Monday News Bucket

6 Comments

1. 

   CabinGirl on June 25, 2007 at 8:14 am

   and Rudy Giuliani: NYT

   At first glance, Rudolph W. Giuliani should be an appealing presidential candidate for observant Roman Catholics. The grandchild of Italian immigrants, Mr. Giuliani went to Catholic schools, considered joining the priesthood, and as mayor of New York battled a museum that exhibited a painting of the Virgin Mary adorned in elephant dung.

   But church leaders say they are frustrated by prominent Catholic politicians like Mr. Giuliani who argue that while they are personally opposed to abortion, they do not want to impose their beliefs on others.

   One American bishop, Thomas J. Tobin of Providence, R.I., recently wrote a caustic column for his Catholic newspaper calling Mr. Giuliani’s position “pathetic,” “confusing” and “hypocritical.” Other bishops said that they would not criticize a candidate by name but would not hesitate to declare Mr. Giuliani’s stance contrary to Catholic teaching.

   Hmm, I seem to remember John Kerry running afoul of the bishops in 2004…

   Several of the bishops who declared in 2004 that they would deny communion to Mr. Kerry declined requests for interviews about Mr. Giuliani. Mr. Giuliani’s own archbishop, Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York, who was silent about Mr. Kerry in 2004, declined an interview. A spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, Joseph Zwilling, said the cardinal “avoided all involvement in partisan politics.”

   Gee, isn’t it funny how they’re reluctant to call Giuliani out by name, but had no such qualms with John Kerry?  Interestingly, the article goes on to note that the change in pope would seem to favor more harsh criticism this time around.  

   Do you think it’s a Republican versus Democrat type thing?  

2. 

   dada on June 25, 2007 at 1:30 pm

   cause l’m burnt out on the bad…

   off-beat art:

   If Pablo Picasso had gone in for car design, the result would have been something like this…. an aged Citroen 2CV transformed into a cubist work of art ala Picasso’s Portrait of Dora Maar:

   via: daily mail, uk

   

   
   clik to enlarge

   and my favorite, sammy, the painter:

   
   clik

   not bad for a foxhound, eh…

   hope these made you smile…:{)

   lTMF’sA
   

   

   
   clik images for info

3. 

   Man Eegee on June 25, 2007 at 4:11 pm

   Temperatures have soared during the past week’s run-up to summer in the Southwest, and deaths among migrants crossing Arizona’s desert regions are also up – a potentially ill omen, a border county medical examiner says.

   Authorities recovered the bodies of 12 suspected illegal immigrants during the past week, a period that saw temperatures top 100 degrees each day in southern Arizona, said Pima County Medical Examiner Dr. Bruce Parks. His office performs autopsies on many of the illegal immigrants who die crossing into Arizona each year.  – linkage (emphasis mine)

4. 

   Oui on June 25, 2007 at 4:45 pm

   .

   Supreme Court bars suit against faith-based plan

   WASHINGTON (AP) 30 min. ago – The Supreme Court ruled that ordinary taxpayers cannot challenge a White House initiative that helps religious charities get a share of federal money.

   The 5-4 decision blocks a lawsuit by a group of atheists and agnostics against eight Bush administration officials including the head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

   The taxpayers’ group, the Freedom From Religion Foundation Inc., objected to government conferences in which administration officials encourage religious charities to apply for federal grants.

   A tighter rein on faith-based initiatives

   A court ruling last week against an Iowa prison program insists upon church-state separation.

   CHICAGO – It’s a court case that could have major implications for President Bush’s faith-based initiative: Is an evangelical Christian prison rehabilitation program, paid for by taxpayer dollars, constitutional?

   The answer, issued by a federal district judgee in Iowa on June 2, was a resounding “no.”

   …
   “They say ‘here are the rules’ and make the grants, but I think there’s a lot of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ going on,” says Ira Lupu, a law professor at George Washington University. The legal line can be ambiguous: A program that offers a meal and includes a voluntary grace would most likely be acceptable, he says, but the programs that deal with some sort of religious character transformation are problematic. “That’s where you cross the line, if the government is paying for it.”

   Though Mr. Bush’s faith-based initiative, first announced in 2001, has never received congressional approval, the program has been expanded through executive order, and Bush recently announced that federal funding to religious groups grew to $2.1 billion last year – about 11 percent of the total funds awarded to community groups.

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

5. 

   on June 25, 2007 at 7:58 pm

   http://www.knowthecandidates.org/ktc/bush.htm
   Oh, perhaps I should have given you the “mainstream” link first.

   All I can say to this is BOHICA, get out the globalization grease because for sure we are all in for the ultimate shafting.  The damage this man will do to your lifestyle will be immeasurable.

   Also very strange is the case of the disappearing web site on 911 ground zero workers featuring contact information for a class action lawsuit, I saw it just this morning at work but now it’s like gone.

   • 

     on June 25, 2007 at 7:59 pm

     http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6238432.stm
     The missing MSM link.