by Vicola England

The Catholic Church, not exactly a stranger to controversy, has once again found itself in the spotlight, but not for the usual reasons of sexual abuse by priests, or one of its clergy letting rip with a one-liner that breaks every equality law known to humankind. No — this is a new one.

Sister Margaret McBride was a hospital administrator at the Catholic run St Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, when a 27-year-old, pregnant mother of four was brought in suffering from pulmonary hypertension. Doctors determined that the risk of death from…

by Kate Hansen

After the birth of my son in 2007, I felt an incredible energy and drive to make art. Contrary to the popular belief that art-making is one of the things that fall to the wayside after the birth of children, I felt not just inspired but compelled by my experience of childbirth and motherhood. The creative act of making another human being awoke a creative drive in me. I also found that the time limitations involved in caring for an infant forced me to be more disciplined, eking out an hour here…

by Peter McCarthy
(reporting from Australia)

This last week has seen some interesting commentary about whether the current Pope can be put on trial for covering up child abuse when he was Cardinal Ratzinger as late as November 2002. This report from St Oswald Foundation is one of the better ones for covering the options. It’s an interesting question that has a few quirky responses that reveal more about the commentator than the facts.

Predictably some have attacked Richard Dawkins for wanting to destroy the Church, which is…

Hollywood, in general though not in total, seems to be rallying to the defense of Roman Polanski, admitted child-rapist. This includes the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Whoopie Goldberg, and Peter Fonda, to name a few.

Whoopie, for example, says it wasn’t “rape-rape.” Apparently, there’s rape, and then there’s rape, and a 43-year-old man drugging, then anally penetrating a 13-year-old girl isn’t rape, it’s just ‘rape’, and heck, if we’re going to start sending people to jail for that, where will it stop?

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3:09 A.M.

I sat up suddenly in bed and squinted through the darkness. Marley shook his head, jangling his tags to let me know he was also awake.

“How long have you been up, Bubby?”

Marley just sighed. I heard him stand and walk towards the bedroom door.

“OK, Bubby, just a second,” I slipped out of bed and into my slippers. “I’m pretty parched myself and I have too much on my mind to get back to sleep anyway. Might as well get up.”

Marley sighed…

Sometimes I really do wonder what goes on in the heads of celebrities, and nothing demonstrates the weirdness that is celeb-world more than Madonna. Some people when their marriage goes belly up buy a new car, get their hair restyled, buy a new pair of posh shoes, but Madonna trumps all others by buying…another Malawian child. A girl this time, to match the boy she bought last time, after all, why buy the shoes and not the matching handbag?

Leaving aside the fact that Madonna has bypassed all the usual systems for adoption…

I’ve never been a flag waver. While I am deeply thankful that I was born in the United States, I’d never make the statement, “proud to be an American,” because that indicates ─ to me, at least ─ that it’s an accomplishment I did something to earn.

Instead, I consider myself “lucky to be an American,” whereas I think it’s my father, born in Sicily, and having had to make his way into the country, and then having to work to become a citizen of it, who can rightfully use the word “proud.”…

INTEROFFICE COMMUNICATION

FROM: Satan
TO: Minions
RE: The United States of America, Planet Earth

It looks like we’re finally making some real progress in the United States of America. Naturally, as your Supreme Leader, I take credit for the brilliant idea. But it was our diligent force of minions working tirelessly there, who carried out My plan so well. Indeed, using the Christians against themselves, without even one of them suspecting our ultimate goal, was a group effort of pure genius. So, I’m going to extend cautious…

With folk looking to lessen their impact on the environment, the subject of burial has popped up. It makes for a very interesting discussion.

In Oz, cremation is used for 90% of burials. That is a total turnaround from the early 1900’s when it was very rare not to be buried “6 feet under“. When cremation was first discussed most folk were horrified by the thought of being burnt. Now, the idea of being eaten by worms seems to be regarded as horrific. The “worms” description is a misnomer in any case. With modern caskets and…

…And I have wrinkles, receding gums, and a higher income tax bracket. But there are some benefits to aging, believe it or not. If you were paying attention at all, by the time you’re over fifty like me, you’ll have learned something about life.

The following are some things I now know for sure to be true:

1) Being ‘sexy’ doesn’t necessarily come from having youthful, physical flawlessness. No matter how old we get, women (and men) can still exude sensuousness by their enthusiasm for people and new experiences. You’ll be surprised at how…