Father Richard McBrien from Notre Dame was on The Factor tonight discussing the Schiavo case when he and Bill were talking about some outrageuous statements that were being made.

Bill:... the rhetoric is stunning father does it disturb you?

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Father:...Of course it disturbs me, it's distressing...

When the Father told Bill that the Schindler's lawyer (David Gibbs) said that Terri Schiavo would suffer eternal damnation...

Bill: That's the fringe stuff , these people..

Father: FRINGE, he's the lawyer, this person is the lawyer for the Schindler's parents...

Bill: I have to see what the context was...

The context was: via transcripts from Hardball:

MATTHEWS: But this is what David Gibbs said, the lawyer for the family, the Schindlers, the parents. He said, if they put her—allow her to die because of natural causes, not getting food and drink, whatever, that‘s disobeying the Vatican. And that could create additional damnation of her soul or add to the time of her suffering in purgatory. What is a secular... What is a secular lawyer arguing before a secular court that this could mean more time in purgatory for this woman?

"O'Reilly's only intension was to try and drag the left into the mud with the radical religious element, without ever mentioning a hateful thing the left has said on this issue. I never thought I would see a Father call O'Reilly on his own spin."

via Direland

...Tonight's evening news broadcast on French public television carried an account of "Terror in the Hands of Justice," a series that is running twice a day on Al Iraqiya, the state-controlled television financed by the U.S., and operated under a contract to a major Republican party contributor. This is one of the most appalling TV shows one could possibly imagine, for it blatantly encourages lynch-mob justice and individual acts of revenge against alleged "terrorists"--who are presented as such without benefit of any trial or judicial proceeding....

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Click here to read translation: (Thanks to M.A. Mack)

Reporter: Between confessions, the channel broadcasts the crimes in question, often executions, a true incitement of hatred because the program never supplies proof of guilt. Even worse, the confessions may be obtained under pressure, even if the director of the channel denies it....read on
The display on television of prisoners without their consent violates their rights under the Geneva Convention--all the more so when individual and mob violence against those prisoners is incited by the TV show on which they appear.

via The Agonist

Is trying to get John Aravosis to join the panel opposite Jeff Gannon.

...And as for Mr. Guckert, he isn't a blogger, he's barely a journalist, and not a single political blogger involved with the Gannon/Guckert scandal, or otherwise, has been invited to sit on the panel to counter Mr. Guckert's arguments.

Therefore, we the undersigned bloggers, respectfully but firmly insist that a serious political blogger such as John Aravosis, of Americablog.org be included on the panel to fairly and accurately represent our industry and us. Mr. Aravosis has agreed to our request that he serve on the panel as our representative and is available should such an invite be forthcoming....

When will these people finally get a clue?

...will hit the computer nearest you!

Then the porn sites and viagra ads will attach "living will" to the subject line and...you know the rest.

I have been in both California earthquakes, in 89' and in 94'. In 89', I was in my car and after the shaking stopped, I opened the car door and in a severe moment of dizziness sprawled to the ground in a partial black out. In 94' the quake hit around 4:00AM and woke me up. I thought my apartment was going to come down on my head as I tried to shake the sleep from my consciousness. Traffic lights outside my window suddenly erupted ablaze like a bomb went off. The sound of a jackhammer rifled through my ears and I waited frozen in place until it finally subsided."

via The Digital Awakening

My apartment is shaking now.

I had just finished posting my latest entry when I felt my wheelchair moving. I thought I was dizzy because I have not been getting enough sleep lately. A short while later, I realised that it was another earthquake when I heard my door rattling. I quickly woke the maid up....

Blogging has fried our brains. Instead of evacuating after the tremor, we, bloggers staying in high rise apartments, sit here n blog about it, oblivious to the risk should the building topple over or collapse...

296 people have died so far in Indonesia. Good luck Peter Tan.
Brand New Malasia has reported The quake has been classified as 8.7 and several aftershocks were reported.

That is a mother of an earthquake. 94' quake in Los Angeles registered a 6.7

Tsunami Help blog:Tsunami warning has been issued.

on MTP, Lieberman had this to say:

Joe: ...So this government, this country was not neutral about God right
at the outset. One, accepting that there is a creator, so our existence
here is not accidental. And secondly, that as a result of the creation, we
have an inherent unity. We are all equal. We have equal opportunity for
those rights. We are a country based on a vision, a belief in
creationism... transcript

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(update)-Were America's founding fathers Christians by the standards of today's Evangelicals? The record shows unequivocally that they were not. To examine the writings of Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, Adams, and Madison is to note the striking degree to which they all shared attitudes toward religion which in no way resemble the beliefs of today's Creationists. What the spoken and written record reflects is less profound piety or Christian boosterism than a pragmatic recognition of religion as a force for social stability and a spur to moral action.

Unlike the public voice of ethical and spiritual propaganda as it flows from the religious right, the principle Framers placed far less emphasis on any theological doctrine then they did on the gospel message of love. As deists of the Enlightenment, they honored virtue above orthodoxy. Indeed, Franklin, Adams and Jefferson are on record as sharing a skepticism about many Christian doctrines, including Jesus' divinity. Like many of their deist contemporaries, the Founders tended to invoke "Nature" as an authority. In their view, human beings had a "natural rights."

Mike

emailer: Now I have read the founding document of this country, the one Joe promised
to uphold, a number of times, and I don't see that three-letter word "GOD"
anywhere in the Constitution.

emailer: This is a Jewish senator from Connecticut. One of our own! What hope do we have if this is one of our standard bearers? He was on the show to justify his vote for the Schiavo law. I respect the view that many have that all life is sacred, but I am disgusted by the politicians pandering to the right for a few votes because they don't think the rest of us listen. Well I listen and vote, you decide!

via Wapo:

The former vice presidential candidate this week released his first podcast, an online audio recording featuring Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, chatting about the NCAA basketball tournament, her breast cancer treatments, his opposition to President Bush's Social Security plans and (pander alert) his respect for bloggers.

"I also want to say that I know bloggers have really taken a leading role in this effort to fight to protect Social Security," Edwards says, mentioning a few names and sites, such as www.thereisnocrisis.com. The 25-minute recording is available on his Web site, www.oneamericacommittee.com.

Their is No Crisis has the podcast too. What this shows is the respect John Edwards has for the blogosphere, (not like some columnists) and is trying to get ahead of the fray and take advantage of it's far reaching arms.

Privatizers Getting Desperate

via Think Progress

On Thursday, privatization-pushers released a deceptive “research briefing” with excerpts from news stories on recent Social Security town-hall meetings. The article snippets give the impression that President Bush’s privatization plan enjoys nationwide backing; indeed, the document’s bold, italicized headline reads, “More Americans Support Call To Strengthen Social Security.”

Just one problem – several of the individuals quoted in the press release explain in the excerpted articles that they actually oppose privatization:

Clif Smith, A Retiree From Joplin: “I Believe [Social Security] Needs Improved [Sic].”

The full quote: “I believe it needs improved,” said Clif Smith, a retiree from Joplin, at the AARP gathering. “But nothing of the nature of what is being talked about in Washington.”

Smith said he opposes private accounts because he thinks they would drain money from the trust fund, but he said the fund itself should own stock. read on

Why doesn't this surprise me?

via Think Progress

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, 3/27/05:

[T]he real problem is that the conflict hasn’t ended…I think people shouldn’t have been surprised that a regime that had burrowed into Iraqi society over 35 years and killed and tortured and intimidated people so effectively didn’t quit just because they were driven out of Baghdad on April 9, 2003.

Vice President Cheney, 3/16/03:

I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators…I think it will go relatively quickly…(in) weeks rather than months.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 2/7/03:

It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.

Wow. Respectful of Otters

I have also noticed that two values that BushCo likes to fling around are "life" and "freedom", but I have also noticed that the two are opposite values in their rhetoric. You can have freedom or life, but not both. They are pretty consistent in this viewpoint, and if they evoke freedom, you can be sure they are covering up for someone's death, and if they evoke "life", you can be sure they are trying to take away your freedoms.