Saturday, April 21, 2007

Alec Baldwin on Parenting

Actor Alec Baldwin has driven one road lower in his bitter custody dispute with his ex-wife Kim Basinger, this time verbally unleashing on their daugher. He was recently recorded on voicemail calling his 11 year old daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig." He went on to say:

"You don't have the brains or the decency as a human being," he says, apparently upset that she did not answer her phone for a planned call.

"I don't give a damn that you're 12 years old, or 11 years old, or that you're a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the ass who doesn't care about what you do as far as I'm concerned. You have humiliated me for the last time with this phone."


It's not my place to jump on him, but clearly he's missing the purpose of his role as a father. Is he fighting to see his daughter more, or to punish his ex-wife more? Trying to explain himself, he said,

"I am most saddened that this was released to the media because of what it does to a child. [snip] I am sorry for what happened. But I am equally sorry that a court order was violated, which had deliberately been put under seal in this case." [emphasis added]

So the worst part is not what he said to his 11 year old little girl. It's that a court order was violated to keep the tape private. No matter who else hears the comments, it's he who hurt his daughter. No the media, not her mother, not the lawyers.

We should all pray for Mr. Baldwin.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Shootings at Virginia Tech

My three children are still very young, but I can't imagine the panic that the students and their parents at Virginia Tech must be feeling right now. It just makes you want to hold them tight, no matter how old they are. Pray for all of the families and the victims of this senseless violence.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Bishop Foys' Easter thoughts

Since we are still in the Easter season, here's an excerpt from Covington (KY) Bishop Roger Foys' letter in the Easter issue of the diocesan newspaper, The Messenger.
But then the women came with the fantastic story that the grave was empty! Jesus had made good on his promise. He had risen from the dead! What inexpressible joy! Their night now became day; their sorrow, joy; their tears, laughter! Death had been overcome! Jesus was victorious over sin and death! And his disciples would be changed forever!

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Supreme Court Watch

Maggie Gallagher had a great article recently about the Courts' efforts to hamper prosecutions of child pornographers. Excerpt:
With this ruling, the Supreme Court made prosecutions of child pornography much harder for two reasons: first because the burden of proof shifted to the government to prove an actual child was involved; and second because any idiot with Photoshop could convert his illegal "actual photos" into a computer-generated image protected by the First Amendment, and sell, distribute and possess to his twisted heart's content.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Stem cell advance

Scientists are excited about an advance in stem cell research

Researchers led by Magdi Yacoub, a professor of cardiac surgery at Imperial College London, have grown tissue from stem cells in bone marrow that works in the same way as the valves in human hearts, it said.


We'll see how excited the media gets about this. They usually prefer to downplay any advance in stem cell research that doesn't come from an embryo. However, the most useful advances to date have come from non-embryonic sources. The Church is not opposed to stem cell research per se, only that research which destroys human embryos (read: human life).

Grieving couple commits suicide after dog dies

Is is surprising to hear that the couple (in their60's) had no (human) children? According to the AP:
Police said the childless couple had held a burial ceremony for their dog of 13 years, called "Puppy," and hosted a feast for friends before hanging themselves in their bedroom.