RANDOM IMAGES

EMS RESCUE DOG

 

Breathe, damn you, breathe!

From Doug.



(Illustration: a bumper sticker spotted by a reader in Juneau.)



H/T to Andrew Sullivan.

 

Thanks to Lapin.

ANOTHER INSIDER OPINION

About a week ago, I added Andrew Sullivan's The Daily Dish to my Google Reader. New posts appear on his blog with amazing speed. I haven't counted the average number of posts in a single day, but I'm sure it's quite high. His blog is exhausting but worth reading. I wonder - does Andrew even take bathroom breaks?

His post today titled Our Screwed Up Priests is spot on. I know that a good many of you disagree that celibacy and child abuse are related, but I stand by my opinion that there is a connection. By no means am I saying that mandatory celibacy is the sole cause of the abuse of children in the Roman Catholic Church - just that enforced celibacy is in the equation.

Sullivan quotes from an interview on NPR with "Dr. Leslie Lothstein [who] has treated more than 300 Catholic priests" at one of the psychiatric centers to which priests were sent for treatment.

One of the biggest challenges in treating priests, Lothstein says, is that they don't have the same kind of sexual experiences -- or history of talking about such experiences -- that an ordinary adult may have. "Many of the priests tend to be psychosexually immature," he says. "They've never taken a course in healthy sexuality."

He says some of them have gone into minor seminary at age 14 and developed "a sense of self without having appropriate lines of dating, meeting other people, experimenting with touch, kissing, ordinary sexuality."

Back in the day, some boys entered seminary at age 13, when they finished elementary school, however I gather that now one must be 18, at the youngest, to be considered as a candidate for seminary.

Sullivan says:

If celibacy is a mature choice, it can be a wonderful act of self-giving. But when mandatory for all, it prevents many healthy men from entering the priesthood, offers a cover for those terrified of their own sexuality and thereby creates a priesthood dominated by the emotionally immature.

Exactly.

STORMY WON'T RUN AGAINST VITTER

 

From the AP:

Louisiana-born porn star Stormy Daniels announced Thursday that she will not run for U.S. Senate in her home state, ending a yearlong flirtation with politics that began as Republican incumbent Sen. David Vitter was working to overcome a sex scandal.

In an e-mailed statement, Daniels said she cannot afford a run for the Senate and, comparing herself to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, complained that the media never took her interest in the race seriously.

"To begin with, like Governor Palin, I have become a target of the cynical stalwarts of the status quo," Daniels said. "Simply because I did not fit in their mold of what an independent working woman should be, the media and political elite have sought to relegate my sense of civic responsibility to mere sideshow antics."

So. Stormy is a victim of "the cynical stalwarts of the status quo". The alliteration reminds me of the rhetoric of whoever wrote Spiro Agnew's speeches. Remember Spiro Agnew? But I digress. If Stormy's aspirations include being another Sarah Palin, it's just as well that she's not running. One Sarah Palin is enough! We don't need Sarah wannabes.

If nothing else, a Daniels campaign for the Republican nomination would have been a constant reminder of the 2007 scandal that broke when Vitter's phone number appeared in the records of a Washington prostitution ring. Other than admitting a "serious sin," he has steadfastly refused to discuss the matter.

Meanwhile, his political career seems to have survived intact. He has raised plenty of campaign money while bashing the policies of President Barack Obama, who is not popular in the state.

At the end of the latest filing period, Vitter had $5 million in campaign cash on hand, compared with $2.3 million for his Democratic rival, U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, according to Federal Election Commission filings released Thursday by the campaigns.

Vitter may yet gain another well-known rival because former Republican state legislator James David Cain has said he may enter the race as an independent. Vitter so far has no major opposition in the GOP primary.

Vitter seems immune to ill effects from being caught consorting with prostitutes. He said he was sorry, and there have been no new charges, and that seems to be enough for his loyal supporters and contributers.

Stormy has another problem, too.

Her political story took a bizarre turn last summer when she was arrested on a domestic violence battery charge after she allegedly hit her husband at their home in Tampa, Fla., during a dispute about laundry and unpaid bills. Charges later were dropped.

I confess that Grandpère and I have had our share of disputes over laundry and various and sundry other matters (never over unpaid bills!), but our disputes are not of a violent nature. I've never beat him up. I promise.

THE BISHOP OF...UM...ER....

Thanks to Ann V., who says, "And how can you not love the furry vestments?"

I cannot not love the furry vestments.

From CHEEZBURGER.

SLIVERED CRESCENT MOON

 

Resting on its curve
The moon a slivered crescent
Ends pointing upward

(June Butler - 4/15/10)

WHERE IS THE SCANDAL?

From ETHICSDDAILY.com:

Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, R.I., demanded that CHA remove St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island from its membership rolls, calling its affiliation with CHA “embarrassing.”

In a March 29 letter to CHA President and Chief Executive Officer Sister Carol Keehan, Tobin said CHA had “misled the public and caused serious scandal for many members of the church.”

The CHA supported the health care bill, saying it would not increase public funding of abortion. The U.S. Catholic bishops disagreed, and urged the bill’s defeat.
....

CHA spokesman Fred Caesar said Tobin’s request was granted and that one other hospital said it may not renew its membership in the association, but no others have left. Caesar declined to name the hospital, or where it is located.

The CHA represents more than 620 Catholic hospitals and 60 health care systems in the U.S.

No one asked me, but I'd say that the bishop's letter is embarrassing. The RCC bishops' opposition to the health care reform bill was misleading, embarrassing, and scandalous.

STORY OF THE DAY - QUIET DANCING

Her feet moved like small creatures over
the floor, quiet & unconcerned with
anything but the business of dancing.


From StoryPeople.

IN THE BLOOMIN' GARDEN - 3 - CATKINS

 

Catkins, the wormlike male flowers from an oak tree, blanket the ground. They fall after releasing their pollen. Photo by BILL FEIG.

From the Advocate:

Local allergists are theorizing that the bitter cold winter here has triggered an especially intense pollen season this year — and unpleasant symptoms for allergy sufferers.

“This year has been one of the worse seasons I’ve ever seen,” said allergist Dr. James M. Kidd III.

He’s been in practice for 28 years.

Kidd said that he did his medical training in Wisconsin, a place with distinct seasons, and he would see a surge in the spring pollen there, following heavy winters.

“We had a very cold winter” here, Kidd said.

In this area, trees actually start pollinating in late January, he said, but the heaviest tree pollen falls between March 15 and March 31, he said.

“Patients oftentimes will have a lag time and won’t see symptoms until several weeks later,” he said.

Louisiana trees with a high pollen count — a measure of how many pollen spores are prevalent per cubic meter of air — are the oak and the cypress, Kidd said.

We have both cypress and oak trees in our yard. The catkins were all over, covering great swaths of the driveway. The pictures below were taken after the initial clean-up. The yellow pollen from the flowers lands and clings to everything outside, plants, garden furniture, etc. The powder-like pollen even sticks to the window panes.

Grandpère and I both had a bout of either a spring cold or allergies a few weeks ago, that had us frequently sneezing with runny noses. The pollen could have been the culprit.

The flowers look like little brown caterpillars once they fall. I'd never thought much about them before this year's plague. I knew that the catkins were flowers from our oak trees, but I never knew their name until I read the article in the Advocate a few days ago.

 

 

PLEASE PRAY...

for my friend Tom who had surgery for a brain tumor on the Monday after Easter. Tom is home now, but his recovery is slow. The tumor is diagnosed as a "glioma - low-grade malignant", and Tom will need 6 weeks of radiation. His partner is stressed right now, and both need our prayers.

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servant Tom the help of your power, that his sickness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
....

Heavenly Father, giver of life and health: give strength to those who care for Tom in his needs, that they may have confidence in your loving care; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer, pp. 458, 459. Second prayer adapted.)

A COUPLE OF MAXINES FOR YOU...

...so that you'll behave yourselves today.

 

 

From Doug long ago. I came across these two cartoons while I was deleting trash in Picasa, and I had to share.