"Among the most notorious American inaugurations was President Andrew Jackson's in 1829. He invited the American public to the White House, and more than 20,000 drunken partygoers showed up. The crowds became so boisterous that they ruined many of the White House furnishings, and Jackson had to escape through a window. White House aides eventually lured people from the building by placing vats of whiskey on the front lawn.

On this day in 1841 William Henry Harrison stood outside in an ice storm and delivered the longest inaugural address in American history. It was 8,445 words long, and it took Harrison two hours to deliver it. He died a month later from pneumonia."

(from Garrison Keillor's "The Writer's Almanac" on National Public Radio in the U.S.)

Richard Wilbur said, "I think that all poets are sending religious messages, because poetry is, in such great part, the comparison of one thing to another ... and to insist, as all poets do, that all things are related to each other, comparable to each other, is to go toward making an assertion of the unity of all things."

Priests Challenge Vatican On Gays
by Jean-Pierre O'Brien, 365Gay.com Montreal Bureau
February 27, 2006 - 8:00 am ET

(Montreal, Quebec) Nineteen priests in Quebec have issued a stinging public rebuke of the Vatican position of gays and same-sex marriage.

In an open letter published in La Presse, the largest circulation newspaper in the province, they called on other Catholic clergy to join them in opposing the Vatican ban on gays in seminaries and same-sex marriage.

Under the headline "Enough is enough," the priests charge that by pronouncing homosexuality a "disorder," the church is fuelling homophobia.

The 980-word letter notes the church has been wrong before on "the mysteries of political, social, family and sexual life."

The letter also criticizes the Canadian bishops' conference which fought legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada.

The bishops made a presentation before a Parliamentary committee studying the legislation and told MPs that allowing same-sex marriage weakened families and endangered children.

"Was there any trace of the compassion that marked Jesus's passage on Earth?" the letter asks.

"Not a paragraph, not a sentence in your brief that takes into account the historical discrimination against homosexuals and the tragedy of their social and ecclesial exclusion."

Religious scholars in Quebec where most people consider themselves Catholic but where attendance at mass is lower than most other regions of Canada, called the letter and its tone surprising and suggested it could set a precedent.

The church has not responded to the letter.

www.365Gay.com 2006

My friend Judy sent me this link to something very funny. After you go to the webpage, click on the link at the bottom of it to take a tour.

http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html

If clicking on the above link doesn't work, copy and paste the URL into the address line of your web browser.