The Catholic god does not want Obama to speak at Notre Dame!

That's right. How do I know? Because the Catholic god's papal pontificators, those MEN who don't have sex and wear dresses, are screaming bloody murder. Yup, a good Catholic school like Notre Dame, they say, should not, indeed must not, allow the President of the United States to deliver the commencement address this year!

Absolutely not! He is pro-choice, for god's sake. And he has not condemned condoms. He obviously does not respect Pope Ratzy!

Several bishops have said so. Catholic pundits have said so. Newt Gingrich has said so.

What? Why the hell does Gingrich care? I mean, I know he's an asshat, but what possible reason could this disgraced politico with a peanut brain and no morals have for wanting Obama punted off Notre Dame's commencement agenda?


Heh. Heh. Old Newt, serial adulterer, facile liar, famous asshat, either became a Roman Catholic over this past weekend or will become a Roman Catolic on Easter Sunday (There seems to be some confusion about the time). Yup. Now his allegiance is or will be to the Pope and not the devil. Hmmm.... No, I'm not gonna say it!

Anyway, old Newt, the ignorant former perfessor of history, said that "It is sad to see Notre Dame invite President Obama to give the commencement address since his policies are so anti-Catholic values."

Heh, heh, again! This from a thrice-married bum who got tossed out of Congress on his butt, who wouldn't know an ethic from a enema.

Not only so, but the Political Machine has a bit as to how, back in 2005, Gingrich spoke at Catholic University. Some righteous Catholics got their skirts in a bunch because they said Gingrich supported the death penalty and was noted for his infidelities and thus "violated the school's prohibition against speakers with positions contrary to Vatican teachings."

[This has nothing to do with the subject, but I wonder how an institution can call itself a "university" when it cannot teach anything contradictory to "Vatican teachings," or have a speaker on campus who might be construed as having values contradictory to "Vatican teachings." That's not a university, that's a incubator designed to pump out mental midgets from a Catholic mold.




Thanks to Daniel Florien at Unreasonable Faith.

"Be silent!" said the Texas teacher

[This image can be found here. These are school boys engaged in prayer at an Islamic school in Nigeria. This is exactly what the christianist wingnuts would like to see in the U.S. public schools; the only difference is the god to whom they pray!]

Hemant Mehta at Friendly Atheist tipped me to this one.

The story goes like this. "A three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld a district court ruling, saying the law is constitutional because it expressly allows for any silent use of the period, either religious or nonreligious.

"The 2003 law allows children to 'reflect, pray, meditate or engage in any other silent activities' for one minute at the beginning of each school day.'"


My first thought is that the nitwits who thought up this "moment of silence" have never been in a classroom. The challenge for many teachers has to do with the monumental task of getting the kiddos into their [proper and assigned] seat!

Moment of silence, indeed!

Secondly, this whole business is just another ploy by the christianist wingnuts to sneak prayer into our public schools. Public schools have NEVER outlawed prayer. I've known many students who prayed before class, before a test, before lunch, and before a football game. They did it silently and unobtrusively and no one EVER questioned their right to do so.

So, why do we need a "moment of silence"?

We don't - not in Texas, not in Florida, not in New York, not anywhere!


Actually, it could end up a real problem, if some of the more intelligent kids put this moment of silence to good use. For example, as long as they were silent, for one minute they could:

1. Stand up and play with a yoyo.
2. Use hand-signals to communicate with a student across the room.
3. Males could pull the hair of a girl sitting in front of them.
4. Girls could put on make-up, comb their hair, make sure their lipstick is not all over their faces.
5. Text-message on a cell phone.
6. Draw graffiti in a text book.
7. Sneak notes to other people in the room.
8. Go to sleep (without snoring).
9. Daydream.
10. Study for the quiz (which I always gave first thing every morning).
11. Make goofy faces at a friend in the next row.
12. Pretend to tear up one's homework.
13. Plan one's afterschool activities.
14. Stare at the teacher with an amused expression.
15. Stare at the teacher with a bored expression.
16. Stare at the teacher with an angry expression.

I'm sure there are many more creative ways that students can use this blessed "moment of silence," thanks to the asshats in the Texas Legislature who know from nothing about public schools but are driven to try to impose their religious beliefs on the rest of us!