Jus Tertii

'Tis Better to Be an Orphan...

...than to be adopted by loving, gay parents, at least according to the four Roman Catholic bishops of Massachusetts.  Evidently, it's better to be homeless and transient than to experience a loving family that is not 100% sanctioned by the Bible.  Also, not so much buying that the Massachusetts Catholic Church is doing such a bang-up job of looking after childrens' best interests, given recent events involving keeping priests within molesting contact of parish children.  Perhaps the Roman Catholic church should take care of its own house before it starts throwing stones at other peoples'.

Hamas Update

The NY Times is now reporting that the U.S. and Israel now deny any intention to oust Hamas from power in Israel, but rather that they plan to cut off economic aid to Hamas if Hamas does not agree to "renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept previous agreements."  The unofficial request - "stop, drop, and roll."

Democracy = U.S.-Approved Government

The NY Times reported today that the U.S. and Israel are discussing ways to destabilize the new, Hamas-led Palestinian government in hopes of bringing about a better election that, well, the U.S. and Israel might feel more warm and fuzzy about.  One of the arguments in favor of this approach is that "the election results show[ed] that Hamas won a smaller mandate than previously understood."  Strange rhetoric from a country in which you don't have to actually win the popular vote to be President.  Don't get me wrong - I wasn't sure about the wisdom of the Palestinian people's vote in the last election - electing representatives of a party considered a terrorist organization by a number of countries is a bold choice - but no one has proved that the election was anything other than fair and democratic (I didn't see any articles about ballot stuffing, voter intimidation, or strange biochemical weapons being bandied about).  Shouldn't the Palestinian people get to vote for what they want themselves?  Or should the US and Israel decide what's best for Palestine and the Middle East?  We certainly didn't much care for France's input about our decisions after we went to war in Iraq.

Bigotry Don't Come Cheap

Discharging troops under the U.S. military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy costs the country a hefty $363.8 million over 10 years.  That's a nifty little $36 million per year that could be spent on (a) armor for our troops, (b) Hurricane Katrina relief, or (c) the anticipated rise in VP Dick Cheney's homeowners' insurance.