Here's a nice story to get you into a Lenten mood

Calling all big eaters. Gorge on huge quantities of food in a short amount of time and you get ... mostly just bragging rights

By Nancy Ngo, Pioneer Press

Updated: 02/25/2009 11:57:23 PM CST

Extreme eating is not only a sport but also the latest dining trend. From wolfing down giant pizzas to testing their tolerance for spice, daredevil diners are flocking to restaurants to take on the latest eating challenges. For them, it's mostly about bragging rights. For restaurants, it's about marketing.

Randy's Premier Pizza in Oakdale dares a group of four to eat a 30-inch pizza with two toppings — at least one meat — in less than 30 minutes. The payoff for finishing the $78 pie — equivalent to 4 1/2 large pizzas — is the tab is on the house and each contestant walks away with a T-shirt that reads, 'I ate the whole thing.'

Read the rest here. Nice job PP. Maybe you could do a story on Uncle Toms during the next Black History Month?

The Diabolical Truth about Carbon Credits

About 18 months ago, at a Kyoto negotiation in Thailand, China suggested that, because of their family planning policy, that they should be given carbon offsets to sell back to Europe and, ultimately, the United States, on the basis that their population would be much larger if they would have all these babies that they aborted. And therefore, they would have a much larger carbon footprint. And we should pay them for these offsets.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,450067,00.html

Sounds pretty evil to me: Minnesota doctors debate stem cell research

The Minnesota Medical Association has not yet established a formal position on fetal stem cell research. Today they will consider a resolution in favor of destroying human lives to utilize the germane materiel.

Never you mind that there have been absolutely no successful therapies established using fetal stem cells. The new moral law of science is: "That which may be possible, must be attempted". And the only mortal sin is the regret of leaving something untried.

The great fantasyland of possible cures usually is upheld as the trump card over the usual neolithic moral concerns of gobbling up babies.

Curiously enough, a new vector is being attempted in this debate (from MPR):

"Pre-implantation embryos will be discarded in any event and it is appropriate to gain some benefit from that act. So in light of the potentially significant impact on regenerative medicine I argue it may be morally obligatory to pursue this research," Erickson said.

So, as the Nazis would say "Since the Jews are going to die anyway, we might as well see how long they live when we stick them in a pool of freezing water. After all, think of the lives we could save with our new found knowledge of the effects of hypothermia."

The fact is, Dr. Erickson's argument is an old one. She is saying "The ends do justify the means".

The World is Not Going to End Just Yet

That would be too good for us. Nope, it's just going to suck for a while. This from today's Mass readings:

Deuteronomy 32:18-19, 20, 21

“Since they have provoked me with their ‘no-god’
and angered me with their vain idols,
I will provoke them with a ‘no-people’;
with a foolish nation I will anger them.”

R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.

Is there any doubt we already have been provoked with a "foolish nation"? Is it not clear that with the coming election we are only going to get more foolish?

I guess we really have become this vacuous

'Wall-E' Trailer Makes Woman Cry, Every Time

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ― No matter where she is, every time Courtney Mault sees the preview to the new Pixar movie, "Wall-E", her eyes tear up.

"I don't know. I like robots," she said, "Pixar is really good at making characters adorable. They made people love rats with Ratatouille."

The movie is about a robot stuck alone picking up trash on Earth for 700 years after humans leave. Mault said she's never sad when she cries, but rather more emotional when the robot says his name for the first time.

Mault first saw the movie trailer nine months ago with her boyfriend. At the time, tears streamed down her face after the 2-minute preview.

"I think it's the fact that there's this little robot, he's all alone. He's developed this sense of curiosity and there's something about that's so touching and heartbreaking," she said.

Cardinal Martino reminds us that water is very, very important

Vatican to participate in expo on water, sustainable development

This guy.... I don't like this guy. Diogenes plays it well:

Cardinal Renato Martino... favors us with the revelation that "the Social Doctrine of the Church recognises the nature of water as life- giving."

The "Social Doctrine of the Church," mind you-- in case your 3rd-grade science textbook wasn't enough to convince you.

And while you're still reeling from the force of that insight Cardinal Martino hits you again, noting that water is also used in Baptism. Betcha didn't see that one coming!

The cardinal-- whose keen analytical powers were honed in the lively debates at the UN, where he was the Vatican's permanent observer for several years-- was introducing reporters to the exhibit his office will present at "Expo Zaragoza 2008," an event dedicated to discussion of "Water and sustainable development." Cardinal Martino is evidently prepared to discuss that subject (or any other subject) at some length, and it's a shame that the Vatican Information Service gives us only a quick summary of his presentation at a May 19 press conference. But I'm sure the VIS reporter is friendly, so that summary doubtless contains the most scintillating passages from the cardinal's talk.

You may now be wondering whether the Social Doctrine of the Church sheds any light on the burning question of whether air, too, is essential to life. Possibly Cardinal Martino will address that topic at his next press conference. Which, given his track record, will probably take place very soon.

Well, that's bad enough; being a blowhard. But something more nefarious lurks below the surface. See this from CNS on the same story:

Cardinal Martino also announced that July 10-12 the Vatican and the Archdiocese of Zaragoza will host an international congress on ecology.

Congress participants will give talks on intelligent design and people's ethical responsibility toward nature and human life, as well as the contributions of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism on ecological issues, said congress brochures.

#1 Don't we have more important things to attend to besides these self-congratulatory, pagan celebrations?

#2 Why can't the Muslims, Hindis, and Buddhists get their own damned booth? Why do we have to subsidize it?

Ahhh, maybe I am just grumpy. Maybe some liturgical dance will settle me down....

Still think McCain is Pro-life?

Then read this.

And be sure to watch this video. Keyes nails them.

Friends and Lovers

I guess the two enemies are now lifelong friends.

"Pastor, you are my friend from this point forward and nothing's going to change that", said the Catholic League President to John Hagee.

Read the rest of the glurge here.

I almost can't stomach it. I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from the Deal Hudson - Karl Rove - and now John Hagee cabal. And I do mean cabal. These guys are dangerous and have twisted ideas about Israel. Now they are roping the perpetually outraged Donohue in with them.

This whole "conflict" between Donohue and Hagee seems about as genuine as the Donald Trump - Rosie O'Donnell spat. I sincerely believe it was contrived to rope Catholics into checking their brains at the door and voting for the "pro-life", pro-Israel McCain. Not good, me boy-o's, not good.

I imagine the whole dinner party went something like this:

Bishops on life issue: It's just too darn complex

Bishops "Disallow Support" for State Constitutional Amendment Protecting Life

Supporters of an anti-abortion ballot initiative that would establish conception as the beginning of life won't receive campaign help from the Catholic Church in Montana.

In an official statement released late last week, Montana bishops Michael W. Warfel of the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, and George Leo Thomas of the Diocese of Helena, commended the objectives of Constitutional Initiative 100 but said they did not believe the effort, "is the most beneficial venue to pursue necessary change."

According to Moe Wosepka, executive director of the Montana Catholic Conference, supporters of the so-called Montana Personhood Amendment asked the church for assistance in supporting the effort to amend the state constitution to define a person as "a human being at all stages of human development or life, including the state of fertilization."

The New Hemline Index?

There is an apocryphal belief that women's hemlines can predict the performance of the stock market. The worse the outlook, the lower the hemlines. I suppose there is some basis that a general gloominess can cause more modesty and less lasciviousness. Well, with all of the women wearing pants these days, it's harder to get a good read. Maybe this pullback is the new indicator.

Victoria's Secret Is 'Too Sexy'

By AMY MERRICK
February 28, 2008 10:21 a.m.

The chief executive of the Victoria's Secret lingerie chain -- known for its provocative, televised fashion shows and eye-popping stores -- admitted something shocking Thursday morning: The brand has become "too sexy."

"We have so much gotten off our heritage," said Sharen Turney, chief executive of Victoria's Secret, during an analyst call with investors.

"We use the word 'sexy' a lot and have gotten off 'ultra-feminine'," said Ms. Turney, explaining that she wants to bring more-sophisticated, higher-quality products back to Victoria's Secret stores.

But that will be a huge task. Victoria's Secret has shifted drastically from its image in the 1990s, when working women shopped its pastel-painted stores for stylish but practical bras and underwear. Back then, classical music played quietly in the background, while saleswomen discreetly offered help.

Today, Victoria's Secret stores have been remodeled, lacquered black with neon-pink accents. Pounding music pumps through the loudspeakers. The brand has added new merchandise lines that are much less modest than its traditional styles. Malls routinely endure protests from parents who are outraged by the stores' window displays, which often feature suggestively posed mannequins in over-the-top lingerie.

The Fall of the West

And I say why not? Isn't this what 2008 Pauline Year of Ecumenism is all about? Why not just combine services too?

Seriously though, this is just more evidence of Europe's demographic trainwreck.

German Catholics to share churches with Lutherans

Hildesheim, Germany (dpa) - Hit by a budget crunch, German Catholics have appealed to Lutherans to share churches so that the two denominations do not have to maintain separate buildings, often in the same street.

The Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim in the northern state of Lower Saxony said Monday the appeal came from its diocesan council.

Arend de Vries, a senior official of the Lower Saxony Evangelic Church, the local Lutheran group, welcomed the idea, but said he would wait for the official request before making any offers.

Both denominations have suffered dramatic declines in income, although each can still claim about 26 million members nationally who are committed enough to pay a church tax on their income.

Only 14 per cent of Catholics attend Mass on any one Sunday and only 264 men volunteered last year to become priests.

But efforts to simply close under-used churches have enraged local people who insist many sites are architectural jewels.

Hildesheim, one of 27 German Catholic dioceses, has said it wishes to close 80 of its 438 churches in response to shrinking revenue. It will require local communities to pay all the running costs and maintenance on 86 more.

De Vries recalled that in the late 1940s and 1950s, many Catholic priests celebrated Mass for their own flocks in German Lutheran churches because they had no facilities of their own on new housing estates.

The two denominations are generally friendly with one another, but remain at odds on doctrinal issues.