South Dakotans should not be proud of this statistic

By Gordon Garnos

AT ISSUE: Statistics seem to always make the news, but they don't always make interesting reading. Some statistics about South Dakota is good news. Unfortunately, a recent statistic about our state's prison population was both interesting and newsy, if I may use such a word. Oh, why not. It's in the dictionary. South Dakota led the nation for having the fastest growing prison population. Do we have the mentality for just locking up the bad guys? Is there any remedy for this? Another big question is what is this statistic costing the taxpayers of South Dakota? (Full Story)

We're Not Equipped for Playing God

THE WORLD HAS GONE MAD

By Carrie K. Hutchens

We use to convict nurses and doctors and anyone else, who participated in "mercy killing". We use to feel that it was not their decision to make, much less their authority to carry it out. So, what was considered unacceptable and illegal then -- we now find acceptable and feel it should not only be legal, but the rule to be abided by (even) in spite of the patient's wishes or that of the family? How ever did that happen? Did someone slip us something while we weren't looking? (Full Story)

Conservative Wins in France

Will wonders never cease?

From NewsMax:

Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy won France's presidential election on Sunday, beating his Socialist rival Segolene Royal by a comfortable margin, television projections said.

Forecasts by four pollsters showed Sarkozy, 52, a hardline former interior minister, won around 53 percent of the vote in the second-round ballot and will succeed fellow conservative Jacques Chirac, who was president for 12 years.

Giuliani Wants Bigger Military

From mlive.com:

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani on Saturday called for boosting the Army by another 35,000 troops, saying the nation must project strength and better handle the aftermath of war.

Better, but Giuliani still has problems in social policy.

Tolerance With a Bullet

More love and acceptance from the peddlers of tolerance. If they shot Archbishop Bagnasco, it wouldn't be considered a "hate crime" though, so I guess it's okay. :-0

From WorldNetDaily:

Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco no longer celebrates Mass in the cathedral of Genoa, Italy, with assistance from altar boys or deacons – not since the death threats began after he spoke out against government plans to legalize same-sex unions.

Bagnasco, recently appointed head of Italy's Conference of Bishops, stirred controversy last month when the group issued a statement directed at Catholic lawmakers, reminding them of their moral obligation to oppose the move toward mainstreaming homosexuality.

Following the comments, threatening messages – "Shame on you, Bagnasco" and "Death to Bagnasco" – signed with the five-pointed star of the Red Brigades terror group were painted on the walls in the city, including those of the cathedral.

The Red Brigades, very active in the 1970s, have assassinated several senior Italian public figures in recent years. Fifteen alleged members of the communist organization's members were arrested and jailed three months ago, reported the Glasgow Sunday Herald.

Recently, a mailing to the archbishop included a bullet and the cleric's picture with a swastika scrawled on it.