And Now For the News...

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Military men usually accept that they surrender basic freedom while fighting to preserve it for the rest of us. However, it is not the place of the government or her military to tell priests and preachers that they may not speak out against injustice, even when it is the government itself that is acting unjustly.

Did you read the article? The Army ruled against the reading of the official letter from the pulpit: however it permitted the inclusion of a mention in the announcements part of the service, and the written letter to be distributed at the back of the sanctuary. The priests were not "silenced".

And military chaplains are commissioned officers in the service of their country, as well as priests/pastors/rabbis/imams/whatever. They do not take orders from the pope. If they find an irreconcilable conflict between the two roles, they can always resign the commission.

[Shapley]

I did read the article. I also read the updates in 'The Blaze' which report, first, that the Army lost a court case over a similar gag order when Chaplains read a letter supporting the partial-birth abortion ban, and the second update in which the Army has reversed its decision and told chaplains to read the letter at next Sunday's Mass.

[Shapley]

All priests take 'Holy Orders' from the Church. It is one of the Sacraments, reserved for those who enter the religious life. As such, they are bound by the dictates of the Church. Currently, they answer to the Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Military Services, USA, an archdiocese created by Pope John Paul II in 1985.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Being protestant, I recognize two, and only two, Sacraments. Baptism, and the Eucharist. The other ones are no doubt virtuous behavior, but their "sacramental" status is heretical superstition. And, yes, officers take orders from their senior officers. If the two sets of orders become a problem, the priest can quit the Army.

[Shapley]

Officers are only required to obey 'lawful' orders from their superiors. Not all orders are lawful.

We Catholics have seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Eucharist, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Annointing of the Sick.

Matrimony and Holy Orders are typically considered mutually exclusive, but there are rare instances in which a person has received all seven.

[Shapley]

Vermont: Radioactive Fish Are Edible.

A real man can hold his radiation!

I think the Simpson's did an episode or two on this years ago.

There was a big deal made about irradiating food a couple decades ago. Now, it appears, we have a self-irradiating food supply. The wonders of the modern age, no?

[Haggis@wk]

The orders were lawful and came from the Commander in Chief. The only recourse for the chaplains is to resign.

The direction to provide contraception, regardless of religious beliefs, is equally lawful. Our Congress gave the president the right to do almost anything he wants to our health care and he is doing it, why is anyone surprised?

I wrote almost a year ago that the Catholic church deluded itself by supporting Obamacare in the belief that the law would provide exemptions for them. Surprise!

Obama has a vision of our future and nothing is going to stop him except the electorate.

Don't count on the Supreme Court, they are going uphold Congress' authority to order us to buy whatever they think we should buy.

[Shapley]

"The orders were lawful and came from the Commander in Chief. "

Given the prior ruling against such a gag order, it can be argued they were not. Some chaplains apparently ignored the order and read the letter.

The Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force did not issue such gag orders, only the Army.

[Shapley]

Time To Admit It: The Church Has Always Been Right On Birth Control

The Church teaches that love, marriage, sex, and procreation are all things that belong together. That's it. But it's pretty important. And though the Church has been teaching this for 2,000 years, it's probably never been as salient as today.

Today's injunctions against birth control were re-affirmed in a 1968 document by Pope Paul VI called Humanae Vitae. He warned of four results if the widespread use of contraceptives was accepted:

General lowering of moral standards
A rise in infidelity, and illegitimacy
The reduction of women to objects used to satisfy men.
Government coercion in reproductive matters.
Does that sound familiar?

Because it sure sounds like what's been happening for the past 40 years.

As George Akerloff wrote in Slate over a decade ago,

By making the birth of the child the physical choice of the mother, the sexual revolution has made marriage and child support a social choice of the father.

Instead of two parents being responsible for the children they conceive, an expectation that was held up by social norms and by the law, we now take it for granted that neither parent is necessarily responsible for their children. Men are now considered to be fulfilling their duties merely by paying court-ordered child-support. That's a pretty dramatic lowering of standards for "fatherhood."

[Haggis@wk]

I can't decide if Obama is so foolish as to believe the Catholic Church will not shut down 1/3 of all the hospitals in the U.S. or does he plan to force the CC to close those hospitals so he can take them over and remake them in his own image? (blasphemy intended)

You have to think that nationalizing 1/3 of all U.S. hospitals in 2013 would forever enslave us to a nationalized healthcare program that we would never escape until, like Europe, in 50+ years it goes broke.

[Haggis@wk]

Mississippi Democrat, Steve Holland introduced legislation to rename the Gulf of Mexico to something more… American.
If he gets his way, the Gulf of Mexico will become the “Gulf of America.”

Holland has introduced a bill calling for the part of the Gulf of Mexico that is bordered by Mississippi to be renamed the “Gulf of America.”

The measure, known as HB 150 and introduced to the state House Marine Resources Committee, says the body of water will have its new name beginning July 1.
I’m not entirely sure where one state legislature comes up with the power to start renaming international bodies of water, but I still find this idea really exciting.

Imagine the possibilities! In a tit for tat move, Mexico could rename the Gulf of California. (Take a look at the map… the Gulf of California doesn’t even touch California. It’s entirely bounded by Mexico.) But I hope they don't name it after any of their lakes, too many "Q"s, "Z"s and "X"s for my tongue.

And for those of us who never really trusted out neighbors to the north, we could rename Lake Huron to something like… Lake Ted Nugent.

[Haggis@wk]

CDC Warns Untreatable Gonorrhea is On the Way. “

Gonorrhea, one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the United States, is increasingly showing resistance to one of the last known effective antibiotic treatments, leading researchers from the Centers for Disease Control to ‘sound the alarm’ about potentially untreatable forms of the disease.”

Really, this isn’t how I envisioned the 21st century turning out.

[Shapley]

Imagine the possibilities!

We could rename the Marianas Trench the 'Obama Ditch', since it is the only thing deeper than the hole he is digging for us...

[Haggis@wk]

Fact of the Day: Even on Less Than $15,000 per Year, 56% of 18-24 Year Olds Have Smartphones.

[jamiebk]

Fact of the Day: Even on Less Than $15,000 per Year, 56% of 18-24 Year Olds Have Smartphones.

Priorities my friend....priorities! We MUST have total, continual communication between each other...(not)

[Giant Communist Robot]

Until a few months ago when it became illegal, I used to go with the Girl Scouts to our local park to feed the homeless. People who live in the bushes have smartphones.

Personally, I don't have a cell phone. I don't use e-mail. I use a machine to screen incoming calls. I want to be less accessible, not more.

[Giant Communist Robot]

A powerful indictment of Goldman Sachs.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

People who live in the bushes have smartphones.

Personally, I don't have a cell phone. I don't use e-mail. I use a machine to screen incoming calls. I want to be less accessible, not more.

Well, I don't live in a bush, but I have no house phone. Damn thing got too many salesmen and politicians calling it and leaving messages with their machines on my machine.

Family have my pocketphone number. I can always be reached. And we text message more than we call: it's like leaving magical stickynotes in people's pockets and you can talk without interrupting their lives. Very convenient. And Razz (the pocketphone) also monitors my email, and I can read it from her little screen. Answer it if inclined. Find myself when I get lost and get a map to where I wish I was.

But, Razz doesn't interrupt me. She holds on to all this stuff, unless it's an actual call from a number I've tagged with a priority ring, and I check it when I get around to it.

[jamiebk]

I too like my smartphone more and more. However, the call quality is not anywhere near a hard line at the house which I maintain (2 lines, actually) due to working form home a couple days a week. I suppose the call quality is the domain of the provider...ATT in this case.

[dai bread]

My niece hates AT&T. She couldn't unlock her smartphone when she moved here and had to buy another one.