The Worst Thing You’ll Read All Day

I hope you have had your lunch. Because this story is an appetite destroyer:

Via Gateway Pundit:

Man Beheads 15 Month-Old In Grocer’s Fruit & Veggie Section

Early morning shoppers at a supermarket in Jeddah were left reeling yesterday, with some falling unconscious, after a well-built Syrian man clinched a knife and decapitated his 15-month-old nephew in front of his mother in the store’s fruit and vegetable section.

In a brutal murder that has shocked the city, the 25-year-old man beheaded the boy, who was out shopping with his mother — in full glare of shoppers and staff at Al-Marhaba supermarket on Sari Street around 9.30 a.m. The man, who is the boy’s maternal uncle, apparently killed the boy following a dispute with his sister and brother-in-law.

Eyewitnesses said that the man picked up a knife from inside the store and severed the boy’s head. The mother and a shopper standing close by fainted, while several other stood in shock and disbelief over what had happened.

A police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Arab News, “The murderer was in a dispute with the boy’s mother and her husband. He chopped off the boy’s head in front of the mother to get back at her.” He added that the mother has been left traumatized and is in hospital. The boy’s father was at work at the time of the incident.

That poor mother…I can’t even imagine!

Rosaries Banned In Schools

How unfortunate. Apparently gangs have adopted this Catholic prayer tool as “part of their look”, so educators and public safety officials consider rosaries to be one more marker to track suspicious activity. And many schools have banned students from wearing them.

Recently this case in Oregon received nationwide attention:

Never did Jaime Salazar imagine that wearing a rosarylike crucifix to school would provoke a national stir.

But when the 14-year-old and his 16-year-old friend Marco Castro were suspended recently for refusing to remove the religious beads because they were “gang-related,” it thrust Oregon into the headlines and has triggered questions over the evolving role of rosaries in religion, fashion and street gangs.

Rosaries are not necklaces, and are not meant to be worn as such. But what one of the boys was wearing was apparently a crucifix, which is meant to be worn around the neck.

In Albany, Salazar said he knows exactly what a rosary is, and that’s not what he was wearing. It was a baby blue, beaded crucifix, he said, that makes him think of his mother.

Salazar said his problems began Feb. 15 after breakfast when Principal Chris Equinoa asked him to put away the crucifix, which he was wearing as a necklace.

“He told me it was a rosary, and it was gang-related,” said Salazar, who now carries the crucifix in his pocket. “I told him ‘No, it’s not a rosary. It’s a necklace and it’s Catholic.’ “

When Equinoa asked him to go to the office, Salazar said he went home. Later, he received a letter notifying him he was suspended for five days for defiance and gang-related behavior.

Marco Castro did not return calls for comment, but he told the local Albany paper that Equinoa approached him Feb. 14 about his rosary, a white string of beads with a cross and an image of the Virgin Mary. He put it away but wore it the next day, then refused to remove it. He was suspended for three days.

More to the story?

Officials at South Albany High School, where Salazar and Castro returned to school last week, said policy prevents them from offering details about the suspensions.

“There’s more to the story, but because the boys are minors, we can’t talk about it,” said Jim Haggart, assistant to the superintendent for the Greater Albany Public School District.

I really don’t want to dwell on this one particular case, wherever the truth lies.

I just think schools are too heavy handed when it comes to these sorts of anti-gang fashion edicts.

Several years ago, bandanas became popular for girls to wear on their heads for the first time since I was a girl. I thought it was a cute trend, as there were many colors and designs to choose from, and it was a always a good choice for those bad hair days. Well, before long, the school put an abrupt end to the bandana trend by banning them because they were “gang related”. My oldest daughter was in the third grade at the time. Her little sister was in kindergarten. I don’t know how little K-6th grade school girls in a fairly conservative suburb could ever be confused with being gang members, but that was (and still is) the policy. And it’s silly.

Surrounded by rosaries at The Rosary Shop in McMinnville, shop owner Seth Murray is troubled by the idea of such a sacred symbol associated with gangs.He said public officials should focus on behavior, not rosaries.

“If someone is engaged in violence, it doesn’t matter whether they’re wearing a rosary,” he said. “You should not seek people out for that reason.”

I’m with that guy. And this guy, too, (even if he is from the ACLU):

David Fidanque, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon says educators should proceed with caution. Their intentions may be valid, but they run the risk of violating students’ rights, he said.

“When it comes to restricting any form of expression, school officials have a pretty high bar to cross,” he said. “They better have very specific evidence that’s more than just a hunch.”

Again, rosaries are not even meant to be worn around the neck, and most people who do it are doing so to make a fashion statement. But I’m not sure that it’s the school’s place to take a position on its usage. And it would help if school administrators could tell the difference between a crucifix and a rosary. They are most certainly impeding on a student’s religious rights by banning the wearing of a crucifix.

Obama Campaign v.s. Politico

The Politico has come under fire by the Obama campaign for an article posted on Saturday, originally called, Obama Support Soft Among Catholics, but changed to Obama Slow To Gain Among Catholics, to (apparently) placate angry campaign workers. But the difference in the two titles is a subtle one, and the fact remains that Catholic voters have been voting in larger numbers for Hillary, (which is disturbing, in and of itself).

In How The Sausage Gets Made, the Politico gives us the play by play of the behind the scenes turmoil that took place almost immediately after the article was published; most notably a call from the combative deputy communications director Dan Pfeiffer:

Mahtesian, who has written about national politics for nearly two decades, said Sunday he was taken aback by Pfeiffer’s bellicose tone.

“Who are you? I’ve never heard of you. What’s your background?” Pfeiffer demanded to know, Mahtesian recalled.

Some more phone calls and email exchanges ensued with different members of the Obama campaign. The Politico changed the headline, but stood behind the story.

By Sunday, Pfeiffer was having second thoughts about the conversation the night before. In an e-mail to Mahtesian, with me copied, he apologized if asking about Mahtesian’s background came out the wrong way.

“I was not questioning anyone’s credentials or trying to be a jerk for the sake of being a jerk,” Pfeiffer wrote. “I remain convinced that the story is based on a fundamentally flawed logic [because] it suggests that we have a problem with voters because they are Catholic, when instead the more likely and obvious conclusion is that the groups we have always trailed Clinton with (most notably Latino voters) are disproportionately Catholic and the groups that overwhelming support Obama (most notably African Americans) are disproportionately not Catholic. My point was that there is scant evidence that someone’s Catholicism is determinative of their choice in the election. Having said all that, I appreciate the willingness to listen and make some changes to the story including adding Roemer’s voice to the story. I will now leave you guys alone about this.”

Now, I realize the Obama team prides itself on its ability to win religious votes. But I must disagree with Pfeiffer’s contention that someone’s Catholicism is not determinative of their choice in the election.I don’t know if I can speak for Catholic Democrats. Whenever a I hear that a Catholic is a Democrat, I want to say, “But I thought you were Catholic”. I tend to think that these are your “Social Justice Catholics”, (who really mean well, but don’t seem to know about the 5 non-negotiables*), “cafeteria Catholics”, and “twice a year if at all Catholics”. But I suspect, that however liberal a Catholic may be, his Catholic conscience can’t abide this:

Not only did Barack Hussein Obama oppose the partial birth abortion ban, he voted against a bill in the Illinois legislature that would have required medical care for aborted babies who survive an abortion.

I’m heartened to hear that liberal Catholics are balking at voting for Obama, who for them, is otherwise, a very attractive candidate.

*In voting for people, there are THE FIVE NON-NEGOTIABLE ISSUES

These five issues are called non-negotiable because they concern actions that are always morally wrong and must never be promoted by the law. It is a serious sin to endorse or promote any of these actions, and no candidate who really wants to advance the common good will support any of the five non-negotiables.

1. Abortion

2. Euthanasia

3. Fetal Stem Cell Research

4. Human Cloning

5. Homosexual Marriage

Just sayin’.