590...Ooooops From The Telegraph-Journal

Re Stephen Harper and the Host.

On Wednesday, July 8, 2009, the Telegraph-Journal published a story about the funeral mass celebrating the life of former Governor-General Romeo LeBlanc that was inaccurate and should not have been published. We pride ourselves in maintaining high standards of journalism and ethical reporting, and regret this was not followed in this case.

The story stated that a senior Roman Catholic priest in New Brunswick had demanded that the Prime Minister's Office explain what happened to the communion wafer which was handed to Prime Minister Harper during the celebration of communion at the funeral mass. The story also said that during the communion celebration, the Prime Minister "slipped the thin wafer that Catholics call 'the host' into his jacket pocket".

There was no credible support for these statements of fact at the time this article was published, nor is the Telegraph-Journal aware of any credible support for these statements now. Our reporters Rob Linke and Adam Huras, who wrote the story reporting on the funeral, did not include these statements in the version of the story that they wrote. In the editing process, these statements were added without the knowledge of the reporters and without any credible support for them.

The Telegraph-Journal sincerely apologizes to the Prime Minister for the harm that this inaccurate story has caused. We also apologize to reporters Rob Linke and Adam Huras and to our readers for our failure to meet our own standards of responsible journalism and accuracy in reporting.

WFDS

505...Good News For Catholics

Sure, hard core Roman Catholics had their panties in a knot [that's you I am talking about, Monsignor] about our beloved Prime Minister, Steven Harper, doing something with the Eucharist he weren't supposed to do, but on the plus side my research shows that if Judge Sonia Sotomayor is confirmed as a member of the United States Supreme Court, six of the nine members of the Court will be Catholic.

You win some, you win more.

Except for Notre Dame football; never should have got rid of Dan Devine.

WFDS

497...Happy Holiday;MoreBadNews For King James

Not LeBron, the other one.

Specifically today is the 319th anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, a bad day for King James VII and II [he was king, er, King, of England and Ireland as the 2 and Scotland as the 7] and a good day for Syracuse's own William of Orange, also known as William III.

The Blue and Orange, Protestants, beat the Roman Catholics and that was about it, eh?

The great victory is celebrated to this very day especially in in Northern Ireland, where some Protestants remember it as the great victory over Catholics that resulted in the sovereignty of Parliament and the Protestant monarchy.

It is also commemorated in other parts of the world including here in Ontario although not at the level it was previously to the end of World War II.

Still, any excuse to party is an excuse to party.

Give 'er.

WFDS

493...In The Land Of The Free

It is all about taking away a woman's reproductive freedom.

At least if the poll that conservative website Newsmax.com reported on Friday is truly reflective of the land. A caveat is that the poll was paid for by the Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic men's organization, I used to play in their softball league, real pillars of the community but still, very, very much part of the hierarchy of the church, and Marist University, also on Team Vatican, anyhow, the poll mirrored findings of other recent surveys, showing that more Americans identify as pro-life than as pro-choice, and that the vast majority of Americans favor restricting abortion.

Before we get too smug here in Canada, bear in mind that one of our provinces doesn't have any abortion providers, so, pot, meet kettle.

86% of Americans would significantly restrict abortion and 60% of Americans would limit abortion to cases of rape, incest or to save the life of a mother.

Most remarkable to moi is the fact that since the election of the more liberal than the other guy, Barack Obama, as President, more people identify with the pro life side of the debate than before.

WFDS

265...I'manAmerican Jew.I'msupposedtobesafehere.

"I'm an American Jew. I'm supposed to be safe here."

Yesterday's events at the Holocaust Museum in Washington showed different.

Don't be too smug if you live in Canada either.

Not Jewish? Still be worried, for every time they take away a Jewish person's sense of security it affects yours.

You can substitute Arab, Muslim, Roman Catholic, Black, Woman, Man---whatever, for Jewish in the above sentence.

WFDS

125...Michael Steele, Idiot

On NBC's Meet The Press this morning, Michael Steele, who is the chairman of the Republican Party, says that the University of Notre Dame should not award an honorary degree to President Barack Obama.

Mr. Steele says Notre Dame is right to be honoured that Obama is speaking at Sunday's commencement. Then he does a 180 degree turn and says granting Obama an honorary degree is inappropriate because the President is pro abortion while the Roman Catholic Church opposes abortion.

That be crazy.

For starters, President Obama is Pro Choice, not pro abortion. There is a big difference there Chairman Steele. Catholics, and I am one, are not a monolith and many of us, including prominent Catholics like New York's former governor Mario Cuomo and myself, are Pro Choice. Pro Choice does not make one pro abortion; it means one respects the right of a woman to choose.

Mr. Steele also referred to Notre Dame as the nation's largest Catholic university. Uh, no, the South Bend, Indiana school is not even the largest Catholic school in that part of the country. DePaul University, in Chicagoland, is the largest Catholic university. Honest mistake though, Notre Dame has a higher profile, dating back to the days that it was good at football. Which are so over by the way. Charlie Weis, what a schmuck. But that is another story.

Abortion, like a lot of medical procedures, should not be restricted to those who have financial means. When abortion is proscribed it becomes a right of those with privilege and connection; one would have to be naive to think otherwise.

Medical access should not be only for the elites, it should be available for all.

Not just in the United States either; it should be available across the board in Canada also. It is not and that is elitist.

WFDS