15 April 2010 short rounds

15 April 2010 short rounds


“Russia suspends adoptions to U.S. families

By Philip P. Pan

Washington Post Foreign Service

Thursday, April 15, 2010; 11:38 AM

MOSCOW -- Russia said Thursday it has suspended all adoptions of Russian children by U.S. families until a bilateral agreement can be reached to ensure their well-being. In making the announcement, the government was following through on a threat it made last week after a 7-year-old boy was sent back to Moscow alone by his adoptive mother in Tennessee…”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/15/AR2010041501570.html?hpid=topnews

Frankly, this does not bother me at all. There are thousands of children in the U.S. in need of adoptive homes with families to care for them. There is no need to look outside our borders for such children. I am told that it is easier to meet requirements for adoption in foreign nations such as Russia and/or China. We should not accept any less stringent requirements for families or individuals pursuing a foreign adoption than we should for the adoption of children already in the U.S. If the intent is to provide a suitable home for a child, rather than to satisfy a biological imperative, there should be no reluctance on the part of would be adoptive parents to submit to the more stringent requirements. After all, these adoptive parents do want what is best for the children, don’t they?



Former astronaut Neil Armstrong criticizes the president for proposed revisions to the U.S.' space program



“Former astronaut Neil Armstrong has issued a strongly worded rebuke of President Barack Obama, criticizing the president for proposed revisions to the U.S.' space program.

Armstrong, along with astronauts James Lovell and Eugene Cernan, called the proposal “devastating” in a letter obtained by NBC News. Read below for the full text:

"The United States entered into the challenge of space exploration under President Eisenhower’s first term, however, it was the Soviet Union who excelled in those early years," the letter begins."Under the bold vision of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, and with the overwhelming approval of the American people, we rapidly closed the gap in the final third of the 20th century, and became the world leader in space exploration. ... “http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1004/armstong_obama_hurting_space.html

I agree with Armstrong. We’ve always been one of the leaders in aerospace R&D as well as in the exploration of space by alternate means. For us to voluntarily surrender a position of leadership that provides immensely valuable spin-off benefits, to back down from a position that provides not only military but civil primacy, is foolish and will result in loss of technical advantage compared to other nations. Obama is wrong. Space exploration may be expensive, may not pay off immediately, and may not play well with minorities and un/underemployed. It is, however, worth every penny we’ve ever spent or will spend. To fully understand how the universe works, we have to leave the ground and explore outward.





Bishop blames Jews for child molestation scandal

"Don't believe that Hitler was merely crazy," says Italian Catholic leader Giacomo Babini

“We're living in the Age of Globalization, and it seems that chutzpah, like latkes, isn't just for Jews any longer. Last week, retired Bishop Giacomo Babini of the Italian town of Grosseto told the Catholic Pontifex website that the Catholic pedophile scandal is being orchestrated by the "eternal enemies of Catholicism, namely the freemasons and the Jews, whose mutual entanglements are not always easy to see through… I think that it is primarily a Zionist attack, in view of its power and refinement. They do not want the church; they are its natural enemies. Deep down, historically speaking, the Jews are God-killers."

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/04/12/bishop_blames_pedophilia_jews_open2010



There should be no doubt that a deep undercurrent of anti-Semitism existed in the Vatican during WWII and still exists today. This hateful slander comes from the same wonderful people who brought the concept of “ghetto” into being, who cooperated eagerly with the Inquisition, who tried and killed people who refused to ignore the truth found in science for the myths found in fundamentalist religion. The Roman Catholic Church may have officially absolved Jews of the execution of Christ. But they obviously have not convinced their official representatives of Jewish innocence. Nor have they wiped our anti-Semitism among their clergy.

While people of all faiths can be found engaging in aberrant, immoral, and illegal behavior, the Roman Catholic Church excels above the rest at hiding the crime and protecting the criminals. Blaming the current scandal on Jews and Masons is wrong and untrue at every level. The various nations of the world need to collectively state that Civil law supersedes Cannon law in all instances, that there will be no protection for clergy of any faith who abuse children. Tax exempt status should be removed from any religious body covering up such crimes. No clergy should be immune from arrest and prosecution.