Obama’s Definitions of Children and Adults

The recent controversy regarding the administration’s opinion that fifteen-year-old and younger females should be able to go to a drug store and purchase, without a prescription from a doctor and without the parents’ knowledge, was set aside on April 5^th by Judge Edward Korman, from the Eastern District of New York, who gave the FDA 30 days to remove age restrictions on the sale of emergency contraception, such as Plan B One-Step.

In his ruling, Korman was dismissive of the government’s arguments and, in particular, previous decisions by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that required girls under 17 to get a prescription for the emergency contraceptive. In 2011, Sebelius overruled a recommendation by the FDA to make the drug available to all women without a prescription. The FDA said at the time that it had well-supported scientific evidence that Plan B One-Step is a safe and effective way to prevent unintended pregnancy.

Sebelius, however, said she was concerned that very young girls couldn’t properly understand how to use the drug without assistance from an adult.

She invoked her authority under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and directed FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg to issue “a complete response letter.” As a result, “the supplement for nonprescription use in females under the age of 17 is not approved,” Hamburg wrote at the time.

On May 1^st Sebelius’ agency challenged Korman’s decision. The move is the latest chapter in a 10-year, controversial debate about who should have access to the drug and why.

Plan B prevents implantation of a fertilized egg in a woman’s uterus through use of levonorgestrel, a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone used for decades in birth control pills. Plan B contains 1.5 milligrams of levonorgestrel, more than “the Pill” contains. It is considered a form of birth control, not abortion by some. However, the Catholic Church maintains that Plan B is a form of abortion, because fertilization has taken place.

On May 2^nd Rep. Steve Stockman (R), of Texas’s 36^th congressional district, tweeted “Democrats on health care: 15-year-olds who want birth control are adults. 26-year-olds who want health insurance are children.” Admittedly, Stockman likes to shock. In April he made available a bumper sticker which read “If babies had guns, they wouldn’t be aborted.”

However, Stockman makes a good point. In Obamacare, “children” can remain on their parents’ health insurance until their 27^th birthday. I don’t think I would call a 26 year old woman a “child” with what that implies in the sense of housing, feeding, care, etc. that a parent would give a pre-teen.

Yet, the Obama administration considers those females who are 16 to be adults when it comes to Plan B. Judge Korman would go below 15. He’s just plain nuts.

As a former school administrator I could not give a student an aspirin without a parent’s permission. Yet, in this Orwellian world, Judge Korman feels it’s okay for females under 15 to go to the drug store and purchase the “morning after” pill without anyone knowing.

Catholic Kathleen Sebelius and Obama himself are not much better in their positions. President Obama said on May 2nd he was comfortable with his administration’s decision to allow over-the-counter purchases of a morning-after pill for anyone 15 and older.

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday had lowered the age at which people can buy the Plan B One-Step morning-after pill without a prescription to 15 – younger than the current limit of 17. The FDA decided that the pill could be sold on drugstore shelves near condoms, instead of locked behind pharmacy counters.

Obama, speaking at a news conference while in Mexico, said the FDA’s decision was based on “solid scientific evidence.”

Mr. O, you are certainly no scientist, nor much of a person consistent on anything…and we have you leading this country until 2017. As a pro-life Catholic, I cannot wait until you leave office and stop inflicting your twisted moral logic on everyone…and don’t get me started on the economy, gay marriage, the regulations curtailing the coal industry, or the Benghazi cover-up.

Mixing Theology with Cement

I am a simple kind of guy, who, when undergoing any project —whether it be taking astrophotographs, writing a blog on theology, or planting crops for our farm market — does a lot of praying. I think cherry, apple, strawberry and grape growers can relate as we enter the critical frost season. As a Catholic, Mary and the Holy Spirit are my go-to persons for help.

As winter was ending on the calendar, I decided, since we heat our house with wood, to build a wood shed with a floor of cement.

We do have a furnace in the basement which is capable of heating with oil or wood, but heating with oil has been erased from my memory. Our house, on the east side of Lake Leelanau, has lots of glass windows, and on average I would use 10 gallons a day. Now if you figure 30 days in a month times 8 months times $4.00 a gallon for oil, that works out to a little under $10,000 a year.

I explored heat pumps and outdoor heating units, wood pellets, propane, as well as the cost of running a natural gas line through tons of roots, but came to the conclusion that wood from our own woodlots was the best choice. Not only that, but a new fireplace insert heats the upper floor nicely. Getting wood into the fireplace requires some hard work. I have chain saws, a buzz rig, two tractors, etc., but I’m what you would call a “senior” so my endurance is limited.

Anyway, after some prayer, I began to plan to build the wood shed. The first thing that had to be done was clear out an area near the house. Easier said than done. We had split about 15 face cords for this past winter, piled it all on wood pallets, and covered it with a big plastic tarp. Too many problems, what with snow, melting, refreezing, etc. See what this deteriorated to by the end of February.

For 2013-14 this temporary setup had to be replaced. A permanent structure was the thing. Clearing out the several trees, which I cut to stumps, needed big equipment. A local company with back hoe and claw was there the same day. Dealing with frozen pallets, stumps, and roots was a challenge, but it was done in an hour and a half. Laying out a 12′x21’ framework came next.

Then came digging 14 post holes. I purchased a small powered auger and began drilling down a couple of feet.  I have rented diggers before, but for the money I paid for a new powered auger, why rent? I will use it again for planting 200 gallon containers of blueberries and other planting jobs.

The auger didn’t have a reverse, but I only got hung up on one root. I wanted to go down at least 24 inches, but the auger didn’t quite make it, so I purchased a two-handled post hole digger.

At the bottom of the holes I placed 6”-round cement pads and anchored treated 4x4s on top of them, packing everything with Quickcrete.

Within the week, I requested 3½ cu. yds. of cement to be delivered by a local company. The day arrived, sunny, with no rain or snow in the forecast. Three hours delayed, the cement truck came. Clouds were gathering. After the first screed, it rained. Having rescreeded, big snowflakes left polka dot impressions on the cement floor. Hey, it was only a Wood Shed.

The next steps involved drilling holes for 6” long x ½” carriage bolts to tie horizontal 2x8s and 2x6s to the 4x4s together.

In the midst of crazy weather forecasts, son Ben came up from Grand Rapids to help finish the project. We first placed 3/8” 4′x8′ plywood sheets on the framing as an underlayment for the metal roof. Ben used a nailer for this job.

Then we hoisted the 3’x12’ green metal panels up and he screwed in sheet metal screws. The roof angles at 20 degrees, so rain and snow drain and slide off.

Six hours later, we were done … and it began to rain … but only after I had parked my snowmobile under the new roof.

The next week, my wife Marlene and I added several 2x4s as bracing for future wood stacks. The shed will hold a ton of wood! It will dry well because we get wind from all directions and it will be ready for use this fall.

The final product…

We have two log splitters, one of which is in the picture. Now the real work begins … 25 cords of wood for next winter! We do have a start though. I do have to say that everything lines up … the building is solid as a rock, and all my prayers were answered … except maybe the snowflakes from heaven, but if the flakes were heaven-sent, what more could a simple man like me ask?

The Resignation of Popes

The world was caught off guard with the announcement by Pope Benedict XVI this past week that he would resign the papacy on February 28^th. Citing deterioration of mind and body, the Pope is one of a very few successors to St. Peter to resign the office.

There was confusion as to when the last pope resigned.  The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415 in a deal to end the Great Western Schism among competing papal claimants. In a prior blog (http://blogs.record-eagle.com/?p=5327#more-5327), I had written that the only Swiss saint, Nicholas of Flue, was born and baptized during the controversial Council of Constance in Constance, Germany, near Lake Constance, which today borders the countries of Austria and Switzerland. The Catholic Church had three men claiming to be pope at the outset of the council in 1414.

It was the age of conciliarism, where, for the first time, a church council had assumed the reins as head of the Church. It all began with King Philip IV of France (1248-1314) who was instrumental in securing the election of Clement V, a Frenchman, to the papacy in 1305. This had an unpopular outcome in Rome, where factionalism made Clement’s life as pope stressful. To escape the oppressive atmosphere, in 1309 Clement chose to move the papal capital to Avignon in France, which was the property of papal vassals at that time.

There were seven popes who resided at Avignon from 1305 to 1378.

1305-1314: Clement V
1316-1334: John XXII
1334-1342: Benedict XII
1342-1352: Clement VI
1352-1362: Innocent VI
1362-1370: Urban V
1370-1378: Gregory XI

Two saints,  Catherine of Siena and Bridget of Sweden are credited with persuading Pope Gregory XI to return the See to Rome. This he did on Jan. 17, 1377. But Gregory’s stay in Rome was plagued with hostilities, and he seriously considered returning to Avignon. Before he could make any move, however, he died in March, 1378.

When Gregory XI moved the See back to Rome, he did so over the objections of the cardinals in France. The man elected to succeed him, Urban VI, was so hostile to the cardinals that 13 of them met to choose another pope  in Anagni in central Italy … Pope Clement VII. Pope Clement VII set up his papacy back in Avignon, but Urban VI in Rome and his supporters refused to acknowledge him as the legitimate pope. Some people supported Urban VI in Rome as the legitimate pope while others supported Clement VII as the legitimate pope. Furthermore, support for these two rival popes often depended on one’s nationality. The French and their allies support the Avignon pope while those who resented France’s influence on the papacy supported the pope in Rome.

In 1409, another group of cardinals hoped to resolve the conflict by holding a church counsel in Pisa. Those in attendance elected a third pope, Alexander V, who was supposed to replace the other two. So there were now three popes all claiming to be the only legitimate leader of the Catholic Church.

Alexander, considered today as an antipope by the Church, died a year after his election in Pisa, and was succeeded by John XXIII (obviously not the pope who called Vatican II into session), but himself an antipope.

Meanwhile Urban VI, claimant pope in Rome died in 1389 and was succeeded by Boniface IX who died in 1404. He, in turn, was succeeded by Innocent VII, who died in 1406. His successor was Gregory XII.

Back in Avignon, Clement VII (today considered an antipope), died in 1394. He was succeeded by antipope Benedict XIII.  In 1398 the French church withdrew its allegiance from the Avignon papacy. Benedict was abandoned by 17 of his cardinals, with only five remaining faithful to him, thus in effect taking Avignon out of the picture.

That left two claimants to the papacy … John XXIII and Gregory XII. In 1415 the Council of Constance brought this clash between papal claimants to an end. Gregory XII and John XIII both agreed to resign. Benedict XIII in Avignon was stubborn and refused to abdicate, but he was declared a schismatic and excommunicated from the Church by the Council in 1417.

In the same year, the Council chose Martin V as the true pope. The council was attended by roughly 29 cardinals, 100 doctors of law and divinity, 134 abbots, and 183 bishops and archbishops, so its credibility as an ecumenical council held sway throughout Western Christendom.

Conciliarism, or the belief that a church council can override papal authority, continued on through Martin Luther’s time. Luther called for a council after being declared a heretic by Pope Leo X. The Catholic Church answered with the Council of Trent, which sealed Luther’s fate as a heretic in the eyes of the Catholic Church.

Before I end this blog, news media have reported that an earlier pope was the last one to resign. In the wake of the announcement of Benedict XVI that he would resign at the end of this month, Celestine V has been invoked as the last pontiff to resign – in the 13th century.

Celestine was born in 1215 and felt called to a life of simplicity and solitude. He had withdrawn from society and lived the life of a hermit. Church tradition says he fasted every day except Sunday and kept four Lents a year, surviving on bread and water. He founded, in 1244, the order subsequently named after him, the Celestines. After a period of two years when the papacy was vacant, the future pope was elected by admiring cardinals. With no political experience, Celestine proved to be an especially weak and incompetent pope. He was in his seventies and even protested his election. However, he finally accepted the cardinals’ choice. His papacy ended by his own will barely five months after it began in 1294.

Various parties had opposed his resignation and the new Pope Boniface VIII had reason to worry that one of them might try to reinstall him. Not to worry, though, Celestine had had enough. He died 10 months later after being harassed and even imprisoned for his decision. He was later canonized a saint.

It will be interesting to see who will succeed our present pope. There is the opinion that the new pope will come from Latin America, Africa, or Asia. However, the pope’s brother, also a priest, thinks that a European will be chosen. Believers in the Church-denied prophecies of St. Malachy even suggest that this may be the last pope in history … Peter the Roman. See http://catholicsouthernfront.wordpress.com/st-malachy-papal-list/.

Hypocrisy in Sotomayor’s rulings

I don’t pretend to be a federal court lawyer, or even a lawyer, but like many HS social studies teachers, I taught law to upperclassmen in a public school. I caught a news bit from Reuters that read: “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has refused to block enforcement starting next week of a requirement in President Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare overhaul that some companies provide insurance coverage for contraceptive drugs and devices.”

I always thought that challenges to a lower court decision worked their way up through appellate courts to the Supreme Court, not just to a member of the SC. Apparently, that is not the case. The United States is divided into thirteen circuit courts of appeals, each of which is assigned a “circuit justice” from the Supreme Court.

Today, the circuit justice for each circuit is responsible for dealing with certain types of applications that, under the Court’s rules, may be addressed by a single justice. These include applications for emergency stays (including stays of execution in death-penalty cases) and injunctions pursuant to the All Writs Act arising from cases within that circuit, as well as routine requests such as requests for extensions of time. In the past, circuit justices also sometimes ruled on motions for bail in criminal cases, writs of habeas corpus, and applications for writs of error granting permission to appeal. Ordinarily, a Justice will resolve such an application by simply endorsing it “Granted” or “Denied” or entering a standard form of order. However, the justice may elect to write an opinion — referred to as an in-chambers opinion — in such matters if he or she wishes.

As of September 28, 2010, the allotment of the justices among the circuits was:

Circuit	Justice
District of Columbia Circuit	Chief Justice Roberts
First Circuit	Justice Breyer
Second Circuit	Justice Ginsburg
Third Circuit	Justice Alito
Fourth Circuit	Chief Justice Roberts
Fifth Circuit	Justice Scalia
Sixth Circuit	Justice Kagan
Seventh Circuit	Justice Kagan
Eighth Circuit	Justice Alito
Ninth Circuit	Justice Kennedy
Tenth Circuit	Justice Sotomayor
Eleventh Circuit	Justice Thomas
Federal Circuit	Chief Justice Roberts

The latest case of one SC justice exercising emergency powers concerns Hobby Lobby, a national arts and crafts chain with more than 500 stores in 41 states, which is now facing $1.3 million in daily fines after Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied their emergency request to block enforcement of the Obamacare contraception mandate.

The company is owned by the Green family, devout, evangelical Christians. They believe “it is by God’s grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured” and they seek to honor God by operating their company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles.”

The family believes the Obamacare mandate to provide the morning-after and week-after pills is a violation of their religious convictions.

“To remain true to their faith, it is not their intention as a company, to pay for abortion-inducing drugs,” Becket Fund attorney Kyle Duncan wrote in a statement.

Duncan said the company would continue to provide health insurance for its employees while they fight the government in court.

“The Green family respects the religious convictions of all Americans, including those who do not agree with them,” Duncan said in a statement. “All they are asking is for the government to give them the same respect by not forcing them to violate their religious beliefs.”

There are now 42 separate lawsuits challenging the mandate.

Yet, in a previous case Sotomayor ruled for a Muslim inmate who was denied Ramadan meals. In Ford v. McGinnis, 352 F.3d 582 (2d Cir. 2003), Sotomayor wrote an opinion that reversed a district court decision holding that a Muslim inmate’s First Amendment rights had not been violated because the holiday feast that he was denied was not a mandatory one in Islam. Sotomayor held that the inmate’s First Amendment’s rights were violated because the feast was subjectively important to the inmate’s practice of Islam.

I’d say there’s a bit of hypocrisy in the Justice’s rulings. Because of Obamacare being forced down our throats, the owners of Hobby Lobby now face violating their religious beliefs, suffering under a penalty that will surely kill the business, or just closing the business down themselves and firing some 50,000 employees.