Author: Richard Chonak

Here’s what Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) used to believe about abortion, before he announced his candidacy for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President.
As it happens, he’s a vegan — no, no, we mustn’t kill any animals for food — but now he’s perfectly willing to support — well, you know the rest. So, Mr. Kucinich, were you a hypocrite beforehand or are you one now? Let me guess.
Poor man: his chances of actually winning the Presidency are slim, as he is already one of the more left-leaning members of his Party. So he’s doing evil by embracing abortion, and all he’s going to get for it is a modest boost in his post-electoral career.

Aristotle Esguerra, the “Accidental Choir Director” who moved his weblog to a new URL a few weeks ago (everyone please update your links), has written his own setting of the ordinary parts of the Mass. It’s based on a popular melody that whole crowds of people are known to sing. He calls it the Stadium Mass.

If Cardinal Bevilacqua retires this year as expected, who will succeed him as Archbishop of Philadelphia? The Inquirer lists, well, the usual names.

AP: In 1976, repentant priest confessed molesting teens; NH Bishop Gendron assigned him to youth work.
The details will be in 9,000 pages of investigative files the state plans to release March 3.
Meanwhile, the current bishop of Manchester, the Most Rev. John McCormack, plans to meet with clergy and lay leaders Tuesday, while two polls show over 70% of NH adults wish he’d resign over the scandal.

Dolly the cloned Scottish sheep has had health troubles for some time, and they caught up with her today. AP reports: Dolly the cloned sheep was put to death Friday, after premature aging and disease marred her short existence and raised questions about the practicality of copying life. The decision to end Dolly’s life at age 6 — about half the life expectancy of her breed — was made because a veterinarian confirmed she had a progressive lung disease, according to the Roslin Institute, the Scottish lab where she was created and lived. “We must await the results of the post-mortem on Dolly in order to assess whether her relatively premature death was in any way connected with the fact that she was a clone,” said Richard Gardner, a professor of zoology at Oxford University and chair of the Royal Society working group on stem cell research and therapeutic cloning. “If there is a link, it will provide further evidence of the dangers inherent in reproductive cloning and the irresponsibility of anybody who is trying to extend such work to humans.” What is the world coming to: its senses? I’m not used to hearing medical scientists take a position that supports morality. Is it somehow (morbidly) fitting that on St. Valentine’s Day, the holiday representing romance and marriage, this famous fruit of asexual reproduction was put to an end?