Daily Archives: May 18, 2009

. . . today Pam discusses efforts to lobby the American Psychiatric Association on the topic of “Gender Identity Disorder” at its 2009 annual meeting. Alert readers should remember this political maneuvering the next time the APA is cited as a bastion of reliable scientific data.

NBC 10: “Residents of a Fall River neighborhood rallied Monday against a proposed strip club. People who live in the Rodman Street area said the Martinique strip club would be right in the middle of their neighborhood, near a school and bus stops.”

“. . . during a two-year study 75 percent of his patients who were unsure about terminating a pregnancy decided not to have an abortion after they opted to view the ultrasound images.”

Archbishop Chaput of the Roman Catholic Diocese has issued this statement that includes these excerpts:
“And we also have the duty to avoid prostituting our Catholic identity by appeals to phony dialogue that mask an abdication of our moral witness. Notre Dame did not merely invite the president to speak at its commencement. It also conferred an unnecessary and unearned honorary law degree on a man committed to upholding one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in our nation’s history: Roe v. Wade . . .

Notre Dame’s leadership has done a real disservice to the Church, and now seeks to ride out the criticism by treating it as an expression of fringe anger. But the damage remains, and Notre Dame’s critics are right . . . ”

ABC: “A man is dead, and a second wounded after investigators say they were shot by an off-duty police officer. It’s the third officer-involved shooting in the last 24 hours.”

LifeNews: “The head of the delegation of the European Commission in the Philippines, Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, has vocally intervened in a contentious legislative debate in that nation, pushing legislators to pass a controversial “reproductive health” bill while linking increased foreign aid to passage, according to critics.”

“The law will take effect on July 26 unless opponents seeking to repeal it can successfully collect enough signatures to get a referendum on the November ballot.”

Denver Post: “Wearing a white collared shirt and blue jeans, Ethan stood and delivered his message supporting gay marriage. ‘I believe I am doing the right thing,’ Ethan said. ‘I hope this rally will make an impact and let our voices be heard.’

Cathy Lynn Grossman has this post at USA Today comparing and contrasting comments by RNC Chairman Michael Steele with comments by ADF attorney Austin R. Nimocks.

Michael Steele saying marriage redefinition will harm small businesses: “Now all of a sudden I’ve got someone who wasn’t a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for. So how do I pay for that? Who pays for that? You just cost me money.”

Austin R. Nimocks: “The [NH] governor is right to recognize the threat to religious liberty, but he underestimates the threat by a long shot. Where are the protections for business owners with religious objections to recognizing same-sex marriages? ”

Regarding Austin’s comments, Grossman observes: “The concern is here is not so much that business owners might need to provide benefits but that they would be forced to recognize client’s or potential client’s ‘counterfeit ‘marriages’… or face severe consequences.”

WhiteHouse.gov: THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _____________________________________________________ For Immediate Release May 17, 2009 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME University of Notre Dame South Bend, Indiana 3:06 P.M. EDT THE …

The NY Daily Post quotes new Notre Dame Law Grad. and Blackstone Fellow Anna Franzonello : I wouldn’t be able to approve them handing him [an honorary] degree,” said Franzonello, 27, of upstate Endwell. She also said, “Your commencement speaker is supposed to be someone you emulate, and they’re supposed to be sending you off into the world.”

The AP continues to circulate this Williams Institute propaganda: “A study says the over 12,000 same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts since 2004 have pumped over $111 million into the state’s economy.” This information has been touted and selectively released by the AP in numerous states.

“. . . a high school student who faced anti-gay harassment and discrimination from teachers and school staff and was required to participate in a school-sponsored ‘counseling’ group designed to discourage students from being lesbian, gay, bisexual, for transgender.”

Natalie Goudarzian writes at The New University:
“The ‘Pulpit’ protest was organized by the Phoenix-based, socially conservative Alliance Defense Fund, which stated that the clergy have a constitutional right to endorse political candidates from its pulpits. Unlike previous churches that violated the IRS code, the Alliance Defense Fund participated in numerous violations in hopes of attracting the attention of the IRS. Unfortunately, to date, the IRS has been unwilling to respond to the violations made by the 33 churches and the Alliance Defense Fund . . . If the IRS does not take action against the Alliance Defense Fund and the participating churches, the organization will continue its protests and violations by holding yearly Pulpit Freedom Sundays during federal, state and local elections.”

The Washington Post:
“This is kind of like the abortion debate 30 years ago. Some states changed their laws; some didn’t,” said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel for the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, who counseled New Hampshire Republicans on the religious exclusion, and whose group is active in other state and federal cases. “Does the Supreme Court come in with a Roe v. Wade trump card?” Lorence asked. “How this is all going to play out over time, I think the new Supreme Court nominee is going to be a factor . . . which makes it a legitimate area of questioning.”

LifeNews: “Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a potential Supreme Court nominee for pro-abortion President Barack Obama, will be at the White House on Tuesday. Although Obama administration officials say she will be present for an unrelated event, Granholm is on the president’s high court short list.”

LA Times: “Pressure is building on hot-button issues: same-sex marriage, lobbying for a gay Supreme Court justice and ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’”

Jeffrey Toobin has written this lengthy commentary at the New Yorker discussing Chief Justice John Roberts.

Townhall has posted this announcement about the upcoming debate being co-sponsored by ADF and the Federalist Society.

One News Now: “More than two dozen pro-life protesters were arrested at Notre Dame University Sunday as President Barack Obama told a graduation ceremony at the Catholic school that both sides in the abortion debate must stop demonizing one another . . . Tara Makowski of Seattle, who received a master’s degree Saturday from the school, said she was dismayed by the way Notre Dame was being characterized. ‘Seeing us being portrayed nationally as radical conservative has been really tough,’ she said. ‘People need to realize that the majority of students and faculty’ favored Obama’s visit.”

The Religion Clause Blog reports: In Pennsylvania, the Episcopal Church has filed a complaint (as Plaintiff-in-Intervention) in an ongoing lawsuit, seeking a declaratory judgment that it, rather than the break-away diocese that has affiliated with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, is the proper authority to control the real and personal property of the Diocese of Pittsburgh . . . Meanwhile in California, an Orange County Superior Court judge has refused to impose sanctions for filing a frivolous claim on St. James Church, which disaffiliated from the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in 2004 . . . ”

Religion Clause Blog: “[The suit] . . . challenges the the refusal by San Diego’s City Council to permit it to demolish three homes near campus in order to construct a new classroom building and parking structure.”

AP: “Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele reverted Sunday to opposing moves by some RNC members to label Democrats as ‘socialists,’ despite having himself used that term within the past few weeks.”

AP: “Stephanie Cutter is expected to leave her job as an adviser to Treasury Secretary Geithner and move next door to the White House, an administration official said.”

AP: “The first woman to be elected president of Lithuania said Monday the government must slash spending and questioned whether the country can afford its generous parental leave benefits.”

CNSNews: “A controversial member of President Barack Obama’s faith-based council said that part of the administration’s role in promoting responsible fatherhood should include moving beyond America’s ‘heteronormative view of fatherhood.’ Harry Knox, appointed last month to the 25-member President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, has drawn fire for inflammatory comments about the Catholic Church and Pope Benedict XVI.”

“The governor is right to recognize the threat to religious liberty, but he underestimates the threat by a long shot. Where are the protections for business owners with religious objections to recognizing same-sex ‘marriages’?

CBS: “Representative Peter King (R-N.Y.) said that by opposing military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay and by advocating for the release of photographs of torture committed upon detainees, the American Civil Liberties Union is ‘tearing down the United States,’ during a heated debate with the ACLU’s executive director, on Face the Nation Sunday.”

WorldNetDaily: “When many parents think of Girl Scouts, they imagine young girls in uniform selling Thin Mints and Tagalong cookies – not learning about stone labyrinths, world peace, global warming, yoga, avatars, smudging incense, Zen gardens and feminist, communist and lesbian role models. But that’s exactly what many of 2.7 million Girl Scouts will learn about with a new curriculum called ‘Journeys’ released last year.”

One News Now: “Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Jonathan Scruggs notes the sequence of events in June 2008 involving his two clients. ‘They wanted to go talk about their religious beliefs but also display signs — kind of sandwich-board signs that you would wear. And they went and they were prevented,’ he explains.”

NY Times: “Gov. David A. Paterson urged the State Senate on Sunday to take swift action on legislation that would allow same-sex couples to marry, signaling that he intends to increase pressure on lawmakers as the end of the 2009 legislative session approaches. With six weeks left before the State Legislature adjourns for the year, gay rights advocates remain short of the support they need in the Senate, and there is an increasing sense among those who support same-sex marriage that time is running out.”

Jan LaRue writes at American Thinker: Notre Dame University bears the name of the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, a wonderful, courageous, and wise woman. The only recorded advice that Mary ever gave concerned her Son: “Whatever He says to you, do it.” As professed followers of Christ, the conduct of Jenkins and Obama seems contrary to Mary’s advice.

AP: “Republicans can reach a broader base by recasting gay marriage as an issue that could dent pocketbooks as small businesses spend more on health care and other benefits, GOP Chairman Michael Steele said Saturday.”

One News Now: Alliance Defense Fund filed suit last week in Michigan against a radical group that invades churches. ADF attorney Dale Schowengert points out that several people staged a noisy demonstration outside to attract security out of the church building . . .

“City officials have no right to threaten and arrest citizens for exercising their First Amendment rights in public, especially on the pretext of revised codes that have already been ruled unconstitutional.”