Catholic Fire

"Pills or dinner?" was the subject heading of Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards' email alert yesterday. The premise is ridiculous: that due to rising prices of artificial female steroids, i.e., birth control pills, college nyphomaniacs are being forced to choose between illicit sex and eating. Here's what happened. Legislators passed the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 to save $40 billion over 5 years. A consequence, according to U.S. News & World Report : A quirk in a new federal law, designed to save taxpayers money on Medicaid reimbursements for drugs, has effectively persuaded pharmaceutical companies to stop selling their products to these [university] pharmacies at deeply discounted rates. (If companies continue to offer such discounts, the law stipulates, they will also receive lower payments from Medicaid.) Shock: the government isn't buying the whining. In response to one request to restore the loophole, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid wro...

The 90th Anniversary of the Sixth Apparition of Fatima Saturday of the Twenty-Seventh Week of Ordinary Time; Old Calendar: St. Edward, king, confessor Today's Mass Readings On This Day in Catholic History: 1917 - The "Miracle of the Sun" is witnessed by an estimated 70,000 persons in the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal. Birthdays: 1878 - Patrick Joseph Hartigan , Australian Roman Catholic priest (d. 1952) 1925 - Margaret Thatcher , Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1932 - Jack Colvin , American actor, ( The Incredible Hulk ) (d. 2005) 1942 - Bob Bailey , American baseball player 1948 - John Ford Coley , American musician, England Dan & John Ford Coley , ("Simone", "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight"), (Christian convert) 1959 - Marie Osmond , American entertainer 1962 - Jerry Rice , American football star 1969 - Nancy Kerrigan , American figure skater 1977 - Paul Pierce , American basketball player

Today is the 90th Anniversary of the Fatima apparitions. I encourage everyone to pray the rosary today in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary's special request at Fatima to pray the rosary daily and to do penance for the conversion of sinners. For information on the Fatima apparitions, visit these links: Feast of Our Lady of Fatima The Fatima Network The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima Living Miracles Fatima: A Grace for Mankind Fatima Petitions - Our Lady of Fatima Apostolate Fatima: The secret's out, despite claims to the contrary