degree, but since she is now a convicted felon, under Ohio law she cannot earn that degree.

Our education system in this country is disgraceful.

And don't expect help from the Obama administration despite the President's remarks during the SOTU about making our schools more competitive. Remember two years ago, sat by and Congress revoked Opportunity Scholarships for 216 students in Washington D.C, according to the Washington Times.

Even Joe Lieberman called it "the civil rights issue" of our time. Speaker John Boehner and Lieberman introduced legislation just yesterday to return the school voucher program to D.C.

So instead of putting mothers in jail maybe we should let them send their children to a decent school. Crazy idea, I know.

11 Craziest Things I've Ever Heard at Mass

1) Whispered by a father in the pew behind me to his children: "When we get to the car I'm testing all of you on what the gospel was. And if you get it wrong you're dead."

2) Whispered by my daughter minutes before going up for her First Communion: "Dad, I think I'm gonna' throw up." (She did. Our parish priest later came to our home to offer her the Eucharist but she was still sick so we waited until the next week.)

3) Said by priest who noticed that two birds had flown into the Church and were dive bombing parishioners: "Oh, I know how to get the birds out of here. I'll baptize them and then they'll only come back twice a year on Christmas and Easter."

Continue reading at the National Catholic Register>>>

Ecumenism Is Obligatory

So sayeth the Pope.

At a January 25 Vespers service closing the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Benedict XVI said that ecumenical work is a “moral imperative” for all Christians.

The Holy Father reminded the congregation at the basilica of St. Paul-outside-the-Walls that Jesus prayed for unity among the faithful. That unity, he said, “cannot be reduced to recognizing our reciprocal differences and achieving peaceful coexistence.” The followers of Christ cannot be satisfied until they have achieved full communion, he said.

True Christian unity, the Pope continued, “cannot be realized only at the level of organizational structures,” but must be forged among the faithful, “confessing the one faith, celebrating divine worship in common, and keeping the fraternal harmony of the family of God.”

Yes, but as the Pope said we are not required to believe in the kind of ecumenism in which differences are swept under the rug. Or and ecumenism in which we protestantize our faith. No, I believe in an ecumenism in which well meaning Christians of various stripes eventually realize the utter failure of their brand of Christianity to hold the true faith, to protect it, and to pass it on. And when they do, we are happy to welcome them home.

Ecumenism is being like the father in the parable of the prodigal son. We keep our arms and hearts open for when you realize the error of your ways.

Freed from Jail as It Conflicted with Sex Change

A loony judge in the UK has freed a convicted drug dealer from prison because it conflicts with his scheduled sex change operation. Oh wait, his taxpayer funded sex change operation.

I Hate the Media reports:

A transsexual drug dealer has escaped a jail sentence after a judge ruled it would ruin his chances of completing a sex change.

Ian Morris, 41, who changed his name to Jean in 2009, is due to start Government-funded hormone treatment next week.

He was on trial after police intercepted nearly 2kg of the hallucinogenic drug ketamine which was sent to his flat.

Mr Morris’s lawyers pleaded with Judge Mark Horton to spare him a jail term because of his sex change operation and asserted that he would find it “difficult” in a male prison.

Uhm, isn't prison supposed to be "difficult?"

And since he's becoming a she (kinda') wouldn't an all male prison be the kind of thing he was into?

As if you needed any more evidence that the UK had totally lost any and all common sense.

Chicago Salesman Fired for Packers Tie

Sometimes life is exactly like sitcoms.

I love this story for so many reasons. First, you got the overreacting car dealer owner who acts irrationally and fires a salesman for wearing a Green Bay Packers tie. He had to have had a cigar in his mouth at the time. He just had to.

I love the salesman getting all uppity about his choice of tie and making it into a principled stand. Dude, you're a car salesman. A moral stand? Really? And I love how he brings his poor deceased grandmother into the mix to give his little heroic stance a little extra oomph.

This is one news story I wish I could've been there for - just soaking up every moment of this reality/sitcom madness.

But mostly I love it because it's such a guy story. A big blowup over nothing that becomes this giant thing where two guys make a line in the sand and then a few days later it cools down.

But mostly, I love that this story is in the Washington Post. This little kerfuffle made national headlines. And it's exactly the kind of thing I've always loved newspapers for. Everyone once in a while you read a story about humans. Not politicians or delegates, ambassadors or generals. Just two men who any normal person can recognize. A story that sounds like something that I'd stupidly do.

The Washington Post reports:

A car salesman in suburban Chicago who was fired for refusing to remove a Green Bay Packers tie says he won't be coming back even though his former boss has relented.

John Stone wore the tie to work at Webb Chevrolet in Oak Lawn Monday, the day after the Packers beat the Chicago Bears to advance to the Super Bowl.

Stone says he wore the tie to honor his late grandmother, who was a big Green Bay fan.

But his boss, Jerry Roberts, says the dealership has done promotions involving the Bears. He was afraid the tie could alienate the team's fans and make it harder to sell cars.

Roberts now says Stone can come back, but Stone says he won't. He's also been offered a job at another dealership.

See, it's even got a happy ending.

Do You Trust Chris Christie?

Chris Christie, the first pro-life Governor of New Jersey. That's a pretty awesome moniker for a guy who used to be publicly pro-choice.

But in many ways Christie in power has been very conservative. His very public battle with the teacher's unions have become legendary. He's a YouTube hit. Some talk radio hosts have even started daydreaming and doodling in their spiral notebooks "President Chris Christie." Word also has it that the GOP initially asked Christie to deliver a response to the State of the Union (which he declined.)

In short, his star is on the rise.

Pro-lifers have watched Christie carefully. And there have been some good things. Christie's battle to defund Planned Parenthood has been epic. And now there's talk of doing the same thing on the federal level. And yesterday Christie spoke publicly at a pro-life rally. Check out what he said:

Weasel Zippers reports:

– “Every life is precious and a gift from God,” said Christie, coatless on the coldest day so far this winter, before hundreds of children and adults.

The Republican governor, who once was an abortion-rights advocate – or as he told the crowd, “not always on your side” – said his views changed after he heard the heartbeat of his daughter, Sara, now 14, three months into his wife’s pregnancy.

“It was at that moment that it became clear to me that that’s a life that deserves protection,” Christie said. “This is an issue whose time has come.”

So here's the question -do you trust Chris Christie? Do you trust Chris Christie to be pro-life? Should his star continue to rise, would you feel comfortable saying the words "President Christie?"

Keep in mind no group has been lied to more than pro-lifers. We've been burned pretty much by everyone who could burn us. So pardon us if we're a bit relucatant to buy into any pol that promises to be pro-life.

There's a lot to like about Governor Christie but I'm honestly not sure yet. You?

10 Things I'd Rather Do Than Watch SOTU

I have zero intention of watching tonight's State of the Union speech by President Obama. To give you an indication of how much I intend to NOT watch the speech here's a list of things I'd rather do than watch Obama tonight.

1) Attend a three hour Ivy League symposium on Nancy Pelosi's great theological wisdom called "From Aquinas to Pelosi."

2) Watch Season 1 DVD of "The Good Guys." The extended Director's version.

3) Drink Pop Rocks and soda.

4) Discuss all the successes that the "Spirit of Vatican II" has had on the Catholic Church.

5) Aerobicize to a Jane Fonda video. And I'd be rocking the leotards 'cause that's how I roll.

6) Watch a Jane Fonda double feature starting with "Stanley and Iris" and "Monster in Law."

7) Hang out with my gassy buddy Rich in a science lab with all the bunsen burners on high.

8) Nair Ernest Borgnine's back

9) Nair Nancy Pelosi's back.

10) Read Vox Nova. Even the combox!!!!!!!

Please let me know what you'd rather do than watch Obama's State of the Union show tonight.

The Faith Of Fringe

I find myself in a strange situation. One of my favorite shows on television is a show I gave up on halfway through the first season. Fringe.

I gave up on the show halfway through the first season because I felt the show was meandering, strange, and sometimes gross. It is still sometimes those things, but it is so much more too.

I gave up on Fringe, now in its third season, before the overall "meta narrative" became evident. Fair warning, spoilers ahead.

Continue Reading @ National Catholic Register>>>>

Pro-Life American Idol

Great find from Kathryn Lopez at The Corner. For all the great work done in the Catholic blogosphere sometimes I wonder if Kathryn Lopez might be the best Ctholic blogger out there.

Anyway, here's a touching story from American Idol about a young mother with a special needs child. Idol judge Jennifer Lopez comes off as very human and kind as well. Nice story.

Father Barron on 41%

Father Barron has this knack for saying the exact thing I would say if my IQ were a lot higher. Another great one from Fr. Barron.



HT World on Fire

Awesome. Pence's Speech at the March

This is a great speech from Indiana Congressman Mike Pence at the March for Life. I love how he takes on those who would have us ignore social issues and focus solely on fiscal ones (Yeah, Governor Mitch Daniels I'm looking at you.)

Pence said:

“These are trying times in the life of this nation.

“Our economy is struggling and our national government is awash in a sea of debt.

“Amidst these struggles, some would have us focus our energies on jobs and spending.

“We must not remain silent when great moral battles are being waged. Those who would have us ignore the battle being fought over life have forgotten the lessons of history. As in the days of a house divided, America’s darkest moments have come when economic arguments trumped moral principles.

“A nation that will not stand for life will not stand for long.

HT Weasel Zippers

Vatican Hammers CMR!

The Vatican has hammered CMR, well it has if you listen to Stephen K. Ryan at MinistryValues.com. Mr. Ryan has dubbed us, along with others, as "Taliban Catholics" singled out for rebuke by the no less than the Pope himself in his call for those engaged in Catholic social media to be mindful that ""The proclamation of the Gospel requires a communication which is at once respectful and sensitive."

Vatican Hammers Conservative Catholic Bloggers

You know who you are out there.

Vatican's social communications office, Archbishop Claudio Celli, said it was certainly correct to direct the pope's exhortation to some conservative Catholic blogs, YouTube channels and sites which, with some vehemence, criticize bishops, public officials and policies they consider not Catholic enough.

"Taliban Catholicism" is John Allen's description of web-based McCarthyism on the rise in the Catholic blogosphere and undoubtedly this is what the Vatican was referring to.

Pressure is on to radically change the Roman Catholic Church in America, but it's not coming from the usual liberal suspects. A new self proclaimed beed of theological conservatives has taken to blogs and YouTube spearheaded by Michael Voris to say the church isn't Catholic enough. Many of these conservative catholics have been enraged by dissent that they believe has gone unchecked for decades, and unafraid to say so in the starkest language, these activists are naming names and unsettling the church.

-In the Archdiocese of Boston, parishioners are dissecting the work of a top adviser to the cardinal for any hint of Marxist influence.

-Bloggers are combing through campaign finance records to expose staff of Catholic agencies who donate to politicians who support abortion rights.

-RealCatholicTV.com, working from studios in suburban Detroit, is hunting for "traitorous" nuns, priests or bishops throughout the American church.

I suppose that "Bloggers are combing through campaign finance records to expose staff of Catholic agencies who donate to politicians who support abortion rights," refers to CMR if not also others.

Good, we embrace our designation as Taliban Catholics. I think Mr. Ryan misinterprets the Pope's words to mean that people with whom Mr. Ryan disagrees should shut up.

We here at CMR love the Church, love our Bishops, and even try to be respectful of stupid people. Stupid ideas, well that is another thing altogether.

Taking the Pope's admonition to be repectful and sensitive, let me just say this to Mr. Ryan. I respect you. I am sensitive to you. I would like to know how you interpret the Pope's words in a way that allows you to assert that the Vatican "hammers" conservative Catholics (aka people you don't like) and to call us names like "Taliban Catholic." Do you think that properly embraces what the Pope was getting at when he called for respect and sensitivity?

Now others, way less respectful and sensitive than I, might call such a thing blatant hypocrisy and downright laughingly stupid. But not me. No, not me.

Get Ready To Starve

Get ready to starve. That is what will happen if President Sarkozy and the rest of the EuroWeenies (including the ones who live in the US) get their way.

There is one axiom that is true no matter what. There is no amount of scarcity that cannot be made worse by government regulation.

(Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy called in a speech laying out his G20 agenda Monday for new rules to curb commodity price volatility, warning that the world risks food riots and weaker growth if leaders fail to act.

Speaking to 300 diplomats and journalists in the Elysee presidential palace, Sarkozy also voiced support for a tax on financial transactions, calling such a move a "moral question" but admitting the idea had many enemies.

"How can you explain that we regulate money markets and not commodities?," said Sarkozy, who holds the rotating presidency of the Group of 20, a policy forum for the world's leading rich and developing economies, for 2011.

Government regulation of commodity markets is the quickest path to starvation.

Uncle Milty (Milton Friedman) once said "If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand." Amen.

Governments that control food prices must eventually control distribution as well. A government that controls food distribution controls the people for almost everyone will trade freedom for bread.

All Mass Murderers Aren't Created Equal

In the wake of the mass murder of seven babies by a Philadelphia abortionist I have to ask where’s the Presidential press conference? Where’s the nationally televised memorial? Where are the t-shirts with the catchy slogan? Where’s the media blame game? Where’s the feature pieces in national magazines on the societal implications of the murders?

Seriously. I’m wondering why isn’t the murder of seven babies of similar national implications to the horrible murders in Tuscon?

There are currently 15,000 mentions of Jared Loughner in the news recently, according to Google. But as of Sunday night there are less than 1,400 mentions of Dr. Kermit Gosnell. That’s 10 percent. Truly, silence is the deadliest bias.

Shortly after the Tuscon murders journalists, talking heads, and several politicians wasted no time chatting up the far flung societal implications of the tragedy in Arizona mainly focusing the blame for the murders on the “violent” rhetoric of the right wing. But isn’t it a heck of a lot shorter logical leap to suggest that strong pro-abortion rhetoric contributed to an atmosphere that made the violence perpetrated by Gosnell a possibility? Seriously, does 30 years of calling babies “blobs of tissue” have no effect on the culture?

Continue reading at the National Catholic Register>>>

My Conspiracy Theory (I Think I Am Right!)

I am not much for conspiracy theories. I also don't care much for those who embrace every conspiracy theory. But now I find myself in an awkward position. I have a conspiracy theory. And not only do I have a conspiracy theory, I have a conspiracy theory ABOUT a conspiracy theory.

Just as the birther movement (which holds President Obama was not born in this country) was losing steam (after losing credibility a long time ago), a democrat and long time friend of the Obama family injects into it--new life.

I have long held the opinion that team Obama likes the birthers. The existence of a fringe conspiracy group is a ready foil for the President. They are fringe, but not so fringe that any right-wing politician cannot be lumped in with them. That is why most every Republican politician has had to, in some way, disavow the birther movement.

Even today, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) was smeared with the birther label simply because he refused to engage in name calling even while explicitly saying that he believes the President is a citizen. A compliant media is more than willing to twist the facts to enable the smear. Witness this story from just today alarmingly and misleadingly entitled "Cantor refuses to denounce birthers as ‘crazy talk’".

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) became the latest GOP leader Sunday to refuse to denounce the birthers.

"This is a leadership moment here," NBC's David Gregory noted during an interview with Cantor. "There are elements of this country who question the president’s citizenship, who think that his birth certificate is inauthentic. Will you call that what it is, which is crazy talk?"

"David, I don’t think it’s nice to call anyone crazy, OK?" Cantor said as he chuckled. "I don’t think it’s an issue that we need to address at all."

"Why won’t you just call it what it is?" Gregory asked. "Because I feel like there are a lot of Republican leaders who don’t want to go as far as to criticize those who..."

"I think the president is a citizen of the United States," Cantor interrupted. "Why is it you want me to engage in name calling?"

And this is years after the birther movement has been fringified. How can the media get away with this? Because the newly elected Democrat Governor and long-time Obama family friend saved birtherism from a long overdue death. How?

Right after his election, Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie promised to put an end to birtherism once and for all by promising to release the long sought after (long-form) birth certificate. Then he made even bigger news by publicly mentioning that they were having trouble locating it. And then the entire effort is suddenly shut down by the State Attorney General.

Honestly, this whole sequence of events is just TOO PERFECT. If someone were trying to figure out how to keep this conspiracy theory alive, this is how they would do it. The only fear they might have is that it is way too bleeding obvious.

Team Obama has made excellent use of the birthers as a foil and to smear their opponents. It was just too valuable an arrow in the quiver to let it die. So they didn't. One thing I can tell you for sure is that Gov. Abercrombie should get a nice thank you basket from the President because he just gave him a real gift.

Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace

Glen Hansard and Bono sing the Prayer of St. Francis at the funeral of Sargent Shriver.

Hey, Let's Blame Conservatives for Another Mass Murder

This is unbelievable if by unbelievable I mean completely predictable. You'll remember how the Tuscon tragedy was blamed on conservatives with absolutely no evidence (or logic). Well now, some are attempting to blame conservatives for the mass murder of babies in Philadelphia.

John Sexton at Hot Air's Green Room writes:

Maybe you thought last week’s exercise in futility was going to be a teachable moment for the left. For some, it probably was. Even the NY Times made a half-assed admission of failure.

One week later, Amanda Marcotte is right back to the playbook, this time blaming the murders committed by pro-choice abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell on conservative pro-lifers:

Marcotte's "reasons" are:

1)Us pro-life extremists have placed a stigma on abortion so not many doctors want to perform them so we're essentially forcing women to go to nutty mass murdering doctors.

2)These women could have gone to the wonderful Dr. Tiller but us pro-life extremist nuts killed him.

Marcotte's logic (if by logic you mean insane ramblings) is fun to read in a masochistic way but I wouldn't advise it.

But John Sexton's take down of her is a great read. Continue reading at the Green Room.

PZ Myers - Amoral Monster

Professional atheist and jerk, PZ Myers reveals the full blackness of his soul.

First, never quote Mother Teresa at me — she was an evil hag who worshipped poverty, who did not help people except to encourage them to suffer more for her faith, while she lived in comfort and traveled far and wide to receive the accolades of the gullible. I would never find the words of that wicked woman persuasive.

Secondly, the standard bullying tactics of waving bloody fetuses might cow the squeamish, but I'm a biologist. I've guillotined rats. I've held eyeballs in my hand and peeled them apart with a pair of scissors. I've used a wet-vac to clean up a lake of half-clotted blood from an exsanguinated dog. I've opened bodies and watched the intestines do their slow writhing dance, I've been elbow deep in blood, I've split open cats and stabbed them in the heart with a perfusion needle. I've extracted the brains of mice…with a pair of pliers. I've scooped brains out of buckets, I've counted dendrites in slices cut from the brains of dead babies.

You want to make me back down by trying to inspire revulsion with dead baby pictures? I look at them unflinchingly and see meat. And meat does not frighten me.

Aborted babies are just meat. Monster.


I have not included a link for obvious reasons. You want to see the original, google it.

ht Weasal Zippers

Jesuit: Our Job Isn't to Bring People to God

Now, this is depressing. Not surprising. But definitely depressing. I just got this video from the Cardinal Newman Society concering Georgetown University. And it's a doozy. And here's the thing -this is what Georgetown is publicly espousing. I can't imagine what it is they're not saying.

Georgetown's Associate Dean Fr. Ryan Maher, S.J. said it's not Georgetown's job to bring God to people or to bring people to God.

“Our job as educators and as priests is not to bring God to people, or even to bring people to God. God’s already there and the people are already there. Our job, our way, of living out our educational vocation is to ask the right questions, and to help young people ask those questions,” says Fr. Ryan Maher, S.J., Georgetown’s associate dean and director of Catholic studies, in the opening to a new video profiling the work of Jesuits on campus.

Jesuits at Georgetown from Georgetown College on Vimeo.

Once again the question must be asked whether Georgetown is a Catholic university at all or a university where some Jesuits teach? It's sad that there's a distinction but sometimes there just is.

Check out the Cardinal Newman Society for more on this video.

Most Awkward Tennis Moment --- EVAH!

This is great.

In a post match interview at the Australian Open, Kim Clijsters gives commentator Todd Woodbridge a hard time about a text message he sent. Too funny!

Let's Put Ralphie on Trial Too

Al Sharpton is calling for FCC hearings for Rush Limbaugh because he imitated a Chinese voice in a comical fashion.



I'm thinking that if Rush should be on trial shouldn't we also drag the surviving cast of "A Christmas Story" before Congress for this scene alone.

Look how the white oppressors laugh at the immigrants. I think we should have Ralphie dragged before Congress and apologize and then maybe the government will burn all remaining copies of this movie.

All I can say is you'll only get my video of this classic out of my cold dead VCR.
HT Hot Air Pundit

Santorum's Not a Racist Homophobic Bigot

Rick Santorum is back in the news. This time, the news media is wondering if he's racist. You might confuse this with the times they accused him of being a homophobe but it's completely different. Hey, I guess he should take comfort that they didn't blame him for the Tuscon shooting.

Yesterday it was all over the media that Santorum said something that all the talking heads on CNN agreed was at the least racially insensitive. But notice that none of the media are discussing what Santorum actually said. They're completely ignoring the point he was making. All they want is the question -"Is Santorum Racist?"

They intentionally convolute in order to distract and attack.

It's funny that the same media that apologizes for using the word "crosshairs" feels perfectly comfortable accusing a possible GOP Presidential candidate of "playing the race card."

Here's what Santorum said:

"the question is--and this is what Barack Obama didn't want to answer--is that human life a person under the Constitution? And Barack Obama says no. Well, if that person, human life, is not a person, then I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say, no, we are going to decide who are people and who are not people."

Cue the media firestorm.

Newsbusters reports:

The media picked up on the comment and, without publishing what Santorum said leading up to the segment, questioned if he had racial motivations. Jennifer Epstein's Politico piece was headlined "Rick Santorum plays race card on President Obama." Epstein labeled Santorum's remark "eyebrow-raising."

USA Today reported "Ex-Senator Ties Obama's Race to Abortion Rights." New York Magazine's piece was titled "Rick Santorum Can't Believe Obama Doesn't Know Exactly When Life Begins, Because He's Black."

Other sources picked up the piece, such as Slate, the Washington Post, the Daily Caller, the Huffington Post, National Journal, MSNBC.com, and ABCNews.com. NBC correspondent Norah O'Donnell ran the clip of Santorum's comment on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" and asked her guests to comment.

To anyone with a brain it's perfectly clear what Santorum is saying. He's saying that not so long ago black people weren't considered fully deserving of human rights by our government and therefore he'd hope that Obama would understand the dangers of governments picking and choosing who is human and who's not.

It's the same thing that happened when Santorum took on the right to privacy. He said:

"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything."

Then everyone was saying that Santorum was equating homosexuality with incest and bestiality. But he wasn't. He was making a valid legal argument. And you want to know something- Santorum was right. Right in both cases.

Does it hurt his political chances to be so unguarded with his comments? Yes. But is he right? Absolutely.

And his comment drawing a parallel between slavery and abortion is one that's raised constantly even by Alveda King but they don't yell about it when she's saying it, the media just ignores her as much as they can.

I agree with Santorum. The argument against abortion and slavery are the same. It is the cry of the victim that "I am human too." And until we acknowledge their humanity, I hope Rick Santorum goes right on saying the truth.

Duh! Of The Day

CNN Health reports on a startling finding. Promiscuity decreases your chances of finding a good husband.

They looked at the results from a number of national studies including the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the National Study of Youth and Religion, in addition to interviews with young people ages 18 to 23.

Researchers found that since women in the 18- to 23-year-old group feel they don't need men for financial dependence, many of them feel they can play around with multiple partners without consequence, and that the early 20s isn't the time to have a serious relationship. But eventually, they do come to want a real, lasting relationship. The problem is that there will still be women who will have sex readily without commitment, and since men know this, fewer of them are willing to go steady.

"Women have plenty of freedom, but freedom does not translate easily into getting what you want," Regnerus said.

Like I said. Duh!

Like Gramma would say: Free Milk. Cow. Etc. Duh!

Pre-marital sex increases you chances of STDs, unplanned pregnancy, divorce, and disappointment. And this is what the whole culture of sexual revolution is built upon. You say you want a revolution, well you can count me out.

Lack of Gov't Oversight Led to Abortion Horrors

A grand jury in Pennsylvania is saying that the state failed to perform its job of oversight over abortion clinics.

The Blaze reports:

A filthy abortion mill where prosecutors say babies were delivered alive and killed with scissors would have been shut down long ago if not for extraordinary failures by state regulators, who had not inspected it since 1993, a grand jury report charges.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 69, a family practice physician with no certification in gynecology or obstetrics, was charged Wednesday with eight counts of murder in the deaths of seven babies and one patient. Nine employees also were charged, including four with murder.

In its report, the grand jury said failures of the Pennsylvania Department of Health and other agencies allowed Gosnell's "house of horrors" to persist for decades, with baby body parts on the shelves and clogging the plumbing, a 15-year-old high school student performing intravenous anesthesia, and Gosnell's wife, a cosmetologist, performing late-term procedures.

"Had state and local officials performed their duties properly, Gosnell's clinic would have been shut down decades ago," the grand jury wrote. "If inspectors had looked solely for violations of Pennsylvania's abortion regulations, there would have been ample grounds to revoke the approval of Gosnell's clinic as an abortion provider — as was demonstrated when DOH inspectors finally entered the facility in February 2010."

Any thoughts on why so many officials turned a blind eye to this horror show of a medical clinic?

Why would anyone expect anything different? The abortion industry is one of the largest donors to Democrat politicians and organizations like Planned Parenthood receive millions and millions in taxpayer money, from federal, state and local levels.

As long as the abortion industry and the Democratic Party, which runs a large majority of cities including Philadelphia, are scratching each other's backs why would we ever expect any real oversight?

Look at those videos put out by Live Action which shows abortion clinic workers lying and breaking the law as boldly and plainly as can be. But nothing is done.

The Democratic Party is constantly calling for MORE OVERSIGHT, MORE REGULATIONS. They say it was a lack of regulations and oversight which caused the housing collapse and the economic downturn. But when it comes to the abortion industry, it's laissez faire. It's the Wild West and nobody but a precious few in government are saying anything.

Here's a sick question? Does anyone really believe that Dr. Gosnell's clinic is that out of the ordinary? Do you really believe that murdering babies after they're out of the womb is an anomaly? Because I don't believe it is. But we won't know until there's some oversight which isn't going to happen any time in the near future.

You can read more about the grand jury's findings at The Blaze.

Monk Nabbed With Nun's Remains

Weirdest story of the day. Maybe even of the week. A monk was trying to board a flight when baggage checkers opened up his bags and found...

Reuters reports:

A Cypriot monk caught at a Greek airport with the skeletal remains of a nun in his baggage on the weekend told authorities he was taking the relics of a saint back to his monastery.

The 56-year-old Cypriot was detained at Athens airport on Sunday after security staff discovered a skull wrapped in cloth and skeletal remains in a sheet inside his baggage.

"They maintained it was a woman who was a saint," a Greek police official who declined to be named told Reuters on Tuesday, adding that the monk told authorities he was transferring her remains to a monastery in Cyprus.

The problem? She's not a saint.

The monk dug her up himself. The remains were those of a nun who had died a few years before. But I repeat she wasn't a saint. So the monk was charged with charges like theft that aren't that hard to live down but he was also charged with a crime that will likely be a job application killer in the future such as "desecrating the dead."

You want an awkward silence in any room you recount the time you got sent up river for desecrating a dead nun.

According to news reports, he was suspended from his monastic duties. I think that was probably a wise course of action. But you want to hear an odd little note to the story - desecrating the dead is only a misdemeanor in Greece. Who'd a thunk it?

So the moral of the story here is that when you're stealing dead nuns you don't want to fly. You rent a car or take a ferry but don't try to go through airport security. You could hitch hike. I mean, seriously, I think 79% of hitch hikers have human remains in their backpacks and they never get caught. Just sayin'.

Incendiary Stupidity or Killing Incivility

The following has been redacted for your own safety.

The other day I was killing time at Target. I overheard two guys shooting the breeze about the new civility. You know, the words and phrases we are no longer allowed to say because it might trigger a crazy person to do something, well crazy.

One guy, a real straight shooter, then complained ...

Continue Reading @ National Catholic Register>>>

Obama Praises China's Human Rights

President Obama today praised the "evolution" in human rights in China. Just minutes later, a blogger in Philadelphia pulled his hair out and banged his head on his keyboard until passing out.

Now that I woke up with a headache I'm wondering WHAT THE HECK IS OUR PRESIDENT TALKING ABOUT?!!!!!!!! Seriously, the President of the United States just praised one of the most brutally vicious totalitarian states the world's ever seen. Yup, Obama talked about the evolution in human rights in China which drags women off the street and forcibly kills their unborn children, the China which imprisons Christians, the China that doesn't allow any freedom of the press, and the China that doesn't allow freedom of religion.

Weasel Zippers writes:

Obama sympathizes with a Communist regime’s human rights record, why am I not surprised? Must be the forced abortions.

(CNS News)- President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that there has been “evolution” in human rights in China over the last three decades, even though that country does not allow for freedom of the press or freedom of religion, continues to imprison political dissidents (notably Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo) and is run by the Communist Party.

“And I want to suggest that there has been an evolution in China over the last 30 years since the first normalization of relations between the United States and China,” Obama said. “And my expectation is that 30 years from now we will have seen further evolution and further change.”

It's amazing what a few billion dollars in debt to a country can make a President say, huh?

I pray that the people of China don't read Obama's quotes. I pray that for those who hold a belief in their heart that somewhere there's a country that's better, that believes in freedom, that stands up for liberty. This quote today from the President of the United States will break the heart of many freedom lovers in China. As well as bloggers in Philadelphia.

Horror: Abortionist Charged With 8 Counts of Murder

This is maybe the most awful thing I've ever read. I'm sorry to even report something like this.

Hot Air's Ed Morrissey writes:

This may be as ghastly a story outside of the Tucson massacre as we’ll see all year … I hope. An abortionist arrested in Philadelphia faces eight counts of murder, one for the death of a patient, and the other seven for killing babies who survived his botched abortions. The district attorney alleges that Kermit Gosnell used a pair of scissors to sever their spinal cords:

A West Philadelphia abortion doctor, his wife and eight other suspects are now under arrest following a grand jury investigation.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 69, faces eight counts of murder in the deaths of a woman following a botched abortion at his office, along with the deaths of seven other babies who, prosecutors allege, were born alive following illegal late-term abortions and then were killed by severing their spinal cords with a pair of scissors. …

Last year, CMR did some research on this abortionist and wrote an extensive piece on Dr. Gosnell's sordid history called History of an Abortionist.

You can continue reading the Hot Air piece on the current charges Gosnell faces by clicking here.

Head of CCHD Worked For Pro-Choice Campaign

While the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) has come under well deserved scrutiny for supporting groups such as ACORN and groups with ties to promoting abortion, CMR has uncovered that Ralph McCloud, while heading the CCHD in 2008, was simultaneously working as a highly placed campaign official for a pro-choice politician seeking to unseat a pro-life politician.

As you likely know, CCHD is the bishops' anti-poverty program which funds community organizing and economic development projects and has been at the center of a number of controversies. Ralph McCloud was named head of the CCHD in November 2007. In his first year as head of the CCHD, according to public records, McCloud also worked as the Treasurer for Planned Parenthood endorsed Democrat Wendy Davis.

Why would the director of the CCHD, during his tenure as head of an ostensibly Catholic institution act as champion and treasurer of a campaign for a pro-abortion politician seeking to oust a pro-life politician? This is the textbook definition of scandal.

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop's website, "the CCHD fully upholds the Church’s teaching on the sanctity of human life from conception through natural death." But acting as Treasurer for a pro-choice politician means that every single yard sign, every press release, every brochure or pamphlet of the Davis campaign had Ralph McCloud's name on it. So in short, while heading up the CCHD, McCloud was very publicly working against the stated goals of the organization he oversaw.

Isn't that a bit confusing to Catholics? Isn't that in itself a scandal to the faithful?

McCloud himself labeled questions about another CCHD employee John Carr's commitment to the pro-life cause "very disturbing allegations" which he believed were unfounded. CMR believes it to be equally disturbing that McCloud would work for a campaign garnering donations from Annie's List (a pro-choice PAC), Planned Parenthood and ACORN. So pro-choice was the Davis campaign that in fact, Annie's List, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Davis in 2008 while McCloud worked as Treasurer. The group even gave a spirited endorsement of the pro-choice Davis, who succeeded in defeating her pro-life opponent.

In fact, so vehemently was the abortion industry behind Davis' campaign that they actually broke the law to support it. The Texas Ethics Commission fined the campaign treasurer for Planned Parenthood of North Texas' political action committee thousands of dollars for not reporting how much they'd spent in support of Davis' campaign among others.

According to the CCHD guidelines:

“CCHD will not fund groups that are members of coalitions which have as part of their organizational purpose or coalition agenda, positions or actions that contradict fundamental Catholic moral and social teaching.”

While McCloud's work for the Davis campaign doesn't directly contradict that guideline, isn't it the least bit contradictory to the intent of the law for the head of the CCHD to publicly work for a pro-choice politician?

CMR believes Ralph McCloud and the CCHD should explain McCloud's actions to Catholics concerned about the sanctity of life. Does the Catholic Campaign for Human Development only care about human development of some while turning it's back on the unborn?

Calls to McCloud and the CCHD were not returned.

Vatican Irish Abuse Coverup?

Many news outlets are reporting that there is a "smoking gun" letter from the "Vatican" that instructed them not to report abuse claims and threatened them with repercussions. At the time of this writing, a Google search shows 528 stories with this same basic theme.



Problem is, its all a lie!

Oh there is a letter, but it does not say what they allege it says and that should be obvious to anyone with a single fair bone in their bodies.

I will not spend any time here explaining why its a lie because I could not possibly do it any better than Jimmy Akin has already done it.

So anyone wondering what is going must read Jimmy's post on this at the Register. It is a must read! Go. Now. What are you still doing here? Go read it here!!

Judge John Roll, Hero

We've reported before that Judge John Roll seemed like a good Catholic family man. Now it seems he died attempting to protect another shooting victim, according to video of the Tuscon shooting viewed by investigators.

The New York Times reports:

The chief investigator for the sheriff’s department here has for the first time publicly described the brief and gory video clip from a store security camera that shows a gunman not only shooting Representative Gabrielle Giffords just above the eyebrow at a range of three feet, but then using his 9-millimeter pistol to gun down others near her at a similarly close range.

The video, according to Richard Kastigar, the investigative and operational bureau chief of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, also reveals that Judge John M. Roll appears to have died while helping to save the life of Ronald Barber, a Giffords employees. Mr. Barber, who was near Ms. Giffords when he was shot twice, has left the hospital.

Mr. Kastigar said Tuesday that the video shows Ms. Giffords standing with her back a few inches from a wall when she was shot by the gunman, who approached in “a hurried fashion” with the gun at his side and then raised it and fired a single bullet above her eye at a range of no more than two or three feet...

Describing the video, Mr. Kastigar said the judge was “intentionally trying to help Mr. Barber,” adding, “It’s very clear to me the judge was thinking of his fellow human more than himself.”

The judge guides Mr. Barber to the ground, shields him with his body, and then tries to push himself and Mr. Barber away from the gunman, who was no more than three to four feet away as he fired, Mr. Kastigar said.

“He pushes Mr. Barber with his right hand and guides him with his left hand. The judge was on top of him and is covering up Mr. Barber, literally lying on top of him, and his back was exposed,” Mr. Kastigar said.

The judge was shot in the back.

True Grit Like You Have Never Heard It

I think the world of Fr. Barron.

His review of True Grit (spoilers included) is a perfect example of what is so great about him. He sees the mystical in the mundane, intended (as in this case) or unintended. He is plain spoken, yet elevates in language and thought. He is brilliant, but his brilliance never serves to promote himself. Rather, his brilliance is in his simplicity. Lofty thoughts in plain language. That is his gift.

Do you see what I see?

True Grit. True Grace.

NAACP Puts George Washington in a Box

Wow. An NAACP celebration honoring Martin Luther King Day put a statue of George Washington in a box. No official word yet on why our Founding Father was boxed but I'm thinking it was because he was offensive and people honoring Martin Luther King needed to spared the horror of seeing a statue of the first President.



This is the kind of thing that really makes me worry for the future of our country.

HT Moonbattery

Your Permanent Record Has Gone PC

Remember how in school teachers would threaten you with some infraction becoming part of your PERMANENT RECORD!!!!! And even back then we thought to ourselves it's all a big fat lie. We knew there was no such thing as a permanent record. Well guess what, we were wrong. Kids in England now have these very strange permanent records which details if they've shown any "racist" or "homophobic" tendencies. And already 30,000 children in the UK have been labeled as such.

And it gets worse.

Weasel Zippers reports:

More than 10,000 primary school pupils in a single year have been labelled racist or homophobic over minor squabbles.

Even toddlers in nursery classes are being penalised for so-called hate crimes such as using the words ‘white trash’ or ‘gaylord’.

Schools are forced to report their language to education authorities, which keep a register of incidents.

This leads to at least 30,000 primary and secondary pupils per year being effectively classed as bigots because of anti-bullying rules.

The school can also keep the pupil’s name and ‘offence’ on file. The record can be passed from primaries to secondaries or when a pupil moves between schools at the request of the new head.

And if schools are asked for a pupil reference by a future employer or a university, the record could be used as the basis for it, meaning the pettiest of incidents has the potential to blight a child for life.

Try to convince me that these records won't be eventually used for channeling certain kids into re-education camps. Come on. Try to tell me. So if parents in the UK were looking for more reasons to homeschool consider this reasons number 3,4985,873,429.

Oh yeah, so far I haven't seen any classification for anti-Christian behavior. I guess they don't think that's worth noting.

Condoms Should Come with Capes

To the progressive mind, there’s nothing condoms can’t do. It’s true. The belief that synthetic rubber birth control has the ability to cure any and all of humanity’s ills is a bedrock belief of the progressive movement.

Ask a progressive how to solve the biggest problems facing the world and within a minute they’ll mention condoms. Guaranteed.

World hunger? Condoms.
AIDS? Condoms.
Global warming? Condoms.
Poverty? Condoms.
The deficit? Condoms.

In fact, have you noticed that the only times progressives even give lip service to attempting to reduce abortions is when they’re pushing free condoms. They always say that the best way to reduce abortion is…MORE CONDOMS!!! Because that’s worked so well in New York City, right?

Well, now it seems that even the problems plaguing our education system could be solved according to New York City’s School Chancellor with…CONDOMS!!!!!

Continue reading at the National Catholic Register>>>

Gotta' See This One

Normally I ignore anything that goes down on MSNBC but Chris Matthews was honored by my alma mater, a Catholic university, so I get especially annoyed at the embarrassing things he does.

Here, Matthews asks former RNC Chair Michael Steele, if Republicans freak out at the sight of black people.

I found it interesting that he says that at Democratic conventions the black people all hang out together in a group but at Republican events they're intermingled in. And that's evidence, according to Matthews, that Republicans are racist. And all I can think is doesn't that actually indicate the exact opposite though?

Anyway, here's Matthews embarrassing himself.

Its On Like Donkey Kong!

Oh, its on like Donkey Kong!

Mess with the bull, you get the horns!! Or something like that.

Jimmy Akin, the ginger-haired sage at the National Catholic Register, has called me to an Aaron Burr / Alexander Hamilton like duel over the issue of Papal sainthood!

I, as stated in my very wise post of this morning, I prefer a wise, thoughtful, and slowly paced canonization process.

Akin, however, clearly prefers the fast-food super-sized McSaint process.

Ok. He doesn't actually prefer the McSaint process. I am just making that up. But he does prefer a middle-moderate way, and we all know that nothing good ever came of that!! Can I hear an amen?

So go read Jimmy's folly here. But know this. One day, in the not so distant future Jimmy will rue the day he disagreed with me in public! Well, maybe rue is a strong word. Perhaps there will be pangs of mild regret. Oh, there will be pangs!

Animal Shoots Hunter

You know all those strange animal deaths happening all around the world. Well now it seems that it's affecting people too - hunters especially.

It's time to stop acting all nicey nice with animals now that they're fighting back.

A wounded fox shot its would be killer in Belarus by pulling the trigger on the hunter's gun as the pair scuffled after the man tried to finish the animal off with the butt of the rifle, media said Thursday.

The unnamed hunter, who had approached the fox after wounding it from a distance, was in hospital with a leg wound, while the fox made its escape, media said, citing prosecutors from the Grodno region.

"The animal fiercely resisted and in the struggle accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw," one prosecutor was quoted as saying.

Accidentally? How do we know?

I'm not so sure. And who taught the fox. Because whoever's teaching the animals they're the real enemy.

If hunters start disappearing or falling down dead I'm coming after the foxes. Big time. And after I'm done with them they'll tell me who's teaching them. Oh, they'll tell me. Remember, there's no Geneva conventions for animals.

Santo Not So Subito!

The cries echoes up from the piazza, Santo Subito! Santo Subito! Sainthood Now!

I can guarantee one thing, no one will ever hear that phrase pass my lips.

I like mail, doctor's appointments, and State of the Union address to expeditious. But not my saints.

Saints should be like a fine wine made at some remote monastery, made with one part fruit, one part yeast, five parts prayer, and fifty parts of time.

Now, if you have ever made wine, you know that there is always a temptation to open a bottle before its time but experience teaches you not to do it. You must wait.

Look at it another way. How often does popular acclaim ever ...

Continue Reading @ National Catholic Register>>>>

Gervais Thanks God for Being Atheist

There are atheists in foxholes. Ricky Gervais proved it last night.

I know that many believe that when someone is in mortal danger they often find God out of desperation. But last night while Ricky Gervais' career as a television host may have been dying a very public and nasty death, the former humorist signed off last night's nationally televised awards show by saying, "Thank you to God for making me an atheist."

Gervais wasn't really funny throughout the entire evening. He was just rude.

So rude that it even seems to have ticked off Tom Hanks. I mean seriously, how do you tick off Tom Hanks?

And if you needed more evidence even Robert Downey Jr. thought he went too far. Seriously, do you know what you have to do to have Robert Downey Jr. say you went too far?

Gervais started with some low hanging fruit with some well worn jokes about Charlie Sheen and porn stars and alcoholism, an anti-semitic joke about Mel Gibson, a gay joke about Tom Cruise, and a rehab joke about Robert Downey Jr. And it went downhill from there.

And then to sign off thanking God for making him an atheist? What? I guess it's supposed to be clever but it's just kinda' dumb isn't it? And the other thing is that the joke may have had some relevance if many of the award winners had actually thanked God but I don't recall that any did.

Maybe if Gervais had hosted the Country Music Awards where God gets mentioned in the songs, by the presenters, by the winners, and I think even the ushers give a short testimony when seating you. So there the comment may have had some relevance. But nobody as far as I can remember mentioned God at the Golden Globes so his joke was a complete non sequitur and didn't really fit.

Yeah, so it was about as awkward as the rest of his performance.

Worst Movie Of 2011

Ok. I realize that it is only January 17th, but I am officially declaring this the worst movie of 2011.

When "from the director of MY BLOODY VALENTINE" is used as a selling point, you know its gonna be bad.

The description says it all.

In the newest 3D action-adventure from the director of MY BLOODY VALENTINE, DRIVE ANGRY 3D stars Nicolas Cage as Milton, a hardened felon who has broken out of hell for one last chance at redemption. Intent on stopping a vicious cult who murdered his daughter, he has three days to stop them before they sacrifice her baby beneath a full moon.

He's joined by Piper (Amber Heard) -- a young, sexy waitress who liberates her ex-boyfriend's cherry-red muscle car in order to help Milton. Now, the two of them are hot on the trail of the deadly leader of the cult, Jonah King (Billy Burke), who believes it is his destiny to use the baby to unleash hell on earth.

But the bloodthirsty cult is the least of Milton's problems. The police are after him too. And worse, an enigmatic killer known only as "The Accountant" -- who has been sent by the Devil to retrieve Milton and deliver him back to hell. With wicked cunning and hypnotic savagery, the Accountant will relentlessly pursue Milton at high speed across the country until his mission is accomplished....

Behold, "Drive Angry 3D"



Nic Cage, what are you thinking??

Islamists Torch Pope in Effigy. Again.

The Islamists yesterday were so upset that Pope Benedict XVI had the gall to criticize them for killing Christians that they burned the Pope in effigy, according to Weasel Zippers. At least we think it was the Pope. That's what they're saying but looking at some recent pics of some good ol' fashioned effigy burning and you'll see it's difficult to tell.





OK. This has got to stop. Somebody in the Muslim world needs to step up and procure some skillz at effigy making.

And now that Bush is gone let's face it, they only have one guy to burn in effigy and that's Pope Benedict. So why can't they make a flammable likeness of Pope Benedict? I mean, is it that hard? Do they not have paper mache in the third world?

The Middle East sends their young over to America to go to school to learn how to build bombs, why can't they send one stinkin' guy to take some art classes and learn how to build a model Pope? It shouldn't be that hard.

Something tells me that if they don't improve in their effigy making it won't be for lack of burning the Pope's likeness. Because sometimes it seems that he's the only one willing to speak the truth and they know it.

What We're They Thinking?: "A Liturgy On Ecology" from the 1970s

From the "What Were They Thinking?" file comes this snippet of a recommended "Liturgy On Ecology" from the book How Green is Green? by Rev. Etienne LeBlanc and Sr. Mary Rose Talbot (Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN, 1973). The subtitle is "38 Eucharistic Liturgies for Today's Youth." As with so many of these books, it is filled with things that make a reader fill with incredulous wonder at what was happening in the 1970s.

The next time you wonder if your pastor is reading the General Instruction on the Roman Missal carefully enough, just think of what you could be having.


________________

A Liturgy on Ecology, pp. 98-99

In the center aisle a trash barrel is provided, and each child as he enters the church should deposit his trash in the barrel. Children should be given time before the celebration to collect trash... The celebrant stops at the trash barrel for the rite.

Penitential Rite: Exorcisms of Pollutions

Exorcism of Earth Pollution

"Depart, deadly spirit of pollution, from our earth. May we recognize you for what you are, an ever growing threat to all life forms, to all that is created.

"You litter our landscape in various forms: paper, glass, metals, and plastics. With beer cans and car hulks, paper bags and non-returnables, with billboards and refuse dumps you cover our streets and highways. Beyond our vision you lurk in pesticides and poisons rained in our soil..."

ALL: "OUT DEMONS OUT!" (child places his collage near or against the trash barrel)

...

Exorcism of Water Pollution

"Depart, deadly spirit of pollution, from our waters... You take the forms of phosphates and various industrial wastes. You come from our kitchen sinks and from the giant factories and municipal sewage plants. The heat of nuclear reactors on our waters makes them sources of death for the flowers and fish of the sea. You do all this in the name of progress.

ALL: "OUT DEMONS OUT!" (child places his collage near or against the trash barrel)

__________

And lastly, on page 101, a suggestion is given for the possible quotes on the banner:

"Did you know that the word 'American' ends in I Can?"

What The? Memorial Shaman Is Catholic?

I thought the inclusion of a native American Shaman to offer the opening prayer at the Tuscon Obama rally was strange and unnecessary.


I didn't know the half of it...

He is a Catholic.

(CNSNews.com) - Wednesday night’s memorial service for the shooting victims in Tucson did not open with a prayer from a Jewish rabbi, a Protestant minister or a Catholic priest--it began with a Native American “blessing” that left many puzzled about what it meant and why it was performed.

The prayer, which did not use the word "God" and did not make the traditional request for God’s comfort for the bereaved that many might have expected, did mention the Creator and called for "honoring" the Seven Directions, including “Father Sky” and "Mother Earth”--and remembering our "fellow creatures" who "crawl on the earth” and “slither on the earth.”

The blessing was presented by Dr. Carlos Gonzales, an associate professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.
...
“It’s basically a way of acknowledging God’s Creation, and it’s a way of acknowledging by honoring those cardinal directions and what they have to say to us,” he added. “For example, the east is where the sun comes up in the morning, and as the sun comes up, it lights the path of the world, therefore the East is seen as having the power to guide us and to give us vision and to help us through as we walk on this earth.”

It would be a mistake, however, to call the Native American beliefs he was expressing a religion, Gonzales said.

“It’s not truly a religion, it’s more of a way of appreciating spirituality,” Gonzales told CNSNews.com. “I’m Yaqui and Yaquis have been Roman Catholics since 1650. We were one of the first tribes in Mexico to actually peacefully absorb Catholicism; however we have always practiced Catholicism in our own unique manner, incorporating traditional beliefs, and so I grew up as a Roman Catholic with a Yaqui variation.”

“In reality, I’m Catholic, but the spirituality I’ve come across with traditional healers is one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen, and it’s a way of approaching people and it’s an additional way of healing that has actually helped me to be a better family doc.”

First Obama gave us fake doctors, now he gives us a real doctor but a fake Shaman.

I don't know what to think of all this other than its is incredibly stupid. But I suppose that anything is better, in the eyes of the White House, other than a direct acknowledgment of God.

Ht to Zippers