Catholic bishops accept Obama compromise, reject insulin

February 11th, 2012 by Del

In an abrupt tack from their previous position, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops announced today that they are willing to accept the “Hawaii Rule” compromise offered by the Obama administration, which will shift the cost of contraceptive coverage to insurance companies. However, they are now opposed to being forced to cover the cost of insulin, an artificial hormone used in the treatment of diabetes.

“The human body is wondrously designed by God to regulate all its internal systems,” stated Michael O’Toole, Bishop of Springfield. “In his encyclical Periculum Medicinae, the Holy Father clearly instructs us that interference in God’s holy creation is a grave error.” The bishops are also opposed to coverage of other artifical hormones, such as thyroid hormone, currently used by millions of Americans to treat underactive thyroid glands.  O’Toole added that using such hormones is a “matter of conscience” for Catholics, but that the Church could not be forced to be involved in something so morally repugnant.

Reaction to this declaration was mixed. “Surveys show that millions of Catholic Americans are diabetic and need insulin,” said Sen. Spencer Bronstein (D-AL). “For the bishops to take this position is simply hypocritical. Whether a person uses insulin or not should be between them and their doctor.”

Others disagreed. “You know, if you don’t want to get diabetes, don’t shove a lot of sugar in your face,” said Sharon Mackenzie, a local business owner. “It’s pretty simple. Why should the Catholics have to pay for something they don’t believe in? If you want insulin, buy it yourself.”

Speculation was rampant on the Beltway about how the administration will respond to this latest move on the part of the bishops. “Obama can’t be seen as anti-religion,” predicted one aide, who asked to remain anonymous. “He’ll have to find a way to compromise on this.”

Others were not so sure. “Actually, the longer this goes on, the worse it makes the Republicans look,” said political analyst Bruce Bowes. “Americans are used to insulin, it’s been part of the landscape for a while now. Also, there are many diabetics whose condition isn’t treatable by diet alone. What are those people supposed to do?”

Posted in Blog Against Theocracy, Glamour/Society | 2 Comments »

Re: Jolly old elf

December 6th, 2011 by Del

We traveled through Montgomery this weekend, and stopped at a lovely little coffeeshop called Cafe Louisa in Cloverdale.  While enjoying hot tea and a bagel with smoked salmon, I read this article in the Montgomery Advertiser. It seems that, as if today’s parents don’t have enough to worry about, now those smarty-pants kids are using technology to find out whether Santa is for real. To begin with, there are those commercials advertising robo-Santa calls, emails from Santa, and the like, which one station apparently aired during the Christmas parade (hey, what better time?) But this is the one that made me fire up Facebook:

Kyla Kelim of Alabama, caught her oldest, a 9-year-old boy, on her iPad playing Santa sleuth a week or so ago.”We’re so close with him this year, not believing,” she said. “He was Googling ‘san­ta,’ and I saw him type the word ‘myth’ when I grabbed it and said no electronics. I’m constantly having to follow my phone and iPad and stuff around right now. We’re try­ing not to debunk Santa for our 7-year-old.” Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and Bail Out the Lego Criminal

December 5th, 2011 by Del

Okay, so I don’t go to church, and I  don’t get all bowed up and write emails to management when a store clerk wishes me Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. For me, the ever-darkening days herald only one long ordeal of deplorable excess, demands on both purse and calendar, and in general More Work for Mother. But even we hardened Scrooges still experience frissons, however fleeting, of “the Christmas Spirit.” I myself usually manage ten or fifteen minutes’ worth every year — hardly redemptive, but better than nothing.

So Saturday afternoon, I plunged into the fully decorated Galleria Riverchase Mall, determined to get my fix. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Glamour/Society | No Comments »

Do What Now?

November 26th, 2011 by Kathy

The Associated Press is reporting that two of three  people arrested in a Vermont meth lab bust have been sent to live with their fathers in Alabama while they await trial. I read the headline and thought, okay, it might make sense to send teenagers home rather than holding them for a long period of time.

Then I read the story. If these two are teenagers, it’s only of the overgrown variety. One is 30 and the other 33. Isn’t it a little late (not to mention cruel and unusual) to force their parents to supervise them? What are the dads supposed to do if they misbehave, ground them?

I bet Christmas will be a blast. Just hope it isn’t a literal one.

Posted in What Were They Thinking? | No Comments »

Brownback: A No Free Speech Zone

November 26th, 2011 by Kathy

Geez, how thin-skinned can you get? I’d think Gov. Sam Brownback’s staff would have better things to do than trolling Twitter looking for disparaging comments about their boss. Well, okay, actually I can understand them monitoring the word on the street, uh, tweet. But reporting a high school student to the principal because she said this? Really?

Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot

The principal is insisting that high school student Emma Sullivan, who authored the tweet, write letters of apology to pretty much everyone in the western world.

Here’s the thing. Aside from that pesky First Amendment, which protects political speech, I find it extremely unlikely that this young woman actually said, “You suck,” to Brownback’s face. Had she done so, there would have been great uproar at the time. Twitter, with its 140-character limit, lends itself to shorthand. She didn’t have space to elaborate on the political points she made in opposition to Brownback’s policies, so she boiled them down to “told him he sucked”.

Here’s the other thing. Where were Brownback’s staffers when Rush Limbaugh referred to our African-American First Lady as “uppity”, a term fraught with racist and sexist history? Did they miss that one in their rush (ha) to find high school students saying rude things online about the governor?

See, I don’t really think it’s the responsibility of Brownback’s staffers to call out Limbaugh (although the silence from Republican leaders is just embarrassing), but they don’t have any business making a big deal out of a tweet sent by someone who doesn’t have a nationally syndicated radio show either.

Yeah, the language was rude. But Republicans getting their panties in a bunch about it is pretty damn hypocritical when their national spokesperson spews racism, sexism and homophobia on a daily basis to an audience of millions.

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Of course, if Republican leaders did dare to speak out about Limbaugh, they also would find themselves in the principal’s office, forced to apologize for exercising their First Amendment rights.

via Think Progress

Posted in Stupid Conservative Tricks | 5 Comments »

It can’t be wrong, if it’s for Our Precious Children™

November 22nd, 2011 by Del

Because they are our Future. Anyway, this was buried on page 4C, under the weather forecast. Judge Tracy McCooey has decided that the phone company will just have to keep on collecting a fee from all of its customers in order to pay for telephone service aiding the deaf and blind. The only difference is, now that money will go not to telephone service for the deaf & blind—their equipment is all paid up, thanks to careful management—but to the education fund. And this makes good sense, because the education fund sure needs that money! So just shut up, okay?

Says Jay Love (R-Montgomery), who sponsored the brilliant bill transferring the money: “I certainly felt like when we passed that bill that it would withstand any legal challenge, and I’m glad the judge agreed.” Uh-huh. I can’t imagine why the PSC even sued.

The possibilities here are limited only by the human imagination, guys. How about…a fee added to all grocery bills, to pay for those electric wheelchair carts for the disabled—except we’ll use it to pay for court clerks. Or a energy conservation study fee added to your electric bill—hey, that could pay for prison expansion!  This is going to revolutionize taxation in Alabama, already the lowest-taxed state in the country. With any luck, we can put off actually addressing our financial shortfall and developing a sensible, fair tax system to deal with it…well, maybe forever.

 

Posted in Alabama Politics, Glamour/Society, Money Woes | No Comments »

Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice Launches Campaign Against HB 56 TODAY, November 21st

November 21st, 2011 by Kathy

From Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice:

The Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice will kick off the campaign against HB 56 at 2:00 PM Central Time TODAY with a news conference in advance of an Ad Hoc Congressional Hearing being held at the Council Chambers on the 3rdFloor of Birmingham City Hall. Present will be a number of key members of Congress, including immigration reform champion, Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), who will listen to stories of those who have been affected by the law. Other members of Congress in attendance are as follows:

The members of Congress will hear from a number of people in the community who have witnessed the adverse effects of the law. On panel one, members of Congress will hear from Sheriff Mike Hale, Jefferson County; Dr. Craig Witherspoon, Superintendent Birmingham City Schools; Mary Bauer, Southern Poverty Law Center Attorney; and Mayor William Bell, Birmingham.

Panel two will consist of testimony from Jose Antonio Castro, La Jefa Radio; Y.J., 17 year old student; Angie Baylon, ESL Teacher Woodlawn and Huffman High School; Alma, concerned parent; Trini, undocumented immigrant from Tuscaloosa; Evangelina Limon, an Alabama business owner; and Francisco Garcia, Alabama Business Owner.

Later in the evening, from 7pm to 9 pm, members of Congress will attend a rally at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmignham, Alabama (there’s a map here, in case you don’t know where it is). The event will officially mark the launch “One Family, One Alabama” Campaign to Repeal HB 56.

Eleven members of Congress, including Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL), along with civil rights leaders from around the country, will speak to express the nation’s solidarity with the people of Alabama. State Senator Billy Beasley, sponsor of the proposed bill to repeal HB56, will also speak, along with people whose lives have been damaged by the law.

Also slotted to speak at the event are Zayne Smith, Grassroots leader at ACIJ;Wade Henderson, National Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Mitch Ackerman, SEIU; Hillary Shelton, NAACP, among others. The speakers will address thousands of Alabamians who will gather to challenge Alabama’s state lawmakers to repeal House Bill 56, the nation’s most vicious immigration reform law.

You can check out the full schedule — complete with all the speakers — here. There’ll be more on the events tomorrow. Keep checking back on our page for updates throughout the day, or follow us on twitter @ALimmigrant – we’ll be live-tweeting, using the hashtag #CrisisAL. Stay tuned!

Posted in HB56 | 1 Comment »

“Occupy Mobile member arrested”

November 18th, 2011 by Del

That headline makes it sound like he was doing something baaaad, right? Like maybe disrupting the peace, or defecating in public, or something. But no. He was going through security down at Gov’t Plaza, in order to file paperwork to appear before the city council.

As the group attempted to pass through the security checkpoint in front of the elevators, the security officer said that only two could go up at a time, Hapkmeyer said.
When Henderson asked why not, the officer told him to “shut up and stop asking him questions,” Hapkmeyer said.  When Henderson calmly asked again, the officer arrested him, Hapkmeyer said. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Mobile area politics, Pompous A**holes | No Comments »

Unintended Consequences, My Aunt Fanny

November 17th, 2011 by Kathy

Apparently Alabama Republican lawmakers have heard from enough angry constituents that they’re now open to revamping the state’s punitive, stupid immigration law:

“I had a military guy who came back from Afghanistan and went to get him a tag for a new truck and he couldn’t, he needed to show his birth certificate,” said State Senator Gerald Dial, who voted for the law but said he would not have if he had known of some of its “unintended consequences.”

Gee, Gerald. Maybe you should have read it first. When you passed a law that makes it a felony for an undocumented person to transact business with any government entity, what did you think would happen?

HB56 needs to be repealed, and the official repeal campaign kicks off Monday, 7 PM, at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Come out to show your support!

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More information here: Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice website and Facebook event.

Posted in HB56 | 2 Comments »

Spencer Bachus: Let the Fluffing Begin

November 16th, 2011 by Kathy

Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) has made quite a splash in the news recently, as his insider trading was exposed for the world to see. But one would never know that reading Mary Orndorff’s piece for the Birmingham News, posted just now at al.com. Nope, it’s all about Bachus agreeing with everyone in the county Jefferson County commissioners who want to get rid of the sewer system’s $1 million court-appointed receiver. His rationale? The receiver represents the creditors, not the people. Gee, ya think?

“I’d like him probably out of the picture,” Bachus said in an interview on Capitol Hill. “The receiver represents the creditors, not the people of Jefferson County.”

Looks like  inside-trader “the regulators are there to serve the banks” Bachus is sucking up to divert attention away from his recent troubles, and Ms. Orndorff (or perhaps her editor) is only too ready to help by omitting any mention of them. Here’s a clue, Spencer: it’s not working.

“I’d like him definitely out of the picture,” constituents said in an interview in Alabama. “Bachus represents his own bottom line, not the people of the 6th District.”

There, fixed that for you.

 

Posted in It's a Scandal | No Comments »

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