U.S. Catholic bishops care more about sex than abortion

It's been nice to see as President Obama continued his streak of standing up for the correct policies by affirming that all employers, regardless of their religious affiliation, would have to provide health insurance that covers birth control at no cost to the employee. The Obama administration did allow one key exemption; which would allow churches themselves to not comply with the law, but church related institutions such as universities and hospitals must comply by next August 2013. Notably Catholic bishops were outraged as they vowed to fight the "HHS Edict," Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan of New York stating, "the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences."

Devout Catholics have every right to be upset with this dogmatically, as any sex that is not for the sole purpose of procreation is a big NO-NO. People always think that the general requirement for sex is that you need one man and one woman to get married for intercourse to be acceptable. Nope, not if that married couple is using a condom, is on "the pill", the "ring", IUD, you name it, it's NOT OK with the Catholic Church. And from a purely religious standpoint that's cool.

But on a policy level, all this proves is that the Catholic Church cares way more about teens having sex than it does about preventing teens from getting pregnant and then having abortions. This new policy is likely to stop hundreds of thousands of unwanted pregnancies from occurring and that means millions fewer abortions over time. You would think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic bishops would be applauding the new regulation, but no, the Catholic Church has shown its cards and it is way more interested in being angry about teen sex than it is about reducing abortion in America.

With friends like these...

Who needs enemies? This report out of Foreign Policy magazine really puts to light the recent "terrorist attack" assassination of top Iranian nuclear scientist, Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan. We need to make a point here; just because someone works for a government doesn't mean they agree with their leadership's policies. I'm sure there were lots of people who worked for Hitler, Saddam Hussein or Kim Jong-Il not because they agreed with their policies, but because if they didn't work on behalf of their country, their entire family might be subject to work in camps or even death. If I lived in a country like that, you bet your balls I'm crying my ass off when Kim Jong-Il dies. It just so happens that Ahmadi-Roshan's job was to work on nuclear physics. To kill someone for merely participating in a system that is not of their own control and is CIVILIAN in nature is completely wrong and counterproductive to Israel's security. It's like the religious nuts of the world WANT to have World War III.

God damnit Israel, I want to love you so bad, but you're always acting so crazy!

Treat Yo Self, 2011!

It's the last day to Treat...Yo...Self - 2011. So enjoy it everyone and have a Happy New Year!

 

This is how Republicans govern

Clock in, clock out. Not like they have any bills to discuss. It's all in a hard day's work in the U.S. Congress run by people who don't believe in it.

Rest in peace Hitch

The great Christopher Hitchens has died. The columnist was a great advocate for freedom, reason and atheism. He is probably most known for his support of the Iraq War and had the strongest argument for it. Even though to this day I remain opposed (the war officially ended yesterday - yay!), Hitch always forced me to reconsider my view. He was also known for his fervent atheism and his belief that the modern world would be vastly better without religion and its influence. Whether we're religious or not, we pray for Hitch. He is neither in heaven or hell, but we hope that Mr. Hitchens' great acerbic wit lives on forever.

Long live Hitch.

I guess Keynesianism is dead after all. Wait...what?

Six major central banks, including ours, announced that they would coordinate their efforts to increase liquidity in the European market, to stave off the economic collapse of Greece, Italy, and Portugal and thus halt spreading the contagion to stronger parts of Europe and the world as a whole. Yet conservative politicians worldwide (and especially in the U.S.) want us (the economy) to jump off the top of the building (Keynesian counter-cyclical stimulus), hoping that we'll bounce all the way across to the building rooftop across the street.

However, confronting a true worldwide economic collapse just for the sake of moral superiority, would look like this. (Hint: We're Neo)

 

Essay of the Day

"In the aughts, Republicans held more power for longer than at any time since the twenties, yet the result was the weakest and least broadly shared economic expansion since World War II, followed by an economic crash and prolonged slump."

Quote from the must-read essay by former speechwriter and adviser to President Bush, David Frum.