Friday, July 30, 2010

Obama spends $23 million illegally promoting Abortion in Kenya

Obama Administration declares war on the unborn in Kenya

On next Wednesday August 4, Kenya will hold a referendum on a revision of its national Constitution. A Yes to this "revision" of the Kenyan Constitution will result in the legalisation of abortion on demand. Abortion is illegal in most African countries. However pro-abortion groups confidently predict that the legalisation of abortion in Kenya would have a domino effect. The Obama administration is at war in Afghanistan and Iraq. However it is also at war on another front. It has declared war on the unborn not alone in the US but throughout the world.

It has interfered in the referendum campaign in Kenya and according to Rep. Chris Smith (R.-N.J) $23 million has been funnelled by the Obama administration into Kenya to fund non-profit organizations promoting a Yes vote.
Rep. Chris Smith has claimed that "the U.S. is illegally and systematically funding grantees [nonprofit groups in Kenya] in a scheme to identify and motivate a huge number of 'yes' votes" for an abortion-permissive constitution in what appears to be "exactly like a massive lobbying and political campaign."

Vice President Joe Biden who claims to be a Catholic- visited Kenya in June to lobby for a Yes vote and promised that a Yes vote would "allow money to flow". No Catholic in good conscience can in any way support abortion. Has Biden got no conscience? The Kenyan revision if passed will also enshrine Sharia Law for Muslims.

Theresa Okafor, CEO of Kenya's Life League, has described the proposed constitution as "a conspiracy to strip Africa of its cherished values by international organizations like Planned Parenthood and the United Nations."

"Africans regard every child as a blessing," Okafor said in a speech. "Amidst biting poverty, the birth of a child is celebrated with pomp and pageantry. Children are treasures in Africa."

Former President Daniel arap Moi has urged Kenyans to reject the proposed constitution. Higher Education Minister William Ruto, Starehe MP Margaret Wanjiru and Igembe North MP Mithika Linturi are strongly opposed to a Yes vote.

Cardinal John Njue of the Catholic Church, Anglican Archbishop Eliud Wabukhala, and National Council of Churches of Kenya General Secretary Canon Peter Karanja led prayers at the Holy Family Basilica.
“There are no two ways; either we are Christians or we are not. You cannot tell me to approve something that goes against the commandments of God that say ‘do not kill’,” Cardinal Njue said in reference to the clause on abortion.

We can only pray to God for a No vote next Wednesday. The consequences of a Yes vote are too horrific to contemplate.

Priests reciting Catholic prayer of Exorcism reduce Abortions at Rockford, Illinois Abortion Mill


The video above shows four Catholic Priests on 16/7/2010 positioned on the four corners around the Rockford, Illinois Abortion Mill and praying the powerful prayer of Exorcism found in Fr. Thomas Euteneuer's book Exorcism and the Church Militant. Several women decided not to go ahead with abortions on that day.

50,000 babies have been killed at Rockford, Illinois Abortion Mill. However since this prayer effort started two years ago the number of abortions has been halved.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Poem: What will Matter by Michael Josephson

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.

So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.

It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.

Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success, but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone.

What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.

It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters. (end)

Essentially Michael Josephson reminding us that character counts.

Pakistan: A Christian Minority Persecuted and Poverty Stricken

Pakistan has a population of c 177 million. The country is 95% Moslem. There are approximately 2.8 million Christians living in the country. Of these, approximately half are Roman Catholic and half Protestant. Minority religions in Pakistan, like Christianity, are marginalized. Christians are discriminated against in education and employment. There has been an increase in illiteracy levels among Christians.The nationalisation of Christian schools in 1972 smashed the Christian education system. Thousands of Christians in towns and villages are often poorly educated and have no choice but to accept menial jobs.

The so-called blasphemy laws forbid anyone from disrespecting the Moslem religion.Insulting the Koran or the prophet Mohammed, can result in imprisonment or execution in Pakistan. Increasingly extremists are using these laws as a pretext to attack Christians, often in the most violent of ways. Christians are seeking the amendment of the law 295 b and c, in order for people to live in dignity and respect.

Click here. Scroll to the bottom of the page. This details persecution against Christians in the month of July 2010. Each article is a shocker. Sadly the world is largely unaware of the plight of the Christians.

Christian Persecution in Pakistan, Part 1




Christian Persecution in Pakistan, Part 2


Video: Augusta State University Georgia orders Christian to change beliefs


Jennifer Keeton, 24, is studying for a degree in counselling at Augusta State University in Georgia. She has been told she will not be permitted to graduate unless she changes her Christian beliefs.She has been ordered to undergo a re-education plan involving “remediation” assignments and “diversity sensitivity training”. So much for freedom of religion for Christians in the US. This has echoes of the forced re-education programmes used by the Chinese Communist authorities to eliminate freedom of expression.

Clearly secular humanism is in the ascendant in the US. There is a concerted campaign by secularists in all states to eradicate the symbols of Christianity. There are allegations that Prof. Kenneth Howell of the University of Illinois was dismissed for simply repeating Catholic moral teaching on marriage and Natural Law.
Even the feast of Christmas is under attack. Are we seeing the beginning of a new religious persecution?
The Christian Institute has a full report on this.

Sarah Palin in Facebook attack on Liberal Media's Demented Conspiracy Regarding her son Trig

Via Facebook

Journey into the Media’s Heart of Darkness.

How ironic that on a day when we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, The Daily Caller released 15 pages of JournoListers’ email exchanges about a dark and demented conspiracy regarding my son, Trig.

It’s tough to fittingly describe these numerous members of the mainstream media who actively engaged in the debate about this conspiracy back when I was first introduced as John McCain’s running mate, and it’s impossible to legitimize any “prominent” media publication that continues to traffic in this bizarre narrative today. It wasn’t just a few fringe characters in that JournoList discussion. It included writers for major newspapers, magazines, and online news publications. Those participating in this immature exchange in attempts to plant seeds of doubt and falsely accuse even included a famous historian.

This JournoList exchange exposes the warped nature of today’s media, thus explaining why many of us are forced, in fairness to the public, to utilize other mediums to communicate until the mainstream media wakes up and begins respecting the public’s intelligence and desire for truth in reporting. There is a sickness and darkness in today’s liberal media. With revelations like the JournoList exchanges, may the light keep shining to expose the problem.

It’s always darkest before the dawn. My hope, therefore, is that today, marking the anniversary of our nation’s attempt to show respect for our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters with special needs, will also mark the beginning of a new, more respectful discourse among members of our media who at least aspire to be fair and objective.
- Sarah Palin

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Video: KKK Democrats murdered Black and White Republicans


This video describes the close links between the Democratic Party and the KKK. The KKK was a wing of the Democratic Party. It murdered black and white Republicans. It often controlled Democratic Party selection conventions. Many black Americans served in the U.S. Government in the 1800's and beyond as part of the "Radical Republican" party. The Republican Party strongly opposed racial discrimination. The Democrtic Party oppressed the blacks and promoted racial segregation.
In 1912 the 'Progressive' Democrat, President Woodrow Wilson introduced racial segregation into the Federal Government. Many blacks were subsequently pushed out of the Federal Government.
Racists such as Bull Connor (July 11, 1897 – March 10, 1973), George Wallace (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998), Lester Maddox (September 30, 1915 – June 25, 2003), and Orval Faubus (January 7, 1910 – December 14, 1994) were Democrats. Indeed prominent Democrat Robert Byrd (November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) in the 1940s recruited 150 of his friends and associates to create a new chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.

Videos: 12 year old Canadian girl Lia's Euthanasia and Pro Life Speeches



Lia who is from Ontario tackled the topic of Euthanasia for her grade 8 speech project. She didn't win the speech contest this year, but she still got an A on her project.

Lia delivered this speech on Abortion for her grade 7 class. It is the finest exposition of the pro life position that I have ever heard. So far it has been viewed by 942,000 people. It has convinced many women not to go ahead with abortions.




We have the video recording below of Lia speaking on Parliament Hill before a crowd of 12,000 people at the March for Life in Ottawa. She "Canadianized" her speech for this event since she used mostly US stats for her original speech.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Actor Jim Caviezel: Without Medjugorje I would never have played “ The Passion of Christ“

Jim Caviezel played the main role in Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion of Christ”, and became known throughout the whole world. The very moving presentation of the scourging and crucifixion of Jesus have permitted the passion of the Lord to become the initiator of many discussions about faith. A Viennese professor of Theology brought the criticism of the movie to the point: “ How can I accept that my sins are supposedly so great, that a man must bear so much suffering for me? “ Again and again we hear about conversions, which the spectators experienced while watching the movie. Who is this Jim Caviezel who was able to interpret Jesus in such an impressive way? In an Interview with the” Oase des Friedens “ he admits that without his experience in Medjugorje he would never have accepted this role. In Medjugorje he was granted a new dimension of faith. Christian Stelzer in Vienna held the Interview with Jim Caviezel, in February 2010.

Jim, could you tell us how you heard about Medjugorje?

My wife was in Medjugorje while I was in Ireland during the filming of “Monte Christo”.Things were not going so well at the time, although I was working 7 days a week. She called me and at the tone of her voice I could feel that she had undergone a change. She began telling me about Medjugorje and that a visionary would come to Ireland. I interrupted her with these words: look, I have serious work to do. I cannot deal with visionaries just now. I thought that as a catholic I was not obliged to accept Fatima, Lourdes or Medjugorje at all costs. This was my thinking. I also remembered how my friends and I, who were going to a catholic school at the time, were enthusiastic about the events in Medjugorje, and as we heard that the local Bishop rejected the apparitions, declaring them not authentic, we had lost interest.

The visionary Ivan Dragicevic from Medjugorje came to Ireland. It was clear to me that I would not have any time for him, as I had to work non-stop. But, then, on one Thursday, my filming partner Richard Harris did not feel well, and I was free for the rest of the day. Therefore I could assist at the apparition. I stood at the very back of the packed church and had no clear idea about what was going on here. At the moment of the apparition a man in a wheelchair fell to his knees, and I was very struck by that- I thought, this handicapped man, is kneeling on the cold stone floor, in spite of his incredible pain, and he is praying!

Today I am aware that only God could know me so well as to know where I could be seized. As strange as it sounds, I was given free time again on the following Sunday and could meet the visionary Ivan, which had been the special desire of my wife. During the apparition I knelt next to him saying in my heart:” ok, here I am. I am ready. Do with me as you wish.” At the same moment I felt something filling me. It was so simple and yet so unique. When I got up, tears were streaming out of
my eyes.
I began crying with all of my heart.

Ivan told me:” Jim, man always finds time for what he loves. If somebody has no time, and suddenly meets a girl whom he loves, he will make sure he finds time for her. The reason why somebody has no time for God is that he does not love him.” This touched me and I wondered whether I had time for God. Ivan continued to say to me: “ God calls you to pray with the heart.” “ How should I do that?” I asked him. “ By beginning to pray.” In that moment a window in my heart opened. Never before did I think this was possible. We went to a restaurant, and I must say that the food and wine that evening tasted as good as never before. Something began changing in me. Often my wife had wanted to teach me how to pray the rosary, and I had always refused. Now I wished to pray the rosary although I did not really know how to. I only felt that my heart had opened for it. One morning I said to my driver who was bringing me to the filming site every day: “I do not know what you think about this, but I wish to pray the rosary.” To my surprise he told me: “ O.K. let’s do that.”

In the gentle light of the love which I began feeling in me, I began to recognize where I was standing, how many temptations I had, where my feelings were, how weak I was and how many people were condemned by me.

When did you come to Medjugorje for the first time?

After the end of the filming, which finished in Malta, I decided to go to Medjugorje. I was full of inner expectations. When I was 20 years old, there was like an inner voice that told me to become an actor. When I told my father about that, he gave me this answer: “When God wants something from you, then surely only for you to be a priest. Why should you become an actor?” I also did not understand this at the time.

Now I was asking myself in a new way whether it was the will of God that I should become an actor in order to earn lots of money and to become rich.

I was aware of the unbalance in the world between the few who possess much too much, and the many who have much too little to live, and I was sure that God did not want that and that we also had to make a decision whom we should serve: wealth which will not grant us eternal joy, or God who wishes to guide our lives.

Medjugorje reminded me of Bethlehem and I thought:” as Jesus was born in a small place, so the Mother of God appears here in a poor area between the hills.”

The four days in Medjugorje were like a breakthrough for me.

In the beginning I was still surprised how much the people were praying here. I saw a similarity with a Basketball –camp, thinking that there you do not only play once a day, but again and again, continuously. After all, in school, we do not read just once a day, but all the time, again and again. During the first days in Medjugorje I felt restlessness within myself while praying, as I was not used to praying so much, and I asked God to help me. After four days, all I wanted to do is pray. Every time I prayed I felt united to God. This is an experience I could only wish for every catholic to make. Perhaps, as a child I had such an experience, but had forgotten it. Now it had been given to me. Today, when people ask me why I go to Medjugorje I tell them:

“Look, if you do not believe in radiation, go to Tschernobyl and stay there for 5 days. You will see that your hair starts falling out. These are the consequences of radioactive radiation. In Medjugorje there is a radiation from heaven, in which thousands of people convert and Generations of sinners
melt. It is an irradiation of the Holy Spirit which leads people to prayer, daily Holy Mass and to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. This experience lasts, also at home. In my family we live the Sacraments together. With my children I pray the rosary every day on the way to school. If I do not start at once, my son begins to pray.

When I came to Medjugorje for the second time, I was looking to have the same experience as during my first visit. This time it was different. After a lunch, some pilgrims invited me to go with them to Siroki Brijeg to meet Father Jozo.

This was the special desire of my wife. I did not know Father Jozo, but what I heard him say, touched me very much.

I went up to him, he put his hand on my shoulder, which I also did to him. He laid his hands on my head, which I also did to him. In that moment I felt these words in my heart: “I love you brother. This man loves Jesus.” Father Jozo spontaneously turned to his interpreter, asked her in Croatian who I was and that he wished to speak to me.

This was the beginning of a friendship which lasts until today. At that time, I had just completed the filming of the “Passion of Christ” and repeatedly had the experience how different powers tried to keep me from doing that movie.

Can you tell us, why you had this experience, and which is the link between the film and Medjugorje?

Probably you know the saying” crossing the Rubicon” – it means that there is no turning back. The film “The Passion of Christ “is something like that for me. When I heard Pope John Paul II say that we need not be afraid, I thought that I was without fear in any case, and that I was doing well. During the filming of the “The Passion of Christ” I began to understand that Jesus is more controversial than ever before. Some colleagues prophesied me that I would loose everything through that film, my carrier, my money, perhaps my family or my life.

I was 33 years old when the work for the film began; I was the same age as Jesus when He lived the Passion. Repeatedly I doubted whether I was worthy to interpret Jesus. Ivan Dragicevic encouraged me telling me that God doesn’t always choose the best, and that he saw that with himself. Without Medjugorje I would never have acted that role, as there, my heart opened to prayer and to the sacraments. I knew I had to be very close to Jesus if I wanted to act him. Everyday I went to confession and to Eucharistic Adoration. Mel Gibson also came to Holy Mass under the condition it would be celebrated in Latin. This was good for me, as I also learnt Latin that way.

Temptations came again and again, and I had to fight them. In that warfare I often experienced a great inner Peace. For example, in the scene where Mary, the mother of God comes running towards me and I say:” Look, I make all things new.” We repeated this scene four times, and still I felt that I was in the first place. Somebody then hit the cross and my left shoulder jumped out of its joint. By this terrible pain I lost balance and was crushed to the ground by the cross. I fell onto the dusty ground with my face, and blood shot out of my nose and mouth. I repeated the words to the mother:” Look, I make all things new.” My shoulder was hurting terribly while I slowly embraced the cross and felt how precious it is. At that point I had stopped acting and Jesus became visible. As if
answering my prayers he came out:” I wish that people see you, Jesus, and not my acting.” As the rosary was constantly prayed,- I don’t know how many rosaries I prayed during the film- a special atmosphere was created. I knew that I was not to use swear words or let myself go, if I wanted to transmit something to the team. Most of them did not know Medjugorje, they were great actors, and we were happy to have them. How else could I transmit Medjugorje to them if not by my life?

For me Medjugorje means to live of the Sacraments, in unity with the Church.

I began to believe through Medjugorje, that Jesus is truly present in the Holy Eucharist, and that He forgives me my sins. Through Medjugorje I experience how powerful the prayer of the rosary really is, and what a gift daily Mass represents.

How can I help people to believe more in Jesus? I understood that this can happen when Jesus is in me through the Eucharist, and that people see Jesus through my life.

When the scene of the last supper was filmed, I carried relics of Saints and a small piece of the cross of Christ in special pockets of my robe. I so wished Jesus to be wholly present, and therefore asked a priest to expose the Blessed Sacrament. First he did not want to, but I insisted, because I was convinced that while looking at Jesus people would recognize Him better in me. The priest stood just behind the cameraman, with the Blessed Sacrament in his hands, and together with Him he came close to me. When people see the shine in my eyes in the film, they do not realize that they are seeing Jesus, the reflexion of the consecrated host in my pupils.

This is how it happened during the scene of the crucifixion,: the priest was present , holding the Blessed Sacrament in his hands , while I prayed unceasingly.

The greatest challenge in the film were not as expected the learning of texts in Latin, Aramaic and Hebrew, but rather the physical hardships that had to be endured. During the last scene I had a dislocated shoulder which jumped out every time the cross was hit. During the scourging I had been hit by the scourges twice, and had a 14cm long wound on my back, my lungs were full of fluid, and I had pneumonia. In addition to that the chronic lack of sleep was tangible: For months I had to get up at 3 am on a daily basis, as the make up alone took 8 hours.

During the very last picture the clouds were hanging very low and a lightning struck the cross on which I was attached. Suddenly all was silent around me and I felt that my hair was standing up on my head. About 250 people who were standing around me saw my body lighten up and a fire burning at the right hand side as well as at the left hand side of my head. Many were shocked by what they had seen.

I know that “The Passion of Christ” is one great film of Love.

Jesus today, is more controversial as never before. There are many possible ways to destroy humanity by means of nuclear weapons, biological weapons, but I believe in Jesus and I trust in Him. This is the source of my joy.

I think that God is calling us in a special way these days and that we need to give an answer - in our heart and in our Life. Interview: Christian Stelzer, www.oasedesfriedens.at
English Version: Milona von Habsburg de Rambures
http://www.medjugorje.hr/en/

It's Five O'Clock: Demis Roussos with Aphrodite's Child

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Pro-Life Song: Christ have Mercy sung by The Thirsting (a Catholic Rock Group)


The Thirsting is a 5 piece Catholic alternative/rap/rock band from Vancouver, Washington State, USA. The group has the avowed aim of disseminating the Catholic message.
"Christ have Mercy" addresses the founder of Planned Parenthood and her extreme racial agenda against Black Americans. This song was written to show the roots of Planned Parenthood as a means for racial cleansing. The song shows well the gravity of the sin of abortion and cries out in its refrain, “Christ have Mercy!”
The song comes from their Companions of the Lamb album. Visit their website here

Friday, July 23, 2010

Ireland: Fianna Fail/Green Government Ministers Raid Fine Gael Policies for ideas-Varadkar

There is increasing evidence that FF/Green Government Ministers have begun to raid FG policy documents for ideas. Interestingly some FF and Green Party Ministers had already rubbished these. This week the government introduced the Home Defence Bill. Now what is particularly interesting is that this is almost a carbon copy of an FG bill already turned down by the government. Similarly the FG NewEra policy document published 15 months ago was rubbished by both FF and the Green Party. The FG NewERA document may be viewed here . The Government has now decided to set up a Review Group on State Assets with a view to disposing of some of them such as the ESB.

Fine Gael Communications and Energy Spokesman, Leo Varadkar TD has issued the following statement:

NewERA for slow learners - Varadkar

Fine Gael has offered to advise the Government’s Review Group on State Assets in order to help Fianna Fáil and the Greens to implement this carbon copy rip-off of Fine Gael’s NewERA plan, according to Deputy Leo Varadkar TD.

The Fine Gael Communications Spokesman said: ‘It’s a pity the Government did not act when Fine Gael published NewERA 15 months ago, instead of waiting until the live register had almost doubled’.

“When we publish a policy, it’s rubbished by the Government. Then months or years later they realise Fine Gael was right, and they bring it in as their own policy and try to take the credit.

“It happened this week with the Government’s Home Defence Bill, a cause Fine Gael has been championing for years.

And the Government has also ripped off our policies on benchmarking, the PRSI holiday for new jobs, the windfall tax on power generators, culling useless State quangos and reining in wasteful State spending.

“It’s happening again with the Review Group on State Assets announced by the Government this week. This audit of State assets is strikingly similar to NewERA, Fine Gael’s plan to overhaul Ireland’s infrastructure
.

“Fine Gael launched NewERA 15 months ago. Our plan would have created more than 100,000 jobs in the short and medium term. Many of those new jobs would now be in place if NewERA had been adopted as Government policy at the time.

“Obviously I welcome the fact that the Government is now implementing NewERA, even if they have given it a different name.

“That’s why Fine Gael is offering to advise the Review Group. Since this is Fine Gael policy in all but name, we think it’s only right that Fine Gael brings the Government up to speed.”

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Speech by Leo Varadkar TD to the MacGill Summer School, Wednesday July 21st 2010

Kill Long Term Economic Value and transfer NAMA loans at market value- Varadkar

Madam Chairperson, Mr Fielding, Mr Slattery, Mr Cody, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

Before I begin, I would thank the organisers for inviting me to speak at the MacGill Summer School. I have followed debates earlier in the week with great interest. I am going to take advantage of the summer recess to spend a few more days in this beautiful part of the country to hear some of the other speakers and also to do a little canvassing with our by-election candidate, Barry O’Neill who I hope will soon become a Fine Gael TD.

Last week, while preparing for this session I took some time to read over the Dáil debate on the Bank Guarantee from the night of September 30th 2008. I am ashamed to say that it does not read well and historians will not be kind to the 30th Dail. It is remarkable to how much revisionism has taken place since then both on the part of those who proposed the Guarantee and indeed those who opposed it.

At the time, the Government claimed that the Irish banks were solvent and well capitalised. They claimed that Irish banks were like orphans in the storm who had been afflicted by a temporary liquidity crisis caused by the collapse of banks in the United States. To quote the Minister for Finance speaking in the Dail on the night of the Guarantee

‘The total assets of the six financial institutions concerned exceed their guaranteed liabilities by approximately €80 billion. By any measure there is, therefore, a very significant buffer before there is any question of the State being called upon.’

Since then, the value of many of these assets has been written down dramatically. The truth was that our banks were not well capitalised and some were bust. What faced us was not a temporary liquidity crisis but an unfolding collapse of our financial system.

The Government narrative did not go unchallenged on the floor of the Dáil. On the night of debate and, over the following days, speakers including Richard Bruton, Michael Noonan, Joan Burton, Beverly Flynn, Michael D’Arcy, Tom Kitt and I queried the Government’s €80 billion claim. But we were all brushed off by the Minister. We now know that the Secretary General of the Department of Finance has expressed similar concerns before we did.

In his speech proposing the Guarantee, the Minister for Finance went on to say:

‘I stress that the provisions we are asking the House to approve are in no way a bail-out for the financial system.’

Brian Cowen said:

‘The Irish taxpayer will not be held liable in any way for any deficit that might occur in the event of there being a problem in the future.’

We now know that that is untrue. The Bank Guarantee and subsequent recapitalisation has cost us dearly and will probably cost us over €30 billion before it is over making it the most expensive bank bailout in the world.

We were told by Brian Lenihan that the decision was:

‘..informed by the advice and guidance of the Governor of the Central Bank and chief executive officer of the Financial Regulator.’

We were not told, however, that contrary advice was given by Merill Lynch or that verbal warnings we given by David Doyle, Secretary General of the Department of Finance.

Brian Cowen has kept up the deception. As recently as May this year, the Taoiseach speaking in DCU said:

‘We now know grave mistakes were made in the judgement of the capital adequacy of the Irish banks and the assessment of future loan losses. It is, however, important to note that no one in the independent authorities ever advised the Government that the capital adequacy was not sufficient.’

Clearly Merill Lynch and the Department of Finance do not fall into the definition of ‘independent authorities’ in Brian Cowen’s book. If the Taoiseach had not become a solicitor, he would have made a good Jesuit.

During the debate on NAMA, the Government and its supporters claimed that it was the only show in town, that there was no alternative. I think it is high time that the Government published the advice that it received on NAMA in the same way as it has published the advice they were given on the Guarantee. They should publish the entirety of the Bacon Report which proposed the establishment of NAMA and all of the independent and other advice that they received at the time. We have a right to know what other options were considered and why they were rejected.

What is most interesting about the debate, which ran late into the night, was not what was said but more what was not said. There was mention of bankers pay, a call for a new regulatory regime from Fine Gael and there was a demand for an equity stake in banks from the Labour Party. There was plenty of discussion about Ulster Bank which was excluded from the Guarantee. However there was almost no mention of Anglo Irish Bank or Irish Nationwide at all. I could not find the word ‘bondholder’ once in record of debate nor could I find any reference to sub-ordinated debt. It is remarkable how much things have moved on since then.

Looking back, I think we can agree with Patrick Honohan’s assessment that an extensive bank guarantee was an appropriate response to the crisis. It was right to guarantee the deposits in the banks, but it was not necessary cover sub-ordinated bonds and I remain unconvinced that it was necessary to cover existing bondholders. Covering new bondholders would have assured liquidity for the banks and would have exposed the taxpayer to much less risk. The Government argues to this day that is was necessary to cover all bondholders as these are the same individuals and institutions who lend money to the State and that any risk of defaulting on them would make it more difficult for the State to borrow money to fund public services in the future.

Two years later, the opposite is the case. The decision of the Government to take the debts of the banks onto our shoulders has raised the cost of borrowing for the State. It now stands at 5.5% up from 2.5% only a few years ago, a rate at which Germany can still sell its debt. It has brought our solvency as a nation into doubt as evidenced by the decision of Moody’s to downgrade our sovereign debt something that, remarkably, was welcomed by the Taoiseach.

In October, the Courts will hear Paddy McKillen’s challenge to NAMA. He argues that his companies’ loans are performing and that he should have to go into NAMA. The same case could be made by the 20% or so of developers whose loans are also performing. In the early years of its business plan NAMA will rely on income from these performing loans to cover much of its running costs. If the McKillen case is successful and performing loans are taken out of NAMA, we have to consider the possibility that the state may even have to bailout NAMA itself sometime next year.

I hope that within a year or two, Ireland will have a new government. Most of the decisions taken by the Government with respect to the banks cannot be undone. We are stuck with NAMA and any new government will have to try to make it work. We cannot denationalise Anglo Irish Bank much as we would like to.

But there are at least eight things that can be done to minimise the cost of bank bailout to the taxpayer, restore public trust and improve credit lines to business

• We can ensure that the Banking Inquiry will look into the behaviour of the banks in weeks after the Guarantee was introduced. There is anecdotal evidence that Anglo Irish Bank used the cover of the Guarantee to engage in reckless derivatives trading and foreign currency speculation in a double or quits gamble aimed at minimising their losses. If these stories are true, the abuse of the Guarantee itself may have considerably increased losses at Anglo Irish. Fine Gael warned about these risks at the time but we were ignored.

• We can introduce proper legislation to provide for a resolution regime for insolvent banks. It is extraordinary that two years into the banking crisis, this has not yet been done. It is not complicated. This would allow for insolvent banks that are not systemic to Irish economy to be wound down legally, efficiently and quickly. In this way creditors and professional investors would take their fair share of the losses as is normal practice in any other failed business and the taxpayer could save billions.

• We do not need to extend the Bank Guarantee beyond September 30th to all assets and liabilities. It should be extended but perhaps it should be limited only to depositors and new bondholders.

• We can still amend the NAMA process to remove the absurd concept of Long Term Economic Value. Only one-quarter of the loans that will be transferred to NAMA have been transferred. The remainder should be bought at their market value and for nothing more.

• We can also increase the risk sharing between NAMA and the banks from its current level of 5% to 10%.

• We can remove, over the course of the next two years, all of the senior bank executives and board members who have not been retired or resigned. That is key restoring public trust in the banking system and answering any concerns about moral hazard.

• We can introduce a loan guarantee system similar to that of the United Kingdom or Chile to tip the balance in favour of lending to small and medium enterprises. This will be more effective than a set of targets.

• We can ensure that the advice of the IMF is heeded and that NAMA does not hold back for long in selling off land and buildings that come into its possession. Confidence in the property market while there is a huge overhang of NAMA properties yet to be put on the market.

We have had a tough couple of years. But all is not lost. Ireland has experienced hard times before. We have experienced economic depression before. We did not let it beat us then and we will not allow it to beat us this time.

But we can only recover if the right decisions are made by those who lead us.

In my view:

• This means taking the action that is necessary to bring the budget deficit under control

• It means adopting a very different approach to banking crisis that recognises that the interests of the Irish economy are not the same as the interests of the banks

• It means supporting enterprise by implementing a programme to restore cost and non-cost competitiveness

• And it means stimulating the economy by using the proceeds of privatisation and money from the National Pension Reserve Fund that is currently invested overseas to drive infrastructural investment through our state enterprises into the new economy - broadband, green energy and clean water

That’s what can be done and it is what Fine Gael, with your support, will do.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

LiveAction Video: Indiana Planned Parenthood Caught On Tape Giving Fabricated Medical Information


Learn more at: LiveAction

Video Recorded at Planned Parenthood located at 8847 Commerce Park Place #J, Indianapolis, IN 46368

Indiana Planned Parenthood Caught On Tape Giving Fabricated Medical Information

Contact: Lila Rose, media@liveaction.org, (323) 454-3304
INDIANAPOLIS, July 20--The youth-led pro-life group Live Action released a new undercover video today showing staff at an Indianapolis Planned Parenthood clinic using manipulative and medically inaccurate counseling to convince a young woman to have an abortion. This is the third undercover video Live Action has released showing abusive counseling practices at Planned Parenthood of Indiana.

When the woman, purportedly 10-weeks pregnant, asks the clinician, named "Sarah," when her baby's heart begins to beat, Sarah replies, "It's around I think the 8th or the 9th week that you can hear the heartbeat." The heart actually begins beating 3 weeks and 1 day after conception, according to Moore and Persaud's well-known textbook The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology. The Planned Parenthood clinician also insists, "It's not a baby, it's a fetus," which, she claims, is "not like a person."

In the video, Sarah assures the woman that "having an abortion is safer than carrying to term." The woman asks, "The abortion won't hurt me from having more kids in the future, will it?" and the counselor replies, "Nope." But a 2009 study from the Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey recently found that a previous abortion increased a woman's risk of pre-term birth by 20%, and a 2003 report from the Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research notes a 55% increased risk of future miscarriages for women who have abortions.

Lila Rose, UCLA student and president of Live Action, says the new footage places Planned Parenthood well outside the medical mainstream. "Planned Parenthood's counseling is based on its abortion-first mentality rather than the medical facts that women need," observes Rose. "Planned Parenthood gives vulnerable women misinformation to sell them the abortion." Indiana informed consent state law requires that women receive accurate medical information before undergoing an abortion.

The undercover video is the third released by Live Action in the "Rosa Acuna Project," a multi-state undercover investigation of medical misinformation and manipulative counseling at Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion business in America. In the undercover "Mona Lisa Project," Live Action released footage of two Planned Parenthood Indiana clinics agreeing to cover-up the sexual abuse of a child. Indiana lawmakers have since sought to defund the state affiliate of over $3 million it receives annually in government grants.

"Citizens and lawmakers in Indiana must stop Planned Parenthood from using millions of dollars of taxpayer money to exploit young women," states Rose.
To learn more about LiveAction visit LiveAction

Video: Matt Maher sings -You Were On the Cross ( A beautiful Catholic Rock Song)


Matt Maher is a contemporary Christian rock musician and songwriter. He was born in Newfoundland, Canada but later moved to Tempe, Arizona. He has written and produced five solo albums to date. He is a practicing Catholic. When Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States in April 2008, Maher was asked to lead worship for crowds of thousands at the Rally for Youth and Seminarians in Yonkers, New York. Visit Matt Maher

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Video: History Maker sung by Delirious? with Lyrics (Beautiful Christian Rock)

History Maker is the eleventh track on English Christian rock band Delirious?'s album King of Fools.It is one of the band's best-known and most popular songs. It is Christian Rock at its best.

Is it true today that when people pray
Cloudless skies will break
Kings and queens will shake
Yes it's true and I believe it
I'm living for you

Is it true today that when people pray
We'll see dead men rise
And the blind set free
Yes it's true and I believe it
I'm living for you

I'm gonna be a history maker in this land
I'm gonna be a speaker of truth to all mankind
I'm gonna stand, I'm gonna run
Into your arms, into your arms again
Into your arms, into your arms again

Well it's true today that when people stand
With the fire of God, and the truth in hand
We'll see miracles, we'll see angels sing
We'll see broken hearts making history
Yes it's true and I believe it
We're living for you

Lucinda Creighton Speech at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties-Analysis

Speaking at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Lucinda Creighton said that it was not a good image for Fine Gael to have NAMA developers and bankers photographed playing golf with the party leader, as happened at a recent fund raising event in the K-Club.

Ms Creighton said: “There can be no room in Fine Gael for cute-hoor politics. These are the politics which have defined and tainted Irish public life like an incurable cancer.

“We cannot be satisfied with low standards in high places. Fine Gael in government must be much, much more than simply ‘Fianna Fáil Light’.

“We cannot, on the one hand, condemn Fianna Fáil for entertaining developers in the Galway tent, while on the other hand extend the biscuit tin for contributions from high-profile developers, who are beholden to Nama. The Irish people expect more from Fine Gael; they demand more, and they are right," she said.

“Fine Gael cannot equivocate about the standards we wish to bring to the running of our great Republic. We need a real ‘New Politics’ - of substance rather than sound-bites.

“We need a politics that is about serving the people of Ireland, not simply about replacing Fianna Fáil," she told the summer school...
As the Law stands it is perfectly legal for Irish political parties to fund raise from business. FF, FG and Labour do so. So the FG party fund raising event broke no law. Of course it would be much better if political parties did not source funds from business. However the alternative is for the State to FULLY fund political parties. Now the hard pressed taxpayer might not be amused if such a scenario were to unfold. It is time for people such as Lucinda Creighton to outline an alternative to the current system. It is pointless making a mountain out of a molehill.

Creighton's speech has dominated RTE News bulletins today. Yet her criticism refers one person--Michael O'Flynn- paying for a round of golf. This is a storm in a teacup compared to the economic problems besetting the country. Yet it is the principal focus of attention from RTE and the media in general today. No doubt FF will be eternally grateful for the distraction. However this serves to deflect attention from the ECONOMIC issues on which the next general election will be won and lost.

Much more important for the country is the news that today the NTMA which borrows money on behalf of the State, raised another €1.5bn through the sale of Government bonds on international markets. Yields on Irish bonds have been climbing recently. So in essence the cost of government borrowing has risen. This should be the main story today as it will impinge on the government's calculations in the forthcoming budget. Also today came news that financial institutions are raising interest rates for people on the standard variable rate.
The key issues facing the country are:
  • The National Debt of €85 Billion
  • Unemployment 445,000
  • The Deficit of €21 Billion
  • Nama
  • Emigration 60,000 per annum
  • Cost of Government Borrowing
It is time for the media to focus on the real issues. Quite frankly I am sick and tired of politicians from all parties going on solo runs. The parliamentary party meeting is the proper forum to debate such issues. I am not aware that Lucinda Creighton has done this.
In recent months we have had a plethora of politicians coming out and sniping at their own parties
For FF we have had people such as John McGuinness, Mattie McGrath, Noel O'Flynn and Sean Power. For FG in recent days we have had John Deasy, Brian Hayes and Lucinda Creighton. Even the Labour party is not immune. Tommy Broughan absented himself on the vote in the Dail on stag hunting. He has lost the Party whip.
In all probability we can expect more of this in the run in to the general election as jittery TDs seek to fireproof themselves. However a weary electorate is beginning to tire of this attention seeking. It has lost its novelty value. Incidents of disloyalty to political parties are now ten a penny. A bored electorate increasingly yawns and moves on. Now the media and the chattering classes may be preoccupied by these shenanigans but by and large the electorate is more concerned with the ECONOMY.
Increasingly there is a disconnect between the political class and the electorate.
As Bill Clinton once stated :"Its the economy stupid". Hopefully people such as Lucina Creighton will now focus on what really matters to the voter. Bread and Butter issues will decide the next general election.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Video:40 Days for Life (Next campaign: September 22 – October 31)


Discover how YOU can save lives in your community by participating in the 2010 fall 40 Days for Life campaign that will be simultaneously held in hundreds of cities across America and around the globe from September 22 - October 31.

40 Days for Life campaigns have been held in 307 US cities in all states, in six Canadian provinces, three Australian states, Denmark and Northern Ireland. The movement is spreading rapidly not just in North America but throughout the world.
Campaigns involve:
  • Praying and fasting for an end to abortion

  • Peaceful vigils outside abortion clinics

  • Community Outreach

The campaigns have succeeded in convincing many women not to go ahead with abortions. Some abortion clinic workers have left the grisly business. Also four abortion clinics have closed.

President Barack Obama is the most pro-abortion President ever elected. The Obama Healthcare Act provides for taxpayer funded abortion. Many more children will die because of this act. In addition the Obama administration has been actively funding abortion overseas. The Obama administration put strong pressure on Kenya to adopt a new constitution that would legalize unlimited abortions. It has spent $24 million in its efforts to promote abortion in Kenya. It is time to stand up for the unborn.

Dan Shanahan Scores the Winning Goal for Waterford in Munster Senior Hurling Final Replay on July 17, 2010

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Ku Klux Klan and the Democratic Party:The Close and Shameful Links

Michael Zak in Big Government has a fascinating article on the close links between the Democratic Party and the Ku Klux Klan. The author conclusively proves the hypothesis that the KKK was the terrorist wing of the Democratic Party. Indeed he might also have mentioned that it was a Republican Party President, Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves. This is something of which most African- Americans are blissfully unaware. The author might also have mentioned the following: The Republican Party did not oppose Teddy Roosevelt’s anti-lynching legislation. It did not in any way oppose more than a dozen other anti-lynching provisions during the 20th century.
Republicans didn’t implement school segregation, or establish poll taxes and literacy tests to keep non-whites from voting. Such avowed racists as Bull Connor, George Wallace, Lester Maddox, and Orval Faubus were Democrats.
Indeed prominent Democrat Robert Byrd in the 1940s recruited 150 of his friends and associates to create a new chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.
Here is an excerpt from Michael Zaks article:
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) has falsely accused the Tea Party of having ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Speaking at the NAACP convention, she said: “All those who wore sheets a long time ago lifted them off to wear Tea Party clothing.”
Now is the time to speak some Truth to Power.

It would have been far more truthful for the congresswoman to have admitted the fact that all those who wore sheets a long time ago lifted them to wear Democratic Party clothing. Yes, the Ku Klux Klan was established by the Democratic Party. Yes, the Ku Klux Klan murdered thousands of Republicans — African-American and white – in the years following the Civil War. Yes, the Republican Party and a Republican President, Ulysses Grant, destroyed the KKK with their Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.

How did the Ku Klux Klan re-emerge in the 20th century? For that, the Democratic Party is to blame.

It was a racist Democrat President, Woodrow Wilson, who premiered Birth of a Nation in the White House. That racist movie was based on a racist book written by one of Wilson’s racist friends from college. In 1915, the movie spawned the modern-day Klan, with its burning crosses and white sheets.....(Read on here)

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Christine O'Donnell GOP candidate for Delaware Senate Seat interviewed by Mark Levin


Christine O’Donnell is seeking the GOP nomination to contest the Delaware Senate seat vacated by former Senator and now Vice-President, Joe Biden. She is running in the Republican Party primary against Mike Castle. O’Donnell an unknown ran against Biden in 2008 and polled strongly.


Biden spent $4.9 million on his Senate campaign and Christine spent $116,000.
Ms. O’Donnell is a fiscal conservative and a strong pro life supporter. She is a political commentator who has appeared on the Fox News Channel, CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC, and ABC. Ms. O’Donnell is also a marketing consultant. She was born on August 27, 1969.
O’Donnell is powerful candidate and would make a wonderful Senator for Delaware.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Please Sign E-Petition to Stop abortion on demand in Luxembourg

Some members of the Luxembourg Parliament are attempting to sweep away the last remaining restrictions on abortion by inserting a so-called “social indicator” in the list of legal justifications for abortion. The group SOSvita warns that the Luxembourg Parliament plans to create “a comprehensive liberalization of abortion before 15 July 2010.”

Pat Buckley, European officer for the UK’s Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said, “The Luxembourg Members of Parliament in 2008 already supported the expansion of the culture of death when they forcibly introduced euthanasia against the will of Grand Duke Henry. They will continue this expansion unless they are stopped.”

Paul von Oldenberg of the Fédération Pro Europa Christiana (FPEC), wrote in an email to pro-life leaders, “The introduction of a so-called ‘social indicator’ is nothing more than abortion on demand” that “leaves the unborn child totally unprotected.”

“The politicians say they only wish to reduce the number of abortions. To prohibit abortion absolutely is the only way to stop the shedding of the blood of innocent children"
SOSvita is circulating an e-petition asking for support against the proposed changes. Please visit SOSvita and sign the e-petition.
Thanks to: (LifeSiteNews.com)

Video: Frida (Abba) - To Turn the Stone (Long Version with Lyrics)


"TO TURN THE STONE"

The moon retreats behind a silver cloud
As darkness throw's it's cloak towards the earth

And mystery replaces what we thought we knew
To turn the stone
To turn the stone.
The one dimension only shows one side
But do we see the same through different eyes?
As you and I peer into life's kaleidoscope
To turn the stone
To turn the stone.

Eternal sands of time shift endlessly
Behind a veil of motionless disguise

An eyelid flash is all it
really seems to need
To turn the stone
To turn the stone,
To turn the stone
To turn the stone.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Video:Father James Alberione Film Trailer [HD]

This film on Blessed James Alberione is a PBS-style documentary by Sister Helena R. Burns, FSP (Chicago), on the lifework of the founder of the Daughters of St. Paul and the Pauline Family. Visit Daughters of St. Paul - James Alberione Film for more details on how you can help.
Fr. Alberione lived to the age of 87. Having completed the work God had entrusted to him, he left this earth on 26 November 1971 to take his place in the house of the Father. In his last hours, he was comforted by the visit and blessing of Pope Paul VI, who had never hidden his admiration and veneration for the Founder. In fact, in an audience with the Pauline Family on 28 June 1969, the Pope spoke these moving words about Fr. Alberione, who was then 85 years old:

“There he is: humble, silent, tireless, always vigilant, recollected in his thoughts, which run from prayer to action; always intent on scrutinizing the ‘signs of the times,' that is, the most creative ways to reach souls. Our Fr. Alberione has given the Church new instruments with which to express herself, new means to give vigor and breadth to her apostolate, new capacities and a new awareness of the validity and possibilities of his mission in the modern world with modern means. Dear Fr. Alberione, allow the Pope to rejoice in your long, faithful and tireless work and in the fruits it has produced for the glory of God and the good of the Church.”

On 25 June 1996, Pope John Paul II signed the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the future Blessed.-Fr James Alberione (1884-1971)
Don't forget to visit Daughters of St. Paul - James Alberione Film for more details on how you can help.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Dreams: A poem with a beautiful message

Dreams-A very special poem

If you are true to yourself

If you love with your whole heart...

If you stand by your dreams...

And rise through change with a strong and true character...

If you keep an open mind to new ideas...

And believe whole heartedly in your convictions...

If you see mistakes as lessons

And setbacks as challenges...

If you tackle mountains...

If you live with integrity...

You can never fail

Follow your dreams.

Abortion: Fr. Frank Pavone answers the arguments of Pro Abortion Politicians, Planned Parenthood and Others

The following are statements some people make about abortion. Each one of them misses the point, which is that every abortion kills an innocent baby.

"The abortion issue has no place in the Church." Then what does? Are people who worship God supposed to be blind to injustice? Are believers supposed to be unconcerned about what goes on in the world? Abortion kills 1.6 million babies in America every year. In Church we say we believe in "the Lord, the Giver of Life." Church is the place to talk about things that concern God, and God cares about the destruction of 1.6 million babies a year! The Bible says that those who worship God but do not act to correct injustices are not pleasing God at all (see Amos 5:21-27, and Isaiah 1:10-17).

"We shouldn't impose our beliefs on others." Do you really think that to say "killing is wrong" is imposing a belief? Would you want people around you who have the opposite belief?

A society cannot run if it tolerates the killing of the innocent. Nor can it run if it tolerates stealing. These are basic aspects of human life, and are not exclusively tied to the beliefs of any one religious denomination. You do not have to be Catholic or religious at all to understand that killing the innocent is wrong. To speak up against it is not "imposing beliefs"; it is basic human decency.

"The woman should decide." Decide what? Abortion is the killing of a baby. Nobody has the right to "decide" whether an innocent person should live or die. If we say that a woman can decide that an innocent baby should die, what is to prevent a person from deciding that an innocent parent should die, or a governor from deciding that you should die? Once you say that the right to life depends on someone else's "decision", you have crossed a line into chaos and have put society on a collision course with itself. Women should not be helped to kill their babies; they should be helped to nurture them, and the pro-life movement does precisely that.

"Abortion is not a political issue." In other words, "political issues" have nothing to do with protecting human lives? Why do people organize themselves politically? What is the purpose of government and of power? Thomas Jefferson stated that the only legitimate object of good government is the care, and not the destruction, of its citizens. Abortion kills 1.6 million babies a year, and that is a serious, public issue involving human rights and human lives. It therefore involves those who are responsible for public policy. Government has a duty to protect its people, not to pretend that they aren't people at all.

"I oppose abortion, but who am I to tell a woman she can't do it?" Do you ever hear this reasoning applied to other violations of human rights? Let's test it out. "I oppose bank robberies, but who am I to tell her she can't do it?" That would be an interesting position especially if it were your bank! "I oppose rape, but who am I to tell him he can't do it? "I oppose race riots, but..." and so on.

If abortion kills a baby, then you have every right -- and duty -- to protect that baby, and also to protect that woman from a tragic decision which wounds her morally, psychologically, and physically. Who are you to tell her she can't have an abortion? You are a human being who has enough concern and courage to stand up to evil and say "No!"

"You might upset women who have had abortions." Yes, in talking about injustice, you might upset people who have stolen or cheated. In talking about unkindness, you might upset people who have been unkind. But issues that impact on our lives must be addressed.

Look at the other side. By NOT talking about abortion, you fail to help women who are tempted to make the same tragic mistake. By your silence, you also tell women who have had abortions that it was no big deal, and that you really don't care about the pain they now may have. Those who keep silent do what the pro-abortionists do, leaving these women alone with nothing but a wounded soul and a dead baby. Pro-lifers, instead, confront the evil. They assist the women who want to have their baby, and they help women who have had abortions to find forgiveness and peace.

"There are other issues." Sure there are, but only for people who are alive. The pre-born babies are the people treated with MOST contempt, and so they need the MOST attention; they are the ones who are the MOST helpless, and so they need the MOST help; they are the ones dying in the LARGEST numbers, and so they need the LARGEST number of advocates.

Other issues are important because life is important. Poverty is an issue because the poor have a RIGHT TO LIVE. Unemployment is an issue because people have the right to work IN ORDER TO LIVE. It all comes back to LIFE. Abortion is the most direct attack on LIFE itself, at its most defenseless stage. To be concerned with other issues and NOT concerned about abortion is an absurdity.

Furthermore, the pro-life movement is falsely accused of caring "only" for the pre-born. The facts show that pro-lifers are deeply concerned with mothers, and with ALL human life.

But there is a specific mission to protect the pre-born and to end abortion. Don't people have a right to dedicate themselves to that task without being judged? Since when is a group condemned for having a specific focus? Do we condemn groups that serve the deaf for not caring for the blind? Do we condemn those rescuing people from a burning building for not going to Africa to feed the starving? Nobody can do everything. That doesn't mean we don't care. Maybe it's time that as we live our lives; we all care a little more for the pre-born babies who may not have a chance in life at all.(Father Frank A Pavone)

Monday, July 5, 2010

President Obama's radical pro-abortion record the antithesis of Christianity

President Barack Obama is the most radically pro-abortion president to ever occupy the White House. His administration has launched an unprecedented and relentless onslaught on the unborn. The hypocrisy of the president knows no bounds. This is the man who lectures the world about human rights yet orchestrates a massive attack on the right to life of the innocent child in the womb. Obama's record promoting abortion includes taxpayer funding of and key pro-abortion appointments to his administration and and to the Supreme Court. In short Obama is promoting the abortion holocaust with a manic intensity which is frightening. Obama is a secular humanist with only a nominal interest in Christianity. The destruction of the unborn is the very antithesis of Christianity. No Catholic can in good conscience vote for the pro abortion Democratic Party.

Below is a list of some of the key pro abortion decisions of Obama and his Godless administration:

(1) The Mexico City Policy had ensured that the American taxpayer would not fund foreign abortions. President Obama overturned this and now channels federal tax dollars to organizations that promote and provide abortions abroad.
(2) The president moved to strip conscience protections for health care providers who refuse to perform abortions because of their deeply held moral beliefs
(3) Obama now provides federal dollars to fund embryonic stem cell research

(4) Obama has authorised the use of taxpayer dollars to fund unethical embryo-destructive research.
(5) The Obama healthcare act now provides for taxpayer funded abortion in the biggest extension in abortion provision since Roe V Wade. Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in America, performed more than 305,000 abortions in 2007. It now stands to benefit massively from this extension in abortion services funded by the taxpayer. Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers funnelled huge sums of money into the Obama presidential election campaign.
(6) President Obama announced $50 million for the UNFPA, the UN population agency that promotes abortion and cooperates with Chinese population control officials who use forced abortions and involuntary sterilizations.
(7) Obama waited two days to comment on the shooting of a pro-life advocate whereas he commented immediately on shooting of abortion practitioner.
(8) Obama signed a bill that overturned the 13-year-long ban on funding abortions with tax dollars in Washington DC.

(9) The Obama administration put strong pressure on Kenya to adopt a new constitution that would legalize unlimited abortions. It has spent $10 million in its efforts to promote abortion in Kenya.
(10) The World health Organisation (WHO) has congratulated the Obama administration on its efforts to promote abortion throughout the world.
(11) All key appointments made by Obama have been of strong pro aborts.

Obama has shown a total disregard for the Law of God. There is no Fifth Commandment as far as he is concerned. He might pause and consider the following:
One of the major reasons for the decline of the Roman Empire was infanticide.

Video: The Case Against Abortion: Medical Testimony that life begins at fertilization

Video of Apparition to Mirjana at Medjugorje on July 2, 2010

Origin of Poultry Products in Irish Supermarkets: Tesco fares worst

According to the latest Bord Bia audit approximately 16% of the product on the shelf in Tesco is sourced in the South with the remainder coming from Northern Ireland (51%) or of unknown origin. This figure is dramatically lower than all other retailers who average between 60% and 100% QA from the Republic.(Source: IFA Poultry Committee Newsletter-July 2010). It is time for Tesco to dramatically increase its sales of poultry sourced from farms in the Irish Republic.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Saint Maximillian Kolbe: The Power of Prayer

The day was long, the burden I had borne seemed heavier than I could longer bear
And then it lifted-but I did not know some one had knelt in prayer;
Had taken me to God that very hour, and asked the easing of the load, and He,
In infinite compassion, had stooped down and taken it from me.
We cannot tell how often as we pray for some bewildered one, hurt and distressed,
The answer comes, but many times those hearts find sudden peace and rest.
Some one had prayed, and Faith, a reaching hand,
Took hold of God, and brought Him down that day!
So many, many hearts have need of prayer. Oh, let us pray!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Medugorje The Voice of Peace - sung by the late Jim Keohan from Dungarvan accompanied by Giovanna Salvati


This very special song comes from the Christian album Wings of Love. It has been used as soundtrack to a television documentary series on Medugorje called MEDUGORJE - "Come and See". The singer is Jim Keohan. Jim was a native of Dungarvan Co. Waterford. Jim Keohan is supported by Italian soprano Giovanna Salvati. The full album is available at cdbaby and is backed by a wealth of top musicians, including Irish Uileann piper and traditional whistle player Brian Hughes, and Roisin Dempsey of the "Anuna Choir". Sadly Jim passed away on May 2nd,2010. Jim was a wonderful Catholic with a deep devotion to Our Lady. He visited the Marian Shrines of Lourdes and Medjugorje on many occasions.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Ireland: New FG Front Bench Announced July 1, 2010

FINE GAEL FRONT BENCH


Enda Kenny Leader / Northern Ireland
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Sean Barrett Foreign Affairs
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Richard Bruton Enterprise, Jobs & Economic Planning
(including public service reform)
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Catherine Byrne Older Citizens
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Simon Coveney Transport
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Deirdre Clune Innovation & Research
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Jimmy Deenihan Tourism, Culture & Sport
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Andrew Doyle Agriculture, Fisheries & Food
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Frank Feighan Community, Equality & Gaeltacht Affairs
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Charlie Flanagan Children
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Phil Hogan Environment, Heritage & Local Government
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Paul Kehoe Chief Whip (with responsibility for
political reform)
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Michael Noonan Finance
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Fergus O'Dowd Education & Skills
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
John Perry Small Business
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
James Reilly Deputy Leader & Health & Children, (with
responsibility for policy coordination &
implementation)
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Michael Ring Social Protection
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Alan Shatter Justice & Law Reform
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
David Stanton Defence
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------
Leo Varadkar Communications & Natural Resources
---------------------------+-------------------------------------------