Pansy and Peony

As mentioned before, a couple of other volunteers and myself started a diaper drive/ baby supply closet. Our local Catholic Charities has been gracious enough to give us a few shelves in a supply closet for diapers, and allow us the use of their waiting room to wait for parents who might be seeking baby supplies. It of course comes with a price: we are absolutely NOT allowed to mention any political agendas. No one has a problem with that. While what inspires our teeny, little ministry is certainly our pro-life beliefs as well as our Christian philosophy, but this ministry is simply about helping people who need things such as diapers, wipes, bottles, bibs,.baby toiletries. That's all. Being pro-life is not simply limited to political rants. Nevertheless, when we were setting up our little closet shelves, some Catholic Charity workers overheard one us mention they did similar volunteer work at Birthright and we were quickly reprimanded and reminded that we are NOT ever to mention our pro-life stance.

Like I said, I do not care to lecture anyone, or to use this as a bridge to a pro-life platform into the community. I just want to help. Catholic Charities gets a great deal of government funding and would like to be seen as politically neutral-I get that. I am grateful they have given us an in road to help. However, there is something disheartening about a Catholic organization being so fearful of standing behind a Catholic stance of being pro-life. (Too bad PP isn't as spooked to be politically neutral in the face of government funding. )

Still with this in mind, I was kind of shocked to see stacks of these pamphlets in the waiting room:

Continue reading "Just A Day at CC" »

Posted by Pansy at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Pansy at 5:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

He quotes this section from the First Things article:

Carter had one serious strike against him. The U.S. Supreme Court had legalized abortion on demand in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, and Carter the candidate waffled about restricting it. At the time, I knew Carter was wrong in his views about Roe and soft toward permissive abortion. But even as a priest, I justified working for him because he wasn’t aggressively “pro-choice.� True, he held a bad position on a vital issue, but I believed he was right on so many more of the “Catholic� issues than his opponent seemed to be. The moral calculus looked easy. I thought we could remedy the abortion problem after Carter was safely returned to office.
...

In the years after the Carter loss, I began to notice that very few of the people, including Catholics, who claimed to be “personally opposed� to abortion really did anything about it. Nor did they intend to. For most, their personal opposition was little more than pious hand-wringing and a convenient excuse—exactly as it is today. In fact, I can’t name any pro-choice Catholic politician who has been active, in a sustained public way, in trying to discourage abortion and to protect unborn human life—not one. Some talk about it, and some may mean well, but there’s very little action. In the United States in 2008, abortion is an acceptable form of homicide. And it will remain that way until Catholics force their political parties and elected officials to act differently.

Why do I mention this now? Earlier this spring, a group called “Roman Catholics for Obama ’08� quoted my own published words in the following way:

So can a Catholic in good conscience vote for a pro-choice candidate? The answer is: I can’t, and I won’t. But I do know some serious Catholics— people whom I admire—who may. I think their reasoning is mistaken, but at least they sincerely struggle with the abortion issue, and it causes them real pain. And most important: They don’t keep quiet about it; they don’t give up; they keep lobbying their party and their representatives to change their pro-abortion views and protect the unborn. Catholics can vote for pro-choice candidates if they vote for them despite—not because of—their pro-choice views.

What’s interesting about this quotation—which is accurate but incomplete—is the wording that was left out. The very next sentences in the article of mine they selected, which Roman Catholics for Obama neglected to quote, run as follows:

But [Catholics who support pro-choice candidates] also need a compelling proportionate reason to justify it. What is a “proportionate� reason when it comes to the abortion issue? It’s the kind of reason we will be able to explain, with a clean heart, to the victims of abortion when we meet them face to face in the next life—which we most certainly will. If we’re confident that these victims will accept our motives as something more than an alibi, then we can proceed.

On their website, Roman Catholics for Obama stress that:

After faithful thought and prayer, we have arrived at the conclusion that Senator Obama is the candidate whose views are most compatible with the Catholic outlook, and we will vote for him because of that—and because of his other outstanding qualities—despite our disagreements with him in specific areas.

I’m familiar with this reasoning. It sounds a lot like me thirty years ago. And thirty years later, we still have about a million abortions a year. Maybe Roman Catholics for Obama will do a better job at influencing their candidate. It could happen. And I sincerely hope it does, since Planned Parenthood of the Chicago area, as recently as February 2008, noted that Senator Barack Obama “has a 100 percent pro-choice voting record both in the U.S. Senate and the Illinois Senate.�

Changing the views of “pro-choice� candidates takes a lot more than verbal gymnastics, good alibis, and pious talk about “personal opposition� to killing unborn children. I’m sure Roman Catholics for Obama know that, and I wish them good luck. They’ll need it.

This article seems to hit home for me because I come from a family of non-voting-Democrat Democrats. I envy people who feel so strongly about a candidate- that have that "this is The Guy" feeling. I just couldn't vote pro-choice because the reason I feel so strongly that abortion is not simply about whether women are inconvenienced or not. To me it is a social justice issue that encompasses ageism, classism, and racism. I guess abortion, personally, is the deciding issue for me (as with many of my non-voting-Democrat-Democrat family...who also voted for Carter back in the day).

Posted by Pansy at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Why would this child's mother let her out of the house like this?.

Now the headlines claim "arrested for prom dress", which is not exactly true. The police were called over the commotion caused when she was asked to leave because her dress was inappropriate.

That being the case, I really don't see how this is as newsworthy as the original headlines make it out to be.

However, I am just so frustrated. Why do girls no longer see beauty in something beautiful? Why do they only see beauty in skimpy? How skimpy does a dress have to be these days to be the nicest dress, because Oh Girl's doesn't leave any room for hers to be topped. I keep thinking about when I was a very small girl, and how I would love to play dress-up with my patent-leather Mary Janes, little white gloves and anything frilly and pink. How sad for someone so young to have already lost that childhood simplicity.

I often feel like The Modesty Police and oddly, it is not a subject I am that obsessed with. I am just tired of women being objectified. God gifted us when he made us the more visually beautiful of the two sexes. But this isn't beauty. I don't know what this is.This is taking God's delicate art and saying "it needs more color" and spray painting it fluorescent pink.

What I also don't understand is where are her parents? Why isn't her father barring the door with a shot gun "Hell no you ain't going out the house looking like that!" Isn't that what fathers do? Why isn't her mother telling her "I know you think this is pretty, but this is not appropriate, let's find a compromise." Isn't that the point of mothers?

Posted by Pansy at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

but it is too funny to ignore. Previously, I blogged about Miley Cyrus and how tired I am of not only hearing about them, but how tired I am of Hollywood telling me how backwards I am for thinking the images inappropriate. If the Tila Tequila quote was not enough, how about this quote from Hugh Hefner:

Says Hef: "Sure, she’d be welcomed in the magazine. Very pretty lady. And I think to make such a big to-do over something as innocent as those [Vanity Fair] photos, I think is a reflection on how schizophrenic America is about sexuality."

Young Ladies, this is why modesty is important. You do NOT want the attention of dirty old, old (did I mention old?) men calling you pretty...If Miley Cyus has any sense, now she is getting the creepy crawlies and thinking "Ohmygosh, no more suggestive pictures again!"

Ugh...shivers.

Posted by Pansy at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

is a very, very strange place. I, um, er, um, you know...wow. I don't know what to say.

Posted by Pansy at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

This link was passed on on a home schooling email list. It is a real time map with current school incident reports.

On the one hand it freaks me out. I had no idea there was so much happening at once surrounding schools. It sort of gives me that usual "good thing I home school" vibe. On the other hand, what is the point of this? I hate reacting to scare tactics, or dwelling on all the evil going on the world. Where is the line to simply being informed and living in fear? Is it that times have become so dreadful that this is a new phenomenon or are we just more informed about what is happening as soon as it happens?

What do we do with this information? Most of us would not dream of taking guns to school, so it is not as if the average citizen contributes to the violence.Or is there something we are doing to contribute? Are we supposed to stay inside forever?

Perhaps we are just called to pray more and work harder to spread peace in our everyday actions. I am just not sure how to do that, and if someone has some tangible advice, I am open. It is just a wonder I get supper on the table every night.

Posted by Pansy at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So alas, I did not get tickets to attend the Papal Mass in Washington. I didn't even watch the whole thing on TV.* I did catch part of the homily, and I'm looking forward to downloading Tom's pdf and reading all of the Holy Father's speeches and homilies.

On the music I have nothing to say but "of course." A few years ago, I attended a Eucharistic Congress in the Archdiocese of Washington, and the choices for the Mass were just the same: "Look how diverse we are!"**

But at the same time, wasn't it great that the Archdiocese was putting on a Eucharistic Congress at all? With an Adoration chapel right there in the Convention Center?

And as for the Papal Mass, the Archdiocese had 100 priests available to hear confessions -- and still had to ask more priests to come and help, so that everyone waiting in line could go to confession before the Mass started. (I did attend the Papal Mass in Baltimore in 1995, and if there were confessors available, I completely missed that memo.)

What a blessing.

* am I the only one who feels weird watching Masses on TV? I never have TV on unless I'm doing something -- housework or some kind of craft -- but it doesn't feel right to be folding socks during the Consecration.

** okay, I just have to mention that the Latin Masses I attended at St Matthew's and the Shrine (Ordinary Use) had impressively diverse-looking congregations.

Posted by Peony at 5:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Alicia Keyes in an effort to keep up a reputation as someone who is intelligent, in touch with the world and not prone to crazy conspiracy theories was quoted by Blender Magazine stating:

"a ploy to convince black people to kill each other ... by the government," etc.

She later retracted the statement:

"I wasn't saying that I'm a conspiracy theorist, and I wasn't saying that I'm anti-anyone because anybody who knows my character knows that I'm a very positive person. ... My only aim is to uplift people and spread love ... overall it was a great article. It was merely a line or two that has provoked all of this madness. I regret (the) negative spin."

Someone must have told Ms. Keyes that conspiracy theories such as the government making up Gangsta Rap, as opposed to things like anthrax, make her sound not only out of touch with the daily struggles of the everyday American, but just plain whacky.

But them I read this quote today from 50 Cent:

"I don't like Alicia Keys no more though … the same reason why I said that I don't like Oprah Winfrey," 50 Cent toldThe Showbuzz. "I'm prejudice(d). I don't like people who don't like me. If you don't like the content that I write because of my experiences; I am being who I am when I am writing it. I fall into that 'label' as far as you considering artists creating 'Gangsta music,' we fall into that.

"If she don't like that, (then) I don't like that classical music s--- she be doing. At some point she's playing some s--- that don't relate to me. … We listen to it and try to figure out why people actually enjoy it. I am trying to enjoy it. That statement changes my perception of Alicia Keys totally. But the magazine is standing behind it, which means they probably have a tape of her in conversation saying it. It's just not really a bright comment anyway...

...I think hip-hop is so competitive, that the competitive nature, the art form makes it a competition," 50 Cent said. "

Wow, that's some deep sh*t.

Truth be told, I am actually starting to think Gangsta Rap was created not by the American government, but like by the Russians, or the Chinese or Osama bin Laden so that no American will be able to effectively communicate with each other in English again! Who's with me? Think hard about, you know, stuff. Or be thinkin' hard on stuff that, you know, be happenin' which I don't cuz 50 be speakin' the truth for me and, um...oh I lost my train of thought...see what I mean?

Posted by Pansy at 4:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

TSO has this cool post up in which he "plays the curmudgeon so [I] don't have to." He watched a bit of a recent Republican debate (a task I am more than happy to delegate) and came away with some quotes to make curmudgeonly remarks about (note that he only had to catch "a bit" of the debate to come away with enough material for a good-sized post.)

A sample of the curmudgeonly stuff:

[Governor Huckabee] said he feels the answer to our health care problems is (drumroll) - greater emphasis on wellness rather than sickness.

[which] completely ignores the root causes of the health care crisis by ignoring lack of insureds, the incredible expansion of what health care now entails, and the fact that it is a human-labor intensive industry. The wellness philosophy is great but it merely postpones the inevitable. Wellness programs don't elminate sickness and death but merely delay them. Second, it sounds suspiciously like a call for government to go into micro-managing our exercise routines or lack thereof as well as every thing we eat (fast food - no way!).

So now that TSO's got that curmudgeon stuff out of the way, all I have to do is highlight a section I particularly agree with

the incredible expansion of what health care now entails, and the fact that it is a human-labor intensive industry

and state my agreement:

I think TSO is correct in his diagnosis of the causes of the health care crisis. There's simply more health care to be had than there was in the past, and that health care still needs to be delivered by human beings, who have to be paid.

Then I add my own commentary:

And the costs of paying those human beings are proportionately higher. Once, most bedside care was given by nuns (who weren't paid much) and nursing students (who weren't paid at all.) And there was no need to pay MRI technologists and other allied-health specialists because there were no MRIs, interventional radiology suites, and so on.

But now very few nuns are giving direct nursing care (the few left in health care are in administration) Nursing students are in short supply, and will no longer work for free. Patient care is hard work -- it's physically hard work and requires 24-hour staffing. And thanks to Griswold and Roe, the labor pool is smaller. So wages have be high enough to make it worth it for qualified candidates to pass up other career paths, get the education, enter the health professions, and show up for work evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays.

Throw in a pop-culture reference:

Even advanced societies such as the late Republic in Star Wars would pay real people -- even highly educated Jedis -- to fly spacecraft, but could only afford to have androids at the bedside to give medical and nursing care.

And I'm done! All the drudgery of watching the debate and coming up with curmudgeon stuff has been taken care of for me. (Even though I still don't understand what a "poncer" is.) Thanks, TSO!

Posted by Peony at 3:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

OK to invade and remove Mugabe, Ncube tells Brits

Saying that he is prepared to lead the overthrow of President Robert Mugabe but that the people are not ready, Bulawayo Archbishop Pius Ncube has told reporters that Britain would be justified in invading Zimbabwe.

The Courier-Mail reports that Archbishop Ncube told London's Sunday Times the deepening destitution in his country, including millions going hungry and the world's highest inflation rate, meant Britain would be right to act.

"I think it is justified for Britain to raid Zimbabwe and remove Mugabe," he said.

"We should do it ourselves but there's too much fear. I'm ready to lead the people, guns blazing, but the people are not ready."

Archbishop Ncube said the president was squandering money while the people starved and had just spent $US2 million ($A2.37 million) on surveillance equipment while most people struggled along on $US2 ($A2.37) a week.

"How can you expect people to rise up when even our church services are attended by state intelligence people?" the archbishop said.

Posted by Peony at 7:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, I guess I would lose my already endangered blogger cred if I didn't say something about Don Imus. So here it is: Good riddance.

Now, what about his enablers -- the guests, sponsors, and networks that kept him and his foul mouth on the air all these years? Really, they're like a bunch of kids who egg on the class clown but play dumb when he gets caught and leave him to take the punishment alone.

Imus wasn't born yesterday (unless by "yesterday" you mean "sometime during the Holocene Epoch") . He wouldn't have been filling up airtime with that kind of trash if he thought he'd get in trouble for it. The networks were paying him to be coarse and vulgar. So he did coarse and vulgar, and was paid big bucks to push people's buttons, and he happen to push the wrong button during a slow news week and now he's been hung out to dry.

"We are shocked -- shocked! -- that he would say such a thing!" If anyone should be apologizing to the Rutgers team, it should be CBS and MSNBC, for putting Imus on the air and giving him the idea that it would be remotely okay to say such a thing. (Followed by the record execs who are getting rich off the filthy rap music that puts slurs like that out there.)

People who don't use words like that don't have to apologize for them. Our society had boundaries and rules for a reason. But when you're always trying to "push boundaries" and "be edgy" it's only a matter of time before you fall over the cliff.

Posted by Peony at 8:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I actually feel bad for the guy. My husband thinks he was probably always a closet racist. My poor husband is super jaded and thinks that about most people. Hemight be right, but I think Imus suffers more form stupidity than racism. The man has been on the air stating his thoughts about everything under the sun for like 40 years now. He was bound to say something really stupid. After all that time clocked in as an established radio personality, he probably mistakenly thought he was "down" enough to use more ebonically-centric language to speak his mind. He forgot for a second that only people of certain skin colors are permitted to use that type of vernacular. You see, had he been black, no one would notice if he used the term "nappy-headed hos".

So what is the result? The Al Sharptons (most especially Al) see an opportunity to cash in and make a mountain of a mole hill and set us all back another 20 years in race relations.

I am not saying Imus should not have been reprimanded, his language was wrong and offensive. He most certainly should have been. Racially charged or not, offensive language should not be acceptable. But his comments are not an example of everyday racism that injures the average American. And the circus that ensues contributes more to the average, everyday racism. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling that when white people see so much attention being drawn to the remark "nappy headed" they are baffled and think minorities love to make mountains out of mole hills. I have heard white people say that black people use these situations as an opportunity to get something for nothing. I think that is true for Jesse and Al. Not for me, or my family.

Recently my husband was up for a promotion at his job. He was passed up before he was even offered the position for a white person with much less seniority and a number of write-ups (where my husband has none) by a manager that has no compunction by freely calling people "Buckwheat" and using the 'n' word. I doubt that Imus using the term "nappy headed" has any influence on this manager's ignorance, and Al Sharpton has done nothing to improve race relations for the everyday average minority.

Posted by Pansy at 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

That letter a couple of posts down? I really sent it. And this evening, I got a reply:

Dear Peony,

President Bush's disastrous plan to escalate the war is no longer just a plan: it's a reality.

While the Senate was tied up in knots....

No response to what I actually wrote the guy about. Good PR work there, pal.

Hang on here -- now, which party was the one flogging this non-binding resolution that had the Senate "tied up in knots"?....

Posted by Peony at 7:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I was reading Fox News this morning the John Edwards/Blogger thing and read this:

Another Catholic group, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, issued a statement saying it was satisfied with Edwards' actions following the "religiously intolerant remarks."

"We accept Senator Edwards' assurances that he too was offended by comments made by recently hired staffers and that religious intolerance has no place in his campaign," said the group's executive director, Alexia Kelley, who added that since roughly one-fourth of the U.S. population is Catholic, Edwards can't take the religion's members for granted.

"We hope this unfortunate incident will initiate a deeper conversation on the part of all presidential candidates regarding the broad range of issues and values of primary importance to the Catholic community, including the Iraq War, a concern for the poor, human life and dignity, the availability of health care, and a commitment to the common good," Kelley said.

Mark Shea had something to say about Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good:

My reply:

Anything less than an immediate firing of these skirted Klansmen is a clear indication the Edwards is utterly unfit for the White House. Don't be whores for this dirtbag. Stop making excuses and demand that he get rid of these clownettes.

If you'd like to tell Mr. Jones what you think of Edward lame excuse-making for these bigettes, click here.

If you need the Spin vs. Substance Ammo to pound Mr. Jones in to facing reality, here it is.

Meanwhile, memorize the name: Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good is the first organization of Catholics to prostitute their faith completely in this election cycle for the sake of blow-dried ambulance chaser. It profits a man nothing to gain the whole *world* and lose his own soul. But for *Edwards*?

Posted by Pansy at 7:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My husband is flying out of town this afternoon to attend a funeral. I'm packing his suitcase, and, since it's the first time either of us has flown since 2004, I'm checking out the carry-on baggage rules at the airline and the TSA website.

So let me make sure I'm understanding this correctly: If my husband wants to carry a tube of toothpaste in his carry-on luggage, it has to be a mini-tube. Can't be a regular tube that's half full; has to be a mini-tube . And the shampoo has to be a minibar size as well. (Good thing I'm sending the electric razor so I don't have to figure out how to pack the can of shaving cream.)

And this micro-toiletries have to be packed in a quart-size ziplock bag. Not gallon. Not pint. Quart.

And he will have to remove the quart-size bag, and place it in the tray with his shoes and keys.

And if he does not follow these instructions, he might be exhibiting suspicious behavior.

But if he refuses to take his assigned seat, and instead demands that he and his friends be given seats that aren't all together but just happen to be in strategic positions throughout the cabin, and requests safety equipment that he doesn't need but that could potentially be used as a weapon, then he is a victim, and those thuggish, bigoted pilots and airline crew need to get over their lyin' bigoted eyes and go to sensitivity school.

Yeah, I so believe the government takes my safety seriously.

Posted by Peony at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

via commenter CV at Mark Shea's:

Celling Out: Bioethics and the Culture of Cool

Excerpt (emphasis added)

A buddy of mine from college, one of the few with whom I still maintain regular contact, is convinced that I misplaced my brain somewhere over the course of the last eleven years... I'm religious—a Christian, to be more precise—which automatically makes my perspectives questionable as far as my agnostic friend is concerned. Exacerbating matters is the extent to which my views place me squarely within a "conservative" political framework and thus, in my friend's estimation, a position of ignorance, bigotry, and superstition.... Fortunately for my ego, I eventually came to realize that such intransigence really has very little to do with me personally; rather, it's part of a much larger phenomenon with which those of us attempting to safeguard human life must learn to deal. To state the matter as simply as possible, what I have discovered about my friend is that when it comes to bioethical issues, he's much more concerned with the associations of particular beliefs than the beliefs themselves. For him, embryonic stem-cell research is justifiable—even perhaps praiseworthy—not because logic has led him to this conclusion but in order to align himself with one particular cultural community over and against another. In short, my friend—a devotee of The Daily Show and NPR, a subscriber to The New Yorker, Adbusters, and The Financial Times, and a pretty big fan of both Al Franken and Michael Moore—wants to be thought of as an urbane and intelligent person and so has chosen for himself the political opinions that he believes further this reputation.

YES. For too many people, logic has nothing to do with it. They live in Maureen Dowd's world, a world where grown-up people still live by the rules of the middle-school cafeteria: I think this way because the cool kids think this way.

Posted by Peony at 8:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

It seems almost none of us were out voting yesterday.

Posted by Pansy at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

OK, maybe that is not a fair statement. But when I read articles like this I kind of roll my eyes.

God help me, I should be more patient and understanding.

In between psychic readings and running a shop that sells everything a witch needs to get started, Cabot is mailing letters to civic leaders across Massachusetts warning them of the legal perils of portraying witches as grisly old hags.

Posters hung on government property of witches as haggard women on broomsticks or as green-faced outcasts with an evil glint in their eye could lead to defamation lawsuits by witches protesting what they see as violations of their civil rights.

When I think of civil rights, I think of segregated schools, rest rooms, and forcing people to sit on the back of the bus. In current times, I think of forcing people to go against their religion by supplying birth control in Catholic owned businesses.

But Halloween images of witches? In all honesty, I would be somewhat appalled by stereotypical images of a certain ethnicity plastered everywhere. On the other hand, as a Catholic, heck, I'm used to it. All I have to do is turn on Law and Order. We're all used to it.

Seriously, it never occured to me to stereotype real live Wiccans. My day is just way to busy.

Posted by Pansy at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Every day I find another reason to be happy that we've moved (back) to Virginia, and now that it's fall I find bonus reasons. The colors, the apple cider, the pumpkins.... yes, we had fall colors, cider, and pumpkins in Maryland, but not like this. And twice a day, as I go over the overpass, I can take a quick look out the side window and see a magnificent view that extends all the way to the mountains.

There's one unlovely thing about Virginia this fall, however, and that's the Senate race. Why can't Allen and Webb just go out and fight a duel or something instead of this insane mudslinging? And why are they treating me like I'm stupid? Guys (for gentlemen you are not), would you quit with the hicker-than-thou pose?

Webb's particularly annoying, since he carefully wipes the rouge off his neck as soon as the Rappahannock's in the rear-view mirror. Up here in the D.C. burbs, he attacks Allen as being some kind of throwback, but in the southern counties he paints himself as a Real "Born Fightin'" Virginian (never mind that Allen's an ex-governor -- he was born in California!) And of course the major newspapers don't call him on it. It's disgusting.

I'll never vote for Webb; his party's made it clear they don't want my vote, seeing as I'm one of those pro-life theocrat faithbot extremist types. But Allen's campaign isn't doing much for me either.

The only compelling reason I can think of to vote for Allen is the issue of judges. Is that a good enough reason to pull the lever for the guy?

Posted by Peony at 4:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

O God of earth and altar,
bow down and hear our cry,
our earthly rulers falter,
our people drift and die;
the walls of gold entomb us,
the swords of scorn divide,
take not thy thunder from us,
but take away our pride.

From all that terror teaches,
from lies of tongue and pen,
from all the easy speeches
that comfort cruel men,
from sale and profanation
of honor, and the sword,
from sleep and from damnation,
deliver us, good Lord!

Tie in a living tether
the prince and priest and thrall,
bind all our lives together,
smite us and save us all;
in ire and exultation
aflame with faith, and free,
lift up a living nation,
a single sword to thee.

-- G. K. Chesterton

usually sung to "King's Lynn"

Posted by Peony at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

But I just got wind of Amish School shooting. I am so upset. Up and down our road there were one room Amish school houses. Every morning the children would walk to school hand in hand. If you drove by, the Amish children would automatically wave "hello" at you.

Amish children are some of the most precious I have ever seen. Our neighbor, Norman and his wife Sarah were a couple of years younger then us, and had the same amount of children. When we moved there, Sarah was pregnant with number 4, then we had number 5, then she had number 5...Norman would come over in his buggy on a daily basis to use the phone with a kid, or two, or three in tow. He would tell the kids to sit in the buggy, and they would stay. They would pick dandelions, and giggle and wave at us.

One day he brought them over and they were happy because they brought our children a tiny cat from their recent litter.

My husband was always repeatedly impressed by the children. They worked hard taking care of each other as well as the farm. The small children could entertain themselves with the smallest things, such as a bag of laundry clips.

This upsets me so much because the children are so wonderfully untouched by some of the evils that have polluted our own environment, for example a sense that someone who is uinknown might be someone who is harmful to you as opposed to a neighbor. I hope this does not change all that.

Posted by Pansy at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

This is what I get from the last messages. People are often stronger than they know, bigger, more gallant than they'd guess. And this: We're all lucky to be here today and able to say what deserves saying, and if you say it a lot, it won't make it common and so unheard, but known and absorbed.

HT:Curt Jester

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Ohmygosh! Suri Cruise is so cute!

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Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin Killed:

Australian naturalist and television personality Steve Irwin has been killed by a stingray during a diving expedition off the Australian coast.

Mr Irwin, 44, died after being struck in the chest by the stingray's barb while he was filming a documentary in Queensland's Great Barrier Reef.

"Stingrays only sting in defence, they're not aggressive animals so the animal must have felt threatened. It didn't sting out of aggression, it stung out of fear," Dr Bryan Fry, Deputy Director of the Australian Venom Research Unit at the University of Melbourne said....

Experts say that while painful, stingray venom is rarely lethal and it would have been the wound caused by the barb itself, which could measure up to 20cm long, which proved fatal.

"What happened to Steve Irwin is like being stabbed in the heart. It has little to do with the venom and all to do with the trauma caused by the barb of the stingray," Dr Geoff Isbister, a clinical toxicologist at the Mater Hospital in Newcastle, Australia, said.

This cries out for some kind of wry joke, probably a pun of some kind, but you'll have to read some other blog for that. I got nuthin.'

From the WaPo:

Stainton said Irwin's American-born wife Terri, from Eugene, Ore., had been informed of his death, and had told their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.

Posted by Peony at 7:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

A few months ago, I posted about about a horrific child abuse story involving a mother, the child of course and paramour. No I am not some kind of strange child-abuse junkie (totally swore off late night Discovery Channel), but whenever I sit down at breakfast, open the front page of the paper, here are these stories.Years ago it seemed you would hear about one of these stories every ten years, now it is every ten weeks. Whenever I read them, I feel like someone hits me in the chest with a sledgehammer, and I walk around with that "ummph" feeling for a couple of days. Then I wonder if there is something I can do...

In our local paper on Saturday, we were graced with another front-page story about a 16-year old and her boyfriend abusing their (or her? they do not specify, but simply refer to him as "boyfriend") child. Again, to summarize without having to read the gory details, the boyfriend is in custody, the baby is recovering in the hospital, and they are looking at prosecuting the mother as well.

The reason why I wanted to blog this is because I found the end of the aricle interesting:

The case is one in a rash of child abuse around the Capital Region by inexperienced, young parents and their companions.

"We have to break this cycle earlier," said Albany Police Chief James Tuffey, who blames parents for ignoring their teenage children.

"There's a serious problem," Tuffey said. "We as a society have gone soft and we have to return the envelope, in particular, to parents and say 'postage due.' My parents knew where I was at 9 p.m."

Without my usual "family values" tirade, I am sure you can guess what I am thinking.

Posted by Pansy at 5:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Lindsey Lohan wants to go to Iraq to perform for the troops.

There is nothing wrong with her wanting to go to Iraq to boost morale. That's kind of cool.

Here is where it gets weird. She goes on to say:

"I've been trying to go to Iraq with Hillary Clinton for so long," Lohan, 20, tells Elle magazine in its September issue, after she was asked if she had any big plans for next year. "Hillary was trying to work it out, but it seemed too dangerous." She continues, "I wanted to do what Marilyn Monroe did (during the Korean War), when she went and just set up a stage and did a concert for the troops all by herself. It's so amazing seeing that one woman just going somewhere, this beautiful sex kitten, who's basically a pinup, which is what I've always aspired to be."

Her aspiration in life was to be a "beautiful sex kitten" and a "pinup". That's it?

And weirder yet:

Even without Sen. Clinton, Lohan is confident she can handle an Iraq trip on her own. "I'm not afraid of going," she says. "My security guard is going to take me to a gun range when I get back to L.A., and I'm going to start taking shooting lessons."

Does she realize there is a stark difference between carrying a gun for self-defense in The South Bronx at night, and being in the middle of a war zone? Although I think I would worry about her in the South Bronx...

Posted by Pansy at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

This is an AOL site, so it may not come up for everyone.

The Chicks elicited more laughter as lead singer Natalie Maines dedicated the humorous 'White Trash Wedding' to Mel Gibson, sarcastically praising the actor for checking into rehab.

"You know how it is when you're drunk," she said, in reference to Gibson's anti-Semitic rant during his DUI arrest last week. "All of our controversy would have been over if I had checked myself into rehab and said I was drunk and didn't know what I was saying."

Um, wow! I can't wrap my head around this one. I love how The Dixie Chicks have anointed themselves the voice of America. Mostly though, I think people who proudly refer to themselves as "Dixie Chicks" really should tone down their speeches on "tolerance" (oh how I hate that stupid buzzword).

Posted by Pansy at 4:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

From today's WaPo (registration)

When I [Gene Weingargen] heard that the new poet laureate of the United States was to be Donald Hall, the New Hampshire literary eminence, I was elated. The media accounts rightfully praised the beauty and sophistication of Hall's verse. But that's not why I was happy. I was happy because I knew something most in the media didn't.

The respectable Donald Hall at times has been a joyful practitioner of some of the lowest, least dignified, raunchiest forms of poetry. In short, he's my kind of guy! He's done limericks, and he is a fan of the infinitely silly but challenging "Higgledy piggledies," also known as double dactyls.

So Weingarten faxes him his own double-dactyl tribute:

Higgledy piggledy Donald Hall, Laureate! News of it rains in an Imperfect storm, Tragicomedically Failing to mention his Seminal work in this Sorry-ass form.

Posted by Peony at 7:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I feel bad for the guy. I think if he were not the great producer of the controversial and non-politically correct Passion of the Christ, this would be a blurb instead of big news. Were it Eminem, no one would care less.

Why do I think that? Well for one, the article I linked to stated:

In a column Monday on the HuffingtonPost.com, Emanuel wrote that he wished Gibson well in battling alcoholism. "But alcoholism does not excuse racism and anti-Semitism," he wrote.

Emanuel, whose clients have included Larry David and Mark Wahlberg, went onto urge his Hollywood brethren not to work with the A-lister.

I not going to even touch on Larry David because there is very little he says or does that is not offensive, but Mark Wahlberg? I seem to remember back in the day when Mr. Wahlberg was known as "Markie Mark" he was not the role model for tolerance either.

Posted by Pansy at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Peony, your post below had me wondering what besides the obvious bothered me so much.
In the comments below, Patty said:

I agree with all of you, although I admit that I was involved in a discussion elsewhere on this topic and it made me wonder about something. Is this child's cancer really highly treatable and curable as the other side paints it to be? And is one round of chemo usually enough to combat it?

In the articles I have read on this case, there was no mention of this, which I think would be the biggest deciding factor if I were a judge. But the decision seems to be based on a growing assumption we are starting to take as a given in our culture: Parents are idiots.

It takes no intelligence to get pregnant, so people who become parents aren't really qualified to do so.

Why? I don't know. Democrats claim the job of parenting is too big for two people and we need mandatory preschool. "It takes a village to raise a child" or something like that. In the Terri Schaivo case, any testimony of Terri's parents was dismissed because her cheating ex-husband knew how pro-death Terri was over her own family who raised her with their values. When I was in health class in high school, we were told repeatedly by teachers (who used to sleep with the students at a much greater proportion then any priests I know-seen it with my own eyes-scary, huh?) that if we ever needed anything, and were afraid of our parents, we could always talk to them. Our health books even said that if our parents thought masturbation was bad, they were superstitious and old fashioned and masturbation was healthy. (Ah, the beauty of Planned Parenthood-I had no idea what masturbation was until that point. Never heard the word, never grasped the concept). I remember my father having a fit when he read this in my health book and wrote the school, and got no reply of course. (They should have taken me the heck outta there).

One of the biggest disputes I see a lot among APers is the vaccination debate. We know many vaccinations, do, or used to contain mercury. We know that a few are derived from Human diploid cells (aborted fetal tissue). We know in countries that wait to vaccinate until a year old or two have virtually no cases of SIDS. We have seen outbreaks of Pertussis in almost fully vaccinated populations. We know there is a National Injury Compensation Program. Why is it necessary to vax a newborn baby against Hep B? I am not trying to make a case against vaccinating (although after rereading what I wrote, it certainly seems that way). I am not totally anti-vaccinating-we vaccinate.I am just a parent who wanted as many facts as I could obtain about what I am doing with my children. I don't understand why parents are not allowed to have any say in the drugs they expose their children to. When your children get shots, you get these little sheets that tell you some nasty side effects might be possible, but overall, by not vaccinating you are practically creating some sort of epidemic. But to me, if any of the previous questions I asked were true, parents should be able to have the option to strongly discern with all the facts available what they would like to be done with their children. Again, I did not mean to go on an "anti-vaxing" tirade. I just think that is one of the first places where our doctors or whoever the other people in our lives that have influence on what we do with our children sort of step in and take over for us.

Now we have pending legislation whether or not it should be illegal to take minors over state lines to obtain abortions for them without parental consent. Why is this even a question? Can't that be construed as kidnapping if abortion were not involved?

Note this page from the Allegheny Reproductive Health Center:

If you are under the age of 18, the law in Pennsylvania says that to have an abortion you need to either bring a parent with you to sign your consent forms of go through a process called Judicial Bypass. If you cannot or do not want to involve either parent, we can help you. A judicial bypass allows you to ask a judge to declare you mature enough to decide for yourself whether or not to have an abortion. Although that may would complicated or frightening, it is a fairly simple process and our staff will walk you through each step.

And when something happens to your daughter, it was your fault for not being a brave parent to walk past the protesting "anti-choicers" and slot your grandchild for termination yourself.

I am so tired. Raising kids is hard enough. Trying to raise them decently in this culture is like swimming upstream. In essence, everything that you truly feel is right because you love and care for your children is subject to scrutiny if it is not part of common opinion. I keep thinking of poor Mr. and Mrs. Schindler in this regard. God help us.

I didn't even touch on homeschooling.

Posted by Pansy at 7:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Judge lifts order requiring treatment for teen cancer patient

ACCOMAC, Va. A judge ruled today that a 16-year-old Eastern Shore cancer patient who has refused conventional medical treatment does not have to report to a hospital.

The judge also set a trial for August 16th to settle the dispute....

Accomack County Circuit Court Judge Glen Taylor agreed to a stay, which means Abraham won't be forced to undergo more chemotherapy for now. He has undergone alternative treatments, including herbal treatments.

A juvenile court judge on Friday ordered Abraham to report to a hospital for treatment of his cancer. The judge refused to lift his order yesterday and Abraham's parents sought a stay.

Taylor also ended joint custody of Abraham between his parents and social services officials, which was also ordered by the juvenile court judge.

This is really scary: your doctors don't like your choice of treatment, so they go through the juvenile court system to compel you to undergo the treatment they recommend -- and possibly to take you away from your parents, if it's deemed "in your best interests"?

If Abraham were a Sarah who wanted to undergo an abortion, nobody -- not the judge, not the doctor, not the parents -- would have anything to say about it. It would be between Sarah and her doctor. And if Sarah wanted to decline the abortion, supposedly it would be her choice.

So why doesn't Abraham have a choice about his own body -- one that he's made with the approval of his parents?

And what's up with these doctors? I thought the medical profession was trying to do away with "paternalism", the "we know best" idea -- that patients' autonomy was to be respected.

What happened to informed consent? When I was in nursing school, I was taught that performing a procedure on a patient against his will could potentially be prosecuted as assault and battery. If Abraham had been forced to report to the hospital, could he have brought charges against the nurses who started his IVs? (Would there have been nurses willing to go against his wishes?)

An attorney for the social services department, told the judge the agency would go along with the ruling if a new trial takes place quickly.

Oh, well, that's big of them. Nice to know that social services will obey a judge's order if they approve of it.

Nate Nelson blogged on this earlier this week.

Posted by Peony at 7:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Warning: Expletive language follows...

A microphone picked up an unaware President Bush saying on Monday Syria should press Hezbollah to "stop doing this shit" and that his secretary of state may go to the Middle East soon.

Damn straight! He should use it in a speech.

Posted by Pansy at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I amazed that people admire this so much that they write articles that pat themselves on the back for their selfishness.

Until Madison was born, I saw parenting from a distance. I thought of babies as adorable and sweet. They smelled good and looked clean and perfect. Sure, I knew about dirty diapers and occasional fussiness. (And the screaming kids in stores and restaurants.) But, really, they were a minority, I thought.

Then I learned the truth. Kids overwhelm your life and alter it forever.

I have a newfound respect for Shannon, and for mothers in general. Sleep deprivation seems the norm. Forget about impromptu dinners, weekends away or nights out with friends.

Right now, my schedule is mine. I do what I want, when I want.

I don't know if I'm willing to give that up. For the past year, not a week goes by that I don't tell Shannon that I just don't think I could be in her place.

Posted by Pansy at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Pansy at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Saturday, September 30 at the National Mall!

I just saw the author list and I am so juiced! I'm even excited that Alexander McCall Smith is going to be there and I haven't even read any of his books! I so hope that Dana Gioia's going to be speaking and that I'll get a chance to listen....

Posted by Peony at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

HT: The World IMHO via The Curt Jester

As you can see from the article, the war on contraception is more a war for common sense:

The New York Times joined the fray with a May 7 article titled "The War on Contraception.� Feminists point to several elements of the so-called war:

# The Food and Drug Administration has refused to approve the open sale of the morning-after pill in pharmacies.

# The administration has promoted abstinence as the chief way of avoiding pregnancy.

# Health insurers are reportedly under mounting pressure not to cover the morning-after pill.

# Four states – Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Dakota – have approved laws allowing pharmacists to refuse to sell birth control pills.

Sometimes I wonder, what are they really fighting for?

Posted by Pansy at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Just who the hell do you think you are?

You can start yapping to me about your High Holy Professional Obligation to Blab Classified Information Just Because You Think It Will Sell Ad Space when you tell me...

-- why you think you're a professional. If you're a real professional, you are subject to a governing board with rules and the authority to enforce them. Lawyers have the bar, doctors have their medical associations and boards. Where's your board? For that matter, where's your commission or license?

-- and who, precisely, gave you this task. This is a democracy. So who elected you? Who gave you this oversight power? To whom are you accountable?

Selfish jerks.

Posted by Peony at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

I hated that movie. My hating that movie has very little to do with my feelings towards the war. It was just such annoying, blatant, one-sided propaganda that was touted as a documentary, and was no such thing. I watched this movie because someone said that everyone should "educate themselves" and watch it regardless of your political affiliation. I couldn't finish it because it was such baloney. It's like when you see movies like this, if you were on the fence whether you like Bush, or are a fence sitter on the war, it makes you want to become a hard line republican just despite Michael Moore!

Sgt. Peter Damon, 33, a supporter of President George W. Bush and the Iraq war, claims Moore misused the footage to portray him "in a false light" and as "disagreeing with the president about the war effort and as disagreeing with the war effort itself."

"It was kind of almost like the enemy was using me for propaganda. What soldier wants to be involved in that?" Damon told CBS's local television news affiliate. "I didn't lose my arms over there to come back and be used as ammunition against my commander-in-chief."

I wonder how much money Michael Moore made from his "educational documentary", to misuse this man's quotes for his own agenda.

Posted by Pansy at 5:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

O beautiful for heroes proved
in liberating strife,
who more than self their country loved,
and mercy more than life!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
confirm thy soul in self-control,
thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for patriot dream
that sees beyond the years
thine alabaster cities gleam,
undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
and crown thy good with brotherhood
from sea to shining sea.

Posted by Peony at 7:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

HT: Patty

Be warned: not a feel-good site. It is a response to the pro-Castro regime propaganda that that seems to be cropping up here and there, such as the "stylish" El Che t-shirts, the movie Fidel, claims that Fidel is so wonderful for "free-healthcare", and let's not forget about the Elian Gonzalez debacle.

Posted by Pansy at 9:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Moussaoui is expected to use his speaking time to taunt the United States once again, as he has done during various outbursts throughout his trial.

"America, you lost. I won," he said Wednesday, clapping his hands as he was led out of the courtroom.

Jerk.

Posted by Pansy at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"Brokeback Mountain" this month won the Golden Globe award for best motion picture drama and top honors from the Producers Guild of America. Through Sunday, it had earned $42.1 million and had been remarkably successful in the conservative, red-state towns and cities that helped reelect Bush.

"Brokeback Mountain" is showing in at least two theaters in Waco, Texas, the closest city to Bush's home near Crawford. And it is doing quite well, said Ben Reynolds, manager of the Hollywood Jewel 16. It was the second most popular film in the complex last week, he said.

But Bush on Monday gave no indication that he intended to see the film when a young man raised the issue near the end of a lengthy, unscripted question-and-answer session.

Imagine that!George Bush has no intention of seeing Brokeback Mountain! How can this be you say? You know what, I am speechless and out of sarcastic remarks on this one. I mean for the life of me, I can't figure why anyone has any desire to see a friggin gay cowboy movie. I don't even really object to it as much as the whole thing looks sooo boring and silly to me.

Why is this news? Who gives a @&*(?

Posted by Pansy at 6:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Gas prices suck! $75 to fill up the tank every four days? Now that ain't right!

We now resume the TSM/sci fi Original: "Faithbots..."

Posted by Pansy at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Bill O'Reilly usually annoys the heck out of me, but I thought he made some good points on his show Wednesday night. I made my daughter read this transcript.

The government cannot protect us, part two: that is the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo". Earlier this week, I debated Newt Gingrich about my thesis that self reliance, not reliance on government, is the key to self protection. If you're poor, you're powerless. That's why the poor got smashed in the hurricane zone. Today, syndicated columnist Liz Smith.

Continue reading "The O'Reilly Factor Talking Points-The Government Cannot Protect Us" »

Posted by Pansy at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

and I find the lyrics appropriate:

...Wish the earth wasn't so apocalyptic,
I try to spread my message to the world the best way I can give it,
We can make it always so optimistic,
If you don't listen gotta live my life the best way I can live it,
I pray for justice when we go to court,
Wish it was all good so the country wouldn't have to go to war,
Why can't we kick it and just get em on,
And in the famous words of Mr. King “Why can't we all just get along�,
Or we can find a better way to shop and please, And I
Hope we find a better way to cop a keys, And I
Wish everybody would just stop and freeze,
And ask way are we fulfillin these downfalls and prophecies,
You can be wrong if it's you doubting,
With the faith of a mustard seed you can move mountains,
And only the heavenly father and ease the hurt,
Just let it go and keep prayin on your knees in church!!
And let's HOPE

CHORUS (Cee-Lo) X 2
Cuz I'm hopeful, yes I am, hopeful for today,
Take this music and use it
Let it take you away,
And be hopeful (hopeful) and he'll make a way
I know it ain't easy but that's okay.
Let's be hopeful!

Posted by Pansy at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Pansy at 9:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

WASHINGTON (Sept. 9) - Laura Bush described as "disgusting" comments by rapper Kanye West and Democratic chairman Howard Dean blaming her husband for the disproportionate number of black hurricane victims.

While I am on the topic, what the hell was Kanye thinking anyway?

We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way -- and they've given them permission to go down and shoot us!

George Bush doesn't care about black people!

Posted by Pansy at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The traditional liturgy, almost forgotten since the Church switched to vernacular tongues for its services, is full of reverent rituals and ornate vestments which were put aside as outdated after the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).

But these traditions are making a quiet comeback among a tiny minority of young
Catholics who find the strict Roman rite more sacred and prayerful than the loud
guitars and chatty priests they see in their local parishes.

Thanks to Karen for the article.

Posted by Pansy at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

"To remember Hiroshima is to abhor nuclear war. To remember Hiroshima is to commit oneself to peace."

Posted by Pansy at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In other news, I found a lot to agree with in this Richard Cohen column:

Murderer at the Bedside (WaPo -- marketing questions)

Posted by Peony at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I just read Luther Vandross has passed away. The only article I read about it was on AOL and I cannot find another.

I think his version of Superstar and Dance With My Father are my favorite Luther songs.

Continue reading "Oh no" »

Posted by Pansy at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

In Rome to promote the Italian stage of the international Live 8 concert on July 2, Geldof said he had written to the Pope about his campaign but had only received a photograph of the Pontiff in return.

"I don't want a picture, I want him to come to Edinburgh," Geldof told a news conference. "Benedict has great theologies. For many years he has been singing the songs of the poor. I want him to come and sing with us in Edinburgh."

One: Why are the rich always whining about poverty and doing "benefit" concerts and whatnot so the middle class can donate to "end poverty"? Poverty in and of itself is not a problem. Our Lord chose to be born into poverty. The problems are things like hunger, poor education, lack of jobs or homelessness and not having the freedom to be able to do what is right. If one is poor, but has food a roof and family, are they truly lacking? Maybe I am being cynical and that is what Mr. Geldof and Bono are getting at, but I get annoyed when I see "poverty" being used as a blanket statement of what ails people. Like social justice should be dedicated to everyone having two cars and a pool. Materialism is more the problem. Things like greedy governments that will not properly distribute food, lack of healthcare etc.

Two: Why is the Pope not allowed to choose which charities he wants to schedule to attend and how he would like to endorse them? Why does not attending Mr.Geldof's concert make him some kind of social justice hypocrit?

"Benedict has great theologies. For many years he has been singing the songs of the poor. I want him to come and sing with us in Edinburgh."

I am not sure I would want to attend. Does anyone remember Band-Aid? Gosh, the words to that song were so doofy...and condescending:
There won't be snow in Africa this Christmas time
The greatest gift they get this year is life...
Do they know it's Christmas time at all?
Of course there won't be snow in Africa! Dude, it's like Africa! Granted, the Band-Aid fund raiser was a cute idea and all, and for a worthy cause. But the words...sheesh.

And it was like all these English bands and Kool and the Gang. What was up with that? I have been wondering that for 20 years now. And then Kool and the Gang disappeared... One minute they were so "fresh and exciting", and the next, nothing.

Posted by Pansy at 5:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Have you seen the Dove Campaign For Real Beauty? There is a commercial for soap that has a bunch of women in their underwear (which I am not crazy about) of all shapes, sizes and skin tones. Of the different shapes and sizes there are some pregnant bellies, is one woman with a C-section scar, one woman who likes like, ahem, a size 10 like me.

For too long we have seen women on TV that look like mannequins and not real people. I hope this sparks a new trend. Personally, I am five foot two. I am a mesomorph, I never get skinny. At this point,I could also stand to lose a few pounds (and I am working at it). I have curly hair inclined to frizziness and is a regulation dark brown. I am the opposite of what beautiful mixed people on TV look like-I have very fair skin and very black features (wide nose, full lips) as opposed to the European featured, cocoa woman. Ah, these are gazillion things I wanted to change about myself as a teen. While I know this is far from Hollywood beauty, I look like my mother and father which is honorable. And I look the way God intended me to look. For this reason I have never been big on things like dying hair, changing hair texture chemically, plastic surgery, too much make-up etc.

I am sure every female reading this blog can relate. Maybe not to the same traits, but to the same feeling. If not, I feel real dopey writing this.

I know it is unrealistic to think the modeling industry will be replaced by real people, but to bridge that gap a bit will be nice.

Posted by Pansy at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

I can't believe Carrie won. Blech! I was rooting for (in this order) Scott, Anthony and Constantine. Then Bo.

Posted by Pansy at 8:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

I think it is interesting. On the AOL Welcolme page, the link headline states "Priest Snubs Gay Advocates". Denying the sacrament to people who are clearly against Church teaching is not a "snub". On the contrary, wearing rainbow sashes Mass is more of a snub in my opinion.

Posted by Pansy at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

No, I am not complaining about the new Pope. I am tired of reading about people complaining, speculating what kind of pope he will be, the critiqueing...

One newspaper had interviews with people about what they think a current pope should do. What I thought was funny was there were lots of answers like "he should continue Pope John Paul II's legacy of social justice..." They couldn't complain enough about JPII when he was Pope. But he did the best thing as Pope he could do by stop being Pope I guess. But seriously, Catholics should simply hope that our Pope follows the Holy Spirit's guidance.

Then there are the polls:"79% of Albany Catholics feel this Pope should change the Church's stance on abortion". Why do they never ask me when they do these polls?

When will they understand that the Church is not a political structure, but a dictatorship.

They need new news.

Posted by Pansy at 2:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Monday, May 2, 2005 Page: B5

Kenneth B. Clark, the psychologist and educator whose 1950 report showing the deleterious effect of school segregation influenced the U.S. Supreme Court to hold school segregation to be unconstitutional, died on Sunday at his home in Hastings-on-Hudson, Westchester County, said his daughter, Kate C. Harris. He was 90. Clark was a leader in the civil rights movement that developed after World War II. He was the first black to earn a doctorate in psychology from Columbia University, the first to become a tenured instructor in the city college system of New York and, in 1966, the first black elected to the New York state Board of Regents. He wrote several influential books and articles and used his considerable prestige in academic and professional circles and as a participant on many government bodies and congressional committees to advance the cause of integration. He battled white supremacists and black separatists alike, because he believed that a "racist system inevitably destroys and damages human beings; it brutalizes and dehumanizes them, black and white alike."

Dr. Clark was famous for his experiment where he showed an equal amount of white dolls and black dolls to both black little girls and white little and both chose to play with white dolls. I am not sure what that proves in a country that is predominately white...

Dr. Clark was my great grandmother's (who we called "GG") sister's (Aunt Merrie) son. I don't know what number cousin that is.

Here is an interview with him:

Dr. Kenneth Clark: James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X are, in different ways, symbols and spokesmen for the Negro crying out for his full rights as an American citizen. And now. If one dares to look for the common denominator of such seemingly different forms of Negro protest, one sees in each of these men a dramatic response to America's attempt to deny to its Negro citizens the fulfillment of the American promise...

Posted by Pansy at 6:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I have not addressed this because I did not want to think about it. I feel like I am losing a father.

Link thanks to dinka.

Posted by Pansy at 1:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

I just don't understand how anyone could do this. This world...God won't let us continue to treat our little ones like this much longer.

Posted by Pansy at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Should I beg for an autograph? swoon?

Oh, this was a good one today:

...is it possible that some people in the overculture lack an elemental understanding of what this holiday means to some? I know, I know. Madness. Bear with me.

I don’t think people in the Evil Coastal Godless Baal-Loving Media hate Christianity. I’m sure some hold it in disinterested contempt, the way they view NASCAR and Simplicity dress patterns and those giant salad forks some people inexplicably used as kitchen-wall decorations. But for many – yes, the dreaded inexact “many” – religious ideas don’t register at all, so they don’t know how their actions might seem to those who take the whole God thing seriously....

And the last paragraphs -- mwah! I wuv you, Mister Lilek's!

Posted by Peony at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Cuz I cannot figure out why anyone would get this for their toddler, or why there is such a fashion trend these days.

Thanks to Patty for the link.

Posted by Pansy at 6:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (16) | TrackBacks (0)

Isn't this the kind of thing you do after a president who accomplished great things is dead? Like did Lincoln give himself a speech in his honor at the opening of the Lincoln Memorial? I don't think he would have actually.

Also, the article I read about this on AOL, no one mentions who paid for this.

Clinton's library collection consists of more than 80 million presidential items, and Clinton has promised to give scholars early access to previously private policy advice and other documents he isn't required to release until 2006.

Like what? Cigars? OK, that was low. Here we go:

The Lewinsky matter is covered in an alcove dedicated to the ''politics of persecution.'' The display lumps together Newt Gingrich's ''Contract With America'' and independent counsel Kenneth Starr's Whitewater investigation.

This just seems so weird to me.

Posted by Pansy at 3:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

Given my lousy track record, I should probably stay off this issue. But here I go.

Mark Shea links to this action item from K.Lo at The Corner:

Senator Arlen Specter cannot become the chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee. You can go here to email Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader.

Shea gives this sample letter:

Dear Senator Frist,

After a long and contentious fight to retain the White House and expand our majority in both houses of Congress, I am extremely dismayed by comments made by Senator Specter regarding the President's right to choose his own candidates for the nation's judiciary. After several years of stonewalling on the part of Democrats in the Senate Judiciary Committee, it is incredibly distressing to see a member of the Republican party attempting to block excellent and qualified judges from the bench because of their conservative ideology.

I am a partisan. I will continue to work for our party's success because I believe that we embody the principles that are best for the nation. But make no mistake, conservative members of the Republican party will not continue to support the GOP if a very small minority of our Senators refuse to give a fair hearing to judges who agree with the party platform.

The last election should be a wakeup call to party leadership. The single most important issue to voters was "moral values". The party did a masterful job of getting Evangelical and other Conservative voters to the polls - voters who stayed home in 2000 - largely because of the moral issues facing the nation. It would be disastrous for the party and country if these voters felt betrayed and did not return to the polls in 2006 and 2008.

Renegade judges have been legislating from the bench for decades and have recently accelerated a dangerous experiment in social engineering - whether by redefining marriage, tinkering with the Pledge of Allegiance, or ruling against late term abortion restrictions. The American people recognize this judicial tyranny for what it is, and we look to you and other members of the Senate to put a stop to it.

Senator Specter and Democrats in the Senate say that the President should not nominate candidates with a conservative ideology because they are "outside the mainstream". If that is the case, most of the country must be outside of the mainstream. The vast majority of Americans support some limits on abortion, and clearly Tuesday's results in the states voting on Marriage Amendment should prove that this country will not accept gay marriage as a government supported institution.

In light of all of this, I am writing to you to urge you to take action to remove Senator Specter from the Judiciary Committee. The idea that this man, who won a tough primary fight only with the help of the White House, could be the next Chair of the Judiciary Committee is truly frightening. Please take steps to ensure that he does not aid liberals in continuing to block the President's agenda.

I understand that this move could lead to Mr. Specter defecting to the other side. In reality Senator, he made that defection long ago. Please do what is right and help President Bush and the majority of the American people in seating solid judges, without forcing them to pass a liberal litmus test. As our majority leader, we are counting on you.

Call Senator Frist:
DC office number is 202-224-3344 (fax is 202-228-1264)
Nashville office number is 615-352-9411
Majority Leader office number is 202-224-3135

Posted by Peony at 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (1)

to Florida for delivering a nice comfortable margin for their candidate
to Ohio for coming through for the President -- and with a nice, comfortable margin
and to South Dakota for tossing out Daschle!

Posted by Peony at 5:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Pansy at 1:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Thanks to Curt Jester for the link.

Nothing atypical here.

Posted by Pansy at 11:02 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

That story I blogged about? With the dad and the police?

Mary's Advocates has been updated again:

our 3 year old [child] was taken from me on 9/15 at 4pm

A three-year-old taken away from his mother. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around that one; I know how my three-year-old acts when I've been away just for a couple of hours. I know how bedtime goes if I'm not around.

And wasn't this over homeschooling? So what are they doing taking away a preschooler?

Mary's Advocates has some addresses up, if you're looking for somewhere to send a letter.

UPDATE: This wasn't connected with the homeschooling issue.

Posted by Peony at 6:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

NHL Locks Out Players

Posted by Peony at 5:48 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The Mary's Advocates web page has been updated (scroll down):

The Westlake City Police Officers delivered the message that the divorce judge had just given my husband custody of our four boys because I was continuing to school our sons as they always had been schooled. In January of 2004, the court ordered psychologist decided our method of schooling was not in the boys best interest though millions of children are thriving in the same system. I was warned in January, that the judge would eventually take our children away if I did not agree with their psychologist. I didn't hear the judges exact words because she told my attorney about this pre judgment, off the record, in a secret meeting in which I was not allowed to be present.

My current attorney is and expert in our education method and has asked for a hearing on the matter. We submitted an affidavit stating I only signed the papers in January, because I was coerced and under duress, but the judge won't let me have a hearing. Instead, see what happens to a stay-at-home mom, 16 months after being abandoned by her husband, because she doesn't agree with the court ordered psychologist as to what is in her children's' best interest. The local police didn't have the jurisdiction to forcibly remove our children from home, but my husband may be back again with the County police to do just that.

Don't miss the picture. That's dad -- our favorite divorce plaintiff -- on the left there, in the red shirt.

Thanks to reader Amanda for the heads-up. And a big thanks to all you social geniuses who insisted that divorce was okay for making this possible.

Continue reading "How the courts protect women's rights" »

Posted by Peony at 6:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (0)

I started to "hatch" and become aware of politics and world events when I was around thirteen or fourteen. Ronald Reagan was the President and my dad was stationed at the Pentagon. It was a scary time; the left was telling us all the time that Reagan was a dangerous cowboy, that he was going to lead us into a nuclear war, that we were all going to die and leave nothing but radioactive cinders behind, and that only a nuclear freeze and negotiations with the Russians could save us!

My father is a retired Air Force officer. He was in speechwriting and public affairs, so he was stationed on the words and ideas front during the Cold War -- and he was stationed at the Pentagon during President Reagan's first term. He would sometimes bring home articles from the Pentagon clip service for me to read -- some news articles, some from conservative commentators. He made sure I knew who Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was, and that I knew what Communism really meant. He would occasionally tell me about other Soviet defectors and how they had managed to read between the lines of the goverment propaganda, and realize how cruelly they were being deceived.

He also made sure to call my attention, again and again, to the unacknowledged bias in the mass media, and taught me to always be skeptical of what I saw and read.

So I can't wait to talk with him about Memogate! How delicious!

UPDATE: Kind of like this. He sounds so punchy, doesn't he?

Posted by Peony at 4:08 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Victor!

Posted by Peony at 6:30 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Julia Child dead at age 91.

What a remarkable life!

Erik's tribute is up. I eagerly await his tribute menu.

Whenever leg of lamb's on the menu, I pull out The Way to Cook. I use the mustard rub for the butterflied roast, and use her Scotch Broth recipe for the shank meat and the bones.

Posted by Peony at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The WaPo (registration required) ran this review of Jimmy Breslin's book ignorant screed The Church That Forgot Christ in yesterday's Book World. I am astonished that this review even made it in the paper, given the WaPo's editorial policies, but I'm so tickled to see it. The reviewer, Kenneth Woodward, takes Breslin to school in a most satisfying way:

Ostensibly, this is a book about the clergy abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church. But like everything Breslin writes, it is really about himself. Or rather, it is about him writing a book about clergy abuse. He wants us to know that he has lost faith in the church of his childhood. "I need no person wearing vestments to stand between God and me," he proclaims up front, as if that were the clergy's function. Still, he wants us to believe that writing this book has caused him considerable pain. Having been taught by nuns in grade school to believe everything the church says is true, he now finds he can believe nothing that the pope and the bishops have to say.

Who cares? Breslin has produced an incoherent rant that tells us nothing new about the abuse crisis, much that is demonstrably false and more than anyone would want to know about his loss of a very literal and childish faith...

"We have been ordered that at every liturgical ceremony, we must make a statement against abortion," the unnamed priest replies when questioned by one of Breslin's friends. I've covered the Catholic church for as long as Breslin has been writing, and I don't believe this ever happened. If a priest ever did make such a claim, a serious journalist would investigate whether such a policy existed, not simply tell a story. But there are no footnotes or identifiable sources in this screed, nothing that would suggest that Breslin has done much more than wing it...

The abundant mistakes in this book suggest that Breslin long ago lost touch with the Catholic Church. He complains that the church's anointing of the dying is no longer a sacrament. It still is, only the name has changed, from Extreme Unction to the Sacrament of the Sick and Dying...."

In refuting Breslin, Mr Woodward also brings up some very important points about the roots of the Situation (hint: they aren't celibacy or pedophilia) that don't get enough press.

Posted by Peony at 8:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Another lost New Yorker, it seems.

Posted by Peony at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Tampa Bay Lighting wins Stanley Cup

Posted by Peony at 7:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Good-bye, Mr President.

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Man lives by bread alone, and the ultimate source of bread is the baker’s van: peace matters more than honour and can be preserved by jeering at colonels and reading newspapers. Sometimes I think this phrase is the perfect summary of the last ten to twenty years.

Around here, the Memorial Day remembrances were a timely reminder of the war years, when everyone was acutely conscious of where our bread -- and our vegetables, gasoline, rubber, metal, nylon, and everything else -- came from. These days, my garden is a hobby. Sixty years ago, it would have been a Victory Garden.

Posted by Peony at 2:11 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Ella Gunderson became frustrated trying to find something fashionable — yet modest — in a world where she seems to be surrounded by low-riding jeans and tight, revealing tops. So she penned a letter.

"Dear Nordstrom," she wrote. "I am an eleven-year-old girl who has tried shopping at your store for clothes (in particular jeans), but all of them ride way under my hips, and the next size up is too big and falls down...."

....Two Nordstrom executives wrote back, promising the Redmond girl the company would try to educate both its purchasing managers and salespeople on the range of fashion choices that should be available to young people. (link)

Go Ella! I have a theory that retailers are not always very smart, and they need us to spell things out for them. It's not enough to roll your eyes and walk out of the store; they're just going to just the clothes even skimpier unless we clue them in.

Because they haven't gotten the clue yet:

"If modesty is what she is looking for, it's going to come full force in the fall," said Gigi Solis Schanen, the New York-based fashion editor for Seventeen magazine.

"The '50s sexy-librarian look is in."

...Annie Sparrow, owner of Seattle women's boutique Tulip and a trend watcher, said women in their 20s and 30s are also tiring of the skimpy look.

"People are saying 'I am a woman, I've had babies and I have hips. I can't go around showing my booty to everyone on the streets,' " Sparrow said."

Hello, fashion industry, your clue phone is ringing.... The point is not that girls like Ella want to look like a "sexy librarian" instead of a sexy pop singer. The point is that they don't want to look overtly sexy. Ms Sparrow, the point of modesty is not to conceal a "less that perfect" body -- there are girls and women with fashion-perfect figures who want to cover up too.

Posted by Peony at 6:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Yes, this is the Navy Hymn, but surely our gentlemen of the Navy will not object if I give the verses for all our services....

The melody ("Melita") can be heard here. Get an mp3 of this hymn sung by the Navy Sea Chanters here.

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who biddest the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Christ, the Lord of hill and plain
O'er which our traffic runs amain,
by mountain pass or valley low,
Wherever Lord thy brethren go;
Protect them by Thy guardian hand
From every peril on the land.

Lord, guard and guide the men who fly
Though the great spaces in the sky.
Be with them always in the air,
In darkening storms or sunlight fair;
Oh, hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air!

Eternal Father, Lord of hosts,
Watch over the men who guard our coasts.
Protect them from the raging seas
And give them light and life and peace.
Grant them from Thy great throne above
The shield and shelter of Thy love.

Eternal Father, grant, we pray,
To all Marines, both night and day,
The courage, honor, strength, and skill
Their land to serve, thy law fulfill;
Be thou the shield forevermore
From every peril to the Corps.

O Trinity of love and power!
Our family shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect us wheresoever we go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

Lord, guard and guide the men who fly
And those who on the ocean ply;
Be with our troops upon the land,
And all who for their country stand:
Be with these guardians day and night
And may their trust be in they might.

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Posted by Pansy at 1:11 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I have refrained from commenting on politics in regards to the war and partisan politics in this blog for many reasons. The biggest is that I never feel like I have all the facts. My gut always tells me that the info that gets filtered down through the media is half truths, or has some spin on it, so I like to reserve my judgements. Also, my comments here, after I felt I did not get all the information would only go to stir people up for no reason.

With that said, I am not sure this is even a political comment as much as a comment on the current events in general. I have a lot more to say as far as my own thoughts politically, but I will keep them to myself.

I was listening to Michael Savage last night. Very often he makes comments I whole heartedly agree with. Yet for every agreement, he says something that rubs me the wrong way, which does not put him on my favourite people list. He was playing sound clips of people commenting on the murder of Nick Berg, but in the middle of it he played the "soundtrack" if you will of Nick Berg's beheading. I instantly broke into hysterical tears had nightmares all night.

This whole event has made me sick to my stomach. First the grim pictures of the US soldiers abuse in the Iraqi prisons, which was plastered on every newspaper cover. Not only was that upsetting enough, but the way the media used to it spin anti-Bush sentiments was just horrible and tiresome. It's like it was too much to deal with the issue and we couldn't just get facts, but everyone's opinion about why Bush is horrible on top of that. Please give me enough credit to form my own opinion.
On top of that, I was horrified enough to read the description of what happened,
I didn't need to see no pictures! I had to hide the newspapers from my kids-they didn't need to see that either. Why did we need to see that?

Now this poor guy-I can't imagine how scared he must have been. Things are a mess these people are crazy. They did this in the name of God?

I am becoming very afraid of what the future holds because I think we are seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Sorry, I had to vent a bit after my restless night.

Posted by Pansy at 6:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

This is very telling:

Assemblyman John J. McEneny is a Catholic who supports some abortion rights. The Albany Democrat said he backs Hubbard's decision not to go down "the slippery slope of becoming judge and jury."

"I don't see priests making a judgment on the conscience of a person," McEneny said. "Are they voting for a pro-choice bill because they want to kill unborn babies? Or is it because they want to prevent back-alley abortions?"

Posted by Pansy at 7:08 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Or is that -- a time-traveling antipope? My husband showed me this evening that Mr Shields has bestowed the red hat on "Cardinal" Joseph Francis Rummel. The time-traveling part comes from naming him a prince of the Church retroactively, since the good Archbishop (who was never made a Cardinal by any of the generally acknowledged popes) fell asleep in the Lord in 1964.

Of course, it is nothing for a time-traveling antipope to give the late Joseph Cardinal Bernadin an extra "e" on his name. I see that Francis Cardinal Arinze (or, as Shields styles him, "Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze") has at least been promoted to "a major Vatican official."

So what did Shields take for his antipapal name? Maybe he's Pius XXIII!

I wish Mr Shields would avail himself of the Catholic Almanac, which is even available on-line. It would be so much less distracting. He does make a couple of good points in his article about the hypocrisy of those who criticize church leaders for disciplining pro-abortion Catholic pols while praising church leaders who take positions they like (such as the late Archbishop, who excommunicated two segregationist leaders.) Of course, Shields goes on to repeat the tired old slander that pro-lifers don't care about people who are actually born, urging them to heed "the wise counsel of Cardinal Bernadine [sic], who reminded those who emphasize political opposition to abortion to the exclusion of all other social justice issues that to believe that life begins at conception does not mean that it -- or our serious responsibilities -- politically end [sic] at birth." But then, if Mr Shields doesn't know who his own bishop is, perhaps it is asking too much for him to be in aware of the activities of his co-religionists active in the pro-life movement. Why should he? After all, they're not mentioned in the DNC press releases.

Posted by Peony at 7:44 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Did anyone else see Mark Shields spinning away last night on the Lehrer NewsHour?

Every Friday, Shields and David Brooks do a little back-and-forth on a current issues, and last night they were chattering about Kerry. I wasn't paying too much attention until the very end, when the host brought up Cardinal Arinze's comments about pro-abortion politicians.

He asked Shields, "Didn't the Church just say that pro-abortion politicians shouldn't be given Communion?"

Shields sputtered and said quickly, in almost these exact words, Well, that wasn't the Church, that was a Nigerian cardinal. And I know that Kerry met with Cardinal McCarrick, the Archbishop of Baltimore.....

A little background -- Mr Shields is a pundit who writes on current events and on the political scene. He is also one of those self-proclaimed Catholics of a certain generation that somehow always manages to defend whatever the Democrat in question is doing. If you pressed him, I'm sure he would be quick to say something like, but of course I'm Catholic! I'm Irish, aren't I? I was an altar boy! Mr Shields lives in Washington, DC, and is involved in Catholic life to some degree; he's said to be a parishioner at a parish in Northwest DC, and my husband once saw him buying medals at the Shrine.

So what's with not knowing that Cardinal McCarrick is the Cardinal Archbishop of Washington, not Baltimore? Baltimore has her own Cardinal Archbishop! It's true that the Archdiocese of Washington was spun off from Baltimore, but that was in the 1940's, so it's not exactly recent news.

And what's with this dismissive that was a Nigerian cardinal? Does Mr Shields seriously not know who Francis Cardinal Arinze is? Does he not understand that the Cardinal is not just some random prelate shooting off his mouth -- that he is the Prefect of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments -- a member of the Curia? Is Mr Shields really just that out of touch?

Or is he really being that disingenuous?

Either way, it was not an edifying display (particularly that line about the Nigerian cardinal, which to me came across as patronizing and parochial -- at best.) If Mr Shields wants to shill for Democrats, that's his business, but if he wants to represent himself as a knowledgable commentator on Catholic affairs, it's time to get up to speed. And it's time for the Lehrer NewsHour to find a better Catholic talking head.

UPDATE: Mark the Vociferous Yawper found and posted the transcript. An excerpt:

MARK SHIELDS: It was not the Catholic Church. It was Cardinal Arinze, who is a Nigerian cardinal and said it in a press questioning. There is a question here of whether the Holy Eucharist Communion will be used as a political football. Cardinal McCarrick, the cardinal archbishop of Baltimore [sic] right now has been meeting, trying to come up with some sort of a prudential decision on this.

Posted by Peony at 9:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (1)

there was an editorial by Ellen Goodman about how it is important to Catholics to vote following Catholic teaching-and somehow this is wrong:

Keep eye on Washington, not Communion

First published: Saturday, April 17, 2004
BOSTON -- What next? Will we have a political reporter to cover John Forbes Kerry at each Sunday Mass from now to November? Will there be a Holy Communion beat? A wafer watch?

You know, the things she is whining about are really none of her business. I was rather flabergasted because I would never tell someone they were wrong to vote along with their religious and moral conscience.

The second was John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who addressed the anti-Catholic prejudice in a campaign speech in 1960 when he said famously, "I do not speak for my church on public matters and the church does not speak for me."
Back then, most Catholics were relieved to break down the stereotypes about them as people who followed orders from Rome and weren't allowed to think for themselves.

Posted by Pansy at 3:43 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Madonna: Friday Gigs Are Against My Religion
Deeply religious superstar Madonna will play no Friday night gigs on her upcoming world tour - because the teaching of the Kabbalah forbids it. The "Holiday" hitmaker has pledged to respect the Jewish practice of Shabbat, the religion's sabbath, by dining with her close family every Friday rather than working. And Madonna, who is married to British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, hopes her move with convince the world she is very serious about the mystical teachings of the Kabbalah. A source says, "This shows just how much Madonna is influenced by Kabbalah. She is completely focused on following her beliefs no matter what lengths she has to go to."

Why does Madonna need to "convince the world" how serious she is about Kabbalah? How can anyone be serious about Kabbalah anyway?

Posted by Pansy at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

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Bettnet blogs about Fr. Minkler's death being ruled a suicide-sort of.
Here is an article from The Wanderer about some of the events that happened prior to Fr. Minkler's death.

I am tired of living in a "strange things going on" diocese. I want to live in a normal diocese with lots of pretty Churches and less folk music and manly priests with lots of places to go to Adoration.

Posted by Pansy at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, I cannot complain. It's not like I was in Atlantic City trying my hand at winning millions.

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Lileks has a great Bleat today on Kerry's appearance on MTV. Good comments on being a grown-up and giving grown-up answers; a great zinger on the generation gap between people like Kerry, who think that all of American history was preparation for -- and then commentary on -- the sixties and early seventies, and people of my generation and older, who just associate that time period with riots and ugly clothes and a bunch of pop music stars who are going to be eligible for Medicare soon.

Posted by Peony at 2:51 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would make it a separate federal crime to kill or injure a fetus during an attack on a pregnant woman. Democrats on the panel called the legislation a thinly veiled attempt to erode abortion rights.

Oh for crying out loud, why do they whine so much? Even the ones who "chose" to have a child, would they not feel heartbroken if they lost a child in such a heinous manner?

But Democrats and abortion rights groups said the real motive was to establish "fetal personhood" (search) by giving separate federal protection to a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus. "This is part of a larger cultural war that is going on," said Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, top Democrat on the committee.

Am I the only one who thinks they sound silly? They have their "rights", abortion is legal, but they will not stop until we lose every sense of humanity we still may have surrounding the unborn.

Posted by Pansy at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Tastemakers To the Masses:
Martha May Be Our Era's William Morris (WaPo; registration)

Posted by Peony at 7:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Yahoo! News - Report Says Medicare to Go Broke by 2019

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MADRID, Spain — More than 170 were killed and 600 wounded Thursday after powerful explosions rocked three Madrid train stations just three days before Spain's general elections.

No word yet at Sanctificarnos from Jesus -- I hope he's okay.

Right now the attack is being blamed on Basqe separatists, but Al Quaida involvement has not been ruled out.

Posted by Peony at 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I cease to understand how can someone think of something this dumb and think it is a good idea, but that there are other morons who agree.

Posted by Pansy at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Again, I am not jumping on a bandwagon to bash my Bishop-at least not in this case. He says he is innocent, and I will back that (like my opinion means anything if I did not). We know it is not uncommon for people to use situations like this for whatever reason in their own agenda. I also have some other thoughts I will keep to myself.

Yesterday I had the privilegde to listen to a local radio talk show host personality whining about how they could do this to "his Church" and "ecclesiastically rape him" for an hour as we sat in the car taking the kids to their bowling league. He presented the question "call in and tell me what you think, should priests get married?" Like a Dodo, I called in.

"Pansy calling from her cell..."

"Hello Mr. Martin. I am calling regarding the question 'If priests should marry?' No."

"Well. why don't you think they should marry?"

"My father is clergy, and it is very hard on the family. There is so much to do and be done, and he does not nerely have all thre responsibilities of a priest. It would be too hard, either the Church or the family would suffer."

"Your father is a priest?"

"No, sir a deacon."

"A deacon? What faith is that?"

"Roman Catholic, Sir"

"St. Peter was married and that's good enough for me. Anglican priests are married and their families do not whine that they feel neglected."

"I am not sure 'neglected ' is the term-"

"Let me talk! In the early Church, they stopped priests from getting married so they could not pass land on to their families and so they could control the priests. What other reason could you possibly have tpo believe priests should npot get married?"

"Because a priest stands in for Christ who is the Bridegroom of the Church-"

"THESE PRIESTS THAT ABUSE LITTLE CHILDREN ARE EVIL! EVIL! A PRIEST CANNOT GET UP AND PREACH HOW TO ACT RIGHT AND PERPETRATE THESE CRIMES-"

"Well of course their actions are evil-"

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU OR YOUR EXPLANATIONS ANYMORE! THE CHURCH IS EVIL >click< BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!"

This is actually the typical Albany Catholic, and ofr a moment I forgot before I called that this was about Church bashing because he talked about how he was a reader at his parish, the local Catholic High School his son attends, his son's confirmation last year. Any time you talk Church anything. be it the sex abuse allegations, or a simple Parish Council meeting, all it is is a frenzy about how the Church is horrible, it needs to change. Why do people bother calling themselves Catholic? Oh well.

In the meantime, someone on the homeschool email list sent an email stating that the Bishop has a letter to be read in graphic detail (i.e. cover your children's ears) denying the allegations. Why can't you ever just go to Mass in this diocese? The driveway might be closed anyway...
Update: I thought the letter was not that bad graphically, and was timely. It also set my mind at ease. The fact that we must hear about "sexual abuse" from the pulpit more and more probably has more to do with the times than just the fault of the Bishop.

Posted by Pansy at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I have no opinion, well maybe a small one about the truth to these allegations. Either way, the ramifications are quite scary.

Posted by Pansy at 6:08 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Heard a John Kerry speech today: ended with "Purple Haze", I think. As a Hendrix tune for the campaign, it's better than "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire," which would be the most inapt Kerry tune imaginable. He has no fire. He wouldn't catch fire if you doused him in kerosene and shot Roman Candle balls at him. He's a sopping-wet asbestos poncho. But it was the 60s music that made me shudder. It appears that in the middle of the new war we're going to revisit the most important war ever, Vietnam.

God no. Please no. I think I speak for millions when I say that I am deathly sick of the counterculture sixties. The music, the war, the protests, all the hagiography - it's not a reflection of the era's importance but the self-importance of the generation who hung on the bus as it trundled along down the same old rutted road of history.. I'm tired of hearing about the boomers' days of whine and neuroses; I'm weary of ritual genuflection to their musical icons; I'm utterly disinterested in most of the pop-cult trivia they hold so dear. We'll probably be better off when that demographic pig has been excreted from the python so we can see the era clearly without choking on the smoke.

Read the rest here.

Posted by Peony at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

...are being announced as I write. Pirates of the Carribbean was entertaining enough, but Johnny Depp getting a nomination for Best Actor out of it?

ROTK is nominated for Best Picture, along with Master and Commander, Seabiscuit, Lost in Translation, and Mystic River.

Posted by Peony at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

The local news is all a-buzz with this possibility.

Posted by Peony at 8:37 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

WaPo requests some marketing information to read their links.

I must also warn you that these two articles may induce severe eye-rolling, so read at your own risk.

A Church Away from Church, on home altars:

"Organized religion . . . gives you the recipe for God, but it overlooks the kitchen and the tools, the onions and the garlic," she said.

In addition to her pantheon of divine females, Lacerda's altar includes candles, incense and a bowl of sand lined with dimes. The sand is from Hawaii and was consecrated by a Native American spiritual leader, she said. As for the dimes, she calls them "my 10-cent miracles" -- coins that fate has dropped in her path at key moments since she immigrated to the United States as a teenager. One of them washed up on a beach at her feet while she was praying.

Sometimes she adds flowers, a rock or a feather to her altar.

"God can be a very personal aspect of who you are every moment," said Lacerda, who lives near Ellicott City. "An altar is a response to that."

By contrast, altars in churches are impersonal, she said: "The altar is for the priests. It's not for you."

Of the four people who were profiled with their home altars for this article, only one, a Buddhist born in Tibet (a real Buddhist, not a fake Hollywood Buddhist) is really working within a faith tradition. The other three were all fallen-away Catholics (though one had returned to Pentecostal Christianity), all doing some kind "do-it-yourself" spirituality (I mean, really, are home altars that common among Pentecostals?)

An Orthodox theologian got a couple of quotes, but no practicing Catholics (Eastern or Western) or Orthodox were profiled for this article. The article does suggest that some Mexican Catholics are recovering their tradition of home altars, but patronizingly treats that trend as an expression of ethnic pride, not as an expression of Christian belief. As is usual for the WaPo, Christians who practice Christian traditions out of actual belief in Christ are not worthy of mention. They just don't seem to understand religion as anything other than a consumer choice or a political statement.

Now for number 2:

Partway Gay? For Some Teen Girls, Sexual Preference Is A Shifting Concept

Social scientists say that 5 percent to 7 percent of young people are gay or lesbian, and that teenagers are starting at younger ages to have same-sex sexual experiences: 13 for boys, 15 for girls.

But those figures don't begin to tell the full story about today's girls because girls, more often than boys, experiment with their sexuality and resist being placed in any particular group.

Chanda Harris, a junior at High Road Upper School in Beltsville, is one of these girls. She's standing outside Union Station on a cold Friday night, waiting for her girlfriend and holding three giant helium balloons in celebration of her friend's birthday.

The girls around her from various high schools -- Bladensburg in Maryland, Anacostia, Ballou, Cardozo and Coolidge in the District -- converge to hear what she has to say.

She started going out with girls when she was 14, following a breakup with her boyfriend.

"At first I thought going out with a girl was nasty," she says. "Then I went to a club and did a big flip-flop. I've been off and on with girls and guys since then."

So are we daring to suggest that not all people who identify themselves as gay were "born that way?" Could it be that there is an element of choice in our sexual behavior? And that perhaps teenagers' sexuality can be... influenced by what they see on the media, who they come in contact with, and what they are presented with as "normal"?

Meanwhile, this article on teen Sapphism ran with a huge photo on page 1 of the Style section. I suppose I will have to redact the newspaper before Hambet reads it, or else read it with him, when he gets old enough to care about anything but the funny papers. But I already know I will have to censor those too.

Posted by Peony at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

or at least express them in a more appropriate forum. See, I hate it when I hear anti-Catholic comments from celebrities whose talents I have enjoyed because then I simply have to stop liking them. I always thought Lauryn Hill was so talented and pretty and now I find her annoying. This is so sad because this is a woman (like Whoopi Goldberg) got her career started and made lots of money off of the Catholic Church.

Posted by Pansy at 8:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

and tuned in just in time to hear the news.

Posted by Peony at 8:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I am not sure what the situation is here, but the thing I cannot understand (molestation allegations aside) is why any parent in there right mind would let their children hang out with this guy after that bizarro interview last winter.

Posted by Pansy at 6:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Over at Catholic Light, RC links to this article by Stanley Kurtz about the implications of the Supreme Court of Massacussetts (SCoM): get ready for polygamy!

Thank you, feminists and other '60's radicals, for working for a society where women would no longer be treated like property! No more of those wicked days -- we've made progress! We have dignity! Now we're treated like.... rentals!

Posted by Peony at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Do You Know Where Your Children Are?
Most likely, they're watching PG-13 movies. Those would be the ones with the foul language, oral-sex references and torture scenes.... (WaPo; marketing questions)

An interesting and disturbing article about "ratings creep", exacerbated by the introduction of the PG-13 movie rating (and ultimately made possible by parental inattention and laxity.) Thank you, Hollywood, for serving up incredible filth to teens and younger, all in the name of greed.

Case in point: the new Cat in the Hat movie (which looks awful to me.) This movie is based on a book beloved of preschoolers and beginning readers -- and is rated PG. Couldn't Hollywood show a little restraint (and a little consideration for the parents of young children who might want to see the movie?)

Ugh. I can't write more about Hollywood and the laughable ratings system without resorting to invective.

Posted by Peony at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

This is kind of an interesting saga. When we lived in NJ, we lived not too far from "The Tiger Lady". My husband was required to deliver to her on occasion and noted she had an assortment of what seemed like wild (acting) dogs and tigers.

When the first tiger escaped, it was thought it escaped from the Wild Safari at Great Adventure. Later everyone found out it was from the Tiger Lady. Imagine, two places that house tigers in Central NJ-who woulda thunk?

The escaped tiger precipitated discussions on the requirements for exotic pets. I think Central NJ borders on an almost surreal place to live because we had escaped tigers and in a house around the corner they had a pet wolf they would bring for walks on a huge chain.

Posted by Pansy at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Mark Shea highlights some of the current articles who state is was "unconstitutional" for the Governor, or anyone to intervene in allowing Terri to starve to death. OK, no matter what you think about the immoral "Right to Die" stance, in my opinion, it is stupid that anyone should starve to death in American today. It is despicable to force someone to starve to death. Even if it were Terri's last wish (yeah right) like her husband claimed to "die with dignity", the law has a right to jump in and say "well, tough cookies, people are not put to death from starvation on this country."

What kind of society are we coming to where this can be justified?

OK, I have to find something lighthearted and meaningless to blog about. I am disgusted about the attitude I am reading and am even reading Catholics who support this. My gag reflex needs to calm down.

Posted by Pansy at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Maybe he could resign as guardian, Terri's parents take up the guardianship, they get Terri into rehab, and then sue him for the rehab money that got spent on lawyers. How delicious!

With a spoon!

Posted by Pansy at 10:48 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I got this in the from of an email from a list I am on, and I cannot speak for the veracity of a forwarded email, I am sure extra prayers never hurt.

Lord have mercy...
Please protect Terri.
St. Michael the Archangel protect us in battle...

While many have heard that Terri Schiavo's feeding tube has been re-inserted, her life is in eminent danger. Michael Schiavo is still her legal guardian. The would-be murderer is responsible for guarding his own victim! In addition when Terri was moved from hospice, he immediately blocked visitation rights at the hospital for her parents, siblings and family priest - the only source of Terri's comfort, love and joy. An emergency motion ordered visitation restored for the family but it was not received in the attorney's offices until 5:15PM today. By the time the family was able to get down to the hospital, her husband had removed her from the hospital and taken to an "undisclosed location" - we are told perhaps back to hospice.

In any case, the family has not been informed - they do not know her medical condition or whether the feeding tube has been reinstated or not. An IV was inserted at approximately 9:30 last night. This is a woman starved for 7 days with no food or water yet Michael has the audacity to remove her from the hospital care!

It is an outrage that Michael Schiavo and his attorney feel they can spit in the face of the governor, the Fl House and Senate - and trample Terri's rights with absolutely no regard for her health, happines or wishes.

Complaints have been filed through the Department of Health and Human Services yet nothing is being done to protect Terri from physical harm or to assure her rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Please take a moment and file your complaint with the Office of Civil Rights. Click here for the form: Discrimination Complaint Form or go to: http://hhs.gov/ocr/discrimhowtofile.html
You can also file your complaint by email at OCRcomplaint@hhs.gov or call the District Office in Atlanta: Roosevelt Freeman, 404 562-7886. Tell them to immediately act and remove her care/custody from Michael.

In addition, please contact your US Congressman and ask him to investigate why the Department of Justice is not protecting Terri's civil rights as a disabled American and further request that the Department of Health and Human Services Civil Rights Office act at once to protect her.

Go to our website to read the formal letters of complaint filed by Children of God for Life, the family and medical personnel through Delegate Robert Marshall with Attorney General Ashcroft, the House Judiciary Committee and President Bush, asking for immediate federal intervention. You should read the facts to help explain the problem to your Congressmen. www.cogforlife.org/schiavo.htm

We will keep the site updated daily with new developments until Terri is safe and her rights guaranteed by the US Constitution and the State of Florida are upheld!
God bless,
Debi Vinnedge, Executive Director
Children of God for LIfe

Pete Vere has better details.... This seriously just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

Posted by Pansy at 7:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

... between the ages of 18 and 62 who is not legally disabled will have to meet the new regulations. People enrolled in college or job-training programs would be exempt...

Jacqueline Gonzalez, who lives in Troy's Griswold Heights apartments, said she won't leave her 8-month-old to perform community service. The mother of three said she won't leave a child with a baby sitter until he or she is old enough to tell her if anything bad happens in her absence.

"If I had a baby sitter, I'd be out there working," she said. "My whole family is in New York City. ... I am not going unless they are ready to provide child care for my kids."...

So what does Pansy Moss think?

It is dumb to make residents put children in daycare or with a sitter to do things for example, volunteer at a hospital. I mean, if the idea is to "pay" for public housing, well, much public housing is substandard to begin with. Volunteer/community service should be done in the neighborhood and the complex. Perhaps repairs, gardens, something that will directly benefit the residents and not leave mothers looking for baby sitters. This will do more to help "pay" for the cost of living in their residence, in my opinion.

One of the things I cannot stand about the ghetto is what makes the ghetto a ghetto is not the economic level of the people, but the lack of pride in themselves and their surroundings. One does not have to be economically upper class to have class (nor does having money automatically mean someone carries themselves with class either). While economics is clearly a factor, there are many people who earn small incomes who sweep their walkways, clean up there areas, bathe their children and recycle their cans. I often wish people realised they are worth more regardless of where they live or how much they make.

One thing I also have no understanding about when it comes to issues such as these is many of these public housing residents are single Moms and their children. To those of us enlightened pro-lifers, it is no secret that Planned Parenthood targets lower income minority communities, yet the results of contraception and abortion campaigns are usually single parent homes. On the, average, single parent families earn a lot less income than traditional families making it necessary to use social services. After many programs such a PP encourage single families, these families are punished for trying to survive. This makes no sense to me, but what do I know?

Posted by Pansy at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Details here, at Thrown Back.

Posted by Peony at 8:44 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

PRESS RELEASE

Special Session Called in State Legislature
Speaker of the House, Johnnie Byrd to introduce “Terri’s Bill”

Clearwater, FL October 19, 2003: The Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, has called a special session of the Florida Legislature for Monday, October 20, 2003. At that time, Florida’s Speaker of the House will introduce “Terri’s Bill”. By Florida law, two thirds majority vote are required to have a topic entered.

Volunteers with the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation have learned that Senate President, Jim King is against this bill.

The Bill would put an immediate moratorium on all dehydration and starvation deaths currently pending in Florida.

We have come to a time when the merchants of death have created a constitutional crisis and a justice gridlock, while the rightful life of Florida’s disabled and vulnerable citizens tragically hang on Terri Schindler-Schiavo’s court ordered dehydration and starvation death.

Posted by Pansy at 1:52 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Pansy at 7:23 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Five different lawyers and legal entities have submitted suggestions to Governor Jeb Bush on actions he can take to save Terri Schiavo.

Read more here.

May I add a few more? such as impeaching Judge Greer? calling out the National Guard? How about charging Michael Schiavo with contempt of court for spending the rehab money on lawyers? Investigating the hospice for fraud?

Thanks to the Mighty Barrister and JS Kern, commenting at Apologia, for the links.

Posted by Peony at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I was up feeling ill last night thinking about how horrible it must be for poor Terri right now. It takes 7-10 days to starve to death. I was up anyway giving Gorbulas nebulizer treatments because he has a cold and is quite wheezy. But this was on the forefront my mind. I still do not understand any of this. Where is the feminist movement to back up a woman being mistreated by her husband and our current institutions?

When I went to sleep, I dreamt that I met up with Peony, and we did this covert operation thing and rescued Terri. (Peony was wearing a long black trench coat in my dream.) I hope our prayer efforts are more effective.

Posted by Pansy at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

From the Terri's Fight mailing list:

Terri Schindler-Schiavo, age 39, will have her feeding tube removed at 2PM on Wednesday, October 15, unless Governor Jeb Bush is persuaded to intervene.

On Monday, October 13, at 12 noon, Terri’s family and friends will begin a 24-hour-a-day vigil outside the Woodside Hospice where Terri lives. Hospice Woodside is located at 6774 102nd Avenue N. (near 66th Street N and 102nd Avenue N) in Pinellas Park, Florida. The vigil will continue until Terri is rescued by Governor Bush, or killed.

Terri’s family asks that you please come to the vigil as we call on Governor Jeb Bush to save her life. Your presence is welcome for any length of time, day or night.

-------------------------------------------

October 13, 2003 Statement from the parents of Terri Schindler-Schiavo--Bob & Mary Schindler:

We love our daughter very much and we want her home. Over the last 13 years, Terri has laughed with us, cried with us, talked with us, and even tried to get out of her chair. The accusations that Terri is in a coma or is a "vegetable" are a lie.

We beg Michael Schiavo, and those working with him to end our daughter’s life, to let her come home to her family. We will sign any agreement you want, giving you all monies related to Terri’s collapse and any insurance money that may be forthcoming. You take the money. We just want our daughter.

-------------------------------------------

The family especially invites you to be at the vigil in front of the Woodside Hospice for press conferences scheduled for:

Monday, October 13, at noon
Tuesday, October 14, at noon, and
Wednesday, October 15, at 2PM

**For those who live in the Tallahassee area; if you could attend a vigil in front of the Governor’s Mansion please contact us immediately.

Posted by Peony at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Albany -- Board delays raising the passing grade on required exams for two years, will modify controversial math test; education chief says moves aimed at helping students succeed

Posted by Pansy at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Gerard Serafin posts a picture of the Holy Father at Pompeii.

A blessed feast of Our Lady of the Rosary to all.

Posted by Peony at 3:13 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

My daughter, husband and I were flipping through the channels last night. We stopped at a woman performing a song and playing the guitar. At first we could not figure if it was a man or a woman, but she sounded like a woman. Then I pointed out to my husband "no, it's a woman; she is a lesbian..." and I whispered the word "lesbian". My daughter, to my surprise, said "oh, she is?" and my husband said "Yes because she is wearing a rainbow shirt."

I do not know what it means that my homeschooled ten year old is not unfamiliar with the idea of homosexuals being on television, or in life in general. She knows our philosophy on the practice of homosexuality (it is wrong), yet it is something that is not surprising to her, and may even become "common."She does not understand the entire practice, by the way, except for a man choosing a boyfriend or a girl choosing a girlfriend. Truthfully, the concern is not so much for my children, but just for our society as a whole when any type of deviant behaviour becomes common. At what level to we stop lowering our standards for right behaviour or wrong behaviour?

Posted by Pansy at 1:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

'Madison' splashes into baby-name scene

Posted by Peony at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (0)

Eric Johnson and Bryan Baldwin, of Catholic Light, seems to think so. And I agree.

There are many professions that require higher education, but as Eric points out in his comments box, it seems like students are required to jump through unnecessary hoops to get that preparation. If those hoops were part of a solid, liberal arts education that would be great (wouldn't it be great if lawyers, doctors, and nurses had some solid background in philosophy, ethics, history, theology, and literature?) But not many colleges and universities pay more than lip service to the liberal arts any more.

Posted by Peony at 9:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Check out the latest developments on the Terri Schiavo case!

There are two letters, from Bishops Paul Loverde of Arlington and Raymond J. Burke of LaCrosse, reiterating Catholic teaching on this issue:

"The inherent worth of the life of Theresa Schiavo obligates all concerned to provide her with care and support and to reject any omission of nutrition and hydration intended to cause her death." --Bishop Paul S. Loverde

The site has also posted the latest documents from the Federal court hearing the case. Judge Lazarra has ordered transcripts of Michael Schiavo's testimony from the 1992 Medical Malpractice suit, Mr. Schiavo's rehabilitation experts at the same trial, and testimony from the September 15th hearing. (Adobe Acrobat needed to view.) He has also set October 10th as the date to consider the Schindlers' case that Terri's constitutional rights are being violated, and to consider guardianship issues.

I hope Cacciaguida and the Mighty Barrister will consider blogging a little more on this legal stuff. Does this mean that Governor Bush's administration has the opportunity to intervene on Terri's behalf? (or to intervene by not defending the Florida law?) Meanwhile, we can start another novena on October 1 -- the feast of St Therese -- or OCtober 2 -- the feast of the Guardian Angels....

Posted by Peony at 10:06 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (1)

The storm swung well to the west of us, so we didn't catch it as hard as some people did. Everything in the yard survived (including my tomatoes on their little bamboo frames!) We have power and water, and the water is in the taps and not in the basement.

Virginia took it on the chin, though, all over the state, and at this writing, Fairfax County -- home to many in St Blogs, including several of the Catholic Light crowd and Davey's mommy and daddy -- doesn't have clean water. Not sure which side of the county line KTC lives on, but either way she got a good taste of Isabel, too....

Posted by Peony at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The Mighty Barrister has posted a prayer we all should join in for Terri Schiavo.

Posted by Pansy at 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

We do not live close to the Potomac or even Rock Creek, so I can't see the water rising. But I do see the rain getting heavier and the wind kicking up. I just looked at the latest map and it looks like Virginia's going to bear the brunt of this storm.

We have been having a complete play day here. My husband stayed home, and Hambet is enjoying having Daddy around. I put some chili in the slow cooker this morning; I'm gambling that we'll have power long enough for our dinner to finish cooking!

Posted by Peony at 3:39 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Looks like Isabel could be arriving in the Washington area on Thursday evening -- just in time for rush hour, too! Another Isabel link.

So it looks like I'll be shopping today for batteries, bottled water, and canned goods. I have never been directly in the path of a hurricane, so I'm not sure what else to do.

Looks like our Floridians are going to get a pass on Isabel (at least on a direct hit.) Are there any St Bloggers in the Carolinas?

Posted by Peony at 8:01 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Actor John Ritter Dies at Age 54

Good thing Davey and Hambet are little enough so that Davey's mommy and I won't have any explaining to do about what this means for Clifford the Big Red Dog (Ritter played Clifford's voice on the TV show.)

Pansy insisted that I also note Ritter's appearance in the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which he played Ted, an evil robot who sought Buffy's mother's hand in marriage. Pansy: "That role is what endeared John Ritter to me."

Posted by Peony at 8:09 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

"He violated the law of stupidity if nothing else," Hill said.

Posted by Pansy at 11:10 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

....you start to wonder about the problem with domestic violence in this country. This also on the curtails of the whole "wifely submission" thread at El Camino Real and of course the whole Terri Schiavo case.

I am a little dismayed lately because in what I have seen in real life, bad relationships, domestic violence (in at least the form of emotional abuse, if not physical) is more common than finding a good man who will love you the way Christ loves His . Many people relate to each other using manipulation rather than love. It may seem way off, but off the top of my head I can say "why not"? Much of my generation was raised in daycare centers as babies, birth control and abortion has reduced relationships to nothing more than self-gratification. It's all right there in plain black and white to me.

The Church (traditionally) tells us great deal about what is needed for a strong marriage. But what can the Church offer for relationships in crisis? There is a common attitude that a woman who is being abused must leave, end of story. What about the man (or woman) who abuses? Do we just let them abandon one family to start another to abuse again? Fact is, with all the propaganda about awareness, there is not much a woman can do to leave.

Each year, medical expenses from domestic violence total at least $3 to $5 billion. Businesses forfeit another $100 million in lost wages, sick leave, absenteeism and non-productivity. (Domestic Violence for Health Care Providers, 3rd Edition, Colorado Domestic Violence Coalition, 1991.)

It is estimated that 25% of workplace problems such as absenteeism, lower productivity, turnover and excessive use of medical benefits are due to family violence. (Employee Assistance Providers/MN)

If these statistics are accurate, I am thinking I am not doing enough. I wish there was more that could be done in keeping with the Church's tradition of social justice and stable family life.

It is very hard though because much that is written about domestic violence points to traditional establishments as the Church as the bad guy:
Predictors of Dometic Violence:

The following signs often occur before actual abuse and may serve as clues to potential abuse:..
4.Does he have strong traditional ideas about what a man should be and what a woman should be? Does he think a woman should stay at home, take care of her husband, and follow his wishes and orders?

Institutional Responses:

* Clergy and secular counselors are often trained to see only the goal of "saving" the marriage at all costs, rather than the goal of stopping the violence....

Is there more I or we can do?Sigh, one social justice issue at a time I guess.

Posted by Pansy at 11:30 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

....As director of Citizens United Resisting Euthanasia (CURE), I would like to thank you for calling your readers' attention to the plight of Terri Schiavo. I know that the Schindler family and all of us who love Terri appreciate your efforts on her behalf.

As a fellow member of St. Blog's Parish, I call your attention to the latest report on Times Against Humanity. Additional coverage is available on CURE's blog, Epivalothanasia, and, of course, on the excellent site maintained by our friends at the Terri Schiavo-Schindler Foundation.

Let us continue to pray with and stand with Terri and her defenders. Please call on me whenever CURE or I may assist you in any way.

God bless Two Sleepy Mommies and all those whom they love!

Yours for Life,

Earl

Editor, Times Against Humanity
Director, CURE

PS—If you find a moment to write a note to Mary Jane Owen of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, I am sure it would encourage her in vital work for life and for our Holy Mother Church. (Please see A True Friend of Terri … and of the Church for the background of my request.)

Earl E. Appleby, Jr. 304-258-LIFE/5433

Director, CURE, Ltd. 304-258-5420 (fax)

303 Truman St. cureltd @ ix.netcom.com

Berkeley Springs, WV 25411 cureltd.home.netcom.com

Mary Jane Owen's email address is: mjowen AT ncpd DOT org

Posted by Peony at 5:14 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Federal Judge Kills Bid To Bar Schiavo Ruling

At an emergency hearing, Lazzara openly doubted whether he has jurisdiction to intervene in a right-to-die case that has been winding through state courts for five years. He termed the Schindlers' new federal lawsuit a ``quintessential shotgun pleading,'' but added: ``given the importance of what's at stake here, I'm going to proceed.''

Thanks for this link to the Mighty Barrister, who explains why the headline is misleading. Basically, the federal judge wants Terri's parents to polish up their complaint. They have ten days to do this before they can be heard again in federal court. They'll be bumping right up against September 11 -- the date that the Florida judge set for removal of the feeding tube.

Posted by Peony at 8:46 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Terri's case goes to Federal level

The judge will be hearing Terri's case at 2PM Eastern time. Anyone care to join me in prayer at that time?

Pansy and I have been following this case closely, and it seems like every day there's some new appalling detail. How I hope that this is the beginning of the end of Terri's mistreatment! Do take a look at Terri's parent's Complaint -- some of the details, especially about the husband's kooky lawyer, will curl your hair:

30. Mr. Felos' book, Litigation as Spiritual Practice, contains numerous bizarre anecdotes about his ardent desire to end the administration of food and water to severely disabled or gravely sick patients.

31. On page 63, referring to his landmark Florida state court case, Estate of Browning, Felos writes: "Such a deep, dark, silent blue. I stared as far into her eyes as I could, hoping to sense some glimmer of understanding, some hint of awareness. The deeper I dove, the darker became the blue, until the blue became the black of some bottomless lake. 'Mrs. Browning, do you want to die?...Do you want to die?' - I near shouted as I continued to peer into her pools of strikingly beautiful but incognizant blue. It felt so eerie."

32. On page 73, Attorney Felos writes: "As I continued to stay beside Mrs. Browning at her nursing home bed, I felt my mind relax and my weight sink into the ground. I began to feel light-headed as I became more reposed. Although feeling like I could drift into sleep, I also experienced a sense of heightened awareness. As Mrs. Browning lay motionless before my gaze, I suddenly heard a loud, deep moan and scream and wondered if the nursing home personnel heard it....In the next moment, as this cry of pain and torment continued, I realized it was Mrs. Browning. I felt the mid-section of my
body open and noticed a strange quality to the light in the room. I sensed her soul in agony. As she screamed I heard her say, in confusion, 'Why am I still here... why am I here?' My soul touched hers and in some way I communicated that she was still locked to her body. I promised I would do everything in my power to gain the release her soul cried for. With that the screaming immediately stopped. I felt like I was back in my head again."

33. On page 75, Felos says: "Before our son was conceived, my then wife and I went through a long and arduous process trying to decide if we should have a child. Given that our marriage was never very stable, the familiar arguments against creating progeny seemed at times hard to overcome....One morning, while still generally engaged in that process, I walked into my office, and about half way to my desk was hammer-struck. While almost seeing stars like a comic book character, I heard the soul of my yet-to-be-conceived child emphatically shout: I'm ready to be born... will you stop this fooling around!'...The voice I heard was distinctly male, and I beamed with the idea I had a son - or was going to have a son - or sorta had a son out there - or something like that."

34. On page 216, again discussing Estate of Browning, Mr. Felos writes about the late Estelle M. Browning: "As I always did, I looked into her eyes and shouted to her, hoping for some response or sign. After a minute or two I sat in the chair by the foot of her bed, closed my eyes, and started to meditate. Having 'soulspoken' with Mrs. Browning when we first met, I decided, with a measure of earnest self-inflation, to purposefully initiate such contact. I settled into my breath and noticed all the passing sounds move through my consciousness. As I deepened my relaxation, I reached out with my awareness to see if I could touch her soul-presence. From deep inside I repeated, 'Mrs. Browning, it's okay to leave your body. There is no reason to stay in this body. It is all right to die now.' A few minutes into my meditative encouragement, I was jarred by a high-pitched sarcastic cackle and the words, 'You're telling me to drop my body - and you can't even get out of your head.' Apparently, Mrs. Browning had a spirited sense of humor!"

35. On pages 181-182 of his book, Felos claims that merely by visualizing a plane crash during a flight he was taking back to Florida, he caused the plane to begin to crash and that God spoke to him at that moment to warn him: "Be careful what you think. You are more powerful than you realize'.....I was startled, humbled, and blessed by God's admonishment."

36. Co-conspirator Felos clearly is not simply an advocate for Michael Schiavo in the Florida state courts; he is an investor in Mrs. Schiavo's case who stands to profit financially via her judicially-sanctioned death and the book he told the St. Petersburg Times he wants to write about the case and his "spiritual journey" with Theresa Schiavo.
As his first work, Litigation as Spiritual Practice, indicates, Mr. Felos is an egomaniacal visionary who views Terri's hoped-for death as a fulfillment of his personal messianic mission as the savior of severely disabled and seriously ill people who need to die. He is a protagonist in a drama in which he sees himself as a lead character....

45. Non-party co-conspirator Felos has been paid approximately $550,000.00, virtually the entirely of Terri's estate, for his professional services to defendant Schiavo in the Florida courts, and no funds from the estate have been used for her rehabilitation."

And then there's the affadavits filed by three nurses who had cared for Terri, such as this one by Carla Iyer, RN (emphasis added):

To the best of my recollection, rehabilitation had been ordered for Terri, but I never saw any being done or had any reason at all to believe that there was ever any rehab of Terri done at Palm Gardens while I was there. I became concerned because Michael wanted nothing done for Terri at all, no antibiotics, no tests, no range of motion therapy, no stimulation, no nothing. Michael said again and again that Terri should NOT get any rehab, that there should be no range of motion whatsoever, or anything else. I and a CNA named Roxy would give Terri range of motion anyway. One time I put a wash cloth in Terri's hand to keep her fingers from curling together, and Michael saw it and made me take it out, saying that was therapy....I made numerous entries into the nursing notes in her chart, stating verbatim what she said and her various behaviors, but by my next on-duty shift, the notes would be deleted from her chart. Every time I made a positive entry about any responsiveness of Terri's, someone would remove it after my shift ended. Michael always demanded to see her chart as soon as he arrived, and would take it in her room with him. I documented Terri's rehab potential well, writing whole pages about Terri's responsiveness, but they would always be deleted by the next time I saw her chart. The reason I wrote so much was that everybody else seemed to be afraid to make positive entries for fear of their jobs, but I felt very strongly that a nurses job was to accurately record everything we see and hear that bears on a patients condition and their family. I upheld the Nurses Practice Act, and if it cost me my job, I was willing to accept that."

So this nurse alleges that on top of everything else, there's been tampering with legal documents, sanctioned by the hospital where Terri was staying. This hospital probably receives Medicare funding. I hope the Inspector General gets involved.

Posted by Peony at 12:02 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Misfit

Today we went to the airshow and saw the Thunderbirds. It was a whole lot of fun. OK, I have been feeling sort of pathetic as of late because in this country that I am a native of, I feel like such a misfit. When I lived in Fiji, I was not a misfit, despite the fact I was not Fijian, Indian, Australian or New Zealander. I was "Pansy" not that black, Italian, chinese, scottish, "dee-yamm I ain't never heard of a mix like that"girl. Once a week I dream of returning, and I wake up on the verge of tears to go back.

Now, how does this tie in with the air show? Whenever we go to "wholesome" family events, we are practically the only minority family. When we go to "minority"-esque events, we are the only white-ish family.

I thought when we fled to the TLM, it would be Catholic. See, the Churches in Albany are divided big time by culture. I thought the TLM was strictly "Catholic" and the pastor actually is. Many of the parishioners have their own bizarre agenda, so I do not quite fit in there.

This is not about race as much as it is about divisions, or "diversity". Why in the USA is diversity such a virtue to the point that some who was born here feels more at home at some small island in the South Pacific? Why is it after how many years after the abolishment of slavery we have made very little strides in race relations in this country?

There are times I have been angry at my parents for being counter cultural, enlightened and intelligent people for marrying and creating me not only biracial in a country that wants you to choose one side or the other, but raising me Catholic to be able to see through the typical lies society spreads. Sometimes I wish I was one race to be able to stick to one side. Sometimes I wish I was not Catholic so I could be ignorant and fall into line with the way society feels about things such as abortion, birth control and premarital sex. I so know what the saying "ignorance is bliss" means.

Posted by Pansy at 11:50 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

My diocese is training everyone and anyone who is willing to come to information seminars on how to spot potential sex abusers among clergy. On 2/20, 500 hundred people showed up and learned to watch out for signs such as "people who are willing to work with youth,".

Is this true precautionary measures or are we lighting the villagers torches?

Posted by Pansy at 6:33 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Below on my post about Good Racism and Baked Goods, Peony pointed out that I was mistaken by the purpose of the bakesale and who hosted it. Actually, I really was not trying to say who hosted it as opposed to where it was, and I didn't do very well.

So sorry. I am having an extremely bad week, culminated by a worse day and tons of stress. I think I will stop trying to think and type for a bit and drown myself in some wine and Star Wars novel.

But before I do, let me share a story that this event truly reminded me of and this is why I was a bit animated. A year ago when I came home from the hospital after having Gorbulas, I received a phone call. The county health department wanted to send a representative over to teach me parenting skills, how to learn to do things like manage to properly care for more than one child, proper nutrition for children etc. I asked them point blank "how did you get my name?"(I have a rather ethnic Hispanic sounding name). Their reply was they send people out to everyone in my area who has new babies. "Everyone?" I asked.

"Yes"

I turned them down. Having visitors I did not know, especially right after bringing new baby home, did not sound like fun action to me.I was also suspicious, and as I mentioned before, am a bit paranoid about our privacy.

I received a pamphlet in the mail in case I changed my mind. It said their rep will answer questions like:

"What do I do when all these kids make me stressed, and I have a baby"

"Proper baby care and nutrition"

"Changing and feeding a baby"

Ugh.

In November, my neighbor (same area) had a baby. Now she is also bi-racial (she is half Irish, half black), but her adopted mother is Irish and she has a very Irish sounding name. I will not give it over the Internet, but it may as well be something like Maureen O'Hara. Anyway, social services, or the health department or whoever it was never came to offer her their assitance.

Now, I cannot say "why" because my head is seriously spinning from cabin fever induced stress today, why that article had me brooding all day about this incident.I really only thought of it briefly in the past year until today. Peony is much smarter than I, maybe she can explain why I am so frustrated...LOL

Posted by Pansy at 7:17 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)