This Just In

Quotes + numbers, March 10, 2006

Pope pod and abortion in South Dakota

By | March 8, 2006

“To His Holiness, Benedict XVI”
Inscription (translated from Italian) on the back of Pope Benedict XVI’s 2GB iPod Nano, given to him by Vatican Radio employees.

One
Number of Abortion clinics operating in South Dakota before an abortion ban was enacted in the state earlier this week.

One
Number of Abortion providers in South Dakota (who flew into the state from neighboring Minnesota).

One
Days per week that provider was available.

“If people didn’t want me to be king, they wouldn’t have nominated me and voted for me.”
_Jennifer Jones, a 21-year-old senior at Maryland’s Hood College, who is a lesbian and was crowned homecoming king by her classmates.

“A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated. I mean, that girl could be so messed up, physically and psychologically, that carrying that child could very well threaten her life.”
_South Dakota state senator Bill Napoli, a Republican and staunch supporter of his state’s recently approved abortion ban, describing the only scenario in which he would allow for an exception.

The problem with the Church's selective embrace
Pope Benedict recently lifted the excommunication of four bishops who had been consecrated without the required Vatican consent.
Interview: James Carroll
The Phoenix 's Adam Reilly recently spoke with Globe columnist James Carroll about his new book, Practicing Catholic (Houghton Mifflin), and his critical but durable relationship with the Roman Catholic Church.
Clerical error
Oliver O’Grady, “Father Ollie,” the pastor of a Catholic Church in a bucolic, tight-knit Northern California community, would have felt at home in The Bells of St. Mary’s . Watch the trailer for Deliver Us from Evil (QuickTime)
Fest or famine?
Women filmmakers dominate this year’s festival, and an unflinching honesty marks their movies.
Not shipping up to Boston
Lines upon learning that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI will not, as previously rumored, be making a stop in Boston during his upcoming visit to the US
Kennedy vs. the Catholic Church
Last week, Congressman Patrick Kennedy took the Catholic Church to task for opposing health reform that fails to include an explicit ban on federal funding for abortion. And he was right to do it.
The passion of the candidate
Pity Mitt Romney, the object of religious persecution, forced to make a public speech confronting the antagonistic forces that have kept his candidacy down by attacking his faith.
Priestess | Prior To The Fire
Now Priestess are back in Indieland, rubbing denim-clad elbows with the likes of Nebula and Black Math Horseman.
41. Warren Jeffs
Jeffs, the creepy leader of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is a grade-A shitbird — he reportedly described Hurricane Katrina as an answer to his prayers — and so nobody was surprised when he was finally convicted, in 2007, of being an accessory to child rape. (That case also exposed a hideous loophole in the Arizona laws against incest — they only apply to those over 18.) That should’ve been the end of the road, except that according to a recent Salt Lake Tribune story, Jeff’s diaries indicate that he’s retained a hold over his followers from jail. To be continued? We hope not.
Continuing homophobia
Deirdre Fulton's and Shay Stewart-Bouley's comments and Seth Berner's letter on the Marriage Equality Act repeal are insightful. I would add another perspective.
More than Mormons
Despite the comparably juicy family dysfunction it offers, Big Love hasn't achieved the iconic status of its HBO predecessor The Sopranos . Maybe viewers relate better to the mob than to Mormons.
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