You've got to be kidding me...?!

The Center for Science in the Public Interest is suing McDonald’s.
You can read the article here.

I have so many problems with this, I will not go into them all, but my biggest issue is the attitude that parents need help from the courts and the government in doing what is best for their children, as evidenced by this quote from Michael Jacobson, Executive Director of CSPI.

"At some point parents get worn down," Jacobson says. "They don't always want to be saying no to their children. We feel like an awful lot of parents would be relieved if this one pressure was removed from them."

PUH-LEASE!!!

Saying “NO” is a parent’s job, not the governments, not the courts!
No wonder the US is in the shape it is!  God help us all!

On Healthcare

I have resisted the temptation to get involved in any debate about healthcare. I work in the industry, and have seen first hand the lunacy that is working with insurance companies, and the Medicare and Medicaid systems. I am not saying that I don't think something needs to be done, but "ObamaCare" is not the way!


A note to all politicians-

Until you can prove to me and to the rest of America that you can fix the systems we already have (Medicare & Medicaid), please do not try and come up with something new!

I received this in an e-mail today. “Maxine” is one of my favorite characters, so I share with you her take on healthcare-
 don’t think I could have said it any better!

Let me get this straight......


We're trying to pass a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, to be signed by a president that also hasn't read it, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that is broke.

What could possibly go wrong?

You know it's a Monday when...

it seems like you are surrounded by idiots!!!!!

Some quotes about stupidity...
take from them what you will.

"The law is a rule to the fool, but a guide to the wise." ~ Anonymous

"There are two kinds of fool.  One says, 'This is old, and therefore good.'  And one says, 'This is new, and therefore better.'  ~ Dean Inge

"In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that he did not also limit his stupidity."  ~ Konrad Adenauer

Is the world going bonkers?

I believe that abortion is a terrible evil that we need to combat. How we should do that, I am not really sure. But what we need, I believe, is to have a mentality that ALL LIFE IS SACRED, and unfortunately when it comes to the abortion debate, apparently this is not the case.
In a story that I first saw on the “ticker” of Fox News this morning, and you can read here, the AP reports that judge Warren Wilbert will allow accused murderer, Scott Roeder,(who btw, does not deny that he is guilty) to argue that he should not be convicted of pre-meditated, first degree murder, but of voluntary manslaughter in connection with the death of Dr. George Tiller.
Kansas law defines voluntary manslaughter as "an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force."
How exactly can one believe that this madman, who walked into a church, pointed a gun at the head of a parishioner and pulled the trigger  was justified in his use of "deadly force"?  Maybe (and I am saying maybe only as a hypothetical, I believe what Mr. Roeder did is murder, plain and simple, the same thing he was accusing Dr. Tiller of), I might buy this so-called defense if Mr. Roeder was at Dr. Tiller’s clinic, but in his church?!
You have got to be f****** kidding me!
Murder is murder is murder.
None of us have any right what so ever to play judge and jury and take away someone’s life. I do not agree with some of the things that Dr. Tiller did in the scope of his medical practice, but the man did not deserve to have his face blown off, in his church, during Sunday services.
How anyone can justify killing someone, and claim to be a Christian is beyond me.

Mr. Roeder should be convicted of 1st degree, pre-meditated murder, and should be punished for what he did. Case closed!

This is a joke, right?!

This was the question posed by a collegue when I reported the following from Harvard University.

Today, November 12, 2009 at 4:30pm, our infamous and disgraceful former Governor (and Attorney General)

Elliot Spitzer

will be giving a lecture at Harvard University, entitled,

"From Ayn Rand to Ken Feinberg- How Quickly the Pardigm Shifts.  What Should Be the Rational for Government Participation in the Market?

(Anyone from NY should remember his participation in the market...)

sponsored by......

wait for it....

The Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics!

And the word for today boys & girls-
hypocrisy!

 
God help us all!

My Blog, My Rules!

To all anonymous posters-

While I have no problem with you posting, I do ask that you stay on topic.
Any post by an anonymous poster that is off subject, insulting, demeaning or rude will be removed.

This blog is for me to ponder things and to ask questions of a larger audience;  hateful, sarcastic comments have no place here and will not be tolerated!

As the title states-

"MY BLOG, MY RULES!"

if you don't like it- tough cookies!!

God gave us two ears & one mouth for a reason

Dialogue: a discussion between representatives of parties of a conflict that is aimed at resolution.

This, in a word, is what I was hoping to find in the world of blogging. I am not sure if this is what is really going on and it has made me start to ponder a few things.

I found the blogs through an e-mail that was sent to me, from a rather progressive friend, as her example of the “evil, nasty, un-Christian people who have the audacity to call themselves Catholic” (her words, not mine!) My friend was referring to postings from the blog Ten Reasons regarding Joan Sobala, and some of the “changes” she has made to the parishes she is now “pastoral administrator” of.

I will admit that my initial reaction was that my friend was right, and then I started to read a little more, find more blogs, to do a little research and a lot of praying and soul-searching. The conclusion that I came to was that there are a lot of people out there, especially in our Diocese, who are hurting because of the actions of the people in leadership positions. I can understand and empathize with you all. I, too, have been deeply hurt by the actions of supposedly “pastoral” people, ordained and lay alike.

What was starting to make me uneasy though was the venom, hatred and animosity from both sides. Certainly not “dialogue” in any sense of the word. So I decided that I would create my own blog, and hoped that I would be able to facilitate some of the dialogue that I am looking for.

My initial foray into the “blog world” was not very positive. I have a tendency to be very passionate and emotional and I find that very hard to covey in writing. I have been trying very hard to make sure that any comment that I post to another’s blog is respectful, even when I have a different opinion. Because we are talking about religion, I understand that emotions are going to run high. Yet, I have to wonder, does either side really want true dialogue?

In a recent comment over at Cleansing Fire, I spoke of Sacred Heart Cathedral because it is what I know. Members of my family have been parishioners there since the early 60’s and the church had changed a few times (the church from the late 60’s when my parents got married looked nothing like the Cathedral I joined in the early 90’s and now the most recent renovation.) There are parts of the Cathedral that I really love, and there are things that I think are horribly wrong, but the bottom line is, what is done is done.
Enough money has already been wasted; let’s learn to work with what we’ve got.

Now, I am neither naïve nor trying to be provocative, as I was accused by one commenter, in thinking that I was not going to illicit very strong response, I was hoping to receive response, not reaction. Please understand I am not trying to diminish anyone’s pain. Being hurt by the church is a deep wound that takes a long time to heal, I know all too well!

But what can we do now, with what we have got.
Let us have a true dialogue and listen to one another, and try to come up with a resolution.

Peace to all!

St. Michael, St. Florian, St. Ignatius, HELP!

I witnessed something today that is becoming all too common, and quite honestly, really ticks me off!!!


I live and work near the intersection of Dewey & Ridgeway Avenues in the city, where there is a very large, very busy firehouse. Today, during the evening "rush-hour" Engine 10, was traveling eastbound on Ridgeway, lights and sirens, air-horn blasting, and
NO ONE WAS PULLING OVER TO THE RIGHT!!!!


It makes me nutty!!! These brave men and women are trying to do their jobs, and they do not need inconsiderate people on the road making it harder for them to get to where they are going!


I see this all too often with all emergency vehicles. It seems that everyone is always in such a hurry that they forget basic driving etiquette, as well as traffic law!


So, on this feast of St. Michael, let us ask him, the protector and defender of the faith, as well as the patron for police officers, St. Florian, patron of firefighters and St. Ignatius Loyola, patron of soldiers, to protect these brave men and women as they do their jobs.

And people, let us always remember,

"There is no greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."

Police officers, firefighters, and all the members of our military services do this everyday, for their friends and for perfect strangers, we the people of the community!

Please let us keep them in our prayers and do what we can to keep them safe!

Peace to all!