Saturday, December 10, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Pope Paul Sets Tone of Unity as Council Resumes
(St. Petersburg Times) Vatican City - Pope Paul VI assured the non-Catholic Christian world yesterday that it is his purpose to clear away every obstacle blocking Christian unity. He called upon his own bishops to spell out for him their share in the church's supreme authority, a move that could ease the task of unity.
Opening the third and perhaps decisive session of the Vatican Ecumenical Council, the pontiff made a point of speaking directly to non-Catholic observers present.
"We wish to assure you once more of our purpose and hope to be able to one day to remove every obstacle, every misunderstanding, every hesitancy that still prevents us from feeling fully 'of one heart and one soul' in Christ, in His church (Acts. 4,32)," the Pope said.
"FOR OUR PART, we shall do all that the possibilities allow to this end."
The Pope's address set the tone for the meeting of 2,500 Catholic prelates from around the world.
Christian unity and the sharing of the church government with the bishops appeared interlocking. Non-Catholic Christians balk at the supreme authority placed in the Pope.
The upshot of the deliberations of the prelates may be some kind of group to advise the Pope. Speaking to his bishops, the Pope said:
"THE HOUR HAS sounded in history when the church... must say of herself what Christ intended and willed her to be, and what the age-long meditation of the fathers, pontiffs and doctors in their wisdom has explored with piety. The church must give a definition of herself and bring out from her true conciousness the doctrine which the Holy Spirit teaches her."
He called the sharing of papal-episcopal authority "the weightiest and most delicate" of the problems facing the council.
The Pope made it plain that shared authority would not lessen papal primacy.
He said centralization of authority in the Vatican is a necessity for unity of the church but he added that centralization "will surely be always tempered and balanced by an alert and timely delegation both of authority and facilities for local pastors."
HE SAID popes as possessors of full power over the church have the duty of heading the episcopate.
"Nevertheless," he added, "our position in no way defrauds you, our brother bishops, of your due authority. On the contrary, we are among the first to respect that sacred authority."
The council session in St. Peter's Basilica got under way with a Mass of Concelebration - a rarity that symbolized shared authority.
The Pope participated in this ceremony with 24 bishops, all of whom prayed together at the consecration of the host - the heart of the Mass - and partook of the same consecrated wafer and wine.
THE MEETING opened under a hot glare of television arc lights and in the heat James Francis Cardinal McIntyre of Los Angeles collapsed.
He was taken by ambulance to a Rome hospital where doctors said the 78-year-old American cardinal showed no heart difficulty and needed a few days of rest and medical testing. Cardinal McIntyre flew to Rome Sunday night. The doctors said too little sleep and too much heat felled him.
The Rev. Oscar Cullman, Protestant theologian of Paris and Basle, also fainted and was treated at the Basilica first aid station. He resumed his place later among more than 60 Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox observers invited to witness the council.
- September 15, 1964
Opening the third and perhaps decisive session of the Vatican Ecumenical Council, the pontiff made a point of speaking directly to non-Catholic observers present.
"We wish to assure you once more of our purpose and hope to be able to one day to remove every obstacle, every misunderstanding, every hesitancy that still prevents us from feeling fully 'of one heart and one soul' in Christ, in His church (Acts. 4,32)," the Pope said.
 - AP Wirephoto Paul VI Drinks Wine As He Takes Communion |
The Pope's address set the tone for the meeting of 2,500 Catholic prelates from around the world.
Christian unity and the sharing of the church government with the bishops appeared interlocking. Non-Catholic Christians balk at the supreme authority placed in the Pope.
The upshot of the deliberations of the prelates may be some kind of group to advise the Pope. Speaking to his bishops, the Pope said:
"THE HOUR HAS sounded in history when the church... must say of herself what Christ intended and willed her to be, and what the age-long meditation of the fathers, pontiffs and doctors in their wisdom has explored with piety. The church must give a definition of herself and bring out from her true conciousness the doctrine which the Holy Spirit teaches her."
He called the sharing of papal-episcopal authority "the weightiest and most delicate" of the problems facing the council.
The Pope made it plain that shared authority would not lessen papal primacy.
He said centralization of authority in the Vatican is a necessity for unity of the church but he added that centralization "will surely be always tempered and balanced by an alert and timely delegation both of authority and facilities for local pastors."
HE SAID popes as possessors of full power over the church have the duty of heading the episcopate.
"Nevertheless," he added, "our position in no way defrauds you, our brother bishops, of your due authority. On the contrary, we are among the first to respect that sacred authority."
The council session in St. Peter's Basilica got under way with a Mass of Concelebration - a rarity that symbolized shared authority.
The Pope participated in this ceremony with 24 bishops, all of whom prayed together at the consecration of the host - the heart of the Mass - and partook of the same consecrated wafer and wine.
THE MEETING opened under a hot glare of television arc lights and in the heat James Francis Cardinal McIntyre of Los Angeles collapsed.
He was taken by ambulance to a Rome hospital where doctors said the 78-year-old American cardinal showed no heart difficulty and needed a few days of rest and medical testing. Cardinal McIntyre flew to Rome Sunday night. The doctors said too little sleep and too much heat felled him.
The Rev. Oscar Cullman, Protestant theologian of Paris and Basle, also fainted and was treated at the Basilica first aid station. He resumed his place later among more than 60 Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox observers invited to witness the council.
- September 15, 1964
Pope to Visit Cuba, Mexico
Photo: AP
Pope Benedict XVI waves after his arrival at Tegel airport in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011.
(Voice of America) Senior Roman Catholic officials say Pope Benedict XVI will visit Cuba and Mexico next year, his first Papal visit to the two Latin American nations.
Monsignor Jose Felix Perez, one of the Vatican's top officials in Cuba, said Thursday the exact dates have not yet been determined. Perez said he thought the pontiff's visit would energize Cuba's Catholic community and perhaps be a chance to discuss reforms with Cuba's government.
Relations were long strained between the Roman Catholic Church and Cuba under former President Fidel Castro, but began to improve in the 1990s. After Pope John Paul's visit to Cuba in 1998, Mr. Castro declared Cuba a secular state, in which the government takes no official stance on religious matters.
This allowed Cubans greater religious expression in what had been a largely atheistic society.
More recently, the Roman Catholic Church helped broker an agreement to release more than 100 political prisoners.
Havana has long maintained it does not hold political prisoners, only "mercenaries" who were working with the United States to undermine Cuban communism.
Newt Gingrich - RINO or Genuine Pro-Life Reagan Conservative?
By Jim Robinson
(Free Republic) I posted the below in response to a FReeper who asked me what we should do in regards to progressives Newt and Romney. And he asked me what would George Washington do? So I got to thinking about why I've been gravitating towards Newt. In fact it kept me up for half the night.
Here is my reply:
Well, I’ll tell you, after Palin declined to run I really didn’t have a dog in this race. I liked Bachmann and Cain a lot, even Perry, but not as much as I liked Palin. Bachmann and Cain are both conservative enough, but neither have really been tested in higher office, nor do they have much experience in world affairs.
I also had high hopes for Perry because it looks like he’s done a great job in Texas, but his positions on the border issues turned off a lot of people. And his “heartless” statement didn’t win him much opportunity to turn that around.
I guess Santorum is conservative enough and possibly Huntsman, but neither engender much enthusiasm or excitement. Seems they’re just going through the motions. Don’t know if they have the real world experience to be CINC anyway.
Bachmann seems to be trying really hard but don’t know if she’s really qualified for the top spot either. Even so, had Bachmann really lit a fuse on the trail, I probably would have stood by and supported her, but she flopped and is unlikely to recover.
I thought early on that if Perry got into the race (without Palin) that he’d suck all the air out of it and would dominate. But he flopped. And then Cain took off like a rocket and he flopped.
Now Cain didn’t have elective experience, but he looked like a great conservative so we were all hoping and pulling for him. Well, that didn’t turn out well.
Mind you, that abortionist, lib progressive bastard Mitt Romney is just sitting there smiling through all this and he, Rove and the GOP elite think they’ve got it in the bag. Just gotta hang in there, not say anything rash, not rock the boat, no mistakes, just play defense as one by one the upstart tea party conservative candidates burn themselves out.
In my mind, we must defeat Romney AND Obama. I don’t think George Washington is going to be smiling down on us if we had this great tea party opportunity to knock off the progressives and we let Rove, Romney and the corrupt good old boys club bushwhack us. We’re supposed to be the bushwhackers.
So like a whole lot of conservative Republicans and tea party folks, we’re bouncing candidate to candidate looking for the one to knock off Romney so we can take the tea party battle directly to Obama. Romney is no tea party person. He and Rove, et al, sneer at us. No way in hell are they going to do anything we’re interested in doing even if they do get elected. It’ll be government as usual. Big. They hate us worse than they hate the democrats because we’re a direct threat to their power base.
So in comes Gingrich. Didn’t much care for him at first, mainly because of his well known baggage, and his perceived RINO plumage, but he began making a lot of sense and scoring a lot of points in the debates. Turns out his depth of knowledge and experience in government affairs both domestic and foreign and his experience with Ronald Reagan, the Reagan Revolution and the Republican Revolution of the 90’s are quite extensive and quite impressive if you look.
He’s been through the mill and that’s what a lot of our younger less experienced, less traveled candidates are missing. In the debates he comes off as a wiser, more experienced, more knowledgeable, level-headed senior statesman. And it appeared to me that the other candidates acknowledged and respected that.
So I start thinking back about his history as a congressman and speaker, and lo and behold, it appears to me he’s not such a RINO after all. He was a genuine Reagan protege. And he learned well from the master communicator. He eventually set a goal for himself to build a Republican majority and to take the speakership, and he determinately accomplished that goal.
And he had some great conservative accomplishments as congressman and speaker. He passed the contract with America. He cut taxes. Cut the deficit. Reformed welfare. Blocked HillaryCare. Became a thorn in President Clinton’s side, blocked much of his liberal agenda and ultimately allowed impeachment to proceed. Then of course, he resigned due to his own infidelity scandal. But, unlike Clinton, he didn’t deny it, didn’t lie about it, and he did the right thing by resigning.
Bottom line though, through his years with the Reagan Revolution and the Republican majority much conservative good was accomplished. The Wall came down, the Soviet Union collapsed and our great Reagan economy flourished for two decades.
Now, if a progressive RINO had been in charge of the congress during this period, who knows what would have happened. I’m sure the history would have been a lot different. Remember, before Gingrich and his Republican Majority, we conservatives had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years!! And our country was on life support after Jimmy Carter nearly killed it. And the democrats were saying at the time that there was nothing we could do about it. We were going to be stuck with the cold war. Stuck with the Soviet Union, stuck with Iran. Stuck with high oil prices, gas lines and rationing. Stuck with recession, high interest rates, high inflation and high unemployment from that point forward. They could not be fixed. Jimmy Carter and the democrats had given up on America and surrendered the USA to our fate as a failed nation.
In walk Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich and reestablish that great shining city on the hill! Thank God! It’s not the end of the world after all. Iran returns the hostages immediately. Reagan takes the Soviet Union head on! Reagan takes the democrats head on and doesn’t take no for an answer. Takes his ideas to the people. It was a struggle but eventually the economy began turning. Reagan’s central theme domestically was that the government was too big, too intrusive, taxes too high, too much spending, too many regulations, too many restrictions on business and industry and they all must be cut. And he took that battle over the heads of the democrat congress to the tax payers and they loved it. Sound familiar?
And in 1994, Newt Gingrich leads the charge against the democrats who had been in power for 40 years and the Republicans take the majority and Gingrich becomes Speaker. He dreams up the contract with America which was designed as an extension of the Reagan Revolution and and included items attempting to balance the budget, reform welfare, tort reform, term limits, line item veto, etc. Some of it was successfully implemented, some not. But under Gingrich they did cut the deficit and balance the budget four years running. Sound desirable? Sound progressive?
How many times in our history have you seen a liberal progressive, cut taxes, cut regulations, cut spending, cut welfare, balance the budget, block big government programs like HillaryCare, impeach a sitting president, etc?
Never! In other words, all this to say Newt is NO RINO!! He’s a pro-life, pro-small government, pro-national security, Reagan conservative!! In short, we’re desperate, and he’s exactly what we’re looking for, and he’s running head and shoulders over the rest of the field, so what the hell are we squabbling about?
Yes, Romney and Rove hate him, the Republican establishment elite ruling class hates him, the liberals hate him, the democrats hate him and they hate him for the same reasons the taxpayers will support him, the lovers of liberty will support him, the defenders of life will support him, the defenders of national security will support him, the lovers of the Reagan Revolution will support him, and we the tea party should support him!! He’s a tax cutting, budget balancing, strong defense, small government, pro-life Reagan CONSERVATIVE!!
After reviewing Newt vs Romney, George Washington would say, go, NEWT!!
I’ll take a chance with Newt. Over Romney? You betcha!!
What say you?
(Free Republic) I posted the below in response to a FReeper who asked me what we should do in regards to progressives Newt and Romney. And he asked me what would George Washington do? So I got to thinking about why I've been gravitating towards Newt. In fact it kept me up for half the night.
Here is my reply:
Well, I’ll tell you, after Palin declined to run I really didn’t have a dog in this race. I liked Bachmann and Cain a lot, even Perry, but not as much as I liked Palin. Bachmann and Cain are both conservative enough, but neither have really been tested in higher office, nor do they have much experience in world affairs.
I also had high hopes for Perry because it looks like he’s done a great job in Texas, but his positions on the border issues turned off a lot of people. And his “heartless” statement didn’t win him much opportunity to turn that around.
I guess Santorum is conservative enough and possibly Huntsman, but neither engender much enthusiasm or excitement. Seems they’re just going through the motions. Don’t know if they have the real world experience to be CINC anyway.
Bachmann seems to be trying really hard but don’t know if she’s really qualified for the top spot either. Even so, had Bachmann really lit a fuse on the trail, I probably would have stood by and supported her, but she flopped and is unlikely to recover.
I thought early on that if Perry got into the race (without Palin) that he’d suck all the air out of it and would dominate. But he flopped. And then Cain took off like a rocket and he flopped.
Now Cain didn’t have elective experience, but he looked like a great conservative so we were all hoping and pulling for him. Well, that didn’t turn out well.
Mind you, that abortionist, lib progressive bastard Mitt Romney is just sitting there smiling through all this and he, Rove and the GOP elite think they’ve got it in the bag. Just gotta hang in there, not say anything rash, not rock the boat, no mistakes, just play defense as one by one the upstart tea party conservative candidates burn themselves out.
In my mind, we must defeat Romney AND Obama. I don’t think George Washington is going to be smiling down on us if we had this great tea party opportunity to knock off the progressives and we let Rove, Romney and the corrupt good old boys club bushwhack us. We’re supposed to be the bushwhackers.
So like a whole lot of conservative Republicans and tea party folks, we’re bouncing candidate to candidate looking for the one to knock off Romney so we can take the tea party battle directly to Obama. Romney is no tea party person. He and Rove, et al, sneer at us. No way in hell are they going to do anything we’re interested in doing even if they do get elected. It’ll be government as usual. Big. They hate us worse than they hate the democrats because we’re a direct threat to their power base.
So in comes Gingrich. Didn’t much care for him at first, mainly because of his well known baggage, and his perceived RINO plumage, but he began making a lot of sense and scoring a lot of points in the debates. Turns out his depth of knowledge and experience in government affairs both domestic and foreign and his experience with Ronald Reagan, the Reagan Revolution and the Republican Revolution of the 90’s are quite extensive and quite impressive if you look.
He’s been through the mill and that’s what a lot of our younger less experienced, less traveled candidates are missing. In the debates he comes off as a wiser, more experienced, more knowledgeable, level-headed senior statesman. And it appeared to me that the other candidates acknowledged and respected that.
So I start thinking back about his history as a congressman and speaker, and lo and behold, it appears to me he’s not such a RINO after all. He was a genuine Reagan protege. And he learned well from the master communicator. He eventually set a goal for himself to build a Republican majority and to take the speakership, and he determinately accomplished that goal.
And he had some great conservative accomplishments as congressman and speaker. He passed the contract with America. He cut taxes. Cut the deficit. Reformed welfare. Blocked HillaryCare. Became a thorn in President Clinton’s side, blocked much of his liberal agenda and ultimately allowed impeachment to proceed. Then of course, he resigned due to his own infidelity scandal. But, unlike Clinton, he didn’t deny it, didn’t lie about it, and he did the right thing by resigning.
Bottom line though, through his years with the Reagan Revolution and the Republican majority much conservative good was accomplished. The Wall came down, the Soviet Union collapsed and our great Reagan economy flourished for two decades.
Now, if a progressive RINO had been in charge of the congress during this period, who knows what would have happened. I’m sure the history would have been a lot different. Remember, before Gingrich and his Republican Majority, we conservatives had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years!! And our country was on life support after Jimmy Carter nearly killed it. And the democrats were saying at the time that there was nothing we could do about it. We were going to be stuck with the cold war. Stuck with the Soviet Union, stuck with Iran. Stuck with high oil prices, gas lines and rationing. Stuck with recession, high interest rates, high inflation and high unemployment from that point forward. They could not be fixed. Jimmy Carter and the democrats had given up on America and surrendered the USA to our fate as a failed nation.
In walk Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich and reestablish that great shining city on the hill! Thank God! It’s not the end of the world after all. Iran returns the hostages immediately. Reagan takes the Soviet Union head on! Reagan takes the democrats head on and doesn’t take no for an answer. Takes his ideas to the people. It was a struggle but eventually the economy began turning. Reagan’s central theme domestically was that the government was too big, too intrusive, taxes too high, too much spending, too many regulations, too many restrictions on business and industry and they all must be cut. And he took that battle over the heads of the democrat congress to the tax payers and they loved it. Sound familiar?
And in 1994, Newt Gingrich leads the charge against the democrats who had been in power for 40 years and the Republicans take the majority and Gingrich becomes Speaker. He dreams up the contract with America which was designed as an extension of the Reagan Revolution and and included items attempting to balance the budget, reform welfare, tort reform, term limits, line item veto, etc. Some of it was successfully implemented, some not. But under Gingrich they did cut the deficit and balance the budget four years running. Sound desirable? Sound progressive?
How many times in our history have you seen a liberal progressive, cut taxes, cut regulations, cut spending, cut welfare, balance the budget, block big government programs like HillaryCare, impeach a sitting president, etc?
Never! In other words, all this to say Newt is NO RINO!! He’s a pro-life, pro-small government, pro-national security, Reagan conservative!! In short, we’re desperate, and he’s exactly what we’re looking for, and he’s running head and shoulders over the rest of the field, so what the hell are we squabbling about?
Yes, Romney and Rove hate him, the Republican establishment elite ruling class hates him, the liberals hate him, the democrats hate him and they hate him for the same reasons the taxpayers will support him, the lovers of liberty will support him, the defenders of life will support him, the defenders of national security will support him, the lovers of the Reagan Revolution will support him, and we the tea party should support him!! He’s a tax cutting, budget balancing, strong defense, small government, pro-life Reagan CONSERVATIVE!!
After reviewing Newt vs Romney, George Washington would say, go, NEWT!!
I’ll take a chance with Newt. Over Romney? You betcha!!
What say you?
Newt Gingrich carries slight lead over Mitt Romney among likely voters in Michigan's Feb. 28 primary
GRAND RAPIDS – GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has pulled slightly ahead of favorite son Mitt Romney among voters likely to participate in Michigan's Feb. 28 presidential primary election, according to a poll released today.Gingrich was the choice of 30.75 percent of likely voters, passing Romney, the choice of 28.74 percent, according to the survey of Michigan voters likely to participate in the open primary, said John Yob, CEO of Strategic National, a Grand Rapids political consulting firm.
“If Newt Gingrich wins Michigan, the contest will be over and he'll win the nomination,” said Yob, who served as national political strategist for John McCain's come-from-behind primary campaign in 2007 and 2008...
Newt as Terminator or Joey Garza?
By Hugh Hewitt
Can Newt take the country when all of his one-time Beltway allies are pounding him with arrow, cannon and missiles from their permanent encampment on the Potomac?
It is one thing to take on the vast legions of Romnians spread out across every primary state, but the really dangerous stuff to Newt is coming from behind.
It isn’t clear who played Casca in this D.C. drama. George Will and Charles Krauthammer, the two heaviest pieces of artillery in the conservative print arsenal fired at the former Speaker at roughly at the same time. Doc Tom Coburn, the rock-ribbed conservative senator from Oklahoma got deep into Beltway lines –a Sunday show—before getting a knife into Newt. Cassius has to be Ann Coulter, whose column displayed the restraint for which she is known, and she has the lean look down.
Mark Steyn, the noblest conservative of them all because he lives in the Live Free or Die State and because his new best-seller "After America" is so unsparing, plays the role of Brutus in tonight’s performance. He delivered a searing estimate of Newt on my show. Steyn has no brief against Newt going back to the ‘90s. “He, only in a general honest thought, And common good to all, made one of them.”
With more arrows in him than the proverbial Custer, the question now is whether Newt can merely stagger on a few more hours in the manner of the villain Joey Graza from Larry McMurty’s Streets of Laredo who, after being riddle with lead shotgun pellets by Captain Call’s second-in-command Peaeye, still managed considerable more mayhem until a butcher brought him down, or whether, like the first Terminator, Newt takes licking and licking and just keeps tickin’ after reassembling his parts. (The Terminator came from the future to save the present; Newt sees himself as sailing out of the past to save the future.)
On yesterday’s radio program Peter Wehner, one of the wiser heads in D.C., wondered aloud with me on how difficult it is to judge political conversion stories --the “new” Newt v. “old” Newt narrative, Catholic edition. Those old enough to have lived through the new/old Nixon debate aren’t interested enough to weigh in –well, there is Al Hunt—and in the 45 years since a disgraced and beaten pol mounted a comeback via the presidency has seen everything change in terms of rules and technology.
If Newt makes it to 1600, he will have material for three or four Enemies Lists.
Rick Santorum, also a guest on Wednesday’s program –transcript here—is restrained when it comes to talking about Newt, as is Romney. Newt has been unfailingly gracious towards his competitors, and they to he, and this has been a good thing for all concerned. The jabs will pick up and the elbows get sharper now, but Newt’s real opponents aren’t on the stage.
They are from battles fought decades ago in a town where memory is a bar stool away in the form of anyone who didn’t get what they came for, didn’t make the deal, didn’t get the job or the glory.
If you spend your life in Washington, D.C., the old saying goes, and you want a friend, get a dog. The friends of Newt Gingrich have just begun to embrace two other old sayings: “Revenge is a dish best served cold,” and “Paybacks are hell.”
What these old opponents don’t yet seem to grasp is that every attack from within the gates establishes Newt’s “outsider” credibility. To the battalions and brigades of Tea Partiers watching must occur the question: “If the D.C. elite loathes him so much, shouldn’t we be for him?”
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Hundreds of NASA's moon rocks missing: audit
AFP - Researchers have sticky fingers when it comes to NASA's moon rocks and meteorites, and hundreds of samples have gone missing after being loaned out by the US space agency, an audit said Thursday. NASA Inspector General Paul Martin issued a report detailing foibles such as the US space agency making loans to researchers who never used the samples, or simply losing track of rare pieces dating back to the first US trip to the Moon in 1969.
"According to NASA records, 517 loaned astromaterials have been lost or stolen between 1970 and June 2010," said the report.
Astromaterials include Moon rocks and soil; meteorites from asteroids, Mars, and the Moon; ions from the outer layers of the Sun; dust from comets and interstellar space; and cosmic dust from Earth's stratosphere.
"These samples constitute a rare and limited resource and serve an important role for research and education," it added.
"Specifically, we found that NASA records were inaccurate, and that researchers could not account for all samples loaned to them and held samples for extended periods without performing research or returning the samples to NASA."
NASA needs a better tracking system and should do an annual inventory to stop unnecessary sample loss, the audit said.
"NASA concurred with our recommendations and promised to take corrective action," it added.
As of March, NASA had more than 26,000 samples on loan, of a collection that totals 140,000 lunar samples, 18,000 meteorite samples and 5,000 solar wind, comet, and cosmic dust samples.
NASA has admitted to losing such materials in the past. One researcher lost 18 lunar samples in 2010.
In 2002, 218 samples from the Moon and meteorites were stolen from Johnson Space Center in Houston but later returned.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
School turns heating off to ‘save planet’
Fury as kids shiver on coldest day
A HEADTEACHER got a roasting yesterday for turning the school heating OFF on one of the coldest days of the year — to save the planet.
(The Sun) Pupils shivered in coats, hats and scarves as temperatures fell to just 1°C (34°F). Head Rob Benzie switched off the radiators to show how the secondary school could cut its carbon footprint.
But some staff and parents slammed the "barbaric" plan.
One teacher called it "beyond stupid" and added: "It was absolutely ridiculous.
"I've never worked in such cold. I'm all for saving the planet but this was barbaric.
"Nobody could work properly and kids could not even grip a pen through their gloves." The mum of a 12-year-old at Ansford Academy in Castle Cary, Somerset, said: "She was shaking when she came home. I was absolutely furious."
A dad added: "Turning the heating off in December is just mental.
"I can't believe the kids learnt anything. I'm very angry with the school."
But Mr Benzie, 52, defended the "successful" experiment last Friday — locally the coldest day of the winter so far — and vowed to stage regular "eco-days" at the 640-pupil school.
He said: "We cut the heat to see if we can lower our carbon footprint. We let pupils wear as many jumpers as they liked.
"Everyone seemed happy enough although it did get pretty chilly. We sent letters to parents telling them of the plan.
"We had only one complaint and that was from a member of staff. But in the end they just got on with it."
Mr Benzie said he hoped for another eco-day next term, adding: "I'd like it to be a regular event. We have too much heating — sometimes I have to turn it down as it can make students fall asleep.
"The idea was actually thought up by a small number of pupils from our student eco-group."
Harry Morgan, Colonel Potter on ‘M*A*S*H,’ Dies at 96
By MICHAEL POLLAK
(New York Times) Harry Morgan, the prolific character actor best known for playing the acerbic but kindly Colonel Potter in the long-running television series “M*A*S*H,” died Wednesday morning at his home in Los Angeles. He was 96. His son Charles confirmed his death.
In more than 100 movies, Mr. Morgan played Western bad guys, characters with names like Rocky and Shorty, loyal sidekicks, judges, sheriffs, soldiers, thugs and police chiefs.
On television, he played Officer Bill Gannon with a phlegmatic but light touch to Jack Webb’s always-by-the-book Sgt. Joe Friday in the updated “Dragnet,” from 1967 to 1970. He starred as Pete Porter, a harried husband, in the situation comedy “Pete and Gladys” (1960-62), reprising a role he had played on “December Bride” (1954-59). He was also a regular on “The Richard Boone Show” (1963-64), “Kentucky Jones” (1964-65), “The D.A.” (1971-72), “Hec Ramsey” (1972-74) and “Blacke’s Magic” (1986).But to many fans he was first and foremost Col. Sherman T. Potter, commander of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital unit in Korea. With a wry smile, flat voice and sharp humor, Mr. Morgan played Colonel Potter from 1975 to 1983, when “M*A*S*H” went off the air. He replaced McLean Stevenson, who had quit the series, moving into the role on the strength of his performance as a crazed major general in an early episode.
In an interview for the Archive of American Television, Mr. Morgan said of his “M*A*S*H” character: “He was firm. He was a good officer and he had a good sense of humor. I think it’s the best part I ever had.” Colonel Potter’s office had several personal touches. The picture on his desk was of Mr. Morgan’s wife, Eileen Detchon. To relax, the colonel liked to paint and look after his horse, Sophie — a sort of inside joke, since the real Harry Morgan raised quarter horses on a ranch in Santa Rosa. Sophie, to whom Colonel Potter says goodbye in the final episode, was Mr. Morgan’s own horse.
In 1980 his Colonel Potter earned him an Emmy Award as best supporting actor in a comedy series. During the shooting of the series’ final episode, he was asked about his feelings. “Sadness and an aching heart,” he replied
Harry Morgan was born Harry Bratsburg on April 10, 1915, in Detroit. His parents were Norwegian immigrants. After graduating from Muskegon High School, where he played varsity football and was senior class president, he intended to become a lawyer, but debating classes in his pre-law major at the University of Chicago stimulated his interest in the theater. He made his professional acting debut in a summer stock production of “At Mrs. Beam’s” in Mount Kisco, N.Y., and his Broadway debut in 1937 in the original production of “Golden Boy,” starring Luther Adler, in a cast that also included Karl Malden and Lee J. Cobb...
(New York Times) Harry Morgan, the prolific character actor best known for playing the acerbic but kindly Colonel Potter in the long-running television series “M*A*S*H,” died Wednesday morning at his home in Los Angeles. He was 96. His son Charles confirmed his death.In more than 100 movies, Mr. Morgan played Western bad guys, characters with names like Rocky and Shorty, loyal sidekicks, judges, sheriffs, soldiers, thugs and police chiefs.
On television, he played Officer Bill Gannon with a phlegmatic but light touch to Jack Webb’s always-by-the-book Sgt. Joe Friday in the updated “Dragnet,” from 1967 to 1970. He starred as Pete Porter, a harried husband, in the situation comedy “Pete and Gladys” (1960-62), reprising a role he had played on “December Bride” (1954-59). He was also a regular on “The Richard Boone Show” (1963-64), “Kentucky Jones” (1964-65), “The D.A.” (1971-72), “Hec Ramsey” (1972-74) and “Blacke’s Magic” (1986).But to many fans he was first and foremost Col. Sherman T. Potter, commander of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital unit in Korea. With a wry smile, flat voice and sharp humor, Mr. Morgan played Colonel Potter from 1975 to 1983, when “M*A*S*H” went off the air. He replaced McLean Stevenson, who had quit the series, moving into the role on the strength of his performance as a crazed major general in an early episode.
In an interview for the Archive of American Television, Mr. Morgan said of his “M*A*S*H” character: “He was firm. He was a good officer and he had a good sense of humor. I think it’s the best part I ever had.” Colonel Potter’s office had several personal touches. The picture on his desk was of Mr. Morgan’s wife, Eileen Detchon. To relax, the colonel liked to paint and look after his horse, Sophie — a sort of inside joke, since the real Harry Morgan raised quarter horses on a ranch in Santa Rosa. Sophie, to whom Colonel Potter says goodbye in the final episode, was Mr. Morgan’s own horse.
In 1980 his Colonel Potter earned him an Emmy Award as best supporting actor in a comedy series. During the shooting of the series’ final episode, he was asked about his feelings. “Sadness and an aching heart,” he replied
Harry Morgan was born Harry Bratsburg on April 10, 1915, in Detroit. His parents were Norwegian immigrants. After graduating from Muskegon High School, where he played varsity football and was senior class president, he intended to become a lawyer, but debating classes in his pre-law major at the University of Chicago stimulated his interest in the theater. He made his professional acting debut in a summer stock production of “At Mrs. Beam’s” in Mount Kisco, N.Y., and his Broadway debut in 1937 in the original production of “Golden Boy,” starring Luther Adler, in a cast that also included Karl Malden and Lee J. Cobb...
Vatican group confirms second miracle attributed to Marianne Cope
By Renée K. Gadoua / The Post-Standard
The former leader of Syracuse’s Franciscan sisters is just one step from being named a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
A group of cardinals and bishops confirmed today a Vatican medical board’s finding that there is no medical explanation for a second miracle attributed to Blessed Mother Marianne Cope, known for her work with patients with leprosy in Hawaii.
With the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, Mother Marianne would become a saint, considered the church’s spiritual role models.
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes for Saints confirmed the unanimous ruling of the medical board that a medical miracle occurred as the result of prayers seeking the intercession of Mother Marianne on the patient’s behalf.
The case involves the healing of a woman who was ill with a fatal health condition. The diocese has not revealed the woman’s name or other details of her case, but may later, local church officials have said.
In 2004, Vatican officials ruled that a miraculous recovery involving a 14-year-old Syracuse girl in 1993 was the result of Mother Marianne’s intercession. The girl, Kate Mahoney, nearly died from complications after cancer surgery at Crouse Hospital.
Sister Mary Laurence Hanley, a Franciscan nun, visited Mahoney in the hospital and prayed to Mother Marianne to intercede with God on her behalf. Others also prayed for her to Mother Marianne.
The Sisters of St. Francis have a shrine to Mother Marianne at their residence on Court Street in Syracuse.
Mother Marianne was born in Germany. Her family immigrated to the United States and settled in Utica.
She joined the Sisters of St. Francis in Syracuse in 1862. She helped established St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Utica in 1866 and St. Joseph’s hospital in Syracuse in 1869.
In 1883, she led a contingent of nurses to Hawaii to care for lepers. In 1888, she moved to the Hawaiian island of Molokai to work in a settlement for patients with leprosy.
She died in 1918. In 2005, as part of the process for her canonization, her remains were exhumed from Kalaupapa, the isolated Hawaiian area where she ministered.
The former leader of Syracuse’s Franciscan sisters is just one step from being named a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. A group of cardinals and bishops confirmed today a Vatican medical board’s finding that there is no medical explanation for a second miracle attributed to Blessed Mother Marianne Cope, known for her work with patients with leprosy in Hawaii.
With the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, Mother Marianne would become a saint, considered the church’s spiritual role models.
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes for Saints confirmed the unanimous ruling of the medical board that a medical miracle occurred as the result of prayers seeking the intercession of Mother Marianne on the patient’s behalf.
The case involves the healing of a woman who was ill with a fatal health condition. The diocese has not revealed the woman’s name or other details of her case, but may later, local church officials have said.
In 2004, Vatican officials ruled that a miraculous recovery involving a 14-year-old Syracuse girl in 1993 was the result of Mother Marianne’s intercession. The girl, Kate Mahoney, nearly died from complications after cancer surgery at Crouse Hospital.
Sister Mary Laurence Hanley, a Franciscan nun, visited Mahoney in the hospital and prayed to Mother Marianne to intercede with God on her behalf. Others also prayed for her to Mother Marianne.
The Sisters of St. Francis have a shrine to Mother Marianne at their residence on Court Street in Syracuse.
Mother Marianne was born in Germany. Her family immigrated to the United States and settled in Utica.
She joined the Sisters of St. Francis in Syracuse in 1862. She helped established St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Utica in 1866 and St. Joseph’s hospital in Syracuse in 1869.
In 1883, she led a contingent of nurses to Hawaii to care for lepers. In 1888, she moved to the Hawaiian island of Molokai to work in a settlement for patients with leprosy.
She died in 1918. In 2005, as part of the process for her canonization, her remains were exhumed from Kalaupapa, the isolated Hawaiian area where she ministered.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
A Book Every Priest Needs to Read: Catholic Priests Falsely Accused
By Fr. Gordon J. MacRae
Catholic Priests Falsely Accused: The Facts, The Fraud, The Stories is a new book by David F. Pierre, and a Corporal Work of Mercy for the Church and priesthood.
If you’ve been wondering what might make a thoughtful and practical gift for your parish priest this Christmas, consider arming him – and yourself – with the truth. It might seem a strange thing to give the priests you know a book about every priest’s worst nightmare, but doing so – and reading it yourself – could very well be an act of generosity, justice, and mercy.
A few weeks ago, I received a copy of David F. Pierre’s newest book, Catholic Priests Falsely Accused: The Facts, The Fraud, The Stories (The Media Report, 2011). The book documents the stories of six priests who have suffered under the millstone of false witness over the last decade of scandal in the Catholic Church, and their arduous trek to exoneration. Having lived in this nightmare for close to two decades, I could not put the book down.
But David Pierre also included a seventh account that has not – not yet, anyway – had a happy ending, and it made my hands tremble. It’s Chapter 20 in his book, and it’s entitled “Guilty or Falsely Accused? The Disputed Case of Fr. Gordon MacRae, Diocese of Manchester, NH.”
I could feel my anxiety rise as the chapter title jumped off the Table of Contents at me, and I braced myself. I have seen the words “the case of Fr. Gordon MacRae” abused and manipulated in the mainstream media far too often to expect anything just and fair. What makes the case “disputed” is the fact that I was convicted in a 1994 trial, and, in covering that fact, most in the news media have overlooked the devil in the details.
Not so for David F. Pierre. He presents in this new book a factual analysis of my trial, and what he calls “an alarming opposite side…that has not been widely told.” David Pierre did his homework, and captured well “The Twilight Zone” aura around my trial, exposing how spectral wisps of rumor and innuendo were reshaped by a prosecutor to get a conviction with no evidence at all. David Pierre simply took the story that has been hiding in plain sight, and stated it in plain speech. The result could rival the legal thrillers of John Grisham and Scott Turow. Sometimes real life makes for the most gripping drama.
AS THE OTHER SHOE FALLS
But the chapter on my trial isn’t why I recommend that you consider this book as a gift to your parish priest. Just three hours after David Pierre’s book, Catholic Priests Falsely Accused arrived in my hands, I received a letter from an old friend, “Father C,” a 71-year-old priest who retired from full time ministry just months ago. Father C has been a faithful and much beloved priest for over 45 years, and I knew how much he looked forward to retirement and “senior priest” status in his diocese. Many older pastors look forward to ministry as priests free of all the administrative responsibilities of a large urban parish. Few priests can ever actually retire, but Father C looked forward to the title, “senior priest,” and deserved it.
Then the other shoe fell. During the last decade in the child sexual abuse witch hunt, Father C’s name showed up on a contingency lawyer’s personal “suspect” list. Despite the fact that no claims or accusations were ever brought against Father C, this lawyer doggedly pursued something against the priest because he thought he could eventually drive an accuser out of the past. In a decade of stalking Father C, the shameless lawyer could find no one to accuse the priest, and his witch hunt tactics eventually backfired. The lawyer was suspended from the practice of law for falsifying evidence and for what a judge called “a personal vendetta against the Catholic Church...” (continued)
Link
Related:- Fr. Gordon MacRae: Federal Court to Hear Oral Arguments in Habeas Corpus Appeal
- A Touch of Deja Vu: The Case against Rev. Gordon MacRae - by Ryan A. MacDonald
- Trial by Therapists - by Ryan A. MacDonald
- SNAP Judgements Part I: Catholic Priests Among the Public Ruins - by Fr. Gordon MacRae
- To Azazel: Father Gordon MacRae and the Gospel of Mercy - by Ryan A. MacDonald
- Dr. Bill Donohue Discussing Fr. Gordon MacRae and SNAP on EWTN's The World Over
- SNAP EXPOSED: Unmasking the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests - by William A. Donohue, Ph.D.
- As The Year of the Priest Ends, Are Civil Liberties for Priests Intact?
Teaching Catholic girls to become good Muslims
From RORATE CÆLI:
Sometime in October of this year, students of the Saint-Pierre School (a Catholic school in the Diocese of Luçon, located in the commune of Les Essarts in the Vendée) visited the mosque of La Roche-sur-Yon, accompanied by their teachers. The purpose: to "soak in" the spirit of Islam. It seems that they succeeded, judging from these pictures:
Source: Website of the Italian District of the SSPX
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Governor Lincoln Chafee Turns Christmas Tree Into Holiday Tree
By Todd Starnes
(Fox News Radio) A Rhode Island lawmaker is calling Gov. Lincoln Chafee “Governor Grinch” after he defied lawmakers and decided that the state would have a “holiday tree” instead of a “Christmas tree.”
The governor defended his decision by arguing that it is in keeping with the state’s founding in 1636 by religious dissident Roger Williams as a haven for tolerance – where government and religion were kept separate.
Instead of arguing over the tree, the governor called on lawmakers to focus their energy on feeding the poor.
“I would encourage all those engaged in this discussion – whatever their opinion on the matter – to use their energy and enthusiasm to make a positive difference in the lives of their fellow Rhode Islanders,” Chafee told the Associated Press.
But Rep. Doreen Costa, called the governor a “Grinch.”
“He’s just to the left as far as left as you can possibly be,” the Republican lawmaker told Fox News & Commentary. “He tries to be politically correct 24-7.”
Costa sponsored a resolution last January declaring the tree customarily erected in December be referred to as a “Christmas tree and not as a ‘holiday tree’ or other non-traditional terms.”
“He is refusing to honor what’s passed in the House of Representatives,” she said. “That’s more concerning than anything else.”
Costa said the governor’s rebuff has become her line in the sand.
“I’m sick of being politically correct,” she said. “Nobody’s been offended by calling a Christmas tree a Christmas tree. If we have a Menorah in the State House, what are we going to call it – a candle with sticks?”
So Costa has decided to erect her own Christmas tree – at the State House. And she plans on lighting it on Dec. 6 – the same day Chafee plans to host the official “holiday” tree lighting event.
“We’re going to sing Christmas carols and drink hot chocolate,” she said. “And I’m going to make a sign – Christmas tree lighting to the right and holiday tree to the left. We’ll see who gets the crowd.”
Costa said her yuletide defiance has generated lots of buzz in the state.
“My phone has been going insane today by people commending me for doing what’s right,” she said. “It has to stop somewhere. This is me taking a stand for the people I represent in Rhode Island.”
The 17-foot Colorado blue spruce was donated to the state by Big John Leyden’s Christmas Tree Farm. Leyden told the AP he’s disappointed with the governor’s choice of words.
“It’s not a holiday tree or even an ‘X-mas’ tree,” he said. “We’re a Christmas tree farm, that’s what the name is.”
But the opposition tree won’t be as nearly as big. Costa said she’s got a tiny car – and the tree will have to fit on the roof.
“It may only be a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree but at least it will be a Christmas tree,” she told the AP.
(Fox News Radio) A Rhode Island lawmaker is calling Gov. Lincoln Chafee “Governor Grinch” after he defied lawmakers and decided that the state would have a “holiday tree” instead of a “Christmas tree.”
The governor defended his decision by arguing that it is in keeping with the state’s founding in 1636 by religious dissident Roger Williams as a haven for tolerance – where government and religion were kept separate.
Instead of arguing over the tree, the governor called on lawmakers to focus their energy on feeding the poor.
“I would encourage all those engaged in this discussion – whatever their opinion on the matter – to use their energy and enthusiasm to make a positive difference in the lives of their fellow Rhode Islanders,” Chafee told the Associated Press.
But Rep. Doreen Costa, called the governor a “Grinch.”
“He’s just to the left as far as left as you can possibly be,” the Republican lawmaker told Fox News & Commentary. “He tries to be politically correct 24-7.”
Costa sponsored a resolution last January declaring the tree customarily erected in December be referred to as a “Christmas tree and not as a ‘holiday tree’ or other non-traditional terms.”
“He is refusing to honor what’s passed in the House of Representatives,” she said. “That’s more concerning than anything else.”
Costa said the governor’s rebuff has become her line in the sand.
“I’m sick of being politically correct,” she said. “Nobody’s been offended by calling a Christmas tree a Christmas tree. If we have a Menorah in the State House, what are we going to call it – a candle with sticks?”
So Costa has decided to erect her own Christmas tree – at the State House. And she plans on lighting it on Dec. 6 – the same day Chafee plans to host the official “holiday” tree lighting event.
“We’re going to sing Christmas carols and drink hot chocolate,” she said. “And I’m going to make a sign – Christmas tree lighting to the right and holiday tree to the left. We’ll see who gets the crowd.”
Costa said her yuletide defiance has generated lots of buzz in the state.
“My phone has been going insane today by people commending me for doing what’s right,” she said. “It has to stop somewhere. This is me taking a stand for the people I represent in Rhode Island.”
The 17-foot Colorado blue spruce was donated to the state by Big John Leyden’s Christmas Tree Farm. Leyden told the AP he’s disappointed with the governor’s choice of words.
“It’s not a holiday tree or even an ‘X-mas’ tree,” he said. “We’re a Christmas tree farm, that’s what the name is.”
But the opposition tree won’t be as nearly as big. Costa said she’s got a tiny car – and the tree will have to fit on the roof.
“It may only be a little Charlie Brown Christmas tree but at least it will be a Christmas tree,” she told the AP.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Romney Declines Lincoln-Douglas Debate Against Gingrich
(RealClearPolitics) With the Republican presidential primary appearing to have narrowed into a two-man contest, Human Events and Red State moved quickly to lock down a date for a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.
The two organizations went so far this past Monday as to firm up the Annenberg Theater at the Newseum in Washington as the venue on Dec. 19 after another debate originally scheduled that day was canceled. For its part, the Newseum was excited to host the pre-primary forum.
There was just one problem. While Gingrich was ready to take his place on the stage, the Romney campaign politely declined in a series of mostly e-mail exchanges.As Joe Guerriero, publisher of Human Events and Red State, put it to RCP: “Newt was all over it, and the Romney camp basically said no. It wasn’t a harsh no, but it was a no.”
A Gingrich spokesman confirmed to RCP that the candidate was interested and accepted the invitation, but a Romney spokeswoman didn’t return a request for comment.... (continued)
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Pelosi Dismisses Catholic Bishops as ‘Lobbyists’—For Opposing Obamacare Reg Forcing Catholics to Act Against Faith
(CNSNews.com) -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) on Thursday described America’s Roman Catholic bishops as “lobbyists in Washington, D.C.” in their efforts to persuade the Department of Health and Human Service to rescind a proposed regulation under the new health-care law that would force Catholics to act against the teachings of their church by compelling them to purchase health-care plans that cover sterilizations and all-FDA approved contraceptives, including abortifacients.
The proposed regulation, scheduled to take effect on Aug. 1, 2012, would require every health-insurance plan in the United States to cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives (which include abortifacients) without charging any co-pay. The Catholic Church teaches that sterilization, artificial contraception and abortion are morally wrong and that Catholics cannot be involved in them.
CNSNews.com asked Pelosi at her press briefing on Thursday: “In August, HHS issued a proposed regulation under the new health care law that would require that all health care plans cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives. The U.S. Catholic bishops have called the regulation an unprecedented attack on religious freedom and have asked HHS to drop it. Do you agree with the bishops?”
Noting that she is “a devout Catholic,” Pelosi said she sometimes disagrees with the Catholic bishops when they act as “lobbyists.”
“I don’t know if I agree with your characterization of what the HHS put forth,” Pelosi said, “but as a mother of five children in six years, as a devout Catholic, I have great respect for our bishops when they are my pastor. As lobbyists in Washington D.C., we have some areas of disagreement.
“Again,” she continued, “I don’t understand the proposal as you described it. So, I won’t be able to answer it. But I do think that it’s important for women to have the opportunity to have full reproductive health options available to them and their insurance wherever they receive it. I support the waiver that is there for the churches now. I don’t know the exception as expanded by what you’re saying there.”
The regulation HHS has proposed includes a “religious exemption” that does not apply to individuals who will be mandated under the new law to buy health insurance. To qualify as a “religious employer” who will get an exemption an organization must meet four criteria: their purpose must be the “inculcation of religious values,” they must “primarily employ persons who share the same religious tenets,” they must “primarily serve persons who share its religious tenets,” and they must be organized under the specific section of the Internal Revenue Code used by churches per se.
As drawn, the exemption from the sterilization-and-contraception mandate would not apply to Catholic individuals, Catholic hospitals, Catholic universities and Catholic charitable organizations. Thus, Catholic individuals would be forced to purchase health insurance plans that pay for sterilizations, contraception and abortifacients, in violation of the the teachings of their church, and Catholic hospitals, universities and charitable organizations would be forced to choose between dropping health insurance for their employees or paying for sterilizations, contraceptives and abortifacients in violation of the teachings of the church.
In September, the Catholics bishops issued a rare “call to action” that was distributed in church bulletins around the country. The bulletin insert stated that the regulation “poses an unprecedented threat to individual and institutional religious freedom” [italics in original] and called on Catholics to contact HHS and urge that the proposed regulation be rescinded... (continued)
The proposed regulation, scheduled to take effect on Aug. 1, 2012, would require every health-insurance plan in the United States to cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives (which include abortifacients) without charging any co-pay. The Catholic Church teaches that sterilization, artificial contraception and abortion are morally wrong and that Catholics cannot be involved in them.
CNSNews.com asked Pelosi at her press briefing on Thursday: “In August, HHS issued a proposed regulation under the new health care law that would require that all health care plans cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives. The U.S. Catholic bishops have called the regulation an unprecedented attack on religious freedom and have asked HHS to drop it. Do you agree with the bishops?”
Noting that she is “a devout Catholic,” Pelosi said she sometimes disagrees with the Catholic bishops when they act as “lobbyists.”
“I don’t know if I agree with your characterization of what the HHS put forth,” Pelosi said, “but as a mother of five children in six years, as a devout Catholic, I have great respect for our bishops when they are my pastor. As lobbyists in Washington D.C., we have some areas of disagreement.
“Again,” she continued, “I don’t understand the proposal as you described it. So, I won’t be able to answer it. But I do think that it’s important for women to have the opportunity to have full reproductive health options available to them and their insurance wherever they receive it. I support the waiver that is there for the churches now. I don’t know the exception as expanded by what you’re saying there.”
The regulation HHS has proposed includes a “religious exemption” that does not apply to individuals who will be mandated under the new law to buy health insurance. To qualify as a “religious employer” who will get an exemption an organization must meet four criteria: their purpose must be the “inculcation of religious values,” they must “primarily employ persons who share the same religious tenets,” they must “primarily serve persons who share its religious tenets,” and they must be organized under the specific section of the Internal Revenue Code used by churches per se.
As drawn, the exemption from the sterilization-and-contraception mandate would not apply to Catholic individuals, Catholic hospitals, Catholic universities and Catholic charitable organizations. Thus, Catholic individuals would be forced to purchase health insurance plans that pay for sterilizations, contraception and abortifacients, in violation of the the teachings of their church, and Catholic hospitals, universities and charitable organizations would be forced to choose between dropping health insurance for their employees or paying for sterilizations, contraceptives and abortifacients in violation of the teachings of the church.
In September, the Catholics bishops issued a rare “call to action” that was distributed in church bulletins around the country. The bulletin insert stated that the regulation “poses an unprecedented threat to individual and institutional religious freedom” [italics in original] and called on Catholics to contact HHS and urge that the proposed regulation be rescinded... (continued)
45,000 Told To Evacuate German Town Before Massive WWII Bomb Is Defused
Gary Langrick/via FlickrKoblenz: Where the Moselle river and the Rhine river meet.
(NPR) This upcoming weekend, a team of German explosive experts and members of the army are scheduled to defuse an unexploded bomb found in the city of Koblenz in Germany. The bomb — with 3,000 pounds of explosives — is a remnant of World War II that emerged in the Rhine River because of low water levels.
How serious is the situation? Authorities ordered half of the city's residents — 45,000 people — to leave, while they get the job done.
Der Spiegel reports:
Three meters (10 feet) long and weighing 1.8 tons, the aerial bomb was recently spotted after a particularly dry November lowered water levels along the busy river. Now preparations are underway for a massive evacuation set for Sunday.Stars and Stripes reports that the bomb is thought to have been dropped by the British Royal Air Force during the war and it is one of the largest bombs found in German history.
...
Authorities are building a temporary dam of some 350 sandbags around the bomb, currently covered by about 40 centimeters (16 inches) of water. A crane commissioned to build the dam was put in place on Tuesday, fire department spokesman Manfred Morschhäuser told the German news agency DAPD. The area will then be pumped free of water so the bomb can be defused.
"A 275-pound American bomb and a German smoke grenade were also found nearby," the paper reports, which adds that the British bomb is sitting on 16 inches of water, "partly buried in mud, making it difficult to access the detonation fuse."
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Pro-life nurse asked to assist abortion told: ‘You just have to catch the baby’s head’
(LifeSiteNews.com) As we’ve reported, a dozen pro-life nurses in New Jersey are fighting for their right to follow their conscience and not be forced to assist at abortions.
This quote in The Washington Post by one of the nurses stopped me in my tracks when I read it:
One of the nurses, Fe Esperanza R. Vinoya, said a manager told her: “‘You just have to catch the baby’s head. Don’t worry, it’s already dead.’ ”
Can you imagine anything more horrific than being forced to “catch” a dead baby’s head? A baby who only minutes before was alive in its mother’s womb?Pro-abort writers and bloggers are hysterically (I don’t use the word lightly) attempting to attack these women’s motives.
Here’s just a sample of mockery by Erin Ryan of the feminist blog Jezebel:
“From the way the complaint describes it, you’d think they were being ordered to line babies up and shoot them with a crossbow in front of their children.”I won’t even repeat some of the other things I’ve seen written about these pro-life nurses.
I think the need by pro-abort writers to hysterically blow this story out of proportion is telling: they have to exaggerate because the actual reality of what these nurses have been asked to do is truly horrifying. No one is talking about shooting babies with crossbows, we are talking about crushing a baby’s skull while the baby is still inside his or her mother and severing it from its tiny body. Pro-lifers demand that all sides simply face the gruesome facts.
For a movement that claims to be for “choice”, pro-aborts absolutely cannot admit that pro-life nurses have a choice not to assist at abortions. But the more important choice facing advocates of abortion is whether or not they will agree to discuss and confront the reality of abortion.
So, stow the crossbows and contemplate the heads of the poor victims of abortion instead.
Prayer Request
Please pray for a woman who is in constant pain and having difficulty walking and sleeping. Thank you.
And the Novena for Philip Johnson starts today:
Links:
And the Novena for Philip Johnson starts today:
Novena for Philip Johnson
November 30th through December 8th
Father all-powerful and ever-living God,
you chose the Immaculate Virgin Mary,
the mother of your Son, to be the mother and help of all Christians.
As she endured her bitter agony
at the cross of her Son, she was consoled by you
with the hope of His resurrection.
Now, in heaven
she consoles with a mother’s love all who turn to her with faith,
until the day of the Lord dawns in glory.
~Pray the Memorare~
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence,
I fly to you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother;
to you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in your mercy hear and answer me.
~We pray~
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
we are filled with confidence that your prayers on our behalf
will be graciously heard before the throne of God.
Bring our seminarian, Philip Johnson, healing, peace, courage and strength
as he shares in the suffering of your Son.
O Glorious Mother of God,
in memory of your joyous Immaculate Conception,
hear our prayers and obtain for us our petitions.
Links:
Rick Perry gets U.S. voting age wrong in New Hampshire
(The Washington Post) At a town hall meeting at the Institute of Politics at New Hampshire’s Saint Anselm’s College Tuesday, Rick Perry asked that all of the college students in the crowd who will be 21 by Nov. 12 support his bid for the presidency.
Say what?
The voting age in the United States is, of course, 18. And the 2012 election will be held on Nov. 6, 2012. (The New Hampshire Republican primary, which brought Perry to the state, will take place on Jan. 10).
“Those who are going to be over 21 on November 12th, I ask for your support,” Perry said, eliciting a few chuckles from the crowd.” Those who won’t be, just work hard. Because you’re... counting on us.”
The gaffe can be easily chalked up to a slip of the tongue. In fact after the event Perry spokesman Mark Miner said simply “the governor misspoke.”
But whiffing on electoral basics will hardly help Perry as he struggles to recover from a series of gaffe-filled and lackluster debate performances (the most memorable of which was the “oops” moment during a Republican debate when Perry failed to recall the third government department he would eliminate as president).
Perry would love to capitalize on conservative displeasure with Herman Cain, as the businessman reassesses whether to stay in the 2012 race following allegations that he engaged in a 13-year extramarital affair.
But he will first have to convince voters that he has the verbal dexterity to go toe-to-toe with President Obama in a general election; repeated gaffes will likely hurt any effort to do so.
After the event, Perry ignored questions from reporters about Cain’s status in the race as he was hustled quickly from the college auditorium.
Say what?
The voting age in the United States is, of course, 18. And the 2012 election will be held on Nov. 6, 2012. (The New Hampshire Republican primary, which brought Perry to the state, will take place on Jan. 10).
“Those who are going to be over 21 on November 12th, I ask for your support,” Perry said, eliciting a few chuckles from the crowd.” Those who won’t be, just work hard. Because you’re... counting on us.”
The gaffe can be easily chalked up to a slip of the tongue. In fact after the event Perry spokesman Mark Miner said simply “the governor misspoke.”
But whiffing on electoral basics will hardly help Perry as he struggles to recover from a series of gaffe-filled and lackluster debate performances (the most memorable of which was the “oops” moment during a Republican debate when Perry failed to recall the third government department he would eliminate as president).
Perry would love to capitalize on conservative displeasure with Herman Cain, as the businessman reassesses whether to stay in the 2012 race following allegations that he engaged in a 13-year extramarital affair.
But he will first have to convince voters that he has the verbal dexterity to go toe-to-toe with President Obama in a general election; repeated gaffes will likely hurt any effort to do so.
After the event, Perry ignored questions from reporters about Cain’s status in the race as he was hustled quickly from the college auditorium.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Obama Legalizes Horse Slaughter for Human Consumption
By Madeline Bernstein
(Technorati) Horse slaughter plants are legal again in the United States. Restrictions on horse meat processing for human consumption have been lifted.
In a bipartisan effort, the House of Representatives and the United States Senate approved the Conference Committee report on spending bill H2112, which among other things, funds the United States Department of Agriculture. On November 18th, as the country was celebrating Thanksgiving, President Obama signed a law, allowing Americans to kill and eat horses. Essentially, one turkey was pardoned in the presence of worldwide media while in the shadows, buried under pages of fiscal regulation, millions of horses were sentenced to death.
Horse slaughter has been prohibited in the United States as funding for inspections of horses in transit and at slaughter houses was non-existent. This worked because the horse meat cannot be sold for human consumption without such inspections. The House version of the bill retained the de-funding language and the Senate version did not. The conference committee charged with reconciling the two opted to not include it. The result is that it is now legal to slaughter horses for humans to eat.
Notwithstanding that 70% of Americans oppose horse slaughter, that President Obama made a campaign promise to permanently ban horse slaughter and exports of horses for human consumption (horses can be sent to Mexico and Canada), that documentation of animal cruelty, slaughterhouse stench, fluid runoff and negative community impact exists, it is taxpayers that will bear the costs!
Wyoming state representative Sue Wallis and her pro-slaughter group estimate that between 120,000 and 200,000 horses will be killed for human consumption per year and that Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Georgia and Missouri, are considering opening slaughter plants.
During these trying times, is the only thing that Democrats and Republicans can agree on is that Americans need to eat horses?
(Technorati) Horse slaughter plants are legal again in the United States. Restrictions on horse meat processing for human consumption have been lifted.
In a bipartisan effort, the House of Representatives and the United States Senate approved the Conference Committee report on spending bill H2112, which among other things, funds the United States Department of Agriculture. On November 18th, as the country was celebrating Thanksgiving, President Obama signed a law, allowing Americans to kill and eat horses. Essentially, one turkey was pardoned in the presence of worldwide media while in the shadows, buried under pages of fiscal regulation, millions of horses were sentenced to death.Horse slaughter has been prohibited in the United States as funding for inspections of horses in transit and at slaughter houses was non-existent. This worked because the horse meat cannot be sold for human consumption without such inspections. The House version of the bill retained the de-funding language and the Senate version did not. The conference committee charged with reconciling the two opted to not include it. The result is that it is now legal to slaughter horses for humans to eat.
Notwithstanding that 70% of Americans oppose horse slaughter, that President Obama made a campaign promise to permanently ban horse slaughter and exports of horses for human consumption (horses can be sent to Mexico and Canada), that documentation of animal cruelty, slaughterhouse stench, fluid runoff and negative community impact exists, it is taxpayers that will bear the costs!
Wyoming state representative Sue Wallis and her pro-slaughter group estimate that between 120,000 and 200,000 horses will be killed for human consumption per year and that Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Georgia and Missouri, are considering opening slaughter plants.
During these trying times, is the only thing that Democrats and Republicans can agree on is that Americans need to eat horses?
Vatican Cardinal Burke: ‘We’re well on the way’ to Christian persecution in the U.S.
by John-Henry Westen
VATICAN, November 28, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – One of the highest ranking cardinals in the Vatican has said that the United States is “well on the way” to the persecution of Christians.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, former Archbishop of St. Louis and now the head of the Vatican’s highest court, told Catholic News Agency that he could envision a time when the Catholic Church in the U.S., “even by announcing her own teaching,” is accused of “engaging in illegal activity, for instance, in its teaching on human sexuality.”
Asked if the cardinal could even see American Catholics being arrested for their faith he replied, “I can see it happening, yes.”
In his remarks to several U.S. Bishops meeting with him Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI made similarly emphatic warnings about the U.S. The pope told the bishops that “the seriousness of the challenges which the Church in America, under your leadership, is called to confront in the near future cannot be underestimated.”
He added: “The obstacles to Christian faith and practice raised by a secularized culture also affect the lives of believers.”
In the interview published today, Cardinal Burke declared that “it is a war” and “critical at this time that Christians stand up for the natural moral law.” Should they not, he warned, “secularization will in fact predominate and it will destroy us.”
Pope Benedict too urged the bishops of the United States to speak out in defense of morality. “The present moment can thus be seen, in positive terms, as a summons to exercise the prophetic dimension of your episcopal ministry by speaking out, humbly yet insistently, in defense of moral truth, and offering a word of hope, capable of opening hearts and minds to the truth that sets us free,” he said.
Catholic League President Bill Donohue told LifeSiteNews that Cardinal Burke’s remarks were accurate and not exaggerations. “Secularism has become militant,” he said. “Many elites are taking an aggressive secular approach. They have lined up against the Catholic Church and other Christian churches particularly for their stand on moral values.”
Donohue pointed to New York where gay ‘marriage’ was passed without debate or exemptions for clerks who objected to having to grant such licenses. He also noted the closing of Catholic adoption and foster care agencies since they were unable to comply with laws forcing homosexual adoptions.
“The real big one,” he added, “is the HHS of the Obama Administration.” The forcing of abortifacient and contraceptive coverage in private health care plans under penalty of fines was described by the Catholic League President as the Obama Administration “on a full court press to shove its values down the throats of the Catholic Church.”
See the full interview with Cardinal Burke with Catholic News Agency
VATICAN, November 28, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – One of the highest ranking cardinals in the Vatican has said that the United States is “well on the way” to the persecution of Christians.Cardinal Raymond Burke, former Archbishop of St. Louis and now the head of the Vatican’s highest court, told Catholic News Agency that he could envision a time when the Catholic Church in the U.S., “even by announcing her own teaching,” is accused of “engaging in illegal activity, for instance, in its teaching on human sexuality.”
Asked if the cardinal could even see American Catholics being arrested for their faith he replied, “I can see it happening, yes.”
In his remarks to several U.S. Bishops meeting with him Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI made similarly emphatic warnings about the U.S. The pope told the bishops that “the seriousness of the challenges which the Church in America, under your leadership, is called to confront in the near future cannot be underestimated.”
He added: “The obstacles to Christian faith and practice raised by a secularized culture also affect the lives of believers.”
In the interview published today, Cardinal Burke declared that “it is a war” and “critical at this time that Christians stand up for the natural moral law.” Should they not, he warned, “secularization will in fact predominate and it will destroy us.”
Pope Benedict too urged the bishops of the United States to speak out in defense of morality. “The present moment can thus be seen, in positive terms, as a summons to exercise the prophetic dimension of your episcopal ministry by speaking out, humbly yet insistently, in defense of moral truth, and offering a word of hope, capable of opening hearts and minds to the truth that sets us free,” he said.
Catholic League President Bill Donohue told LifeSiteNews that Cardinal Burke’s remarks were accurate and not exaggerations. “Secularism has become militant,” he said. “Many elites are taking an aggressive secular approach. They have lined up against the Catholic Church and other Christian churches particularly for their stand on moral values.”
Donohue pointed to New York where gay ‘marriage’ was passed without debate or exemptions for clerks who objected to having to grant such licenses. He also noted the closing of Catholic adoption and foster care agencies since they were unable to comply with laws forcing homosexual adoptions.
“The real big one,” he added, “is the HHS of the Obama Administration.” The forcing of abortifacient and contraceptive coverage in private health care plans under penalty of fines was described by the Catholic League President as the Obama Administration “on a full court press to shove its values down the throats of the Catholic Church.”
See the full interview with Cardinal Burke with Catholic News Agency
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