On this day in 1944 Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, the largest seaborne invasion in history, the beginning of the final phase of World War II in Europe.

The firefighters on the Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire in New Mexico have the fire 30% contained, and are releasing resources to be available for other fires with higher priority. Remediation efforts are beginning in the burned areas, but it is acknowledged that only rainfall is going to finally put the fire out.

Apparently the people in Wisconsin decided they would rather have their governor removed by state and/or Federal prosecutors, than by their votes. You can fool better than 50% of the voters if you have enough money to spend on media buys. That’s how Florida ended up with the Fraudster-in-Chief, so I can’t fault the ‘Cheeseheads’ for their decision. Apparently the iron rule for recalls it that it is only valid for removing boring Democratic governors.

The ABC reports on the Church’s latest target: Nun’s sex talk raises the Vatican’s ire

The Vatican has denounced an American nun after she wrote an award-winning book on sexual ethics, which includes topics such as gay marriage and masturbation.

The Vatican’s department responsible for doctrine says the book, written by respected Yale University theologian Sister Margaret Farley, contradicts Catholic teaching and must not be used by Catholic educators.

Published in 2006, Just Love, says gay marriage can reduce hatred, rejection and stigmatisation of gays.

But the Vatican’s doctrinal department has issued a long rebuttal to this and other arguments.

The department says “the Church teaches that the respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behaviour or to legal recognition of homosexual unions.”

A minor point but the Vatican doesn’t have any say in the area of ‘legal recognition’, that is in the hands of individual governments and is a political, not religious decision.

The major effect of this latest assault on women is to push the book to the number one sales position for its genre at Amazon. There’s nothing like controversy to drive sales.

In a related note, an theologian who was at Vatican II notes that opposition to birth control is not settled Catholic doctrine, as claimed by some Bishops. Pope Paul VI withdrew the issue before the Council could deal with it, so it isn’t ‘written in stone’.

For some reason two verses come to mind: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” and “… why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” I seem to remember that the guy who said them was sort of important to the Church.