POTUS Contradicts NY Times Poll on Race Relations.

In a recent interview with BBC, President Obama said race relations in the United States had improved during his presidency. His opinion flies in the face of a New York Times/CBS News poll conducted last week that reveals that nearly six in 10 Americans, including heavy majorities of both whites and blacks, think race relations are generally bad, and that nearly four in 10 think the situation is getting worse.

By comparison, two-thirds of Americans surveyed shortly after President Obama took office said they believed that race relations were generally good.

Thailand Fights to Prevent First World Exploitation of Third World Women.

In 2013, a gay "married" couple contracted with a surrogate mother in India in order to purchase their own baby. Gordon "Bud" Lake and his "husband", Manuel Santos Valero bought their son, Alvero, just months before the Indian government moved to shut down the commercial surrogacy industry.

About one and a half years ago, the two husbands wanted to buy yet another baby in order to fulfill their narcissistic world view, but no longer being allowed to exploit third world women in India, they choose Thailand as the next best place.

Not long after renting the womb of surrogate Patidta Kusongsaang, the couple found themselves in a legal quagmire in Thailand; the government has banned commercial surrogacy for international couples.

The now six month old girl, Carmen, has no passport or papers required to leave Thailand. Kusongsaang had signed the consent form that allowed Lake and Santos to take Carmen from the hospital and they put Lake’s name on the birth certificate. But then Kusongsaang failed to show up for the last meeting at the U.S. embassy to sign the final document.

After learning that the man who had contracted with her was in a homosexual "marriage", the surrogate changed her mind on allowing the sperm donor to have the child. It should be noted that the egg used was donated by a women other than Kusongsaang, and while she carried and delivered the baby, Kusongsaang and Carmen share no DNA. Never the less, as the birth mother, Kusongsaang has full legal custody of the child.

Kusongsaang has filed charges against Lake and Valero for child abduction. The two men are stranded in Thailand - changing apartments regularly in order to keep the baby hidden.

Kusongsaang's legal advisor, Verutai Maneenuchanert, says the commercial surrogacy business was wrong from the very beginning. Maneenuchanert calls commercial surrogacy human trafficking and says Kusongsaang is the victim.

Fortunately, Lake and Santos have very little chance of winning their case in Thai court. Dr. Arkom Pradidsuwan, who is with the Thai Medical Council in the Ministry of Public Health, said,

"Thai law does not endorse same sex pair. And Thai law, legal couple is husband and wife, man and woman".

Pradidsuwan says baby Carmen’s legal status belongs to Patidta Kusongsaang.

Three cheers for the Thai government. What gives the right to these affluent, narcissistic First Worlders - either Gay or Straight - to exploit these impoverished women in Third World countries? The idea of surrogacy is immoral; add to that, the exploitation and the issue of human trafficking and the immorality is compounded.

Not only should the Thai government take this child away from these two men, but I think a bit of jail time might be in order.
Sources:
infiniteguest.org
npr.org
thinkprogress.org
bangkokpost.com

Pope Francis' Popularity in U.S. Drops.

According to a recent Gallup poll, Pope Francis' favorable rating drops in U.S..

The New York Post is reporting that US support for Pope Francis plummets. Politico says Pope Francis' approval rating nosedives among conservatives, while one news site reports that Pope Francis' approval rating dips in U.S..

At The Washington Post, religion reporter, Michelle Boorstein makes an attempt at explaining why Pope Francis is actually becoming less popular in the U.S.. She gets it partly right.

The answer is pretty simple and straight forward. Pope Francis is being viewed less favorably because the folks in the U.S. - both Liberal and Conservative - are finally realizing that the Pope really is Catholic.

The Liberals looked highly on Pope Francis in the beginning, because for some insane reason, they expected him to abandon Church teachings on married priests, same sex "marriage", and women in the priesthood. I'm sure some even believed he would eventually allow "married" gay and lesbian and transgender priests.

Conservatives are unhappy with the Pope because he expresses Catholic views on the environment, materialism and greed.

The Pope speaks the truth and this makes people on the Left and the Right uncomfortable. It's really no more complicated than that.

Pope Francis and the "Hammer and Sickle Crucifix" Update.

It looks as if, no matter what he does - or does not do - Pope Francis will continue to receive grief from the political Right wing.

In a comment left on one of my most recent posts concerning Pope Francis and the hammer and sickle crucifix presented to him by Bolivia dictator, Evo Morales, it was claimed that the Pope actually appreciated the gift,but was leaving the crucifix in Bolivia and presenting it "to a statue of the Our Lady of Copacabana, patron saint of Bolivia".

"Francis accompanied this gesture with the following words: 'The President of the nation was kind enough to offer me two decorative honours on behalf of the Bolivian people. I thank the Bolivian people for their affection and the President for this courteous gesture. I would like to dedicate these two decorations to the patron saint of Bolivia, the Mother of this noble nation, so that she may always remember her people and from Bolivia, from the shrine where I would like them to be, that she may remember the Successor of Peter and the whole Church and look after them from Bolivia.'"

Now, in an editorial piece, Dennis Prager claims the pope himself announced that he was "keeping the hammer and sickle crucifix and taking it home".

We have different sources telling us contradictory stories as to the final home of the hammer and sickle crucifix. They can't agree on it's location, but they agree that Pope Francis really loves the ugly thing because, deep down, he's really a dyed in the wool Marxist.

Our Pope is not a Marxist.

Pope Francis speaks out against "the relentless pursuit of profit" and human lives being sacrificed on the "altar of money."

It doesn't take a communist to see that the world's wealth is not distributed fairly among the people of this planet. The solution to this problem is neither Capitalism nor Socialism. The Church does not endorse either economic system. The Church has no quarrel with the private ownership of property or ethically run businesses.

The economy should be for the benefit of the people, not using people for the benefit of the economy.

No More 'Creative Minority Report' for Me.

There was a time when I considered myself a huge fan of the Brothers Archbold and their blog, Creative Minority Report (CMR). Not so long ago, I became a bit leery of Patrick Archbold's writing, though his brother, Matthew didn't appear as.....how should I put this?........crazy. At one time, both brothers wrote for National Catholic Register in addition to their blog. Patrick has since been fired from the Register.

From how I see it, Pat Archbold began to come off the rails about the time Pope Benedict XVI resigned and Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected - taking the name Pope Francis. I doubt Pope Francis can do anything right in Pat Archbold's eyes.

Archbold's hatred of the current Pope has finally forced me to remove the link to CMR from this blog.

While visiting Bolivia, left-wing Bolivian President Evo Morales attempted to present the Pope with a crucifix sculpted in the shape of a hammer and sickle. Naturally, the crucifix has caused an uproar.

CNN, BBC, catholicnewsagency.com, Fr. Z's Blog,newsbusters.org, and telegraph.co.uk are reporting that Francis "rejected", "rebuked", and "condemned" Morales' gift. Most are reporting that Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi had the final word: "Certainly," he told reporters, "it will not be put in a church."

Creatively Minority Report, however, posted an inflammatory post, rejecting, rebuking and condemning Pope Francis for accepting the crucifix. In his hatred for Pope Francis, Pat Archbold refuses to give the Pope the benefit of any doubt. To Archbold, Francis is a Marxist.......and probably an illegitimate Pope to boot.

This is the last straw. I'm finished with Creative Minority Report.

Update - Jan. 11, 2017:
I've begun reading CMR again. For more on this, read this post.