Please Pray for the Pope

No, this isn't a late April Fool's joke. I think folks who believe in prayer should, in fact, pray for the ailing pope.

Christian Behavior
Perhaps it's time for those folks who truly care about the same things Christ did, to take back Christianity ?

In a World where "pro-life" President Bush takes office, when the nation's abortion rates were at a 24-year low, after a 17.4 percent decline during the 1990s. This was a steady decrease averaging 1.7 percent per year. (The data come from Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life using the Guttmacher Institute's studies.)

With the onset of the George W. Bush dynasty in 2001, there are four states that have posted three-year statistics: Kentucky's increased by 3.2 percent from 2000 to 2003. Michigan's increased by 11.3 percent from 2000 to 2003. Pennsylvania's increased by 1.9 percent from 1999 to 2002. Colorado's rates skyrocketed 111 percent.

There were 12 additional states that reported statistics for 2001 and 2002. Eight states saw an increase in abortion rates (14.6 percent average increase), and four saw a decrease (4.3 percent average).

Given the trends of the 1990s, 52,000 more abortions occurred in the United States in 2002 than would have been expected before this change of direction.

And you KNOW the reasons for increases in abortion rates are poverty, unemployment of spouses and inability to afford healthcare for themselves or their unborn children.

I know most of the folks that read this blog (except Kathy) have leftist leanings, but even the conservative right wing will have to admit that good public education is critical to the success of our country and it's citizens.

The ill-named and unfunded, "No Child Left Behind" act has brought about a severe increase in dropouts and illiteracy.

And I won't even go into the decline in civil rights perpetuated by Redumblican actions such as the "Patriot Act".

I can't imagine what Jesus would say about the state of this country.

So, do the charitable thing, and pray that this pope has an easy transition into the afterlife. Hell, who knows, maybe he'll be greated by a bevy of virgins too.

Knitting
I've finally completed the body of the Jacob Select, brown handspun pullover, and started the first sleeve.



Finally a decent picture that shows the color pretty well and a bit of the soft, heathery texture.

If I didn't hate the cold so much, I'd actually wish for a little more cold weather so I could get away with wearing this sweater when it's done.

I did very little on the Communion Shawl. Hopefully I'll have more to report next week.

All About Me
Shortly I will be publishing a "100 More Things About Me" (I've been working on it for a while).

Blogs can be so self-aggrandizing for the writer. Mine will continue to maintain that reputation.