Quoting Jack Bauer...

Dammit!!

Can't say I didn't see this upending coming, though.

Pray for the Voters of South Dakota

Hopefully, a majority of them will vote "Yes" on Referred Law 6, which essentially bans all abortions in South Dakota.

From Our Ever-Bulging "Give Me an Effin' Break!" File

The totalitarian/Maoist Khmer Rouge once widely, and abusively, used a method of waterboarding on political dissidents in Cambodia. Vice President Cheney apparently has no problem with using waterboarding on captured terrorists for the purpose of extracting information about terrorist plots. Therefore, in Mark Shea's "I don't have to define the meaning of torture; I know it when I see it!" world, Cheney and the Khmer Rouge are basically indistinguishable insofar as sanctioning evil is concerned.

Now, in order for the above syllogism to have any sort of merit, one has to accept that waterboarding is torture, and that torture is intrinsically immoral. The former proposition is a close call, but I am inclined to believe that, by itself, waterboarding is not torture. This article in FrontPageMagazine.com makes a strong case for my belief.

With respect to whether torture is intrinsically immoral, at least as far as the Catholic Church is concerned, the answer is that it is not, and no amount of documented misleading rants and false proclamations by people like Mark Shea changes this fact.

In light of all this, one is left to conclude that Mark Shea thinks Cheney=Khmer Rouge because both involve human beings who breathe air. Preposterous to anyone not suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome.

Update (10/27/06): VP Cheney denies he expressed support for waterboarding by agreeing with a radio interviewer that it was a "no brainer" to allow captured terrorists to be dunked in water for purposes of extracting information. I believe Cheney, and here's why: First, waterboarding doesn't involve dunking anyone, so it's entirely possible Cheney thought the radio interviewer was talking about something else. Second, and more significantly, Cheney isn't stupid, and given the high level of controversy over waterboarding, I can't imagine Cheney would throw fuel on the fire by coming out in a radio interview this close to Election Day and saying he supports the practice. Thus, unless there is hard proof that he is lying about not supporting waterboarding (BDS induced cynicism falls well short of this) Cheney should be given the benefit of the doubt.

Now This is a Response Ad

Michael J. Embryo. Click the screen to go to the originating website. The responses which try to dismiss the embryo as a human being are, at best, idiotic. (via RelapsedCatholic)

Cheer for "Soop"

I don't have a dog in this year's World Series fight, but I will be cheering for the success of Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan, a graduate of Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, CA who contributed his voice to the ad against embryonic stem cell research in Missouri.

Counter Celeb Ad to Michael J. Fox Lie

The operative word being "counter", as opposed to "responsive". I can't for the life of me figure out what Jim Caviezel is saying at the beginning of the ad.



Briefly on the infamous Michael J. Fox ad, I found it especially sickening that Fox used his illness in the manner that he did in order to more effectively perpetuate outright lies about Jim Talent's position on non-embryonic stem cell research (Fox makes no distinction between non-embryonic and embryonic).

And oh yeah, new research shows that injecting embryonic stems cells into people with Parkinson's disease will cause them to develop brain tumors.

Georgetown U. is not Catholic

Latest proof is the law school's endowment of a human rights chair in the name of Fr. Robert Drinan, disingenuous pro-abort Jesuit priest extaordinaire. What a joke. (link via Open Book)

Founding Fathers and the Nicene Creed

John Derbyshire over at The Corner asks which ones subscribed to it, and he posts a few reader responses.

Rick Brookhiser throws in his two cents.

Although some of the responses are interesting, I'm not sure they are all correct, insofar as there seems to be an erroneous equating of religious devoutness to full acceptance of and agreement with the Creed.

Luck O' the Irish?

Domer fans think so.

Here's my take on the outcome of "Hated Ones" Bowl '06:

From a USC Football Fan Perspective

Tomorrow is the the "Hated Ones" Bowl.

vs.

Kelo and Prop. 90

Such was the topic at a symposium I went to today that was co-sponsored by the Chapman University Federalist Society and the Pacific Legal Foundation. Although most of the audience appeared to be anti-Kelo and pro-Prop. 90 (which I, myself, am) the 3 panels of symposium speakers were equally divided.

One of the speakers, who is a professor of law at Chapman University, made an incredibly bizarre argument in support of the majority decision in Kelo. Basically, this professor asserted that the Constitution, i.e., the 5th Amendment, does not prohibit the government from taking a person's property and giving it to another private party for their own personal profit. In light of this, Kelo was made under a strict constuctionist jurisprudence, and according to this professor, to criticize Kelo for what it allowed necessarily reflects a preference for judicial activism (which conservatives, like myself, generally disfavor and denounce).

Needless to say, I had a big eyeroll moment. Then again, seeing as how this professor had once clerked for Justice Stevens, the author of the Kelo majority opinion, I shouldn't have been very surprised to hear what I heard.

From this symposium, it seems most of the opposition to Prop. 90 is based upon a fear that it will cause all kinds of needless and costly litigation, because the initiative is allegedly poorly written. I didn't particularly find these arguments convicing, and I especially found it interesting that many of the groups who are wringing their hand in opposition to Prop. 90 were also vigorously opposed to the great and revolutionary Prop. 13.

Voting Dem is a Bad Risk

So too is sitting out the election. A frightening, but very real, reminder of why:

Magisterial Fundamentalist™ at it Again

Big time Bush Derangement Sydrome induced screed. When, of if, you get through that, click over to Seeking Justice for some calm and rational discussion that may or may not persuade you (I, myself, lean toward the former).

"Full of Grace"

Such is the name by which God, through the Archangel Gabriel, called Mary, who was the topic of discussion last night at a lecture I went to given by Catholic apologist Tim Staples. Lots of useful information in defense of the Catholic position that Mary was without sin. One of the things that I really found fascinating, though, is the parallels in the Old and New Testaments which clearly show that Mary was, and is, the Ark of the New Covenant. Click here for an article by Steve Ray that expounds more upon this issue.

Addendum: One of these days, I'm going to have to spend the time to read/unpack this encyclical on Mary since I understand it contains a lot of good apologetics materials.

Psalm 58

I just got back from the monthly meeting of the St. Thomas More Society of Orange County, where the featured speaker was Fr. Hugh Barbour, a Nobertine priest and Prior of St. Michaels Abbey in Silverado. Fr. Barbour's lecture topic, which was understandably condensed, was the Psalms and their functional history (i.e., the history of the Psalms as a form of regular prayer by the faithful).

As a humorous aside, Fr. Barbour pointed out Psalm 58, which he said could be recited whenever you're feeling particularly oppressed by anyone. Not a bad idea. (In context, Fr. Barbour said this psalm is a prayer for protection from the devil and/or evil).

Pathetic

Instead of owning up to his bad behavior, the disgraceful Mark Foley has tried to blame it on a priest who allegedly molested Foley when he was a child. Now Foley, as part of his "healing process," is set to name that priest.

Baseball's Real Golden Age

Any somewhat affirmative reference by George Will to the Dodgers will get a mention here.

Another Close One

But the good guys win again.



We're also #2 in the BCS.

Thanks for Stopping By

Especially to those who came by way of the following Google word searches: "ca best day to report for jury duty" and "guadiam et spes".

Oozing in Irony

At about the same time Rod Dreher announces his departure from the Catholic Church because of bad bishops comes this news item about the upcoming canonization of Blessed Mother Theodore Guerin. (link via relapsedcatholic)