Video: Guest co-host of the View serves up a needed Obama reality-check

I don't know much about Rachel Campos-Duffy, but I love what she had to say yesterday on ABC's the View:

In related news, L'Osservatore Romano at least came out with an article calling Obama's Nobel peace prize "premature."

Of course, the word "premature" still implies that the President is pursuing a host of policies that will eventually make him worthy of receiving a peace prize.

I don't agree with that.

Indian health minister says that TV is the best contraception

Friday is offbeat news day at AmP, and the stories don't come much more offbeat than this [my comments in brackets] (ph/t Deacon Greg Kandra):

Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Health and Family Welfare Minister, has called for the country to redouble its efforts to bring electricity to all of its huge rural population.

The introduction of the electric light and television sets to those vast areas that still did not have them would discourage procreation, he argued.

“If there is electricity in every village, then people will watch TV till late at night and then fall asleep. They won’t get a chance to produce children,” Mr Azad said. “When there is no electricity there is nothing else to do but produce babies.” [Yeah, what a horrible existence.]

He added: “Don’t think that I am saying this in a lighter vein. I am serious. TV will have a great impact. It’s a great medium to tackle the problem . . . 80 per cent of population growth can be reduced through TV.” [And here we think a sex-saturated culture will only result in more intercourse. Whouda thunk it?]

Maybe that would be the way to promote a culture of life in America - cancel Monday Night Football.

It completely true that more children are conceived during black-outs. What funny people we humans are. 

Kmiec gets a cold reception; Malta picks up on previous rumors

I have to wonder how Malta - a proudly Catholic county - feels about getting Doug Kmiec as their U.S. ambassador. 

The Malta Today, for instance, over the weekend picked-up on previously-reported rumors published by the Catholic News Agency that Kmiec was refused as Holy See ambassador before getting Malta as a second-pick (ph/t: Catholic Culture).

In other news, Wales is reportedly displeased with the recently-announced assignment of Richard Rich as its new attorney general.

update: in support of my claims here, CNA notes "Maltese newspaper editor comments on Kmiec’s proposed ambassadorship" saying Kmiec is "somewhat of a poisoned chalice".

Breaking: Italy's "Terri Schiavo" Dies Suddenly

LifeSiteNews:

Eluana Englaro, Italy's "Terri Schiavo," has died only four days after doctors began a "gradual" reduction in her food and water intake with the intent to cause her death.

The announcement was made by Italy's Health Minister on the floor of the Italian Senate, which was debating a bill that would have saved Englaro's life.

Although no cause of death has been announced, earlier news reports indicated that Englaro's intake of nutrients was being replaced with a heavy dose of sedatives. Palliative medication in high doses can cause a patient to die prematurely.

The news follows public statements by Englaro's physician that she has enjoyed almost perfect physical health during the 16 years following her car accident in 1992, which left her bedridden and in a minimal state of consciousness. She was 38 years old.

More also from LifeNews:

After an international debate over whether she should be subjected to a painful starvation and dehydration death, Eluana Englaro has died. The disabled woman had been in a minimally conscious state since 1992, when she was involved in an automobile accident.

Englaro's father Beppino had won a court order to kill his daughter after fighting for a decade to do so.

May she rest in peace.

Dutch abortion ship makes for Spanish harbor

Caption: "29-08-04, 17:15 hours: The Portugese Navy circles the Women on Waves ship and orders the captain to stop approaching Portugal. Photo: Nadya Peek for Women on Waves" (source)

Today one of these "abortion ships" will be visiting the coast of Spain:

A Spanish pro-life group said it plans to protest the arrival on Thursday of a Dutch boat that is offering to provide abortions that circumvent Spain's strict laws.

The boat is due to anchor off the Mediterranean port of Valencia, the Dutch non-profit organisation Women on Waves said on its web site.

From Friday, it will offer abortions on the ship in international waters under the Netherlands' more liberal abortion laws.

This "symbolic initiative" will allow "abortions outside Spanish law for the first time in Spain's recent history, but without violating it," said Spanish gynaecologist Josep Lluis Carbonell, one of the promoters.

But it has already sparked controversy.

Valencia's conservative mayor Rita Barbera termed the plan a "provocation that has sparked indignation."

The anti-abortion group Provida in Valencia said its members plan a protest aboard a smaller vessels when the boat arrives. (AFP)

The concept is pretty simple - take a storage container and put a mini-abortion clinic in it (source):

Then sail it around and provide abortions on international waters (source):
Note how members of the pro-abortion movement are willing to break and circumvent laws, while simultaneously criticizing pro-life people who try to save lives by working around government policies.

(And for anyone who has seen the end of the movie Children of Men, what an anti-type this is!)

Commentary: Pope Benedict talks eloquently about ... water

I admit to raising my eyebrows upon my first reading:

"I am pleased to send a message of faith and hope", the Pope writes, "to those who are visiting the 2008 Saragossa Expo dedicated to the complex themes tied to the importance of water for human life and the maintenance of equilibrium among the diverse elements of our world. The Holy See wanted to be present at the Expo with a pavilion that was jointly prepared with the archdiocese of Saragossa, which I thank for their generous commitment to promoting proper cultural initiatives that draw the visitor closer to the immense patrimony of spirituality, art, and social wisdom that is inspired by water and which has been safeguarded by the Catholic Church".

"We have to be aware that, regrettably, water - an essential and indispensable good that the Lord has given us to maintain and develop life -, because of incursions and pressures from various social factors, is today considered a good that must be especially protected through clear national and international policies and used according to sensible criteria of solidarity and responsibility. The use of water - which is seen as a universal and inalienable right - is related to the growing and urgent needs of those living in poverty, keeping in mind that the 'limited access to drinkable water affects the well being of an enormous number of people and is frequently the cause of illness, suffering, conflict, poverty, and also death'".

"Those who consider water today to be a predominantly material good", the Pope concludes, "should not forget the religious meanings that believers, and Christianity above all, have developed from it, giving it great value as a precious immaterial good that always enriches human life on this earth. How can we not recall in this circumstance the suggestive message that comes to us from Sacred Scripture, which treats water as a symbol of purification and life? The full recovery of this spiritual dimension is ensured and presupposed for a proper approach to the ethical, political, and economic problems that affect the complex management of water on the part of all concerned, as well as in the national and international spheres". (VIS)

After thinking about it for a bit, however, I began to see the two-fold point. First, a clean and accessible water supply is indeed of paramount importance in the fight against global hunger and disease. Second, in the final paragraph, Pope Benedict transcends the material good represented by water and elevates his discourse to treat water's spiritual symbolism and (even) sacramental efficacy.

Now that's a type of conservationism I can admire.