I need a break, at least for today from non-stop politics. But everything I read today was politics, politics, and more politics. Pelosi’s disingenuous rantings, Biden’s a help to the ticket, Biden’s a drag on the ticket, Ted Kennedy and the water theme, and Michelle O really really loves her country now. Spare me, please. At least for one day.

So here is some stuff I came across that has absolutely nothing to with the above mentioned murderers row.

Dom Bettinelli directs us to this interesting post in which Lori Pieper traces the origins of the John Paul I was murdered conspiracy theory.

It seems that someone has locked 10 rats in airtight glass cage for a year and made them breathe nothing but incense. 2 of them developed a cough. Therefore “Could Incense Burned in Church Give You Cancer?” These guys just want to take the fun out of everything. Next up, “Can Holy Water Transmit Flesh Eating Disease? Find out before it is too late!” Again, spare me.

Father Thomas Reese S.J. weighs in on the Saddleback Forum. Now I know I said I wasn’t talking politics tonight and the Saddleback Forum is most definitely about politics. True, but this is only tangential to the point I want to make or rather the question I want to ask.

Father opines on what faith related questions are proper for journalists to ask a political candidate. He actually makes some interesting points, but he had to go and ruin it for me. First a quote, then a question.

Many people will like McCain’s simple yes and no responses. Catholics will like his support for vouchers to help parents send their children to Catholic schools. Pro-lifers will also like his strong stand against abortion. But will he support social programs that reduce the number of abortions. And if he really believes life begins at conception, how can he support embryonic stem cell research?

Do remarks like “But will he support social programs that reduce the number of abortions.” scream moral equivalence to you, or am I too tired and cynical to give him the benefit of the doubt?

Last but not least, this story from Brisbane. The “gay friendly” St Mary’s Catholic Church in South Brisbane is being threatened with closure because the lunatics have taken over the asylum.

Archbishop of Brisbane, John Bathersby, who warned parish priest, Fr Kennedy, the church was in danger of “schism”.

“The question for me,” Bathersby wrote, “is not so much whether St Mary’s should be closed down, but whether St Mary’s will close itself down by practices that separate it from communion with the Roman Catholic Church.”

One of the offenses of the rainbow brigade is the fact that the Brisbane Lesbian and Gay Pride Choir use St Mary’s for weekly rehearsals. As bad as that seemed in my imagination, the picture made it so much worse and so much funnier.


That just really made me laugh. I really need to get some sleep!