Okay, somebody tell me what the hell he's trying to do in this photo!
The damndest thing is that other than some puddles which may have been left from a recent shower it doesn't even look like it's raining!
And how did Joseph's Coat of Many Colors get made into a dress? Wonder where she keeps the batteries? On second thought, I don't want to know.
This has been the first week of school for my two oldest, both of them autistic and therefore considered special needs kids. This classification enables us to have them placed on a bus for the ride to and from school. We only live two blocks away from the elementary school but it's two blocks of a busy street with no sidewalks. I'd also have to take my three year old daughter with me if I walked the boys to school. Since the wife normally doesn't get home until 8:30 in the morning and we're a single car family, walking WOULD be the option. An unsafe option at that, if you don't believe me then try walking down a street with two hyperactive kids that only listen to adults if they choose. Welcome to autism.
Anyway, the availability of the school bus has been appreciated.
But this past week has been interesting. They've been picked up anywhere from 7:15 to 7:55. They've arrived home anywhere from 2:45 to 4:15. We're now seeing a new bus driver and aide too. They're clueless as to how this will eventually work out, today I was told to "just be ready" come Monday. DUH!
I called the school to at least verify when the children are released from school, until today I'd thought it was 3:00 (iaw the student handbook we received). The school office shifted me to Transportation.
Things went downhill from there.
The woman I spoke to was adamant their bus didn't drop my kids off at 2:45 because "...the buses don't leave our yard until 2:45 sir, you must mean 3:45" My comment that she and I were talking at 3:25 and a yellow school bus with the school district name on it had already dropped them off was met by backpedaling that "I really don't know what time special needs children are picked up." Geez Louise, if that's true and since I'd initially identified my kids as being in that group, why are you wasting time trying to convince me I'm wrong and should meekly be quiet.
So then the conversation swirled round and round the drain of common sense. I was told to "be patient" as they had problems during the first few weeks of school, that I "had to understand" the Transportation office was responsible for all the kids and not just mine. Yada, yada, yada.
All I wanted to know was what time they'd be picked up at school. End of story. I didn't realize it would entail convincing someone I could tell time properly and having to hear them speak as if I were six years old wanting some impossible toy.
After hearing for the third time I needed to calm down, leave my name and phone number so someone could contact me in the morning I screamed out two words (not Merry Christmas) and hung up.
Nope, not effective at getting an answer to my question. I let myself become part of the problem instead of the solution. Guilty as charged.
But boy it felt good.
The wife has the email addresses of the two teachers for our boys. I'll have her send off a letter asking when they're released. That way I won't be waiting from noon until 6:00 in the evening for them to get home.
I know I should probably apologize to the idiot I spoke with.
Noted.
Thanks for listening.
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- More than 176 abstinence education programs will lose funding for their outreaches to youth and young adults on September 30 because Congress and the Obama Administration canceled all grants going to abstinence-centered programming in their FY2010 budget.
The funding cuts will come even though the Obama administration was forced to reveal the results of a new study on Monday showing the effectiveness of abstinence education programs and the support parents have for them.
“We are greatly concerned that the sex education policy being implemented by this administration does not reflect the values of what most parents and teens clearly want," Valerie Huber, Executive Director of the National Abstinence Education Association told LifeNews.com today.
Huber explained that some programs will lose their funding midstream in their five-year grant award.
"This means that nearly two million students will return to school without the skill-building lessons they have come to expect in their abstinence education classes," she said.
"Teen-sex advocacy groups have pushed for an end to abstinence education funding, despite the fact that a recent HHS study showed most teens and their parents support the core message of the program," Huber continued.
The study, The National Survey of Adolescents and Their Parents, was posted Monday to the HHS website after significant grassroots pressure. It calls into question whether recent sex education policy decisions truly reflect cultural norms or clear evidence-based trends.
According to the findings, about 70% of parents agreed that it is “against [their] values for [their] adolescents to have sexual intercourse before marriage” and that “having sexual intercourse is something only married people should do.” Adolescents gave similar responses.
Larry McAdoo, executive director of STARS, an abstinence program in Mississippi that will lose funding, also complained about the impending cuts.
“Our state has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation. I do not understand why our services to needy teens would be cut short. Mississippi’s teens need more resources, not less," he said.
"Our abstinence program equips youth with the skills necessary to make healthy choices. Soon, however, Mississippi’s youth will be left without any resources to counter the sexual messages with which they are continually bombarded," McAdoo added.
Looking further at the study, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of HHS, funded a survey of 1,000 adolescents 12-18 years-old in order to measure parent-adolescent communication and adolescent attitudes toward sex and abstinence.
The study found parents strongly support the concept that sexual relations are best saved for a marital relationship and parents' attitudes are more important in influencing adolescent views than the level of parent communication with their adolescent.
The American Public Health Association (APHA) highlighted the results on its web site: “Adjusting for all other factors in the model, parent and peer factors are more consistently associated with differences in adolescent attitudes about sex and abstinence than are measures of adolescent exposure to sex and abstinence topics in a class or program."
However, during an APHA conference, researcher Lisa Rue, Ph.D., who specializes in adolescent behavior, was intrigued by the study and requested the full report. She was denied access and the Obama administration denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for it.
The National Abstinence Education Association responded by encouraging interested persons to submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the public release of a study.
"Hundreds submitted the request for openness regarding the study. As a result, HHS posted the entire study report on Monday," Huber of NAEA said.
Huber concluded in her comments: "It is important that the representative government reflects the desires of its constituents. This study's findings call for a reinstatement of
funding for abstinence education within the next fiscal budget."
...I have my days just like everyone else. But the thought of our government's likelihood of utilizing events for partisan benefit just stays with me lately. That and how we should be actively working AT ALL TIMES to keep what we have in the way of freedoms.
Here's the article that sent me running for the Reynolds Wrap. Found it (the article) via Lucianne.com on http://www.news.com.au/ ;
AFTER 10 years of comparative slumber, the sun is waking up - and it's got astronomers on full alert.
This week several US media outlets reported that NASA was warning the massive flare that caused spectacular light shows on Earth earlier this month was just a precursor to a massive solar storm building that had the potential to wipe out the entire planet's power grid.
NASA has since rebutted those reports, saying it could come "100 years away or just 100 days", but an Australian astronomer says the space community is betting on the sooner scenario rather than the latter.
Despite its rebuttal, NASA's been watching out for this storm since 2006 and reports from the US this week claim the storms could hit on that most Hollywood of disaster dates - 2012.
Similar storms back in 1859 and 1921 caused worldwide chaos, wiping out telegraph wires on a massive scale.
The 2012 storm has the potential to be even more disruptive.
"The general consensus among general astronomers (and certainly solar astronomers) is that this coming Solar maximum (2012 but possibly later into 2013) will be the most violent in 100 years," astronomy lecturer and columnist Dave Reneke said.
"A bold statement and one taken seriously by those it will affect most, namely airline companies, communications companies and anyone working with modern GPS systems.
"They can even trip circuit breakers and knock out orbiting satellites, as has already been done this year."
Regardless, the point astronomers are making is it doesn't matter if the next Solar Max isn't the worst in history, or even as bad as the 1859 storms.
It's the fact that there hasn't been one since the mid-80s. Commodore had just launched the Amiga and the only digital storm making the news was Tetris.
No one really knows what effect the 2012-2013 Solar Max will have on today's digital-reliant society.
Dr Richard Fisher, director of NASA’s Heliophysics division, told Mr Reneke the super storm would hit like "a bolt of lightning”, causing catastrophic consequences for the world’s health, emergency services and national security unless precautions are taken.
US government officials earlier this year took part in a "tabletop exercise" in Boulder, Colorado, to map out what might happen if the Earth was hit with a storm as intense as the 1859 and 1921 storms.
The 1859 storm was of a similar size to that predicted by NASA to hit within the next three years – one of decreased activity, but more powerful eruptions.
NASA said that a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a similar storm occurred today, it could cause “$1 to 2 trillion in damages to society's high-tech infrastructure and require four to 10 years for complete recovery”.
Staff at the Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado, which hosted the exercise, said with our reliance on satellite technology, such an event could hit the Earth with the magnitude of a global hurricane or earthquake.
The reason for the concern comes as the sun enters a phase known as Solar Cycle 24.
All the alarming news building around the event is being fuelled by two things.
The first is a book by disaster expert Lawrence E. Joseph, Guilty of Apocalypse: The Case Against 2012, in which he claims the "Hurricane Katrina for the Earth" may cause unprecedented planetwide upheaval.
The second is a theory that claims sunspots travel through the sun on a "conveyor belt" similar to the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt which controls weather on Earth.
The belt carries magnetic fields through the sun. When they hit the surface, they explode as sunspots.
Weakened, they then travel back through the sun's core to recharge.
It all happens on a rough 40-50-year cycle, according to solar physicist David Hathaway of the National Space Science and Technology Center in the US.
He says when the belt speeds up, lots of magnetic fields are collected, which points to more intense future activity.
"The belt was turning fast in 1986-1996," Prof Hathaway said.
"Old magnetic fields swept up then should reappear as big sunspots in 2010-2011."
Most experts agree, although those who put the date of Solar Max in 2012 are getting the most press.
They claim satellites will be aged by 50 years, rendering GPS even more useless than ever, and the blast will have the equivalent energy of 100 million hydrogen bombs.
“We know it is coming but we don’t know how bad it is going to be,” Dr Fisher told Mr Reneke in the most recent issue of Australasian Science.
“Systems will just not work. The flares change the magnetic field on the Earth and it’s rapid, just like a lightning bolt.
"That’s the solar effect.”
IMO this is how the anti-gun folk work around the recent Supreme Court rulings supporting the 2nd Amendment. Ostensibly it's from wildlife conservation organizations, but I'd bet a dollar to a donut their fellow travelers in other groups (Million Mom March, NOW, etc.) all have a hand in this one.
How did we get here? It's absurd. Imagine the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor being followed up by the sitting President claiming it was perpetrated by a unrepresentative portion of the Japanese people, because "we all know Bushido as practiced over there is about peace".
Following on with that, imagine an outpouring of sympathy for all Japanese as victims of imperial colonialism, an admiration for their past cultural achievements (even if those achievements had to be dreamed up), and an ongoing concern that the Japanese in this country not be "profiled".
Just how stupid would that have been? Chances are we'd see a Shinto temple near where the Arizona Memorial currently resides had that stupidity existed then.
IMO when 9/11/01 happened while Muslims danced in the streets after the perpetrators were found to be their fellow cult followers, all the stops should have been pulled out to wipe anyone associated with that "religion" off the face of the earth.
Yet here we are, almost nine years after 9/11/01. Look at what goes on.
The cult of Islam has gone from a item of curiosity to something factored into all discussions regarding religion in this country. This happens despite the fact that followers of the Pedophile Prophet make up less than 2% of the national population. That 2% figure is generous, many cite the actual amount as less than 1%.
The President and his immediate predecessor seemed to do whatever possible to downplay any connection between mainstream Islam and terrorist acts. I didn't know a lot about Islam before 9/11, but I've learned a fair amount since then.
I've learned how the Pedophile Prophet played everything for his personal gain. If his followers were limited to four wives, he get an exemption straight from Allah. If it worked to his advantage to suck up to infidels, he was all for peace. If it helped him to cut infidel throats then sharpen the knives baby, papa is going to work.
I've learned that every claim of Muslim tolerance was either an aberration or pure bullshit. I've learned that every country embracing this cult promptly became more backwards. I've learned that until oil was discovered under the sands these fools live on, the followers of Islam didn't have a thing going for them.
I've learned that the real problem isn't the Muslims, its the fools that enable them. If you don't think Muslims are stupid, consider how often they'll blow themselves up making a bomb. When the IRA was actively involved in terrorism we didn't hear near the stories of that sort coming out of Ireland. The same goes for the Basques in Spain, the Shining Path in Peru, etc. So left to their own devices the majority of Muslims are their own worst enemy.
That even includes the fools who perpetrated 9/11. We've never really heard just HOW they got those box cutters past security. Did the right palm get greased? Had airport security just gone to shit over the years? Either way, it involves malfeasance on the part of someone besides the 19 scum who brought the planes down.
Like I said, it's the enabling fools that we have to worry about. And it's about those fools I'll focus on now.
Yesterday I heard a pundit on EWTN radio speaking on how lack of anger might be sinful.
The contention was that a lack of anger when evil is perpetuated is likely to lead to an apathetic response to that evil.
IMO that's what we see now and it predates 9/11/01. Our cultural emphasis has been to "go along to get along". For that reason a lot of traditional values have been jettisoned. Those values would include patriotism, a sense of honor, seeing the world's problems in terms of right or wrong with no varying shades of gray, and the abhorrence of immoral acts and ways of living. When these items leave the population at large, we get general apathy, relativistic thinking, a lack of shame. We get where we're at now.
This is evidenced by (going back to the examples of 9/11) the near silence of outrage over both the Flight 93 Memorial and the mosque being built near Ground Zero. That last IS getting a whale of a lot more attention. But that attention would've been considerably less without the alternative media.
The only thing that makes remote sense is that we've been lulled to sleep by the progressives in our schools, media, political circles and entertainment industry. These dingbats, who all have the view that no one will perpetuate evil upon another if enough empathy is shown, have sung a siren's song while the ship of our nation has crashed onto the suicidal reefs of passivity.
We didn't get here overnight, we won't get out of it quickly. I wonder if we'll have the time needed.
To broaden the scope a bit, the same suicidal mindset applies to the illegal alien problem. Just why the hell aren't we up in arms over having 12 million or more people in this land illegally, siphoning off our resources in health care, economic aid to the poor, public education. This is done while at the same time filling our prisons with a disproportionate amount of felons, making entry level jobs harder to obtain for poor minorities native to this land, fueling our illegal drug culture. Yet we just read the news, shake our heads in disgust and turn the page.
We're asleep. We're lulled by the lullaby of hearing how they "do the jobs Americans won't", how the vast majority just want to improve their lot in life. That the income placed into Social Security by illegal aliens out weighs that which is spent on their welfare or incarceration. That song has been sung for generations now, and it goes on.
That mindset doesn't stop there either. Look at the acceptance of "alternative lifestyles". I'm not just talking about homosexuals but let's start there and work on.
For beginners, homosexuality is an aberration. Period. End of story. Show me a gay man or woman and I'll bet dollars to donuts they've other problems such as substance addiction, childhood sexual abuse, a highly dysfunctional family of origin, etc.
Yet we just go along to get along. Now it's gotten to the point that Limbaugh, Coulter, Beck, and other conservative talking heads will espouse the "personally opposed but if you're gay I think it's okay" line. Noted.
If it's just an "alternative lifestyle" tell me why the HIV virus has been spread primarily due to sexual acts popular with the homosexual community? That includes those cases brought on by dirty needles and heterosexual sex. Trace the virus back far enough and you'll find an addict who got their fudge packed, perhaps a seemingly heterosexual man or woman who secretly swings from both sides of the plate.
But we stay mum so as not to appear "judgemental". Now it's to the point that anyone saying active homosexuality is in itself an immoral, dysfunctional behavior that should be curbed will get you labeled a bigot. Look out for those pitchforks and torches when the "B" word gets thrown at you, your lack of tolerance will not be tolerated in this tolerant society.
There are other areas too where this poisonous mindset attacks us all. Think of how sexual promiscuity has become so accepted that for a woman to "wait until marriage" is considered note worthy.
The mindset I've been talking about is in our churches, schools, families, everywhere.
For a local example of how it thrives in our churches look here; http://veneremurcernui.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/an-update-on-the-st-elizabeth-seton-gay-outreach-ministry/
For what might be happening in our schools; http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bad_faith_in_regents_exam_IHsTi7lMbqhfdMDrnF3xYL
As far as families, are my in-laws the only ones where openly gay aunts, uncles and cousins are never brought to account for their "lifestyles"?
So, how the hell do we get out of this damned mess? How do we start learning to really give a damn about the things that are important, learn to speak up no matter how unpopular it might make us?
I wish to hell I knew. I pray a lot, that's pretty odd for a submarine auxilaryman but I do it. I try to voice my thoughts at times, both on this blog and in the local fishwrap. I send off letters at times when I hope it'll do some good.
But I don't know. Maybe it's all just like taking a piss while wearing a dark suit, you'll feel good but no one will ever notice.
...especially those of us who were stationed in Groton, CT. Because you're the only ones who will "get" the commentary at the end.
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) - A pig wrestling competition at a county fair in northern Montana has been canceled after the porkers eluded fair officials trying to round them up for the event.
Fair office manager Shirley Embleton says the wild pigs spend the year on a 10-mile free-range property along the Marias River and about 30 are captured the Friday of the scheduled event.
But this year, fair officials were only able to locate one boar, despite flying the river. The event was postponed until Saturday, but neither the landowner nor fair officials could locate the absent pigs.
Embleton says next year, organizers will devise a new plan to locate and capture the animals earlier in the week.
They could always go to the DelMar Cafe on Rte. 12 in Groton if they're running short of porkers.
Sorry for anyone who doesn't understand the joke. But I couldn't pass the chance up. It's a crude and tasteless reference to a local watering hole frequented by large barhogs. How large might you wonder? Minimum size ass allowed into the establishment would be about three axe handles wide.
One of those "had to be there to understand it" type posts.
It's about that stinking mosque in NYC. Now a fair amount of hardhat workers in the Big Apple are saying "no way, no how" will they be involved in the building of it. Makes sense. I recall the hardhat demonstrations back in the late '60's regarding the Viet Nam War, you didn't see too many hippies there. There's just something about bluecollar workers and patriotism, they go hand in hand.
If the feeling really takes off, the followers of the Pedophile Prophet will have to import their workers. Fat chance of THAT one! Can you say "scab"?
In the meantime, an exchange between Cookie and Sig94 regarding ballons filled with pig's blood, bacon bazookas and hamhock cannons got me thinking about spudguns. I'll bet you could fire a fair amount of shredded ham with one of those babies. The use of shredded ham would guarantee maximum dispersal.
For anyone not familiar with spud guns, there's this; http://hubpages.com/hub/Spud-Gun and this: http://www.spudtech.com/content.asp?id=5 and lets not forget some videos: http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?p=how+to+build+a+spud+gun
Lord, I love the internet! What a treasure trove of knowledge!
Now, where can we find some ham grenades?
Found via Drudge at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/;
The Obama family will begin their sixth holiday of the year today, an 11-day sojourn in Martha’s Vineyard, the island destination of the wealthy and well-connected American elite.
President Barack Obama will be accompanied by his wife Michelle and daughters Malia, 12, and Sasha, nine, and are expected to stay at the historic Blue Heron Farm in Chilmark.
Bill Burton, the deputy White House press secretary, said that the US president was “going to spend a little time recharging his batteries” at the Massachusetts island ahead of the November midterm elections.
“There will be some hiking, some time at the beach, some time at the ice cream store - all the sort of things you do when you’re at Martha’s Vineyard. You enjoy the people and the good food.”
He is also expected to work on his swing at Mink Meadows golf club in Vineyard Haven and to work out every day, as he did when the First Family visited Martha’s Vineyard last year.
The tally of vacation days for an American president has become a contentious issue in recent years. President Bill Clinton conducted a poll about where best to holiday. President George W. Bush spent a total of 879 days on holiday in his eight years in office, according to Mark Knoller of CBS, the unofficial statistician of the presidency.
Mr Bush was usually working at his Prairie Chapel ranch in Texas, which was named the “Western White House” during his long summers there when he was accompanied by dozens of staff.
Mr Obama’s holidays have been particularly scrutinised in the last year, as he has come under fire for his handling of the US economy as well as the Louisiana oil spill. A poll released this week found that only four in 10 approve of his handling of the economy.
He was questioned last year for choosing to stay on the elitist Martha’s Vineyard during a severe recession, while in July he was criticised for taking his family to Maine rather than visit the Gulf of Mexico coast line. He subsequently took his family to Florida last weekend.
Although he appears to take more holidays than his predecessors, they have usually been very short. His five this year will total just 20 days - he did not accompany his wife and youngest daughter to Marbella, Spain. As well as Florida, Maine, and an 11-day stay in Hawaii over Christmas and New Year, he and his wife spent two days in Asheville, North Carolina in April.
His holidays also tend to be interrupted by major events. During the President’s first holiday of the year in his native Hawaii he spent much of his time grappling with the fallout from the failed terrorist attack by the Christmas Day “underpants bomber”. His last break in Martha’s Vineyard was interrupted by the death of Senator Edward Kennedy.
This guy takes more breaks than an orthopedic ward. The good news is that when he's on (yet another) vacation he can't pursue his "destroy America first" agenda.
To hear the video, turn off the playlist at the top.
Ya know what stinks? I remember when that song first came out back in '62.
Found via Lucianne.com at www.chron.com
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas spent at least $250 million in the past year for medical care and imprisonment of illegal immigrants and other non-citizens.
The House State Affairs Committee heard testimony in Austin. Lawmakers who convene in January could face a projected $18 billion budget shortfall.
Jerry McGinty, with the Texas Department of Corrections, says prisons last month had 11,766 inmates who are foreign citizens and housing them costs $171 million annually. The federal government reimburses 10 percent.
Rick Allgeyer, with the Health and Human Services Commission, said Wednesday that health care to illegal immigrants cost Texas nearly $100 million.
Rep. Pete Gallego of Alpine says there could be significant effects if public agencies were asked to reallocate resources to check citizenship.
Tell me again how anyone benefits from this?
...on that piece of shit "mega mosque" in NYC.
Seems Antsy Nancy is now calling for an investigation into the resistance to the thing; http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2010/aug/17/audio-rep-pelosi-calls-investigation-wtc-mosque-op/
Hmmm. Wasn't it just a few years back we kept hearing how dissent was as American as apple pie? That was cited especially about the Iraq War.
Seems our ruling class doesn't like it when John & Joan Q. Public set up on their hind legs and start barking. Well the political elite have already cast a bunch of us as potential right-wing extremists (hello Janet Napolitano). Wonder if my cell will have a window anywhere near by, not that a retired sub sailor would need one of those! But I appreciate a room with a view.
On a related note, a new gun shop opened up near us recently. I stopped by there today, it's like a 2nd Amendment version of Toys R' Us! What a neat place. Packed with customers too!
I've a feeling they'll get a lot of business for the next several years.
Any questions?Catholic Network Starts New Anti-Death Penalty Campaign, What About Abortion?
by Deal Hudson for LifeNews.com
August 13, 2010
LifeNews.com Note: Deal W. Hudson is the director of InsideCatholic.com and the president of Catholic Advocate, a pro-life group. He is the author of Onward, Christian Soldiers: The Growing Political Power of Catholics and Evangelicals in the United States.
On January 29, the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Death Penalty (CMN) was launched. According to its executive director, Karen Clifton, the CMN was created "with the encouragement of the USCCB."
The support of the bishops' conference is substantial. The Coordinating Committee includes both Kathy Saile, the director of the Office of Domestic Concerns, and John Carr, the executive director of the Department of Justice, Peace & Human Development. The organization's Web site carries the logo of the USCCB and contains welcome videos from Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of Baltimore and Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin.
As most Catholics know, Church teaching on the death penalty developed under the leadership of Pope John Paul II. His encyclical Evangelium Vitae did not rule out use of the death penalty altogether, as some people think, but stated it should be used only "in cases of absolute necessity," adding "such cases are rare, if practically non-existent" (56). For John Paul, the dignity of the human person demanded that Catholics look for "bloodless means" to protect the common good from the threat of those who are guilty of taking innocent human life.
Thus, there's no avoiding the fact that political arguments about the death penalty are going to play a role in the pro-life debate. Clifton makes this point in her article written for the Catholic Conference for Kentucky:
To have a consistent ethic of life, we need to deliberate and come to understand that all life is precious to God, even those guilty of heinous crimes. As Catholics we are called to be consistently Pro-Life.
The "seamless garment" argument used by Clifton, of course, raises questions about what those connected with the Catholic Mobilizing Network will be saying about the pro-life position of politicians. As everyone knows too well, this version of Catholic social teaching has been used for more than four decades to provide cover for Catholic politicians who do not oppose abortion.
Clifton herself does not seem disposed to raise the bar very high when it comes to describing a politician as pro-life. Her name can be found on a petition on the Catholic Democrats' Web site endorsing then-candidate Sen. Barack Obama as "pro-life."
The statement signed at the time by Clifton says the following:
Looking through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching, Senator Obama has spent his entire career striving for the common good. He supports health care programs that will cover all Americans, a living wage for working families, and solutions that allow distressed families to stay in their homes. And rather than trying to overturn Roe v. Wade, an ineffective strategy for 40 years, Senator Obama will reduce abortions. How? By promoting health care for pregnant women and better infant care, day care and job training. In fact, data has shown that social and education programs actually reduce abortions.
Clifton was quoted on the NETWORK Web site saying she got the idea for the CMN at a conference sponsored by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. (See my article on the conference, "The Catholic Left Meets in Philadelphia.") Catholics in Alliance predictably supported Obama, having received start-up money from a foundation funded by the pro-abortion, anti-Catholic George Soros.
Clifton reports on NETWORK that CMN has "created one hour workshops for parishes . . . and is finishing up a 6 week course on the Sanctity of Life." I sent Clifton an e-mail asking if she still considered Obama pro-life, but had not heard back from her by press time.
The stated purpose of Clifton's organization is to "end the death penalty" by educating "the lay community through our courses on the Church's teachings on the death penalty" and facilitating "respectful and informed discourse within the Catholic community and the community at large."
These are all admirable goals, but the obvious caveat is how the effort of CMN will result in applying the pro-life label to politicians who support abortion but oppose the death penalty. Conversely, will CMN staff argue that members of Congress with a 100 percent pro-life voting record are not really pro-life if they do not want to end the death penalty?
This kind of misapplied moral equivalency was the hallmark of the Catholic effort for Obama during the campaign. It's implicit in the statement endorsing Obama signed by Clifton herself.
Most of the pseudo-equivalency arguments about a candidate's pro-life credentials during the 2008 campaign were based upon their support for the Iraq War. With Obama's escalation of the war in Afghanistan, this kind of argument will no longer work. Let's hope the work of CMN is not used to supply the missing leverage to bolster the pro-life credentials of abortion supporters or diminish those who oppose it.
Any arguments about the sanctity of life, after all, make no sense if they don't arise from the obligation of protecting the not-yet-born.
Full disclosure time, my only sibling was murdered twenty-six years ago.
Now that THAT item is out of the way, I'll say that this is a bunch of horseshit that attempts to place opposition to the death penalty on the same level as opposition to abortion. The USCCB has their heads up their collective ass as they try scoring points with the liberal left of this country.
In no manner, way, shape or form can a convicted killer on death row be entitled to the same compassion as an unborn babe. That killer was placed where he is after a trial, lengthy appeal process and several reviews of his case. There is always the chance he might be innocent of the crime he stands convicted of, but that chance is so slim as to be almost nonexistent.
Yet this will drive a wedge into the prolife movement. You'll see true believers ostracizing anyone who dares suggest that the death penalty has a place in our judicial system. Stand by for the bleeding hearts to go into overdrive.
In the meantime the focus on the plight of the unborn will lessen, we'll see the "seamless garment" theory resurrected and brought to bear on any discussion possible. The prolife movement will be like a dog chasing it's own tail.
The USCCB is chock full of useful idiots, useful to the followers of Moloch.
For the record, I most certainly do support the death penalty EXCEPT for the bastards responsible for my brother's death. Since I believe in "death bed conversions & redemptions" I wouldn't want to bring an end to their time on this Earth. Nope, if they were ever caught I'd want life without parole for them somewhere near to where I live. Near enough so that three or four times a year I could drop in for a visit.
I'd show them pictures of my family and myself, comment on the newest entertainment craze, gripe about the cost of the prime rib I'd had prior to my visit. Just a conversation to bring them up to date on how the outside world is doing.
Then I'd finish up with asking how they like being "inside"?
No, I don't want the death penalty for those bastards. That would be too easy IMO.
And I certainly don't think the prolife movement should get involved with taking on the issue of the death penalty. It's a big mistake, period.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Friday forcefully endorsed building a mosque near ground zero, saying the country's founding principles demanded no less.
"As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country," Obama said, weighing in for the first time on a controversy that has riven New York and the nation.
"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said. "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."
Obama made the comments at an annual dinner in the White House State Dining Room celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
The White House had not previously taken a stand on the mosque, which would be part of a $100 million Islamic center to be built in lower Manhattan two blocks from where nearly 3,000 people perished when hijacked jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001. Press secretary Robert Gibbs had insisted it was a local matter.
It was already much more than that, sparking debate around the country as top Republicans including Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich announced their opposition.
Obama elevated it to a presidential issue Friday without equivocation.
While insisting that the place where the twin towers once stood was indeed "hallowed ground," Obama said that the proper way to honor it was to apply American values.
"Our capacity to show not merely tolerance, but respect to those who are different from us—a way of life that stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of those who attacked us on that September morning, and who continue to plot against us today," he said.
This is on the same level as advocating for the Japanese to build a Shinto temple across the street from the Arizona Memorial.
We have a traitor in the Oval Office.
Found this at http://wcfcourier.com/ via Pewsitter.com:
MADISON, Wis. --- A Wisconsin state law is forcing the Madison (Wis.) Catholic Diocese this month to begin offering its employees insurance coverage for birth control.
However, a diocesan spokesman said employees will be warned against using the benefit and that open defiance of Catholic teaching on the issue could ultimately lead to termination.
St. Mary's Hospital in Madison has notified employees that it, too, soon will be required for the first time to cover contraception.
Both entities sought to get around the mandate by becoming self-insured, but the costs proved prohibitive.
The law, which took effect Jan. 1, requires all commercial insurance policies with a drug benefit to cover prescription contraceptives. Self-insured policies are exempt.
The law allowed employers to honor their current insurance contracts until they expire, which is why the diocese had until Aug. 1 to make a decision. Officials decided a self-insured plan wasn't financially feasible, said Brent King, a diocesan spokesman.
The diocese's commercial insurance policy now will offer birth-control coverage, but employees will be expected to employ their consciences in not using it, King said. "If someone were to misuse that freedom in this regard, it could be grounds for termination," he said.
Such a step would be taken only if the employee, after being counseled, refused to get in line with Catholic teaching, King said. "It wouldn't be the first thing we do," he said.
The Catholic Church teaches that contraception is immoral because it diminishes God's role as the giver of life and interferes with the full giving of each spouse to the other.
All diocesan employees sign a morals clause in their job offers saying they will abide by Catholic teaching, so the diocese expects them to follow the prohibition against prescription contraception, King said. He acknowledged that the diocese has no way to police the issue - an employee would have to offer it up, he said.
St. Mary's Hospital, a Catholic-based institution, became self-insured eight months ago to avoid the law. But in a July 27 memo to employees, President Frank Byrne said the switch is proving too costly. Also, many hospital employees are having problems accessing specialty medical care, he said.
Beginning Jan. 1, St. Mary's will return to commercial policies provided by Dean Health Plan and Group Health Cooperative, said Steve Van Dinter, a hospital spokesman. Hospital employees do not sign moral clauses, he said.
Byrne said the hospital will work toward getting a religious exemption inserted into the law.
Chris Taylor, public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said she is pleased with the turn of events but disappointed that institutions would spend energy trying to thwart the law.
"Birth control is basic health care that 95 percent of women use at some point," she said. "I would hope that we don't have entities - Catholic or otherwise - trying to erect obstacles to health care for their employees."
Watch for the coming lawsuits. This is a cute trick on the part of the diocese, relying on the morals clause. It's cute only if it works. I really doubt it will. After it hits the courts the Church will find it's back against the wall. Don't look for any religious exemption to be allowed in this law either. In both cases it'll be time to tell
We can also look for more such legislation in other states.
PMG=Piss, Moan & Groan.
It seems I'm less impressed with our level of education in this nation every day.
The wife bought me a few hardcover books for Father's Day. They were "Dracula", "The Time Machine" and "The Invisible Man". I read them all a very long time ago and expressed an interest in doing it again.
Leaving aside the conclusions about Stoker's sexual preferences made by the chick who wrote the foreword of that book, every one of them seems geared to a 7th grade level. The original story is there but every one is loaded with footnotes giving definitions for words used (e.g. "draughty" as meaning breezy. The context alone will lead to that conclusion.
Did the public in general forget what dictionaries are used for? Or did they never learn? Maybe I don't want to know the answer to that one.
FWIW, I remember reading "Paradise Lost", "The Iliad", The Odyssey" and a few others with a dictionary by my chair. It's a wonder what the effort of looking up a word does for your vocabulary. Even a turdchasing, knuckledragging, alcoholic sub sailor will start improving in that regard. I didn't read the damned things except too many of the other books I had referenced a lot of classic literature. Even the writings of Louis L'Amour had that.
Using a dictionary was a skill drilled into me both at home and at Our Lady of Perpetual Payments Elementary School. Did that practice fall into disuse?
Sorry, just venting. I look at things like this and worry about my kids. Happens a lot lately.
By Mike in Ct. to name my five favorite devotions. Here goes:
1) The Rosary
2) Stations of the Cross
3) Chaplet of the Divine Mercy
4) Serenity Prayer (that one gets said A LOT!!)
5) Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel
Anyone reading this who is Catholic, YOU'RE TAGGED!! I passed it on in that fashion only because there are a few regulars of whom I have no idea what they believe, sue me.
Ever notice how close "prude" is to "prune"?
In a recent post two commenters questioned the main thrust of the article I had pasted and copied, this would be http://agangershome.blogspot.com/2010/08/sears-pedals-porn.html
Since Arby & Cookie have both feet on the ground, I didn't dismiss their puzzlement out of hand. The conclusion I came up with is that they're right, there is no real "porn" shown on the Sears site. At least not in the accepted meaning of the word. There is plenty of "intimate" apparel in an area only adults should view, but nothing really beyond risque.
Thinking more about it, I realize my values have shifted quite a bit over the last couple of years. Just the other day as I sat in a waiting area for my car to be serviced by the dealer, another customer walked through with her kids. Both she and her daughter were in "granny" dresses that reached from shoulder to ankle. A few years ago I'd have tried not to laugh. This time I had to restrain myself from going over and congratulating "Mom" on the modesty of her girl's clothing. Go figure.
For the sake of anyone reading this, I haven't "seen the light" or any other shit like that.
To put a label on it, I'm tired. Tired of checking out the tits and ass of the women I see whether I want to or not because they're so prominently on display. I'm tired of seeing women with "tramp stamps" displayed above the waist of their lowcut jeans & shorts. Tired of glancing at the magazines near the grocery store checkout and noting the most prominent articles deal with how a woman can be a sexual dynamo 24/7/365. Tired of seeing middle aged harpies trying to dress like the skanks they were 20-30 years ago. Some of this can be avoided to a degree, but having the need to make the effort gets old real fast.
Not all the women I come into contact with fit those categories. Just too damned many.
So call me a prude. The name fits.
Hopefully the wife won't read this post. I often comment about putting our daughter into a convent when she hits puberty. That IS a joke but I don't need the better half to get nervous.
CHICAGO, Illinois, August 9, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Retail giant Sears, which was exposed last week for marketing pornographic posters through their website, could be facing a boycott if they continue their refusal to remove the products.
“Sears is playing with fire. Sears is the place that American families are used to going, … and I just cannot imagine that the vast majority of their customer base wants to shop at a place that’s marketing pornography,” said Bryan Fischer, director of issues analysis at the American Family Association (AFA). “There are a lot of other places that American families can shop for the same goods they get at Sears.”
The AFA broke the news about the posters in an action alert August 3rd after the company refused to respond to more than a half dozen attempts at communication. The posters, which AFA has published in an edited form behind three warning walls, depict nudity and groups of people involved in sexual activities, including one featuring two women.
Sears appears to be digging in its heels on the issue, based on their response to one of AFA’s supporters. Chris B., a Sears employee, wrote: “We … have reviewed the products in question and found that they do not fall outside our marketplace guidelines.”
“Sears is taking their stand. They are going to defend the merchandising of soft-core pornography on their website,” commented Fischer.
Asked if AFA will launch a boycott, Fischer said they will continue monitoring Sears’ response. “If they continue to stonewall and stick a thumb in the eye of American families and their values, then at some point you need to do something,” he said.
The company has also drawn a rebuke from the influential social scientist Dr. Judith Reisman, an expert on the damaging effects of the sexual revolution. In an interview with WorldNetDaily, Reisman lambasted Sears for using pornography to turn a profit, emphasizing that the scientific research clearly shows porn to have a dangerous impact on our brains and our physical and mental health.
"Sears' management clearly agreed that pornography would conscript children and vulnerable adults as consumers," she said. "The Sears pornography adverts had to survive multiple administrative debates, redrafts and societal cost-benefit analyses before they got the green light.”
"Children cannot buy alcohol because their bodies and brains are corrupted by its toxins," she said. "Similarly, Sears' reckless distribution of pornography, of 'erototoxins' in the public space should be charged with deliberate brain damage - bringing the role of dopamine as a 'natural drug' to an American jury. Let the scientific challenge begin!"
The AFA is calling on men and women of good will to demand that Sears remove the products from their website and their line.
Contact Information:
Larry Costello, Public Relations Director
Sears Holdings Corp.
Phone: 1-847-286-9036
E-mail: larry.costello@searshc.com
Charlotte, NC (LifeNews.com) -- A national pro-life group for college students has uncovered new information revealing that college students who attend public universities in North Carolina will be forced to pay for abortions via their required student health care plan.
Students for Life of America has discovered that the North Carolina Board of Governors will require all students enrolled in a University of North Carolina public institution, starting with the 2010-2011 school year, to have health insurance.
Students who do not already have private health insurance are required to buy a state selected policy from Pearce & Pearce, Inc.
This mandated policy, SFLA told LifeNews.com this morning, covers up to $500 toward elective abortions and has 80% PPO coverage for elective abortions.
The Pearce & Pearce policy costs students $744 per year or $375 per semester and the State of North Carolina will not be paying into the policy. Instead, students who are required to purchase the insurance will be required to pay the entire cost -- part of which will go towards the payment of abortions for fellow students.
Kristan Hawkins, the executive director of Students for Life of America, told LifeNews.com, she is disturbed to see how North Carolina students will be forced to pay for elective abortions, regardless of their personal views on the issue.
"The fact that North Carolina students are going to be forced to pay for elective abortions is appalling. Students should not be put in a situation like this in order to attend an educational institution," she told LifeNews.com.
"We demand that the North Carolina Board of Governors reverse their policy and remove the abortion mandate immediately. Paying for abortions should not be a pre-requisite to learning," Hawkins added.
Sarah Hardin, the president of the Students for Life campus pro-life club at North Carolina State University, was shocked at the news.
"When I learned a week ago that this mandatory health coverage included the coverage of an elective abortion, I was dumbfounded," she said. "As a pro-life student at NC State, I am dismayed that my classmates will not only be forced to purchase health insurance, but will also be forced to pay into a pool that will go to aborting the children of other North Carolina students."
Responding to the information it uncovered, SFLA has set up a new web site at www.noabortioninhealthcare.com dedicated to raising public awareness about the forced abortion payments. North Carolina residents, and others, can sign a petition opposing the policy and can send an email to the Chairman of the North Carolina Board of Governors, Hannah Gage, with the same message.
So much for "freedom to choose" as regards the funding of abortion. These are public colleges, not private. There shouldn't be a need to sign any stinking petition. So it goes and such is the world we currently live in.
It'll happen, the BSA will be cast as "those racist, homophobic Nazi Youth wannabes" just wait.
It seems that the teacher's union up in Milwaukee is fighting to keep Viagra coverage in the health insurance package. Here's the story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100806/ap_on_re_us/us_milwaukee_teachers_viagra
I appreciate the benefits of the little blue pill, truly I do. But this gives a whole new meaning to "sticking it to the public." Last I heard, having a limp willie won't shorten your life. As a matter of fact some guys will have theirs shortened because "Willie" is anything BUT limp.
Twenty bucks a pill? Just getting flowers for a girl costs more than that! Having fun and expanding the gene pool is damned expensive these days (although one guy I knew of got by with just a box of donuts. Another story for another time). If you're too cheap to shell out the cash for the helmeted warrior to come to attention, then go home, have a few stiff ones and forget about it.
Just my opinion.
With a big thanks to Cookie who passed this on from www.aolnews.com ;
(Aug.6) -- The Food and Drug Administration apparently has only enough food investigators to check out about 2 percent of the questionable seafood coming into West Coast ports from the Far East and India.
There are nowhere near enough USDA inspectors to ensure that the pigs, poultry and cattle being shoved through slaughter houses are as disease free as the feds and Congress want.
But not every jurisdiction has dropped the ball.
Just ask Julie Murphy.
Last week, the 7-year-old set up a lemonade stand at a local arts fair in Portland, Ore.
Just as business started picking up, two Multnomah County health inspectors surrounded her and asked the young entrepreneur for her $120 temporary restaurant license.
The clipboard-toting fighters of food poisoning told Julie and her mom, Maria Fife, that they would have to shut down or face a $500 fine. Thursday, the county apologized for the aggressive inspectors.
Julie and her mom were stunned by last week's edict, as were those operating the booths nearby.
Mom told The Oregonian newspaper that Julie was very careful about making the brew.
She cleaned her hands with sanitizer, used a scoop to handle the bagged ice and kept everything covered when it wasn't in use, Fife said.
Mom helped a tearful Julie take the bottled water, drink mixture and signs back to the car, and explained to her daughter that the inspectors where just doing their jobs.
But the story has a happy ending. After careful consideration (and media attention), Multnomah County decided that neither Julie nor other kids would need to pay the $120licensing fee to run their lemonade stands..
The county's top elected official, Jeff Cogen, told The Oregonian that the inspectors were "following the rule book" but that the rules were intended for adults running food businesses.
"A lemonade stand is a classic, iconic American kid thing to do," he said. "I don't want to be in the business of shutting that down." (Especially when people from all over the country let you know what a dumbass you are for doing it.)
It's hardly unusual to hear small-business owners gripe about licensing requirements or complain that heavy-handed regulations are driving them into the red.
So when Multnomah County shut down an enterprise last week for operating without a license, you might just sigh and say, there they go again.
Except this entrepreneur was a 7-year-old named Julie Murphy. Her business was a lemonade stand at the Last Thursday monthly art fair in Northeast Portland. The government regulation she violated? Failing to get a $120 temporary restaurant license.
Turns out that kids' lemonade stands -- those constants of summertime -- are supposed to get a permit in Oregon, particularly at big events that happen to be patrolled regularly by county health inspectors.
"I understand the reason behind what they're doing and it's a neighborhood event, and they're trying to generate revenue," said Jon Kawaguchi, environmental health supervisor for the Multnomah County Health Department. "But we still need to put the public's health first."
Julie had become enamored of the idea of having a stand after watching an episode of cartoon pig Olivia running one, said her mother, Maria Fife. The two live in Oregon City, but Fife knew her daughter would get few customers if she set up her stand at home.
Plus, Fife had just attended Last Thursday along Portland's Northeast Alberta Street for the first time and loved the friendly feel and the diversity of the grass-roots event. She put the two things together and promised to take her daughter in July.
The girl worked on a sign, coloring in the letters and decorating it with a drawing of a person saying "Yummy." She made a list of supplies.
Then, with gallons of bottled water and packets of Kool-Aid, they drove up last Thursday with a friend and her daughter. They loaded a wheelbarrow that Julie steered to the corner of Northeast 26th and Alberta and settled into a space between a painter and a couple who sold handmade bags and kids' clothing.
Even before her daughter had finished making the first batch of lemonade, a man walked up to buy a 50-cent cup.
"They wanted to support a little 7-year-old to earn a little extra summer loot," she said. "People know what's going on."
Even so, Julie was careful about making the lemonade, cleaning her hands with hand sanitizer, using a scoop for the bagged ice and keeping everything covered when it wasn't in use, Fife said.
After 20 minutes, a "lady with a clipboard" came over and asked for their license. When Fife explained they didn't have one, the woman told them they would need to leave or possibly face a $500 fine.
Surprised, Fife started to pack up. The people staffing the booths next to them encouraged the two to stay, telling them the inspectors had no right to kick them out of the neighborhood gathering. They also suggested that they give away the lemonade and accept donations instead and one of them made an announcement to the crowd to support the lemonade stand.
That's when business really picked up -- and two inspectors came back, Fife said. Julie started crying, while her mother packed up and others confronted the inspectors. "It was a very big scene," Fife said.
Technically, any lemonade stand -- even one on your front lawn -- must be licensed under state law, said Eric Pippert, the food-borne illness prevention program manager for the state's public health division. But county inspectors are unlikely to go after kids selling lemonade on their front lawn unless, he conceded, their front lawn happens to be on Alberta Street during Last Thursday.
"When you go to a public event and set up shop, you're suddenly engaging in commerce," he said. "The fact that you're small-scale I don't think is relevant."
Kawaguchi, who oversees the two county inspectors involved, said they must be fair and consistent in their monitoring, no matter the age of the person. "Our role is to protect the public," he said.
The county's shutdown of the lemonade stand was publicized by Michael Franklin, the man at the booth next to Fife and her daughter. Franklin contributes to the Bottom Up Radio Network, an online anarchist site, and interviewed Fife for his show.
Franklin is also organizing a "Lemonade Revolt" for Last Thursday in August. He's calling on anarchists, neighbors and others to come early for the event and grab space for lemonade stands on Alberta between Northeast 25th and Northeast 26th.
As for Julie, the 7-year-old still tells her mother "it was a bad day." When she complains about the health inspector, Fife reminds her that the woman was just doing her job. She also promised to help her try again -- at an upcoming neighborhood garage sale.
While Fife said she does see the need for some food safety regulation, she thinks the county went too far in trying to control events as unstructured as Last Thursday.
"As far as Last Thursday is concerned, people know when they are coming there that it's more or less a free-for-all," she said. "It's gotten to the point where they need to be in all of our decisions. They don't trust us to make good choices on our own." (No shit lady, welcome to the nannystate)
More information on the "Lemonade Revolt" can be found here: http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2010/08/401419.shtml
It doesn't matter if Prop. 8 is reinstated. The damage done will not be undone.
What I'm talking about is the further legitimization of homosexuality. Just by having a formal discussion on the aberration it becomes more respectable.
Homosexuality should be once again recognized for what it is, a disorder. The sufferers deserve compassion and should be urged to receive treatment. Homosexual acts should once again be made a criminal offense.
That is my two cents worth on this topic, anyone not liking it can go piss up a rope.
...and NOT like squabbling children! Found this via Breitbart.com;
VICTORVILLE, Calif. (AP) - Two women have been charged with misdemeanors for a fight that led to a brawl during a Southern California kindergarten graduation ceremony.
San Bernardino County investigators say the women were arguing and it got physical in a field near the June ceremony at Puesta del Sol Elementary in Victorville.
Several men got involved and the incident turned into a brawl, forcing school officials to place the school on lockdown until deputies sorted things out. No one was hurt.
Court records show misdemeanor charges have been filed against 31-year-old Queiona Burt and 29-year-old Marina Ruth Vargas.
Prosecutors say they face up to six months in jail if convicted for interference with peaceful conduct at a school and 90 days in jail for unlawful acts committed on school grounds.
Good grief, this is completely inexcusable. That not only applies to the two women but everyone else involved in the fracas.
