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Formal cooperation in another’s evil act (that is, undertaking to help expressly another to perform an act known to be evil) is itself evil. Davis, Moral and Pastoral Theology (1938), I: 341-342. There are no exceptions to this rule; no supervening circumstances can ever render formal cooperation in evil good.The use of [illegal] drugs “inflicts very grave damage on human health and life [and] . . . is a grave offense. Clandestine production and trafficking in drugs are scandalous practices. They constitute direct co-operation in evil, since they encourage people to practices gravely contrary to the moral law.” CCC...

Rally in Albany Tuesday Over H1N1 Flu Shot Debate (New York, NY) -- Hundreds of health care workers will rally in Albany Tuesday, angry that they are being made to receive H1N1 flu shots. The State Health Department has made it mandatory that all health care workers get immunized by November 30th. The protestors say their rights are being violated and that they can not be forced to get a H1N1 flu shot. Officials say there will be exceptions for those health care workers who have a personal health issue that would prevent them from getting the shot. WOR News...

A special prosecutor is already being eyed amid a burgeoning scandal in Troy over the alleged forgery of absentee ballots in this month’s Working Families Party primary. The scandal is focused on suspicions people tied to the Troy Democrats forged ballots. News of the fakes surfaced in Saturday’s edition of the Times Union. The details were eye opening because so many voters interviewed by the Times Union said they didn’t vote despite ballots cast in their name. Voters said their signatures had obviously been forged and comparisons between their registration cards and the ballot applications showed distinctly different signatures. Today,...

p>The Schenectady Light Opera Company is buying a former Catholic church downtown and will raise money to convert the property into a 300-seat theater and performing arts center. The Light Opera Company, an 83-year-old community theater group, signed a contract with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany to buy the former St. John the Baptist Church on Franklin Street. St. John the Baptist, said to be the oldest church in Schenectady, closed June 24, one of 33 worship sites that will be closed or merged in the diocese over the next three years. The first mass was held at St....

Near majority of voters want all senators thrown out of office When it comes to state government, New Yorkers want a do-over. They're mad about the budget. They're mad about the senate stalemate that brought state politics to a screeching halt for a month. They're mad at Gov. David Paterson. New Yorkers are so frustrated with how things are going in the state that nearly half of registered voters say almost everyone in the State Senate, including their own legislators, deserves to be thrown out, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. Voters aren't thrilled with their representatives in the...

Albany politicos skirt protestersSenate Democrats enter fundraiser protected by curtain By Phil Fairbanks and Mark Sommer NEWS STAFF REPORTERS July 19, 2009, 7:08 AM They entered behind a black curtain that kept protesters at bay. And if that wasn’t protection enough for the visiting VIPs, Buffalo’s police commissioner was on the scene ordering protesters and reporters to stay clear and on the sidewalk. Keeping the public from the politicians was just one part of the scene Friday as State Senate Democrats arrived in Buffalo for a $5,000-a-plate political fundraiser. Outside, about 60 protesters, undeterred by police, shouted slogans that suggested...

I strongly disagree with the prudential opinion expressed by Bishop Howard Hubbard: "The US bishops have given their enthusiastic support to the Waxman-Markey bill, a piece of legislation designed to address climate change, which Republican opponents have characterized as entailing "the largest tax increase in American history." The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 proposes a complicated series of schemes known as "cap and trade," ultimately imposing taxes on the carbon-dioxide emissions that are cited as a major factor in global warming. Even before the 1,200-page legislation was made available to Congress, the members of the House...

ALBANY - Bronx state Sen. Pedro Espada, whose defection to the Republican camp helped trigger the current Senate crisis, will return to the Democratic fold and end the month-long Senate stalemate, The Post has learned. Espada, whose defection to the Republicans was the main reason for Gov. Paterson's controversial action yesterday "naming" Richard Ravitch as lieutenant governor, revealed his startling plans to The Post.

Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. has returned to the fold, giving the Democrats a 32-30 majority in the state Senate—again—and taking the title majority leader. Espada (D-Bronx) said during a news conference this afternoon that his disagreement with fellow Democrats on June 8, which led to a Republican-led coup, “has never been about titles,” though he received the title of temporary president as a result of the coup. “Today I stand here with another title,” he said. “I tell you very clearly, I have always been a Democrat. I will continue to be a Democrat. I never left home. I had...

SEN. ESPADA RETURNING TO DEMOCRATS POWER IN ALBANY FLIPS AGAIN ALBANY - Bronx state Sen. Pedro Espada, whose defection to the Republican camp helped trigger the current Senate crisis, will return to the Democratic fold and end the month-long Senate stalemate, The Post has learned. Espada, whose defection to the Republicans was the main reason for Gov. Paterson's controversial action yesterday "naming" Richard Ravitch as lieutenant governor, revealed his startling plans to The Post. The defection would bring a quick end to the Senate's current 31-31 vote stalemate, in which Espada has repeatedly joined with the 30 Republican members in...

During the first five months of this year, with the Senate under the control of its first African-American majority leader, Smith, top Democrats bemoaned the lack of minority Senate staffers. But instead of trying to recruit new hires, they fired nearly 200 almost exclusively white workers and replaced them with a large number of minority employees, many of whom were seen by their fellow workers to be unskilled at their new jobs. The move produced severe racial tensions, made worse by the fact that, as a high-level Democratic staffer confided, "We've been told to only hire minorities.''

STATE GOVERNMENT HAS NEVER BEEN SO CLOWNISH, SO EVIL, SO IRRELEVANT Having witnessed the anarchy, chaos and lack of leadership that has engulfed the state Capitol during the past month, I have a painful confession to make. After three decades as a journalist covering state government, if I had to do it all over again, I'd find another job. I've covered Govs. Hugh Carey, Mario Cuomo, George Pataki, Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson and for New York to wind up like this after 35 years of modern leadership, it's clear to me that my real job has been to chronicle...

<p>ALBANY (AP) - The Republican-dominated faction claiming control of the New York Senate says a Democrat-appointed legislative staffer doctored the original, official minutes of the session three weeks ago to delete the GOP-staged coup to seize the majority.</p> <p>"The Senate journal - and they (Republicans) know this, they were in the majority for 40 years - is a living, breathing document that changes through the course of the week," Grainger said. "The resolution was passed once adjournment occurred. This is what was cleaned up in the final journal."</p>

07/01/09 03:04 PM Assembly Democrats refuse to accept Senate Democrat bills By Tom Precious ALBANY - Assembly Democrats have refused to accept more than 100 bills that Senate Democrats insist they legally passed on Tuesday in a session that Republicans say was illegal in the first place. Gov. David Paterson has already said he will not sign the bills if sent to him, but the Assembly has the ability to block them from even being transmitted to his office � saving him some political grief. At issue are about 125 bills Senate Democrats say were legally approved Tuesday when a...

Updated: 06/30/09 01:48 PM State Senate Democrats use bizarre maneuver to start passing bills ALBANY — In a bizarre twist, Senate Democrats claimed this afternoon they have established a quorum when a Republican senator — on his way to a lounge adjacent to the chamber — was counted as present for the purposes of holding a legal session. The Democrats quickly gaveled in and started passing a long list of stalled bills submitted by Gov. David A. Paterson. "I think it's fraud," said Sen. Frank Padavan, a Queens Republican, who the Democrats counted as present for the noon-time session. Padavan...

See the video Democrats refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance! In this case, though, the context actually improves the story. This takes place in Albany, where the New York state Senate remains locked in a power struggle in an evenly divided chamber. Rather than an insult to American patriotism, the Democrats here engaged in an insult to the intelligence of New Yorkers:

New York's annual Gay Pride parade was a colorful celebration of 40 years of progress toward civil rights for gays, but once the dust settled, gay couples who wish to marry in New York state remain thwarted. A bill to legalize gay marriage in the state that saw the dawn of the gay rights movement is mired in political stalemate in the state capital Albany, where Democrats and Republicans are battling over control of the state Senate. "I had hoped today's march would have been a bit of a wedding march. It's not," Christine Quinn, the gay speaker of the...

ALBANY (CBS) ― The battle for control of the New York State Senate got even more bizarre Tuesday. After talks of a power-sharing arrangement broke down, Democrats locked themselves in the Senate chamber, Republicans tried to conduct business on their own and none of the "people's business" got done. As incredible as it may seem, pictures obtained by CBS 2 HD are of the Democratic senators who locked themselves inside their chamber so they could be "first in" for Gov. David Paterson's special session. The pictures, shot through the window of a Senate door, seem to show that it was...

Dems Refuse To Recognize Espada As President Pro Tem, Don't Stand For Pledge Of Allegiance During Special Session Republicans Fail To Take Podium, Pass Bills By Acclamation

ALBANY — Senate Democrats entered the Senate chamber through a back hallway on Tuesday afternoon and locked themselves in, pulling off a sneak attack of sorts in the ongoing battle for control of the State Senate. The move took the Capitol by surprise, and left Republicans scrambling to plan their next procedural move. Republicans had planned to enter the chamber at 2 p.m. — an hour before the special session called by Gov. David A. Paterson was scheduled to begin. Who would be in the chamber first became a key question on Tuesday as Republicans and Democrats failed again to...