My brother who publishes an email newsletter for the Harrisonburg Republicans sent along these headline gems. If anyone on the planet is unaware of liberal media bias, he's comatose. Visit The Media Research Center to learn how George Stephanopoulos advises Obama while he reports on the administration. Clinton's boy wonder apparently has no problem pretending to be objective while in bed with the folks he's covering. But isn't that a conflict of interest? Well - that's just the way the mainstream media operate these days. How can they help it when they feel a thrill up their legs every time the messiah opens his mouth. So read the headlines below that illustrate media bias better than anything I can say. Ya just gotta laugh - especially the line about "everyman Obama." I don't begrudge him and Michelle their lobster, caviar, and champagne; but please don't tell me he reflects the average Joe in this country who snacks on pretzels and beer.
Headlines 4 Years Ago:
"Republicans spending $42 million on inauguration while troops Die in unarmored Humvees"
"Bush extravagance exceeds any reason during tough economic times"
"Fat cats get their $42 million inauguration party, Ordinary Americans get the shaft"
Headlines Now:
"Historic Obama Inauguration will cost only $120 million"
"Obama Spends $120 million on inauguration; America Needs A Big Party"
"Everyman Obama shows America how to celebrate"
"Citibank executives contribute $8 million to Obama Inauguration"
Saturday, January 31, 2009
More on NBC Rejection of Pro-Life Ad
Here's the latest update on the battle over airing the pro-life ad during the Super Bowl. Sometimes the liberal media's actions are so outrageous that their opposition is a blessing in disguise.
Dear Friends,
From CatholicVote.org
We broke this news yesterday, but wanted to make sure you have the full story - NBC has slammed the door on running our ad during the Super Bowl!
After several days of negotiations, a representative in Chicago told us that NBC and the NFL are not interested in advertisements involving ‘political candidates or issues.’ ...
But NBC’s rejection is calling even more attention to the ad. We have been appearing on radio programs across the country for the past two days, and NBC’s New York affiliate (imagine the irony), is covering the controversy. Bill O’Reilly of the FOX News Channel featured the ad on his program Wednesday night calling it “brilliant” and “genius.” His show alone reached nearly 4 million people. View the ad...
All of this is driving more traffic to the commercial online. We reached almost 1 million online views in less than two weeks!
So why did NBC reject the ad?
The network claims that they do not allow political or issue advocacy advertisements during the Super Bowl, but that’s simply not true.
The network was willing to air an ad by PETA, which is definitely an advocacy group, if PETA would tone down their ad’s sexual suggestiveness.
Also, the first ad scheduled to run during the Super Bowl is a creative spot about Pedigree’s pet adoption drive. The ad ends with the line: “Help us help dogs.” ...
What now?
We’re not intimidated by NBC. We plan on getting this ad out so that many millions of Americans can imagine the potential of each human life. Here are some things you can do:
We are preparing a virtual protest of NBC’s decision. We want other networks to know that hundreds of thousands of people want to see this ad aired, and we will not give up easily. Stay tuned for our plan on this....
The Catholic television station EWTN will be airing the commercial before, during and after the Super Bowl....
Brian Burch
CatholicVote.org
P.S. You may recall that this is the first ad in our new “Life: Imagine the Potential” campaign. We are having a huge impact with our campaign already! Our message is positive, life affirming, and hope-filled. And it is reaching audiences that normally don’t listen to us.
We are grateful for all your support and prayers.
Dear Friends,
From CatholicVote.org
We broke this news yesterday, but wanted to make sure you have the full story - NBC has slammed the door on running our ad during the Super Bowl!
After several days of negotiations, a representative in Chicago told us that NBC and the NFL are not interested in advertisements involving ‘political candidates or issues.’ ...
But NBC’s rejection is calling even more attention to the ad. We have been appearing on radio programs across the country for the past two days, and NBC’s New York affiliate (imagine the irony), is covering the controversy. Bill O’Reilly of the FOX News Channel featured the ad on his program Wednesday night calling it “brilliant” and “genius.” His show alone reached nearly 4 million people. View the ad...
All of this is driving more traffic to the commercial online. We reached almost 1 million online views in less than two weeks!
So why did NBC reject the ad?
The network claims that they do not allow political or issue advocacy advertisements during the Super Bowl, but that’s simply not true.
The network was willing to air an ad by PETA, which is definitely an advocacy group, if PETA would tone down their ad’s sexual suggestiveness.
Also, the first ad scheduled to run during the Super Bowl is a creative spot about Pedigree’s pet adoption drive. The ad ends with the line: “Help us help dogs.” ...
What now?
We’re not intimidated by NBC. We plan on getting this ad out so that many millions of Americans can imagine the potential of each human life. Here are some things you can do:
We are preparing a virtual protest of NBC’s decision. We want other networks to know that hundreds of thousands of people want to see this ad aired, and we will not give up easily. Stay tuned for our plan on this....
The Catholic television station EWTN will be airing the commercial before, during and after the Super Bowl....
Brian Burch
CatholicVote.org
P.S. You may recall that this is the first ad in our new “Life: Imagine the Potential” campaign. We are having a huge impact with our campaign already! Our message is positive, life affirming, and hope-filled. And it is reaching audiences that normally don’t listen to us.
We are grateful for all your support and prayers.
Media Malpractice and Abortion
World Net Daily sent a team to the March for Life last week and their article is one of the best I've seen. Pray for the success of their documentary and for all the women of Silent No More like Jennifer O'Neil. Their courage in sharing their abortion stories and the grace of their repentance channelled to our pro-death culture has the potential to explode the lie. They are the sad face that exposes abortion as the hideous abuse it is - both for the child victims and the exploited women. These women know that choice is a lie; coercion, sometimes subtle, is the norm.
Media malpractice at the March for Life
Coerced or forced abortions in America
Abortion Coercion Subtle, Powerful
Media malpractice at the March for Life
Coerced or forced abortions in America
Abortion Coercion Subtle, Powerful
Friday, January 30, 2009
Cardinal Mahony in FBI Probe
The FBI is looking into Cardinal Mahony's potential fraud in enabling the sexual abuse of children. Mahony has ducked and weaved for years in the dance of deception. No doubt if it looks like the feds can make the case he'll be spirited out of the country like Cardinal Law. I for one would like to see a few of these wolves in jail. Having been there myself for defending babies at the abortion mills I can testify to it being a humbling experience. Being stripped of your clothing and sprayed with a lice solution is definitely humiliating and humiliation is an opportunity as Fr. John Hardon often said. "Only humble people get into heaven." So bring on the humiliation! Isn't that exactly what some of these arrogant princes of the Church need? Remember what jail did for Chuck Colson. Wouldn't we all celebrate a Mahony conversion. Pray for Cardinal Mahony and for all those injured (and those who continue to be injured) by his abusive reign. Cardinal Mahony under federal grand jury investigation over priest abuse
NBC Rejects Pro-Life Ad for the Super Bowl
We're all used to media bias. One way to control the population is to shut out opposing ideas. Visit LifeSite News for the full story. Then write to NBC and protest. I've copied the email I sent below:
I was shocked to hear that NBC rejected the beautiful pro-life ad. I've seen so many disgusting ads over the years during the Super Bowl that you folks have no problem with, but this short ad that celebrates the life of Barak Obama is somehow unsuitable? And your deceitful claim about not airing political ads (which it isn't) is beyond belief, especially in view of your message to PETA that their ad could run if they toned down the sexual suggestiveness.
I'm passing this on and posting on my blog and encouraging people to write, but also to skip the Super Bowl if this ad is not allowed to run. There are at least a few people of conscience left in this country who are sick of media bias enough to just say no to the Super Bowl.
Are you willing to fast from the Super Bowl to gain graces for the President and for an end to media bias? A possible alternative - watch Remember the Titans or another inspirational football film instead.
ACTION: Send your complaints about the rejection of the ad to Victoria Morgan, Vice President, Advertising Standards, NBC Universal, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 1825 E. New York, NY 10112. Call (212) 664-4267 or fax (212) 664-6366 or email victoria.morgan@nbc.com
FOCA goes underground
Planned Parenthood head Cecile Richards is backing off the demand for FOCA passage in the light of increased opposition from organized groups all over the country. The bishops' postcard campaign, the Fight FOCA drive, opposition groups on Facebook, etc. are all playing a part. Add to that several hundred thousand pro-lifers marching on Washington January 22nd against abortion and FOCA. The crowd may not have rivaled the inauguration mob but certainly has a chilling effect on the Obama unity message. He sure isn't bringing us together on abortion and never will. But the pro-deathers are no fools. What they can't get in one giant step, they will happily take by inches. And they will do it with the sugar-coated lie and the newspeak that paints abortion and abortifacient birth control as "women's health care."
Charmaine Yoest at Americans United for Life Action warns that, "Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood, and others are saying that they aren’t going to try to pass the 'Freedom of Choice Act' (FOCA). Don’t believe it for a second. If your opponent gives up the frontal attack . . . you better start watching your flank.
We are now seeing the abortion forces waging an incremental battle — working to pass what we have termed 'FOCA-by-Stealth.' They think that if they take FOCA and repackage it and pass it in pieces and under different names . . . that we won’t notice."
Sign the Fight FOCA petition and send letters to Congress. Watch the fine print and when they use their doubletalking newspeak recognize it for what it is. Obama is not the unity candidate. He is a die hard deathdealer who speaks in honeyed terms while he plans the next attack on the untermenchen in the womb.
And while you're thinking politics, here's an action that can make a big difference at the local level! Planned Parenthood receives hundreds of millions of dollars every year in taxpayer dollars, but that can be stopped if enough Americans take the pledge. What do you promise? Not to vote in the next election for any politician who votes a single dollar for Planned Parenthood. Virginians for Life is spearheading this effort in my state and hopes to go national in the future with this activity. All politics is local. Make your state and local politicians pay for funneling your hard-earned tax dollars into the pockets of the PP abortionists.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Calling the USCCB to Account
Catholics in America need to start holding their bishops responsible for the evil actions of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), their bureaucracy. What the conference does in their name, the bishops must answer for. Bad documents, bad movie reviews, bad statements...they all come out of the USCCB and can be laid at the bishops' feet. They helped elect Obama; they can't duck responsibility for the evil that he is doing now. If the bishops spoke with a clear voice the sheep would follow.
It is long overdue for good bishops to pull out of the USCCB and form an orthodox group just like the orthodox nuns pulled out of the scandalous Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Threaten a woman's children and she'll respond like a mother bear. Heretical nuns threatened the faith of children and they were opposed. Perhaps it's time for the men to follow the women's lead and start a new orthodox conference that defends the faith. What would be the impact of twelve faithful bishops forming a coalition of orthodox shepherds. It could spark the same kind of revolution that twelve good men following Christ began in the ancient Roman world. Let's pray for it.
Archbishop Burke says bishops' document helped Obama campaign
It is long overdue for good bishops to pull out of the USCCB and form an orthodox group just like the orthodox nuns pulled out of the scandalous Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Threaten a woman's children and she'll respond like a mother bear. Heretical nuns threatened the faith of children and they were opposed. Perhaps it's time for the men to follow the women's lead and start a new orthodox conference that defends the faith. What would be the impact of twelve faithful bishops forming a coalition of orthodox shepherds. It could spark the same kind of revolution that twelve good men following Christ began in the ancient Roman world. Let's pray for it.
Archbishop Burke says bishops' document helped Obama campaign
Good for the House Republicans
Not a single Republican in the House voted for the Democrats $819 billion spending extravaganza when it passed yesterday. And eleven democrats joined the good guys. Thanks be to God! Now when the inevitable failure occurs, liberals will take the full blame.
The falsely called "stimulus" package doesn't stimulate anything but liberals' saliva glands. The handouts in the bill are so excessive they offer real hope of waking up the sleeping giant, the middle class who may have been duped into voting for a liberal dressed in a conservative suit, but you can only fool people for so long. Let's hope what's happening also is a wake-up call to Republicans who sold out conservative principles a generation ago. Big-government Republican should be an oxymoron. Let's make is so once again.
I mentioned some of the porky items in the bill in an earlier post. Here are a few more. Ask yourself as you read this list how this spending will create new jobs and contribute to economic recovery. Maybe it's a secret only liberal democrats can understand:
-- $5.2 billion for "neighborhood stablization programs" that will go primarily to groups like ACORN (This is Obama payback time.)
-- $400 million to NASA for climate change research (the Chicken Little payback)
-- $426 million to the Center for Disease Control to construct buildings (That will put a few construction workers on the payroll.)
-- $360 million for new daycare facilities at military bases (Get those moms out of the house and into the taxpaying workforce.)
-- $600 million for the General Services Administration to buy new cars (but they'll be energy efficient)
-- $800 million to clean up Superfund Sites (Payback to the liberal greenies)
Aren't you happy to know that your taxpayer dollars...and your children's...and your grandchildren's...will be going for this good cause. This behemoth spending bill is mortgaging the future. If you think your kids' school loans have put them in hock for too long just think of the impact of all this borrowed money on their earning power. But we are guaranteed one thing out of this - a deeper recession, higher taxes, more unemployment, and hyper-inflation. That's just economic reality.
The falsely called "stimulus" package doesn't stimulate anything but liberals' saliva glands. The handouts in the bill are so excessive they offer real hope of waking up the sleeping giant, the middle class who may have been duped into voting for a liberal dressed in a conservative suit, but you can only fool people for so long. Let's hope what's happening also is a wake-up call to Republicans who sold out conservative principles a generation ago. Big-government Republican should be an oxymoron. Let's make is so once again.
I mentioned some of the porky items in the bill in an earlier post. Here are a few more. Ask yourself as you read this list how this spending will create new jobs and contribute to economic recovery. Maybe it's a secret only liberal democrats can understand:
-- $5.2 billion for "neighborhood stablization programs" that will go primarily to groups like ACORN (This is Obama payback time.)
-- $400 million to NASA for climate change research (the Chicken Little payback)
-- $426 million to the Center for Disease Control to construct buildings (That will put a few construction workers on the payroll.)
-- $360 million for new daycare facilities at military bases (Get those moms out of the house and into the taxpaying workforce.)
-- $600 million for the General Services Administration to buy new cars (but they'll be energy efficient)
-- $800 million to clean up Superfund Sites (Payback to the liberal greenies)
Aren't you happy to know that your taxpayer dollars...and your children's...and your grandchildren's...will be going for this good cause. This behemoth spending bill is mortgaging the future. If you think your kids' school loans have put them in hock for too long just think of the impact of all this borrowed money on their earning power. But we are guaranteed one thing out of this - a deeper recession, higher taxes, more unemployment, and hyper-inflation. That's just economic reality.
Brave New State of Massachusetts
One of the characteristics of Orwell's "brave new world" was newspeak. Newspeak allowed the governmnet to use language that meant just the opposite of the real situation. So the war department was called the department of love, etc.
Many people today are lost in a virtual world that has little to do with reality even when it's described as "virtual reality." Instead, people play let's pretend choosing whatever happens to make them feel good at the moment no matter how idiotic. Homosexuals are particularly prone to this as they play wedding and house together and pretend to make babies together which is physically impossible.
It's bad enough when idividuals do this, but when the government starts playing the game as well, the people are literally living in the STATE of insanity. Massachusetts is a perfect example. The Department of Motor Vehicles recently promulgated a policy that allows a driver to designate himself/herself, not with the sex indicated by bodily physical characteristics (i.e. sex organs), but with whatever "gender" he/she feels is the right one. In a letter dated January 21, 2009 sent to Mass Resistance, Rachel Kaprielian, Registrar of Motor Vehicles, wrote that "Under this new policy, it is no longer necessary to submit medical proof of sex reassignment surgery....an individual who wishes to change the gender marker will submit an updated application together with a Gender Designation Change Form, signed by him or her and a medical provider attesting to the gender that the individual considers himself or herself to be."
Consider that identification papers like the driver's license is a legal document. When your child's male teacher comes to school dressed as a woman, will you have any legal right to protest since the state recognizes his right to choose his own gender? When he uses the female restroom, ditto. Those who object will be considered the bigots; we know the drill by now.
Remember the story of the Emperor's New Clothes? We're living it and, unfortunately, the little boy with common sense who said, "Look, the Emperor is naked!" is being gagged and targeted as an intolerant bigot. And, besides, the Emperor feels dressed in glorious clothes so he must be -- right?
Homosexuality and Mental Health Problems
Many people today are lost in a virtual world that has little to do with reality even when it's described as "virtual reality." Instead, people play let's pretend choosing whatever happens to make them feel good at the moment no matter how idiotic. Homosexuals are particularly prone to this as they play wedding and house together and pretend to make babies together which is physically impossible.
It's bad enough when idividuals do this, but when the government starts playing the game as well, the people are literally living in the STATE of insanity. Massachusetts is a perfect example. The Department of Motor Vehicles recently promulgated a policy that allows a driver to designate himself/herself, not with the sex indicated by bodily physical characteristics (i.e. sex organs), but with whatever "gender" he/she feels is the right one. In a letter dated January 21, 2009 sent to Mass Resistance, Rachel Kaprielian, Registrar of Motor Vehicles, wrote that "Under this new policy, it is no longer necessary to submit medical proof of sex reassignment surgery....an individual who wishes to change the gender marker will submit an updated application together with a Gender Designation Change Form, signed by him or her and a medical provider attesting to the gender that the individual considers himself or herself to be."
Consider that identification papers like the driver's license is a legal document. When your child's male teacher comes to school dressed as a woman, will you have any legal right to protest since the state recognizes his right to choose his own gender? When he uses the female restroom, ditto. Those who object will be considered the bigots; we know the drill by now.
Remember the story of the Emperor's New Clothes? We're living it and, unfortunately, the little boy with common sense who said, "Look, the Emperor is naked!" is being gagged and targeted as an intolerant bigot. And, besides, the Emperor feels dressed in glorious clothes so he must be -- right?
Homosexuality and Mental Health Problems
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Thank You, Idiot Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Every village has its idiot and Congress certainly qualifies as the elite village on the hill. And no one (well maybe Joe Biden as president of the Senate) deserves the title of village idiot more than Nancy Pelosi. Her stupid remarks in the recent interview with George Stephanopoulos got the birth control money pulled from the so-called "stimulus" package. So keep blabbing, Nancy. You are the best evidence that being a liberal democrat kills brain cells.Speaker Nancy Malthus
from the Wall Street Journal
Headlines for Catholic Apostles
St. Louis bishop: Lax Catholics, Satan behind pro-abortion officials
Bishop Robert Hermann, administrator of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, says that the election of President Barack Obama would not have occurred without the support of lax Catholics.
“If at this stage our anger is directed at President Obama, our anger is misdirected,” Bishop Hermann writes. “Obama is not the enemy. He needs and deserves our prayers, not our condemnation. (More...)
CATHOLIC JOURNALISTS: BEAR WITNESS TO THE VALUES OF FAITH
VATICAN CITY, 27 JAN 2009 (VIS) - Benedict XVI has sent a message to participants in the national congress of the Italian Catholic Press Union (UCSI). The congress, held last week, commemorated the institution's fiftieth anniversary. (More...)
Embryonic stem cell research could increase in Maryland
Maryland could become a focus in the moral minefield of embryonic stem cell research.
As the state lays off employees and freezes programs in reaction to a budget deficit, Governor Martin J. O’Malley has increased funding for stem cell research by $400,000, which was included in the proposed state budget that was released Jan. 20. (More...)
Cashing in on despair? Suicide clinic Dignitas is a profit obsessed killing machine, claims ex-worker
The black plastic bin liners were bulging and cluttered the back stairs to the office of Ludwig Minelli, founder and head of the assisted suicide organisation Dignitas.Soraya Wernli was new to the job as a 'companion', one of those hired by Minelli, 75, to assist people in their final journey to the 'other side'.
Paperwork, words of comfort, a gentle hand for those about to end their pain-filled lives - these were some of the things the former district nurse knew she was signing up for when she agreed to work for him.
'But then, just a few days into the job, he asked me to sort through the stuff in these plastic bin liners clogging the stairs,' she said. (More...)
Bishop Robert Hermann, administrator of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, says that the election of President Barack Obama would not have occurred without the support of lax Catholics.
“If at this stage our anger is directed at President Obama, our anger is misdirected,” Bishop Hermann writes. “Obama is not the enemy. He needs and deserves our prayers, not our condemnation. (More...)
CATHOLIC JOURNALISTS: BEAR WITNESS TO THE VALUES OF FAITH
VATICAN CITY, 27 JAN 2009 (VIS) - Benedict XVI has sent a message to participants in the national congress of the Italian Catholic Press Union (UCSI). The congress, held last week, commemorated the institution's fiftieth anniversary. (More...)
Embryonic stem cell research could increase in Maryland
Maryland could become a focus in the moral minefield of embryonic stem cell research.
As the state lays off employees and freezes programs in reaction to a budget deficit, Governor Martin J. O’Malley has increased funding for stem cell research by $400,000, which was included in the proposed state budget that was released Jan. 20. (More...)
Cashing in on despair? Suicide clinic Dignitas is a profit obsessed killing machine, claims ex-worker
The black plastic bin liners were bulging and cluttered the back stairs to the office of Ludwig Minelli, founder and head of the assisted suicide organisation Dignitas.Soraya Wernli was new to the job as a 'companion', one of those hired by Minelli, 75, to assist people in their final journey to the 'other side'.
Paperwork, words of comfort, a gentle hand for those about to end their pain-filled lives - these were some of the things the former district nurse knew she was signing up for when she agreed to work for him.
'But then, just a few days into the job, he asked me to sort through the stuff in these plastic bin liners clogging the stairs,' she said. (More...)
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
A Modern Tragedy - Isabella's Story
Isabella was conceived in 2001, not in the loving embrace of a mom and a dad, but in the office of an infertility specialist inseminating Lisa Miller with the sperm of an anonymous donor. Lisa and her lesbian partner, Janet Jenkins "got hitched" in Stowe, VT in 2000 during a brief vacation there and then returned to Virginia where the civil union wasn't recognized. They moved to Vermont, but the relationship collapsed and Lisa returned to Virginia with Isabella. Things went downhill from there and Lisa petitioned for an end to the civil union in Vermont. Lisa and Janet both come from troubled pasts. Janet's brother committed suicide. Lisa cared for years for a mentally ill mom who was abusive. Reading their story is a lesson in how lesbians are made, not born.
To make a long story short - Lisa left the lesbian lifestyle and tried to gain full custody of Isabella. Janet wants full custody and the legal battle has raged in both Virginia and Vermont. Tomorrow the parties go to court once again in Vermont and it's possible Janet, the non-biological parent who remains in the lesbian lifestyle, will gain full custody of Isabella. Please pray and fast that this does not happen. You can keep up with this case by joining the Facebook group "Only One Mommy."
This case is just a preview of the disaster that homosexual civil unions/"marriages" are for children. It also illustrates the truth of Catholic teaching on marriage and sexuality.
Scripture tells us that the sins of the parents are visited on the children. Isabella's tragedy is just one more example of this truth.
Monday, January 26, 2009
The Stimulus Package - Pork and Planned Parenthood
George Stephanopoulos interviewed Nancy Pelosi on Sunday for ABC News about the stimulus package which is nothing but more money for special interests and pork barrel projects. One of the most bizarre aspects of the interview was Pelosi defending hundreds of millions of dollars for contraception claiming it was a cost reduction effort. The implication is that cildren are a tax burden to be discouraged and shunned. Stephanopoulos did not ask her how that would stimulate the economy and create more jobs, just, "So no apologies for that?"
"No apologies," replied Pelosi. Her pro-contraceptive, anti-child attituded puts her squarely, once again, against her Catholic faith and rooted in the culture of death. When will her local bishop and those in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area invoke Canon law 915 against this apostate Catholic who is such a scandal to the Church? Don't hold your breath.
What is especially ironic is that children are future taxpayers. Younger workers are absolutely essential to support an aging population. Where do liberal politicians think future taxpayers come from -- taxpayer trees?
According to The Heritage Foundation, section 5004 of the stimulus package, State Eligibility Option for Family Planning Services, makes Medicaid "a virtual money-machine for family planning clinics." The author states that, "No doubt these provisions are embodied in the economic stimulus package because their congressional sponsors believe that they would not be enacted if considered separately on their own merits." All this money for family planning services (and abortion is not restricted) will do nothing to stimulate the economy except Planned Parenthood's. It's just one more way for the abortion lobby to get its hands into the taxpayers pockets.
What are some of the other outlays?
-- $50 million for the notorious Endowment for the Arts famous for supporting blasphemous and pornographic "art."
-- $200 million to rehabilitate the national mall
-- $276 million to upgrade the computer system at the State Department
-- $650 million poured into repairs for National Forest Service facilities
-- $6.7 billion to improve energy efficiency at federal buildings (why not just close down a few agencies - like the department of energy that was formed in the Carter administration to bring us to energy independence)
-- etc., etc. ad nauseum
The only way to a good economy is to spend less and live within our means. Historically tax and spending cuts bring about more investment and a stronger economy. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is an $825 billion spending package. With interest, it will cost taxpayers over a trillion dollars in the next ten years. Is it really fair to saddle our children and grandchildren with that kind of debt? It's nothing but the biggest pork barrel in history in the history of the country.
"No apologies," replied Pelosi. Her pro-contraceptive, anti-child attituded puts her squarely, once again, against her Catholic faith and rooted in the culture of death. When will her local bishop and those in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area invoke Canon law 915 against this apostate Catholic who is such a scandal to the Church? Don't hold your breath.
What is especially ironic is that children are future taxpayers. Younger workers are absolutely essential to support an aging population. Where do liberal politicians think future taxpayers come from -- taxpayer trees?
According to The Heritage Foundation, section 5004 of the stimulus package, State Eligibility Option for Family Planning Services, makes Medicaid "a virtual money-machine for family planning clinics." The author states that, "No doubt these provisions are embodied in the economic stimulus package because their congressional sponsors believe that they would not be enacted if considered separately on their own merits." All this money for family planning services (and abortion is not restricted) will do nothing to stimulate the economy except Planned Parenthood's. It's just one more way for the abortion lobby to get its hands into the taxpayers pockets.
What are some of the other outlays?
-- $50 million for the notorious Endowment for the Arts famous for supporting blasphemous and pornographic "art."
-- $200 million to rehabilitate the national mall
-- $276 million to upgrade the computer system at the State Department
-- $650 million poured into repairs for National Forest Service facilities
-- $6.7 billion to improve energy efficiency at federal buildings (why not just close down a few agencies - like the department of energy that was formed in the Carter administration to bring us to energy independence)
-- etc., etc. ad nauseum
The only way to a good economy is to spend less and live within our means. Historically tax and spending cuts bring about more investment and a stronger economy. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is an $825 billion spending package. With interest, it will cost taxpayers over a trillion dollars in the next ten years. Is it really fair to saddle our children and grandchildren with that kind of debt? It's nothing but the biggest pork barrel in history in the history of the country.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
"Keep Punching"
A priest friend just sent me a very encouraging email about keeping the faith and the fight as we enter this new dark age in the Obama-nation. I was so personally encouraged I thought I'd share it. I haven't seen Cinderella Man but I definitely will after Father's recommendation. And I urge all who care about the future of this country, for the sake of our children and grandchildren, to pray and fight for a restoration of a culture of life. Don't just fight at the abortion mills, but in the schools. Tyrants have always gone after the children because they are the future. So fight on Facebook and My Space, fight on the editorial pages of national and local newspapers. Fight at political town meetings and in the halls of congress. You will even have to fight in your own churches, often with your own pastors. And always remember to fight with charity and a smile so pray first.
Mary Ann
Yesterday I watched the Ron Howard movie, "Cinderella Man." Like Spielberg, when he puts his mind to it, Howard can produce a very good movie and this was a good example. It's the story of Jimmy Braddock, the prize fighter who came back from destitution to become the heavy weight champion by beating Max Baer in 1936. The story line was his great Catholic love for his wife and family that drove him to keep fighting to keep food on the table.
Don't miss it if you haven't seen it. Braddock, who Joe Louis said was the "bravest fighter" he knew, would always tell his nephews and nieces when leaving them, "Keep punching." Joe Louis had to knock out Jimmy Braddock because he, Braddock, would not quit.
"Keep punching." Good advice, methinks.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Abortion targets the black community
Martin Luther King's niece Alveda witnessed at the White House yesterday to the devastation of abortion on the black community. Blacks represent about twelve percent of the population; black women have about 35% of the abortions. Most Planned Parenthood abortuaries are in the inner city. Doesn't this look like black genocide? Isn't it time somebody asked hard questions -- mainstream media, are you listening?
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Niece Challenges Barack Obama on Abortion
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Niece Challenges Barack Obama on Abortion
Healing After Abortion - the real Campaign of Hope
Obama painted himself as the "hope" candidate throughout his campaign, but he offers no hope to women suffering from post abortion experiences. The reality of their suffering and grief is totally denied by those who champion the murder of the innocent. The babies are a "punishment" in the words of the president, so their murder must provide relief and hope.
Not so say a growing number of post aborted women and others invovled in the abortion decision.
One of the most moving experiences at the March for Life this year, was the testimony of 100 members of the Silent No More campaign who spoke out in front of the Supreme Court. All of them described the terrible suffering that abortion brings to women once they emerge from denial and let themselves recognize the fact that they killed their babies.
There is no sin too big for God - except the one the sinner refuses to acknowledge. If you know someone suffering from abortion: a mother, a father, grandparents, a friend who helped in the killing - send them to Silent No More. The bigger sin, the bigger the abundant grace waiting from the hands of our loving God.
Not so say a growing number of post aborted women and others invovled in the abortion decision.
One of the most moving experiences at the March for Life this year, was the testimony of 100 members of the Silent No More campaign who spoke out in front of the Supreme Court. All of them described the terrible suffering that abortion brings to women once they emerge from denial and let themselves recognize the fact that they killed their babies.
There is no sin too big for God - except the one the sinner refuses to acknowledge. If you know someone suffering from abortion: a mother, a father, grandparents, a friend who helped in the killing - send them to Silent No More. The bigger sin, the bigger the abundant grace waiting from the hands of our loving God.
New Atibiotic-Resistant Superbug Attacking Children!
Children often pay the price for adult irresponsibility. How many parents have insisted on antibiotics every time junior gets a cold? We're a pill popping culture that turns to the docs for a pill for whatever ails us: a cold, depression, inability to concentrate, get rid of a baby, get a baby, stop smoking, cure the STD caused by immoral behavior. The list is endless.
Well, in the culture of death, the plagues may be right around the corner. Moses warned pharoah and he wouldn't listen so he got ten plagues starting with superbugs. We aren't listening either. Maybe the abortion survivors will be the innocent victims of the new plagues. It wouldn't be the first time the innocent suffered for the sins of others. Remember the tenth plague? I heard a reformed abortionist speak once who said his young son being killed in a traffic accident was the catalyst for his conversion. Tough way to learn a lesson, but a sure sign of God's love. He spared the child the scandal of what Dad was doing by taking him, and used the child's sacrifice to convert his dad.
Pray a hedge of protection around your children and put your entire trust in God. I have a feeling that tough times are just beginning. Imagine the impact if our renegade medical system that is pondering the creation of brainless clones for spare parts has no antibiotics for simple infections. It's a scene from the Twilight Zone that we may see in our lifetime.
Serious infections rising in U.S. children: study
Well, in the culture of death, the plagues may be right around the corner. Moses warned pharoah and he wouldn't listen so he got ten plagues starting with superbugs. We aren't listening either. Maybe the abortion survivors will be the innocent victims of the new plagues. It wouldn't be the first time the innocent suffered for the sins of others. Remember the tenth plague? I heard a reformed abortionist speak once who said his young son being killed in a traffic accident was the catalyst for his conversion. Tough way to learn a lesson, but a sure sign of God's love. He spared the child the scandal of what Dad was doing by taking him, and used the child's sacrifice to convert his dad.
Pray a hedge of protection around your children and put your entire trust in God. I have a feeling that tough times are just beginning. Imagine the impact if our renegade medical system that is pondering the creation of brainless clones for spare parts has no antibiotics for simple infections. It's a scene from the Twilight Zone that we may see in our lifetime.
Serious infections rising in U.S. children: study
Friday, January 23, 2009
The Next Generation of Pro-Lifers
My daughter Alice did a great blog entry on the life issues that included a hats off to her mom which I appreciated and a very old photo of me chained to an abortion mill table in Dr. Milan Vuitch's abortuary in D.C.
Vuitch was responsible for the legalization of childkilling in Washington, D.C. He went from performing illegal abortions in his "back alley" basement just blocks from the White House to hanging a shingle out for his front alley killing center after abortion was legalized. He quipped to one friend of mine during a phone conversation that he'd kill black babies for free. He didn't just kill babies, however, he killed a number of women as well. Vuitch had hundreds of health violations but the city continued renewing his license until 1982 after which he operated without one. WDVM-TV did an expose on Vuitch in 1984 which uncovered scores of health problems: filth, use of outdated drugs, serious medical complications, storing dead babies in the refrigerator next to food, etc.
Vuitch, like all abortionists, was a bottom feeder, but to the world he was a hero. It's ironic to think he would have gladly performed an abortion on Barack Obama's mother, eliminating the candidate of hope's future. I doubt if Vuitch's setting up his abortuary in D.C. had much to do with altruism. Killing black babies was apparently something he enjoyed doing.
But he missed one the day we sat in. Linda, a beautiful black woman, chose life for her baby after talking to a dear friend of mine, Brigid, outside the mill. She said she knew they were lying when they told her the baby was "just a blob of cells." Brigid later became the baby's godmother. I still have a picture of Linda's baby being held by my son Neil who was only four at the time. Linda's little daughter was born January 22, 1979, the sixth anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Was that a reminder from the Lord of the importance of what we do? I think so and it still gives me chills to remember it.
Thanks, Alice, for the reminder.
Vuitch was responsible for the legalization of childkilling in Washington, D.C. He went from performing illegal abortions in his "back alley" basement just blocks from the White House to hanging a shingle out for his front alley killing center after abortion was legalized. He quipped to one friend of mine during a phone conversation that he'd kill black babies for free. He didn't just kill babies, however, he killed a number of women as well. Vuitch had hundreds of health violations but the city continued renewing his license until 1982 after which he operated without one. WDVM-TV did an expose on Vuitch in 1984 which uncovered scores of health problems: filth, use of outdated drugs, serious medical complications, storing dead babies in the refrigerator next to food, etc.
Vuitch, like all abortionists, was a bottom feeder, but to the world he was a hero. It's ironic to think he would have gladly performed an abortion on Barack Obama's mother, eliminating the candidate of hope's future. I doubt if Vuitch's setting up his abortuary in D.C. had much to do with altruism. Killing black babies was apparently something he enjoyed doing.
But he missed one the day we sat in. Linda, a beautiful black woman, chose life for her baby after talking to a dear friend of mine, Brigid, outside the mill. She said she knew they were lying when they told her the baby was "just a blob of cells." Brigid later became the baby's godmother. I still have a picture of Linda's baby being held by my son Neil who was only four at the time. Linda's little daughter was born January 22, 1979, the sixth anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Was that a reminder from the Lord of the importance of what we do? I think so and it still gives me chills to remember it.
Thanks, Alice, for the reminder.
Obama and the Roman god Janus
Since Obama first appeared on the scene he's fostered his image as a savior with the mainstream media playing along. Remember the photos with halos, shots taken from below to make "the one" appear more impressive and godlike, the rhetoric using the royal "we" such as Obama describing himself as "We're the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." Well, Christians know that there's only one savior and it sure isn't Barack Obama. But there is a pagan god association that fits our new president to a T - Janus, the Roman god of gates and doors. Janus is depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions. He represents new beginnings and is associated with change and transition. In times of war the doors to the temple of Janus were left open so the god could easily intervene to assist the Roman warriors; in times of peace the doors were closed. Janus was so important to the Romans they depicted him on their coins.
How is Obama like Janus? The most obvious similarity is that he is two-faced. Think about what happened this week. While several hundred thousand marched for life yesterday, the White House released a statement about finding "common ground" with pro-lifers. Today, however, Obama signed an executive order eliminating the Mexico City policy and restoring abortion funding through the Agency for International Development. He did it without fanfare or media coverage. Keeping a low profile on his abortion extremism is part of the Obama act. It allows him to maintain the pretense that he seeks unity with his opponents as he's pulling the rug out from under them.
Obama has also promised to restore funding to the U.N. Population Fund, a group that has aggressively promoted abortion worldwide and even supports China's forced abortion policy. Can anyone truly believe this man has any intention of making abortion rare or of working with the pro-life community? Like the ancient Romans, the Obama administration is throwing the bloody gates wide open both at home and abroad to expand the war against innocent preborn babies. The change Obama seeks is the utter destruction of the culture of life. He has already indicated he will expand the cannibalizing of embryos for their stem cells. This is all out war against life.
The Roman connection applies in another way as well - persecution of Christians who defend God's laws. In the first century, Roman tyrants put to death thousands of saints. Some died covered in pitch and set afire to light Nero's gardens. Some were mauled and eaten by wild beasts in the Roman circus. Others were tortured, beheaded, grilled, or killed in every debased way possible. While 21st century Christians may not suffer a bloody martyrdom, Obama and company are putting in place an aggressive agenda that will coerce Christians to actively coooperate with evil. The Obama policies on both abortion and homosexuality will force taxpayers, employers, churches, pharmacists, health care workers, etc. to support both abortion and sodomy. It is a program devised in hell that will ultimately require many to choose between direct cooperation with evil, a mortal sin, or their livelihoods.
In the book of Deuteronomy Israel faced a choice between God and the world. It is a choice faced by every generation and one that is rushing upon us ever more urgently. "I set before you this day life and death, the blessing and the curse. choose life then that you and your children may live." Which will we choose: the two-faced false savior Obama or the Lord of life?
As a footnote, I was deeply disturbed at the March for Life to see signs that read, "I voted for Obama and I'm pro-life." What could possibly possess someone claiming to stand for life to vote for a man who is so adamently pro-death he makes the Clintons look like moderates. One can only conclude that the two-faces of Janus/Obama have fooled many. Pray that pro-lifers and other Christians of good will who jumped on the Obama bandwagon come to their senses and work to defeat his evil program.
Obama reverses Bush abortion-funds policy
Obama Begins Full Court Press on Extremist Homosexual Agenda within Minutes of Taking Oath of Office
I Love Sarah Palin!
Join Team Sarah. This lady is the real thing. Please pray for her to come back to her Catholic roots and to be a real voice for faith and family to a country that is losing its soul. She's not going anywhere but up!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Have you prayed for the president today?
God doesn't desire the destruction of any of His children and it's pretty clear that Obama is set on his own destruction so Christians really need to pray for him. As crowds from all over the country get ready to March for Life, CNN reported that Obama is set to imitate our "first black president," Bill Clinton, and sign an executive order ending the Mexico City Policy. That means taxpayer dollars will once again be spent to export abortion to the third world through the Agency for International Development. President Obama promised those who disagree with him respect and, obviously, contemplating signing the order on the day we march is a great way to show exactly what he meant -- brass knuckles to the jaw and the rubber hose to the kidneys. Insult aside, is killing third world children really the way to help countries develop? Clean water, educational assistance, diarrhea medications, and antibiotics are what these countries really need, but the liberal abortion-minded elite consider the third world "unwanted untermenchen" (subhumans) threatening the rainforests and the lifestyle of rich folk in L.A. and New York.
A Kenyan doctor warned in November that an Obama administration "is going to be a nightmare for our people" and lifting the Mexico City Policy will be just the beginning. We will once again be seen as the ugly American nation that maintains our own hedonistic lifestyle by killing the poor in the third world. It is ironic that a black president is so hell-bent (literally) on killing black babies both here in the U.S.A. and abroad.
But people can change through a miracle of grace which is exactly what's needed for our new president. Think of Thomas a Becket, St. Augustine, Mary Magdalene, and dozens of others who went from the devil's disciples to warriors for the Lord. It can happen through prayer and fasting.
So pray for the president, his wife, and his two lovely daughters. There is no challenge too big for God, even a champion of the culture of death like Barack Hussein Obama.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Heads up for what's coming next...
Judge Robert Bork warns about the coming conflicts for Catholics threatened by the Obama agenda.
Jurist predicts ‘terrible conflict’ will endanger U.S. Catholics’ religious freedom
Bishop Robert Vasa warns about the threat of FOCA.
Passage of FOCA would translate into hatred for the unborn, Bishop Vasa writes
New 40 days campaign begins in February. Join up!
Abortion Opponents in 118 Cities Launch 40-day Campaign to Counter Roe v. Wade and New Administration
The New York Times carries inspiring story of mother who rejected abortion.
True Heroism: NY Times Tells Story of Woman Who Chose Homeless Shelter over Abortion
Jurist predicts ‘terrible conflict’ will endanger U.S. Catholics’ religious freedom
Bishop Robert Vasa warns about the threat of FOCA.
Passage of FOCA would translate into hatred for the unborn, Bishop Vasa writes
New 40 days campaign begins in February. Join up!
Abortion Opponents in 118 Cities Launch 40-day Campaign to Counter Roe v. Wade and New Administration
The New York Times carries inspiring story of mother who rejected abortion.
True Heroism: NY Times Tells Story of Woman Who Chose Homeless Shelter over Abortion
Obama's Agenda Targets Little Women for Death, Moms for Life of Regret
The new president has hardly sworn in and already his promise to promote a broad agenda that targets little unborn women in the womb is up on the White House website. Not only does Obama promise to advance the cannibalization of babies for their stem cells, but he, once again, promises to advance abortion. Here are some of the website statements with my responses in italics:
President Obama understands that abortion is a divisive issue, and respects those who disagree with him.
Does forcing taxpayer funding, eliminating conscience protection for health care workers and pharmacists, and forcing Catholic institutions to support abortion constitute respect? Not hardly! This statement is cynical and hypocritica not to mention insulting to the intelligence of thinking people.
However, he has been a consistent(and rabid) champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority in his Adminstration.
No one has a right to murder another. And what about the rights of little unborn women? They may be killed at will even for sex selection if the couple desires a boy.
He opposes any constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's decision in that case.
The will of the people is absolutely irrelevant which is why abortion was accomplished not through law but by judicial tyranny in the courts. Obama promises to continue to expand abortion while engaging in meaningless rhetoric about making it "rare."
Contraception and abortifacient birth control are also on the agenda.
Introduced in January 2007, the Prevention First Act will increase funding for family planning and comprehensive sex education that teaches both abstinence and safe sex methods.
In other words, lip service will be paid to abstinence and then the condom and bananas will be handed out to the kids. Liberals support just say no for teaching kids not to smoke, but consider youngsters little uncontrollable animals when it comes to sex.
The Act will also end insurance discrimination against contraception (i.e., Catholic organizations will be forced to cooperate formally with evil by paying for contraception and abortifacient birth control), improve awareness about emergency contraception (which prevents babies from implanting in the womb 7-10 days after conception), and provide compassionate assistance to rape victims. (Kill their babies if they conceive as a result of rape.)
________________________________________________
Rape and incest are always the emotional issues used as the toe-hold for abortion-on-demand, but no rape victim was ever less raped because she had an abortion. And it is a myth to believe that killing the rapist's baby, who is also the baby of the mother, will solve all her problems. Most rape victims don't conceive, but of those who do, why do people presume the woman wants an abortion? A 1979 study showed that most women chose to have their babies. Things may have changed today because of the unrelenting message that killing the baby is the answer, but the aftermath from the abortion is similar to the aftermath of rape. Women suffer anxiety, depression, low self esteem, nightmares, and other post-traumatic symptoms from both. So abortion gives the rape victim a double whammy.
One rape victim described her experience this way:
"According to Kathleen DeZeeuw, 'I, having lived through rape, and also having raised a child "conceived in rape," feel personally assaulted and insulted every time I hear that abortion should be legal because of rape and incest. I feel that we're being used by pro-abortionists to further the abortion issue, even though we've not been asked to tell our side.'"
My husband and I provided a shelter home for two rape victims when we worked with Birthright years ago. One conceived from a violent assault but later lost the baby because of her injuries. The other was the victim of a date rape and she delivered and raised the child who is a wonderful young adult today. Is abortion really compassionate? Certainly not to the baby, but not to the woman either. Just ask a mom who considered an abortion and chose life or the many post-aborted women who regret their "choice" and long to fill their empty arms with the children they killed.
Obama, the "hope" candidate, offers no hope and no compassion for unborn babies.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Pope Benedict Sends President Obama Inaugural Message
Text of the telegram sent by Pope Benedict to President Obama
On the occasion of your inauguration as the Forty-fourth president of the United States of America I offer cordial good wishes, together with the assurance of my prayers that the Almighty God will grant you unfailing wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high responsibilities.
Under your leadership may the American people continue to find in their impressive religious and political heritage the spiritual values and ethical principles needed to cooperate in the building of a truly just and free society, marked by respect for the dignity, equality and rights of each of its members, especially the poor, the outcast and those who have no voice.
At a time when so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world yearn for liberation from the scourge of poverty, hunger and violence, I pray that you will be confirmed in your resolve to promote understanding, cooperation and peace among the nations, so that all may share in the banquet of life which God wills to set for the whole human family (cf. Isaiah 25:6-7). Upon you and your family, and upon all the American people, I willingly invoke the Lord's blessings of joy and peace.
On the occasion of your inauguration as the Forty-fourth president of the United States of America I offer cordial good wishes, together with the assurance of my prayers that the Almighty God will grant you unfailing wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high responsibilities.
Under your leadership may the American people continue to find in their impressive religious and political heritage the spiritual values and ethical principles needed to cooperate in the building of a truly just and free society, marked by respect for the dignity, equality and rights of each of its members, especially the poor, the outcast and those who have no voice.
At a time when so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world yearn for liberation from the scourge of poverty, hunger and violence, I pray that you will be confirmed in your resolve to promote understanding, cooperation and peace among the nations, so that all may share in the banquet of life which God wills to set for the whole human family (cf. Isaiah 25:6-7). Upon you and your family, and upon all the American people, I willingly invoke the Lord's blessings of joy and peace.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Boys will be boys?
The sado-masochists of the gay community are upset with Americans for Truth for publicizing their "pig sex orgy," an inaugural-associated event scheduled at the Doubletree Hotel in Washington, D.C. for earlier this week. The last time we saw this kind of depravity was during the Clinton inaugural. Fortunately exposure led to cancellation and the staff and normal visitors to the Doubletree (including children) will be spared the health risks associated with public sodomy in a hotel ballroom. (How would you like to be on the cleanup crew?) Anybody who believes the propaganda that gay "love" is no different than marital love between a husband and wife needs a reality check.
A big thank you to Pete LaBarbera and Americans for Truth! History presents us with numerous examples of lust and perversion leading to violence. Examine the Weimer Republic before Hitler's rise with cabarets serving every perverted sexual desire, or the sexual libertinism leading up to the French revolution, or Henry VIII's adulteries and sexual excesses that threw England into an orgy of violence against Catholics. The misuse of God's gift of human sexuality for lust and perversion leads to violence and murder. It's a fact of history. Heterosexual lust in this country has bathed our country in the blood of millions of dead babies since 1973. What will normalizing sodomy and perversion bring us? More violence.
So where are we going, America?
Breaking News: Victory for Decency: Homosexual ‘Pig Sex’ Organizers Cancel Orgy at Doubletree Hotel
Outrage, complaints shut down D.C. orgy
Here Comes the Hate — Homosexuals Upset at Cancelled ‘Pig Sex’ Orgy Take out Anger on Americans For Truth
A big thank you to Pete LaBarbera and Americans for Truth! History presents us with numerous examples of lust and perversion leading to violence. Examine the Weimer Republic before Hitler's rise with cabarets serving every perverted sexual desire, or the sexual libertinism leading up to the French revolution, or Henry VIII's adulteries and sexual excesses that threw England into an orgy of violence against Catholics. The misuse of God's gift of human sexuality for lust and perversion leads to violence and murder. It's a fact of history. Heterosexual lust in this country has bathed our country in the blood of millions of dead babies since 1973. What will normalizing sodomy and perversion bring us? More violence.
So where are we going, America?
Breaking News: Victory for Decency: Homosexual ‘Pig Sex’ Organizers Cancel Orgy at Doubletree Hotel
Outrage, complaints shut down D.C. orgy
Here Comes the Hate — Homosexuals Upset at Cancelled ‘Pig Sex’ Orgy Take out Anger on Americans For Truth
George Bush - the worst president?
I have to laugh sometimes at the idiotic statements in the press. Rolling Stone opines that George Bush will go down as the worst president in American history. What? Have these fellas forgotten the one-term administration of the peanut farmer from Plains who gave us long lines at the gas pumps, put into place legislation that would be the root of today's financial catastrophe, and continues to be ridiculous as he travels around the globe playing self-proclaimed diplomat? I'm not a particular Bush fan, but I sure think he'll have plenty of rivals for the "worst" president in history title. But I'm not sure some of these folks have ever read a history book that covers anything before their own birthday. After all, what do a bunch of old white guys have to tell them about history? More fun to look at the past through their own view of the present. How many have ever read the constitution?
No, I don't think Bush will go down as the worst president in history. Let's revisit the question in ten years for a more sensible view.
No, I don't think Bush will go down as the worst president in history. Let's revisit the question in ten years for a more sensible view.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Barbie at 50: Where has she taken us?
Barbie celebrates her 50th anniversary this year, but you wouldn't know it from her looks. She's forever young and forever thin -- impossibly thin as a matter of fact. If Barbie were translated into a real woman her measurements would be 38-18-34. What real woman can compete with the Barbie bod? What little girl ever wanted to before Barbie? But Barbie wasn't developed (pardon the pun) for little girls. She was modeled after a German prostitute doll named Bild Lilli (after an adult cartoon character) who was sold to men in bars and tobacco shops as a novelty item.
It's interesting to think that Barbie, Mattel's billion dollar baby, entered the scene about the same time as "the pill." She's part of the sexual revolution. Girls went from playing Mom cuddling baby dolls to playing sex object and consumer playgirls for playboy Ken. The only thing lacking to create the ultimate sex object model was what "the pill" and, later, abortion provided. Now girls could be groomed as the ultimate recyclable sex object - nothing to mess up the playgirl townhouse and Barbie cruise to the Riviera in her skimpy bikini with fashion cover-up and Vera Bradley beach tote.
Barbie is everything the Christian woman is not. Obsessed with her looks, obsessed with lifestyle, obsessed with stuff. There is nothing modest about Barbie. Just saunter through the doll section at any toy store or do an internet search on Barbie and Mattel. The toy manufacturer will tell you: "from urban teen to fantasy queen, she's every girl." Not hardly! Barbie may fit the consumer lifestyle of a Paris Hilton, but how many families could keep their girls' closets in the style to which Barbie is accustomed?
With three dolls sold every second, Mattel has made Barbie the most influential doll, not to mention the most lucrative, to ever hit the toy market. What impact she's had on the lives of little girls is a question that deserves more research. Some psychological studies indicate a negative impact on girls' body images. Those shown pictures of Barbie as compared to no photos were more likely to have a negative attitude toward their own bodies. Maybe Mattel should develop anorexic Barbie or bulimic Barbie since the dolls' figures are more typical of those with eating disorders than normal women.
As for myself, I have pledged never to buy one of my granddaughters (or any other little girl) a Barbie doll or Barbie lookalike. Give them baby dolls and little girl dolls whose bodies look like theirs. If they want to feel the softness of real women they can cuddle with their mommies whose breasts make great pillows for little heads. And while parents are urging their children to play mommy with their baby dolls (most will one day fill that role), they might also consider giving them nun dolls in full habit. I had one with a rosary on her belt. While I didn't choose a religious vocation it was a choice I toyed with when I was young.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Why we can't trust the USCCB!
The new head of the USCCB review board is not just an Obama supporter. Diane Knight is an Obama donor. Exactly why should orthodox Catholics trust the bishops when they name to their review board, an organization ostensibly dedicated to defending the safety of children, a woman who contributes to a pro-abortion extremist? Obama stands, not only for murder of the unborn, but for infanticide of abortion survivors.
What's wrong with this picture? Plenty! Add to that the USCCB's Catholic Campaign for Human Development with its history of funding community organizing groups that support agendas diametrically opposed to Catholic teaching like ACORN, Industrial Areas Foundation, PICO, etc. Then there are the scandalous USCCB documents like Always Our Children and the ambiguous ones like Catholic Citizenship that so many liberal Catholics use to justify supporting pro-abortion politicians and the gay agenda.
Isn't it time to take a good look at the USCCB and ask why Catholics in the pew are being taxed to keep the bishops' unfaithful bureaucracy in business? Check out Jim Fritz's article at The Defender on intrinsic evil and the USCCB. Maybe we should begin asking faithful bishops who stand in the tradition of St. John Fisher to pull out of an organization that is used to justify the cowardice and infidelity of those bishops who have more in common with the bench that upheld Henry VIII's adulterous marriage to Anne Boleyn.
Not that many years ago (1992) about three dozen orthodox orders of nuns formed The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious breaking away from The Leadership Conference of Women Religious which was filled with dissenters. The new organization has an average age of about 35 with all the sisters in full habits. The LCWR, on the other hand, is filled with grey-headed rebels in pantsuits. Many laity rejoiced when it happened. Let's pray something similar happens with the bishops. It's high time the real shepherds separated from the wolves in sheep's clothing who are gobbling up the flock.
What's wrong with this picture? Plenty! Add to that the USCCB's Catholic Campaign for Human Development with its history of funding community organizing groups that support agendas diametrically opposed to Catholic teaching like ACORN, Industrial Areas Foundation, PICO, etc. Then there are the scandalous USCCB documents like Always Our Children and the ambiguous ones like Catholic Citizenship that so many liberal Catholics use to justify supporting pro-abortion politicians and the gay agenda.
Isn't it time to take a good look at the USCCB and ask why Catholics in the pew are being taxed to keep the bishops' unfaithful bureaucracy in business? Check out Jim Fritz's article at The Defender on intrinsic evil and the USCCB. Maybe we should begin asking faithful bishops who stand in the tradition of St. John Fisher to pull out of an organization that is used to justify the cowardice and infidelity of those bishops who have more in common with the bench that upheld Henry VIII's adulterous marriage to Anne Boleyn.
Not that many years ago (1992) about three dozen orthodox orders of nuns formed The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious breaking away from The Leadership Conference of Women Religious which was filled with dissenters. The new organization has an average age of about 35 with all the sisters in full habits. The LCWR, on the other hand, is filled with grey-headed rebels in pantsuits. Many laity rejoiced when it happened. Let's pray something similar happens with the bishops. It's high time the real shepherds separated from the wolves in sheep's clothing who are gobbling up the flock.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Great Catholic Colleges: University of Dallas
The Newman Guide calls UD one of the "joyfully Catholic" schools. As an English major, I am impressed by the description of what appears to be an excellent program offered in English literature. While approximately three fourths of U.S. colleges/universities today have dropped Shakespeare, Milton, etc. from the curriculum and replaced them with all kinds of politically correct nonsense, UD offers a solid program that even includes a course on the writings of St. Thomas More. No women's gender studies and feminist claptrap has invaded the course offerings. Prospective English majors could comfortably ignore Phyllis Schlafly's warning to avoid the English Department at all costs. The great literature of the English-speaking world is still the core study at UD.
A visit to the rest of the UD website is a joy as well. The activities calendar includes a commitment to charity with creative and fun ideas for raising money for the less fortunate. The annual Groundhog Day festivities sound like a blast (as we used to say). The school's mission statement focuses on education for truth from a Catholic perspective, a truly alien idea in a culture where most students are taught to believe truth is relative and absolute truth non-existent.
I have several friends whose children have attended UD and they are now young marrieds loving and practicing the faith and passing it on to a new generation. They speak fondly of their college experiences. What better reference can one give than that.
A visit to the rest of the UD website is a joy as well. The activities calendar includes a commitment to charity with creative and fun ideas for raising money for the less fortunate. The annual Groundhog Day festivities sound like a blast (as we used to say). The school's mission statement focuses on education for truth from a Catholic perspective, a truly alien idea in a culture where most students are taught to believe truth is relative and absolute truth non-existent.
I have several friends whose children have attended UD and they are now young marrieds loving and practicing the faith and passing it on to a new generation. They speak fondly of their college experiences. What better reference can one give than that.
Friday, January 9, 2009
About Grandchildren and C.S. Lewis
My favorite companions are my grandchildren (except for my husband, of course.). I don't care what we do together: play dominoes, read stories, jump on the trampoline, throw rocks in the river -- it is all just an excuse to be together. Children fascinate me because they haven't lost the wonder of living. I think part of the reason, as Charles Dickens said, is because they are "so fresh from God." C.S. Lewis was another lover of children and he understood them very well which I find fascinating because he was a confirmed old bachelor who married a widow late in life, only then, finally becoming the stepfather of two young boys. He had already written his famous Narnia tales and engaged in extensive correspondence with his young fans, a correspondence that showed his absolute respect for them. One of my favorite letters he wrote to Lucy on September 14, 1957. "I am so glad you like the Narnian stories and it was nice of you to write and tell me," he wrote. "Do you know Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. I think you w[oul]d like it....It makes me, I think, more humble than proud to know that Aslan has allowed me to be the means of making Him more real to you. Because He could have used anyone -- as He made a donkey preach a good sermon to Balaam." His humility and sense of humor both shine in the charming picture of himself as a donkey for Jesus!
There is no talking down to Lucy in Lewis' letter. Whether she knows the biblical story of Balaam or not, Lewis gives Lucy enough information to figure out exactly what he is talking about. Children, he said often in his letters, understood the symbolism of Aslan as a Christ figure when adults did not. I can relate to that because when we went to see the movie version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we had an amusing exchange with the man selling popcorn. Presumably he had seen the film more than once. "I finally figured it out," he told us proudly. "The professor is the lion." I had to stifle a laugh because I didn't want to offend him. He illustrated Lewis' point so perfectly.
C.S. Lewis must have been childlike in the best sense of the word. He had a real sense of wonder about the world and the One who created it. If you want to get some measure of the man, reading his Letters to Children is a good place to start.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Harrassment of Ex-Gays Ignored
Did you ever hear of Bart Allen? Not likely. In 2001 Bart asked his homosexual partner to move out of his apartment because he was sick of living the sodomite lifestyle. The man gave back his key and left. Bart asked the management to change the locks, but the apartment manager assured him they couldn't be duplicated. Unfortunately for Bart, his ex-partner managed to get into the apartment and he strangled Bart in his bed with his bare hands and a dog leash. Bart's parents began a ministry called Hope for the Broken Heart to share Bart's story with others and encourage those trying to leave the gay lifestyle.
While what happened to Bart is extreme, it's not unusual for those trying to change their behavior and those supporting them to suffer serious harrassment. An incident that happened at the 2007 Arlington County Fair in Virginia is an example. An ex-gay volunteer manning the PFOX booth was attacked and assaulted by a militant gay. The victim declined to press charges (like the Christians attacked in the Castro District of San Francisco).
The gay community ended up lying and slandering PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays) Executive Director Regina Griggs for reporting on the incident claiming she fabricated it. Police, however, confirmed the story including the fact that they escorted the attacker off the premises. The lies and slander against Griggs were never corrected on the misnamed Truth Wins Out website which is a gay propaganda tool. Militant gay Arlington Board member Jay Fisette was challenged with the error by World Net Daily, but never corrected it. In fact, after police confirmation of the PFOX version of events, Fisette and others implied the police were helping corroborate a false story and they just continued spinning their version with Metro Weekly.
Homosexuals promote the view that they are the only ones who ever suffer from hate crimes even as they initiate them against those who dare to oppose them. Anyone who challenges the activist gay agenda is slammed figuratively and literally as the attacks on churches supporting Proposition 8 recently showed.
In Fact, gays actually have a word for their systematic lies against those who stand against them. It's called "jamming" a strategy of accusing opponents of hate, homophobia, etc. Those who fight against the gay agenda are ridiculed and attacked to shut them up. Gay activists claim they have no agenda despite a 1989 book that outlines the strategy for getting the agenda adopted. They want nothing less than the complete transformation of society to accept homosexual sodomy as normal, mainstream, and good and they are close to achieving it.
The book is called After the Ball. An excellent commentary by Albert Mohler describes the effectiveness of Kirk and Madsen's call to gay arms. In only 20 years gays have come close to achieving the homosexualization of every area of the culture including elementary school. The most vulnerable are adolescent boys, who in homosexual slang, are "chickens" for the "chicken hawks" or "chicken pluckers" who are older homosexual men. Adolescent boys are young and AIDS-free after all which makes them particularly attractive.
Not all homosexuals are "gay" in the sense of promoting the gay agenda. I suspect many feel tortured by their inclincations. That was certainly the case for Bart Allen.
In 2009 why not spiritually adopt a gay activist with the special intention of praying for him or her to leave the gay lifestyle. Imagine thousands of ex-gays who, like the prodigal son, exchange life in the pigpen for a return to the Father's house. What rejoicing in heaven there would be.
While what happened to Bart is extreme, it's not unusual for those trying to change their behavior and those supporting them to suffer serious harrassment. An incident that happened at the 2007 Arlington County Fair in Virginia is an example. An ex-gay volunteer manning the PFOX booth was attacked and assaulted by a militant gay. The victim declined to press charges (like the Christians attacked in the Castro District of San Francisco).
The gay community ended up lying and slandering PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays) Executive Director Regina Griggs for reporting on the incident claiming she fabricated it. Police, however, confirmed the story including the fact that they escorted the attacker off the premises. The lies and slander against Griggs were never corrected on the misnamed Truth Wins Out website which is a gay propaganda tool. Militant gay Arlington Board member Jay Fisette was challenged with the error by World Net Daily, but never corrected it. In fact, after police confirmation of the PFOX version of events, Fisette and others implied the police were helping corroborate a false story and they just continued spinning their version with Metro Weekly.
Homosexuals promote the view that they are the only ones who ever suffer from hate crimes even as they initiate them against those who dare to oppose them. Anyone who challenges the activist gay agenda is slammed figuratively and literally as the attacks on churches supporting Proposition 8 recently showed.
In Fact, gays actually have a word for their systematic lies against those who stand against them. It's called "jamming" a strategy of accusing opponents of hate, homophobia, etc. Those who fight against the gay agenda are ridiculed and attacked to shut them up. Gay activists claim they have no agenda despite a 1989 book that outlines the strategy for getting the agenda adopted. They want nothing less than the complete transformation of society to accept homosexual sodomy as normal, mainstream, and good and they are close to achieving it.
The book is called After the Ball. An excellent commentary by Albert Mohler describes the effectiveness of Kirk and Madsen's call to gay arms. In only 20 years gays have come close to achieving the homosexualization of every area of the culture including elementary school. The most vulnerable are adolescent boys, who in homosexual slang, are "chickens" for the "chicken hawks" or "chicken pluckers" who are older homosexual men. Adolescent boys are young and AIDS-free after all which makes them particularly attractive.
Not all homosexuals are "gay" in the sense of promoting the gay agenda. I suspect many feel tortured by their inclincations. That was certainly the case for Bart Allen.
In 2009 why not spiritually adopt a gay activist with the special intention of praying for him or her to leave the gay lifestyle. Imagine thousands of ex-gays who, like the prodigal son, exchange life in the pigpen for a return to the Father's house. What rejoicing in heaven there would be.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Gay Hate Crimes Continue
In the wake of the victory of Proposition 8, acts of vandalism and assault against those who supported the pro-traditional marriage effort continue. Ironically, last weekend gays even attacked a Catholic Church in the Castro district of San Francisco that orthodox Catholics have criticized time and again for supporting the homosexual agenda and marching in gay pride parades. Most Holy Redeemer pastor Steve Meriwether said, “I think it's unfortunate that they selected our community to attack, because it's the wrong one." (Read more...Interesting comment by the padre. Exactly what is the "right" community to attack? One presumes he means a church that considers sodomy, as did St. Paul, grievously immoral. So go ahead, gay vandalizers, paint swastikas on churches that preach against sodomy, assault old ladies who challenge your lifestyle, and vent your spleen by sending envelopes filled with white powder to churches that dare to disagree with you --- just not MHR where the wolf in sheep's clothing tickles your ears, blesses your gay pride events, and lets you hold lewd gay events in the church hall.
Well, Fr. Meriwether's position is not surprising since Most Holy Redeemer is up to its ears mucking around in the gay lifestyle. You can see some of the folks who play church there at A Sherpherd's Voice blog. You can also find much information here about this scandalous parish which allows active homosexuals involved in public scandal to hold a number of visible posts. David Differding, Coordinator of the Liturgy Planning Group participated in the 2008 "Golden Dildeux Awards" and received a trophy. Differding was the Master of Ceremonies when Archbishop Niederauer visited the parish in 2007. He's the bald fellow next to Fr. Merriwether in the photo above.
Pray for all these poor deluded children of God, especially Fr. Merriwether, their false shepherd.
Join the FOCA Novena
Barack Obama has promised one of his first acts will be to pass the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). The ramifactions are widespread. It will overturn all laws currently protecting, even minimally, unborn children. It will force healthcare workers and pharmacists to participate in direct cooperation of evil.
Catholics are being called to join in a rosary novena to stop FOCA beginning on Janurary 11th. Read about FOCA and the novena here and sign the petition against FOCA here. God has often intervened in human history because of prayer. Many people witness to the power of the rosary in their own lives. Please join in this important spiritual battle.
Catholics are being called to join in a rosary novena to stop FOCA beginning on Janurary 11th. Read about FOCA and the novena here and sign the petition against FOCA here. God has often intervened in human history because of prayer. Many people witness to the power of the rosary in their own lives. Please join in this important spiritual battle.
Is Real ID Coming to Your State?
Real ID offers a real threat to the privacy and independence of Americans. Read more about real ID at The Washington Times and see the reaction of many states across the U.S. at Real Nightmare.
A big thank you to Virginia State Delegate Bob Marshall who is fighting it in our state.
A big thank you to Virginia State Delegate Bob Marshall who is fighting it in our state.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Of Feminism and Steel Magnolias
When I read the paragraph below about Laura Bush I knew I had to share this article."And now, dear reader, we come to the essence of the conflict between conservative women and liberal women. We saw it in full play this year with the verbal clawing, spitting and hissing perpetrated against Sarah Palin, an authentic feminist if there ever was one. It is the age-old cat fight, the female equivalent of the barroom brawl among men. Except that when it comes to conservative women vs. liberal women, it is the real feminists vs. the faux-feminists."
I'm not a cheerleader for Laura Bush or the Republican party for that matter, but I agree with Kyle-Anne Shiver that "there seems to be no one anywhere with any dirt on the woman. She has survived six decades without a notable fall from grace, and nearly an entire decade in the most public glare there is. She is, by all accounts, the epitome of grace and elegance, qualities trashed with a vengeance by faux-feminists for the past 40 years. In one fell, eight-year swoop, Mrs. Bush has restored authentic feminism, being for all the world to see, her own woman. So secure is she in her own skin that pressure to morph into the garish pretentiousness of 'I am Woman; hear me roar,' has finally taken the bruise for which it's been cruising all these many years."
Here's how Shiver ends her article: "Laura Bush has proven herself an authentic feminist, first and foremost, by running her house well, and unencumbered by power-grabbing foibles of her own. Could America really ask for more? I think not. Quiet competence in the real world rarely gets any notice, but without it the whole world quickly heads asunder. Thank goodness for Laura Bush and her reestablishing the confines of the highest non-elected office in the land. Unheralded by most, she is indeed a great lady."
So let's hear it for the outgoing first lady. May she leave behind her an example so compelling that the incoming first lady aspires to imitate it. And I recommend you read the complete article, Laura Bush, Steel Magnolia. You won't be sorry you invested the time.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
The Call to Dunkirk:
Whoever controls the schools, controls the future. Public schools teach marxist principles and corrupt the minds and hearts of the young. Attempts at school reform have failed as parents become more and more marginalized and attacked, like David Parker of Massachusetts who tried to protect his kindergardener from indoctrination in the gay lifestyle.
As gay/straight alliances proliferate around the country, as graphic sex education continues to inflict emotional abuse, as textbooks are sanitized to eliminate the Christian foundation of American history... why do we leave our children in such an environment? The education of the young belongs to the family with assistance from the Church. The call to Dunkirk invites parents to rescue the culture by rescuing the children and putting them in Christian schools or home schooling.
Explore the Exodus Mandate Project and pray for the hearts and minds of our children and for our poor country.
Wake and Funeral for Fr. Michael Kelly
The Wake and Viewing will be held on Monday, January 5 from 6-8pm in the church at St. Francis De Sales, 37730 St. Francis Ct., Purcellville, VA 20132.
The Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, January 6 at 11am at St. Francis de Sales.
Catholic Herald Report
The Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, January 6 at 11am at St. Francis de Sales.
Catholic Herald Report
No-Fault Divorce and Other Marriage Issues
If you haven't read Stephen Baskerville's article on no-fault divorce in the blog post below, it's a good place to begin understanding the problem. I heard Phyllis Schlafly speak about no-fault divorce two years ago at a meeting of the Catholic Leadership Conference. She made the point that, just as the government destroyed the black family through welfare policies that threw dad out of the home and made Uncle Sam the single mom's sugar daddy, no-fault divorce is now driving middle class fathers out of the home, robbing them of their assets without trial, and, in many cases, unjustly depriving them of custody rights without due process, and sending their children into the booming foster care industry. Moms are also the target at times, but more rarely. In the process, government uses no-fault divorce to redistribute large amounts of income to custodial parents, lawyers, and government.
Unfortunately even the Catholic Church plays a wrong-headed role in the fiasco. Shouldn't the first line of defense in a Church that claims to value marriage as a lifetime commitment be to try to save the couple's relationship? Or at least examine the marriage to see if it was validly contracted in the first place? But no, marriage tribunals are not about saving marriages but dissolving them. Before a Catholic can even apply to the tribunal for review he/she has to have a finalized divorce. The system feeds Catholic spouses into the no-fault divorce mill which gives their marriage the survival likelihood of a snowball in hell. Where are the parish mentoring programs to strengthen spouses in their commitment? They're out there -- mostly in Protestant churches. Why are Catholics not leading the way in this area? Is a massive diocesan Development Campaign more important than a dioceses' families? Of course not, so we need to develop resources to help marriages before they disintegrate. Marriage counselors say a marriage is generally in trouble for six or more years before the final breakup. Let's encourage early intervention and promote more groups aimed at strengthening marriage particularly at the parish level.
To be fair there are a few CATHOLIC RESOURCES to help troubled marriages, but they are few and far between:
Mary's Advocates: working to establish a policy of covenant marriage in the Church where a couple agrees that in time of trouble they will seek reconciliation rather than divorce
Catholic Therapists
Retrouvaille: a weekend retreat for troubled marriages
Institute for Marital Healing While the practice is located in the Philadelphia area, the website offers many valuable articles relaing to challenges in marriage including addiction, abuse, etc.
Diocesan Catholic Charities sometimes offer counseling as well, but let the buyer beware. Some offices have little Catholic about them except the name.
And some GENERAL SOURCES:
Preventing Divorce
National Registry of Family Friendly Therapists
Marriage Savers
ARTICLES on No-Fault Divorce:
The No-Blame Game
A New ‘Fable of the Bees’ covers a broader area than marriage breakup, but has an excellent section on it within the article.
The Divorce Industrial Complex
MOVIES:
Not Easily Broken (I'm listing this with the qualifier that I haven't seen it. Check it out and let me know what you think.)
Fireproof
Pray for troubled marriages. Divorce is devastating to both adults and children. If you know a couple in trouble encourage them to get help.
Unfortunately even the Catholic Church plays a wrong-headed role in the fiasco. Shouldn't the first line of defense in a Church that claims to value marriage as a lifetime commitment be to try to save the couple's relationship? Or at least examine the marriage to see if it was validly contracted in the first place? But no, marriage tribunals are not about saving marriages but dissolving them. Before a Catholic can even apply to the tribunal for review he/she has to have a finalized divorce. The system feeds Catholic spouses into the no-fault divorce mill which gives their marriage the survival likelihood of a snowball in hell. Where are the parish mentoring programs to strengthen spouses in their commitment? They're out there -- mostly in Protestant churches. Why are Catholics not leading the way in this area? Is a massive diocesan Development Campaign more important than a dioceses' families? Of course not, so we need to develop resources to help marriages before they disintegrate. Marriage counselors say a marriage is generally in trouble for six or more years before the final breakup. Let's encourage early intervention and promote more groups aimed at strengthening marriage particularly at the parish level.
To be fair there are a few CATHOLIC RESOURCES to help troubled marriages, but they are few and far between:
Mary's Advocates: working to establish a policy of covenant marriage in the Church where a couple agrees that in time of trouble they will seek reconciliation rather than divorce
Catholic Therapists
Retrouvaille: a weekend retreat for troubled marriages
Institute for Marital Healing While the practice is located in the Philadelphia area, the website offers many valuable articles relaing to challenges in marriage including addiction, abuse, etc.
Diocesan Catholic Charities sometimes offer counseling as well, but let the buyer beware. Some offices have little Catholic about them except the name.
And some GENERAL SOURCES:
Preventing Divorce
National Registry of Family Friendly Therapists
Marriage Savers
ARTICLES on No-Fault Divorce:
The No-Blame Game
A New ‘Fable of the Bees’ covers a broader area than marriage breakup, but has an excellent section on it within the article.
The Divorce Industrial Complex
MOVIES:
Not Easily Broken (I'm listing this with the qualifier that I haven't seen it. Check it out and let me know what you think.)
Fireproof
Pray for troubled marriages. Divorce is devastating to both adults and children. If you know a couple in trouble encourage them to get help.
Divorced from Reality
“We’re from the Government, and We’re Here to End Your Marriage.”
by Stephen Baskerville
The decline of the family has now reached critical and truly dangerous proportions. Family breakdown touches virtually every family and every American. It is not only the major source of social instability in the Western world today but also seriously threatens civic freedom and constitutional government.
G. K. Chesterton once observed that the family serves as the principal check on government power, and he suggested that someday the family and the state would confront one another. That day has arrived.
Chesterton was writing about divorce, and despite extensive public attention to almost every other threat to the family, divorce remains the most direct and serious. Michael McManus of Marriage Savers writes that “divorce is a far more grievous blow to marriage than today’s challenge by gays.”
Most Americans would be deeply shocked if they knew what goes on today under the name of divorce. Indeed, many are devastated to discover that they can be forced into divorce by procedures entirely beyond their control. Divorce licenses unprecedented government intrusion into family life, including the power to sunder families, seize children, loot family wealth, and incarcerate parents without trial. Comprised of family courts and vast, federally funded social services bureaucracies that wield what amount to police powers, the divorce machinery has become the most predatory and repressive sector of government ever created in the United States and is today’s greatest threat to constitutional freedom. (Read the rest.)
by Stephen Baskerville
The decline of the family has now reached critical and truly dangerous proportions. Family breakdown touches virtually every family and every American. It is not only the major source of social instability in the Western world today but also seriously threatens civic freedom and constitutional government.
G. K. Chesterton once observed that the family serves as the principal check on government power, and he suggested that someday the family and the state would confront one another. That day has arrived.
Chesterton was writing about divorce, and despite extensive public attention to almost every other threat to the family, divorce remains the most direct and serious. Michael McManus of Marriage Savers writes that “divorce is a far more grievous blow to marriage than today’s challenge by gays.”
Most Americans would be deeply shocked if they knew what goes on today under the name of divorce. Indeed, many are devastated to discover that they can be forced into divorce by procedures entirely beyond their control. Divorce licenses unprecedented government intrusion into family life, including the power to sunder families, seize children, loot family wealth, and incarcerate parents without trial. Comprised of family courts and vast, federally funded social services bureaucracies that wield what amount to police powers, the divorce machinery has become the most predatory and repressive sector of government ever created in the United States and is today’s greatest threat to constitutional freedom. (Read the rest.)
Saturday, January 3, 2009
A Few of the Best and Worst of 2008
"Left Coast Hall of Shame"
New York Times worst quotes of the year
Worst media bias of 2008
Grinch-o-Meter Alert: worst holiday nonsense
One of the best survival stories from one of the worst tragedies of the year, the Mumbai Massacre.
Most famous baby of 2008: Bristol Palin gives birth to Tripp as the year ends. Congratulations to Todd and Sarah Palin on their first grandbaby!
One of the best Catholic books of 2008: The Faithful Departed by Phil Lawler
My personal movie favorite: Wall-E
New York Times worst quotes of the year
Worst media bias of 2008
Grinch-o-Meter Alert: worst holiday nonsense
One of the best survival stories from one of the worst tragedies of the year, the Mumbai Massacre.
Most famous baby of 2008: Bristol Palin gives birth to Tripp as the year ends. Congratulations to Todd and Sarah Palin on their first grandbaby!
One of the best Catholic books of 2008: The Faithful Departed by Phil Lawler
My personal movie favorite: Wall-E
Friday, January 2, 2009
Almost Heaven - Western Virginia
My husband and I visited the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley in Winchester, VA today. If you have never traveled to the Valley you are missing one of the great beauty spots of the nation. Every morning I thank God for the gift of living in this natural paradise.We may not have the fanciest restaurants, skyscrapers or the highest mountains in the country. What we do have are the rolling hills and farmlands dotted with cattle stretching out to the Appalachians on the east and the Alleghenys to the west, hiking trails through hardwood and conifer forests, the blue ridge shimmering in the mist, the winding bends of the Shenandoah River meandering between grassy banks or flowing over rocky outcrops, the pink and white mountain laurel in the Spring and the scarlet maples in the Fall. What a wonderland for landscape painters and nature lovers.
The Museum tells the story of the land and the people with exhibits and interactive computer screens. You can watch a grandfather teach his grandson how to hand-harvest the wheat or see a group admiring the earliest mechanical reapers that let one or two men do the work of fifteen or twenty. You can see topographical maps that show the famous Seven Bends of the Shenandoah River and let you trace the route of the Old Valley Pike travelled by Stonewall Jackson's foot cavalry.
There is a room filled with miniatures to delight the little girl who loves doll houses and life size replicas of the Valley farm kitchens. You can listen to the stories of real Valley people and watch a film about Sheridan's burning of the Valley as winter was coming on. Until May the museum is featuring an exhibit of the amazing maps made by self-taught surveyor and map-maker Jedediah Hotchkiss, who provided General Jackson such accurate maps that "old Jack" attributed much of his battlefield success to them. In fact Hotchkiss drew maps so accurate using simple calculations that they rival the most sophisticated satellite maps of today.
Yes, the museum and the Valley are worth a visit and Valley people are among the friendliest you'll meet. So y'all come - Virginia is for lovers of God's green earth and one of the prettiest places in Virginia is here in the Shenandoah Valley.
Pope Benedict Speaks to Families
On the Feast of the Holy Family the pope gave parents much food for thought about forming their homes in imitation of the Holy Family at Nazareth which the pope said, "merits the title 'holy' because its sole desire was to fulfil the will of God, incarnate in the adorable presence of Jesus." He also described the Holy Family as a "model of conjugal love, collaboration, sacrifice, trust in Divine Providence, industriousness, solidarity, of all those values safeguarded and promoted by the family, contributing in a basic way to the formation of the fabric of every society."Just think of the holiness of a society made up of families who work to develop those virtues and especially conform themselves to God's will.
The pope went on to say that, "The family is certainly a grace of God, which allows what He Himself is to be revealed: Love. An eternally gratuitous love that sustains faithfully and without limits, even in moments of difficulty or discouragement. These qualities are eminently incarnate in the Holy Family in which Jesus came to the world and was raised, coming to wisdom with the thoughtful care of Mary and the faithful tutelage of St. Joseph."
The pope did not fail to call families to live the challenging aspects of marriage saying, "Dear families do not let love, openness to life, and the incomparable bonds that unite your home be corrupted. Ask this continually of the Lord, praying together, that your intentions be illuminated by faith and exalted by divine grace on the path toward holiness. In this way, with the joy of sharing everything in love, you will give the world a beautiful witness of how important the family is for the human being and for society. The Pope is by your side, asking especially of the Lord for those in each family who have the greatest needs of health, work, comfort, and companionship."
The family is under increasing attack in the culture of death - from the murder of its youngest members, to the corruption of family members through pornography, sex education, and contraception. The culture of death seems to hold sway, but we put our trust in a faithful God who will never abandon us.
While you are thinking about making a New Year's Resolution, how about praying the rosary every day that the American family might be strengthened and come to resemble more and more the Holy Family of Nazareth. Start with your own family.
The pope went on to say that, "The family is certainly a grace of God, which allows what He Himself is to be revealed: Love. An eternally gratuitous love that sustains faithfully and without limits, even in moments of difficulty or discouragement. These qualities are eminently incarnate in the Holy Family in which Jesus came to the world and was raised, coming to wisdom with the thoughtful care of Mary and the faithful tutelage of St. Joseph."
The pope did not fail to call families to live the challenging aspects of marriage saying, "Dear families do not let love, openness to life, and the incomparable bonds that unite your home be corrupted. Ask this continually of the Lord, praying together, that your intentions be illuminated by faith and exalted by divine grace on the path toward holiness. In this way, with the joy of sharing everything in love, you will give the world a beautiful witness of how important the family is for the human being and for society. The Pope is by your side, asking especially of the Lord for those in each family who have the greatest needs of health, work, comfort, and companionship."
The family is under increasing attack in the culture of death - from the murder of its youngest members, to the corruption of family members through pornography, sex education, and contraception. The culture of death seems to hold sway, but we put our trust in a faithful God who will never abandon us.
While you are thinking about making a New Year's Resolution, how about praying the rosary every day that the American family might be strengthened and come to resemble more and more the Holy Family of Nazareth. Start with your own family.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Requiescat in Pace, Fr. Michael Kelly
Death can come upon us unaware. Fr. Michael Kelly of St. Francis de Sales in Purceville, VA was killed yesterday enroute to a funeral of a fellow priest (I presume Fr. George Griffin who died on Christmas Day. His funeral Mass was yesterday at 11:00 a.m. at Good Shepherd in Alexandria.)
The winds were pretty violent New Year's Eve, gusting up to 50 mph. Father stopped to remove a tree from the road with the help of another motorist and was killed when a second tree fell on him.
Channel 8 covered the story.
We extend our condolences to Fr. Kelly's family and to the parishioners of St. Francis who have lost a beloved spiritual father. We urge all to pray for Father Kelly and the Diocese of Arlington which has experienced this painful loss. Eternal rest grant unto Fr. Kelly, O Lord, and may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen
To get an idea of the good pastor Fr. Kelly was visit his parish website.
The winds were pretty violent New Year's Eve, gusting up to 50 mph. Father stopped to remove a tree from the road with the help of another motorist and was killed when a second tree fell on him.
Channel 8 covered the story.
We extend our condolences to Fr. Kelly's family and to the parishioners of St. Francis who have lost a beloved spiritual father. We urge all to pray for Father Kelly and the Diocese of Arlington which has experienced this painful loss. Eternal rest grant unto Fr. Kelly, O Lord, and may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen
To get an idea of the good pastor Fr. Kelly was visit his parish website.
*** Happy New Year from Les Femmes ***
A friend sent the article below which appeared in his bulletin a few years ago. New beginnings invite us to reflect on the reality of life...and death. Let us all pray in thanksgiving for the time we are given in 2009 and resolve to use it well.
TIME
The old year is past; a new one has just begun, and we are all now one year closer to eternity. For many people this past year, time was no more. One moment they were in time, the next moment they were in eternity. Time is a two sided coin, one side despised and wasted during life, the other priceless and unattainable at the hour of death.
God has given us these days to work out our salvation, but how well do we use them? How often have we observed a man in idle pursuit? If we ask him what he is doing he would reply, "Oh, I am just passing the time."
I remember an old song of many years past. It was called "Standing on the corner watching all the girls go by." Are we just standing on the corners of life watching the days of our salvation going by unused?
To quote Saint Alphonsus De Liguroi:
"O time despised during life, you will be ardently desired by worldlings at the hour of death. The thought that they must very soon appear before Almighty God, to give an account of their lives, fills them with untold confusion and anguish. They will ask for another year, another month or another day to settle the accounts of their conscience, but they will ask in vain. To obtain a single hour they would give all their wealth and worldly possessions, but this hour shall not be given."
Let us therefore exert ourselves to the utmost to accomplish the work of our salvation while there is still time. Do now, what, on the day of judgment, you would then wish you would have done. For at the moment of death, the time of grace will have passed, the time of justice will have come.