Daily French Roast

Anne is reading …

Oprah Winfrey admits that she is in the “climb of my life” in her efforts to build OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. Despite her popularity, Oprah’s OWN network attracts less than a 10th of the audience of her syndicated Oprah show.

The focus of OWN’s problems may be on Oprah herself, but Bloomberg Businessweek says that Discovery, half-owner of OWN, has poured at least $585 million into the network and may be forced to write off some of its investment.

Executives were counting on using a library of shows from Discovery Health to keep OWN’s costs low. That backfired, according to the person with direct knowledge of the operation, when programming such as Plastic Surgery: Before & After didn’t appeal to viewers tuning in for Winfrey’s signature mix of uplift and self-empowerment. OWN executives then scrambled to fill 160 hours of weekly airtime with mostly new shows, an unforeseen—and costly—turnabout.

Planned Parenthood Texas Update

A federal appeals court reinstated the order that prevents funding to Planned Parenthood Texas. As reported on AOC, a federal judge in Austin blocked the Texas legislation, citing the “potential for immediate loss of access to necessary medical services by several thousand Texas women.” The state of Texas appealed, claiming “irreparable harm” if the order wasn’t rescinded. On Friday, the US Court of Appeals in New Orleans reinstated the Austin-court injunction, writing that Texas omitted facts that call “into question” its claim of emergency. via Bloomberg Businessweek

DFR: Catholic Identity

Pope Benedict XVI has called on America’s Catholic colleges and universities to employ orthodoxy in theological studies at America’s Catholic colleges and universities and to accept oversight of bishops, writes Catholic News.

The pope emphasized the need for compliance with canon law in the appointment of theology instructors, who are required to possess a “mandate” from the “competent ecclesiastical authority,” ordinarily the local bishop.

The requirement for a mandate was underscored in 1990 by Blessed John Paul II in his apostolic constitution “Ex Corde Ecclesiae,” but many Catholic theology departments in the U.S. have yet to comply.

Stand Your Ground’ Not Working for Marissa Alexander

One is dumbfounded trying to understand the Florida case of Marissa Alexander, a 31-year-old mother of three children, now facing 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot in the ceiling as her abusive husband pursued her.

Alexander had no record before this incident. Her husband Rico Gray had been arrested twice for domestic battery, including an assault against his wife that sent her to the hospital. A protective order was in effect on August 1, 2010 when the incident occurred.

Marissa Alexander had given birth just nine days before the shooting, writes Huff Po. The couple had been married for three months.

If her case isn’t a stand your ground case in Florida law, I don’t know what is. Read on at Huff Po.