The Michael and Cathryn Borden Memorial Book of the Day.*

The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life by Ramesh Ponnuru

They celebrate abortion on demand as a fundamental human right. They advocate euthanasia, and work energetically for embryo-killing research. They explicitly deny that all human beings are equal in having a right to life, and unblushingly propose the creation of a category of "human non-persons" who can be treated as expendable. In line with that, some of them have already begun calling for the killing of sick infants -- for their own good, of course. They are the party of death, and they are becoming increasingly powerful in America today, as well as in the world at large. Now, in The Party of Death: The Democrats, the Media, the Courts, and the Disregard for Human Life, National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru provides an unflinching exposé of their past successes, present activities, and future plans, showing why their principles are so harmful - and how they can be defeated before they destroy our society altogether.

Members of the party of death, Ponnuru notes here, are everywhere. They have taken over the Democratic party lock, stock, and barrel -- although they can be found in both parties. He details how the pernicious influence of this dedicated band has permeated every aspect of our culture, corrupting law, politics, and even the teaching of history. Legal abortion, Ponnuru reveals, has unlocked the floodgates for numerous issues that have advanced the death culture, leading directly to the current national debates on euthanasia and embryo-killing for research purposes.

All this has happened, Ponnuru explains, with active help from the media establishment: with collusion from leading media figures, leading Democrats such as Hillary and Bill Clinton, Barbara Boxer, and Mario Cuomo have cannily camouflaged the party of death's extreme and outlandish views. But they haven't yet won a total victory. Ponnuru argues that the same process by which the party of death has made such deep inroads into American society can now be used in reverse: pro-lifers must strive harder than ever to restrict abortion and ultimately to end it altogether, for the more we reject abortion, the more we may come to reject other choices for death, too.

In an America that is turning away from abortion on demand, the Democrats may prove to be the last victims of the party of death. In The Party of Death, Ramesh Ponnuru provides a solid and encouraging program to relegate this poisonous party to the dustbin of history.

Among Ponnuru's startling revelations and piercing insights:

Why everything you think you know about Roe v. Wade is a lie

The speech about Roe v. Wade that Hillary Clinton will never deliver -- but if she did, she would be elected President of the United States

How the United States is alone among developed nations in offering no legal protection whatsoever to the unborn at any stage of development

Proven false: the widespread notion that American states were moving toward liberal abortion laws and that Roe merely codified this trend

How even scholars who support legal abortion have admitted that Justice Harry Blackmun's work on Roe v. Wade was shoddy

How the search for a genuine constitutional basis for the Roe v. Wade decision has become something of a cottage industry within the legal academy

Why so many people wrongly believe that Roe v. Wade is more limited than it actually is -- and that overturning it would criminalize all abortions

The battle over partial-birth abortion: how it severely weakened the party of death

Overturning Roe v. Wade: why this would not lead to an increase in the number of women dying from unsafe, "back alley" abortions

The Terri Schiavo case: how the Democrats decided to become the party of euthanasia as well as the party of abortion -- but found themselves trapped in a position rejected by most Americans

Why it is so difficult to come up with a coherent explanation of why infanticide should be impermissible if abortion is permissible

How nineteenth-century feminists opposed abortion -- and the lengths to which abortion supporters today will go to cover up that fact

How legalizing voluntary euthanasia leads inevitably to the widespread practice of involuntary euthanasia

Solid evidence that support for abortion is steadily declining even among the young women who are supposed to "benefit" from it most

How the party of death has tried to hoodwink conservatives into supporting embryo-destructive research

Jesse Jackson, Dennis Kucinich, and other former prolife Democrats who flipflopped on this issue to gain political advantage within their party

How hardcore pro-abortion advocates like Barbara Boxer have begun to backtrack from their more extreme statements -- and even the organization once known as the National Abortion Rights Action League has begun to shift its focus away from abortion

How pro-choicers are now doing something they had never expected to do: playing defense -- and even Hillary Clinton and Howard Dean have adjusted to the fact that prolife sentiment is growing among Americans today

* Who? Look here.

Imagine how hot all those Chinese chicks would be if their commie slavemasters were hanging from their friendly neighboorhood lampposts...

UPI: Bosomy Chinese create big bra boom

A recent report about bigger-breasted Chinese women wasn't news to bra makers in China -- most of whom started making larger-sized bras last year.

Hong Kong-based Embry Group began reacting to the trend last year by halting production of small-sized bras.

"We don't produce A cups for some bras with larger chest circumference now, as demand is low," said Li Na, an official with Embry, which has counters in most Shanghai department stores, Shanghai Daily reported Monday.

"At the same time, we increased production of C-, D- and E-cup products and found sales booming," she said.

Zhang Jing, a Triumph saleswoman at a major Hong Kong shopping mall, said she's surprised to find many women under the age of 20 need bras with C, D or even E cups.

While there are no figures to prove breasts are larger in major cities than in underdeveloped areas, many salespeople say they have noticed the trend.

The Beijing Institute of Clothing Technology released a report last week saying Chinese women's average chest circumference has hit 83.53 centimeters -- more than 32.88 inches -- up nearly 1 centimeter from the early 1990s. The growth is credited to women eating more nutritiously and doing more sports.

30 Years Ago Tuesday Update.

Tuesday was the anniversary of the Cubs' Rick Monday stopping a couple of fatheads from torching an American flag in the outfield at Wrigley.

AP and ESPN.com: Monday saved the flag 30 years ago

Rick Monday never tires of answering questions about that memorable day 30 years ago, when he performed his own Patriot Act and unwittingly became an icon to millions of American war heroes and their loved ones.

Monday was playing center field for the Chicago Cubs on April 25, 1976, at Dodger Stadium when he noticed two protesters kneeling on the grass in left-center, intending to burn the American flag. He immediately bolted toward them and snatched it away.

"I was angry when I saw them start to do something to the flag, and I'm glad that I happened to be geographically close enough to do something about it," said Monday, now in his 13th season as a Dodgers broadcaster.

"What those people were doing, and their concept of what they were trying to do was wrong. That feeling was very strongly reinforced by six years in the United States Marine Corps Reserves. I still think it's wrong to do that."

The Dodgers will acknowledge the event before the finale of a nine-game homestand on Sunday, two days before the actual anniversary of it. A video tribute will be shown before the game and Monday will throw out a ceremonial first pitch. On Tuesday, the Houston Astros will honor him as well when the Dodgers play the middle game of a three-game series.

Back in '76, Monday was presented with the flag in a ceremony at Wrigley Field by Dodgers executive Al Campanis. It hung in his home in Vero Beach, Fla., until a couple of years ago, when the house sustained severe damage from a hurricane. Now it's in a safety deposit box.

Monday wouldn't say how much the flag is insured for, but "you'd have to add a lot of zeros. People have offered an outrageous amount of money for it -- not that it's for sale."

The Baseball Hall of Fame recently named Monday's quick-thinking act as one of the 100 Classic Moments in the history of the game.

Amen to that.

"Whatever their protest was about, what they were attempting to do to the flag -- which represents a lot of rights and freedoms that we all have -- was wrong for a lot of reasons," Monday said. "Not only does it desecrate the flag, but it also desecrates the effort and the lives that have been laid down to protect those rights and freedoms for all of us."

In Peter Golenbock's 1996 book, "Wrigleyville: A Magical History Tour of the Chicago Cubs," former Cubs reliever Darold Knowles recalled what happened in the aftermath of Monday's flag-saving effort.

"That put Rick on the map," said Knowles, a teammate of Monday's for two seasons in Chicago and one in Oakland. "Rick got more recognition out of the flag incident than he got as a player. He was getting letters from all over the country, all the time -- from VFWs (Veterans of Foreign Wars) and American Legions organizations. Every place we'd go, somebody would honor him with a plaque. He let us read some of the letters (from) people thanking him."

Along with the flag, Monday has a copy of the 16-mm footage taken by a fan who was at the game, as well as Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully's play-by-play of the incident. Also among his souvenirs is a copy of the now-famous photo by James Roarke of Monday just as he grabbed the flag.

Monday hit a career-high 32 home runs that season before the Dodgers acquired him from the Cubs with reliever Mike Garman, in exchange for outfielder Bill Buckner and backup shortstop Ivan DeJesus. Monday spent the final eight seasons of his career with Los Angeles, helping the Dodgers win three pennants in a five-year span.

He was the first player chosen in the very first draft back in 1965 after leading Arizona State to a College World Series title. The two-time All-Star put up some impressive numbers during his 19 major league seasons. His ninth-inning home run in the fifth and deciding game of the 1981 NL Championship Series at Montreal catapulted the Dodgers into the World Series, where they beat the Yankees in six games.

But all of that pales in comparison to Monday's most famous achievement in a baseball uniform.

"I know the people were very pleased to see Monday take the flag away from those guys," recalled Manny Mota, Monday's teammate that season and now a Dodgers coach. "I know Rick has done a lot of good things as a player and as a person. But what he did for his country, he will be remembered for the rest of his life as an American hero."

Amen to that, Brother.

Would you like to be American heros just like Rick Monday, kiddies? All you have to do is contact your friendly neighborhood Congressthing and Senatrix and demand they vote for an anti-flag burning amendment.

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of St. Winewald, English abbot. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.

Today's reading is Acts 5:27-33.
Today's Responsorial Psalm is Psalms 34:2, 9, 17-18, 19-20.
Today's Gospel reading is John 3:31-36.


[Links to the readings will be from the NAB until I can find another chapter and verse searchable Douay-Rheims Bible on-line.]


Everyday links:

The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today


Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.


Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.


St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.


Prayer to St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)


Prayer To Saint Michael The Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.


Prayer to End Abortion

Lord God, I thank You today for the gift of my life, and for the lives of all my brothers and sisters. I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the resurrection of Your Son. I am ready to do my part to end abortion. Today I commit myself never to be silent, never to be passive, and never to be forgetful of the unborn. I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement, and never stop defending life until all my brothers and sisters are protected and our nation once again becomes a nation with liberty and justice, not just for some, but for all. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Legend that is Howie Spleen.

The Evans-Novak Political Report (Sign up here to get your own FREE subscription.) provides an update on the Repansycan's man inside the Democrass Party.

State of the Parties:
The Washington Post recently ran a piece highlighting the fact that the Democrats' Congressional Committee is at parity with the Republicans in cash on hand and that their Senatorial Committee has doubled up the NRSC in cash on hand (although the two have raised about the same amount).

This is all true, and it is not good for Republicans. However, there has been some exaggeration as to just how bad it is.

The committees' success is partly, but not entirely, the result of Democratic fundraising prowess. It has just as much to do with the fact that the Democratic National Committee under Howard Dean is becoming an institution with which many Democratic donors will not entrust their cash.

Whereas Republican committees are actually competing with the high-dollar RNC (which raises more than half of all GOP committee cash), the Democrats have no such competition from Dean (whose committee has raised less than 40 percent of the Democrats' committee cash). The DNC in March (see chart) raised less than either of the two other committees -- itself an historical oddity.

That is not to say that this is a bad thing for Democrats. Indeed, the DNC has been notoriously ineffective in the last three election cycles, essentially the plaything of whoever has headed it, without a clear aim toward helping the party win elections. This hasn't all been Dean's fault -- recall the millions Terry McAuliffe spent trying to topple Gov. Jeb Bush (R) in Florida in 2002 and on other futile races.

The DCCC and DSCC, headed by members of the House and Senate, appear more motivated to improve the party's situation in those bodies. They are also safe places for Democratic supporters of Israel, wary of Howard Dean, to send their money.

The Theology of the Body: 93. Christ's Redemptive Love Has Spousal Nature

In his General Audience of 8 September 1982, the Holy Father continued his exposition of the fifth chapter of Ephesians, focusing on the meaning of the word "mystery," as it applies to God's plan, its revelation in Christ, Christ's relationship to the Church, and the sacraments of the Church.


Christ's Redemptive Love Has Spousal Nature

During the general audience of 8 September, the Holy Father continued his exposition of the fifth chapter of the Letter to the Ephesians.


1. The author of the Letter to the Ephesians writes: "No man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the Church, because we are members of his body" (Eph 5:29-30). After this verse the author deems it opportune to cite what can be considered the fundamental text on marriage in the entire Bible, the text contained in Genesis 2:24: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh" (cf. Eph 5:31). It is possible to deduce from the immediate context of the Letter to the Ephesians that the citation from Genesis (2:24) is necessary here not so much to recall the unity of the spouses, determined from the beginning in the work of creation. But it is necessary to present the mystery of Christ with the Church from which the author deduces the truth about the unity of the spouses. This is the most important point of the whole text, in a certain sense, the keystone. The author of the Letter to the Ephesians sums up in these words all that he had said previously, tracing the analogy and presenting the similarity between the unity of the spouses and the unity of Christ with the Church. Citing the words of Genesis 2:24, the author points out where the bases of this analogy are to be sought. They are to be sought in the line which, in God's salvific plan, unites marriage, as the most ancient revelation (manifestation) of the plan in the created world, with the definitive revelation and manifestation, the revelation that "Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her" (Eph 5:25), conferring on his redemptive love a spousal character and meaning.

Mystery of Christ and the Church

2. So then this analogy which permeates the text of the Letter to the Ephesians (5:21-33) has its ultimate basis in God's salvific plan. This will become still more clear and evident when we place the passage of this text analyzed by us in the overall context of the Letter to the Ephesians. Then one will more easily understand why the author, after citing the words of Genesis 2:24, writes: "This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church" (Eph 5:32).

In the overall context of the Letter to the Ephesians and likewise in the wider context of the words of the Sacred Scriptures, which reveal God's salvific plan "from the beginning," one must admit that here the term mystérion signifies the mystery, first of all hidden in God's mind, and later revealed in the history of man. Indeed, it is a question of a "great" mystery, given its importance. That mystery, as God's salvific plan in regard to humanity, is in a certain sense the central theme of all revelation, its central reality. God, as Creator and Father, wishes above all to transmit this to mankind in his Word.

Work of salvation

3. It is a question not only of transmitting the Good News of salvation, but of initiating at the same time the work of salvation, as a fruit of grace which sanctifies man for eternal life in union with God. Precisely along the line of this revelation and accomplishment, St. Paul sets in relief the continuity between the most ancient covenant which God established by constituting marriage in the work of creation, and the definitive covenant. After having loved the Church and given himself up for her, in that covenant Christ is united to her in a spousal way, corresponding to the image of spouses. This continuity of God's salvific initiative constitutes the essential basis of the great analogy contained in the Letter to the Ephesians. The continuity of God's salvific initiative signifies the continuity and even the identity of the mystery, of the great mystery in the different phases of its revelation—therefore, in a certain sense, of its manifestation—and at the same time of its accomplishment: in its "most ancient" phase from the point of view of the history of man and salvation, and in the phase "of the fullness of time" (Gal 4:4).

Understanding "great mystery"

4. Is it possible to understand that great mystery as a sacrament? In the text quoted by us, is the author of the Letter to the Ephesians speaking perchance of the sacrament of marriage? If he is not speaking of it directly, in the strict sense—here one must agree with the sufficiently widespread opinion of Biblical scholars and theologians—however it seems that in this text he is speaking of the bases of the sacramentality of the whole of Christian life and in particular of the bases of the sacramentality of marriage. He speaks then of the sacramentality of the whole of Christian existence in the Church and in particular of marriage in an indirect way, but in the most fundamental way possible.

Sacrament and mystery

5. Is not "sacrament" synonymous with "mystery"(1) The mystery indeed remains "occult"—hidden in God himself—in such wise that even after its proclamation (or its revelation) it does not cease to be called "mystery," and it is also preached as a mystery. The sacrament presupposes the revelation of the mystery and presupposes also its acceptance by means of faith on the part of man. However, at the same time, it is something more than the proclamation of the mystery and its acceptance by faith. The sacrament consists in the "manifesting" of that mystery in a sign which serves not only to proclaim the mystery, but also to accomplish it in man. The sacrament is a visible and efficacious sign of grace. Through it, that mystery hidden from eternity in God is accomplished in man, that mystery which the Letter to the Ephesians speaks of at the very beginning (cf. Eph 1:9)—the mystery of God's call of man in Christ to holiness, and the mystery of his predestination to become his adopted son. This becomes a reality in a mysterious way, under the veil of a sign. Nonetheless that sign is always a "making visible" of the supernatural mystery which it works in man under its veil.

Mystery hidden in God

6. Taking into consideration the passage of the Letter to the Ephesians analyzed here, especially the words: "This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church," one must note the following. The author of the letter writes not only of the great mystery hidden in God, but also—and above all—of the mystery which is accomplished by Christ. With an act of redemptive love, Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her. By the same act he is united with the Church in a spousal manner, as the husband and wife are reciprocally united in marriage instituted by the Creator. It seems that the words of the Letter to the Ephesians provide sufficient motivation for what is stated at the very beginning of Lumen Gentium: "The Church is in Christ in the nature of a sacrament—a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of unity among all men" (Lumen Gentium n.1). This text of Vatican II does not say: "The Church is a sacrament," but "It is in the nature of a sacrament." Thereby it indicates that one must speak of the sacramentality of the Church in a manner which is analogical and not identical in regard to what we mean when we speak of the seven sacraments administered by the Church by Christ's institution. If there are bases for speaking of the Church as in the nature of a sacrament, such bases for the greater part have been indicated precisely in the Letter to the Ephesians.

Mission to sanctify

7. It may be said that this sacramentality of the Church is constituted by all the sacraments by means of which she carries out her mission of sanctification. It can also be said that the sacramentality of the Church is the source of the sacraments and in particular of Baptism and the Eucharist. This can be seen from the passage of the Letter to the Ephesians which we have already analyzed (cf. Eph 5:25-30). Finally it must be said that the sacramentality of the Church remains in a particular relationship with marriage, the most ancient sacrament.

FOOTNOTE

1. "Sacrament," a central concept for our reflections, has traveled a long way in the course of the centuries. The semantic history of the term "sacrament" must begin with the Greek term mystérion which, truth to tell, in the Book of Judith still means the king's military plans ("secret plan," cf. Jdt 2:2). But already in the Book of Wisdom (2:22) and in the prophecy of Daniel (2:27), the term signifies the creative plans of God and the purpose which he assigns to the world, and which are revealed only to faithful confessors.

In this sense mystérion appears only once in the Gospels: "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God" (Mk 4:11 and par.). In the great letters of St. Paul, this term is found seven times, reaching its climax in the Letter to the Romans: "...according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret for long ages, but is now disclosed..." (Rom 16:25-26).

In the later letters we find the identification of mystérion with the Gospel (cf. Eph 6:19) and even with Jesus Christ himself (cf. Col 2:2; 4:3; Eph 3:4), which marks a turning point in the meaning of the term: mystérion is no longer merely God's eternal plan, but the accomplishment on earth of that plan revealed in Jesus Christ.

Therefore, in the Patristic period, the term mystérion begins to be applied also to the historical events by which the divine will to save man was manifested. Already in the second century in the writings of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Sts. Justin and Meliton, the mysteries of the life of Jesus, the prophecies and the symbolic figures of the Old Testament are defined with the term mystérion.

In the third century the most ancient Latin versions of Sacred Scripture begin to appear, in which the Greek term is translated both by mysterium and by sacramentum (e.g., Wis 2:22; Eph 5:32). Perhaps this was to distance themselves explicitly from the pagan mystery rites and from the Neo-Platonic gnostic mystagogy.

However, sacramentum originally meant the military oath taken by the Roman legionaries. The aspects of "initiation to a new form of life," "commitment without reserve," "faithful service even at the risk of death" can be distinguished in it. Given this, Tertullian pointed out these dimensions in the Christian sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist. In the third century, therefore, the term sacramentum was applied both to the mystery of God's salvific plan in Christ (cf., e.g., Eph 5:32), and to its concrete accomplishment by means of the seven sources of grace which are today called "sacraments of the Church."

St. Augustine, making use of various meanings of the term "sacrament," applied it to religious rites both of the old and the new covenant, to biblical symbols and figures as well as to the revealed Christian religion. All these "sacraments," according to St. Augustine, pertain to the great sacrament: the mystery of Christ and the Church. St. Augustine influenced the further clarification of the term "sacrament," emphasizing that the sacraments are sacred signs, that they contain in themselves a resemblance to what they signify and that they confer what they signify. By his analyses, he therefore contributed to the elaboration of the concise scholastic definition of sacrament: signum efficax gratiae.

St. Isidore of Seville (7th century) later stressed another aspect: the mysterious nature of the sacrament which, under the veils of material species, conceals the action of the Holy Spirit in the human soul.

The theological Summae of the 12th and 13th centuries already formulate the systematic definitions of the sacraments, but a special signification belongs to the definition of St. Thomas: "Non omne signum rei sacrae est sacramentum.... sed solum ea quae significant perfectionem sanctitatis humanae." "Not every sign of a sacred thing is a sacrament.... Only those are called sacraments which signify the perfection of holiness in man" (St. Thomas, Summa Theol., III, q. 60, a. 2, ad 1, 3 [ New York: Benziger, 1947]).

From then on, "sacrament" was understood exclusively as one of the seven sources of grace. Theological studies were directed to a deeper understanding of the essence and of the action of the seven sacraments, by elaborating in a systematic way the principal lines contained in the scholastic tradition.

Only in the last century was attention paid to the aspects of the sacrament which had been neglected in the course of the centuries, for example, to the ecclesial dimension and to the personal encounter with Christ, which have found expression in the Constitution on the Liturgy (no. 59). However, the Second Vatican council returns above all the original significance of "sacramentum-mysterium," calling the Church "the universal sacrament of salvation" (Lumen Gentium 48), sacrament, or "sign and instrument of communion with God and of unity among all men" (Lumen Gentium 1).

Here sacrament is understood—in conformity with its original meaning—as the accomplishment of God's eternal plan in regard to the salvation of mankind.

The Theology of the Body: 92. Sacredness of the Human Body and Marriage

In his General Audience of 1 September 1982, the Holy Father infers the sacredness of the human body from the analogy of love in Ephesians 5, between Christ for His Church and a husband for his wife.


Sacredness of the Human Body and Marriage

The general audience of 1 September was held as usual in St Peter's Square despite the inclement weather. The following is the text of the Holy Father's address.


1. The author of the Letter to the Ephesians, proclaiming the analogy between the spousal bond which unites Christ and the Church, and that which unites the husband and wife in marriage, writes as follows: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the Church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish" (Eph 5:25-27).

2. It is significant that the image of the Church in splendor is presented in the text quoted as a bride all beautiful in her body. Certainly this is a metaphor. But it is very eloquent, and it shows how deeply important the body is in the analogy of spousal love. The Church in splendor is "without spot or wrinkle." "Spot" can be understood as a sign of ugliness, and "wrinkle" as a sign of old age or senility. In the metaphorical sense, both terms indicate moral defects, sin. It may be added that in St. Paul the "old man" signifies sinful man (cf. Rom 6:6). Therefore Christ with his redemptive and spousal love ensures that the Church not only becomes sinless, but remains "eternally young."

3. The scope of the metaphor is, as may be seen, quite vast. The expressions which refer directly and immediately to the human body, characterizing it in the reciprocal relationships between husband and wife, indicate at the same time attributes and qualities of the moral, spiritual and supernatural order. This is essential for such an analogy. Therefore the author of the letter can define the state of the Church in splendor in relation to the state of the body of the bride, free from signs of ugliness or old age ("or any such thing"), simply as holiness and absence of sin. Such is the Church "holy and without blemish." It is obvious then what kind of beauty of the bride is in question, in what sense the Church is the Body of Christ, and in what sense that Body-Bride welcomes the gift of the Bridegroom who "has loved the Church and has given himself for her." Nevertheless it is significant that St. Paul explains all this reality, which is essentially spiritual and supernatural, by means of the resemblance of the body and of the love whereby husband and wife become "one flesh."

4. In the entire passage of the text cited, the principle of bi-subjectivity is clearly preserved: Christ-Church, Bridegroom-Bride (husband-wife). The author presents the love of Christ for the Church—that love which makes the Church the Body of Christ of which he is the head—as the model of the love of the spouses and as the model of the marriage of the bridegroom and the bride. Love obliges the bridegroom-husband to be solicitous for the welfare of the bride-wife. It commits him to desire her beauty and at the same time to appreciate this beauty and to care for it. Here it is a case of visible beauty, of physical beauty. The bridegroom examines his bride with attention as though in a creative, loving anxiety to find everything that is good and beautiful in her and which he desires for her. That good which he who loves creates, through his love, in the one that is loved, is like a test of that same love and its measure. Giving himself in the most disinterested way, he who loves does so only within the limits of this measure and of this control.

5. When the author of the Letter to the Ephesians—in the succeeding verses of the text (5:28-29)—turns his mind exclusively to the spouses themselves, the analogy of the relationship of Christ to the Church is still more profound and impels him to express himself thus: "Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies" (Eph 5:28). Here the motive of "one flesh" returns again. In the above-mentioned phrase and in the subsequent phrases it is not only taken up again, but also clarified. If husbands should love their wives as their own bodies, this means that uni-subjectivity is based on bi-subjectivity and does not have a real character but only an intentional one. The wife's body is not the husband's own body, but it must be loved like his own body. It is therefore a question of unity, not in the ontological sense, but in the moral sense: unity through love.

6. "He who loves his wife loves himself" (Eph 5:28). This phrase confirms that character of unity still more. In a certain sense, love makes the "I" of the other person his own "I": the "I" of the wife, I would say, becomes through love the "I" of the husband. The body is the expression of that "I" and the foundation of its identity. The union of husband and wife in love is expressed also by means of the body.

It is expressed in the reciprocal relationship, even though the author of the letter indicates it especially from the part of the husband. This results from the structure of the total image. The spouses should be "subject to one another out of reverence for Christ" (this was already made evident in the first verses of the text quoted: Eph 5:21-23). However, later on, the husband is above all, he who loves and the wife, on the other hand, is she who is loved. One could even hazard the idea that the wife's submission to her husband, understood in the context of the entire passage of the Letter to the Ephesians (5:21-33), signifies above all the "experiencing of love." This is all the more so since this submission is related to the image of the submission of the Church to Christ, which certainly consists in experiencing his love. The Church, as bride, being the object of the redemptive love of Christ-Bridegroom, becomes his Body. Being the object of the spousal love of the husband, the wife becomes "one flesh" with him, in a certain sense, his own flesh. The author will repeat this idea once again in the last phrase of the passage analyzed here: "However, let each one of you love his wife as himself" (Eph 5:33).

7. This is a moral unity, conditioned and constituted by love. Love not only unites the two subjects, but allows them to be mutually interpenetrated, spiritually belonging to one another to such a degree that the author of the letter can affirm: "He who loves his wife loves himself" (Eph 5:28). The "I" becomes in a certain sense the "you" and the "you" the "I" (in a moral sense, that is). Therefore the continuation of the text analyzed by us reads as follows: "For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the Church, because we are members of his body" (Eph 5:29-30). The phrase, which initially still referred to the relationships of the married couple, returns successively in an explicit manner to the relationship Christ-Church. So, in the light of that relationship, it leads us to define the sense of the entire phrase. After explaining the character of the relationship of the husband to his own wife by forming "one flesh," the author wishes to reinforce still more his previous statement ("He who loves his wife loves himself"). In a certain sense, he wishes to maintain it by the negation and exclusion of the opposite possibility ("No man ever hates his own flesh"—Eph 5:29). In the union through love the body of the other becomes one's own in the sense that one cares for the welfare of the other's body as he does for his own. It may be said that the above-mentioned words, characterizing the "carnal" love which should unite the spouses, express the most general and at the same time, the most essential content. They seem to speak of this love above all in the language of agape.

8. The expression according to which man "nourishes and cherishes his own flesh"—that is, that the husband "nourishes and cherishes" the flesh of his wife as his own—seems rather to indicate the solicitude of the parents, the protective relationship, instead of the conjugal tenderness. The motivation of this character should be sought in the fact that the author here passes distinctly from the relationship which unites the spouses to the relationship between Christ and the Church. The expressions which refer to the care of the body, and in the first place to its nourishment, to its sustenance, suggest to many Scripture scholars a reference to the Eucharist with which Christ in his spousal love nourishes the Church. These expressions, even though in a minor key, indicate the specific character of conjugal love, especially of that love whereby the spouses become "one flesh." At the same time they help us to understand, at least in a general way, the dignity of the body and the moral imperative to care for its good, for that good which corresponds to its dignity. The comparison with the Church as the Body of Christ, the Body of his redemptive and at the same time spousal love, should leave in the minds of those to whom the Letter to the Ephesians was destined a profound sense of the "sacredness" of the human body in general, and especially in marriage, as the "situation" in which this sense of the sacred determines in an especially profound way, the reciprocal relationships of the persons and, above all, those of the man with the woman, inasmuch as she is wife and mother of their children.

Harry R."Sam" Wade, Requiescat in pace.

We have lost another hero.

Being a member of Red Rose Veterans Honor Guard, Harry R. "Sam" Wade sometimes served at two or three veterans' funerals in a day.

One year, he volunteered at more than 130 funerals for the honor guard, which, among other duties, performs "Taps" and presents the U.S. flag to the next of kin. If requested, it also watches over veterans' caskets during viewings.

Thursday afternoon, the honor guard honored Wade -- its oldest member at age 87 -- at his funeral in Mountville. He died April 15 after a brief illness.

Wade, an Army sergeant who served as a surgical technician in Europe during World War II, joined the honor guard Nov. 21, 2001.

In a 2003 interview with the Intelligencer Journal, he said, "I enjoy (the honor guard), if there's any such thing as enjoying a funeral."

The husband of Marian Glick Wade, with whom he celebrated his 64th wedding anniversary April 4, said veterans deserve recognition and respect at their funerals.

The Rev. Roger O. Colvin, chaplain of the honor guard and officiant at Wade's funeral, said Wade was "always first on the site. I tried to beat him out a couple times, but I didn't."

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. William Brandt, chairman of the honor guard, said Wade was "so dedicated to serving his fellow military people. It didn't matter, whether it was freezing cold, raining or in the summer heat. If Sam was available, he was there."

To serve him is a great honor. Some (of the 38 honor guard members in attendance) took off work to be here because of Sam. We will miss him dearly. He was dearly, dearly loved."

The Red Rose Veterans Honor Guard was formed in 1998 after U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Joe Lainhoff of Lancaster tried in vain to arrange a military service for the funeral of his father, Army Technician 5th Grade Thomas W. Lainhoff.

The older Lainhoff, one of the first Lancaster men to enlist in the U.S. armed forces after Pearl Harbor, had requested in his will that he have an honor guard at his funeral.

Determined to meet that wish, his family stepped up and the next year began Red Rose Veterans Honor Guard, which provides the military funerals free of charge.

The honor guard now has 65 members from all branches of the military except the Coast Guard. It served at more than 300 funeral services organized by 25 to 30 Lancaster County funeral homes last year.

The guard is always looking for more members, particularly those who can serve as buglers, Brandt said. Age is not a concern.

Thursday, Penn Manor High School student Liz Hoffman and Ephrata Senior High School student Ryan Cochran played "Taps" on their bugles during Wade's funeral.

Osama bin Social Moderate Update.

If only it were true...

Australian Broadcasting Corp.: Osama Bin Laden proclaims West at war with Islam
It's yet to be authenticated, but a tape, purporting to be from Osama Bin Laden, says the reluctance of Western nations to deal with the new Hamas-led Palestinian Government is proof that the West is at war with Islam.

Speaking of a Pennsylvania pol too stupid to know economics from his fat tokhes...

...here's Senator Brain Damage pretending ExxonMobil isn't owned by pension funds representing millions of retirees and orphans.

WLBZ: Specter: Government Should Consider Windfall Tax For Oil companies
Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter tells C-N-N he believes too many companies have been allowed to get together and reduce competition. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Specter held a hearing last month examining the growing consolidation of the oil industry.

Slow Eddie Rendell: Jackass and hypocrite.

Gov. Ed Rendell today called on federal policy-makers to enact a windfall profit tax on gasoline to curb what he called "profiteering" by the major oil companies.

Here's the jackass part:

"These profits are ungodly. (What Would Moses Do? eh, Eddie? - F. G.) There is no excuse for this, absolutely no excuse. It is embarrassing," Rendell said.

At an outdoor news conference at a Harrisburg gas station, Rendell said oil company profits have soared 23 cents a gallon in 1999 to 99 cents a gallon last year.

At the pumps, he said, the retail price has doubled in just three years to around $3 for a gallon of regular gas.

Rendell said the price increases are hurting Pennsylvania families and the state's economy.

The average gas price in Pennsylvania now stands at $2.94. The national average is $2.90.

Some argue that lowering the state's 30-cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline would help alleviate the price at the pump, but Rendell said that would take about $300 million away from the state's transportation needs.

And that there is the hypocritical part. Oh, no! We dare not take away 300 million units of Slow Eddie's power, he's still gotta win reelection!

Owners No More: County May Call People 'Pet Guardians'

Ruh-roh. Roomans are roopid. I think we should take this nonsense to its logical conclusion and declare them to be "life partners" entitled to all the benefits married spouses get.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Owning pets could become a thing of the past in Silicon Valley.

No, cats and dogs aren't being banished from the California high-tech haven. But Santa Clara County, Calif., officials are considering an upgrade in the status of pet owners.

The animal lovers would be pet guardians, not merely owners. The county Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the issue Tuesday.

Officials saying being called a pet guardian should get people to be more responsible with their furry friends. The measure would change all references in county legal documents, but would not change any of the owners' responsibilities.

24's Body Count Update.

From Right Wing Nuthouse:

BODY COUNT

3 more of Henderson’s men bite the dust. Jack was shut out. Is Heller really dead? We’ll give it a week.

JACK: 30

SHOW: 184

The Conspiracy is obviously much bigger and much more sinister than President Hilter. The Men Who Have Phones In Their Ears are not a very scary bunch, (I figure Jack could get them all to wet themselves with only a medium intensity glower.) so I am hoping those British and French flags on the limos mean the EU is plotting to weaken the US.

Today is Yom Hashoah.

Yom Hashoah was created to remind us of the systematic murder of at least 6 million Jews by the Germans in the late, unlamented twentieth century. Let us hope and pray nothing like this ever happens again.
(Thanks to Shamash.org for the photos. Visit them to see more of man's inhumanity.)

The curse of "Playmakers"* continues to haunt the NFL.

From Deadspin: Ricky Manning Jr. Will Bludgeon You, You Freaking Nerd

Over the weekend, soon-to-be Chicago Bears cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. — the Bears signed him just last week to an offer sheet the Panthers aren’t likely to match — was arrested shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday in Los Angeles and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

What happened, exactly? According to police reports … well, we’ll just say we’re glad we went to bed early Saturday night.

According to [LAPD officers], Manning was in a group that attacked a man in a Denny’s restaurant after teasing him for working on a laptop computer.

“The group began by making comments that the victim looked like a geek or a nerd,” Lewis said.

The victim asked the group to stop and then complained to a Denny’s manager before someone in the group punched him in the face. He then was punched and kicked by multiple attackers until losing consciousness, Lewis said.

Frankly, we’re as surprised as you that it wasn’t us involved in the incident, though, to be fair, we wouldn’t have complained to a manager; we would have just packed up the laptop and sprinted out the door. (Weeping, probably.) But in case any of you ever wondered what football players think of every single one of you … this should sum it up.

Manning Jr. Charged With Assault In L.A. [Chicago Sun-Times]

* WTF??? Look here.

Those folks on the Gulf Coast are our neighbors. You know what to do.

First, last, and always, PRAY. Pray for the survivors. Pray for the repose of the souls of those who were killed. Pray for the families and friends. Pray for the relief workers, the cops, the firemen, the troops, and the technicians. Pray for the volunteers.

It is time to step up once again, kiddies. "Do unto others", "I was naked and you clothed me", et cetera.

As time passes, the memory of these disasters will fade for those of us fortunate enough to live outside the devastated areas, but recovery and restoration will take years.

Please, whatever you do, don't become a cynic. (I know, I know. But I just play one on the computer.) Of course there will be more horror stories like the abuse of the debit cards and that $250-odd billion federal package will produce insane amounts of corruption, but our fellow Americans will be suffering from Katrina for a long time.

True charity, (News Flash! Taxes ARE NOT charity.) like the money you donate to Catholic Charities will help the truly needy and will not foster dependency.

Catholic Charities USA is collecting financial donations to Catholic Charities agencies’ emergency and long-term recovery efforts in the wake of both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. Catholic Charities USA is consistently ranked among the highest and most efficient organizations across the country. Approximately 96 percent of contributions made to the 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund will be used for emergency response and recovery efforts.


Mail Checks To:
Catholic Charities USA
2005 Hurricane Relief Fund
PO Box 25168
Alexandria, VA 22313-9788

Call:(800) 919-9338

Contribute Now Online


News
4/12/2006 — Catholic Charities Gives Congress Recommendations on Helping Gulf Coast Rebuild from 2005 Hurricanes
4/10/2006 — As Domestic Violence Rises in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina, Catholic Charities Provides a Refuge for Abused Women
2/28/2006 — Catholic Charities Network Helps 300,000 Victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
More news...


A Nationwide Response:
The Catholic Charities Network Jumps into Disaster Relief (Read this story)
Hard Hit by Katrina, Catholic Charities of New Orleans Never Lost Sight of its Mission (Read this story)
More stories...


FAQs
FAQ - Donations
FAQ - Hurricane Relief


Agencies Impacted:
Catholic Charities of Miami
Catholic Charities of New Orleans
Catholic Community Services of Baton Rouge
Catholic Social Services of Houma-Thibodaux
Catholic Social and Community Services of Biloxi, MS
Catholic Charities of Jackson, MS
Catholic Social Services of Mobile, AL


How you can help:
Unfortunately, Catholic Charities USA is unable to accept contributions of food, clothing, blankets and other relief supplies. Monetary donations will be used to provide for the emergency relief and long-term recovery of Katrina's and Rita's victims. Catholic Charities USA is consistently ranked among the highest and most efficient organizations across the country. Approximately 96 percent of contributions made to the 2005 Hurricane Relief Fund will be used for emergency response and recovery efforts.


About the Disaster Response Office
Catholic Charities USA, which has been commissioned by the U.S. Catholic Bishops to represent the Catholic community in times of domestic disaster, responds with emergency and long-term assistance as needed. Its Disaster Response Office connects the Church's social service agencies and disaster planning offices across the nation.

And, as always, give generously to the special collections for hurricance disaster relief in your local parish.

...huh?

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist, author of the second Gospel and patron of notaries. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.

Today's reading for the Feast of St. Mark is 1 Peter 5:5-14.
Today's Responsorial Psalm is Psalms 89:2-3, 6-7, 16-17.
Today's Gospel reading is Mark 16:15-20.


[Links to the readings will be from the NAB until I can find another chapter and verse searchable Douay-Rheims Bible on-line.]


Everyday links:

The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today


Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.


Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.


St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.


Prayer to St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)


Prayer To Saint Michael The Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.


Prayer to End Abortion

Lord God, I thank You today for the gift of my life, and for the lives of all my brothers and sisters. I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the resurrection of Your Son. I am ready to do my part to end abortion. Today I commit myself never to be silent, never to be passive, and never to be forgetful of the unborn. I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement, and never stop defending life until all my brothers and sisters are protected and our nation once again becomes a nation with liberty and justice, not just for some, but for all. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

@#!&*$#@!!! BLOGGER!

The magic gnomes who bring my typing to you seem to be in a bad mood today and I no longer wish to fight them. I'll see you tomorrow, kiddies.

Non-Italians Trying to Keep Up and Keep It Up (sorry) for 5 Minutes Update...

...or, Why aren't women suspicious of sexual "innovations" for them created by men?

Let's see...First we divorced sexual intercourse from reproduction and convinced women it liberated them, placing them on an equal sexual footing with us. (Courtesy of Big Contraception.)

Next, we created chemical libidio switches for ourselves, (Thanks, Big Pharma.) necessited by the almost complete destruction of our natural libidos. (Courtesy of Big Masturbation and Used Wives, Inc. - formerly Big Divorce.)

Now we have a new and improved chemical libidio switch that acts just as well on the distaff side of the ledger. Oh, joy! If your friendly neighborhood female has five minutes for copulation, all she has to do is whip out the ol' puffer and whamo!, she acts like you're Fabio with Bill Gates' checking account!

Ah, but if the switch can be turned on, kiddies, doesn't it stand to reason it can also be turned off?

Next up? Big Sodomy and Little Anglo-Saxons Ltd. will create an artficial womb (or maybe home cloning kits) where we can grow boys. And only boys.

No icky girls will be needed.

For anything.

Ever again.

Then the huMAN race won't have to worry about those pesky relationships with the Other. And females won't be, period.

Of course, my ancestors were Italian, so all these pills and sprays are just hooey to me.

Personally, I like girls, and I'd hate to see them go the way of the dodo. But the sissified and the sodomized don't agree and they're in charge. You see, kiddies, they are part of the Forces of Progress. And progress is a good thing, no matter how many it kills.

Heck, enough of my proudly reactionary (and even more proudly heterosexual) babblings! Let's move on to the feel good story of the day.

Drudge: SEX IN A SPRAY...


Horn of rhinoceros. Penis of tiger. Root of sea holly. Husk of the emerald-green blister beetle known as the Spanish fly. So colourful and exotic is the list of substances that have been claimed to heighten sexual appetite that it is hard not to feel a twinge of disappointment on first beholding the latest entry - a small, white plastic nasal inhaler containing an odourless, colourless synthetic chemical called PT-141. Plain as it is, however, there is one thing that distinguishes PT-141 from the 4,000 years' worth of recorded medicinal aphrodisiacs that precede it: this one actually works.

And it could reach the market in as little as three years. The full range of possible risks and side effects has yet to be determined, but already this much is known: a dose of PT-141 results, in most cases, in a stirring in the loins in as little as 15 minutes. Women, according to one set of results, feel 'genital warmth, tingling and throbbing', not to mention 'a strong desire to have sex'.

Among men who have been tested with the drug more extensively, the data set is richer: 'With PT-141, you feel good,' reported anonymous patient 007: 'not only sexually aroused, you feel younger and more energetic.' According to another patient, 'It helped the libido. So you have the urge and the desire...' Tales of pharmaceutically induced sexual prowess among 58-year-olds are common enough in the age of the Little Blue Pill, but they don't typically involve quite so urgent a repertoire. Or, as patient 128 put it: 'My wife knows. She can tell the difference between Viagra and PT-141.'

The precise mechanisms by which PT-141 does its job remain unclear, but the rough idea is this: where Viagra acts on the circulatory system, helping blood flow into the penis, PT-141 goes to the brain itself. 'It's not merely allowing a sexual response to take place more easily,' explains Michael A Perelman, co-director of the Human Sexuality Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital and a sexual-medicine adviser on the PT-141 trials. 'It may be having an effect, literally, on how we think and feel.'

Palatin Technologies, the New Jersey-based maker of PT-141, has hopes of its own. Once the company gets Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the drug, Palatin plans to market it to the same people targeted by Viagra: male erectile-dysfunction patients. Approval as a treatment for female sexual dysfunction may follow. In the wake of Pfizer's failed attempts to prove Viagra works for women and amid growing recognition that it also doesn't work for large numbers of men, these two markets alone could make PT-141 a pharmaceutical blockbuster.

But let's face facts: a drug that makes you not only able but eager and willing isn't going to remain the exclusive property of the severely impaired. As with Viagra, there will be extensive off-label use of PT-141. Fast-acting and long-lasting, packaged in an easily concealed, single-use nasal inhaler, unaffected by food or alcohol consumption, PT-141 seems bound to take its place alongside cocaine, poppers and alcohol in the pantheon of club drugs.

But the potential market for PT-141 is all of us. Consider the precedent: a little more than four decades ago, it was another drug's arrival in the marketplace that triggered the sexual revolution. Before the advent of the birth-control pill, sex and procreation had been eternally, inseparably linked. After it, the link was pretty much optional. Momentous things ensued: chiefly women's liberation and the abortion controversy, all of them arguably the pill's indirect consequences, all of them reverberating to this day. And if all that can follow from a drug which simply made pregnancy less a matter of fate than of choice, what then to expect from a drug that does the same thing to passion itself?

Only when and if PT-141 reaches the market will we be in a position to even start answering that question. But, for now, there probably isn't a better way to hone the question than to turn to the rats of the Palatin Technologies research labs...

Due to time constraints, we now move to further action...(Sorry to those of you fascinated by the sex lives of rats.)

It was in pursuit of this market that Shadiack approached Concordia University behavioural-neurobiology researcher Jim Pfaus, whose work with sexual response in female rats had caught her attention. Where the bulk of research into female-rat sexual behaviour has focused on lordosis - that reflexive arching of the lower back that signifies the female is ready - Pfaus has taken what might be called a more feminist approach. Instead of lordosis's almost climactic spasm, Pfaus prefers to look at foreplay: the wiggling of ears, kicking of faces, and other acts of solicitation with which female rats reveal their desire to the partner of their choice. Pfaus discovered that PT-141 significantly increases the incidence of these behaviours. He even detected an increase in the rarer phenomenon in which a female rat will throw coyness to the winds and, in a performance worthy of Kim Cattrall, mount the chosen male herself.

And thus the case was made. Pfaus's results were powerful evidence not only of PT-141's potential as a treatment for women but of its ability to do more than just move blood around. A male rat's erection on its own doesn't say much about the rat's state of mind. A female rat's coquetry, on the other hand, says all we need to know about her intentions and desires. Rats aren't people, to be sure, and as test subjects they suffer from a frustrating inability to tell us, in words, how they experience what they're subjected to. But that has an upside, too, explains Pfaus. 'The bad thing about animals is they don't talk. The good thing is they don't lie.'

So the testimony of rats - notwithstanding that of the 900 articulate, full-grown human subjects who have since reported enhanced arousal and desire from taking PT-141 - remains the most objective evaluation the drug has yet received, or ever will.

'I see a lot of couples in my practice who don't know how to relax,' says Leonore Tiefer, a professor of psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine. 'That's fine - it's a big asset to them in their corporate lifestyle, where they can work 80 hours a week. They're trained to multi-task. Well, it doesn't seem that that is really doable when it comes to sex. And they're angry about that: they need it to be doable because they only have their five minutes.'

The five-minute meaningful sexual encounter: if ever there was a holy grail for the age of the tight-wired global economy - with its time-strapped labour force and its glut of bright, shiny distractions - that is it. And if ever there was a reason to be wary of the pharmaceutical industry's designs on the market for sexual healing, say critics such as Tiefer, it's the attractiveness of that simple-minded ideal.

Tiefer is one of the leading figures in a movement of academic researchers, sex therapists and women's-health activists contesting the increasing medicalisation of women's sexual problems, and when Procter & Gamble sought FDA approval in December 2004 for its 'female sexual-desire disorder' treatment - a testosterone patch called Intrinsa - her testimony helped sway the agency to deny the request. Unlike the counting of erections, assessing subjective phenomena such as desire and satisfaction is, she testified, 'subtle, complex - and arbitrary'. P&G's findings were thus too inconclusive to hold their own against the established risks of long-term testosterone use. 'Intrinsa is not a glass of chardonnay,' Tiefer remarked, 'and yet we have already seen that it may well be promoted with a giggle and a wink as "the female Viagra".'

Tiefer is just as dubious about PT-141, which, as she sees it, is merely the latest expression of a 'big wish' that 'we could just bypass everything we want to bypass' on our way to sexual happiness, skipping the complicated, often lifelong work of sorting out all the emotional, physical and autobiographical triggers that turn us off and on. Her prognosis for the discovery of a drug that will render that work unnecessary? 'Sorry, it's never going to happen.'

Even assuming that PT-141 ultimately performs as well in broad use as it has in trials, even granting that it can improve sex lives as effectively as a lifetime of erotic exploration, the deeper challenge posed by the prospect of a sexual techno-fix remains: is this really the kind of fix we want? To have desire available at any time, from the nozzle of an inhaler?

Uh oh...

There should not be anything to worry about here. I expect nothing but orthodoxy.

My guess is the leftist press is wishing and hoping and planting seeds of schism.

Vatican preparing statement on condoms and AIDS

The Vatican will soon publish a statement on the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, an issue highlighted by a call from a leading cardinal to ease its ban on them, a Catholic Church official said.

Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, the head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, declined to reveal the contents of the document in an interview published in Sunday's la Repubblica newspaper, but said Pope Benedict had asked his department to study the issue.

The former archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, who was standard bearer for a moderate minority in the conclave that elected the Pope last year, called for a reform in an interview published in Italy on Friday.

The Vatican opposes condoms as a form of contraception, but several cardinals have said in recent years that using them is a lesser evil if the alternative is infection with AIDS.

"This is a very difficult and delicate subject that requires prudence," said Mexican-born Barragan.

"My department is studying this closely with scientists and theologians expressly assigned to draft a document that will be issued soon," he said.
The Catholic Church, which runs many hospitals and institutions to help AIDS victims, opposes the use of condoms and teaches that fidelity within heterosexual marriage, chastity and abstinence are the best way to stop the spread of AIDS.

It says promoting condoms to fight the spread of AIDS fosters immoral and hedonistic lifestyles and behavior that will only contribute to its spread.

In his interview with the weekly L'Espresso, Martini backed up his call for a change in condom policy by referring to cases where one partner in a marriage is infected with AIDS.

"This person has an obligation to protect the other partner and the other partner also has to protect themselves," he said. The Church disapproves of sexual intercourse outside marriage.

Barragan commented favorably on Martini's suggestion that the Church allow women who cannot get pregnant to use surplus frozen embryos from fertility clinics that usually dispose of them after a couple has undergone fertility treatment.

Super Bowl XL Champion Steelers Draft Preview:

From Pittsburgh's other newspaper:

Need a safety to replace Chris Hope? A running back to groom for the next Bus? An outside linebacker to maintain that Blitzburgh attitude? Step right up, because this is the draft to do it.

On the other hand, next weekend's draft may not have the kind of receiver to immediately plug in as the next Antwaan Randle El, especially for a team picking last in the first round.

The Steelers have built up a hope chest of 10 choices for the NFL draft, although they might use one or two of those in a draft-day trade to move higher in one of the first three rounds. They did that in 2003 when they jumped from No. 27 in the first round by sending Kansas City their picks in the first and third rounds for the Chiefs' 16th pick in the first round.

That choice turned into All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu.

Kevin Colbert believes in making such moves and did so several times since he became the team's director of football operations in 2000. In '04 he traded his fourth-round choice to move higher in the second round to snap up cornerback Ricardo Colclough.

Moving up is a good idea according to Gil Brandt. He helped build the Dallas Cowboys into America's Team as vice president of player personnel from 1960-89. He's now a senior analyst for NFL.com and has studied the past decade of NFL drafts.

"The Steelers have done a very good job of drafting. They started 16 draft choices and one free agent in the Super Bowl last year. When you do that, you've done very, very well."
-- Gil Brandt

Brandt's son, Hunter, studied the drafts the past four decades and discovered that since 1967, 47 percent of the Pro Football Hall of Famers were drafted in the top 10 and all but nine of 51 inductees were taken in the top 50 picks. Only three of those were selected at No. 125 or later -- Ken Houston at 214 in 1967, Mike Webster at 125 in '74 and Rayfield Wright at 182 in '67.

"When you say 47 percent out of the first 10 picks made the Hall of Fame, that's a high percentage," Brandt said.

The Steelers, though, have had good success through the years selecting below the top 10 and might have had the best success of all, factoring players they drafted who started for them with the success they've had on the field.

For example, Brandt notes that 1,280 players were selected in the past five drafts and of those, 302 have been regular starters, or 23.6 percent.

"The Steelers, over that same period, have 28 percent starters," Brandt said. "So they're one of the top teams as far as taking players and doing a good job."

Atlanta leads the group with 33 percent but the Falcons have not had the kind of on-field success as the Steelers during that time.

"The Steelers have done a very good job of drafting," Brandt said. "They started 16 draft choices and one free agent in the Super Bowl last year. When you do that, you've done very, very well."

In the past three weeks, the Steelers have interviewed as many as 30 prospects at their facility. Many of them were safeties, running backs and wide receivers. That does not necessarily tip off what the Steelers will do because many were players they did not interview previously or players from whom they wanted more information.

For example, Southern California running back LenDale White has a hamstring injury. When he visited them Tuesday, he agreed to let their doctors give him an MRI, which confirmed a slight tear.

Still, the Steelers have drafted many players who visited them before the draft, including their past two first-round picks, Heath Miller and Ben Roethlisberger, as well as Colclough.

Among those who visited them this spring are running backs White, Laurence Maroney, Joseph Addai, Maurice Drew and Leon Washington; safeties Darnell Bing, Donte Whitner and Daniel Bullocks; receivers Demetrius Williams, Chad Jackson, Willie Reid, Jeff Webb, Akron's Domenik Hixon (a converted safety and good returner) and Ethan Kilmer, also a special teams ace at Penn State.

Also visiting Steelers' headquarters were a few outside linebackers such as Jon Alston of Stanford and John Busing of Miami (Ohio), and offensive tackles Daryn Colledge of Boise State and Willie Colon of Hofstra, none a top prospect.

The Steelers will draft a safety and a wide receiver to help replace the losses of free safety Chris Hope and slot receiver Antwaan Randle El. It's more likely they would take a receiver in the second round than the first. Because of their 3-4 defense, they're always searching for linebackers, and, while there are some good ones in this draft, they're mostly on the outside, not inside.

"There's some offensive linemen to be had," said Ron Hill, who has been the player personnel man for Denver, Jacksonville and Atlanta.

"Linebacker is a pretty strong position. It looks like you can get some defensive linemen, but not a lot of them. Teams are going to different fronts and doing different things, so it creates more room for a different style of lineman. You'll take a different guy for a 3-4 team than you would a 4-3 team, so that creates a different look and view there. There are more of those 3-4 guys than there are 4-3 guys at end."

The tight ends are an extremely strong group, but the Steelers drafted Heath Miller in the first round last season, and he developed quickly into a strength on offense. So, they won't be looking for a tight end, at least not on the first day of the draft when the first three of seven rounds take place.
"Everybody has an opinion that it's either a good draft or a bad draft," Brandt said. "A lot of personnel guys always consider it not to be a good draft. That way if they make a bad choice, they can blame it on the quality in the draft.

"Here's how I see this draft:

"Right at the top of the draft, there's seven really good players; all of them could be Pro Bowl players and so forth. Then you come down to 8 to about 21 or 22, where there's a lot of good players; they'll be starters and play well.

"Then I think the next group is 22 to 42. The guy you pick 42 very easily could be 23. There's not much difference among those guys at all."
And remember one more thing, Brandt noted, as did Chuck Noll a long time ago when he said the draft is not a science:

"Last year, they said it was not a very good draft, and we had 785 game-starts by rookies. That's the most since I've been tracking it, about 10 years. It was a pretty good draft."


PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Primary Need: Cornerback. The Steelers had a tough time in coverage even before safety Chris Hope bolted. Pittsburgh doesn't focus much on stopping the pass because they blitz so much and because Troy Polamalu is ever-present, but they can be had on the deep ball.

Secondary Need: Power back. Bill Cowher teams depend on running the ball more than most NFL squads and the need for a new power back now that Jerome Bettis is gone is a pressing requirement. Willie Parker is still around for the speed game and the team has re-upped with the underrated Verron Haynes, so they should be okay.

The Buzz: Even after their Super Bowl win the Steelers remain a small-market team, so it's more likely they'll try to improve via the draft than with big free agent signings. The loss of Antwaan Randle-El hurts a little, it will be hard to replace Bettis, and the DE Kimo Van Oelhoffen won't be easy to replace. Still, the recent successes in drafting Ben Roethlisberger and Heath Miller suggest the reigning champs from Steeltown should be just fine, thank-you very much.



MOCK DRAFT, PHASE III
Bush, Ferguson and Leinart as one, two, three...

WITH THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED DRAFT JUST AROUND the corner, here's a third installment of our mock draft, freshness dated April 15th. While the No. 1 pick hasn't changed since our first and second versions, it won't take long for you to find some new faces in new places... MOCK DRAFT, PHASE III >>>

DRAFT DISH
FIRST-ROUND DRAFT ORDER: Texans hold 1st pick... for now

MOCK DRAFTS: Phase I Phase II Phase III

DRAFT-DAY NEEDS: A team-by-team shopping list

BEST PROSPECTS BY POSITION: 120 Hopefuls Analyzed

PROSPECT PROFILES: The Top 50 51 to 100

PRE-DRAFT TRADES: Analysis: Culpepper, Abraham...

COMBINE REVIEW: Winners and losers...


HISTORY
FIGURES & NUMBERS: 20 facts about modern era drafts...

QB BUSTS: The '90s: A decade of wasted QB selections...

MEN OF STEAL! The all-time Top 20 late-round steals...

ALL-TIME FIRST-ROUND PICKS: 1,104 players...

SINCE 1936: Highlights & lowlights of 70 years of history...

Saint of the Day and daily Mass readings.

Today is the Feast of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Franciscan Capuchin and martyr. Pray for us, all you angels and saints.

Today's reading for the Feast of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen is Colossians 1:24-29.
Today's Responsorial Psalm is Psalms 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9.
Today's Gospel reading is John 17:20-26.


[Links to the readings will be from the NAB until I can find another chapter and verse searchable Douay-Rheims Bible on-line.]


Everyday links:

The Blessed Virgin Mary
The Rosary
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Prayers from EWTN
National Coalition of Clergy and Laity (dedicated to action for a genuine Catholic Restoration)
The Catholic Calendar Page for Today


Just in case you are wondering what exactly Catholics believe, here is

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.


Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession,was left unaided.Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.


St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse, pray for us.


Prayer to St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire

Dear St. Anthony, you became a Franciscan with the hope of shedding your blood for Christ. In God's plan for you, your thirst for martyrdom was never to be satisfied. St. Anthony, Martyr of Desire, pray that I may become less afraid to stand up and be counted as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Intercede also for my other intentions. (Name them.)


Prayer To Saint Michael The Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.


Prayer to End Abortion

Lord God, I thank You today for the gift of my life, and for the lives of all my brothers and sisters. I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the resurrection of Your Son. I am ready to do my part to end abortion. Today I commit myself never to be silent, never to be passive, and never to be forgetful of the unborn. I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement, and never stop defending life until all my brothers and sisters are protected and our nation once again becomes a nation with liberty and justice, not just for some, but for all. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.