10004: Three Stooges Offend Catholic League.

From MSNBC…

Catholic League: ‘Three Stooges’ full of offensive nunsense

By Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter

The Catholic League is in an uproar over the way nuns are depicted in Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s redo of “The Three Stooges,” which 20th Century Fox opens Friday domestically.

In a terse statement issued Thursday, Catholic League president Bill Donohue takes issue with a “nun bikini” and large rosary worn by swimsuit model Kate Upton in the slapstick comedy as well as with Larry David’s character.

David, like Upton, plays a nun in “Three Stooges,” and his character’s name is Sister Mary-Mengele—named after infamous Nazi Josef Mengele.

“In the 1950s, Hollywood generally avoided crude fare and was respectful of religion. Today it specializes in crudity and trashes Christianity, especially Catholicism,” Donohue said. “Enter ‘The Three Stooges.’ The movie is not just another remake: It is a cultural marker of sociological significance, and what it says about the way we’ve changed is not encouraging.”

Fox disagreed that Three Stooges diverges from the original series. “The movie, in keeping with the spirit of the original TV show and its stars, is a broad, slapstick comedy,” a Fox spokesperson said.

“As the Stooges have proved over time, laughter is a universal medicine. The nuns that Mr. Donohue alludes to, are in fact, caring, heroic characters in the movie, albeit within the framework of a very broad comedy,” the spokesperson continued. “And as far as the nun attire, I think we did the audience a favor by letting Kate Upton wear the nun-kini rather than Larry David—it could have gone either way. We invite you to see the movie and decide for yourselves.”

The Catholic League is the largest Catholic civil rights organization in the U.S.

Donohue also criticized comments made Wednesday night by David on TBS’ Conan.

“He said to Conan O’Brien that dressing as a nun in the film makes it easy to understand why nuns are ‘so mean,’ “ Donohue said. “He explains: ‘You know, the outfits might have something to do with that. Forget about the fact that they never have sex. If you give me a chance of no sex or having to wear that outfit the rest of my life, I would definitely take the no sex.’”

Donohue’s statement included the e-mail address of a top Fox executive.

9975: Holier-In-One Than Thou Attitude.

The Gospel According To Luke…? Perfect for the Easter holiday.

From Ads of the World.

9964: Holy Shit.

Just in time for the Easter holiday…?

From Ads of the World.

9893: Easter Bunny Packs Heat…?

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

Pfleger fires on toy guns in Easter baskets

By Maudlyne Ihejirika. Staff Reporter

There was a time when kids wanting toy guns had limited media images of cowboys and Indians or cops and robbers to emulate. Today, not so.

So the Rev. Michael Pfleger said he is challenging the sale of the toys — in Easter baskets — to a generation plagued by more violent and rampant use of guns in their own neighborhoods.

“I am writing to express my concern and outrage that Kmart is selling Easter baskets, which are obviously for children, with toy guns in them,” Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church in Auburn-Gresham, wrote to officials at the big box retailer, in a Mar. 9 letter obtained by the Sun-Times.

“With the increasing gun violence in Chicago and across this country, I am amazed that you would choose to offer toy guns to our children to make them comfortable with playing with them. I am asking you to remove any baskets with toy guns in them from your store’s shelves immediately,” Pfleger wrote.

The toys in question are plastic water guns or Nerf dart shooters in sizes ranging from pistol- to nearly rifle-length, contained in Easter baskets sold by the retailer for prices starting at $9.99.

They’re not just sold at Kmart, but at other retailers e.g. Meijer, Toys R Us, Walgreen’s and Walmart.

“We respect the opinions of our customers,” Chris Brathwaite, spokesman for Sears Holdings, Kmart’s parent company, said Tuesday. “However, we believe these items are clearly packaged as water toys and are almost identical to items sold by many other retailers.”

The Kmart baskets were brought to his attention by community members, Pfleger said, the same week that saw several shootings citywide and a 22-year-old shot and killed in the middle of the day in the White Castle’s parking lot in Auburn-Gresham. He subsequently learned they’re sold all over, “which goes to show that this has become a popular Easter basket item, and my anger on it is double,” said Pfleger.

“As a Christian I’m insulted that Kmart or any store would use this celebration of life to have images of guns in Easter baskets, encouraging parents to buy them for their children. But equally important is that any psychiatrist will tell you a child who gets comfortable playing with toy guns and pointing them at people as a child becomes comfortable picking them up as an adult. In a nation that’s plagued with gun violence, neither Kmart nor any other store should be selling guns in Easter baskets to our kids.”

Brathwaite said the retailer would be contacting Pfleger about the concern, adding, “Kmart is committed to being a valued community partner.” Pfleger said he and his parishioners will make the same demand of other retailers selling toy guns in Easter baskets, and “I hope folks will do it throughout the city.”

9892: Wyoming Tribe To Kill Bald Eagles.

From USA TODAY…

Wyoming tribe gets OK to kill 2 bald eagles for ceremonies

By Michael Winter, USA TODAY

In a rare and potentially landmark decision, a Wyoming Indian tribe has received federal approval to kill two bald eagles for religious ceremonies, the Associated Press reports.

The Northern Arapaho Tribe had sued the government last year, arguing its members’ religious freedom was being violated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s refusal to issue a “take” permit.

Federal law prohibits killing a bald eagle, the national bird. Eagle feathers and body parts are kept in a federal repository for tribal religious ceremonies.

The agency issued the permit Friday, allowing the tribe to kill two bald eagles off the Wind River Indian Reservation. The tribe shares the land with the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, which opposed killing the birds on the reservation.

“I’ve not heard of a take permit for a bald eagle,” Steve Moore, a lawyer with the Native American Rights Fund, or NARF, in Boulder, Colo., told AP. He said he and the fund “see it as a legitimate expression of sovereignty by the tribe, and respect for that sovereignty by the Fish and Wildlife Service.”

Fish and Wildlife had never issued a kill permit through 2009. AP says it wasn’t clear immediately if another permit was issued before the one given to the Northern Arapaho.

Although the bald eagle was taken off the U.S. list of threatened species in 2007, the species is still covered by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, which was enacted in 1940. Learn more about their recovery.

9667: Saints Alive, Club Med!

Um, there is an easier way—and lots of better ways—to advertise vacation resorts.

From Ads of the World.

9563: Converting Health Club Members.

Jesus, these Gold’s Gym ads from Guatemala are God-awful garbage.



From Ads of the World.