Cardinal Mahony's Gay Fish

You know that Christian fish symbol that you often see on the back of people's cars? Well, it looks as though good 'ol Cardinal "Hollywood" Mahony has endorsed a rainbow colored variation of this symbol as a sort of positive tribute to Catholics with homosexual tendencies.

Cardinal Mahony instructs his nearly 5 million Catholic members to "see in the [gay] fish pin a sign of recognition of our lesbian and gay sisters and brothers." Is Cardinal Mahony trying to hook his already desensitized laity with this fishy bait?

The Cardinal is perversely distorting a once holy and revered symbol used not only by the early Christians but today's Christians as well. Through the gift of the same Sacred Tradition the Apostles received from Christ, the early Christians recognized one another in the image of the fish during the persecution of their Church.

Most harmful are the Cardinal's attempts to further confuse his priests, religious, and laity by 'normalizing' the homosexual idioms 'lesbian' and 'gay' using the 'gay' Rainbow colored fish.

The expression of Hell being paved with the skulls of bishops couldn't be more apt. (link via)

Florida Wins the Crystal Football

Although the Gators were the clear underdog, their dominating win over Ohio State in the BCS Championship Game was not at all shocking considering that the Buckeyes gave up 39 points to and barely beat Michigan in their last game of the regular season. (Michigan, of course, was trounced in the Rose Bowl last week by USC).

So now that Florida has won the "championship," is it the #1 team in the country? Under the system that the NCAA currently employs for Division I college football, yes. However, let there be no mistake that this system is seriously whacked up, as evidenced by the fact that of all the winners of BCS bowl games this year, including Florida, there is only one team with an undefeated record - Boise State. You can pretty much bet the farm that Boise State, which plays in a so-called "mid-major" conference, will not be ranked #1 in the final BCS and AP polls.

They Actually Have Team Sports?

A losing streak that spanned over 200 games and 10 years, the men's basketball team at Caltech, the school in which the movie Real Genius was loosely based upon, finally won a game yesterday.

I knew a guy in high school who ended up going to Caltech, and based on what I observed of him in P.E. class, I'm not at all surprised that Caltech's losing streak lasted as long as it did. (Indeed, Caltech still hasn't won a conference game in over 20 years). But, like all Caltech students and graduates, the guy was super smart in science and math, and could be consistently counted on to bust the grading curve.

Tragic News Out of Troy

University of Southern California football player Mario Danelo was found dead yesterday afternoon at the bottom off a cliff in San Pedro, CA. An investigation is pending as to cause of death, but it appears as though Danelo might have simply slipped and fell.

Mike Walsh, his coach at San Pedro High, last saw Danelo at Christmas Mass, he said. He was at Disneyland when he got the news Saturday.

"When my son told me, I felt like throwing up," he said. "He comes from a most wonderful family in San Pedro. They're wonderful, he was wonderful."

Danelo's roommate, USC wide receiver Chris McFoy, was shocked by the news Saturday night.

"It was unexpected," McFoy told the Los Angeles Daily News. "He's a funny guy. A warm, loving guy. It 's a shock something like this would happen."

...

About 8 p.m. the only sign at the cliffs was a string of police tape and a police cruiser on Paseo del Mar near the Point Fermin Lighthouse. The body was taken by helicopter to the nearby Angel's Gate Park, which authorities closed to traffic.

Humphrey said at the scene investigators had not found a surf board, scuba-diving tanks or anything else to indicate Danelo might have been down there for any of the recreational activities common to the area.

Humphrey said over the years a handful of people had fallen from the cliff.

"It's entirely possible that he fell," Humphrey said.

Talk About Irony

The newly appointed archbishop of Warsaw in Poland resigns after admitting he had been a spy for Poland's former Communist regime.

The late Pope John Paul II, of course, was from Poland and is widely credited for being a major contributor to the fall of the Soviet Union. (link via)

The scandal has highlighted a deep crisis for the Polish church and its struggle to define its role after the death of its moral guide, Pope John Paul.

"This is the biggest crisis to affect the Polish Church for a generation," said Jonathan Luxmoore, an expert on Catholic matters. "The Pope could (also) be damaged by this."

Soon after his appointment, Polish media reported that Wielgus had informed on fellow clerics for about 20 years from the late 1960s. In Friday's statement, Wielgus said he "did not report on anyone nor deliberately try to hurt anyone."

Wielgus's admission on Friday that he had damaged the Church when he "denied the facts of this cooperation" with the secret services opened the door for the Pope to remove him from office but he did not resign until the day of the ceremony.