Ashley JuddIn case you think those talented Judds are a bunch of gorgeous women who have always had it all, then you might want to hear about Ashley Judd's new shocking tell-all memoir All That Is Bitter & Sweet, which reveals quite the opposite.

I have heard, through interviews with the Judds over the years, that the early years for their family were tough and included divorce, poverty, and lots of moving about; however, the details being released from Ashley Judd's new book tell an even darker story -- but one that Ashley manages to mold into something beautiful and inspiring today.

Researchers opened a whole new Pandora's box this week regarding obesity in America. They concluded that when it comes to staying fit, church-going ... well, apparently, it's on par with eating junk food. After analyzing data that spanned 18 years, Northwestern University researchers concluded that people who went to church or church activities at least once a week were more than twice as likely as people with no religious involvement to become obese.

Why? They blame all that FOOD that's served at church ... you know, boxes upon boxes of Munchkins, after-service picnics, etc.

When I think of Lent, I can't help but think of Johnny Depp. My priest would probably not appreciate that -- on many many levels -- especially since Lent begins a period of sacrifice and self-deprivation. But c'mon, it's Johnny Depp we're talking about. There is no DEPPrivation in Johnny Depp. Or maybe there is. But I'm pretty sure Jesus will understand. He's good like that.

I think of Johnny Depp from that movie he starred in a while back with Juliette Binoche (who I actually love more than Johnny Depp) called Chocolat, where a woman (played by Juliette) and her daughter open a chocolate shop in a small French village in the middle of Lent, shaking the morality of the residents to their knees as they try to resist her decadent treats.

Okay so it wasn't the best movie in the world, and it didn't portray Catholics in the nicest light, but then again, it doesn't have to be perfect. It was starring Johnny Depp!

The video of school board shooter Clay Duke taking hostages in Panama City, Florida on Tuesday was hard to watch. The ex-con was angry, belligerent and determined to destroy lives. But Duke wasn't the only disturbed mind in America this week.

The interwebs were flooded with people searching for the "full video" of the incident, searches that came up empty. The video that people did see -- the video we chose to run here on The Stir -- followed Duke from the moment he stepped up with spray paint to make his giant V for Vendetta symbol through his discussions with school officials and his first gunshot.

Then the images were stilled while the sound carried on. We heard the volley of gunfire that was Duke duking it out with a security guard. We may even have heard the shot that signified Duke's suicide. But we never saw the actual death.

Ah, a bit of good news for those of us who feel guilty because we only go to church on Christmas (or, um, never)! You can skip going to church and just get together with your girlfriends from now on. You'll be just as happy.

No offense to those who enjoy their Sunday services, but the 41 percent of Americans who regularly attend some sort of services at a church, synagogue, or mosque have held this mystical power over the rest of us for too long. They're happier, they claim, because they're spiritual. Which always made the mom who couldn't get three kids to sit still for an hour-long Mass feel like they're big fat failures.

Reversing centuries of church policy, Pope Benedict XVI said, in an interview, that condom use to prevent AIDS is OK.

For male prostitutes.

Way to miss the point entirely, Joey Ratz. If men are having sex with other men for money, it is extremely unlikely that they are listening to you to begin with. They're already racking up the sins pretty good there with the whole "sex for money" thing, not to mention the church as an institution is not exactly loving and supportive of those who have sex with men.

And, betraying the church's historical disregard for women, he didn't address female prostitutes at all ... they can go right on ahead getting AIDS, I guess. Somehow I don't think Jesus would think that was cool.

Director Eliot Rausch put together a mini documentary called "Last Minutes With Oden," in which he documents the last moments he spent with his dog Oden. Atop the visual diary of this very tough experience of letting a pet go, Rausch tells the story of his life with Oden.

In July, I had to put my cat of 18 years to sleep, but I don't think I really went all the way through the experience and came out the other side until I watched Rausch's video.

I'm Catholic -- although, I must add, the kind of Catholics I roll with are much more likely to get arrested protesting at a nuclear weapons plant than at an abortion clinic. The church I go to (run by the Jesuits, an especially intellectual order) has a diverse congregation including gay people, divorced-and-remarried people, and at least one person who lived with her husband before marriage (that would be me).

So that's to say I'm Catholic for a lot of reasons, none of which have to do with agreement with many church teachings. So the top of my head about blew off when I saw that this week is Natural Family Planning Week. It celebrates what non-Catholics know as the Fertility Awareness Method, used as much to get pregnant as to avoid pregnancy. And now some Catholic doctors are trying to zazz it up with a new high-tech sounding name and suggest it as a cure for infertility as well.