OH DEAR! THIS ONE IS OURS

From Kaili Joy Gray at Daily Kos:

This just in: Louisiana Republican Rep. John C. Fleming, M.D. is tossing his hat in the ring for Dumbest Member of Congress.

Dino Grandoni at The Atlantic reports that "pro-life" Rep. Fleming M.D. posted a story from The Onion on his Facebook page, offering it as proof that Planned Parenthood offers "abortion by the wholesale."

The satirical story from May 2011

Let's see what the gullible pro-lifer representative believes.

Planned Parenthood announced Tuesday the grand opening of its long-planned $8 billion Abortionplex, a sprawling abortion facility that will allow the organization to terminate unborn lives with an efficiency never before thought possible. [...]

Where on earth did the congressman get this information?
Why from The Onion!

Thanks to Paul (A.) for the link, which he sent with the following message:

Louisiana is, however, responsible for this one.

Cheers,

Paul (A.)

Ah yes. Though we are not responsible for state Sen. Shadrack McGill of DeKalb County, Alabama, Rep. Fleming is from Minden, Louisiana, so he is, indeed, our responsibility, and we must claim him, even as we blush for him.



UPDATE: Thanks to AB for sending in the video with the story from Newsy.com.

ASBO JESUS - STEAMROLLER

Click on the cartoon for the larger view.

From jonbirch at ASBO Jesus.

STORY OF THE DAY - COLOR BLIND

What color are souls? she said & I said,
Color isn't that much of an issue when
you're talking souls.

From StoryPeople.

THREE MONKS IN THE DESERT

Three monks lived as hermits in an isolated desert place. On rare occasions, the monks came together and broke their silence. One day, Brother Edgar said, "That was a beautiful white horse that passed by, wasn't it?"

One year later, Brother Paul said, "That wasn't a white horse; it was a black horse."

Another year passed, and Brother Silas said, "If there's going to be constant bickering, I'm leaving."

HAPPY DIAMOND JUBILEE, YOUR MAJESTY!

AN ANNIVERSARY?

Lurking in the back of my mind is the vague notion that today is the anniversary of some occasion or other. Will someone remind what the celebration is all about? Thanks in advance. :-)

AND THE DIOCESE OF CANTERBURY...

...(surprise, surprise!) voted to adopt the proposed Anglican Covenant.

Lionel Deimel reports at the No Anglican Covenant blog:

Unsurprisingly, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s own diocese has voted in favor of the Covenant and issued a press release to that effect. According to the diocese, the vote was as follows: bishops—1 for; clergy—26 for, 11 against; laity—26 for, 14 against. There were no abstentions.

Well, if we can't win 'em all, two out of three ain't bad.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - WENDELL BERRY

Well, anyhow, I am
not going to die young

From Given - by Wendell Berry.

Since I turned 70 in the latter part of the year before the book was published, the short poem is one of my favorites by Berry, who is high on my list of favorites of writers of contemporary poetry.

'CALLING THE ARCHBISHOPS' BLUFF'

Don't blame me. Blame Mr C. In my heart, I can't blame him at all. It's way past time for the misogynistic nonsense to be over.

In the event that you don't understand Mr C's every word, the transcript is at his blog and at YouTube.

GOOD NEWS! DIOCESES OF DERBY AND GLOUCESTER SAY NO TO ANGLICAN COVENANT

From Tobias Haller at In a Godward Direction:

The Diocese of Derby in the Church of England voted against the adoption of the proposed Anglican Covenant.

Bishops: for 0; against 1 (bishop Humphrey not present)
Clergy: for 1, against 21, abstention 2
Laity. for 2, against 24, absention 1

Tobias says:

Derby has been an Indaba partner with New York and Delhi (India) and according to the Twitter feed comments on the debate the Indaba experience contributed to the negative vote. This is natural, because Indaba represents the ideals the Covenant lauds but paradoxically disables in its notorious Section 4.

Yes! May the vote in Derby inspire other dioceses in the UK to vote against the proposed covenant. The supporters of the document say that there is no alternative to the covenant, but Indaba is one better way forward for the Anglican Communion as opposed to threats of 'relational consequences' for provinces who do not toe the line, although where the line is drawn, who can say?

Update from Nicholas Knisely at The Lead:

We're also seeing reports on twitter from Lesley Crawley's stream that Gloucester has voted against the Covenant as well. We're hoping to find more information soon on that.

It is confirmed that the Diocese of Gloucester voted against the Anglican Covenant. The numbers are below.

House of Clergy YES: 16; NO: 28; 1 abstention
House of Laity YES: 14; NO: 28; 6 abstentions
House of Bishops YES: 1; 1 abstention