Interesting defense of Mel Gibson's "The Passion" from the LA Times.
From Los Angeles Times: 'Passion' Follows the Scripture:
"It's unfair of Jewish critics to defame Gibson for saying what the Talmud and Maimonides say, and what many historians say. Oddly, one of the scholars who has most vigorously denounced Gibson — Paula Fredriksen, a professor of religious studies at Boston University — is the author of a meticulously researched book, 'Jesus of Nazareth,' that suggests it was the high priests who informed on Jesus to the Roman authorities.
Would it have been better if Gibson never undertook to make this movie in exactly the way he did? Maybe, but trying to intimidate him into fundamentally reworking it was never a realistic or worthy goal. The best option now is to acknowledge that other sources besides the Gospels confirm the involvement of Jewish leaders in Jesus' death and clear the anger from the air. Considering that Gibson's portrayal coincides closely with traditional Jewish belief, it seems that leaving him alone is the decent as well as the Jewish thing to do."
Monday, January 5, 2004
Sunday, January 4, 2004
A Catholic Political Action Committee (PAC)
Led up by, who else, Tom Monaghan.
From Naples Daily News: News:
The Ave Maria PAC bills itself as "a Catholic response" to the pro-choice EMILY's List PAC. The nascent interest group models itself on the "heavy presence and many successes" of both The Christian Coalition and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, said Cella, 35, a former Senate staffer and Michigan campaign organizer.
The group's donors include political heavyweights such as Monaghan and his wife, Marjorie, who in each of the past three years donated $5,000 apiece, the maximum allowed individual contribution. Wellington Mara, owner of pro football's New York Giants, also donated the maximum amount in 2002 and 2003.
Chris Brennan, a 35-year-old New Jersey attorney, estimates he's donated several thousand dollars to Ave Maria List in recent years. The Seton Hall University Law School graduate said he became politically active primarily because of his strong anti-abortion views.
Yet he chose to contribute to Monaghan's group because while other PACs espouse similar views, Ave Maria List is both savvy and selective in how it spends, Brennan said.
From Naples Daily News: News:
The Ave Maria PAC bills itself as "a Catholic response" to the pro-choice EMILY's List PAC. The nascent interest group models itself on the "heavy presence and many successes" of both The Christian Coalition and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, said Cella, 35, a former Senate staffer and Michigan campaign organizer.
The group's donors include political heavyweights such as Monaghan and his wife, Marjorie, who in each of the past three years donated $5,000 apiece, the maximum allowed individual contribution. Wellington Mara, owner of pro football's New York Giants, also donated the maximum amount in 2002 and 2003.
Chris Brennan, a 35-year-old New Jersey attorney, estimates he's donated several thousand dollars to Ave Maria List in recent years. The Seton Hall University Law School graduate said he became politically active primarily because of his strong anti-abortion views.
Yet he chose to contribute to Monaghan's group because while other PACs espouse similar views, Ave Maria List is both savvy and selective in how it spends, Brennan said.
Dean Under Fire for Vermont Yankee Security
I post this story because I used to fish very close to this power plant as a child. It is located about twelve miles from where I grew up in NH. The plant is built on the Conneticut River that divides NH and Vermont.
From My Way News:
"Security was so lax at Vermont Yankee that in August 2001, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staged a drill in which three mock terrorists gained access to the plant. The agency gave Vermont Yankee the worst security rating among the nation's 103 reactors.
The NRC has primary responsibility for safety at Vermont Yankee. But Vermont laws required an active state role by creating a panel to review security and performance and requiring plant operators to set aside money for the state to use in the event of a nuclear disaster.
Dean's campaign said Saturday it ultimately was the NRC's responsibility to ensure security at the plant, but that he badgered Vermont Yankee's operators and the NRC to make improvements during the 1990s. It noted the NRC's safety budget was cut in the 1990s.
'After September 11, Governor Dean decided the buck stops here in terms of security and personally ran this effort, creating a Cabinet-level agency,' spokesman Jay Carson said."
From My Way News:
"Security was so lax at Vermont Yankee that in August 2001, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staged a drill in which three mock terrorists gained access to the plant. The agency gave Vermont Yankee the worst security rating among the nation's 103 reactors.
The NRC has primary responsibility for safety at Vermont Yankee. But Vermont laws required an active state role by creating a panel to review security and performance and requiring plant operators to set aside money for the state to use in the event of a nuclear disaster.
Dean's campaign said Saturday it ultimately was the NRC's responsibility to ensure security at the plant, but that he badgered Vermont Yankee's operators and the NRC to make improvements during the 1990s. It noted the NRC's safety budget was cut in the 1990s.
'After September 11, Governor Dean decided the buck stops here in terms of security and personally ran this effort, creating a Cabinet-level agency,' spokesman Jay Carson said."
Saturday, January 3, 2004
Catholic Almanac Turns 100
From toledoblade.com:
The 2004 edition marks the 100th anniversary of the publication, which began as St. Antony’s Almanac in 1904. The inaugural 64-page almanac included a calendar and feature articles on prayer and devotion, but its primary purpose was to foster knowledge and understanding of St. Anthony of Padua, the 13th century Portuguese preacher and first theologian of the Franciscan Order.
Our Sunday Visitor publishes the Almanac.
The 2004 edition marks the 100th anniversary of the publication, which began as St. Antony’s Almanac in 1904. The inaugural 64-page almanac included a calendar and feature articles on prayer and devotion, but its primary purpose was to foster knowledge and understanding of St. Anthony of Padua, the 13th century Portuguese preacher and first theologian of the Franciscan Order.
Our Sunday Visitor publishes the Almanac.
It Exists
www.BringSteveBack.com
www.BringSteveBack.com
The interesting thing, is there is a vote at the bottom of the page and right now 51% don't support him coming back.
www.BringSteveBack.com
The interesting thing, is there is a vote at the bottom of the page and right now 51% don't support him coming back.
Friday, January 2, 2004
Abuse Tracker Moves to NCR
The former Poynter.org site that has kept track of clergy abuse stories has now moved to the National Catholic Reporter's site.
Abuse Tracker
Abuse Tracker
New Bishop for Greensburg, PA
Appointed Msgr. Lawrence E. Brandt, chancellor of the Curia of the diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania and pastor of St. Hedwig Parish, as bishop of Greensburg (area 8,632, population 680,152, Catholics 188,301, priests 212,
religious 410), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in 1939 in Charleston, West Virginia and was ordained a priest in 1969. He succeeds Bishop Anthony G. Bosco whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the
Holy Father accepted upon having reached the age limit.
religious 410), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in 1939 in Charleston, West Virginia and was ordained a priest in 1969. He succeeds Bishop Anthony G. Bosco whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the
Holy Father accepted upon having reached the age limit.
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