House Switchboard: 202-224-3121. Guide for first-timers here.
Please call. Or else you can't complain later.
###Fat cats and health care reform: http://www.mockpaperscissors.com/?p=30909
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Excerpt:
Catholics have been on the defensive in Germany since January, when at least 50 cases of sexual abuse from the 1970s and '80s were reported at Canisius College, in Berlin - with two priests linked as alleged perpetrators. That was the catalyst. Within weeks, dozens of victims came forward with accusations at other Catholic schools. With up to 200 allegations of abuse, 22 out of Germany's 27 Roman Catholic dioceses have been affected.
Benedict himself has been linked to the latest controversies. In the early 1980s, a priest suspected of abuse was transferred to the Pope's former archdiocese in Munich - and that case has raised further awkward questions about the Church's handling of abuse allegations. Last Friday, the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising confirmed that "serious mistakes were made in the 1980s" after the priest, known as "Father H," was moved from Essen to Munich and was allowed to continue with his pastoral work. According to the SÜddeutsche Zeitung, Father H had been transferred from Essen after he allegedly forced an 11-year-old boy to engage in oral sex.
Church officials in Munich said Benny the Rat was Archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982, and was involved in the decision to house the priest at the archdiocese so he could receive therapy. Father H was convicted in 1986 of sexually abusing minors, receiving a suspended prison sentence and a fine. Despite the jail sentence, the priest controversially carried on with his pastoral duties.
It seems the Catholic higher-ups are addicted to child rape. How many events have to occur before it's no longer a coincidence?
This child rape addiction occurs in every country that has Catholics. Isn't anybody going to insist that it stop?
They rape kids in Ireland, too Link
Excerpt:
Ireland's senior Roman Catholic, Cardinal Sean Brady, said Monday he would not resign despite admitting he helped the church collect evidence against a child-molesting priest — and never told police about the crimes.
Brady, as a priest and Vatican-trained canon lawyer in 1975, said he interviewed two children about the abuse they suffered at the hands of the Rev. Brendan Smyth. He said both children were required to sign oaths promising not to tell anyone outside the church of their allegations.
Smyth went on to molest and rape scores of other children in Ireland, Britain and the United States before British authorities in neighboring Northern Ireland demanded his arrest in 1994. The Irish government of the day collapsed amid acrimony over why Smyth was not quickly extradited to Belfast.
Smyth abused at least 90 children in Ireland, Britain and in Rhode Island and North Dakota from 1948 to 1993.
If I had a son that was molested by these monsters I'd probably get violent. But then, I'm not stupid enough to turn my kids over to child molesters. Statistically, there are parents reading this who have sons in a Catholic school right now. When your son turns quiet and moody and then eventually tells you he was attacked, what will you say? "Sorry, I should have acted sooner?"
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The answer remains no for now
Link (then scroll)
Excerpt:
The House voted yesterday to deny the resolution put forward by Dennis Kucinich that called for Obama to bring the troops home from Afghanistan. The vote was 356 against the resolution, 65 in favor, with nine not voting.
It was clearly a vote that showed that there is one key issue in Washington where the Republicans and Democrats largely agree and that is on endless war. Out of the 356 votes to shoot down the resolution 189 of them were Democrats and 167 were Republican. Only five Republicans voted in favor of the Kucinich resolution.
Can anyone tell me why we're in Afghanistan?
As if we needed an excuse to change the channel...
Prominent conservative commentator and RedState.com editor Erick Erickson will join CNN as a political contributor, appearing primarily on CNN's new show John King, USA¸ the network announced Tuesday.
So a guy who called Justice Souter a "goat-fucking child molester" now qualifies as "political contributor." Thanks, CNN. Good to know.
There's a truism in American politics that the remaining undecided voters get dumber the closer you get to election day. This is especially true lately, since the differences between candidates is likely to be stark. If it's late October 2008 and you're still torn between Barack Obama and John McCain, it's pretty clear that you have no idea what you want in a candidate. Like all generalizations, it's not universally true that the late undecided voter isn't very smart, but it's true enough. Some of these voters realize the importance of their decision and agonize over it, some don't like either candidate and are trying to determine who sucks less, but most are just slow. By the time you reach the finish line, the differences between the candidates should be pretty obvious.Don't ask me why, but this truism popped into my head when I read this post from Greg Sargent:
An acquaintance gave OfJoshua a Christian romance novel--A Voice in the Wind--by Francine Rivers--to read. The Holy Ghost prompted me to review it for Amazon. You'll find the result below. As always, please give it a vote, here (once it is up), if you think this review is helpful.
Secularism vs History, March 15, 2010
I'm not much of a romance reader, but I had to pick this book up after reading the summary on the back cover. How could anyone resist a description like this:
By Gen. JC Christian, patriot (Tremonton, UT United States) - See all my reviews
Torn by her love for handsome aristocrat, a young slave girl clings to her faith in the living God for deliverence from the forces of decadent Rome.That simple descriptive sentence could have been written as a summary of my dreams. It's all right there: slave girls, Jesus, and guys dressed in togas. Who could ask for anything more?
But unfortunately, this otherwise fine literary work is flawed. It's not historically accurate. The story occurs 2000 years ago. Where are the dinosaurs? There isn't a single mention of a t-rex or a brontosaurus anywhere in this book. It makes one wonder if the author might be a secret Darwinist.
You'd think dinosaurs would show up in the orgy scenes. There was a lot of homosexuality in ancient Rome, and as we Christians know, a society that accepts that kind of behavior eventually embraces bestiality. So why are there no descriptions of Marcus Valerian giving a stegosaurus a right good rogering?
That's why this novel gets four stars rather than five.
Speaking shortly after he riled up a crowd at Tuesday's Tea Party protest, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) declared that "demons" - yes, demons - have invaded the capital (and likely the souls of Democrats), forcing lawmakers to mislead the public about the content of the health care bill. "Well it would take a demon to be this dishonest about a bill," the Texas Republican told the Huffington Post. "If they would just read the bill, they would see what they are saying is dishonest." Asked to expand a bit more on what he meant, Gohmert stepped back a bit from a literal interpretation, though still floating the possibility that Democrats were possessed. "Well, somebody is making people be dishonest and it is a play on words, too," he said.Good As You reminds us that it was Gohmert who repeatedly claimed that the Matthew Shepard Act protected pedophiles from prosecution, a ridiculous charge that was widely repeated across the wingnutosphere.
Fox News is getting an unlikely visitor.
President Obama will sit down with Fox News' Bret Baier Wednesday afternoon, for an interview that will air at 6 p.m. ET.
Good. This is the only way the President could ever speak directly to Fox's audience of halfwits. Fox was the only one of the three major cable news networks which did not air Obama's health care speech yesterday. Instead, airing live speeches from serial liars like Michele Bachmann and John Boehner over at the Washington tea party protest is more in keeping with the Republican party's propaganda news network. Truth and facts are not what Fox does best.
That said, I doubt Obama's appearance will change anything. Hardcore Fox viewers who buy into the 'fair and balanced' bullshit are beyond believing anything that someone like O'Reilly doesn't sanction.
Dumb as a rock, I think best describes Fox's audience.
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This study finds that a denomination's demand for devout allegiance to its Christian creed overrides any humanistic message. By demanding such devotion to one specific and dogmatic Christianity, a denomination only encourages its members to view outsiders as less worthy.
--- Let's read that conclusion again: "Only religious agnostics were racially tolerant." Why would religious agnostics be more humanistic and less racist?
Religious agnostics would be people who combine a religious/spiritual attitude in living life with a humble admission that they don't know if their approach is the only right way. Religious agnostics are pluralistic -- they have no problem admiring how different people can enjoy different religious paths. And it is precisely this lack of dogmatism which permits humanistic values to shine through. Religious exclusivism defeats humanistic universalism, but religious pluralism enhances humanistic universalism.[...] Revere your own religious path, but also respect and revere others' ability to devote themselves to a higher good in their own way. It is precisely that kind of universal respect for all paths which can reduce prejudice.
I do not think the results of that study conflict in any way with what we've been saying around here for going on six years except that we have absolutely no respect at all for religionists whose credo is "my way or the highway".
Reporting assaults is a positive thing, but fear of retribution is certainly not:
The number of sexual assaults reported in the U.S. military rose 11 percent last year, the Defense Department said Tuesday, but Pentagon officials conceded that they still don't know how common sexual assaults are because many troops fear retribution if the attacks come to the attention of their commanders.
