Amanda Marcotte Spins the Hits

Amanda Marcotte wrote yesterday on Pandagon.net of what she called the "illusionary" world of Brill Building-era pop music (that of the early to mid-1960s), which she claims masked rampant homosexuality. In general, she writes, sexual expression at that time was more worldly than one might imagine from listening to the era's hits: "I suppose a very literal reading of this music might lead one to conclude that things were better in a more 'innocent' time ... The thing is, the world’s never been 'innocent'. What’s changed isn’t so much how people are but how honest society is about it."

Miss Marcotte is too young to remember the era of which she writes, as am I. If you are old enough to recall how people conducted themselves sexually before the advent of psychedelic drugs, "Hair," and Woodstock, I would be interested in your opinion on her assumptions. (For context, you may wish to read Ms. Marcotte's  full post, which includes her standard four-letter words and ad hominems against me.) For the sake of authenticity, please comment under your real name. First name only or initials are OK, and you may leave the e-mail and Web site boxes blank if you wish. Thank you.

Unoriginal Sin

Twice since I entered the Church on Easter Vigil, I have experienced something in the confessional that reminds me of why I love the Communion of Saints — even when it drives me a bit crazy.

It happened each time with a different priest; both were in their 70s. The most recent time was yesterday afternoon. I was getting around to the sin of pride, and I mentioned, "and I wrote a book, which is about to come out ..."

The priest's eyes got wide.

"Really?" he said. "I wrote a book ..."

He proceeded to tell me a little about it, noting helpfully that it was available on eBay.

I'm laughing just thinking about it. I wish I could capture his tone; as with the other priest who volunteered that he'd written a book, he wasn't being braggadocious. It was actually kind of sweet.

Quote of the Day

"I cannot look into the future, as I said before, and say, This is going to happen to me and I'm so scared. I can't wake up every morning and say, Oh, my gosh, I'm going to die. You know, I wake up every morning and I say, I'm going to live, and I strive to meet that goal.

"So there's that possibility that somewhere along this line we made a wrong decision. But you know what? If I die, I'll die happy, and I will die healthy, and I will die in my home with my family, not in a hospital bed, bedridden and sick."

— Abraham Cherrix, 16, who is fighting a judge's decision to take him out of his parents' medical care, make him a ward of the state, and force him to undergo chemotherapy for his Hodgkin's disease. (Read full coverage on The Rebelution blog.)


Note: Cherrix is not depriving himself of the necessities for life; he is attempting an alternative therapy for survival, one which a judge, ruling on behalf of the state, opposes. He had tried chemotherapy and, he and his parents say, it nearly killed him.]

Born-Alive Baby Dies at Abortion Clinic ... and There's More

Crimeblogger Steve Huff uncovers sickening new information about the Florida abortion clinic where a born-alive baby was found dead yesterday:

To be fair, authorities in Hialeah don’t know how the infant found in the Hialeah clinic died, yet, and an autopsy is being performed. It is not clear if charges will even be filed.

Yet we may have a woman [who was president of the Hialeah clinic] on probation for assaulting a pregnant woman ... and a clinic that may have lost its license for having incompetents doing medical procedures.

And the Hialeah clinic was not investigated?

I don’t care what side of the abortion issue you are on: something is very wrong here.

Read the rest of Steve's important post and check his blog for updates.

Ukies to the Kingdom

Inspired by a post in For God, for Country, and for Yale on searching YouTube for Catholic videos, I found these two clips of a Greek Catholic Mass in a Ukrainian Village. Make sure you turn down the volume before playing these, as the chanting is loud. This first one is, I think, interesting to non-Ukrainian speakers only for the first few minutes or so, though the camera pans around the church towards the end. No reggae "Alleluia" for this church, that's for sure.



This second video gives an altarside view of the Holy Communion service — until just under four minutes in, when the priest waves the cameraman away. The priest then addresses the congregation in Ukrainian until 6 minutes 46 seconds in, when he suddenly switches to English — presumably for the benefit of the folks on YouTube. What he has to say about faith in the Ukraine is worth hearing.

I'm stunned by the beauty of the old church, and also impressed at the congregants' devotion. The service itself also seems majestic and deep — it makes me want to attend a service of that rite. I have attended a Russian Catholic Mass and an Antiochan Orthodox service and appreciated their traditions and faith, but I'm struck by the richness and intensity of this Mass.

Another thing that strikes me is the intimacy of the church's layout, and especially the altar, which seems to me to be strongly reminiscent of the ancient Temple's Holy of Holies.

Suozzi Defunds Abstinence-Ed Program — for Telling the Truth about Planned Parenthood's Promotion of Bestiality

Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, currently struggling to win the Democratic nomination for New York's governorship, yesterday rescinded a $90,000 grant he had promised to an abstinence-education program — after the head of the program, which also runs pregnancy resource centers, complained publicly about Planned Parenthood's promotion of bestiality.

Newsday reports:

Lorraine Gariboldi, executive director of the Life Center of Long Island in Massapequa, made the comments about Planned Parenthood to Newsday at the county offices in Garden City in February, immediately following a news conference where Suozzi announced grants for eight groups in an effort to cut down on abortions.

Gariboldi's organization, which won a $90,000 grant for abstinence-based education, also runs "crisis pregnancy" centers where women are counseled against abortions. Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, which won $95,000 for sex education, counsels women on abortions and performs them.

"Working with Planned Parenthood did not change my opinion of the work that I do," Gariboldi said on Feb. 7. "Meeting their peer educators and hearing what they had to say confirmed to me that I'm in the right business."

"They're teaching young people to teach other young people how to be sexually active using deviant methods, in my opinion, of sexual behavior to avoid pregnancy," Gariboldi continued. "You can call it outercourse instead of intercourse, and bestiality in some cases, masturbation -- those kinds of behaviors they're promoting as good and healthy."...

After her remarks were printed in part on July 17, the steering committee for Suozzi's program, which he calls "Common Sense for the Common Good," advised withdrawing the Life Center's contract from the county legislature, where the initiative is stalled. Arda Nazerian, a Suozzi aide, said the group broke a compact to respect others' views. ...

Sister Mairead Barrett, a nun on Suozzi's steering committee, said she was in working groups with Gariboldi and heard no discussion of deviance.

"I was quite surprised actually to hear what this woman said and to read it because we were all in the room together," she said. "To me it shows a lack of openness and lack of insight."

Suozzi said his coalition included "people from all ends of the spectrum who are goodhearted people." He added, "These comments are just irresponsible." Full story]

The evidence for Planned Parenthood's promotion of bestiality is not as substantial as it is for Gariboldi's other accusations. But it is there, and any association with bestiality should disqualify Planned Parenthood from teaching children about sex.

First, as I noted in October 2004, there are two cartoons on Planned Parenthood's sex-ed Web site, Teenwire, in which humans get a bit too attached to animals. One of them, "Jim Dandy and His Very Gay Day," even shows, or at least jokingly pretends to show, human-animal relations as a viable sexual option.

In "Jim Dandy," a cartoon space alien explains human sexuality. "Being gay is a little like being left-handed," he says. "It's not something that you choose—it's simply the way you are. And the way you are is perfectly fine, no matter which hand you write with, no matter who you're attracted to."

Not being sure of your sexuality is called "questioning," the alien intones. He then narrates a visual demonstration:

"Humans may be attracted to their own gender..."



Notice how that's the first option Teenwire offers—homosexuality as default.

The alien contines: "...or the opposite gender..."



"...or they may be attracted to both genders..."



"...or they may not be sure which gender they're attracted to. It's normal to be questioning..."



Another Teenwire cartoon, "Sexuality Transmitted Infection Petting Zoo," shows a couple copulating next to a cow:



More telling is the February 2003 "Educator's Update" on the Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Web site. Included on the resource list of books that the organization recommends to educators — "for informational use only" — is Dearest Pet: On Bestiality, by Midas Dekkers:



Dearest Pet won notoriety after noted infanticide advocate and animal-rights activist Peter Singer reviewed it in the online erotica magazine Nerve. In another online article, this one on an animal-rights site, Karen Davis, describes the book:

Dearest Pet takes us on a journey of human sexual interest in and use of nonhuman animals as documented in art, literature, court records, personal confessions, veterinary files, and popular culture through history up to the present. Dekkers forces us to look at some old things in a new way. He says, for instance, that since the God of the Christians, like Zeus of the Olympians, once descended in the form of a bird to know a woman-the story of Leda and the Swan and the story of the Virgin Mary being visited by the Holy Spirit in the form of a Dove--Christianity "is founded on bestiality" (9). Of the perennial sexual abuse of farmed animals, Dekkers says that girls "have less opportunity than boys, if only because almost all animals are of their own sex: cows, ewes, sows, chickens, nanny-goats" (137), and that "Since animal abuse has been institutionalized in our society in the food industry, it cannot be difficult for sadism to find satisfaction" (147). Dekkers does not argue that human imposed sex with farmed animals per se is sadism; however, any sex with small animals such as chickens and rabbits, he says, "automatically involves sadism" (146). ...

Even while noting that the sex life of domestic animals is "completely organized by human beings" (178), raising the question of whether the consent of a domestic animal is ever possible under any circumstances, desire notwithstanding, Dekkers says that "as long as none of those involved suffers pain, no form of sex should be seen as pathological, bad or mad" (148).

I cannot think of any legitimate reason why Planned Parenthood, which received well over a quarter-billion dollars in taxpayer funding last year alone, should be recommending such a disgusting and blasphemous book "for informational purposes" or for any purposes.

Lorraine Gariboldi told the truth. Tom Suozzi is suppressing it — and hurting Long Island kids.

TAKE ACTION: Support the Life Center of Long Island, and call Suozzi at (516) 571-6000 — or e-mail him through his Web site — to tell him that he punished an innocent charity to benefit an organization that killed over 250,000 babies last year and corrupts the ones who survive.

Also, contact Sister Mairead Barrett's order and educate the sisters about what Planned Parenthood really promotes: Ursuline Provincialate, Sister Catherine Talia, O.S.U., 81-15 Utopia Pkwy. Jamaica, NY 11432. E-mail: taliaosu@juno.com. Phone: (718) 591-0681. It may also be useful to express concerns to the bishop's office in the Diocese of Rockville Center, bishopsoffice@drvc.org.

And the Word Became Flesh

"The immutable laws of the universe may require that for Truth to be received by humans it must delivered in a Form Incarnate."

I realize the Raving Atheist, in keeping with a promise he made to his readers, is writing hypothetically. But it's still a powerful ending to a powerful post.

UPDATE: The Raving Atheist's hypothesis has already earned him the ire of Pandagon's Amanda Marcotte, who — with the help of some four-letter words — manages to make two baseless ad hominems in a single post: first, asserting that RA's merely "casting around for a way to define an individual human being with rights after being scolded that, biologically speaking, a zygote is no different than any other batch of cells," and second, asserting that he is motivated by a desire to "wear down the resistance of an avowed celibate," meaning me.

With regard to Amanda's second point, because I am trying to follow the Raving Atheist's own self-imposed rule to avoid meanness, I can't respond to Amanda in kind. All I can say is, (1) I am convinced that she is completely wrong with regard to RA's motivation, and (2) the fact that she would stoop to make such an ad hominem attack shows that she is incapable of providing a sound, rational response to his philosophizing.

I will not assume malice on Amanda's part because I do not know her or anyone else's heart. At any rate, people do not need to have malice in order to make an ad hominem attack. They only need desperation.

The Passion of the Christ or Buddha

I wasn't quite sure why this bus-shelter sign in Chelsea (advertising a New Age speaker) bewitched, bothered, and bewildered me so much when I spotted it while walking up Seventh Avenue with my friend Chris on Tuesday afternoon. The first thing that came to mind was, "If the Beatles or Leapy Lee returned today ..." Then I got home and discovered that G.K.C. had already voiced my opinions much better than I could, with up-to-the-minute comments published nearly a century ago:

"Students of popular science ... are always insisting that Christianity and Buddhism are very much alike, especially Buddhism. This is generally believed, and I believed it myself until I read a book giving the reasons for it. The reasons were of two kinds: resemblances that meant nothing because they were common to all humanity, and resemblances which were not resemblances at all. The author solemnly explained that the two creeds were alike in things in which all creeds are alike, or else he described them as alike in some point in which they are quite obviously different. Thus, as a case of the first class, he said that both Christ and Buddha were called by the divine voice coming out of the sky, as if you would expect the divine voice to come out of the coal-cellar."

— G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, 1908

FURTHER READING: The American Chesterton Society's official Web site

50 Women, 50 Mysteries

Steve Huff is doing some remarkable crime-solving on his blog. Read his entry and you can too.

God Doesn't Throw Dice

Reader Tom Merkle sends this Associated Press story, "Ireland worker finds ancient psalms in bog":

DUBLIN, Ireland - Irish archaeologists Tuesday heralded the discovery of an ancient book of psalms by a construction worker who spotted something while driving the shovel of his backhoe into a bog.
The approximately 20-page book has been dated to the years 800-1000. Trinity College manuscripts expert Bernard Meehan said it was the first discovery of an Irish early medieval document in two centuries.

"This is really a miracle find," said Pat Wallace, director of the National Museum of Ireland, which has the book stored in refrigeration and facing years of painstaking analysis before being put on public display.

"There's two sets of odds that make this discovery really way out. First of all, it's unlikely that something this fragile could survive buried in a bog at all, and then for it to be unearthed and spotted before it was destroyed is incalculably more amazing."

He said an engineer was digging up bogland last week to create commercial potting soil somewhere in Ireland's midlands when, "just beyond the bucket of his bulldozer, he spotted something." Wallace would not specify where the book was found because a team of archaeologists is still exploring the site.

"The owner of the bog has had dealings with us in past and is very much in favor of archaeological discovery and reporting it," Wallace said.

Crucially, he said, the bog owner covered up the book with damp soil. Had it been left exposed overnight, he said, "it could have dried out and just vanished, blown away."

The book was found open to a page describing, in Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations' attempts to wipe out the name of Israel. [Full story]

Here is the full text of Psalm 83:

Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.

For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;

Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;

Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.

Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:

Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.

Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:

Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.

O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.

As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;

So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.

Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:

That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.

As Tom notes in his e-mail, "Coincidence? Perhaps. Pretty big one though …"

'Eloise' in the Plaza

A little Hollies to start your day. Can anyone tell me where they are? I'm thinking Manchester Square — the cameraman's back would be facing the EMI headquarters.

Toronto Planned Parenthood Likes Its Teens 'Horny and Ready to Ride'

Planned Parenthood of Canada — now known as the less historically freighted Canadian Federation for Sexual Health — has long pushed the envelope farther than its American counterpart. So, it's no surprise that its Toronto chapter's teen sex-ed site, Spiderbytes, is more openly pedophiliac than Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Teenwire (which I detailed in the Touchstone article "The Young and the Hot-Wired").

For anyone wishing to prove that Planned Parenthood's true agenda is to sexualize children, Spiderbytes is a goldmine. There's simply too much for me to describe on my own, and works fail me when it comes to features like the Risk Rater.

I took Spiderbytes' "sexual readiness" quiz: "What to Do and When?". To see what would be the site's advice to those teens who need the most guidance in controlling their behavior, I checked off the most sex-obsessed answers to multiple-choice questions like this one:

You are surfing the net and accidentally come across a porn site. You…
a. bookmark it with the rest
b. change sites immediately
c. look if you're curious
d. call friends to joke about it

When I clicked for my quiz score, this is what came up:

Horny and Ready to Ride

Your hormones are raging and in your mind, life should be one big orgasm. So if your body is saying 'bring it on', the next step is to make sure your brain is on board. Hormones were never meant to make decisions for you, especially when the decisions could lead to an unplanned pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections. If you know all the info about sexual health and sexual rights, then go ahead and have fun. If you're still learning about that stuff, try to hold back once in a while and give your brain a chance to assess the situation. Being horny with some common sense can be a lot of fun. So just let your 'sexy side' meet your 'smart side' and you'll be off for a good time.

Ah, yes, that's what Margaret Sanger's disciples tell a 13-year-old to do if he or she's obsessed with having sex: "go ahead and have fun." Unless "you're still learning about that stuff" like "sexual health" and "sexual rights." And did they mention that "being horny with some common sense can be a lot of fun"?

Once there was a thing called childhood. It involved being protected by adults from being sexually used or abused, including protection from being placed in sexual situations that a child is unable to handle. It was a time when adults observed boundaries around children — boundaries that were almost universally considered essential for the children's healthy emotional and physical development.

Today, we have Planned Parenthood, which receives well over a quarter-billion in taxpayer money a year to nip childhood in the bud — by any means necessary.

'Tabloid Wars'

Please let me know if you see my then-platinum blonde head on "Tabloid Wars," premiering on Bravo at 9 p.m. tonight. I won't be seeing it right away, as I don't have a TV.

UPDATE: I hear my smile flashed across viewers' screens. The next new episode will be Monday at 9 p.m.

A friend sends this image:

Grin and Bear It

Sister Mary Karen of the Sisters of Life gave me some advice worth sharing.

She said that, since the devil can't read your mind, if you're feeling yourself under spiritual attack — sad or anxious — you should smile. The reason for this is that once you smile, the devil will think that you are receiving grace from your suffering — and that will make him flee, because that's the last thing he wants.

Quote of the Day

"In the future, God will bring the Evil Inclination and slaughter him in the presence of the righteous and the wicked. To the righteous, he will appear as a tall mountain and to the wicked he will appear as a strand of hair. Both the righteous and the wicked will weep. The righteous will cry, saying: How were we able to overcome a mountain as high as this? The wicked will cry, saying: How were we not able to overcome this strand of hair?"

— The Talmud (Sukkah 52a)

Papa Music

This afternoon, at the Sisters of Life's Upper East Side convent, fellow volunteer Bob and I were trying to figure out how to get a 12,000 BTU air conditioner up two flights of stairs to the chapel while Sister Mary Karen looked on (and would have helped had we let her). Meanwhile, Sister Mary Loretta insisted she would find us a "St. Joseph" out on East 66th Street. This seemed unlikely, as the men who passed by were either walking dogs, or with dates, or just the brand of Upper East Sider who couldn't be bothered to lift anything heavier than a Starbucks venti skim mochaccino.

We had hauled the giant box to the first landing when Sister Loretta returned with a gray-haired, athletic-looking gentleman. He jumped right into the task and in practically no time the air conditioner box was through the chapel door.

As Bob proceeded to open the box, Sisters Mary Karen, John Joseph (named for the order's founder), Mary Loretta, and I thanked the kind stranger. Sister Mary Loretta asked him a question about himself — I forget what it was, but he responded that his name was Michael Valenti and he played the piano. The sister asked a follow-up, and the man answered that
he had composed the processional played by the Philharmonic when Pope John Paul II entered Central Park to celebrate Mass there in 1995.

As it happened, the nuns had a piano in the next room. Graciously, Valenti obliged their request to play his "Processional for a Pontiff."

It was truly majestic and beautiful. We all clapped loudly and cheered at the end. Valenti gave his phone number to one of the sisters so they could call him another time they needed help.

Moments of grace like that could be called coincidences — but they're uncannily frequent when one spends any time around such faith-filled people as the Sisters of Life. They are doing such very important work that I think the Almighty can't help but dish out unexpected treats to them now and again. I'm thankful I was there to witness that one.

Oh, I forgot: About Sister Mary Loretta's insistence that she would find a St. Joseph — Valenti went to a school called St. Joseph's, and his middle name is, sure enough, Joseph.

Letter from Jerusalem

My Aunt Sarah, an Orthodox Jew living in Jerusalem, writes eloquently in an e-mail about a side of the Mideast crisis that few commentators outside the Holy Land seem to understand:

I have been "disproportionately" disturbed by charge after charge from the "third-world" nations and certain European, East-European, and South-American nations, that Israel's actions in Lebanon are "disproportionate" to their provocation. Here they are attacking all Lebanon when it's only Hizbullah that attacked Israel, and they, the latter, only killed a few soldiers and kidnapped a few, and they only send an occasional rocket over the border. And here is red-eyed, red-necked, "insane" Israel over-reacting by hurting the Lebanese people and striking at their infrastructure.

What infuriates me is that Lebanon is seen as an innocent bystander in this conflict. Israel is only entitled to take Hezbollah to task, and any damage that poor Lebanon has to suffer is due to Israel's lack of restraint. It is reacting "disproportionately" to a limited provocation by an irresponsible group of fanatics. I have actually seen the comment that 2 kidnapped soldiers are not worth all the death and destruction that poor innocent Lebanon has been forced to bear.

Moreover, even our supporters are putting the blame on Syria and Iran, and reserving all their sympathy and concern for the Lebanese government. Yet Lebanon is entirely responsible for the whole thing. It is so obvious that I don't understand why it should be politically incorrect to say so. If you have seen the missiles that Hezbollah is expending wholesale upon Israel, missiles that they have obtained in the high thousands, and which by the way are stationed all over Lebanon, you will have noticed immediately that they are enormous (besides being very many). In some cases they can only be transported by flatbed truck, one or two at a time. They are entirely obvious. How can they be bussed along Lebanon's roads without the Lebanese government's sufferance? And without the people's knowledge? And both the government and the people knowing all along exactly what they were intended for, to attack a neighbor who is not their enemy, with whom they are not in a belligerent state. Moreover, the missiles were driven over the border from Syria and also were flown in through the Beirut airport. Obviously the border and customs authorities actively collaborated in supplying the Hezbollah with an awesome and exotic arsenal.

Yes, poor Lebanon explains that it can't control Hezbollah's militia in the South. But it is the government's function to control its imports and its commercial traffic, especially elsewhere in the country. And obviously they do. Except that they closed their eyes or blinked at the steady traffic in enormous and exotic high-tech war materiel heading toward the wholesale slaughter of the Jews. And the world did, too.

Yes, poor Lebanon is afraid of a civil war. Yes, poor Lebanon explains that the Hezbollah is a "state within a state". Yes, the Moslems are in the majority, and yes, the Shi'ites are the majority of those, and yes, they hold government positions and yes, they have a coercive power which the so-called Lebanese government won't stand up to. And so what it amounts to is that Lebanon, like Vichy France, is a willing and co-operative prop for fanatical, murderous, genocide-bent enemies and haters of the Jews. Is there any American who does not retch at the vile performance of the French (Vichy or not) in the Nazi era? Would anyone in the whole world, repelled or not, claim that the Vichy government did not represent nor reflect the French population which it governed? Why is Lebanon seen as an innocent bystander when it has been an indispensable accessory to Hezbollah's hate-crimes all these years? How come everyone is feeling sorry for them and no-one realizes that none of this could have happened without their cooperation?

Wheel and Grace

Yesterday at 6:45 p.m., I was standing in a taxi line outside Grand Central Terminal, late for an event, when I saw a pedicab roll up — one of those small-but-indomitable bicycle taxis.

I had some extra cash on me, so I called out to the driver. He stopped and I hopped right in. It wouldn't be a terribly long ride — I was only going to 55th Street and 8th Avenue — and considering the length of the taxi line, there was every chance I'd be there soonest on the pedicab driver's leg power.

The ride was scary and great fun, especially when we wove back and forth through traffic. It was the first time I'd had such a novel transportation experience since my maiden carriage ride a year and a half ago.

One tip if you're a woman planning to ride in one of those things: Apply your lipstick before the ride, not during.

The driver told me he was originally from Turkey. He said he'd held his job for a year and a half, and was quitting soon, as he was finishing up his master's degree in financial engineering from Stevens University in Hoboken, N.J.

In answer to a question of mine, he told me that yes, thanks to his job, he could eat anything he wanted, even before bedtime, and not gain weight.

I asked him if he was concerned about the danger of getting hit. He assured me that he was much safer in that regard than his passengers.



I think he is used to being asked to pose for a photo.

Oh, yes — the ride from Grand Central took about 18 minutes, I think. Not bad for rush hour — and we passed pretty much every yellow cab we saw.

Planned Parenthood on Crack

Planned Parenthood gives out free condoms rather than address the human cost of casual sex, so I suppose it's only natural that it would give out mouthpieces for crack pipes and syringe bleach kits rather than address the human cost of drug addiction.

KFOX El Paso reports:

Safety Counts is a new program at Planned Parenthood aimed at helping injecting drug users who might not be ready to quit, but would like to practice safer drug use and make changes to their habits. Participants can be active drug users. Every participant is using or has used heroine and/or crack cocaine.

Bleach kits with sterile water and cotton pellets to clean off syringes, and mouth pieces for pipes are offered free-of-charge.

"What we're trying to do is teach them the stages of change, and how to make changes in their lives. We teach them how to stay clean. How to not contract or transmit HIV and Hepatitis C," said Mary Atilano the program coordinator. ...

... "Let's be realistic if you don't want to stop, if you can't stop what's the best thing? Prevention. Being safe," said Atilano. ...

... "A change means step by step, baby steps. I'm not talking about making a change from using everyday then all of a sudden not using," said Atilano

The group focuses on setting goals. It can include cutting down on drug use, or using new syringes.

Safety Counts meets every Tuesday and Thursday at noon. The program is free and that includes lunch.

Planned Parenthood has implemented "Safety Counts" nationally, often receiving state grants for the program (in addition to its federal funding, $272 million in 2005). Last year, The Brooklyn Rail Web site reported on Planned Parenthood of New York City's "Safety Counts" program, part of the organization's $2 million "Project Street Beat" (read the entire article for full context):

Eric Thornhill, a Preventive Case Manager, works in several low-income Brooklyn neighborhoods and runs Safety Counts, a seven-session group, out of Street Beat’s Bed-Stuy office. “We get people together to identify risky behaviors, whether it is IV drug use or not using condoms,” he says.

He rattles off a list of stages his clients go through. “There is pre-contemplation: we find a person who has been out in the streets as a commercial sex worker and does not use condoms. It may be in the back of her mind, ‘I need to use condoms,’ but it is a thought, not an action.”

In the group, Thornhill works to change this. “We hope to get her to practice safe sex on a consistent basis, moving her from contemplation—having the need to use condoms in her mind—to walking with them in her pocket and always using them,” he says.

He teaches group members to protect themselves, demonstrating how to use prophylactics and showing them how quickly an adept practitioner can do this. “We hope this moves her to the ‘action stage,’ where out of five guys she’s with, she uses condoms with two.”

A similar trajectory plays out regarding shared needles. “A person may shoot up six times a day,” says Peterkin. “We try to get them from needles to sniffing. If they sniff twice a day, we try to get them down to once. We give people incentives, grocery vouchers, movie tickets, snacks and metro cards. They see that we are taking care of them and are encouraged.” ...

... “Self esteem and partner communication are stressed,” adds Natasha Abney, another Street Beat advocate. “We do activities. How long does it take to put on a condom? Seconds—even when it pops and they have to start over. We do an exercise where we have a bag filled with panties and each girl picks one. We teach them that the satin ones may cause infection because they do not let the vulva breathe. We encourage communication between the woman and her partners and with her parents. We talk about condom negotiation, how to be assertive. Most of the girls say they’ve had Sex Ed in school, but they’re only told ‘Don’t have sex,’ and ‘Don’t get pregnant.’ We do much more than that.” ...

... The mix of judgment-free programs—street work, counseling, educating teens—keeps Street Beat staff more than busy. Yet despite this monumental task, they remain upbeat, taking pleasure in small victories. “I love the job,” says a smiling Peterkin. “It’s great to touch people in a positive way.”

Indeed.

Your comments are most welcome.

Jewish Convert Journalist Was Helped Along by Chesterton

Hmm, wonder who that could be?

Seriously, thanks very much to the National Catholic Register and writer Tim Drake for a wonderful cover story. (You can't see the cover on the Register's Web page, but trust me, that glamour shot gets around.)

I still can't get over that my book is getting so much wonderful publicity four months before it even comes out. As Shannon Donahoo wrote today, "Not having sex is front-page news."

(If the link to the Register article doesn't work, search the Register's Web site for "Dawn Eden" and it'll turn up.)

Planned Parenthood Imitates Ann Coulter

"The whole panoply of nutty things liberals believe flows from their belief that man is just another animal. ... Only their core rejection of God can explain the bewildering array of liberal positions: We must save Tookie Williams, while slaughtering the unborn. We must eat natural foods, but the right to acquire disease in casual hookups is a holy ritual." — Ann Coulter, Godless

"[The newly approved contraceptive's] availability will be a benefit to women who want a method of birth control that doesn't require a daily, weekly or monthly 'ritual,' said Dr. Vanessa Cullins, vice president for medical affairs at Planned Parenthood Federation of America." — Associated Press, "FDA Approves Implantable Contraceptive"

Would You Like Fries With That?

"When we thought about the future of abortion, we knew it had to include many different perspectives and experiences. We also knew that the interesting questions were not about legal rights or access, but about the quality of the abortion experience. We realized that the question about abortion for the 21st century had to be: “How do you want your abortion?”

That's Margaret R. Johnson, writing in 2002 as president of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, and Claire Keyes, executive director of Pittsburgh abortion clinic Allegheny Reproductive Health Center, writing in their essay "How Do You Want Your Abortion, and, in their words, "imagining a utopian world where each of us constructs how we would like abortion—indeed, all pregnancy experiences—to be." The essay is on the abortion-advocating Abortion Conversation Project site, as well as the Allegheny center's site (where its URL calls it "fantasy.html").

Following are excerpts from Johnson's and Keyes' hopeful vision, sent to me by Alicia of Fructus Ventris. Your comments are most welcome.

The authors begin with a series of imaginary "packages," which they present as futuristic ideals (but don't take my word for it; read them in context):

3. The Family Package-- This is an important decision in your life and of course you want your loved ones around you!! You can be accompanied through every phase of this process by the person you choose. Counseling is available for all family members and includes training and suggestions for them to participate in your care. Flowers, breakfast in bed, baby-sitting, just tell us what you want and we'll pass it along. We stress support and coping skills before, during, and after your abortion. Choice of abortion pill (additional $100) or surgical abortion.
$650.

4. DIY (Do-It-Yourself)-- Are you the kind of person who does a lot of research? Someone who is knows what you want? Do you want to avoid the hustle bustle--and waiting time-- of a busy clinic? Would you like your abortion in the comfort of your own home? Take a pill today and choose when you bleed anytime in the next three days, safely, completely, in your own home. Full instructions and educational video included and our 24 hour advice line is open to you. Available only in early pregnancy. Some restrictions apply. Like everything else you do, have this experience on your own terms!
$550.

5. Deluxe Spa Treatment-- Get the luxury and personal attention you deserve!! Check into our special suite at the Jetson Hotel where you will meet with our experienced guide, who will be available to you for your abortion experience. After extensive orientation for you and your partner or family, enjoy a relaxing massage and jacuzzi. Full emotional support is available to you and those close to you, tailored to your needs. A full range of sedatives and pain relievers to choose from make for a pain free procedure by our experienced and friendly physician. Recover back in your suite and choose from 3 relaxing options--a foot massage, a mud pack facial, or a rebalancing of your shakras by our expert Reiki master. Then, enjoy room service from a 4 star restaurant. Our guide will be available to you to review aftercare and discuss any emotional issues. Full cable and choice of video entertainment available, and enjoy our feather pillow beds for a good night's sleep.
$3000

6. Spiritual Journey-- Ending a pregnancy is not just a physical act but also a spiritual process. Meet with our spirit healer and guide a week in advance to plan the ritual journey that will meet your spiritual needs. Native American (Taino clan tradition), Eastern philosophy, nature-inspired (pagan), or custom designed ceremonies are available to you and to the support people who will accompany you on your spirit quest. Or, design your own rituals with the help of our experienced guides. Check in to our mountain retreat Friday night for a ritual cleansing and spiritual preparation. Have the surgical procedure when you are ready for a separation of paths with the spirit child within you. Miscarriage with medicines and herbs is also available early in pregnancy. A follow-up ritual a year and a day later is included in this package.
$5000

7. Full Emotional Support-- Deciding to end a pregnancy may well be the most difficult emotional crisis a woman or couple may face. Our experienced counselor will spend 2 hours with you and support person of your choice, and your appointment will be scheduled 2-7 days after that. The counselor will explore relationship and identity issues, personal goals, religious and spiritual concerns and offer interactive skill building to you and your significant other. A choice of 3 self help books are included with additional suggestions for grief work and emotional aftercare. The procedure will be performed by an experienced and kind physician in privacy with your choice of pain relievers and sedatives. Or, choose to miscarry with medicine taken at home. ($100 extra.) Two follow up visits with our licensed and experienced counselors are available one week and one month after the procedure. Consultation by phone with the clergy or spiritual leader from your belief system included, if desired.
$1000.

8. Discount Package-- A basic "no frills" package is available for those women who don't need ambiance or additional support. No additional sedation is available without additional cost. Licensed physicians perform the safe surgery in less than 5 minutes. Expect delays and waiting time. No support people allowed in counseling or medical areas. If you want to spend the money on something else, this package may work for you, but we encourage you to consult our website for a complete overview of the abortion experience.
$250, cash only. 9. Abortions Anonymous-- For the woman who wants to tell no one, keep it secret, and have no record of having been there, we offer an anonymous service with private hours. Counseling offered to explore any feelings and potential emotional side effects. No names taken.
$950, cash only.

After listing the full range of imagined options, the authors write:

In most utopian scenarios, price tags are not offered because we assume money will be replaced by a better system of valuation. We have included these imaginary prices, in 2002 dollars, as a way to think about what an experience is worth to us. It may seem strange to think about market forces at work in abortion services but, actually, the stigma long associated with abortion has kept the principles of market economics from working for the consumer of abortion care. Abortion fees have been historically low in relation to medical inflation, and consumers have few choices. Abortion services, by and large, have not changed much in the last 30 years. If people were given real choices of how they wanted their abortion experience to be, the market would reflect a range of price tags as well as desires. When the stigma of abortion dissipates, women will actually have more choices and more recognition of the range of feelings, circumstances and their needs in facing an unintended pregnancy.

There is quite a bit more to the essay. Your comments on the rest of it are welcome as well.

Public Service Announcement

Go Pundit Go reports that Planned Parenthood claims to have found the real terrorists. (Hint: Many of them wear clerical collars.) Your tax dollars at work.

Pick to Click

J.R. Taylor remembers one '70s film that Hollywood will never remake.

What's Going On

Today's recommended reading:

• Sigmund, Carl & Alfred's "Refresher Course on the Middle East"
  
  
• Shrinkwrapped's piece on a terrorist whose release is demanded by Hezbollah: "Who Is Samir Kuntar?"

Comment at the above-linked blogs.

Welcome, Readers of Gawker, Young Manhattanite ... and the National Catholic Register

I scored some sort of trifecta yesterday, with my name and grinning mug in Gawker (profanity alert), Young Manhattanite (ditto), and — in an interview about my conversion — the National Catholic Register (not currently on the newspaper's Web site).

The photos on Young Manhattanite, referenced on Gawker, were from a book party that Young Manhattanite blogger Andrew Krucoff held for Mr. T Experience frontman Frank Portman and his young-adult novel King Dork. (In one of the pics, Frank's holding a just-arrived galley of my book, which comes out in early December.)

I tried to impress Frank by mentioning some articles and liner notes I'd written about pop music, but when he learned my name, he recognized it because, as he noted, I have "a Catholic blog" — and he's a Catholic blogger too. Gotta love that Communion of Saints! As if that weren't coincidence enough, delving into his engaging novel on the train today, I was stunned to find a reference to the Flowerpot Men — a band originally formed by John Carter, whom I recently mentioned in "How I Became the Catholic I Wuz."

A new "Wuz" is coming late tonight.

Life (?) Imitates The Onion

Blogger Pete of March Together for Life recently slammed an article purportedly written by abortion advocate — unaware that the piece was actually an Onion satire. He was rewarded with waves of ridicule and even outright harassment by ideological opponents. Now, John Sexton of Verum Serum looks at the Onion piece and finds it's not so fictional after all.

(Details at Verum Serum, above — and be aware that Pete's original blog post, linked at Verum Serum, now has an abortion photo. Comment at Verum Serum.)

Quote of the Day

"So the UN and the EU believe the Israeli response to the Palestinian[s] and Lebanese is ‘disproportionate’?

"To that, we say poppycock!!

"Where are the rules for a ‘appropriate’ response written? What exactly is the appropriate response to regimes that pose an existential threat to a free society?

"How dare the Europeans, after the Holocaust, deny Jews the right defend themselves with all the might they can muster? How dare the French, with the history of the collaborator Vichy Government, tell the Israelis what is and isn’t appropriate when it comes to their well being? How dare they lecture Israel!"

— Sigmund, Carl and Alfred (leave a comment on that blog)

Thought for the Day

"Dressing or putting on one’s clothes is a moral act and wearing them is a moral act."

— Most Rev. John W. Yanta, Bishop of Amarillo, from his pastoral letter on proper dress for Mass in summer, "Modesty Starts with Purification of the Heart"

Matt Alderman of Shrine of the Holy Whapping writes about our attending the superhero-registration debate and a New Criterion party. It's a beautifully written piece and I am honored.

(Comment at the Shrine of the Holy Whapping.)

Different Strummers

Some friends whose music I've followed for a while have new releases. I admit I'm totally biased, but these albums have nonetheless given me hours of pleasure:

Alan Merrill (with me at right) previously appeared in The Dawn Patrol as "our fave rave shang-a-lang Scheherazade" with his first-person stories of his audition for the Left Banke and his writing "I Love Rock N Roll [second entry down on that page]. The son of singer Helen Merrill and jazzman Aaron Sachs (a Benny Goodman protégé), he has an illustrious history as a pure popmeister.

Alan's latest release is a reissue of his 1971 solo album Merrill 1, made while his star was ascending in the land of the rising sun. (Yes, as the saying goes, he really is big in Japan.) For years, he's been telling me about this, his "Emitt Rhodes" album — a self-penned, McCartneyesque work on which he plays all the guitars and bass (along with some other instruments) and sings all the vocals.

The Rhodes influence is indeed evident on Merrill 1, especially in the blissfully innocent, unaffected vocals and the charmingly miniaturist feel of its catchy three-minute tunes. But Alan's better at harmonizing with himself than Rhodes ever was — at certain points, his vocal blend has a depth that compares favorably with the Hollies. And while some of the album's songs lack Rhodes' astoundingly perfect, near-baroque construction, Alan shows a wider range of influences — particularly Todd Rundgren's most pristine piano-fueled melancholia (think "Baby Let's Swing"), the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (his "Crazy Lady" recalls their "Caroline No"), and early Nilsson (including a brief, blatant homage to "Good Old Desk").

Give a listen to one of Merrill 1's standout tracks, "Everyday All Night Stand," at the CD Baby store. The tune's plugged into that perfect early-Seventies power-pop zeitgeist, with the same kind of gorgeous guitars — run through a Hammond organ's Leslie speaker — that Canadian superstar Pagliaro was doing at the same time (here's one of Pag's best). Not everything on Merril 1 is that strong — at the tender age of 19, Alan had yet to mature as a songwriter — but it's eminently listenable and filled with ear candy.

The Anderson Council's long-awaited second album, The Fall Parade is finally out, and unlike their debut, Coloursound (which featured me on its front cover), it sounds like an album — not just a collection of songs. Gone are the Mod affectations — save for the occasional "And Your Bird Can Sing" riff and singer Peter Horvath's unsinkable British accent. (Admittedly, Peter — at left with me in 2003 — hails from a formerly British territory: New Jersey.) Instead, the Council's moved a few decades into the future, taking production and songwriting cues from their near neighbors the Smithereens, with hints of other Eighties and Nineties acts like Matthew Sweet, XTC, and classic Elvis Costello.

Thankfully, the Council's more recent influences retain a melodic sensibility and jangly guitar sound that's easy on the ears of Sixties pop fans like myself, so The Fall Parade should still appeal to those who dug the revivalist sound of the group's debut. The songs also include a couple of the group's early compositions that didn't make it onto Coloursound, most notably the whimsical "Pinkerton's Assorted Colours," which sounds for all the world like an outtake from The Who Sell Out.

The best of The Fall Parade's newer compositions, like "Strawberry Smell" (with its great cycle of fifths and "Looking at Louth," reflect Peter's ear for inventive chord changes and playfully enigmatic lyrics. The latter's a bit of a problem for me; I always liked Rod Argent better than Ray Davies and Paul McCartney better than Pete Townshend, so lyrics that contain irony, vague symbolism, or similar forms of detachment leave me cold. The words to the tunes on Coloursound, like "Mind Meld Mud" and "Feet of the Guru," were largely nonsense, but they let the listener in on the joke — like Edward Lear for the Cuban-heel set. I've listened to The Fall Parade 20 times and I adore the sound of it, but I have only the faintest idea of what its songs are about. I can only close my eyes and think of England.

Back in 2001, Peter Horvath very kindly recorded a fab demo of a song I wrote: "Girl on the Northern Line." Enjoy!

Opus Dee

Congratulations to Kathy Shaidle, who is celebrating the sixth (!) anniversary of her blog Relapsed Catholic with links to her greatest hits — including a classic that I had missed: "Gidget Vs. Gonzo." Kathy contrasts the life of Hunter S. Thompson with that of Sandra Dee — who died the same day as the gonzo journalist — with Gidget coming out the winner.

"[Thompson] supposedly killed himself because ... he dreaded the indignities of growing old," Kathy writes. "He rode with the Hell's Angels but was scared of Depends?"

Turning in "early" this morning after attending a delightful Jinx Atheneum Society debate on the resolution: "Should Superheroes Have to Register with the Government?" I cast my vote at the end for Ken Silber's argument for the resolution, but Robert A. George's argument against it won over the audience; the vote was 18 to 6. More details to come from Matt Alderman on Shrine of the Holy Whapping.

The "Wuz" series continues late tonight. In the meantime, you are invited to use the comments section below to hold your own discussion of whether superheroes should register with the government.

UPDATE: Robert George recaps his brilliant closing argument::

First they came for The Hulk and I said nothing because I wasn't big, green and filled with anger management issues; then they came for the mutants and I said nothing because I wasn't a mutant; then they came for the superheroes and I said nothing because I wasn't a superhero; then they came for me ...

My friend Valerie took some beautiful photos of the Chartres cathedral. Thanks to Kevin for the heads-up. (Comment at Valerie's blog.)

Judee, Judee, Judee!

A kindly You Tube user has put up a clip of the late L.A. singer/songwriter Judee Sill on the BBC's "Old Grey Whistle Test" in 1973. She's performing her gorgeous song "The Kiss," from her Heart Food album:



Hard to believe there was a time when a songwriter and singer that gifted got national airtime (in England, anyway).

I loved Sill's first album from the get-go, but I bought Heart Food twice in the 1990s, only to give it away each time. I wanted very much to like it, but resented its Jesus-haunted lyrics. (Today, I own it on both vinyl and CD.)

If you haven't visited the Raving Atheist in a while, do stop by and see how he continues to anger and befuddle his longtime readers as he digs for gold. Please pray that he finds it, as with the treasure-seeker described in Matthew 13:44.

P.S. I just discovered that my patron saint Maximilian Kolbe must have been following the Raving Atheist from the beginning. Read the post on Kolbe that RA wrote one week after starting the site.

Please pray for the peace of Jerusalem and all Israel, where my brother Adam is studying to follow his dream of being a doctor to the poorest of the poor.

The Next Voice You Hear ...

Mom and me, fall 1997
... is a treat from the answering machine, circa November 1993.

Mom still sings into my voice mail. But I can't remember what show or recording the song she's singing in this recording comes from.

Expect a lot of audio files in coming days, because I've got a TEAC GF-350 and I'm going to use it.