Religious stuff below the fold

Attention Art Bell:

Does the Mafia in Italy plan to eliminate the Pope?

Professor Podles also notes:

While I was researching my book on sexual abuse in the Church, I saw many indications that the abuse was intertwined with organized crime: drug dealing, prostitution of male teenagers, and money laundering.

A certain sardonic carpenter called this "wolves in sheep's clothing"... sociopaths use trusted organizations to cover their deeds...

update: Reuters article on this.

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It's not just the Italians: Iran's mullahs are making a lot of money too.

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US Bishops still oppose Obamacare's assault on religious freedom.

But don't worry: the press says it's an old story and won't mention it.


But the new ads might make more than the pious barf at how the government is promoting certain lifestyles.

Annica Benning says this controversial ad for ObamaCare “portray[s] women as giddy, sex-starved and desperate”:

Amy Runyon-Harms, executive director of ProgressNow Colorado, defended them, saying: “People get upset when you portray women as independent.”
That is interesting — independence can now be defined based on sexual promiscuity?

Yes: This is your government using your tax payments (actually from Colorado taxpayers) to promote a behavior that spreads disease.

From the Guttmacher organization:

The total estimated burden of the nine million new cases of these STDs that occurred among 15-24-year-olds in 2000 was $6.5 billion (in year 2000 dollars). 

and the government's HealthyPeople site notes

The cost of STDs to the U.S. health care system is estimated to be as much as $15.9 billion annually.4 B

in contrast, the Pope points out the importance of families in societies that promote radical individualism, and contrasts the "throw away" culture of MeMeMe generation with the life that god blesses:

The pontiff recalled the parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, “were married in conditions much poorer than ours, some in time of war, or post-war, and some emigrated, like my parents . Where did they get their strength from? From the certainty that the Lord was with them , that their family is blessed by God in the sacrament of marriage, and blessed is the mission of giving birth to children and educating them. Based on these assurances they survived even the most severe trials. They were simple, but real certainties, which formed of the pillars that supported their love.

 He links the importance of family and marriage in contrast to modern individualism. --------------------------------
The real problem goes beyond promoting unhealthy lifestyles or the idea that religious freedom can be discarded...

Reality check: the under states the danger: the law allows the bureaucrats to make much broader decisions for individuals...

If you remember, the original law was only passed after Obama promised not to force abortion/birth control payments on believers, but then he appointed pro abortion types to his panel of experts, who promptly decided it should be part of the coverage, so he can claim it's not his fault.


the problem: it goes beyond allowing non elected experts to interfere with religion. It allows non elected "specialists" to decide what works based on "evidence based medicine", AKA "garbage in garbage out" studies that orders "one size fits all" health care...

this essentially gives these experts the power of life and death over you...which is why Palin called them "death panels".

Factoid of the day: In England, they call these death panels "NICE"

George Orwell, call your office.

And all those who love the idea of a single payer plan: Ask those with a CDIB card about those poorly staffed IHS hospitals that ration medical care.

In the middle of 2000, when we lost our x ray tech, we had to send our patients over a snowy 7000 foot mountain pass to get routine x rays. Why not quickly hire an X ray tech? Because it has to go through the slow process of government hiring...and we didn't have funds to hire a temporary worker.

Then there was the "send the x rays out to be read" to a distant radiologist who cost less than the local ones, and getting reports a week later.

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Attention Mister Hubbard: How to start a new religion.