This story is so stupid I had to post it. It's like sticking your hand in a fire and being surprised you get burned!
Conservative evangelical and Catholic leaders who went out on a political limb (aka abandoning core beliefs) by aligning themselves with the Obama administration are expressing feelings ranging from disappointment to optimism in their reaction to the president's decisions so far on culture war issues.
Although most of President Barack Obama's moves on abortion and stem cell research have been expected, some right-leaning Christian leaders who took a risk sitting down at the table with a Democratic president feel that several major decisions fall short of the common ground Obama had promised on divisive social issues. Nawww, really?
Obama's reversal of Bush-era restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is the latest example.
"Thus far, I have been disappointed to see little give. There's been a lot of take," said the Rev. Frank Page, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention who serves on a month-old advisory board to Obama's White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. "I've seen little give in the area of relating to the evangelical community as far as life issues." Frank, newsflash, you're being used!
Others point out that Obama is, after all, a Democrat and supporter of keeping abortion legal - and he has promised to proceed with caution on stem cells. Not to mention every Christian with a brain should have known this long before they voted.
Obama "is not doing anything he hasn't said he was going to do during the campaign," said the Rev. Joel Hunter, an evangelical megachurch pastor from Orlando, Fla., and another advisory board member. "So I am not enthusiastic, but I'm not disappointed, because we knew what to expect. I'm encouraged he is not totally flipping to the other side. We've got to be patient here."
Huh? This guy is a megaidiot! What do you think will happen Joel? Obama will wake up one morning and suddenly be pro-life, pro-family join your facade of a church and live in peace and harmony?
One of the four main priorities of Obama's faith-based office is to find ways to reduce the abortion rate, an attempt at common ground. But shortly after taking office, Obama lifted restrictions on federal funding of international family planning groups that perform abortions or provide information about the procedure. If you kill a generation either by abortion or treating them like crops to be harvested for the medical market, eventually abortion rates will fall as fewer people are even born.
Obama's nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic who supports abortion rights (There is no such thing) in conflict with church teachings, for health and human services secretary also has stirred the old culture war divisions.
Douglas Kmiec, a Pepperdine University law professor, Catholic opponent of abortion and former Reagan administration lawyer who became a lightning rod in the Catholic community for endorsing Obama, said he was encouraged by the administration's first seven weeks. What drug is he on?
He cited the abortion reduction goal, provisions in the stimulus package to help the poor and Senate approval of an expansion of State Children's Health Insurance Program, which Catholics on the left have promoted as a way to improve socio-economic conditions and reduce abortion rates.
Bottom line: Most of these so called pastors would not vote for Jesus if he ran for office because his ideas would be to restrictive and he would not seek enough "common ground" to lull these fools and their sad followers into a hypnotic trance.
Zubik to hold service to apologize for wrongs by church
Bishop David Zubik of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh will hold a prayer service April 7 to apologize to anyone who has ever been hurt by someone acting in the name of the Catholic Church.
"If you have been harmed by the church in any way, I invite you to come. There will be nothing expected of you but your willingness to pray with me. No one will bother you," Bishop Zubik wrote in his column in the Pittsburgh Catholic. The service will be held at 7 p.m. in St. Paul Cathedral on Tuesday of Holy Week.
"It gives me a chance, as shepherd of the church during Holy Week, to say that if, in any way, any representative of the church has hurt you, I ask for your forgiveness," he said.
$10 Million Cleared For Take Off
The renovation of a runway at Pittsburgh International Airport, which is mostly used at night for noise abatement reasons, will be one of the first projects to receive federal stimulus funds for airports around the country. Do we have pot holes on the runway now?
The Federal Aviation Authority will allocate $10 million to Pittsburgh International to repair the runway. The county airport in West Mifflin will receive $2 million to renovate a taxiway and relocate a ramp.
Under the stimulus package, the FAA received $1 billion to allocate to qualified airports on a discretionary basis. Federal officials said that funding will be allocated based on a project priority system that addresses airport safety and security, infrastructure, runway safety, increased capacity and mitigation of environmental impacts.
Vendors venting over fire contract
What does Sweden, Ohio and Pittsburgh have in common?
Pittsburgh firehouses are getting new systems for venting diesel exhaust fumes, but some vendors are raising a stink about a city process that excluded American-made products and local installation teams in favor of an Ohio firm that installs imported equipment from Swedish manufacturer Nederman Inc.
At issue is the city's federally funded $977,550 project. The job went to Toledo-area Clean Air Systems Inc.
Pittsburgh firehouses are getting new systems for venting diesel exhaust fumes, but some vendors are raising a stink about a city process that excluded American-made products and local installation teams in favor of an Ohio firm that installs imported equipment from Swedish manufacturer Nederman Inc.
At issue is the city's federally funded $977,550 project. The job went to Toledo-area Clean Air Systems Inc.
The city has so far paid $145,252 to outfit four fire stations. The invoice for the Forbes Avenue station totals $41,190, for rail-hose-and-duct systems for three vehicles, or $13,730 each.If the city spends the entire budgeted amount contemplated on its 49 fire trucks and some of its ambulances, its costs will be around $17,000 per vehicle. Of the cost, 80 percent is covered by a federal Department of Homeland Security grant, with the rest coming from city funds.
Mike Miklosko, owner of Hempstead-based EMS Specialty Equipment, which also installs such systems, called the price the city is paying "highway robbery."Mr. Miklosko, said he charges around $6,500 per vehicle. In Canonsburg, he bid $32,000 for a five-vehicle firehouse, winning a competitive process against three other firms.
Bishop's mansion for sale
I was working on an MTV style show called "Clergy Cribs" and this story breaks:If you want to buy the Gilded Age mansion in Oakland that has been the home of five Pittsburgh bishops, you'll need $2.5 million and enough extra cash to update a large kitchen and six bathrooms.
Inside the massive wrought-iron gates at the main entrance, Bishop Donald Wuerl received President George W. Bush, and Cardinal Giovanni Montini, who later became Pope Paul VI, visited Cardinal John Dearden.After he was appointed bishop of Pittsburgh in 2007, David Zubik lived there for two weeks before moving to a two-room apartment at St. Paul's Seminary in Crafton. The house is for sale because Bishop Zubik did not wish to live there, said the Rev. Ron Lengwin, a diocesan spokesman.
Another "attaboy" to Bishop Zubik
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