Sunday, November 30, 2008

De La Salle Waterford-Munster Senior Hurling Champions -08 after thrilling victory against Adare

Adare who led by 5 points at half time dominated the first half of this exciting and sporting game-played at Semple Stadium. Were it not for some bad shooting Adare might possibly have been out of sight at half time.
Liam Costello ,Conor Fitzgerald and Diarmuid Sexton notched points for Adare.
The De La Salle forwards could make no headway against an Adare defence ably marshalled by Mark Foley. Indeed the Adare defenders hunted in packs. John Mullane frequently found himself confronted by two Adare defenders.
In the first half the De La Salle team had absolutely no pattern to its play

However the second half was a different story. Brian Phelan scored De La Salle’s first point a minute into the half. De la Salle manager Eoin Dunphy wrung the changes for this half. These had the desired effect. Daniels and Richardson played particularly well when they came on. Costello notched two points to push Adare into a seven-point lead.
Phelan pointed again for De La Salle before Mullane snapped up a loose ball, outside the Adare square, and turned onto his left before rocketing a shot to the Adare net. Mullane was now on fire.

That 41st-minute goal was the turning point in the game. Seamus Richardson and Mullane tacked on two more points for De La Salle.
The De La Salle defence snuffed out the Adare forward line with Michael Doherty and Kevin Moran particularly to the fore. Michael Doherty could make the Waterford Senior hurling panel. Donncha Sheehan managed to edge Adare ahead again. John Mullane and Thomas Kearney notched points for De La Salle to ensure victory for the Waterford side.

2008 has been a historic year for the De La Salle club. It has won both the Waterford Senior Hurling Championship and the Munster Senior Hurling title for the first time. All the promise shown at juvenile level has come to fruition. John Mullane who should have won an All Star award will feel particularly happy with the successes of his club.
There are excellent photographs of the game at Ken Sutton photostream on Flickr



Saturday, November 29, 2008

Ex Spanish Socialist Senator converts to Catholicism and calls for end to Abortion

CNA reports:
During the “Catholics and Public Life” congress in Spain this week, former senator Mercedes Aroz, who a year ago announced her conversion to the Catholic faith and departure from the Socialist Party of Catalonia, called for the abolition of abortion in Spain to bring about true progress in the advancement of human rights.

Abortion in Spain has reached pandemic levels. Almost 1.2 million abortions have taken place in Spain since the practice was legalized in 1985.
Hopefully more Spanish Socialist politicians will now follow Mercedes Aroz’s example and work to end this scourge.

America The National Catholic Weekly - article proposes Kmiec for Vatican Ambassador

The National Catholic Weekly carries an article -by Michael Sean Winters- which suggests strongly that Professor Douglas Kmiec -who served as head of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Departments of both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush- would make an excellent choice as US ambassador to the Vatican.
Despite his Republican credentials, Kmiec endorsed Barack Obama this year and penned a thoughtful book, "Can a Catholic Support Him?" The question is ridiculous to most ears and, in the event, most Catholics did support him But for some extremists on the right, there was a firm conviction that no Catholic could vote for Obama......In truth, Kmiec’s pro-life credentials, despite some carping from the far right political fringe, are impeccable....

Some of the language used in this article is surprising to the least. Those who oppose abortion are not extremists. They are upholding the law of God. How could any Catholic in good conscience support Obama- a man who has pledged to sign into law FOCA? There is no half way house on abortion. It is not ridiculous to pose the following question: Can any Catholic in good conscience support Obama? The answer is a resounding NO.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

NDTV 24x7 Live Coverage- Mumbai terror attacks

Connection Withdrawn:11/30/08
INDIA SUFFERED one of its deadliest terrorist attacks last night when gunmen ran amok in the wealthiest part of Mumbai, killing dozens of people, blowing up cars, petrol stations, hospitals and luxury hotels and taking a number of foreign nationals hostage.

About 300 people were believed killed and 327 wounded in Wednesday’s attacks with 10 shot dead at Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus, formerly known as Victoria terminus, one of the two big stations in downtown Mumbai. Another three people were killed in the Taj hotel lobby, where Deutsche Bank executives from Europe were believed to be sheltering.

At one hospital, St George’s in south Mumbai, 60 bodies and 200 injured people were brought in.(Irish Times)

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Georgia:Sarah Palin in huge boost for Sen. Saxby Chambliss campaign

The Dec. 2nd senate runoff in Georgia between Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin has assumed huge local and national significance.
The Democrats at present hold 58 seats in the Senate. 60 seats would provide a filibuster proof majority and give the Dems absolute power. Victory in the recount in Minnesota and in the run off election in Georgia would provide the necessary two seats and relegate the GOP to relative powerlessness.

A titanic struggle is under way in Georgia. This is a state, which in the normal course of events should go to the GOP. However on this occasion it could slip away.
John McCain , former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney have campaigned for Chambliss. Former president Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore have appeared for Martin.

Between Oct. 16 and Nov.12, FEC filings show that Martin raised $2.4 million to Chambliss' $1.9 million.NARAL Pro-Choice America, the Service Employees International Union, the League Of Conservation Voters Action Fund and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have sent more than $1.7 million to help Martin.

A new poll conducted for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee by the Mellman Group now shows Chambliss leading Martin 48% to 46%. Thus the election is too close to call.
It is against this background that the entrance of Sarah Palin is highly significant. Palin wowed the conservative base in the presidential campaign and drew massive crowds. The McCain-Palin ticket carried Georgia on Nov. 4 by about 200,000 votes. Her decision to campaign in Georgia for Chambliss will push the GOP machine into overdrive and should help to tilt the balance. Sarah Palin will join Chambliss for four public rallies on Monday, December 1st: 8:30 am in Augusta; 11:00 am in Savannah; 1:30 pm in Perry; and 4:00 pm in north metro Atlanta.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Foreclosure Angel Foundation established by Marilyn Mock to help struggling home owners avoid foreclosure

The Foreclosure Angel Foundation is a non-profit organization established to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure on their homes. This radical initiative is the brainchild of small businesswoman Marilyn Mock. It restores one's faith in humanity. It had its genesis in a chance meeting at a foreclosure auction in Dallas, Texas.

Marilyn Mock went to the auction. She met Tracy Pottsboro who faced losing her home to foreclosure. Marilyn Mock, stepped in to purchase it. She gave it back to Tracy. Tracy can now pay back for the house as her financial situation improves.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Nigeria:Children and babies branded as evil are being abused, abandoned and even murdered on the charge of being witches

The Benenson Society has launched a campaign against the horrific treatment of some childen in Nigeria and has provided the following details:
"Nigeria is a land with fast growing Christian and Muslim communities. Almost 62 million Nigerians are Christians. In addition to mainstream Christian churches, there are many local evangelical and Pentecostal churches that blend aspects of Christianity with tribal religious traditions. Some of these communities, such as the Liberty Foundation Gospel church, have a strong sense of possession and witchcraft.

Some pastors of these churches are helping to create a tragic campaign of violence against children. Children and babies branded as evil are being abused, abandoned and even murdered on the charge of being witches, while some of these preachers make money out of the fear of their parents and their communities by charging for a deliverance from possession.



Twin boys Itohowo and Kufre stand surrounded by angry villagers who believe they are bringing evil to their lives (Robin Hammond/The Observer)


(Below are some of the stories of children harmed as witches recorded in a recent article by Tracy McVeigh for Britain’s Guardian newspaper. You can find her video report at Child ‘Witches in Africa’. (See also Children of Nigeria for horrific pictures which convey the gravity of the situation).

“ But an exploitative situation has now grown into something much more sinister as preachers are turning their attentions to children - naming them as witches. In a maddened state of terror, parents and whole villages turn on the child. They are burnt, poisoned, slashed, chained to trees, buried alive or simply beaten and chased off into the bush.
Some parents scrape together sums needed to pay for a deliverance - sometimes as much as three or four months' salary for the average working man - although the pastor will explain that the witch might return and a second deliverance will be needed. Even if the parent wants to keep the child, their neighbours may attack it in the street.
………. Mary Sudnad, 10, grimaces as her hair is pulled into corn rows by Agnes, 11, but the scalp just above her forehead is bald and blistered. Mary tells her story fast, in staccato, staring fixedly at the ground.
'My youngest brother died. The pastor told my mother it was because I was a witch. Three men came to my house. I didn't know these men. My mother left the house. Left these men. They beat me.' She pushes her fists under her chin to show how her father lay, stretched out on his stomach on the floor of their hut, watching. After the beating there was a trip to the church for 'a deliverance'.
A day later there was a walk in the bush with her mother. They picked poisonous 'asiri' berries that were made into a draught and forced down Mary's throat. If that didn't kill her, her mother warned her, then it would be a barbed-wire hanging. Finally her mother threw boiling water and caustic soda over her head and body, and her father dumped his screaming daughter in a field. Drifting in and out of consciousness, she stayed near the house for a long time before finally slinking off into the bush.Mary was seven. She says she still doesn't feel safe. She says: 'My mother doesn't love me.' And, finally, a tear streaks down her beautiful face.

Gerry was picked out by a 'prophetess' at a prayer night and named as a witch. His mother cursed him, his father siphoned petrol from his motorbike tank and spat it over his eight-year-old face. Gerry's facial blistering is as visible as the trauma in his dull eyes. He asks every adult he sees if they will take him home to his parents: 'It's not them, it's the prophetess, I am scared of her.'

Nwaekais about 16. She sits by herself in the mud, her eyes rolling, scratching at her stick-thin arms. The other children are surprisingly patient with her. The wound on her head where a nail was driven in looks to be healing well.
Nine- year-old Etido had nails, too, five of them across the crown of his downy head. Its hard to tell what damage has been done. Udo, now 12, was beaten and abandoned by his mother. He nearly lost his arm after villagers, finding him foraging for food by the roadside, saw him as a witch and hacked at him with machetes.
What can we do?

....Write to the mainstream churches in Nigeria urging these Churches to speak out forcefully. The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria might also be written to as many of the churches involved in this issue are loosely affiliated as Pentecostal. One could also write to the founder of one of the churches engaged in the condemnation of Children – the Liberty Foundation Gospel Church.

You could also contact your local churches and urge them to look into the issue.

Catholic
Most Rev. Felix Alaba Job
President of the Nigerian Catholic bishops Conference
c/- Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria
6, Force Road,
P.O. Box 951, Lagos, Nigeria
Fax: 01-2636680
E-mail:Cathsecl@infoweb.abs.net

Anglican
The Venerable Akintunde A. Popoola
24 Douala Street, Wuse Zone 5,
Abuja,
Nigeria.

OR

Mrs Helen Ukpabio
Liberty Gospel Church Headquarters
Behind Desan House off Ndidem Usang Iso Road
Calabar, Cross River State
Nigeria.

OR

Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria
c/o Redeemed Evangelical Mission
Oshodi Apapa Expressway
Ijesha,Surulere,Lagos,
Nigeria "


Video:US Soldiers Firefight With Taliban After Being Ambushed In Afghanistan

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Speech by Fine Gael Leader Enda Kenny TD at the Party's 2008 National Conference in Wexford, on Saturday 22nd November 2008

"Tonight I want to talk to you about why Ireland now needs new leadership to take the country in a new direction. We meet at the best of times and at the worst of times.
Best of times for Fine Gael because we know what we stand for and we know where we're going. But worst of times because out there, joining us in their sitting rooms and their kitchens, are people who can't share the buzz and the excitement that are making the rafters of this place vibrate.

People watching us against a background of misery and fear. Yes. Misery. And fear.
Because that's what happens, when you've got a good degree, when you've had a good job, when you've given your all - and suddenly, through no fault of your own, you're let go. When you become one of the first highly educated generation in Irish history to be "Let go."
- Let go before Christmas.- Let go when the mortgage you're paying is bigger than the value of the house it covers.- Let go when the jobs market is awash with good, talented, experienced people all fighting for fewer and fewer posts.
Spun loose and lost, they are, the first young casualties of the downturn. Spun loose and lost. And fearful. That's the worst of it. That's the most damning indictment of the current Government. They have done what no Government should ever do. They have created a fear of the future in the people of this country.

Older people, who see promises made to them tossed in the air like ash blowing in a wind. Who see a Government that treats them like statistics and ignores human reality. Not just older people, though. This fear is all-pervasive.
Younger people are seeing their bosses cutting jobs. Pulling back. Circling the wagons. Sending the message: Postpone your ambitions. Put your life on hold. And you know something? You can't do that. You can't put lives on hold. Ambition and promise, unexpressed, wither into frustration and bitter disappointment.

While the Government blame international factors, the reality is that we are suffering a far more severe downturn than other countries. This is a direct result of the Government's failure to plan for the future - a direct result of weak and indecisive leadership and a direct result of a government in office too long and too out of touch.Fianna Fáil has governed deliberately in the interests of their friends, particularly property speculators, rather than in the best interests of the Irish people. The result was an unsustainable property bubble, the victims of which are the many thousands of young couples who are now paying huge mortgages on over-priced homes, living with the anxiety of failing jobs and negative equity.
If we don't act now to arrest the slide in good governance and economic management, the situation will just get worse. And worse. And worse.

Unemployment will continue upwards. Our borrowings will continue upwards. The quality of our front line public services will continue downwards. It's time for someone to stand out front and tell the painful truth.
The country cannot afford the national pay deal. It is as simple as that. This deal must be suspended for 12 months and reviewed after that. It was negotiated in a different context with different expectations.
I am calling on Government and public service unions to implement a complete pay freeze for 12 months.
I am calling on private sector employers and their staff to review the terms of the wage agreement and ensure that no pay increases are at the expense of jobs. Wage restraint in the short term is preferable to job losses in the long term.
If we want to be masters of our own destiny, we have to control our spending and ensure that we regain our competitiveness. Let's be clear on this: if we manage our finances prudently there should be no need for damaging tax increases that undermine our future growth.

The money saved by this initiative should be invested directly in key infrastructures like school buildings and public transport, and in retraining and upskilling our workforce. The time to start fixing the economic mess created by Fianna Fail and Brian Cowen, is now. We simply must get the country back on track.
Nowhere is this more urgent than in the horror that is our health system. Was there ever a greater betrayal than a Cabinet sitting down and deliberately targeting our elderly people to pay for their own mistakes by removing their medical cards?
Year after year, they refused to address the horrors of our healthcare system. Remember that Yeats ballad, where the old priest Peter Gilligan "is weary, night and day, for half his flock were in their beds or under greensod lay." "I have no rest, nor joy, nor peace," he cries out. "For people die and die." This Government deserves no rest, nor joy, nor peace. For people die needlessly on their watch.

And - when it comes to misdiagnosis - so many of those people are women. Women in the prime of their lives, leaving children and families to grieve in baffled disbelief. Is it too much to ask - as we asked long before the economic downturn - is it too much to ask that Ireland treat its women with respect? Is it? No it's not.
Is it too much to ask that when we take our parents to a hospital, that they are not endangered by hospital bugs or misdiagnosis? Is it?
Is it too much to ask that vaccinations are not withheld from our twelve year old daughters so that their very lives are threatened? Is it?
Is it too much to ask that a stale, arrogant, contemptuous Government be swept out of office and urgently replaced by a Fine Gael government of passion, professionalism, experience and enthusiasm? Is it?

When this Government is replaced by Fine Gael, we will deliver the universal healthcare plan being finalised by the Policy Commission chaired by Alan Dukes. We will create the change, the old, the young and the sick need so badly; a change to a health system where the patient is at the centre and the money follows that patient. A health system where service is delivered because you need it, not because you can pay for it. Fine Gael will drive that change in approach and ensure that fairness is at the core of Irish society.
We will banish the notion that Education is a cost. It is not. It is a need. It is an investment in our nation's future and an investment in our children's future. As Churchill said "the empires of the future will be the empires of the mind". Fine Gael will invest now to build those empires.
We will stop waste, and return to the basics that made this economy a success; low-costs, high exports, targeted spending, and a constant focus on competitiveness.
A focus on competitiveness that will make Ireland the best. That will make Ireland a global leader, and that inside a decade, will make this country a net exporter of energy. Within ten years, we will sell more energy than we buy in.

Tax relief on bicycles and banning light bulbs won't build the Green Economy. Our approach must be based on innovation and creativity. It will draw investment from around the world. Give farming a new lease of life.Renew and refresh our tourism offering. It will radically change and strengthen our industrial base.
That requires investment in wave, wind, biofuels, pumped storage and gas. An investment that will pay dividends and create jobs. An investment that requires radical change. That radical change that will see government acting to prevent problems. A government with the courage to act. And act Fast. And act fast we would have done to prevent the meltdown of the banking system.


Fine Gael would not be paralysed by this current banking crisis. We would re-capitalise banks. Now.
It's too late to give a transfusion when the patient is already dead. Too many jobs in small businesses all over this country are threatened by the lack of access to credit. My fear is that bad banks and delinquent developers are having too much say in guiding Government policy in this area. The recipe drawn up by Government appears to rely on international venture capitalists. What interest do they have in the long term viability of our economy? None.
So why are we inviting venture capitalists to do a job that we can handle ourselves? The Government should take preference shares in Irish banks so the taxpayer gets a dividend from the investment, not foreign investors. Once that's done, they must be told that neither they, nor their regulators, will walk away unscathed from this. Our nation has been damaged by their reckless behaviour. They must be held accountable. Under Fine Gael, they will be held accountable.

We are the only party who will hold people to account for failure. Who will hold people to account for irresponsibility. Who will hold people to account for criminality.
Not so long ago, we were told gangland killings were the last sting of a dying wasp. That dying wasp is very much alive and part of a threatening swarm infesting our cities and communities.

The last time our communities and the State were so threatened, was when an innocent woman Veronica Guerin was murdered for telling the truth about the gangs. Back then a Fine Gael government acted. My cabinet colleagues and I set up the Criminal Assets Bureau. We moved fast with new powers for the Gardaí and the Revenue Commissioners. We captured and convicted criminals. We changed the realities. We did the business.
When we went out of office, things were let slide. A stop will be put to that slide when Fine Gael returns to Government. The new breed of ruthless criminals require a new and tougher response. They need to know that there will be real consequences for their actions. No longer can they expect short sentences during which they can continue to organise crimes from their prison cells. Our response will see 25 year mandatory sentences for murder and new powers to control the movements and activities of gang members. We did it before and we will do it again.
We have always been the party of law and order...we still are. Because, on all fronts, Fine Gael knows that circumstances are not excuses. They are opportunities. Opportunities for what is fundamental to the Irish spirit - a wilful determination to break through barriers to greatness.

Look at Northern Ireland; centuries of conflict calmed by a mutual belief in the possible. This week, power sharing resumed in Northern Ireland. What was once thought to be impossible has been made real. Made real by hope. Made real by optimism. Made real by refusing to let the future be constrained by circumstance. Down all the days, this nation refused to be constrained by circumstance. We became - against all the odds - a beacon of light. In great poverty, the world looked to us as leaders in the arts, in music, in literature. Whatever the challenge, the Irish spirit has been one of courage and optimism and a desire to be the best.
That great spirit of courage and optimism must be reawakened by a new kind of leadership, a new kind of politics. A politics of vision and openness and direction and optimism. Because if there is fear out there, there is something more important out there too: the yearning for greatness, the need to express the best of ourselves, the desire for change.
We stand amid catastrophe. But we stand on the verge of massive change. Ten years from now, we will, once again, be a beacon of light and of pride. To get there, Ireland must be restored as a central and influential member of the European Union. I am committed to playing my part in ensuring that the current uncertainties about Ireland's relationship with Europe is ended.

The Fine Gael team here today are practical professionals and driven idealists who are expert, eager and committed. The Fine Gael team are the brightest and the best.
And simply put...The Fine Gael team are going to be the next Government.
In government, we will draw a line in the sand. On this side of the line is chronic waste; On the other is strict controls and targeted spending where every penny of taxpayers' money is accounted for. On this side of the line is caving in, compromise and throwing money at every vested interest; On the other is decisive leadership, straight talking and principled politics. On this side of the line in the sand is bloated, lazy and directionless economic management; On the other is lean, focused and smart economic plans and policies.
We promise an end to all that. I want an Ireland where people count. Where families matter. Where the economy serves the nation, not the other way around. An Ireland where we set out to succeed, not just survive.

Easy? No. Who said anything worth achieving was easy? Good government is not about calculator cuts. It's about direction. Determination. Ireland will be the best. The number one. The world leader. And I know what it will take to get us there.
I know what it's like to rebuild a political party. I know what people wanted, I know what they said. I've been there and I know the hard work, energy and commitment that's needed. Now I want to do the same for our country.


Soon - maybe sooner than people think - the people of Ireland will give us the opportunity to change this country for the better. The Ireland Fine Gael is determined to build is an Ireland defined by merit, not money. An Ireland of pride, passion and potential. A nation where the best in the Irish character finds full expression in positive action, not in crippling cynicism.
My message to a whole generation of young people who have never lived in recessionary times is very clear. I want you to know that we are in your corner. I want you to know that we will fight for your future. I want you to know that I understand your right to live your dreams and to achieve your ambitions in this country, if that is your wish.
I invite you to work with me, as together we change politics and build your future. Politics does matter and I give you just one guarantee - our work will not be easy, our choices will not be simple, but together we will succeed in our task.
Let me promise you this. The men and women of Fine Gael will bring new life, new excitement, new drive to Irish politics.

My team are Expert. Eager. Enthusiastic. They represent all that is good in Ireland - and they will respond to all that is best in Ireland. We - each and every one of us - carry from this conference the capacity to guide our country through recession and point it to a brighter future.
We will take radical and brave action to get this country moving again. We will make this State secure, prosperous and confident. We will lead this nation to a place of hope and achievement. We will lift this country off its knees and turn its face to the sun. It will therefore be my honour to make this country proud again."

FG leads FF by 5% in latest Sunday Business Post/Red C poll

The Red C poll in tomorrow's Sunday Business Post shows that FG leads FF by 5%. There is an improvement in FFs fortunes with a rise of 4% since the last Red C poll. However FF is still down 12% on its general election result. FG at 35% gains 2% since the last survey. FGs support is up 8% on its general election showing. Labour is down 1% since the last poll but is still 4% higher than its 2007 general election outcome. A 1% drop is statistically insignificant. The Greens drop 1% for the second successive month. Support for the Greens is likely to evaporate in the coming months as the economic recession, tax rises and public expenditure cuts bite. This is the first poll since the PDs were wound up.

FG will be buoyed up by its showing in various polls and by a very successful conference in Wexford this weekend. Nevertheless it is likely that FF will come in at around 40% in any general election situation unless FG can break FFs stranglehold on the loyalties of a significant proportion of the electorate. The economic crisis has damaged FFs claims to competence in the economic management of the country. The FG party must improve organization and communication and continue to demonstrate economic competence. Finance Spokesman Richard Bruton is by far the most impressive performer on the economy in the Dail. His talents are wasted in opposition.

The reality is that the core support for all Irish political parties will continue to drop. This opens up prospects for huge swings in support in future elections. It is a moot point as to when these huge swings will occur. Could the organizational structures of the larger parties blunt the severity of such swings?

The next general election is due in 2012.-assuming that the FF/Green coalition survives. If the economy has not rebounded strongly FF will lose marginal seats. This would be sufficient to send the party into opposition unless it could cobble together a coalition with Labour.

  • Fine Gael 35% (+2%)
  • Fianna Fail 30% (+4%)
  • Labour 14% (-1%)
  • Greens 5% (-1%)
  • Sinn Fein 8% (-2%)
  • Independents/Others 8% (+0%)
.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Cardinal Stafford hammers Obama on Abortion- Obama aggressive, disruptive, extremist and apocalyptic

Commenting on the results of the recent presidential election, Cardinal Stafford said on Election Day “America suffered a cultural earthquake.”

The cardinal argued that President-elect Obama had campaigned on an “extremist anti-life platform” and predicted that the near future would be a time of trial...“For the next few years, Gethsemane will not be marginal. We will know that garden,” Cardinal Stafford told his audience. Catholics who weep the “hot, angry tears of betrayal” should try to identify with Jesus, who during his agony in the garden was “sick because of love.”

Champion of abortion becomes defender of life: the story of Stojan Adasevic-Planned Parenthood Take Note

The Spanish daily “La Razon” has published an article on the pro-life conversion of a former “champion of abortion.” Stojan Adasevic, who performed 48,000 abortions, sometimes up to 35 per day, is now the most important pro-life leader in Serbia, after 26 years as the most renowned abortion doctor in the country.
“The medical textbooks of the Communist regime said abortion was simply the removal of a blob of tissue,” the newspaper reported. “Ultrasounds allowing the fetus to be seen did not arrive until the 80s, but they did not change his opinion. Nevertheless, he began to have nightmares.”

In describing his conversion, Adasevic “dreamed about a beautiful field full of children and young people who were playing and laughing, from 4 to 24 years of age, but who ran away from him in fear. A man dressed in a black and white habit stared at him in silence. The dream was repeated each night and he would wake up in a cold sweat. One night he asked the man in black and white who he was. ‘My name is Thomas Aquinas,’ the man in his dream responded. Adasevic, educated in communist schools, had never heard of the Dominican genius saint. He didn’t recognize the name”
“Why don’t you ask me who these children are?” St. Thomas asked Adasevic in his dream.
“They are the ones you killed with your abortions,’ St. Thomas told him.
“Adasevic awoke in amazement and decided not to perform any more abortions,” the article stated.

“That same day a cousin came to the hospital with his four months-pregnant girlfriend, who wanted to get her ninth abortion—something quite frequent in the countries of the Soviet bloc. The doctor agreed. Instead of removing the fetus piece by piece, he decided to chop it up and remove it as a mass. However, the baby’s heart came out still beating. Adasevic realized then that he had killed a human being,”

After this experience, Adasevic “told the hospital he would no longer perform abortions. Never before had a doctor in Communist Yugoslavia refused to do so. They cut his salary in half, fired his daughter from her job, and did not allow his son to enter the university.”
After years of pressure and on the verge of giving up, he had another dream about St. Thomas.
“You are my good friend, keep going,’ the man in black and white told him. Adasevic became involved in the pro-life movement and was able to get Yugoslav television to air the film ‘The Silent Scream,’ by Doctor Bernard Nathanson, two times.”
Adasevic has told his story in magazines and newspapers throughout Eastern Europe. He has returned to the Orthodox faith of his childhood and has studied the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas.

“Influenced by Aristotle, Thomas wrote that human life begins forty days after fertilization,” Adasevic wrote in one article. La Razon commented that Adasevic “suggests that perhaps the saint wanted to make amends for that error.” Today the Serbian doctor continues to fight for the lives of the unborn." (Catholic News Agency)

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Saxby Chambliss is the better choice for Georgia (Record far superior to that of Jim Martin)


Saxby Chambliss has a strong track record as a Senator and deserves to win the run off. Now that Ted Stevens has lost his Alaskan Senate seat and Al Franken is within two hundred votes of overtaking Norm Coleman with the Minnesota recount yet to even begin, the Chambliss seat is all that stands between the Democrats and 60 votes in the Senate, which would foil Republican filibusters. These filibusters are essential to stymie Crackpot Economics espoused by the Democrats. Lets look at the policies espoused by Saxby Chambliss and Jim Martin. Saxby Chambliss is more in tune with mainstream America. Jim Martin is out of touch on the key issues.

Taxes:

Saxby Chambliss is for lower taxes and is the Senate sponsor of the Fair Tax.
Jim Martin voted for the largest tax increase in Georgia history - a vote that raised taxes by $687 million and raised the sales tax by 32 percent.

Abortion:

Saxby is pro-life. Jim Martin voted against banning partial birth abortion.

Healthcare:


Saxby Chambliss believes Georgians should choose their own doctors. Jim Martin supports national healthcare where the government chooses your doctor for you.

Judiciary:

Saxby Chambliss supports judges who strictly interpret the law. Jim Martin supports liberal, activist judges who legislate from the bench.

Energy:

Saxby Chambliss supports increasing America's energy independence by drilling offshore. Jim Martin does not support domestic drilling and will be an ally of Barack Obama to reinstate the ban on offshore drilling.

Legislative Priority:


Saxby Chambliss works for Georgia. Jim Martin works for Barack Obama and liberal Democrats.

Violence Against Christians in India:Please help to halt the Hindu extremist onslaught



There is growing concern about the upsurge in violence against the Christian minority in India.
In the Times of London :"Extremist Hindu groups offered money, food and alcohol to mobs to kill Christians and destroy their homes, according to Christian aid workers in the eastern state of Orissa. .....The US-based head of a Christian organisation that runs several orphanages in Orissa – one of India’s poorest regions – claims that Christian leaders are being targeted by Hindu militants and carry a price on their heads. “The going price to kill a pastor is $250 (£170),” Faiz Rahman, the chairman of Good News India, said.... "

According to the Benenson Society which has already campaigned about the situation in Orissa state "the situation appears to be deteriorating across India. Burning of homes and churches, rape and murder, and forced conversions to Hinduism are becoming ever more common, with some State governments apparently doing very little to prevent such violence. The All India Christian Council said the toll after nearly two months of sporadic violence has reached 59 dead and 50,000 displaced. Other religious minorities – Muslims, Sikhs and Buddhists could all find themselves under pressure if such religious intolerance is allowed to thrive. In the last couple of days there has been growing violence against Muslims – in Andhra Pradesh the latest clash between Muslims and Hindus left three people dead."

It is incumbent upon the international Christian community to rally behind India's persecuted Christians. Log on to Benenson for details of the organization's campaign against persecution in India. Please join this campaign. Make your voice heard before it is too late.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

NATO Spy Charged With Passing US Missile Defense Secrets to Russia


Herman Simm, 61, an Estonian defense ministry official who was arrested in September, was responsible for handling all of his country's classified information at NATO, giving him access to every top-secret graded document from other alliance countries. There appears to have been a catastrophic breach of security. Clear-cut evidence here that the Russian intelligence services are as active and effective now as they were in Cold War times.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Obama’s reckless comments on deficit –in CBS “60 Minutes” interview

"We shouldn't worry about the deficit next year or even the year after," Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes." "The most important thing is that we avoid a deepening recession."
Amazingly these comments have merited little discussion so far. To say the least his references to the deficit are reckless. It is now glaringly obvious that he has no real intention of attempting to balance the budget during his tenure as president. Any president with even a rudimentary level of economic knowledge would attempt to wrestle with borrowing and wasteful spending. An expenditure freeze is a sine qua non. Such a policy would engender economic confidence. There is no easy way out of the economic crisis. Harsh measures are necessary. A recession is unavoidable. Some cold turkey is necessary.

If Obama fails to tackle the problem in the first two years of his presidency, he most certainly will not attempt major corrective action in the last two years of office. He will then be on the run in to the next presidential election. Re election will be a major priority. It seems safe to assume that excessive government borrowing is likely to continue over the next four years. Borrowing is deferred taxation. The private sector and taxpayers will carry an increasingly heavy burden.

With a Democrat controlled Congress the portents are not good. It is likely that money will be thrown at most problems. The dollar is likely to decline in value and the US will gradually lose its pre eminence as the worlds major economic super power. Increasingly it is in hock to the rest of the world. China will gradually supplant the US.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Ireland:The Priests-On The Late Late Show

Video requires RealPlayer


"The bookies reckon that The Priests will be the number one album for Christmas. They are completely unknown, this is their first release, they cite Debbie Harry and Bruce Springsteen as their influences. They share their record label with Britney Spears, AC/DC and Beyonce. The Priests are brothers Fr. Eugene O'Hagan and Fr. Martin O'Hagan and Fr. David Delargy".

Democratic Republic of the Congo:UN Security Council must urgently increase the number of peacekeepers to prevent Rwandan-style tragedy


Today the cease fire collapsed and fierce fighting has broken out once more between rebels and government forces. Child soldiers are caught in the middle of this appalling conflict. The following information has been provided by the Benenson Society which is mounting a very active campaign to highlight the need for more peacekeepers to prevent a Rwandan-style tragedy unfolding

"The Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) is Africa’s third largest country and has a population of 62 million.

It is also a land wracked by war and violence, with ethnic tensions raising the possibility of another Rwandan-style tragedy. Hundreds of thousands of civilians and refugees and caught up in the fighting, and many are isolated from any help from relief agencies. "The conditions in (the refugee camps) are as bad as I have seen them anywhere in Africa," according to World Vision spokesperson Kevin Cook. Displaced people are in urgent need of water, sanitation, hygiene, nutrition and other supplies and protection from escalating violence." Cook said aid workers are also concerned about the spread of diseases such as malaria, cholera, measles and diarrhoea. He also noted that he is not sure how long relief workers would be able to stay in the country if the situation worsens. UN officials have noted that both sides in the dispute have committed crimes against civilians, including rapes.
"This is probably the worst place in the world to be a woman or a child," Cook said.


There is also the fear that the conflict will spill over into other countries since Congo borders as many as nine other African nations, in what will be a repeat of the continent's five-year war which touched all of them before it ended in 2003, which claimed up to 5 million lives, mostly from hunger and disease.

The United Nations has a 17,000 member peace-keeping force in Congo (known as MONUC), over half of these from India and Pakistan. Last week the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said more UN peacekeeping soldiers were needed.

The United Nations Security Council should urgently increase the number of peacekeepers in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to protect civilians in the face of new fighting and mounting civilian deaths. It has been meeting to consider this need, but members are reluctant to commit more forces.“The Security Council needs to move fast to increase the number of peacekeepers and save lives,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher on the Congo for Human Rights Watch. “The calls from the secretary-general and the cries of distress from the Congolese people should not continue to fall on deaf ears.”


European Union leaders last week discussed a rapid, short-term deployment of EU forces to help protect civilians until additional MONUC troops could arrive. But like the Security Council, EU leaders have not yet decided to send additional military support to the Congo."


Visit Benenson Society

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Ireland:Fine Gael tables amendment to address 'sham' marriages - Naughten

Fine Gael will this week table an amendment to the Civil Registration Act 2004 to tackle the growing trend of so-called 'sham marriages', Fine Gael Immigration & Integration Spokesperson, Denis Naughten TD, said today (Sunday).
"Justice Minister Dermot Ahern believes that marriages of convenience are a serious problem which can undermine our immigration system. Fine Gael has drafted an amendment via the Social Welfare Bill 2008 which can deal with this loophole in a proportionate manner.

"Minister Ahern informed a Dáil committee last week that some: '15% of the applications came from students or persons who had originally come as students and are now illegal. More than 600 of the 4,600 applications were from Nigerian nationals, which is statistically disproportionate. In the main they were failed asylum seekers. Almost 600 applications were by Pakistani nationals, which is again extremely unlikely statistically'.

"Regarding unusual marriage patterns he went on to say that: 'some 10% of all EU spouses were Latvian and 33% of the Latvians were married to Pakistanis. Some 50% of the Latvians were married to Pakistanis, Bangladeshis or Indians as compared with 39% of the Latvians who married non-EU nationals closer to home, including Latvian aliens, Ukrainians, Belarusian or Russian. I believe some 400 Latvians resident in Ireland are married to Pakistanis'."

Deputy Naughten said 'Under current law, there is a provision to have a marriage in this country stopped if there is a belief that it is not genuine. These powers are conferred under Section 58 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 which provides a simple system where any person can register an objection to a marriage before it occurs if they believe there is some impediment to that marriage.

"It is also the case that marrying an Irish person does not give the non-EU national a right to residency and work in this country.

"The Fine Gael amendment will allow registrars to inform the Minister for Justice of suspected marriages of convenience, which could halt the marriage and initiate an investigation to look behind the circumstances of the marriage in question.
"The Minister for Justice has described cases which involved some important impediments to marriage, such as the question of consent in cases where there is an obvious language barrier between the parties to be married, and such as the question of allegations of paying for a marriage to avail of rights under EU law.

"There is a requirement on people wishing to marry to register their intent three months in advance. This amendment will give the Minister for Justice ample time to register an objection and cause an investigation to be carried out, where there are genuine suspicions that this may be a sham marriage."

Hopefully the Government will accept this amendment .

Benenson Society is a worthy alternative to Amnesty International and adheres to principles advocated by Peter Benenson

The decision of Amnesty International in 2007 -at a meeting in Mexico- to support access to abortion for women in cases of rape, incest or violence has angered pro-life members. Catholic schools in Australia, Canada, Scotland, Ireland, England and the US have left the organisation. Protestants have also resigned. Fr Chris Middleton principal of St Aloysius’ College, Milsons Point, Australia publicly condemned Amnesty's new stance and sought a reversal without success. St Aloysius' College Milson's Point and Loreto Kirribilli opposed Amnesty’s decision and severed their association with the organization. This was the genesis of the formation of the
Benenson Society.

The Benenson Society was first formed by students at St Aloysius College Milson's Point and Loreto Kirribilli last year. The society aims to provide students with the opportunity to campaign for human rights, directly lobbying governments on behalf of prisoners of conscience, for the end of torture and the death penalty, and asserting the rights of all to basic freedoms.
The new society's charter was put together in consultation with individuals around Australia, including staff and students at Loreto and St Aloysius.

In just a short time, the Society has grown rapidly not alone in Australia but overseas. Many schools in Australia are now members. Choosing the name ‘Benenson' indicates the schools' desire to stick closely to the founding principles of Amnesty International founder Peter Benenson. The new group has as its symbol a stylised white rose, inspired by the White Rose Society- a group of Catholic and Protestant students and staff at Munich University who opposed Nazism the Second World War by writing letters and pamphlets and were persecuted or killed for their convictions.

Membership is open to students through forming chapters in schools, colleges and universities that sign on to the Charter of the Benenson society. Associate membership may be held by teachers and others interested in supporting the work, as well as by members who finish their studies and wish to remain associated with the Society

Find out more about the Society, and join online at The Benenson Society

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Burma (Myanmar) jails cyclone Nargis journalist - 60 opposition activists jailed in last two weeks

The following report appears in Al Jazeera:
"A Myanmarese (Burmese) journalist has reportedly been sentenced to two years in prison for critical coverage of the military government's response to a devastating cyclone, according to colleagues. Dozens of critics of the country's ruling generals have been jailed in recent weeks, according to human rights organisations and legal sources.
Colleagues of Ein Khaing Oo told the Associated Press news agency on Saturday that she was sentenced the previous day after being convicted of "disturbing tranquility" in a closed-door trial.
Ein Khaing Oo, a reporter for the weekly Myanmar-language magazine Eco Vision, was arrested on June 10 while covering a demonstration by victims of the cyclone...."
".....Another 17 pro-democracy activists were jailed for between two and 16 years at hearings in yangon and Mandalay on Friday, according to legal sources"...
"...Up to 60 opposition activists are believed to have been jailed in the last two weeks.."

With media attention focused mainly the world economic crisis the Burmese junta has taken advantage of the situation and has begun a crack down on pro democracy activists. The Butchers of Rangoon have learned nothing.
Russia and China have vetoed efforts at the UN Security Council to bring Burma to heel. It is now time for both countries to alter course and to support US and EU efforts to cripple the Burmese regime.

The tyrants of Rangoon are impervious to realism and feel that their position is impregnable. This feeling is buttressed by the determination of the Chinese, Russians and Indians to continue trading with the junta. The world must not stand idly by.

Johnny Cash-A Thing Called Love


♥ A Thing Called Love ♥

Catholics who voted for Obama must confess before receiving Holy Communion-Father Jay Newman

Father Jay Scott Newman a priest at St. Mary Catholic Church in Greenville, SC, has urged parishioners who voted for Barack Obama not to present themselves for Holy Communion unless they go to confession first and repent ."Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ’s Church and under the judgment of divine law. Here Father Newman is outlining the orthodox Catholic position on abortion.

Father Newman outlined the basis for his conclusions in the following letter on the parish web site

Dear Friends in Christ,
"We the People have spoken, and the 44th President of the United States will be Barack Hussein Obama. This election ends a political process that started two years ago and which has revealed deep and bitter divisions within the United States and also within the Catholic Church in the United States. This division is sometimes called a “Culture War,” by which is meant a heated clash between two radically different and incompatible conceptions of how we should order our common life together, the public life that constitutes civil society. And the chief battleground in this culture war for the past 30 years has been abortion, which one side regards as a murderous abomination that cries out to Heaven for vengeance and the other side regards as a fundamental human right that must be protected in laws enforced by the authority of the state. Between these two visions of the use of lethal violence against the unborn there can be no negotiation or conciliation, and now our nation has chosen for its chief executive the most radical pro-abortion politician ever to serve in the United States Senate or to run for president. We must also take note of the fact that this election was effectively decided by the votes of self-described (but not practicing) Catholics, the majority of whom cast their ballots for President-elect Obama.

In response to this, I am obliged by my duty as your shepherd to make two observations:
1. Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil, and those Catholics who do so place themselves outside of the full communion of Christ’s Church and under the judgment of divine law. Persons in this condition should not receive Holy Communion until and unless they are reconciled to God in the Sacrament of Penance, lest they eat and drink their own condemnation.
2. Barack Obama, although we must always and everywhere disagree with him over abortion, has been duly elected the next President of the United States, and after he takes the Oath of Office next January 20th, he will hold legitimate authority in this nation. For this reason, we are obliged by Scriptural precept to pray for him and to cooperate with him whenever conscience does not bind us otherwise. Let us hope and pray that the responsibilities of the presidency and the grace of God will awaken in the conscience of this extraordinarily gifted man an awareness that the unholy slaughter of children in this nation is the greatest threat to the peace and security of the United States and constitutes a clear and present danger to the common good. In the time of President Obama’s service to our country, let us pray for him in the words of a prayer found in the Roman Missal:

God our Father, all earthly powers must serve you. Help our President-elect, Barack Obama, to fulfill his responsibilities worthily and well. By honoring and striving to please you at all times, may he secure peace and freedom for the people entrusted to him. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. "
Amen.
Father Newman

Friday, November 14, 2008

FF support crashes in Irish Times /TNS mrbi poll.

  • Fianna Fail 27 (-15)
  • Fine Gael 34 (+11)
  • Labour 14 (-1)
  • Sinn Fein 8 (+0)
  • Greens 4 (-1)
  • Independents 13 (+7)

"The level of dissatisfaction with the Government is now a massive 76 per cent, while 61 per cent of people are dissatisfied with the way Mr Cowen is doing his job.Satisfaction with the Government is now just 18 per cent, a drop of 28 points since the last Irish Times poll in June, while satisfaction with Taoiseach Brian Cowen has fallen to 26 per cent, a drop of 21 points." The poll puts Fine Gael ahead of Fianna Fáil for the first time ever in an Irish Times opinion survey.

Source: Irish Times

Whilst all polls are just a snapshot in time this particularly survey is sure to shock even the most ardent FF and Green Party supporters. Unpopular government decisions on the medical card for over 70s and severe education and agricultural cutbacks have sapped popular support for the government. Unemployment in Ireland has reached a 10 year high of 6.7 percent and has grown by 60 percent over the past year to more than 250,000. The decision to defer the cervical cancer vaccination programme for young girls has further angered voters.

With a deficit projected at 7% more unpopular cutbacks and rises in unemployment are in the offing. Can the government withstand the inevitable outcry, which will ensue? The next general election is not due until 2012. Ireland faces at least two very difficult years on the economic front. Next year it is anticipated that unemployment may reach 350,000. This will further strain government financial resources whilst efforts must continue to bring the deficit down below the 3% level required by the EU.

In any general election situation FF support would quickly rise to 40%. Much of the support lost to FG would probably return. FF supporters have an amazing capacity to rally behind their party.

FG has benefited strongly in this poll. However the party must learn to consolidate this rise in support. Richard Bruton -FG spokesman on finance- has starred in the economic debates and the party has benefited accordingly.

Labour Party support is also well up on its general election showing in 2007.

The poll is a warning to the Green Party that its support has begun to wane. Indeed the Greens may become the new PDs. The PDs acted as FFs mudguard and have now voted themselves out of existence. The Green Party is trapped. If it pulls down the Government the electorate will hammer it in any ensuing election. If it remains in government it must tolerate more unpalatable measures. FG and Labour can now mop up Green Party support.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Sarah Palin sets the record straight in interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News
















In this interview Sarah Palin clears up the clothes controversy in a most comprehensive manner. It is glaringly obvious that the liberal media and some Democrat politicians misrepresented the reality. She answers malicious allegations made by an anonymous aide concerning NAFTA and her alleged lack of geographical knowledge. She speaks about ugly attacks made on her and about their impact on her family. She discusses the failure of the media to correct false allegations made against her.

She discusses the possible reasons for the opposition of feminists and surmises that her strong pro-life position is at the root of their antagonism. She also speaks about her political future. Finally her friend outlines the truth in relation to the real Sarah Palin.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Obamas plans to reverse Bush's policies on oil exploration a retrograde step

Barack Obama, the US president-elect, will use executive powers to reverse George Bush's policies on oil exploration in national parks- senior aide John Podesta has indicated. This is a retrograde step ,which is music to the ears of oil producing countries such as Venezuela and Iran. Once more the West can be held to ransom. This is economic madness as the US has huge untapped deposits of oil offshore and in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Alaska.

Renewable energy will not plug the energy deficit which is gaining momentum. The net result for consumers is higher gas prices in the not too distant future. Perhaps Barack Obama would prefer a return to the horse and cart. Obama is on record as supporting higher oil and gas prices. Looks like he will be true to his word.

Russia, India and China intend to push ahead with economic development underpinned by a strong attachment to oil. Such countries are obviously not too concerned with the possible environmental consequences. The US economy will stagnate.


Paul Flynn Waterford Hurling Legend Retires

Waterford's Paul Flynn has retired from intercounty hurling at the age of 34. He was one of the greatest free takers of all time. He was the game's greatest goal scoring free taker since Christy Ring and Nicky Rackard. Along with DJ Carey, Flynn is the only player of the last 25 years to feature in the leading 20 goal scorers in championship hurling history.

The accuracy and power of his shooting whether from placed balls or from play struck terror into opposing defences. The key to his success was his wrist work. His striking was poetry in motion. It was sharp . It was crisp. His anticipation and quick thinking cost hurling defences dearly. Invariably if he decided to go for goal he succeeded. He was always on alert for the goal scoring opportunity.

Sadly he failed to win an All Ireland Senior Hurling medal with Waterford. However he won three Munster Senior Hurling titles, a National league title and an All Star. He also won an All Ireland under-21 medal and a Munster minor medal.


The 2004 wonder goal against Cork in the Munster Final can be viewed on youtube .This is only one of many.View the Paul Flynn profile here at hurlingstats .

Thanks to Paul for his monumental contribution to Waterford hurling. No doubt he will serve Ballygunner and Waterford in a selectorial or coaching capacity in the future. Undoubtedly he will impart his skills to juvenile hurlers in the Deise.
Ni bheidh a leitheid aris ann.


Saturday, November 8, 2008

Irelands PDs are no more-Today the party votes itself out of existence

A special conference of the Progressive Democrats has voted for the party to go out of existence, after the leadership stated it was no longer politically viable.
Delegates voted by holding voter registration cards aloft. The final tally was 201 votes to 161 against a motion to continue with the party.

The PDs were founded in 1985 following a split in the Haughey led FF party. This split had its genesis in the arms trial of 1970. This was an opportune time to found a new political party in Ireland as the economy was struggling.
FF TDs Desmond O’Malley, Mary Harney, Bobbie Molloy and Pearse Wyse left to form the new political party. They were joined by FG TD Michael Keating. Michael McDowell (not a TD at this time) also left FG to join the new party.

The PDs took on the mantle of tax cutters and proclaimed themselves as liberal on social issues. O’Malley and Harney when members of FF staunchly supported the disastrous FF Manifesto which swept FF to power in the 1977 general election. This give away manifesto was a major causative factor of Irelands economic problems in the 1980s. It was the brainchild of Martin O’Donoghue who also joined the new PD party. In the 1987 general election the PDs won 14 seats mainly at the expense of FG. Indeed FG never fully recovered from the PD threat until the 2007 general election.

The party’s strongholds were: Waterford city, Cork city, Limerick, Galway and parts of South Dublin.

In reality the party was an uneasy amalgam of anti- Haugheyite FFers, independents, carpetbaggers , political opportunists and extreme right wingers, many of whom failed to progress in FG and FF. It frequently in its initial stages poached FF and FG members. It never became a fully-fledged national political party. In reality the strongholds were personal fiefdoms. In most parts of Ireland, PDs were as scarce as icebergs in the Sahara. In contrast FF and FG have members in every parish. These are the eyes and ears of those parties. The PDs once proposed to remove God from the constitution-further emphasizing their lack of the common touch.

After the highs of the 1987 general election the new party gradually lost popular support. It fell into decline in Waterford and Cork. In Waterford PD TD Martin Cullen defected to FF. It lost Pat Cox following a divisive leadership contest involving Mary Harney and Cox. In its initial phase it put tax cuts and competition on the agenda. Frequently these were delivered in a cynical manner. The revenue foregone was recovered by means of Stealth Taxes.

Fortuitously for the PDs the party managed to secure the election of sufficient TDs to go into coalition with FF on four separate occasions. In essence the party became FF’s mudguard. However it had many apologists in the media.

In the 21st century the party had dispensed with any pretensions to radicalism. It binned any real commitment to tax cuts. It cynically supported FFs huge public expenditure splurges in the run in to the 2002 and 2007 general elections. In the 2002 general election it fared reasonably well by securing eight seats with a miniscule share of the vote. Some FG supporters switched to the PDs to prevent an overall FF majority. When Michael McDowell replaced Mary Harney as leader he became more FF than FF itself. McDowell continued to savagely attack FG. This was political folly as he had secured election largely with loaned FG votes. Mary Harney ran into serious difficulties as Minister for Health.

The electorate finally administered the coup de grace in the 2007 general election. The PDs returned with just two TDs- Mary Harney and Noel Grealish. The party lost high profile TDs such as McDowell, Liz O’Donnell, Tim O’Malley and Tom Parlon. It was fatally wounded even though once more it joined FF and the Greens in coalition.

Since the 2007 general election the party has continued to haemorrhage support. PD TD Noel Grealish intended to join FF.
Mercifully today the party was put out of its misery. Mary Harney intends to function as an independent whilst Fiona O’Malley and Noel Grealish will join FF. Party leader Ciaran Cannon may join FG. FG is the party, which stands to gain most as the PDs-though an FF splinter party- managed to siphon off support mainly from FG.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Palin Leaks -McCain Staffer scores own goal in leaks to Carl Cameron (Palin in dignified response)

Leaks from a McCain staffer to Carl Cameron are to say the least unsavoury and cowardly. They are not credible. Palin’s dignified response is a mark of her greatness.
The GOP lost the election because of the economy -NOT because of Sarah Palin. Palin fought a dynamic campaign and drew massive crowds. She energised the base. Campaign contributions flooded in, in the wake of her selection. She asked the hard questions. The liberal media unfairly targeted Sarah Palin. She was torn to pieces. Now to hear so called Republicans engaging in the same type of nastiness says it all. She is a rising star. This may be a pre-emptive strike to damage Palin’s prospects for 2012. It has failed.

I always await for both sides of any story before making my mind up. I always discount anonymous comments. They should be binned. Those who leak have an agenda. We have got one side of the story. Once the Wall Street implosion occurred in September the electorate opted for Obama/Biden. Just look at the polls.

These leaks have served to turn attention back on the management of the campaign. Perhaps it is time to examine the role of McCain’s advisors. They FAILED utterly to string together a meaningful campaign. It was Joe the Plumber who managed to focus the campaign on the taxation issue. These anonymous sources are trying to hide their abject failure.

Demonising Palin is a red herring. It is a smokescreen to mask the advisors failure. Which advisors for instance decided to opt for NEGATIVE ADVERTISING? ?????? It was a huge turn off for many young new voters.
I place no blame on McCain or Palin for the defeat. Perhaps some of the staffers should put their hands up and admit to the failure of their campaign strategy.


Welsh Meditation: Mil Harddach Wyt (My Beautiful Baby) - And Did Those Feet

This song comes from their album:"Forgetting the Shadows of History".

The video for this song -' My beautiful Baby' is like arriving on holiday after travelling through the night on dark unlit country roads surrounded by deep forests. The second part is set in bright sunshine with streams leading to the sandy beaches of a bay. The whole film is set in Wales. The video offers gentle relaxation.

About "And Did Those Feet"
"The name And Did Those Feet is derived from ‘And Did Those Feet in Ancient Times’ better known as the words to the poem Jerusalem by William Blake.
The nucleus of the group comprises founder and composer Richard Ellin. The principle vocalist is Ina Williams who possesses one of the finest voices to be found in Wales. Cecilia Jones completes the trio providing solo performances and vocal accompaniment to complement Ina’s voice perfectly, the two beautifully layered and at times melding into one.
The music of And Did Those Feet moves between spiritual, pastoral, contemporary, light classical, Welsh language and there’s poetry too...."

Website: And Did Those Feet

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Ireland's Unemployment Rate hits 6.7%-FG motion in Dail

According to the CSO, Ireland's unemployment rate now stands at 6.7% of the labour force, up from 4.6% this time last year. These horrendous figures were announced today.The Live register shows a seasonally adjusted increase of 15,800 during October. Ireland's deficit stands at 7% of GNP.

An FG motion in the Dail tonight calls for the following:

"The Government must overhaul FÁS and provide a public works scheme for the unemployed. We need to restore competitiveness and support business, especially small/medium enterprises. We can do this by freezing Government charges such as rates and development levies; bringing down utility costs for electricity, gas, water and telecommunications; investing in infrastructure, in particular broadband, road and rail; cutting back red tape; reversing the hike in VAT; suspending the pay deal; consolidating labour law and abolishing anti-employment provisions such as double pay for Sunday working in the catering sector, and crucially wasting no further time in recapitalising the banks so that business, large and small, can get credit."

The deficit has not been brought under control. A mini budget is likely in July of 2009 after the local elections to arrest the slide. Further cut backs may drive the economy into a deeper recession. Meanwhile unemployment will surely hit 300,000 by mid 2009. Looks like Hobson's choice for the government. The FF/PD government could have reined in public expenditure in the run in to the 2007 General Election. Instead it permitted a growth of 25% in public expenditure over two years. It might even have won the General Election without this. Now it may pay a heavy political price.Three rocky years lie ahead if we are lucky. Hopefully the fall in interest rates and fuel prices may offer some small respite.

Whither the Republican Party-Obama victory a pyrrhic victory? Cosmetic politics wins the day

There is no denying the scale of Barrack Obamas victory in terms of Electoral College votes. However his share of the popular vote is 52%. It is hardly a wringing endorsement. McCain/Palin secured 46% in the teeth of an economic tsunami, which struck their campaign in September. In addition McCain /Palin had to fight against efforts to tie them to the unpopular Bush presidency. Sarah Palin was subjected to a vicious campaign by Democrats and their acolytes in the liberal media. Her appearance, her dress sense, her character, and her family were shredded in one of the ugliest witch-hunts ever witnessed in American politics. 70% of media coverage was favourable to Obama. CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC,MSNBC favoured Obama/Biden.

John McCain was painted by Democrats as out of touch. His age and health were called into question. Obama spent 600 million dollars to secure his election-a spending splurge unparalleled in US presidential history. The Obama campaign registered millions of Hispanics and African Americans. It pushed early voting to the limits.

Obama continuously emphasized a middle income tax cut. Each speech was peppered with references to change. All very nebulous, all very soothing. Music to the ears of young voters. And yet he barely broke 50%- driven by a favourable gale of political circumstances. The McCain/Palin performance is amazing in the teeth of such unfavourable circumstances.

The message is clear. The GOP is defeated but unbroken. The internal contradictions in Obama's policy positions will come back to haunt him. His promises of a middle income tax cuts cannot be fulfilled by rational economic means. Of course he can increase the deficit to fund tax cuts. Any such decision will court an economic catastrophe. He will of course increase capital gains and dividend taxes. Businesses face a tax hike. This is a recipe for disaster.
In addition he is beholden to workers in states such as Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania et al. He has promised to renegotiate NAFTA. He has promised increased protectionism. He has neatly conveyed the message to workers in old declining industries that he is their saviour. Such workers will soon become disillusioned as Obama’s promises fail to deliver.

The GOP must fiercely oppose increased spending plans of Obama and the Socialist/Liberal Democrat controlled Congress. Republicans must go back to basics and defend taxpayers. They must virulently oppose pork barrel projects. Bailouts must cease. They must learn from the organizational efforts of Obama. Efforts must be made to win back Hispanic voters.
By 2010 Democrats will have controlled Congress for four years. The electorate will vent its spleen on the big spenders.
By 2012 it is likely that the Democrats will have controlled Congress for six years whilst a Democrat will have held the presidency for four years. Obama and his friends in Congress will have no place to hide.
The GOP has excellent presidential material coming through. Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal amongst others are likely to seek a presidential nomination.



Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Sarah Palin cleared in Troopergate by independent state panel

A report by an independent state personnel board has cleared Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin of ethics violations in the firing of her public safety commissioner last summer.
Released today, the last day of the presidential campaign as the 44-year-old mother of five hop-scotched across the country to numerous states in last-minute hectic campaigning, the report says there is no probable cause to believe Palin or any other state official violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act in connection with the firing.
The report was prepared by an independent counsel for the Alaska Personnel Board (Los Angeles Times )
This is a kick in the teeth for the liberal media. The Democrat smear merchants failed to beat down the indomitable spirit of Palin. Sarah Palin stands vindicated the smear merchants stand condemned.

Kansas City Bishop: Pro-Obama Votes Could Cost Catholics ‘Eternal Salvation’(Obama is pro abortion)


KCMO Talk Radio's Chris Stigall talks in a rare interview with Bishop Robert Finn, Catholic Bishop of Kansas and St. Joseph in Missouri. The Bishop states that a Catholic cannot in good conscience vote for a pro-abortion candidate. Barack Obama is explicit and adamant in his support of abortion without any restrictions. Therefore, a Catholic cannot in good conscience vote Barack Obama.

Obama a Socialist Radical Too Liberal-Ask Joe the Plumber

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Beautiful Ohio Video: Vote McCain /Palin


Ohio Vote McCain and Palin

Shock Audio-Obama promises to bankrupt coal industry(San Francisco Gate Interview January 17 2008)


As this shock audio (San Francisco Gate Interview January 17 2008) points out, Barack Obama promises to bankrupt the coal industry in coal states such as Virginia , Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Indiana . This will have devastating consequences for their economies. Obama is clearly out of touch with economic reality.

"Let me sort of describe my overall policy.
What I've said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else's out there.
I was the first to call for a 100% auction on the cap and trade system, which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants that are being built, that they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted down caps that are being placed, imposed every year.
So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted."

PA-Sarah Palin addresses 3,000 supporters at Latrobe Airport

Obama Closing Catholic Hospitals-The Bulletin

The following are some excerpts from an article in the Bulletin Newspaper. This article is a must read for all Catholics before they vote. Obama will force the closure of Catholic hospitals. This is not a matter of conjecture. It will happen if Obama is elected President.

"On Oct. 7, 2007, Sen. Barack Obama spoke to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and promised, "The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act..".................FOCA would deprive the American people in all 50 states of the freedom they now have to enact modest restraints and regulations on the abortion industry. FOCA would coerce all Americans into subsidizing and promoting abortion with their tax dollars. And FOCA would counteract any and all sincere efforts by government to reduce abortions in our country.... will wipe out any state's "conscience" clause, which is the law that allows hospitals, doctors and nurses to abstain from taking part in abortion for reasons of conscience.

If abortion is a "fundamental right", according to FOCA, then every hospital must provide it...."President Obama and his congressional supermajority would force every Christian hospital, doctor or nurse to abandon their faith or go out of business."

Please read the full article.

According to Public Discourse

"Barack Obama is the most extreme pro-abortion candidate ever to seek the office of President of the United States. He is the most extreme pro-abortion member of the United States Senate. Indeed, he is the most extreme pro-abortion legislator ever to serve in either house of the United States Congress. Yet there are Catholics and Evangelicals-even self-identified pro-life Catholics and Evangelicals - who aggressively promote Obama's candidacy and even declare him the preferred candidate from the pro-life point of view. "

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Sarah Palin at Rally in New Port Richey, FL outlines record of the McCain/Palin team



" John and I both have walked the walk. John of course known as -in the Senate there -not just for being the patriot but for being the maverick . He has taken on the self- dealing and the abuses of power. And he's wanted this earmark reform to really get kicked in. He's worked so hard for that and I too as governor [have] taken on the good old boy network and not being afraid of the scars that you are going to get out of that process and having to put the veto pen to hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars of wasteful spending -those type of things that John McCain and I having a record to prove to you our commitment to reform .

What has Barack Obama's commitment to reform ever shown you? He had only served about 300 days in the US Senate before becoming a presidential candidate. His record does not prove reform but we are going to talk a little bit about his record. First though John and I- our commitment is to lower your income taxes."

Sarah Palin At Rally in Polk City, FL hammers Obama /Biden higher taxes