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A human chain across the Animas River Trail on Sept. 26 is intended to celebrate community unity at a divisive time when the presidential campaign will be in full swing.
Durango Connect, however, is running into another problem of the times � a financially strapped local government. City officials doubt whether Durango has the staff members or money to accommodate a special event in which adults and as many as 5,000 schoolchildren are expected to hold hands across the entire length of the 7-mile trail.
But event organizer Jack Turner said there�s �no controversy� because he anticipates costs to be minimal. People would simply show up at the trail at 10 a.m. and hold hands, he said.
Turner considers Durango Connect to be a �rainbows and unicorns� event that everybody can rally behind. He is promoting it online at durangoconnect.com.
�The beauty for the city is there�s almost no cost,� Turner said. �The schools are not asking the city for any help in getting kids to the trail. The only costs might be police for school crossings.�
Turner said the city has printed some maps, but �that�s pretty negligible.�
�I can assure you there has not been one request to the city for a financial donation,� said Turner, a filmmaker and Durango native who wants to recognize the city�s achievement in making the trail contiguous for the first time in its 36-year history with a completion of a bridge behind Durango Mall.
But the timing of the event might be bad for other reasons. The loss of the La Plata Electric Association franchise fee has put a $600,000 hole in the city�s budget after voters rejected a 20-year franchise agreement for LPEA in April.
�Without the $600,000, our ability to react to little things like this is done,� said City Manager Ron LeBlanc during a City Council study session last week.
Because Durango will be hosting the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in August � when 20,0000 visitors are expected � city staff members won�t have time to prepare and plan for Durango Connect, LeBlanc said.
The city also expects staffing to be low in September because staff members won�t be allowed to take vacation during the bicycle competition in August.
LeBlanc said Durango�s �public safety people have a lot of questions about whether (Durango Connect) is doable.�
Because Durango Connect will be filmed for a documentary, Mayor Doug Lyon has heard that a cameraman will be riding the trail on a motorcycle, but Turner said the cameraman will be riding a bicycle.
Aside from safety concerns, Lyon said the organizers need to show how they will pay for the costs of the special event.
�There are lot of questions we�ll have to get to the bottom of before we can participate in this thing,� Lyon said.
While Turner said he has been working with the city�s recreation staff members, LeBlanc said the city currently does not have �a plan that�s implementable.�


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To the editor:
It's that time of year again for Christmas trees and lights and Christmas presents and manger scenes and Christmas cheer. December is also "atheist season," when they'll all come crawling out of the woodwork (even as far as Wisconsin), scared that they just might be wrong - what if there really is a God or Jessus or Hell?
I always remember the old saying, "There are no atheists in foxholes." If they are strict believers in evolution only, let them hand up their dinosaur bones and sea shells and put lights on them. It's my choice what to do. What's wrong with people being a little happier or more considerate than usual?
As I've said before, the problem is our cowardly hypocrites in Washington, D.C., who do everything for votes and tenure and money, but won't speak up and defend the rights of Christians for fear of losing votes. Isn't every session of the House and Senate opened with a prayer? (You can't get rid of these people when they are campaigning, but you can't reach them once they're in office.)
So, if you don't like my Christmas tree or manager scene, don't look at them. (How many times do we have to say this before it sinks in?) And if we don't want to look at your fossils, we'll just ignore than.
In closing, all you atheists must stop reading this now - Merry Christmas to all.
Sandy McLeish

subset: commoncrawl


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Published on Wed, Aug 05, 2009
A report released yesterday by the Immigration Policy Center states that Latinos, whether legal or illegal immigrants, act as an economic boom to the state. But an immigration critic says supporting immigrants outweighs any benefit. Read more about that below.
Published in the Denver Daily News


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RILEY COUNTY, Kan. (WIBW) -- Riley County police say a major push by the department to implement social media sites into everyday police work is paying off.
Officers have been posting to Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest in between their normal duties, garnering thousands of followers.
Officer Matt Droge works the midnight shift patrolling the streets but he's well-known in the social media world where he's been dubbed the Twitter Cop.
Droge, with the help of several other officers on the force, has worked to integrate sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest into daily RCPD operations.
"For our Twitter, it's been incredible. When I started I think we had around 53 followers and this morning, we had over 2400 followers so I think it's something the community appreciates," he told WIBW.
Droge went to Kansas City to see how police there use social media and brought the methods back to Riley County. He'll tweet and post when he has a break on patrol and when he's off duty- answering questions and concerns and letting folks know about any accidents as well as different police operations and investigations.
"When they tweet to us, they're tweeting to me or one of the other two officers that help with the Twitter account. They're actually asking a question to a cop and that cop is responding to them as quickly as we can... It's very important to me that the Twitter and the social media here at the police department works because I do feel that it's a viable tool for law enforcement and the only way to make it work is to be committed to it," he said.
"Manhattan is a very young community. We have soldiers from Fort Riley and we also have K-State students here so our demographic is such that we need to pay special attention to how we reach out to them and we've been interested for a while now as to how we can communicate with the younger generation and of course it turns out that they use social media extensively for everything from what's going on in the local community to where they get their news" said RCPD spokesman Lieutenant Josh Kyle.
"It's actually to date, helped solve six cases. In those six cases, that includes three felonies. So far, we've had thefts, we've had an aggravated battery, fraud," Droge said of RCPD's interactions with citizens on social media sites.
"If a picture comes in of someone that robs a bank, I can send out a picture and over 2400 people can see that picture and forward it and share it with even more and the chances of one of those people knowing who that person is are very high and it's a resource that if we're not using it, I think we're not doing the community a service," he added.


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Catholic Commencement Controversy Season Commences
It's graduation season at the nation's colleges and universities, so it must be time for another round of Catholic Commencement Controversy. Here in New England this year, the most prominent entry thus far features the region's most prominent Catholic school and bishop: Boston College and Cardinal Sean O'Malley.Cardinal O'Malley released a statement over the weekend explaining he would not deliver his traditional benediction at BC's commencement because the university is conferring an honorary degree on Irish taoiseach Enda Kenny. Boston College is honoring Kenny in recognition of his commitment to social justice, most notably his "emotional apology in the Dil on behalf of the state to the Magdalene Laundry survivors". O'Malley's decision follows a campaign by the Catholic Action League (kind of a local version of William Donohue's Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights) against BC's decision to grant Kenny an honorary degree.O'Malley's reasons for boycotting Kenny are, in the cardinal's words, that "the Catholic Bishops of the United States have asked that Catholic institutions not honor government officials or politicians who promote abortion with their laws and policies", and that the prime minister "is aggressively promoting abortion legislation".(Side note: Kenny is from County Mayo, from whence comes the word "boycott", arising from an Irish Land League protest in 1880.)Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen speaks, I suspect, for a sizable faction of Boston-area Catholics in a long, scathing, as-much-in-sorrow-as-in-anger essay today. Since it's behind the Globe's paywall, I'll quote it at length after the jump, because it's a good summary of the exasperation many Catholics feel in these situations.
OMalley accused Kenny of aggressively promoting abortion legislation, which is an odd way to describe a democratically elected leader of a republic following the mandatory legal advice of the highest court in the land.I would be the first guy to defend the cardinals right to skip the BC graduation. But his reasoning is embarrassingly flawed and his selectivity in whom he deems worthy of his presence is breathtaking in its hypocrisy.Enda Kenny, as the duly elected prime minister of the Republic of Ireland, has a duty to respond to court decisions ordering his government to find an exception to Irelands strict prohibition against abortion so that doctors and other health care workers can take steps to save the life of a woman in a troubled pregnancy.Women in Ireland have died because there is no exception to the law. Most recently, it was a 31-year-old woman named Savita Halappanavar, a native of India who was working as a dentist in Ireland while her husband worked in Galway for the Natick-based firm Boston Scientific. When her husband learned the 17-week-old fetus his wife was carrying was nonviable, he begged the doctors to terminate the pregnancy to save his wife. The doctors pointed at the law, threw up their hands, and said there was nothing they could do.When Praveen Halappanavar expressed exasperation that no one was lifting a finger to save his dying wife, someone tried to explain it by saying, This is a Catholic country.An inquest last year found that Savita Halappanavar would most likely still be alive if the law in Ireland allowed for an abortion in that circumstance.I am sure Cardinal OMalley is sincere in his point of view that abortion is wrong, but Id like to see him try to convince Praveen Halappanavar that non-Catholics like the Halappanavars have to abide by the Catholic Churchs edicts even if it means the death of a mother carrying a fetus that had no chance at life.OK, enough of the Kafkaesque stuff. Lets get back to the hypocrisy stuff.
To read the rest, click here.
About the Author
Luke Hill is a writer and community organizer in Boston. He blogs at dotCommonweal and MassCommons.
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Errors in factmandatory legal advice of the highest court in the land - Kenny runs a legally equal branch of government. The highest court cannot tell him what to legislate.Women in Ireland have died because there is no exception to the law - Expectant mothers in Ireland have one of the lowest rates of maternal death in the world. There is no evidence that abortion prevents maternal mortality. Enda Kenny, a good man who is personally opposed to abortion. He was elected on a platform which promised to retain Irelands current restrictions. And if one believes that abortion is morally objectionable, then YES, you are supposed to foster legislation which makes it illegal. The pursuit of the common good requires no less.All the blather about the Church and child sex abuse just obfuscates and leaves the commencement question begging.
Mr. Cullen obviously has not read the latest developments on the story of the Magdalene sisters, which apparently turned out to be another anti-Catholic media frenzy with little basis in reality:http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100202781/catholic-bash...
Here is how the Catholic Action League characterizes the Irish legislation that seems to be the centerpiece of this dispute:"On April 30th, Kenny's coalition government introduced legislation with the Orwellian title "The Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013," which would legalize abortion in Ireland under the guise of preventing the suicide of pregnant women. As there is no gestational age limit to the measure, it would mean abortion on demand, under threat of suicide, through all nine months of pregnancy."Catholic hospitals would be forced to comply with the proposed law. Moreover, the bill contains no conscience clause protections for physicians, nurses, and other health care workers."The Catholic Church has denounced the measure and called upon the Irish people to lobby their elected representatives to oppose it. Cardinal Sean Brady, the Primate of Ireland, said the bill, if approved would "make the direct and intentional killing of unborn children lawful in Ireland." Brady went on to say that: "It is a tragic moment for Irish society when we regard the the deliberate destruction of a completely innocent person as an acceptable response to the threat of the preventable death of another person.""Kenny has threatened to expel pro-life Catholic TDs (members of parliament) from his Fine Gael parliamentary party if they refuse to vote for the measure, which is expected to be acted upon in July."If this description is accurate, then I support Cardinal O'Malley's decision.
If people keep taking the attitude of Bruce ("All the blather about the Church and child sex abuse"), Boston--and Ireland--will eventually just be another Quebec, where a Cardinal had might as well fart in the wind as vocalize a protest, for all the good it would do him.
Fantasy lives againg with a post from Carlo who did not follow the links he referenced. This one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21345313, confirms what is widely known. With testimony from individuals and religious orders.
In the matter of Ireland's legislation, and for important clarifications in the case of Savita Halappanavar, Charles Camosy offers this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/wp/2013/05/09/abortion-in-i...
Luke,You are wrong on so many of the facts including what Kenny is required to do, what he is in fact doing, the facts of the Savita case, which you get really wrong, and probably much else. I have forwarded your post to David Quinn, one of the preeminent Catholic commentators in Ireland and asked him to log in and explain what is going on in Ireland with abortion. You will find that O'Malley is more right than you know.
"Since the university has not withdrawn the invitation and because the Taoiseach has not seen fit to decline, I shall not attend the graduation."That's all right, isn't it? Since he cannot convince people, rather than showing up and mixing with people whose views differ from his, he withdraws. He disagrees, he disagrees strongly, he disagrees strongly enough that he feels the need to withdraw. It's too bad, but it's the kind of "retaliation" we can live with.
If I were one of the Trustees of BC, I would not issue any future invites to Cardinal O'Malley. These guys come and gol there will always the next Cardinal to work with.I think O'Malley has a perfect right to say "no, thanks", but as a simple courtesy to a respected Catholic institution in the dioceses he serves, he should just have made a polite excuse rather than publicly boycott it. Are you sure O'Malley snub is going down well with the Vatican? Isn't Boston College Jesuit? They might have an "in" now.
Just to be clear, Luke is posting someone else's material. If I'm reading it correctly, everything after the jump comes from Cullen. EDIT: Blockquote added. I also cut some of the material for reasons of fair use. If you haven't used up your free monthly reads, you should be able to see the rest of that Cullen column, which, I'm afraid, is over the top and seems to play loose with facts.
Irene:"Are you sure OMalley snub is going down well with the Vatican? Isnt Boston College Jesuit? They might have an in now."No way! I would say Pope Francis is now pope first and Jesuit second.
Stepping back for a moment from the particulars of Irish politics, let's take a look at what is happening here from the point of view of the American church.Cardinal O'Malley, in his statement explaining why he's passing on the commencement ceremony this year, notes that, "the Catholic Bishops of the United States have asked that Catholic institutions not honor government officials or politicians who promote abortion with their laws and policies."It is fair to ask, Why is Boston College conferring this honor - an honorary Doctor of Laws degree - on Enda Kenny? Judging by the content of BC's public announcement (available here: http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/publications/chronicle/FeaturesNewsTopstori...), it is simply because of Kenney's long and eminent career, and to be sure because of his speech on behalf of victims of sex abuse. All of which is admirable. But ... the purpose of that request by the US bishops is that, in their view, it isn't sufficient to have a long and eminent career. The specific things that a politician does during that career, especially as it pertains to the issue identified by the bishops as being the most important of contemporary issues - abortion - matter. Cardinal O'Malley, in my opinion, is being more charitable in assuming that the Boston College administration invited Kenny without being aware of the Irish situation with regard to abortion. The college should do its due diligence about such things. And in my view, the college should abide by the bishops' wishes.
"I think OMalley has a perfect right to say no, thanks, but as a simple courtesy to a respected Catholic institution in the dioceses he serves, he should just have made a polite excuse rather than publicly boycott it."Irene, I don't think what O'Malley is doing amounts to a boycott. He is declining to do something that he's customarily done in the past, and, anticipating that people would wonder why, he's explaining why. It seems to me that his explanation is pretty good: it sticks to the facts, and he explains forthrightly why he is doing what he is doing. He expresses the hope that BC can repair the damage their decision is causing. And he assures the students that they'll be in his prayers. And it's worth noting that he doesn't condemn Boston College or Kenny. I think that, on the whole, it strikes the right notes.
As with many things, these situations don't usually make anything better, don't change anyone's minds. Nobody wins. It just leaves a bid taste in everyone's mouth. It isn't the BC administration or Enda Kenny who are hurt by this. It is the graduates, though in the end they'll likely forget the snub. Good heavens, over the years I'm sure BC's commencement speakers have included a range of good and bad. Cardinal Law was the speaker in 1984, Condi Rice was in 2006 or so when she and GW Bush were lying about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Neither one turned out to reflect Catholic values. I'm sure if you went back and looked at the list of speakers over the 150 odd year history of the institution, you'd find as many rascals as saints among the speakers. The other thing that this demonstrates, though, is the difference between a powerful institution like BC and less powerful Catholic colleges. Last year Anna Maria College had to go through the embarrassment of dis-inviting Ted Kennedy's widow because the bishop of Worcester objected. Marist stopped calling itself Catholic because it wouldn't buckle to an order from the Archbishop of New York to "dis-invite" the newly elected governor to its commencement. When its BC on the other hand, the Cardinal backs out. No Cardinal is going to threaten a major Jesuit university.
Mr. Dunn,Which governor are you referring to? Marist College has been officially "non-Catholic" for many years.
I second Grant's assessment:"that Cullen column, which, Im afraid, is over the top and seems to play loose with facts."I had read the column early this morning and communicated a similar assessment to Mr. Cullen himself -- who thanked me for my trouble.
Well, I ALSO wrote Mr. Cullen, and he also thanked ME for MY trouble. So there!
Here is an interesting little news item that, if true, has sort of a tangential connection to this Boston College / Enda Kenny / Cardinal O'Malley story. This news item pertains to Pope Francis. It's been remarked before that he does not distribute communion when be celebrates a public mass. This news item explains (speculates on?) the reason for this policy: he has stated that he doesn't want the reception of communion to be leveraged as a photo op by public sinners.http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=17830The policy of the US bishops toward Catholic schools and pro-abortion politicians runs somewhat along the same lines. Cardinal O'Malley declines to be on the dais with Prime Minister Kenny because he fears, reasonably, that his presence would seem to be yet another indication of church acquiescence to pro-abortion policies. Cardinal O'Malley declines to take part in that photo op.
Abe, I am always interested when you put up comments about art (not often enough), and your other comments often make me laugh, provided they're light and in good spirit. I wish they always were.
yet another indication of church acquiescence to pro-abortion policiesHow many have you counted so far? Correct me if I am wrong, but my impression is that the position of the Catholic church is against abortion.
Abe,somehow I suspect his thanks to you were more heartfelt.
God bless Cardinal O'Malley. Let us hope that Boston College does the right thing and withdraws its ill-timed and undeserved honor for Kenny.
Savita Halappanavar died from an undiagnosed infection that resulted in sepsis. That was the verdict of the inquest. The jury did not find any indication that Ireland's laws on abortion contributed to her death. Doctors in Ireland regard both the mother and her unborn child as patients.Enda Kenny promised before the last election that his party would not legislate for abortion; that was an important consideration for many who voted for his party. However, he is now spearheading legislation which will allow abortion on grounds of risk of maternal suicide. That will effectively mean abortion on demand.Pro-life people in Ireland are fighting against the most evil piece of legislation ever to be proposed in Ireland. We need prayers and support, not snide and ill-informed pro- abortion propaganda!
Jim PauwelsI get your argument, but I'm not sure anyone would imagine that Cardinal O'Malley sharing a stage at a graduation with Prime Minister Kenny would be taken by any reasonable or rational person as any kind of acceptance of pro-abortion policy, any more than his hosting President Obama and Governor Patrick at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross during the Boston Marathon prayer vigil would be so taken. Cardinal O'Malley has been crystal clear on his views on this matter. And nobody is asking him to do anything but what he and his predecessors have traditionally done. I have a good deal of respect for Cardinal O'Malley. Among the US hierarchy, I think he is among the few who really do understand what a horrible crimes were committed by his predecessors. But I don't think he's doing the right thing in this instance. This isn't about abortion. It is about celebrating the accomplishments of a group of men and women. My guess is that 90% of the people in attendance won't know or care what Kenny's position on abortion is. Most probably wouldn't know whether the Taoiseach of Ireland is President, Prime Minister or King. All Cardinal O'Malley did was call attention to it and to himself, and create a controversy where none was necessary.
Ah yes - The season of those who never cease to delight in tweaking the nose of the bishops by hosting pro-abortion speakers at so-called Catholic colleges . . . a sure sign of spring.
KenAre you implying that a Catholic college like BC has invited this honorary degree recipient specifically for his stance on abortion?Surely you know that is not true. Please stop trolling.
A sure sign of spring is that Catholic hypocrites will avoid that the Vatican and the bishops oppose contraception which has helped control populations from certain death and sickness. Sound out about this fact and stop hiding behind the abortion issue. Rome irresponsibly says that this is relegated to the "internal forum." Which is the way to hide its embarrassing position on the issue.
It is fair to ask, Why is Boston College conferring this honor an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on Enda Kenny?It is equally fair for probably 99 percent of BC students to ask -- Enda Who?
Last year Anna Maria College had to go through the embarrassment of dis-inviting Ted Kennedys widow because the bishop of Worcester objected. McManus.http://www.google.com/search?site=&source=hp&q=mcmanus+drunk&oq=mcmanus+...
There are a lot of errors in this blog. Prime Minister Enda Kenny does not have to legislate for abortion in Ireland. There is no law that requires him to legislate. The Supreme Court judgement on which he is basing the new law is flawed and out-dated. Previous governments for the last 21 years have correctly opted not to follow this flawed judgement which is legitimate under the Constitution.
No woman in Ireland has ever died because of the lack of abortion. Doctors in Ireland can legally intervene to save the life of a mother, regardless of foetal heartbeat. This is also the official teaching of the Catholic Church. It is wrong to say that Savita Halapannavar died because of a 'Catholic' law. She died because of horrendous medical neglect- it had nothing to do with the abortion law.
I wonder if the Cardinal could have chosen to attend the graduation and in a polite but firm way explain his concerns. From one perspective, this might be a lost opportunity to talk about life issues to graduates and their families. There might be problems with such an appearance that I'm not seeing, but it might have been a chance to teach/explain, perhaps especially including the full spectrum of life issues.
It would be nice to see a moratorium on inviting "questionable" speakers and the "dis-invite" route. Both have become, as Ken notes, de rigeur, for Catholic springtime. No unborn child has yet been saved by any of these actions, which increasingly strike me as narcissistic on the part of both bishops and colleges.I can appreciate Cardinal O'Malley's frustration. It's the pro-life domino effect. If you can't make a difference with the women choosing abortions, go after the doctors. If you can't make headway with doctors, then shut down their clinics. If you can't make headway with those providers, then go after the politicians. If you can't convince politicians, then target the voters. In the end, activists are so far removed from the original cause-and-effect that they might as well be blaming God for setting up this quandry in the first place.I'm with Kevin: it's time to go off this tired, old script on the pro-life front. It's not like anything a bishop does is going to cause more abortions. We hope.
"Expectant mothers in Ireland have one of the lowest rates of maternal death in the world."That's in part because Ireland "exports: its difficult pregnancies ... http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/16/ireland-abortion-women-force... Kenny is acting to clarify for doctors a 20+ year old Supreme Court decision that makes it legal to abort non-viable fetuses if the mother's life is in danger (Doctors support abortions in some cases). Even given this, Ireland remains the only country in Europe besides Malta where abortion is illegal even in cases of rape or incest. With the Catholic bishops arguing against this legal clarification, it's obvious to many women that their lives mean very little to the church. Read more .... Irish abortion bill does not change law, says Enda KennySpeaking of Boston College and Ireland, there's been research at the college, The Belfast Project, on the subject of violence in Northern Ireland and it's led to conflicts. You can read more here - Boston College Researchers Drink with the IRA, and Academics Everywhere Get the Hangover.
I am unconvinced suggesting an argument against Cullen's article can be found in stating he has played loose with the facts. The links provided by several commentors here provide more than enough evidence to the ease with which one can find utterly contradictory articles about the facts on the issues being discussed. It seems to me if the Catholic hierarchy wishes to be the final artibitrator on issues of moral rightness than it must assume the truly profound responsiblity such power provides. Mere words are insufficient. It must live those words and it must do so consistently while fully accepting the fact inconsistency is one of the most predicatable and identifiable attributes of mere mortals.When we mere mortals are faced with the real world dilemma of choosing between the life of a child and the life of that child's mother we have no clear answer. God help us if we ever did. Tragically, that is only one of many such challenges a person who lives outside of a cloistered world can face. In the real world such challenges are utterly unhelped by either judicial or religious righteousness however eloquently expressed.I am hard pressed to believe the cardinal would not have liked to have had the chance to counsel the couple on the wisdom of trying again to bring a child into the world. I wonder why he could not have expressed that idea as one of his great losses in the tragic death of both mother and child.
"When we mere mortals are faced with the real world dilemma of choosing between the life of a child and the life of that childs mother we have no clear answer. God help us if we ever did."You obviously have never read the 1950 book nor seen the 1963 movie "The Cardinal." If that isn't a true representation of the Church's position in these matters, I don't know what was/is.
Ireland, under Kenny, had the temerity to close its Vatican embassy because of the sex scandal. He and the Vatican are now back on speaking terms, but he has not relented about the embassy. I don't doubt that his embassy decision also had something to do with Cdl. O'Malley's decision not to attend the graduation. Rome must be furious at him.
If anyone should have been furious, it was rightly Kenny, given the abuse at Cloyne. I thought Kenny's speech was really good.
"When we mere mortals are faced with the real world dilemma of choosing between the life of a child and the life of that childs mother we have no clear answer."As the world sees these things, the deck is stacked against the child. It seems to me that, absent the church's counter-intuitive moral teaching of a preferential option for the little ones, it is pretty much inevitable that the mother's life will be chosen at the expense of the child's, every single time.
Irene Baldwin - "Are you sure OMalley snub is going down well with the Vatican? Isnt Boston College Jesuit? They might have an 'in' now."While you might find conspiratorial websites that posit the new unified power of the Jesuits (Black and White Popes United -- oh my!!), it is pretty clear in this instance --the Jesuits of BC vs. Cardinal O'Malley -- if any side has an "in" with Rome, it is Cardinal O'Malley.http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2013/04/francis-friar-omalley-su...
"I wonder if the Cardinal could have chosen to attend the graduation and in a polite but firm way explain his concerns."Perhaps he could have, although I believe his invitation was simply to bless the event, not to be a featured speaker. But once he takes the mic, I suppose he could say whatever he wants. Such witness could be invaluable for the graduates and their families, and it might make for good theater. I don't know if direct confrontation is his style or his preferred approach. He has chosen a way in which he has still politely and firmly explained his concerns, in a way that is less likely to cause a guest head of state to lose face. Perhaps that would tend to leave open the possibility for dialogue between Kenny and church officials down the road.
I note that Cardinal Dolan delivered a benediction at the Democratic National Convention last year, a situation that seems roughly parallel to this one. It seems that different churchmen handle these situations differently.
It's not that the churchmen are different, it's that in the first case, Cdl O'Malley knows that Jesuits will still pay attention to him, but in the second case, Cdl Dolan knows that if he shuns politicians then they will simply forget about him.
Helen - Please climb down from the high horse; I am not implying that at all.
God's grace is withheld from no one. So, what could possibly give the Cardinal the impression that he has the right to withhold his? This stuff is shameful.
" ... it is pretty much inevitable that the mothers life will be chosen at the expense of the childs, every single time. "It is called choosing for the known versus the unknown.Most people do that most of the time.
"As the world sees these things, the deck is stacked against the child. It seems to me that, absent the churchs counter-intuitive moral teaching of a preferential option for the little ones, it is pretty much inevitable that the mothers life will be chosen at the expense of the childs, every single time."Jim P. --You're not facing the point at issue : when both the mother and the child will die without intervention there IS NO option for the little one. That's the horror of it -- the child dies either way. "Preferential option for the child" is meaningless in such a situation.
"Youre not facing the point at issue : when both the mother and the child will die without intervention there IS NO option for the little one."Hi, Ann, my statement which you quoted was written in response to this statement by MightBe:When we mere mortals are faced with the real world dilemma of choosing between the life of a child and the life of that childs mother we have no clear answer.That scenario is somewhat different than the one you wrote about. Which one pertained to the case of Savita Halapannavar is not clear to me. (Or, if what one or two commenters have written is true, perhaps her death was unrelated to the life or health of her baby).
Bruce- the fact that maternal mortality is statisitically low in Ireland does not address the fact that there are rare, tragic cases where a pregnant woman will die unless a direct abortion is performed, and where there is no hope whatsoever of saving the child. Savita Halappanavar appears to have been one of those cases- the septicemia developed because she experienced an incomplete miscarriage, antibiotics were not working, and the only practical treatment was to complete the miscarriage (i.e. remove the unborn child). The septicemia was not undiagnosed- she was diagnosed with infection of the fetal membranes several days before she died. She was suffering from high fever, extremely high pulse, shivering, foul smelling uterine discharge. She was not treated because Irish law is ambiguous about whether it's legal to perform a direct abortion when faced with imminent maternal death, and the doctors did not dare run the risk.These cases are so rare that they do not affect the overall statistics for maternal mortality, but they do occur. The proposed Irish abortion law allows abortion in the case of suicide threats, and I can see that Cardinal O'Malley would be worried that it will open the floodgates. However, I think it's utterly wrong for the civil law to force women Savita Halappanavar's situation to die for the sake of Catholic teaching about direct and indirect abortions. I think it's wrong for the Catholic church to lobby to enforce Catholic teaching on the issue through the civil law. I hope that Cardinal O'Malley is only objecting to the suicide provision of the proposed law- but if so, I wish he would clarify this.
JIm P. ==I apologize for misinterpreting you post.
Ann - no need to apologize. I always enjoy our conversations :-)
Anne Evans,Great points. I find the actions of Cardinals and the Church in general to the overall issue of abortion and their protests, individually or collectively, to be both inconsistent and contradictory. Let me explain.1. In a rape case, many Cardinals and Archbishops will allow the administration of Plan B based on simple pregnancy test. This is hypocritical because the USCCB guidelines clearly require that a pregnancy must not be shown to exist or potentially exist (e.g., as with a positive ovulation test that demonstrates ovulation as a "sign" that fertility might have occurred). A pregnancy test can only detect pregnancy after implantation which occurs about 3 weeks after fertilization. Since in rape cases Plan B is administered within 72 hours of the rape, a negative pregnancy test tells is a shame and is contradictory of the USCCB guidelines (regardless if one agrees or not with such guidelines). This is double speak. 2. The Church does not "tolerate" any type of abortion including to save the life of the mother whose life is threatened with certainty by a non-viable fetus (e.g, the Phoenix case). Yet, other so-called intrinsically evil human acts are tolerated such as couples who practice contraception. In these cases, where 90% of Catholics practice it, very few priests will refuse to give Holy Communion to such Catholics. Every priest knows that most young couples who are standing in line each week to receive the Eucharist practice a form ob birth control condemned by the Magisterium, but you never hear "one word" from the pulpit about it. If divorce and remarried couples commit the sin of adultery, why does the Church not protest and lobby against civil divorce laws and the right to remarriage as they do for civil abortion laws?Interestingly, Benedict XVI pronounced that Catholics were not obligated morally to vote against a political candidate based on "one issue" since one issue does not define the candidate even if one of the issues goes against the Church's teachings. The rule of proportionality should be used, he said, since there are very few, if any, political candidates whose position on a host of issues are in complete alignment to all Church teachings. While Cardinal O'Malley can decide how to act in protest against BC for their honoring of Enda Kenny, it is the larger and broader issue that I have a major problem with, as exemplified in part by my comments above. Does anyone have an opinion about this broader issue?
Michael Barberi,As usual, your post is excellent. Thank you. Ditto, Anne Evans.
"Yet, other so-called intrinsically evil human acts are tolerated such as couples who practice contraception."Contraception usage is not intrinsically evil, even though, in many circumstances, it is evil, according to church moral teaching."Every priest knows that most young couples who are standing in line each week to receive the Eucharist practice a form ob birth control condemned by the Magisterium, but you never hear one word from the pulpit about it."It's quite possible that priests (and others who speak from the pulpit) hold the view that condemning such behavior from the pulpit is ineffective, even counterproductive. I believe there is a track record for such condemnations, going back 50-60 years, so there may be a basis in church experience for priests holding these views.That it isn't regularly condemned from the pulpit doesn't mean that the church is silent on the issue. I expect that church teaching on contraceptives is covered in marriage preparation sessions, in morality classes in Catholic schools and parish religious ed programs, and in other forums such as adult ed sessions and RCIA. Not to mention in a variety of Catholic publications ranging from the Catechism of the Catholic Church to periodicals.
"If divorce and remarried couples commit the sin of adultery, why does the Church not protest and lobby against civil divorce laws and the right to remarriage as they do for civil abortion laws?"Because the church does not view civil divorce as wrong in all cases, and it is the same with civil remarriage. Both are very common among Catholics, and many Catholics navigate them without falling afoul of church teaching.
Because the church does not view civil divorce as wrong in all cases, and it is the same with civil remarriage. Both are very common among Catholics, and many Catholics navigate them without falling afoul of church teaching.Concerning Catholics, the Catholic Church recognizes the civil marriages of non-Catholics. These marriages are valid. If the two spouses are baptized, the marriage is also sacramental and, after divorce, would require a decree of nullity before a Catholic remarriage can be considered. Catholics married civilly without a dispensation are indeed in an invalid marriage - in adultery.In short: Like for contraception, canon law is complex, muddled, and does not completely make sense to many of us. Like for contraception, most of us happily ignore it. But for the few who take it seriously, it's a disaster. I know someone who, after his civil marriage to someone divorced from a previous marriage, per his pastor's instructions, refrained from receiving communion for several years. He could not bear it. Eventually he found a sympathetic Jesuit priest who presented things in a different perspective. Now - married for two decades - every Sunday during the act of contrition he asks for forgiveness for "living in adultery" before coming up for communion in fear and trembling... When I think about the very real impact of bad laws on people's lives (paradoxically, on the ones who are most law-abiding), it makes me angry.
Claire - I'm sorry about your acquaintance's situation. Did he pursue an annulment from his previous marriage? That seems to be the most straightforward approach.
Jim: it's his spouse who ought to do that, not him, and the spouse is not up for it, at least not so far. So, there you go - 20 years of being in an impossible situation, and nothing he can do about it.
Claire - thanks, and sorry - I had misread your scenario. I agree it's a very difficult situation for him.
An excellent analysis of the issues involved: http://catholicism.about.com/b/2013/05/17/what-is-cardinal-omalley-tryin...
Jim Pauwels -- The term "contraception" refers to the usage of methods of birth control condemned by the Vatican as intrinsically evil. Humanae Vitae makes clear that any act, before, during or after the martial act that prevents the marital act from achieving its procreative consequences is immoral. Thus, no one must never separate the unitive and procreative aspects of martial act for this is a violation of natural and divine law. Taking the pill can be licit if it is for the pain of endometriosis. However, I was not referring to pill-taking, but contraception. Contraception is a "moral absolute" whereby under no circumstances can it be licit. This is the official teaching of the Church. Of course, as you know, very few Catholics and theologians agree with it. Many priests believe that Humanae Vitae should be responsibly reformed. This profound disagreement finds its way into what is called the "silent pulpit". No priest or bishop wants controversy and condemnation from Rome. Hence most priests keep silent except in private counsel sessions with parishioners. It is true the most priests don't speak from the pulpit about contraception, and most importantly, the requirements of receiving the Eucharist despite the USCCB guidelines. However, you missed my point. Many priests require a couple to attend NFP classes, but after that, the decision is up to them based on their informed conscience. This is in clear violation of the official teaching of the Church. Therefore when it comes to the teaching on contraception, we have inconsistency and contradiction. As for civil marriages and adultery, the issue I raised, perhaps not sufficiently clear, was that it is illicit for two baptized married Catholics, or one baptized Catholic and one baptized Christian, to divorce and remarry civilly (without an church annulment) because in the eyes of the Catholic Church they would be committing adultery. If the argument is that the Catholic Church does not lobby to overturn civil divorce and remarriages because other Christian religions permit divorce and remarriage civilly, then why does the Catholic Church lobby to overturn abortion laws regardless if other Christian religions do not have a problem with it under certain circumstances (e.g., to save the life of the mother)? IMO, this is also an example of being inconsistent and somewhat contradictory. The issue Claire raised about divorce and remarriage per the Catholic Church is an example of unnecessary suffering. Why should the innocent spouse, in the case where the husband commits adultery and forces a divorce, be required to live a life of celibacy without a husband until the husband dies? In many cases, an annulment is not possible. If the innocent spouse remarries she is prohibited from the sacrament of reconciliation and Eucharistic reception for she is committing adultery. As Claire points out, some priests permit divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion with an act of contrition. However, this is not the official teaching of the Church. This is another example of inconsistency and contradiction.
Thanks to all who've commented, and thanks to Grant for his editorial work clarifying this post. As happens so often, I learn more from the thread than from the original post.Just for the record, my own view is that Cardinal O'Malley is well within his rights to boycott Boston College's commencement exercises. My reading of his statement is that his decision came about, in part, because of his respect for the work of his brother bishops in the USCCB on this particular issue. Obviously O'Malley's statement is open to multiple interpretations as to its tone. To me it is typical of his tendency to speak and write simply and humbly, without casting aspersions on those with whom he disagrees.BC, on the other hand, is well within its rights to invite Prime Minister Kenny to be its commencement speaker. As was noted above, it's not the first time in recent years that there's been some controversy and debate about BC's commencement speaker, and it likely won't be the last.On balance, I take this perennial controversy as a sign of health within the American Catholic Church. It's when we *don't* care enough about each others' views to disagree publicly and honestly that it's time to worry.
" Contraception is a moral absolute whereby under no circumstances can it be licit. This is the official teaching of the Church. Of course, as you know, very few Catholics and theologians agree with it. "How, therefore, is this the official teaching of "the Church?" If the Church is the People of God (see CCC 782 for the characteristics thereof) then what we have in the case of contraception is the imposition of the opinions of a very few on the many, i.e., the People of God.The canonical doctrine of reception, broadly stated, asserts that for a law or rule to be an effective guide for the believing community it must be accepted by that community. See: http://www.arcc-catholic-rights.net/doctrine_of_reception.htm
Cardinal OMalley is well within his rights to boycott Boston Colleges commencement exercises...BC, on the other hand, is well within its rights to invite Prime Minister Kenny to be its commencement speaker.LukeI have trouble seeing any import to these statements. They sound rather milquetoast. We are within our rights to do many things that are quite wrong.
"Jim Pauwels The term contraception refers to the usage of methods of birth control condemned by the Vatican as intrinsically evil. Humanae Vitae makes clear that any act, before, during or after the martial act that prevents the marital act from achieving its procreative consequences is immoral. Thus, no one must never separate the unitive and procreative aspects of martial act for this is a violation of natural and divine law. Taking the pill can be licit if it is for the pain of endometriosis. However, I was not referring to pill-taking, but contraception. Contraception is a moral absolute whereby under no circumstances can it be licit. This is the official teaching of the Church."Michael - we may be in agreement on this; you say a few things in this passage with more absoluteness than I believe the teaching of Humanae Vitae calls for; but your statement "Taking the pill can be licit if it is for the pain of endometriosis" suggests that we may be more or less on the same page. If I may, let me highlight a couple of brief passages from HV. I'm doing this because I think it's important for Catholics (and others) to have a clear and accurate understanding of Catholic teaching. If this little exposition determines that we agree with one another - so much the better.The heart of the church's rule is found in HV paragraph 14: "Similarly excluded is any action which either before, at the moment of, or after sexual intercourse, is specifically intended to prevent procreationwhether as an end or as a means."In this sentence, I want to call out the phrase "specifically intended" - intention is a crucial component of this teaching. In order to fall afoul of this teaching, at least two components or elements must be present: (1) the action must occur (contraceptives must be consumed); and (2) they must be consumed with the intention of preventing procreation. The importance of the spouses' intention becomes clear when we look at what is said in paragraph 15: "On the other hand, the Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means necessary to cure bodily diseases, even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there fromprovided such impediment is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever. (19)"As I know you know (you probably know it a lot better than me), some pharmaceutical products can be used to treat more than one medical condition, including treatments that its inventors didn't foresee, and there are a number of medical conditions for which contraceptive products are prescribed that have nothing to do with the intention to contracept. In these instances, the contraceptive effect of the medications would continue to take place - but because the intention of the person taking the contraceptives is not to contracept, but to treat a different medical condition, then utilizing contraceptives for these reasons is not against church law. Couples can use medications for these reasons with unintended contraceptives effects, with a clear conscience.It is because of such circumstances that I disagree with your assertion that utilizing contraception is intrinsically evil. That phrase "intrinsically evil" generally means, "evil in and of its own nature, regardless of circumstances." And HV itself identifies circumstances in which consuming contraceptive products is at least not illicit. I would argue that it's not evil.Another scenario that may help illustrate that contraception is not intrinsically evil: I don't believe that it is against church teaching to give a rape victim post-rape contraceptives to minimize the chance that she will be impregnated by her rapist. If contraception were intrinsically evil, then even this act of mercy would be contrary to church teaching - but I don't think it is against church teaching. As someone wrote once (paraphrasing this), 'The church doesn't require that the victim cooperate with her rapist to conceive.'
@Mark Proska (5/17, 9:00 pm) Thanks for the reply. It's not clear to me that either Cardinal O'Malley or Boston College did something "quite wrong" in this case. To the contrary, it seems each actor is holding onto or affirming a particular "good"---the Church's opposition to abortion, and the Church's opposition to child abuse.
LukeIm sure you did not see the contradiction in your last comment: The Churchs teaching is that a very young human being (a child of God) is very much abused when aborted. I think implicit in the Cardinals statement is that, with very little effort, BC could have chosen a speaker who was both pro-life AND anti-child abuse. I think there are a few out there.
Jim McCrea -- Unfortunately, doctrine is not determined by opinion polls of the many or most of the people of God. This is one of the issues in dispute that morality and teachings should be based on Scripture, Tradition, Human Experience (e.g., collectively) and Reason. Human experience is nor merely what is received but whether there is any truth in what is proclaimed as the truth in teaching. For example, when JP II asserts that Catholics that practice periodic continence (natural family planning) treat each other as loving subjects, while couples that use artificial birth control have a utilitarian attitude and a diabolical love grounded in concupiscence. There is no evidence whatsoever in human experience that attest to this absurd proclamation. Luke and Mark -- Both BC and Cardinal O'Malley were not doing something "immoral" in this case and it is true that a young fetus (child of God) is very much abused when aborted. The issue is the definition of "direct and indirect abortion" which is disputed. Clearly no one is claiming that direct abortion is licit under any circumstance. The issue rather is whether terminating a pregnancy of a "non-viable" fetus who is threatening the life of the mother with certainty is immoral? When we enter debate about abortion few clarify their argument. Emotions run high and so we have two camps: those who abide by the Church's teaching and those that believe that under certain circumstances terminating a pregnancy is both licit and responsible (e.g. the Phoenix case). We also have frequent inconsistency and contradiction between the word as in certain doctrines and pastoral practices.
Jim Pauwels -- HV 16 as you quoted is only one and not the primary philosophical and theological underlying principle that anchor the encyclical on birth control. Most theologians would argue that HV rests on 1 principle, HV 12, commonly called the inseparability principle. IMO, there are 4 principles that anchor the teaching: union and procreation No. 12 or the "inseparability principle"; HV 13 Faithfulness to God's Design; Nos. 16 and 14 together as Lawful and Unlawful Birth Control Methods; and No. 17, the Consequences of Artificial Birth Control Methods. However, let's stick with HV 12 that the Church commonly uses when deals with concrete cases involving birth control.HV 12 says:"This particular doctrine, often expounded by the magisterium of the Church, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break, between the unitive significance and the procreative significance which are both inherent to the marriage act."NOTE: This is proclaimed to be God's procreative plan...another dispute because no one knows God's procreative plan with moral certainty so how can the Church proclaim it as moral absolute?As to the words "specifically intended" in HV 16, this is not the definition or interpretation you think it is. This is a very complex issue and this blog is not the place to go into all the details. However, there is a huge and significant debate and profound disagreement about the role of "intention-to-end" in the moral specification of voluntary human acts. If you want to go into detail, email me and I will share with you, confidentially, an essay under review that explains the impasse and origin of HV. Nevertheless, below is the official Church's position about two common cases that might shock you. These cases are based on a violation of "the inseparability principle" and the fact that semen must be placed in its proper place for procreation.1. A young married women with 3 children is told by her doctors that another pregnancy will be life-threatening with certainty. She cannot safeguard her life by choosing the most prudent and effective means available to avoid a pregnancy as a result of sexual intercourse, namely, sterilization or taking the anovulant pill for that would be immoral according to HV. She must either practice lifetime sexual abstinence (that would threaten her marriage, not to mention a profound burden and an impractical requirement) or periodic continence (e.g., highly risky and irresponsible under such circumstances). This is one of the best cases, among other important reasons, that demonstrate that HV should be responsibly reformed.2. A seropositve husband with HIV/AIDS cannot use a condom to protect his spouse from this deadly disease (or use a double condom for added protection) for that would be immoral according to HV. He must practice lifetime sexual abstinence. NOTE: The agent's intention in this case is similar to the intention of the women who takes the anovulant pill for the pain of endometriosis. The Church argues that taking the pill for pain does not involve the martial act. However, such a person can have sexual intercourse which is non-procreative. The Church says the effects of the pill was accidental and not directly intended. However, so is the effects of the pill for the seropositive husband. Yet, taking the pill for endometriosis is licit and using a condom to protect your spouse from a deadly disease while expressing your love for her is immoral.Your analysis and judgment in general about the role of "intention" in the moral specification of voluntary human acts places you on the side of most theologians that are commonly called "revisionists". You are also on the side of most informed Catholics who understand moral theology, as well as most informed Catholics that use their common sense and informed conscience in making moral decisions especially about birth control. However, your description and analysis of intention is not the Church's position.If you want to discuss this further, email me.
Jim -- a correction. "However, so is the effects of using a condom for the seropositive husband."
Jim --- the issue of rape as you described it is not correct. The Church says that Plan B can be administered ONLY after it is determined that fertilization or pregnancy has not occurred. This is based on HV (as absurd as you and I can agree). Many bishops in the US allow Plan B to be administered based on a negative pregnancy test. However, a pregnancy test can only detect pregnancy after implantation which occurs about 3 weeks after fertilization. In rape cases, Plan B is administered within 72 hours of a rape. Therefore, the requirement of a negative pregnancy test is a shame and in violation of the USCCB guidelines. This test will always be negative if fertilization occurred as a result of the rape and the test is administered within 3 weeks of the rape. This is a good case that demonstrates inconsistency and contradiction. NOTE: The church did require a negative ovulation test. While ovulation does not mean fertilization has occurred, this was better than a pregnancy test. However, this is no longer a requirement largely due to many state and federal laws. If a Catholic hospital violates this law, it can lose state and federal funds. Talk about bending Divine law (e.g., HV) to avoid an unpleasant financial outcome.Don't get me wrong, I believe that Plan B should be administered in a rape case because of the injustice and horrendous crime committed upon the innocent women.
Jim-- The reference to HV 16 should be HV 15. Lastly, when a spouse intends that the marital act to be non-procreative by deliberately and willfully plotting the measurement of basil temperature and cervical mucus on a calendar in order to determine infertile times so that sexual intercourse can be limited to those times, "how is this not a violation of HV 15 as you stated as well as HV 12"? Clearly, periodic continence, or NFP, separates the unitive and procreative dimensions of the marital act. The spouse is also performing intentional physical acts before the marital act to prevent the marital act from achieving procreation. Therefore, either both contraception and NFP violate HV or they do not.
I wish the bishops would read the most recent technical information about emergency contraception. There is now pretty conclusive evidence that Plan B is not an abortificient: it operates by preventing or delaying ovulation, and possibly also by interfering with sperm movement, but does not prevent implantation. (I have always suspected this, because the rapid drop off in Plan B effectiveness over the first 3-5 days aligns with the 3-5 day lifespan of sperm, but doesn't make sense for implantation which starts about day 8.) If Catholic hosptials are requiring a test that ovulation has not occured or that the patient is not pregnant this is harmless but useless; if the rape survivor has ovulated, or is pregnant, Plan B would have no effect anyway. As to church teaching on the ethics of contraception in the case of rape, I thought that part of the point of replacing traditional teaching about contraception with the Theology of the Body was that TOB permitted a rape survivor to use non-lethal contraception because in rape there is no unitive aspect to be violated. Am I missing something? Here's a couple of links regarding Plan B:http://alesrarus.funkydung.com/archives/tag/plan-bhttp://www.nytimes.com...
Anne Evans,I agree with the evidence but that is not yet the official Church's position which makes for inconsistency and contradiction to manifest itself. Below is a quote from an 2007 article about the decision of the Connecticut bishops regarding their decision about Plan B in rape cases. One of the issues is if ovulation has occurred (through a ovulation test) then there is a possibility of fertilization. If there is a possibility that Plan B is abortificient, then Plan B is problematic for the Church. However, an ovulation test is not required so there is a real problem because a pregnancy test will always be negative within a week of a rape. The full article can be found on www. tidm.org/.../ConnecticutBishopsAllowPlanBCatholicHospitalsFor..."The bishops are basing their decisions on an interpretation of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops document: Ethical and Religious Directives (E.R.D.) for Catholic Health Care Services which states at no. 36 with regard to a woman who has been raped: "If after appropriate testing,, there is no evidence that conception has occurred already, she may be treated with medications that would prevent ovulation, sperm capacitation the process by which spermatozoa in the ampullary portion of a uterine tube become capable of going through the acrosome reaction and fertilizing an oocyte." However, the document adds: "It is not permissible, however, to initiate or to recommend treatments that have as their purpose or direct effect the removal, destruction, or interference with the implantation of a fertilized ovum." (see the document: http://www.usccb.org/bishops/directives.shtml )However, even if such tests could accurately determine that ovulation has not yet occurred another difficulty exists. A study by Dr. Chris Kahlenborn in 2003 found that the pill only works to halt ovulation half the time. Thus fertilization may occur even after the pill is administered, and an abortion would result since in addition to stopping ovulation the pills act to weaken the lining of the uterus making implantation unsustainable. See Dr. Kahlenborn's study here: http://www.polycarp.org/postfertilization_polycarp_1.htm&nbs...; Speaking with LifeSiteNews.com earlier this year, about the problem of bishops permitting the morning after pill in Catholic hospitals in cases of rape, Dr. Kahlenborn said bluntly, "The bishops who approve this are approving potential abortions."I am not aware of or have knowledge that the Theology of the Body asserted that non-lethal contraception was permitted in rape cases without qualification. In any case, the term "non-lethal" as it applies to Plan B or the anovulant pill is still an unresolved issue, in that the official teaching has not changed as I understand it.The real issue is whether a pregnancy test can determine if conception has already occurred or not in a rape case. Most experts would say a pregnancy test cannot and therefore, it does not satisfy the USCCB guideline if administered within in a week of a rape.
@Mark Proska (5/18, 8:04 am) Given that Kenny has been a member of and leader in Fine Gael throughout his political career, some might argue that he meets those criteria.
Luke--Some might argue that being a member of Fine Gael means one must be pro-life, even when one is aggressively promoting abortion legislation? Come again?
Mark --"Promoting abortion legislation" is a highly ambiguous phrase. There is a world of difference between 1) allowing abortion ONLY to save the life of the mother, 2) allowing abortion during the first few weeks of pregnancy, 3) allowing abortion up to several months into pregnancy (e.g. 22 weeks), and 4) allowing abortion on demand. The reason either 2 or 3 might be morally acceptable is because there is evidence that until a later stage of pregnancy the zygote/embryo/fetus is/are not yet a person. As I understand it, Kenny is promoting only the first sort of legislation, and he is within one strand of tradiitonal Catholic ethics in taking that position. The bishops, however, are acting as if there has been an infallible pronouncement on the matter. JP II tried to impose uniformity of teaching on the subject by calling his argument about the question "definitive". But obviously "definitive" is not the same word as "infallible".
Ann,Great points. The term "definitive" was put into play by JP II as a Motu Proprio during the 1990s, I think it was 1998 but I am not certain. It is highly disputed and means "irreformable". Any reasonable person finds this incomprehensible because there is not much difference between a teaching claimed to be irreformable and a teaching claimed to be infallible. It sounds like an oxymoron. The only teachings that the cover letter Ratzinger sent out regarding this Motu Propio gave only a few examples of the teachings that this so-called new classification pertained to, like abortion.However, there continues to be a profound disagreement over the terms "direct" and "indirect" abortion. Some of the most orthodox of theologians (e.g., Germain Grisez) believe that the procedure in the Phoenix Case was not direct abortion, but to not avail. The Bishop of Phoenix excommunicated the sister in charge of the ethics committee at St. Joseph's Hospital and took away their Catholic status. God have mercy on us.
"As to the words specifically intended in HV 16, this is not the definition or interpretation you think it is. This is a very complex issue and this blog is not the place to go into all the details. However, there is a huge and significant debate and profound disagreement about the role of intention-to-end in the moral specification of voluntary human acts."Michael, thanks for your detailed responses. There is much that could be discussed which I haven't time to pursue right now. However, regarding the snippet I've pasted above this paragraph, I just want to note that the translation of HV on the Vatican website doesn't use the term "specifically intended" but rather "directly intended". Here is the full sentence: "On the other hand, the Church does not consider at all illicit the use of those therapeutic means necessary to cure bodily diseases, even if a foreseeable impediment to procreation should result there fromprovided such impediment is not directly intended for any motive whatsoever." I can only say that my interpretation of this passage seems the most straightforward one: there may be medical situations to which the principle of double effect may be applicable, in which the morally objectionable effect - contraception - may be offset or outweighed by a morally good effect (the treatment of a serious medical condition) which doesn't depend in any way on the contraceptive effect. In my opinion, for both of the examples you bring up - the HIV positive husband, and the woman whose life is at risk if she becomes pregnant - the principle of double effect wouldn't apply, because in both instances, the goods that would result from the scenarios are directly dependent on the contraceptive effect of the contraception.If you are calling out that the actor's subjective intention in consuming contraceptives may not be the same as the objective end of the contraceptive medication itself - the latter of which, it seems to me, is to contracept, even if the consumer intends it to do something quite different - then I would reply that it is an interesting point, but it seems to me that the paragraph in question refers to the consumer's subjective intention rather than the contraceptive's objective end.
Jim Pauwels- it seems to me that double effect does apply in the case of the HIV positive husband. The intended effect (protecting the wife's health) does not result from the contraceptive effect. After all, if the wife was 60 years old, or had both ovaries removed for medical reasons, the couple would be well advised to use a condom to prevent transmitting HIV, but there would be no contraceptive effect at all.Full disclosure- I'm a liberal Catholic and my conscience has always dissented from church teaching on contraception. (I do recognize an absolute obligation not to use contracetives that prevent implantation.)
Jim Pauwels,You have not understood the moral equation per Aquinas in arguing about the examples I have put forth. This blog is not the place for a heavy discussion, but I will provide one final comment and a suggestion.The agent's intention in both cases is not "subjective" but the agent's objective intention. In the first case of the mother whose life is threatened by another pregnancy, her end/goal and intention-to-end is to "safeguard her life" from another pregnancy. The agent deliberates based on her reason between all the ways to safeguard her life from another pregnancy: lifetime celibacy, periodic continence (PC), sterilization and the anovulant pill. PC is an irresponsible means and imprudently risky given the threat of death from a pregnancy. Lifetime celibacy for a young married mother will not only threaten her marriage, it is an extreme and unrealistic method that only the very few could achieve (e.g., many seminarians don't take their final vows because they have not been blessed by this gift that only God gives to the very few). The only realistic, prudent, and safest method is sterilization. Even the pill, while highly effective, can be argued not reasonably viable in this case.The effects of sterilization is not willfully intended but is outside the intention of the agent and is per accidens per Aquinas. The chosen means act, sterilization possesses due proportion to the good in the end.The case of the seropositive husband is the similar. His end/goal and intention is to protest his wife from a deadly disease. The effect of the pill, namely suspending ovulation, rendering the marital act non-procreative, is "per accidens" or outside the agent's intention.If you want to understand all of the issues regarding Humanae Vitae, email me and I will confidentially share an essay with you that is under review by a Catholic journal.
Sorry for an inadvertent error. The next to last sentence should read:"The effect of the condom, namely separating the unitive and procreative dimensions of the marital act and preventing procreation by depositing semen in a place not fitting for procreation, is "per accidens" or outside the agent's objective intention.


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The Ultimate Quentin Tarantino Collection (6 Film Box Set - DVD) for $29.99 + free shipping
Box Set includes 6 Tarantino classics:
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• Reservoir Dogs
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Nice. Tuesday is the 20th Anniversary of Reservoir Dogs. They are showing Reservoir Dogs in theaters nationwide on Tuesday and Pulp Fiction on Thursday.
No Inglourious Basterds? No Dusk till Dawn. So not really ultimate, but a GREAT starter.
Can't wait for Django Unchained.
I edited good to GREAT, Because they are all awesome films
hmmmmph.....no Four Rooms
@nomadxxi: Tarantino produced, wrote, and acted in "From Dusk Til Dawn", but it was directed by Robert Rodriguez.
@coondogg97: Thank ye laddie!
My three year streak of not going to a movie theater might end this week.


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- Includes 48" of Chain, and 12' of Wire
- Stem Extensions Available: 6" Part #25-4121 - 12" Part #25-4122
- Light Direction: Up / Down - Light from this fixture illuminates both upward and downward
Nuvo Lighting 60/4457 Specifications:
- Product Dimensions: 28.5"H x 11"W x 32"L
- UL Listed for Dry Locations
- 120 Volts
- 240 Total Watts
- 2 Amps
Nuvo Lighting's Commitment to Quality:
- Threaded Sockets- All fixtures with fitted glass shades feature threaded ceramic sockets with fitters. Thumb screws are never used, which allows for a more refined look.
- Reinforcement- Vanity fixtures with arms on elongated backplates have steel reinforcement bars to prevent flexing
- Diffusers- All pendant fixtures with an open top are supplied with a glass diffuser, which helps alleviate 'hot spotting' and evenly distributes light
- Chain and Wire- Hanging fixtures are provided with 12 feet of wire and 4 feet of chain. Oversized chandeliers include 6 feet of chain
- CUL Damp Location Listing- All flush mount dome fixtures are CUL Damp location listed, which allows more flexibility in installation.
Founded in 1966, Satco is a well-known premier supplier of lighting products. With the company's keen understanding of the lighting industry, and after three years of development, Satco launched Nuvo Lighting on June 23, 2005. Nuvo Lighting is uniquely poised to become an industry leader, with the sales and distribution resources of Satco Products, combined with the finely-conceived and well-crafted products that deliver style, value and quality.
Additional Nuvo Lighting Links
Our SKU: 60/4457
This product is listed under the following manufacturer number(s):
- Hazel Bronze*
*Denotes a finish or option that has been discontinued


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Cinema Leather Folio with Stand for the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1NEW
Cinema Leather Folio with Stand for the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1NEW
This item is added to your Wishlist
Choose Your View
Enhance your entertainment experience by finding the angle that's just right for you. Simply adjust the stand to your personal preference and sit back and view movies, video, and any other of your favorite content in comfort. When you're finished the cover folds closed to protect the screen with a soft interior lining that's smooth against your device. The slim, lightweight design slips easily into any bag without adding bulk.
Compatibility: Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1
- Genuine Leather
- Multiple Viewing Angles
- Protective Corners
- Strap Closure
Galaxy Tab 2 - 10.1"


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Is there a way to retrieve password stored in Safari as it is possible to do it in Firefox ?
Safari stores its passwords in the OSX Keychain. Open
(For a while I was using an add-on for Firefox that used the Keychain, but it was highly broken.)
Another solution is the Safari extension LastPass [see lastpass.com]. This is also a Firefox addon. You could migrate your passwords and secure notes to LastPass and they would be available on any browser and on any machine. This extension was scrutinized by a security expert on the podcast "Security Now" episode #256 [show transcript at http://www.grc.com/sn/sn-256.htm]


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Oscars 2013: The 10 Best Moments, From Shirley Bassey to Michelle Obama (Photos)
1 of 11
Shirley Bassey sung her classic Bond "Goldfinger" theme, Barbra Streisand honored Marvin Hamlisch with his Oscar-winning "The Way We Were" and Michelle Obama turned out to be the biggest surprise of the evening
William Shatner helped Seth MacFarlane kick off the 85th Annual Academy Awards by telling him he was "the worst host ever." Costumed as Capt. Kirk from "Star Trek," Shatner showed MacFarlane headlines from the future which were a result of tasteless jokes, a song about boobs and sexually harassing Sally Field backstage.


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I am wondering which license the current JDK 7 (NOT the OpenJDK) is using as I know it was once under GNU GPL but with the change of the Distributor License for Java I would like to know whether they changed the allover license, too.
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- Anybody can ask a question
- Anybody can answer
- The best answers are voted up and rise to the top
Both JDK and JRE download sections link to this license. The same license seems to apply to both JDK and JRE.
I'm not a lawyer but the following extract looks like they (not only JRE but also JDK) could be fairly freely redistributed as parts of your own programs:
You can see the JVM both as a software and as a standard. As a software we would like to be able to modify it anytime we want and distribute modified versions, like the recent Gnome to Maté fork.
As a standard, it is a good thing to avoid situations like Javasctipt, where you have often to check what browser you are running on. In my opinion this is the reason why the Oracle JSK 7 is not GPL. This fact avoided to the Java programmers the danger of having to be compatible with Microsoft Visual J++.


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Primary thrombocythemia is when the bone marrow is making too many platelets without a known cause. Platelets are needed for blood clotting.
Essential thrombocythemia; Essential thrombocytosis
Primary thrombocythemia is caused by too much growth of a type of cell that is used to make blood cells. The platelets are mostly affected, but the red blood cells and white blood cells may be involved as well. This condition slowly gets worse over time. Because these platelets do not work normally, bleeding is a common problem.
The disease is part of a group of conditions known myeloproliferative disorders. Others include:
Most of the time, this condition affects people in middle age. It is also seen in younger people especially women under age 40.
The condition may even cause strokes in some people.
Most of the time, this condition if found through blood tests done for other conditions before symptoms appear.
Your health care provider will do a physical exam to look for an enlarged spleen or liver. You may also have abnormal blood flow in the toes or feet that causes skin damage in these areas.
Other tests may include:
The doctors can do a procedure to remove platelets directly from the blood if you have life-threatening complications.
Long-term, you will need to take medicines to decrease the platelet count and avoid complications. The most common of these medicines are hydroxyurea, interferon-alpha, or anagrelide. In some people with a JAK2 mutation, specific inhibitors of the JAK2 protein may be used.
In people who are at high risk for clotting aspirin at a low dose (81 to 100 mg per day) decreases clotting episodes. Patients who may benefit from this treatment include older patients, and people with very high platelet levels or who have had past clotting episodes).
Many people do not need any treatment. However, the health care provider should monitor your condition.
The outcome varies. Most people go for long periods without complications and have a normal lifespan. Complications from bleeding and blood clots can cause serious problems in a small number of people.
Rarely, the disease will change into acute leukemia or myelofibrosis.
Call your health care provider if:
Tefferi A. Polycythemias, Essential Thrombocytoemia, and Primay Myelobirosis. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Cecil Medicine. 24th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2011:chap 169.
Hoffman R, Kremyanskaya M, Najfeld V, et al. Essential Thrombocythemia. In: Hoffman R, Benz EJ Jr, Silberstein LE, Heslop HE, Weitz JI, eds. Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2012:chap 68.


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New Kinect Sports Rivals developer interview talks competition, customisation and online playWritten by: / / 7 Comments
If you've still got some burning questions regarding Rare's upcoming Xbox One exclusive Kinect Sports Rivals then odds are many of them will be answered in a new developer interview discussing the game's key features. These include Kinect Sports Rivals' advanced scanning technology that transforms players into in-game avatars along with the way this motion-controlled title has been designed to foster a sense of competition whether you're playing alone, with friends, or competing in online tournaments. For the first time in a Kinect Sports title your character level ups – gaining fame and currency that can be used to unlock new customisations which may give you an edge when the competition gets fierce.
Here's the video:
Kinect Sports Rivals will be released exclusively for Xbox One on April 8th in North America and April 11th in European territories. Head over here for El33tonline's previous coverage of this promising motion-controlled title.
Tags: developerinterview, kinectsportsrivals, microsoft, rare, trailer


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Are there any applications that can restrict specific applications from accessing data/internet for non-rooted ICS phones? DroidWall - Android Firewall provides this functionality but it requires Root access.
Mobiwol is an Android firewall application that does not require root. They somehow use the VPN interface for firewalling (without actually connecting you to a VPN server).
I tried it and it works fine for ICS.
Should be compatible with any device running Android 3.2 or later
The other answers are correct in that setting firewall rules requires root. And if you have root, you could simply deny internet permissions for a specific app without even needing a firewall (Permissions Denied or built-in with a CyanogenMod rom).
However, there is something you can do to partially circumvent the problem. Using Set DNS, you can change your DNS provider for wifi. Set it to something like Open DNS. From there, you can set up rules in DNS to block certain domains. Thus, when on wifi, you could block apps from making requests to a specific domain.
Unfortunately, you can't do this your your cellular connection; In fact, most cell providers override any DNS requests and use their own server no matter what.
If you set up a VPN, you could do the same thing over your cellular connection, but if you have a VPN set up, you could use that server to set up firewall rules anyway.
Restricting internet access of specific apps isn't possible on a non-rooted device. So, an app doesn't exist.
it's simply not possible for system user to prevent another process from accessing network, it can only be done by root, therefor root is required to do firewall changes to your system.


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News and Events Archives
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
WHO: Columbia College welcomes an array of industry business leaders and invites students to participate in the upcoming Career Fair.
WHAT: The Career Services Center is hosting a Career Fair to connect students with community business leaders. More than 60 businesses will be in attendance to meet with students and discuss potential job opportunities.
WHEN: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Booth set-up from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
WHERE: Columbia College - Southwell Gym located on Rangeline Street
For more information or to preview a list of businesses participating in the Career Fair, visit www.ccis.edu/CareerCenter
Columbia College, a private, regionally accredited, nonprofit institution founded in 1851 in Columbia, Mo., educates more than 26,000 students each year and has more than 64,000 alumni worldwide. For more information, visit www.ccis.edu.


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Looking through the api docs it would seem that pretty much everything is there except something I wanted to investigate if it would be possible to do. Which is to query the stackoverflow taxonomy ( or more exsact, folksonomy ) of languages. Looking over the tags page and also the tagging enter field on question posting it would seem like its pretty nicely done at the moment on the both, the front page with just a 'filter' param sent to tags-for-index the question post with a callback on tags
Will this be available as a feature in the api at some point?
Keep up the solid work!


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An example of an image using an MRI, which uses magnets and radio waves to take pictures of the breast.
This pamphlet is designed to provide you with the information you need to decide if one of our research studies would be of interest to you.
If you have had one or more relatives diagnosed with breast cancer, or have had breast cancer yourself you may be eligible for participation in a project that is looking at ways to detect breast cancer.
If you or your doctor has found a suspicious lump in your breast or if you have had a recent mammogram that showed a suspicious area and a biopsy is recommended you may be eligible for a trial of techniques to diagnose the abnormality.
If you have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer you may be eligible for a trial of techniques to determine the amount of cancer present.
If you are interested in high risk screening, please call 215.662.6081. If you are interested in diagnosing a lesion, please call 215.746.0352. If you are interested in staging an already diagnosed cancer, please call 215.898.0191.
Under the leadership and with the help of several experts in breast imaging, our breast imaging center has enjoyed tremendous success. We have revolutionized the field of breast imaging and continue to present our patients with the most recent options in diagnostic and treatment programs. Imaging modalities may include:
An example of mammography, which is a form of imaging that takes pictures of the breast using x-rays.
Making medical pictures or images of the breast is very important to breast health. Images are used to detect and diagnose breast cancer. It is also known that breast imaging may help detect early cancers in the breast. If a woman is found to have breast cancer, imaging plays an important role in planning treatment by showing the amount of cancer in the breast.
The most common way to obtain breast images is mammography. Mammography uses x-rays to take a picture of the breast. Yearly mammogram screening is now recommended for all women over the age of 40. Studies have shown that adherence with mammogram screening can reduce the chance of a woman dying of breast cancer.
A PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scan uses a sugar to "light up" cancer.
Although mammography is valuable, it is not perfect. There are many other ways to image the breast that have been developed. These include digital mammography, ultrasound (uses sound waves), MRI (uses magnets and radio waves), and PET (uses a labeled sugar to light up cancer). Although all of these new techniques have shown some promise, choosing which technique or techniques to use for each woman is confusing to doctors and patients.
The Advanced Breast Imaging (ABI) program at the University of Pennsylvania has been a leader in the development of many new techniques to image the breast. It has been funded by the National Cancer Institute to investigate these new techniques and clear up confusion about how they should be used.
Ultrasound uses sound waves to find areas of concern in breast tissue.
In order to accomplish this goal, women with certain breast health issues are being recruited into a research study that involves getting multiple types of breast images in a single morning. The imaging examinations are free. Because the equipment used to take these images is very specialized, all of the exams will take place at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Information about you obtained from these research studies will be made available to you and your doctor.
If you are interested in high risk screening, please call 215.662.6081. If you are interested in diagnosing a lesion, please call 215.746.0352. If you are interested in staging an already diagnosed cancer, please call 215.898.0191.
Advanced Breast Imaging as a PDF. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader which is available free online.
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