Rounding up the chicks

Well, not ours, who are safely in a crib in the bathroom. “A bathroom full of meat; life is good!” my wife said this morning.
And life is apparently good for Dan Cathy. Quoth Allahpundit, “Somewhere, a Burger King ad man’s toying with the idea of having “The King”declare himself “100% pro-life.””  Apparently, a Wendy’s franchise owner in North Carolina decided to stand with Chick-fil-A (for principle or for money, I don’t know and it doesn’t much matter) , and got his butt kicked by corporate,

On Catholic Answers last night, the host (a sub I think, not Patrick Coffin) was joking with Fr. Serpa about “picking chicken out of our teeth” and commenting on how well-mannered and pleasant the folks in line were.

Well, not everyone. This douchebag seems to have earned himself his 15 minutes of Internet fame. And this lady (his victim) deserves a promotion. Heck, if I were single and 30 years younger, I’d interview her for a position as “wife”.

For those wondering: no, I didn’t participate. I hate lines, and the local stores aren’t particularly convenient to me. But we’ll be going out of our way soon.

UPDATE: the douche has a name (Adam Smith!), and is the CFO of a catheter company (no I’m not making either fact up!)

UPDATE 2: Make that WAS the CFO of a catheter company.

Unitarians, Catholics and HHS

God bless all the folks who have come out in support of the Catholic Church’s right not to subsidize sin. And God bless (with His rod) the folks who so don’t-get-it that they actually came out in support of the government in this matter. It’s pretty much the usual suspects, and there are all kinds of snark I could make on each one. But I’m going to concentrate on just one in this post: the Unitarian Universalist Association. They should know better, I will show that they do know better, and my wife had to set one of their congregants straight yesterday.

The Seven Principles of the U-U Church include “The inherent worth and dignity of every person” (unless they’re preborn, apparently) and “The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.”  If this isn’t a matter of conscience, I don’t know what is. U-Us are in general so supportive of the right of conscience that you can believe pretty much anything and still be a U-U (excepting, again, the belief that abortion is murder). But if you want more clarity, here is a resolution from 1982:

Personal Religious Freedom

WHEREAS, the central issues for religion include the beginning, duration, nature and meaning of life, the extent to which individuals can be in control of their own lives and bodies, and the moral and ethical responsibility of individuals to the lives and bodies of others; and
WHEREAS, the 1982 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association reaffirms our heritage of personal religious freedom of belief and acknowledges as one of its tenets the right and responsibility of persons of all ages to decide and act upon these religious issues according to their own conscience and faith, without government interference or invasion of privacy;

BE IT RESOLVED: That the 1982 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association calls upon Unitarian Universalists and all individual groups, both religious and secular, of like mind to oppose attempts for legislative policy changes that would limit the free exercise of this, our religious heritage; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That this Assembly calls upon the governments of the United States and Canada to oppose all attempts to legislate such limitations.

Now, the HHS contraceptive mandate quite clearly bears on “beginning… of life, the extent to which individuals can be in control of their own lives and bodies.” It could be that this was meant to be a weasel-word support of the right to abortion. But since they’d expressed that much more clearly 4 years previously, I have to take them at their word here.  Neo-Catharism (not breeding) is apparently a tenet of Unitarianism.  They are extremely pro-reproductive-freedom. But that doesn’t negate their conscience statement. Nor does this: “we believe that, regardless of income, every person has the right to all reproductive health information and basic services”. They may believe in the right to free birth control, but it doesn’t follow from that that any particular entity needs to provide it. Indeed, one might ask: if there are Catholic hospitals, where are the Unitarian free women’s clinics? Why haven’t they put their money where their mouths are?

But the Unitarians have been more than happy to have their freedom of religion protected by the government.  In First Unitarian Church v. Los Angeles – 357 U.S. 545 (1958):

Solely because they refused to subscribe oaths that they do not advocate the overthrow of the Federal Government by force, violence or other unlawful means, or advocate the support of a foreign government against the United States in the event of hostilities, petitioners were denied tax exemptions provided by the California Constitution for real property and building used solely and exclusively for religious worship.

In my own back yard, we had Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron v. City of Fairlawn, Ohio, 2000-01. The city decided that the U-Us could not build a fellowship hall on their land (owned before a zoning change), and backed down under legal pressure.

But the religious liberty strain of classical liberalism, which was so much a part of their tradition for so long, seems to have fallen by the wayside. Of all the religious groups that filed amicus briefs in the recent case of Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC (unanimously decided for plaintiff), the UUA was the only one to pick the losing side.

What makes this particularly odd is the the U-Us have become a haven for neo-pagans and Wiccans, who have a long history of religious persecution. They’re the growing edge of Unitarianism, since there’s no longer the pressure to “be something, and Unitarian is the least you could be” and religious atheists are in style and no longer need to blow off several hours a week not-worshipping their non-god. Pagans have benefitted directly in such cases as Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah 1993 508 U.S. 520. So why aren’t the pagan elements in the UUA fighting to keep the church on the side of freedom? I suspect that reproductive issues, being one thing that most U-Us can agree on, have become a defining doctrine of the faith. And Catholics stand against that. But there’s more than disagreement there. One step in my own conversion involved the observation of the visceral hatred many Pagans hold for Catholicism, way beyond any historical explanation (I’ll see your Burning Times and raise you a Coliseum.) I decided that fierce irrational Satanic hatred meant that there was a power in the Church worth paying attention to.

Anyway, while I don’t respect the U-Us, I respect their right to worship as they please, and to not be commanded at gunpoint to perform acts which they consider morally repugnant. I just wish they would give me the same respect.

Put with the master?

A girl was allegedly raped at the encampment of ’60s re-enactors known as Occupy Cleveland. I’m going to treat the story as true, based on current information, because it is consistent with the details, and because anybody down with the cause enough to overnight there would not invent a story damaging to the cause.

It’s those details that I find disturbing:

CLEVELAND, Ohio (CBS Cleveland) – An “Occupy Cleveland” protester tells police she was raped in her tent over the weekend.

Cleveland police are investigating an alleged sexual assault incident Saturday at the “Occupy Cleveland” rally involving a 19-year-old female student from Parma.

According to police reports, the 19-year-old student was instructed by “Occupy Cleveland” personnel to “share a tent with the suspect due to a shortage of tents.” The suspect identified himself as “Leland” to the woman. The woman told police that after she had thought the suspect went to sleep in his own bed, she slept in a sleeping bag provided to her by the rally.

“From Parma” suggests a certain ethnicity. “Leland” suggests a different ethnicity. “Was instructed” implies a certain accepted power-over, at least to the extent of “it’s our tent and sleeping bag; you will do as we say.” Now, normal people would not bunk a strange male and strange female together, even in a shortage of tents.That’s asking for trouble. And it’s clear that the Parma Occupier felt there would be trouble, as she did not retire until she thought that “Leland” was asleep. At that point, most women would have run home to Mommy. I’ve tented chastely with women not my lovers, without touching them (though in those cases there was definitely “wanna’ at work). So I’m not blaming the victim here, except insofar as she did not act on her gut feeling of wrongness…perhaps because she considered that gut feeling to be evidence of her own racism?

My concern has to do with the “personnel” (I thought this movement had no leaders) who put a young girl in a dangerous situation. Why? Were they blinded by their own idealism? Or was this a deliberate psychological operation? Were they trying to reprogram the Parma girl’s sexism and racism by deliberately bunking her with a black man? This would be consistent with the radical egalitarianism of Marxist movements. Was the perp connected to the camp’s authority structure in some way?

There are a lot of questions here, and I’ll be looking for answers.

UPDATE: Hmm, Cleveland girl, not Parma, and attending a school for the learning disabled. And OC’s spokesperson claims they don’t make sleeping assignments. Which doesn’t necessarily say that a different subgang of “they”s might do so, given that “there are no leaders” (bullshit). Or that “Leland” was just a predator who came for this specific purpose, and told her that “the administrators” told him to sleep with her. Apparently OC has a fairly detailed set of rape policies.

Yes, I know that “LD” does not mean “nutter”, but those with one issue often have other issues. The notion stated by the one interviewee that she might have come out deliberately to claim rape is pretty absurd. But we knew from the get-go that the victim was a card or two short of a full deck, because why would somebody put themselves in that situation? I’m still waiting for information that will make this make sense.

Weinergate

OK, I don’t much care if he sent a babe a crotch shot. I do care about the coverup, and the fact that he’s accusing somebody of a crime without getting law enforcement involved. He’s moved pretty solidly into the “clown” category. I’ll bet Huma is having second thoughts about their wedding having been officiated by a serial philanderer (Bill Clinton). At AoSHQ, Ben says of the notorious Dana Bash interview, “Honestly, this is the second worst press conference I’ve ever seen. Only the Bud [sic] Dwyer press conference was worse. ” Though the Dwyer press conference had a happy ending (not for Dwyer).

Gotta wonder how long we’ll be eating the popcorn on this one.

Santorum

Mike Soja doesn’t believe in comboxes, so I have to comment here. He writes about a weird mislinkage to a story about Rick Santorum’s “Google problem”, and accuses Dan Savage or his followers of Google-bombing Santorum. I don’t think it quite happened that way. Savage appended Santorum’s surname to a byproduct of anal sex that nobody had ever bothered naming (probably because it’s pretty disgusting), and the term took off, leading to Google use to search the word.  A lot of people read the bourgeois Marxist tabloids that Savage’s column appears in…not just liberals. Indeed, I can’t think of Santorum without thinking of santorum…which I would really rather not think about.  It’s a brilliant piece of Alinskyism. Nobody deserves to have his name dragged through shit like that. But Rick Santorum probably comes as close as anyone can. And there really isn’t jack he can do about it either, as anything he could say would just weld the concepts closer together.

SNAP judgment

Dr. Steve Taylor, a Louisiana psychiatrist who has worked with the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and tried to convince the Louisiana legislature to allow the confessional seal to broken in sex abuse cases, has been sentenced to two years in prison for possession of child pornography.

Now, I’m not going to be as anxious to serve up hot buttered schadenfreud as Bill Donohue. I’ve known some perfectly fine people who, through no fault of their own, have had kiddie porn on their computer, before they wiped it clean. Presumably the jury looked at that possibility, and found no support for it, but it could have happened.

What I find interesting is this:

[Taylor]voiced his objections to a unanimous decision by the Louisiana House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice protecting the confidential communication of priests, ministers, rabbis and other clergy members. At the time, Taylor said that the seal has to be broken because “We have faces now.”

Taylor certainly should have known that the seal of the confessional is not a matter of civil but of canon law, and that a priest who breaks it is in that instant no longer a priest, or even a Catholic. Saints have gone to their death to protect it, so doing some time in prison is a comparatively light thing.  Since in 99 cases of 100, that would be the end result of Taylor’s proposed law, one has to ask why he hates Catholic priests so.  I think we’ve found the answer ; as usual, it’s a sexual issue.

Junk about junk, and other junk

Krauthammer seems to think that John Tyner coined the euphemism “junk” for his genitals. He deserves credit for what he did, but not for that… the Weedwhacker is a bit out of touch, isn’t he?

Meanwhile, Gadsden just got updated (h/t: AoSHq)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mad woman that Californicators just re-elected to the Senate compares our policy on gays in the military to that of North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan. Let’s see…we don’t allow out homosexuals to serve in the military, and they don’t allow out homosexuals to live. One of these things is not like the other.

The pens that Pres__ent Øbama uses to sign bills which require money borrowed from China are made in…China. Khruschev, sales, rope; some assembly required.

Terry Mattingly fisks the NYT on dissident “Catholics” in Belgium.

It’s totally bizarre to say that “in the view of Rome” these independent believers are not Catholic priests who are leading Catholic rites.

Why? The Vatican is the institution that ordains and retains Catholic priests, through its bishops around the world who are in a state of Communion with the pope of Rome. Love it or leave it.

This is like saying that someone can play for the New York Yankees without the legal permission of the New York Yankees. Or try this: Start your OWN gender-neutral New York Yankees squad and try to show up and play the canonical Red Sox team. Let’s see how the Times handles that one.

Mr. Beck points to the briefest and most accurate summation of the Windsor family (or is it now technically the Mountbatten family?) nuptials: Unemployed English Girl to Wed Soldier from Welfare Family

Vanderbeogh asks why this stinking turd passed the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously. The members of that committee affiliated with the Allegedly Limited Government Party are:
Jeff Sessions, Alabama, Ranking Member
Orrin Hatch, Utah
Chuck Grassley, Iowa
Jon Kyl, Arizona
Lindsey Graham, South Carolina
John Cornyn, Texas
Tom Coburn, Oklahoma

Do what needs to be done.

Atlas is shrugging. My microfilm score project has been stalled at Preservation because of a shortage of microfilm leader. Sharlane is having a difficult time finding any. Now, this is essentially just 35mm film without photochemicals. One could in a pinch use somebody’s reel of old porn shots, though that would be confusing to the patron expecting a collection of motets. Yes, digitization is becoming ever more popular, but film isn’t totally obsolete.

TSA even screws with our soldiers. Money quote:

This might be a good time to remind everyone that approximately 233 people re-boarded that plane with assault rifles, pistols, and machine guns–but nothing that could have been used as a weapon.

You know times are hard

…when they’re turning tricks in Bratenahl. What’s next, meth labs in Gates Mills? Plasma sales in Beachwood?

Odds and ends

Bob Guccione just died. He was the guy who probably most influenced everything sexual that I’ve ever repented of. I don’t know if he ever found his way back to the Church (and can we ever know?), but at the least, he’ll have some ‘splainin’ to do in Purgatory.

And Harvey Phillips, tubist and educator, is dead. More of a loss than Guccione, I think.

Then there’s the Juan Williams thing. I heard what he said, and found it unexceptional; is there something wrong with me? I can see why NPR did it, though it’s a lose-lose for them: piss off the I-slammers or show what dhimmis they are. They’re always bending over backwards to prove they aren’t political; I heard the other day that NPR employees can’t even have yard signs. But the prejudices at NPR are those of class and surroundings; when everyone you know is drinking the Kool-Aid, it’s hard to tell the difference between Kool-Aid and water. As for Williams, I don’t much care. There are several there who I find marginally more odious; I’d rather have lost Diane Rehm or Tavis Smiley, but NPR talking heads are pretty much fungible. I’d give control of the NPR newsroom to the Magliozzi brothers, myself.

Vox Day wryly notes that apparently “Muslim is the new Black” when it comes to pecking order among Protected Groups.

Soja notes that the Spanish government, with promised solar incentives it can’t pay for, is preparing to shaft investors in government promises. We’ve seen this same sort of thing in ethanol production in the Midwest.

If you’re into dweeby musicology humor, you will find this Facebook photo album by musicologist Rob Wegman to be devastatingly funny. I about peed my pants. There are a few good fart and dick jokes in there for the rest of you, but you’ll really lose the effect.

Sexually healthy schools?

Church and Dwight, the makers of Trojan condoms, have teamed up with Rock the Vote to evaluate sexual health in various American universities. Various blogs have pointed out the methodological and definitional problems, that “sexual health” might better be defined as “Schools that have done the most for Trojan’s bottom line.” Of course, sexual health doesn’t equate with condom use, as there are some healthy ways of dealing with sexuality (monogamy, celibacy) where condoms are simply superfluous. Interestingly, they haven’t mentioned the involvement of a Leftist front group in the survey. Case Western isn’t even on the list… I don’t know if that’s a comment on the sexual magnetism of engineers or not. I also note the omission of other schools…Bob Jones, say, or Ave Maria…that would surely knock Idaho out of bottom place. Not that this should be about competition:

Big Ten football rivals Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan won’t just duke-it-out on the field this fall. They competed for sexual health dominance, too, finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively in this year’s report card.

“Come on, Mary, take one for the Maize and Blue.”