Biased BBC

I have several friends from the UK that insist that the BBC is the most unbiased news agency in the world. In reality though stories like this set them straight.

Ultrasounds bad for business

It has long been recognized that a woman seeing an ultrasound of her unborn child is much more likely to carry the child to term than a woman who doesn't. It seems as though a mothers instinct takes over from viewing the child. In the last decade the pro-life movement has become increasingly organized and has started to offer free ultrasounds to pregnant mothers, with no strings attached. So Illinois Planned Parenthood decided to use their money to introduce a bill that would prevent a technician from performing an ultrasound without doctor's orders. In early April, Rep. Rosemary Mulligan (R-Park Ridge) successfully passed HB 2492. Their contention was that the ultrasound can harm the babies nervous system. All of a sudden pro-abortion advocates now care for unborn children. This position is contradicted on Planned Parenthoods own website:

An ultrasound scan builds a picture of the fetus on a screen by bouncing sound waves into your uterus. It is a very safe procedure - no X-rays are involved. [emphasis added]

By passing this bill Planned Parenthood ensured that ultrasound is only used to put a target on a child's back.

Breaking Down the Pope

Thomas Cahill writes a piece in the New York Times that I have expected for several days. I knew it was only a matter of time before the MSM started appealing to the left again, the point in which the Pope's death has lost its value. Cahill includes several tidbits that are typical progressive rhetoric. I thought I would take the time to translate it into what he meant to say:

With the news media awash in encomiums to the indisputable greatness of Pope John Paul II, isn't it time to ask to which tradition he belonged? Partisans unfamiliar with Christian history may judge this a strange question. Why, they may answer, he belonged to the Catholic tradition, of course. But there is no single Catholic tradition; there are rather Catholic traditions, which range from the voluntary poverty of St. Francis of Assisi to the boundless greed of the Avignon popes, from the genial tolerance for diversity of Pope Gregory the Great in the sixth century to the egomaniacal self-importance of Pope Pius IX in the 19th century, from the secrecy and plotting of Opus Dei to the openness and humane service of the Community of Sant'Egidio.

Liberal Translation: We need to start the name calling. I think we need to start twisting things and putting them into context for those liberal Catholics so they will remember what should be important to them. And for those of you who are not Catholic: please recall why to despise them so much.

Over its 2,000-year history, Roman Catholicism has provided a fertile field for an immense variety of papal traditions.

Liberal Translation: When considering Roman Catholic Popes, there are few that have been ok, but most are just kooks, who actually believe there is a God.

Despite his choice of name, John Paul II shared little with his immediate predecessors. John Paul I lasted slightly more than a month, but in that time we were treated to a typical Italian of moderating tendencies, one who had even, before his election, congratulated the parents of the world's first test-tube baby - not a gesture that resonated with the church's fundamentalists, who still insist on holding the line against anything that smacks of tampering with nature, an intellectual construct far removed from what ordinary people mean by that word.

Liberal Translation: Although he chose the same name, he wasn't as close to the truth as John Paul I. John Paul I did more in a month to "bridge the divide" in the church, than John Paul II did in his lifetime. John Paul I for instance congratulated the parents of the first test-tube baby, in direct conflict with the rest the typical God loving weirdo of the Catholic church. (Notice to Liberal Catholic Politicians --Kerry, Kennedy, Pelosi -- you can be Catholic and support abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage and still be a true catholic)

Unfortunately, this pope was much closer to the traditions of Pius IX and Pius X than to his namesakes. Instead of mitigating the absurdities of Vatican I's novel declaration of papal infallibility, a declaration that stemmed almost wholly from Pius IX's paranoia about the evils ranged against him in the modern world, John Paul II tried to further it.

Liberal Translation: To bad for progressive John Paul II wasn't more like John Paul I, I think we were close to getting him to endorse Planned Parenthood as necessary for "women's health." Instead of reversing Vatican I's crazy idea that the Pope communicates with God, he embraced it. John Paul was really just another kook that believed in a non-existent God.

But John Paul II's most lasting legacy to Catholicism will come from the episcopal appointments he made. In order to have been named a bishop, a priest must have been seen to be absolutely opposed to masturbation, premarital sex, birth control (including condoms used to prevent the spread of AIDS), abortion, divorce, homosexual relations, married priests, female priests and any hint of Marxism.

Liberal Translation: But John Paul II was really crazy. He wouldn't allow any new ideas into the church. Like the constitution in America, the Catholic church could be much better if it was allowed to be molded into its best form. He actually expected bishops he appointed to uphold the teachings of Christ. And forget about our progressive agenda, John Paul II took money from oil companies, was a draft dodger, and had once spoke to Bush. He is obviously a Republican pawn.

It is nearly impossible to find men who subscribe wholeheartedly to this entire catalogue of certitudes; as a result the ranks of the episcopate are filled with mindless sycophants and intellectual incompetents.

Liberal Translation: Couldn't the pope at least of given us one issue to backstab him with. He stuck so well to his morals positions. There's no way every bishop believes all these lies. If you do it is only because you have been brainwashed and aren't as smart as the typical progressive.

"When Your Conscience Goes to Work"

Should pharmacists be required to fill morning after pills against their conscience? This commentary by Crispin Sartwell from Dickinson College, PA says no. It is published in the LA Times of all places.

Public Opinion

Interesting how public opinion is easily changed when a neutral question is asked. Zogbys new poll on Terri Schiavo asked the following question:

"If a disabled person is not terminally ill, not in a coma, and not being kept alive on life support, and they have no written directive, should or should they not be denied food and water."

79% of Americans said no, they should not be denied food and water. How many times do you think this poll will be quoted in the New York Times or on the Nightly News? Do stay up waiting.

May god bless the pope. 

A "Carefully Orchestrated Leak"

In light of Sander Berger guilty plea, Ratherbiased.com takes a look back at when Dan Rather broke the news. Here is what Rather said:

"Sandy Berger, who was National Security Adviser under President Clinton stepped aside today as an adviser to Senator John Kerry. CBS's John Roberts reports this was triggered by a carefully orchestrated leak about Berger and the timing of it appears to be no coincidence."

Interesting to note that there have never been a "carefully orchestrated leak" against a Republican politician, they are only orchestrated against Democrats. Ratherbiased reports all the occurrences (4) of "carefully orchestrated leak" in Rather's reporting. Read the full post here.

Ballot Call

No surprise Washington State has found more ballots.