Terry Schiavo died five years ago today

Here’s one medical ethicist’s take on the whole sad story.

What kind of gal pal are you? (Gents, this is for you, too)

How do you talk about domestic violence? Take the quiz and find out.

More on Click to Empower here.

Judge defends his marrying a couple involved in a domestic violence case

Baltimore County Judge G. Darrell Russell Jr., presided over a second-degree assault case, as well as the civil marriage of the man and woman involved in the first case.

He was suspended, but defended his actions thus:

They’re going to get married, no matter what I do.

He said marrying the couple would “legitimize” their seven-year relationship.

Uh…Judge? No. It doesn’t.

Sarah Palin as Democratic fundraiser

I know! That’s gotta hurt, but some of the same people who recently found themselves in Palin’s gunsights are invoking her name to raise campaign money.

Ah, America.

What we might need now is a little bit of arrogance

(There may be some readers of this blog who very much disagree with this, but:)

Mark Schmitt at The American Prospect writes, of the current administration:

From the most powerful committee chairs to the most recently elected, congressional Democrats quibbled with and opposed Obama on health reform, climate change, financial regulation, and economic stimulus. The slightest risk of losing re-election sent them into a tizzy. And the White House has tiptoed gently around those fears. This is a clash not of arrogance but of mutual timidity.

On that real face thing:

We’ve discussed this before, but:

With all the attention “The Real Face of Jesus?” is getting on the History Channel:

Do you need something like the Shroud of Turin to prop up your faith? Do you need to put your hands in the holes? I don’t mean that to sound as judgmental as it could sound. It sounds judgmental, even to me. But for believers/waverers/skeptics: How much influence does a scientific finding have on your belief or lack thereof?

And here I reveal that my fundamentalist slip is showing: God Said It, etc. But with caveats. Massive, massive caveats.

One scandal, two views.

The Roman Catholic Church is being rocked to its rafters over the ongoing sexual abuse scandal.

Anne Eggebroten writes this, at Religion Dispatches, which includes:

…the all-male rule of the Roman Catholic Church is self-destructing. Ordained men from priests to the Pope are proving that it wasn’t a good idea to leave church governance to an old boys’ network. They have been focused on forgiving each other and covering up crimes “to avoid scandal”—that is, to protect each other, their power, and the church’s wealth.

And over at Huffington Post, Serene Jones writes this, which includes:

Will the faithful work done by so many Catholics be overshadowed by a church hierarchy that goes on the defensive when questioned about cover-ups and complicity? I pray this will not be the case. I also pray that the church might change for the better as a result of these terrible discoveries. And I pray, too, for the deep, ongoing grief — indeed, belly-wrenching lamentation — suffered by so many everyday Catholics who feel betrayed by their own leadership.

And thanks, Sis. Letha, for the link to Anne’s piece.

And thanks, Sis. Sensible, for earning your first-ever DJ Correspondent’s Check. There’s a fair-to-middling chance that it’s in the mail, maybe next Friday some time. That, or you can have it the moment you pry it out of the mouth of the unicorn by the door.

I love Michael Spencer

And I don’t care who knows it.

If you’re not a frequent traveler with Internet Monk, I can’t recommend the website highly enough. Michael Spencer is a graceful and powerful writer. His posts are thoughtful and thought-provoking.

And he lost his day job (and his insurance), and he’s quite sick with cancer.

I have linked frequently to his work, because Internet Monk is one of those sane islands in a frothing sea that doesn’t always make sense to me. Thanks, Sister Neu, for the link. I figured we could all — wherever we are on the scale — take a minute, say a prayer, raise him up, something. Michael Spencer is good people and we here in the blogosphere are better off for knowing him.

Hey! I can see my house from here!

Not really.

New England got hit with another storm but this one hit slightly east of my house. (To recap: Last time, the water was thigh-high in our driveway. This time, there was water in the driveway, but nothing like the photo above.)

Though my house was relatively dry, I knew this storm was bad because I teach a class on Tuesday nights, and two of the students are members of the National Guard. Early in the day, they both emailed to say they would miss class because they would be dealing with flooding. (And they thoughtfully included email from their commanders — in case I thought they were lying, I guess.)

Anyway. The cool thing about weird weather is it gives my far-flung family an excuse to call and check on me. I have three relatives who are avid watchers of the Weather Channel, and they are intrigued by the idea of a Nor’easter — which, until I lived through my first one, always made me think of yellow-slickered fishers pulling bursting nets onto trawlers. Or something. Now, I just think of where to put the buckets to catch the leaks in the dining room, and whether I should be moving my car.

But I do enjoy reassuring my family. It makes them think I’m tough or something.

Regardless, hope you’re high and dry.

Your inner Jew

I found this for Passover: Qanta Ahmed’s visit to a synagogue is a beautiful, beautiful thing.