Sad and Old Actor Rants

Not only does he talk to his six year old daughter about death all the time, 83 year old Tony Randall has fantasies about relatives turning President Bush and Vice-President Cheney away from his funeral. What a wierd, self-absorbed old fart.

Another 10 Commandments Monument Removed

This time in Montana.

The Fraternal Order of Eagles donated the stone to Custer County in 1968. In 1997, several people complained about the monument and a nearby Nativity scene.

Two years later, the ACLU sued. In 2000, a consent decree was signed that offered the county the options of removing the monument, or making it part of a display at the courthouse on the evolution of law. However, commissioners decided such a display would be too expensive.

Fat Boy Disses Bush and Texas

Sen. Ted ("anyone seen my drink!") Kennedy makes charges that the war in Iraq is a fraud made up in Texas and that Bush is breaking all kinds of laws.

Three words in response Blimpo: Mary Jo Kopechne

Abortion Pimps

Doing what they can to save face, medical "experts" for Planned Parenthood are unsurprisingly reluctant to say that a pregnant teenage girl's death resulted from her using the abortion pill RU-486.

"It's really safer than carrying a pregnancy to term," [Dr. Vanessa Cullins, vice president for medical affairs at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America national headquarters in New York] said. "I hope that the media attention around this tragic situation does not scare other women from opting to have a termination procedure through mifepristone medical abortion if that's something the woman wants to do."

This woman must really hate children.

Dana Carvey's "Church Lady" Would be Sued Today

The Iowa Supreme Court rules that a woman who was apparently called the "spirit of Satan" by a church minister may sue for defamation. The case has been appealed to the SCOTUS.

The controversy began in March 1999 at the United Methodist Church of Shell Rock. In an attempt to resolve problems within the church, the Rev. Jerrold Swinton, a former district superintendent of the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church, visited Shell Rock.

After Swinton's visit, a letter from him was circulated to both members and non-members of the church. Swinton said in the letter he was in despair when Jane Kliebenstein told him the current pastor must leave the community.

In the letter, Swinton said a church conference should be called to "propose that Jane Kliebenstein be stripped of church offices. It is understood that if she continues to cause dissension, she will next be asked to leave the Shell Rock UMC."

The letter also said the congregation had "allowed the spirit of Satan to work in their midst."

Update: Here's the full decision if you're interested in reading it. Although it was handed down in June, it was only recently appealed to the SCOTUS (as mentioned in the linked article above).

Our Quirky Protestant Friends

I picked up the revised edition of Separated Brethren over the weekend, and I've already run across several interesting things about our Protestant friends. For instance, the American Episcopal Church, aside from their recent and well-publicized harangues over homosexual marriages and the ordaining of homosexual bishops, believe in the existence of a Church Expectant, which we Catholics generally understand to be Purgatory (or the Church Suffering). Even more fascinating, and somewhat bizarre, is the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod's opposition to any church member being associated with the Boy Scouts of America. Apparently, the WELS believe that the Boy Scouts, at best, adhere to a watered-down Christian value system, and have an equivalence to secret societies like the Freemasons (which, of course, the Catholic Church prohibits its members from joining).

Exposing Absurdity with Absurdity

Triggered by the class action lawsuit filed against McDonald's for allegedly making people fat, a restaurant in Seattle decides to require its patrons to sign a waiver before it will serve them dessert.

After a diner signs it, a waiter hauls out a sugarcoated, deep-fried, ice cream-swaddled, caramel-drizzled, whipped-cream- anointed banana.

"We thought, what can we do to illustrate how stupid it is to make restaurants responsible for monitoring the eating habits of Americans?" 5 Spot co-owner Peter Levy said. "We came up with the most fattening and delicious dessert we could think of."

The "Right" to not Suffer

The rock band Hell on Earth plans on facilitating a live suicide for a person who is terminally ill.

"I thank the Lord that Hell on Earth is giving me this opportunity to end my suffering. I just want to say as my last will and testament that this is my God-given choice to end my life."

No, if you actually believed in God, you wouldn't be trying to commit suicide. You would realize that God is the the God of the living, not the dead. You would also realize that suffering need not be undignified, and that it can be redemptive. It's a shame that you basically define earthly human happiness as a state of painlessness. If this were true, then there would either be no human beings left on Earth, or we would all be perpetually high on morphine. I don't know about you, but I find no human dignity in not existing or being a junkie.

Only Dirtbags Perform Abortions

A lawsuit against a California abortionist who carries no malpractice insurance and was once suspened and put on probation by the California Medical Board moves forward.

Joseph Durante is accused of not providing adequate follow-up care after a botched abortion that perforated the uterus of Ann Marie Santana in 1998 was done at his abortion facility. The abortion also caused other medical programs and Santana was forced to have an emergency surgery as a result.

Recall! Recall! Recall!

Gov. "Gay" Davis is set to violate the California Constitution by signing a virtual "gay marriage" bill. A lawsuit is waiting and ready to be filed.

There is NO Such Thing as a Safe Abortion

An 18 year old pregnant teen dies shortly after taking "The Morning After" pill.

Between Sunday and Wednesday, Holly Patterson was bleeding severely, in acute pain and unable to walk, her father said. Her boyfriend rushed her late Sunday to Valley Care Medical Center in Pleasanton, Patterson said. She was given painkillers and released, Patterson said.

"She went back into the hospital in the middle of the night Wednesday, and she died at 2 p.m.," Patterson said. "The doctor told me that she hadn't aborted all of the fetus, and she had fragments left in her, and she had a massive systemic infection and went into septic shock."

[story link via Mark Shea

Pro-Life Catholic Dem Danny Ramirez

Not sure why he's a Democrat, but he's running for governor . Even though I'm a Republican, I'd probably vote for Ramirez if it came down to a choice between him and Ahnuld.

Judge Orders Terri Schiavo to Death

I pray for the man's conversion and repentence, but should Terri die from starvation, Florida Circuit Judge George Greer should be considered nothing more than a well educated murderer.

White is Alright

Controversy swirls over a proposed Caucasion Club at a California High School. Notice how the vice president of the local National Association for the Advancement of COLORED (i.e., Black) People thinks it will create racial tension.

What the "F."?

In case you hadn't noticed, the first letter of John Kerry's middle name is F. If you were to include it with the other first two letters of his name, Kerry's full initials would be JFK. How long do you think it'll be before his supporters start oh-so subtely referring to him as this, and pushing the other "coincidences" that he is from Massachusetts and Catholic?

Pro-Abortion General Announces Presidential Candidacy

Rick Brookhiser at The Corner provides this short and insightful description of Retired Army General Wesley Clark: like Civil War General George McClellan, Clark is "proud, smart, by the book, untalented, incompetent. All stars, no battles."

The Fine Line Between Slander and Free Speech

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals rules that a law school graduate can sue the Michigan State Bar for denying him membership because of some inflammatory accusations he made to a judge several years ago.

"They didn't like the fact that he had made harsh remarks about a judge," said Robert Horvath, Dubuc's lawyer. "They wanted him to say 'Gee, I made a mistake.' But in his view he thought he was justified."

[Dennis] Dubuc, 55, had initially sued both the Bar and licensing board, as well as the heads of the groups, in federal district court claiming his First Amendment rights were violated.

The case was dismissed on immunity grounds, but the appellate court ruled that Dubuc could still sue the chief officials of the organizations, but not the groups themselves.

Horvath, a solo practitioner in Troy, Mich., called this is a classic First Amendment case. "Should he have restrained his tongue more? Yeah. It wasn't the prudent thing to do. He basically dynamited himself," Horvath said. "When you attack a judge and you don't win on that allegation, you're stuck."

If you read the entire story, you'll discover that Dubuc seems to be somewhat of a, well, a-hole. I know, I know -- typical lawyer traits, blah, blah, blah.

"Seeking" God or Entertainment?

Interesting Fobes article on the business of "Megachurches." Curious how one researcher quoted in the article sees the growth of these churches as a sign of God's blessing on their ministries. Sure it isn't the big colorful jumbotrons and contemporary "praise concerts" they offer?

[story link via Open Book blog]

William Murchison Reviews New Book by New Catholic Robert Bork

Looks to be another winner, although my one disagreement with Bork is that he tends to view the 9th Amendment as an ink blot (i.e., it's a nice sentiment, but it doesn't have much practical application). Maybe now that he's become Catholic, he'll have more of an appreciation for Natural Law principles.

The U.S. Supreme Court's discovery this summer of a constitutional right to the enjoyment of sodomy can have surprised only the very, very easily surprised. Less surprised than most, we have to assume, was Robert H. Bork, who understands the high court's philosophical premises better than almost anyone else thinking and writing about the interplay of law and culture. (...)

"If we do not understand the worldwide corruption of the judicial function," he writes, "we do not comprehend the full scope of the political revolution that is overtaking the West. The political revolution in Western nations is the gradual but unceasing replacement of government by elected officials with government by appointed judges . . .

"The political revolution brings with it a cultural revolution. In reading the opinions of many judges, it is apparent that they view their mission as preserving civilization from a barbarian majority motivated by bigotry, racism, sexism, xenophobia, irrational sexual morality, and the like." What the courts are substituting for old-fashioned moralities is "cultural socialism."

Racial and Ethnic Minorities are Too Stupid

There's no other way to interpret the typically idiotic decision by the 9th Circuit to delay the recall election. This, people, is what you get when you vote for Democrats (two of the judges were Clinton appointments, and the third judge was appointed by Carter).