"Everybody Runs"

This is recurrent quip by actor Tom Cruise in Minority Report, a movie that is set in a future where people are arrested for crimes that they think about committing, but have yet to act upon. Well, it looks as though California is getting ever closer to this Big Brother scenario with the state Assembly's passage of AB 458 which, if signed into law by the governor, would require pro-homosexual sensitivity training for all California foster parents. The underlying presumption, of course, for this requirement is that there is something profundly wrong with any person who believes homosexuality to be a disorder, and morally disapproves of any sexual conduct related to it. Thus, in order to prevent future "hate" crimes, the state must take preemptive steps to reorient what it believes to be dangerous thinking among some people. Scary stuff, huh?

Someone Needs a "Time-Out"

...and a conversion to the truth.

Reports published in Roll Call and the Washington Times say [Congressman Jim] Moran (D-Va.) recently got into a shouting match with a priest at Blessed Sacrament Church in Alexandria. Roll Call reports the confrontation followed a Mass in which the homily touched on life-related topics. Moran is reported to have complained to one of the parish priests, who in turn asked Moran, "How can you reconcile yourself as a Catholic with your views on abortion?"
Moran is said to have shot back, "You priests don't know anything about abortion!" According to a parishioner, the priest responded, "Congressman, put away the talking points. Talk to me
as your priest." Roll Call reports a fuming Moran then reportedly walked away, the priest's final comment was, "Congressman, one day you will need me, and I will be here."

Scoring Error May Cost Some New Lawyers Their "Ticket"

I smell many lawsuits.

The National Conference of Bar Examiners, which produces the 200-question multistate portion of the bar exam taken in almost every state, last week warned bar officials in 48 states that the scores of all 20,204 law students who took the test in February are being recalculated because of a clerical mistake.
...

"The scoring error was detected and every jurisdiction is affected," said Erica Moeser, president of the national conference. "The error is being corrected" as quickly as possible and states are being notified, she said. The problem was discovered at the beginning of May.

Apparently, Crime Pays When You're Attractive

"We already know that attractiveness affects sentences, but this study found that only a simple word -- 'handsome' or 'pretty' -- has an effect," Per Schioldborg, a psychology professor at the University of Oslo, told Reuters. "I was surprised."

Guess maybe we should extend our equal protection laws to the terminally ugly. Either that or start subsidizing cosmetic surgery with federal and state tax dollars.

In Case You Haven't Seen It Yet

Here's the California "Catholic Dirty Dozen" ad that American Life League is buying space for in several state newspapers.

I had no idea State Supreme Court Justice Ming Chin was Catholic. Truly disappointing that he favors abortion rights.

Man Fined for Cheering Gay Neighbor's Death

OK, it wasn't very nice, but how 'bout recognizing a little free speech? Oh yeah, this happened in Germany.

Oh, Those Nutty NewsMax Folks

Why Aren't More Catholics "Disappointed" With Bill Bennett?

Generally because we aren't Protestant.

[T]he U.S. Catholic bishops' conference, which has pronounced on virtually every major social problem over the past few decades, has never addressed [legalized gambling] - though individual bishops and groups of bishops have sometimes opposed legalized gambling in their cities and states.

By contrast, both liberal and conservative Protestant church officials have issued repeated denunciations of legalized gambling.

They agree that it's a serious social problem and a sinful practice that builds upon greed and deceit, destroys families, exploits the poor and fosters crime.
...

The catechism of the Catholic Church says wagers "are not in themselves contrary to justice" but "become morally unacceptable" if they deprive people of basic needs.

"The passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement," the catechism warns.

Graham Openly Criticized for Anti-Islam Remarks by Fellow Evangelical Prots

Paul Marshall, senior fellow at the Center for Religious Freedom, a human rights group, said anti-Islam comments serve only to antagonize people. "Exactly what is to be achieved by that except boosting the ego of who said it?" he asked.

Going off on a tangent, one thing I'm sort of curious about is whether the average Muslim in the Middle East makes any kind of a distinction between Christianity and the Catholic Church. In other words, would an average Middle Eastern Muslim automatically associate an Evangelical Protestant missionary he sees or hears about with the Catholic Church? Hmmm...

Clairification: I'm reading what I wrote above, and I seem to be suggesting that the Catholic Church, of which I am devout member, isn't Christian. What I meant to inquire on was whether the average Muslim in the Middle East was aware of any other kind of Christianity aside from that which (fully) subsists in the Catholic Church.

Dobson on Bennett

"We were disappointed to learn that our longtime friend, Dr. Bill Bennett, is dealing with what appears to be a gambling addiction. One of the reasons Focus on the Family continues to be strongly opposed to any form of gambling is because it has the power to ensnare and wound not only its victims, but also those closest to them. 'Gaming,' as the industry euphemistically refers to itself, is a cancer on the soul of the nation.

However, if Bennett was a recreational masturbator, Dobson's opinion would seemingly be different.

Happy Now Leftys and Moral Relativists?

Statement from William Bennett (via Drudge): 'A number of stories in the media have reported that I have engaged in high stakes gambling over the past decade. It is true that I have gambled large sums of money. I have also complied with all laws on reporting wins and losses.

Nevertheless, I have done too much gambling, and this is not an example I wish to set. Therefore, my gambling days are over...'

Much has been said about this issue on various other Catholic blogs, but I'm basically of the position that as long as his gambling isn't endangering the well-being of his family, and he isn't knowingly contributing to any illegal enterprises, William Bennett should not be disqualified from being a respected public moralist. But even if Bennett's gambling was problematic, his status as a public moralist should still be secure as long as he takes responsibility for the wrongs he has done, and he doesn't repeat them. We could only have hoped so much out of Bill Clinton who, at last check, still has yet to explcitly admit that he had an extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky, publicly lied about the affair ever occurring, and committed criminal perjury about it during his testimony in a civil trial. Under such circumstance, "Slick Willy" is absolutely precluded from ever telling anyone what is and isn't right.

"Cuomo-ism" Filters Into Marriage Issue

In case you don't know what "Cuomo-ism" is, it is named after former New York Governor Mario Cuomo who made famous the intellectually dishonest belief of being personally against abortion but favoring a woman's "right to choose".

According to this poll, there is one county in New Jersey where a majority of Catholics seem to be personally against homosexual "marriages", but favor its offical recognition on a state-wide level.

How do You Prevent People From Smuggling Bombs and Boxcutters Onto Airplanes?

Make 'em all fly nekkid. (Link via Drudge)

To Quote Keanu Reeves, "Whoa!"

In striking down most of the McCain-Feingold campain finance law, the DC Court of Appeals issues a 1,600 page ruling. There must have been some bleary-eyed law clerks on this one.

The L.A. Times: Sprinting Toward Gomorrah

By awarding a Los Angeles Times Book Prize to the odious "Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex," by Judith Levine, the Times has embraced pedophilia chic as its latest cause..."Harmful to Minors," published by the University of Minnesota Press, calls for lowering the age of sexual consent to 12, and teaching children about sex with other children and with adults, in all varieties. Levine praises a child-care center where "children of all ages may engage in masturbation without shame and consensual child-with-child sexual touching without adult interference" (p. 183). She promotes "outercourse," which "returns lovers to what Freud called polymorphous perversity – the infantile state of full-body sensuality, in which various body parts don't enjoy greater or lesser respect or greater or lesser capacity for pleasure. Male, female or transgendered, we all have mouths, necks, toes, anuses, brains, and nerve endings" (p.196).

Christian-Based Adoption Agency Sued by Lezbos

The interesting, and unreported, aspect to this case is that there is a specific provision in the California Family Code that does not prohibit foster/adoption agencies from discriminating against parent applicants on the basis of sexual (dis)orientation. As a matter of fact, there was a bill introduced last year in the California Legislature that would have prohibited this type of discrimination (thankfully, it was an election year and Davis vetoed it). In light of this, the foster/adoption agency being sued here should theoretically win. Again, though, I'm not the judge.

New List of Pro-Abort Dirty Dozen

Gray Davis and the Sanchez sisters to be named.

So Much for Her Coming Back to the Church I Guess

"All women are goddesses," [Nicole] Kidman decreed to us, "even when they're in the kitchen making pancakes for their kids. Boyfriends need to understand that if women are worshiped, the world will be a better place."

And check out this gem of a quote: Kim Cattrall reassured us that her goddess sect is "all pleasure and no pain. But devotion can be complicated. Because I think the Judeo-Christians really got in the way of goddess worship."

The "Judeo-Christians"?

Another Backhanded Media Slap at the Church?

A short list of different Christian denominations, and their rules for receiving Communion. While this article correctly, though incompletely, points out what the Catholic Church believes about the Eucharist, it wholly ignores the fact that Protestants have a contrary belief, and is thus a main reason for why Communion in the Catholic Church is "closed". I smell secret anti-Catholic agenda.

Expanding the Meaning of "Sexual Harassment"?

A homosexual male is suing his employer under Title VII for uncharitable statements made by heterosexual male co-workers. The plaintiff in this case is positing that he is a victim of unlawful "gender stereotyping". In other words, just as it is unlawful for an employer to terminate (actually or constructively) a woman for "acting too much like a man", the plaintiff here is arguing that he was constructively terminated by his employer's failure to adequately punish those co-workers who were harassing him for not being enough of a "real man". The significant distinction that I see here, however, is that when one alleges that a woman is acting too much like a man, the woman is not necessarily being criticized because of her sexual desire or orientation. That appears to be the situation with the plaintiff here, and since there is no cause of action under Title VII for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, the defendant/employer should win. Then again, I'm not the judge.