Friday, August 31, 2012

Text of Mitt Romney's GOP Convention Address

Mitt Romney's Republican convention address, as prepared for delivery:

Mr. Chairman, delegates. I accept your nomination for President of the United States of America. I do so with humility, deeply moved by the trust you have placed in me. It is a great honor. It is an even greater responsibility. Tonight I am asking you to join me to walk together to a better future. By my side, I have chosen a man with a big heart from a small town. He represents the best of America, a man who will always make us proud – my friend and America’s next Vice President, Paul Ryan. In the days ahead, you will get to know Paul and Janna better. But last night America got to see what I saw in Paul Ryan – a strong and caring leader who is down to earth and confident in the challenge this moment demands. I love the way he lights up around his kids and how he's not embarrassed to show the world how much he loves his mom. But Paul, I still like the playlist on my iPod better than yours.

Four years ago, I know that many Americans felt a fresh excitement about the possibilities of a new president. That president was not the choice of our party but Americans always come together after elections. We are a good and generous people who are united by so much more than what divides us. When that hard fought election was over, when the yard signs came down and the television commercials finally came off the air, Americans were eager to go back to work, to live our lives the way Americans always have – optimistic and positive and confident in the future. That very optimism is uniquely American. (Continue reading HERE)

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Text Of Paul Ryan Speech to GOP Convention at Tampa FL (August 29, 2012)

Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens: I am honored by the support of this convention for vice president of the United States. I accept the duty to help lead our nation out of a jobs crisis and back to prosperity – and I know we can do this. I accept the calling of my generation to give our children the America that was given to us, with opportunity for the young and security for the old – and I know that we are ready. Our nominee is sure ready. His whole life has prepared him for this moment – to meet serious challenges in a serious way, without excuses and idle words. After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Governor Mitt Romney.

I’m the newcomer to the campaign, so let me share a first impression. I have never seen opponents so silent about their record, and so desperate to keep their power. They’ve run out of ideas. Their moment came and went. Fear and division are all they’ve got left. With all their attack ads, the president is just throwing away money – and he’s pretty experienced at that. You see, some people can’t be dragged down by the usual cheap tactics, because their ability, character, and plain decency are so obvious – and ladies and gentlemen, that is Mitt Romney. For my part, your nomination is an unexpected turn. It certainly came as news to my family, and I’d like you to meet them: My wife Janna, our daughter Liza, and our boys Charlie and Sam. The kids are happy to see their grandma, who lives in Florida. There she is – my Mom, Betty. My Dad, a small-town lawyer, was also named Paul. Until we lost him when I was 16, he was a gentle presence in my life. I like to think he’d be proud of me and my sister and brothers, because I’m sure proud of him and of where I come from, Janesville, Wisconsin. I live on the same block where I grew up. We belong to the same parish where I was baptized. Janesville is that kind of place.

The people of Wisconsin have been good to me. I’ve tried to live up to their trust. And now I ask those hardworking men and women, and millions like them across America, to join our cause and get this country working again. When Governor Romney asked me to join the ticket, I said, “Let’s get this done” – and that is exactly, what we’re going to do. President Barack Obama came to office during an economic crisis, as he has reminded us a time or two. Those were very tough days, and any fair measure of his record has to take that into account. My home state voted for President Obama. When he talked about change, many people liked the sound of it, especially in Janesville, where we were about to lose a major factory. A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that GM plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: “I believe that if our government is there to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years.” That’s what he said in 2008. Well, as it turned out, that plant didn’t last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day. And that’s how it is in so many towns today, where the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight.

Right now, 23 million men and women are struggling to find work. Twenty-three million people, unemployed or underemployed. Nearly one in six Americans is living in poverty. Millions of young Americans have graduated from college during the Obama presidency, ready to use their gifts and get moving in life. Half of them can’t find the work they studied for, or any work at all. So here’s the question: Without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different from the last four years? The first troubling sign came with the stimulus. It was President Obama’s first and best shot at fixing the economy, at a time when he got everything he wanted under one-party rule. It cost $831 billion – the largest one-time expenditure ever by our federal government. It went to companies like Solyndra, with their gold-plated connections, subsidized jobs, and make-believe markets. The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare, and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and women of this country, were cut out of the deal. What did the taxpayers get out of the Obama stimulus? More debt. That money wasn’t just spent and wasted – it was borrowed, spent, and wasted.

Maybe the greatest waste of all was time. Here we were, faced with a massive job crisis – so deep that if everyone out of work stood in single file, that unemployment line would stretch the length of the entire American continent. You would think that any president, whatever his party, would make job creation, and nothing else, his first order of economic business. But this president didn’t do that. Instead, we got a long, divisive, all-or-nothing attempt to put the federal government in charge of health care. Obamacare comes to more than two thousand pages of rules, mandates, taxes, fees, and fines that have no place in a free country. The president has declared that the debate over government-controlled health care is over. That will come as news to the millions of Americans who will elect Mitt Romney so we can repeal Obamacare. And the biggest, coldest power play of all in Obamacare came at the expense of the elderly. You see, even with all the hidden taxes to pay for the health care takeover, even with new taxes on nearly a million small businesses, the planners in Washington still didn’t have enough money. They needed more. They needed hundreds of billions more. So, they just took it all away from Medicare. Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama. An obligation we have to our parents and grandparents is being sacrificed, all to pay for a new entitlement we didn’t even ask for. The greatest threat to Medicare is Obamacare, and we’re going to stop it. In Congress, when they take out the heavy books and wall charts about Medicare, my thoughts go back to a house on Garfield Street in Janesville. My wonderful grandma, Janet, had Alzheimer’s and moved in with Mom and me. Though she felt lost at times, we did all the little things that made her feel loved. We had help from Medicare, and it was there, just like it’s there for my Mom today. Medicare is a promise, and we will honor it. A Romney-Ryan administration will protect and strengthen Medicare, for my Mom’s generation, for my generation, and for my kids and yours. So our opponents can consider themselves on notice. In this election, on this issue, the usual posturing on the Left isn’t going to work. Mitt Romney and I know the difference between protecting a program, and raiding it. Ladies and gentlemen, our nation needs this debate. We want this debate. We will win this debate. Obamacare, as much as anything else, explains why a presidency that began with such anticipation now comes to such a disappointing close.

It began with a financial crisis; it ends with a job crisis. It began with a housing crisis they alone didn’t cause; it ends with a housing crisis they didn’t correct. It began with a perfect Triple-A credit rating for the United States; it ends with a downgraded America. It all started off with stirring speeches, Greek columns, the thrill of something new. Now all that’s left is a presidency adrift, surviving on slogans that already seem tired, grasping at a moment that has already passed, like a ship trying to sail on yesterday’s wind. President Obama was asked not long ago to reflect on any mistakes he might have made. He said, well, “I haven’t communicated enough.” He said his job is to “tell a story to the American people” – as if that’s the whole problem here? He needs to talk more, and we need to be better listeners? Ladies and gentlemen, these past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the White House. What’s missing is leadership in the White House. And the story that Barack Obama does tell, forever shifting blame to the last administration, is getting old. The man assumed office almost four years ago – isn’t it about time he assumed responsibility? In this generation, a defining responsibility of government is to steer our nation clear of a debt crisis while there is still time. Back in 2008, candidate Obama called a $10 trillion national debt “unpatriotic” – serious talk from what looked to be a serious reformer. Yet by his own decisions, President Obama has added more debt than any other president before him, and more than all the troubled governments of Europe combined. One president, one term, $5 trillion in new debt. He created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing. Republicans stepped up with good-faith reforms and solutions equal to the problems. How did the president respond? By doing nothing – nothing except to dodge and demagogue the issue. So here we are, $16 trillion in debt and still he does nothing. In Europe, massive debts have put entire governments at risk of collapse, and still he does nothing. And all we have heard from this president and his team are attacks on anyone who dares to point out the obvious. They have no answer to this simple reality: We need to stop spending money we don’t have. My Dad used to say to me: “Son. You have a choice: You can be part of the problem, or you can be part of the solution.” The present administration has made its choices. And Mitt Romney and I have made ours: Before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation’s economic problems. And I’m going to level with you: We don’t have that much time. But if we are serious, and smart, and we lead, we can do this. After four years of government trying to divide up the wealth, we will get America creating wealth again. With tax fairness and regulatory reform, we’ll put government back on the side of the men and women who create jobs, and the men and women who need jobs.

My Mom started a small business, and I’ve seen what it takes. Mom was 50 when my Dad died. She got on a bus every weekday for years, and rode 40 miles each morning to Madison. She earned a new degree and learned new skills to start her small business. It wasn’t just a new livelihood. It was a new life. And it transformed my Mom from a widow in grief to a small businesswoman whose happiness wasn’t just in the past. Her work gave her hope. It made our family proud. And to this day, my Mom is my role model. Behind every small business, there’s a story worth knowing. All the corner shops in our towns and cities, the restaurants, cleaners, gyms, hair salons, hardware stores – these didn’t come out of nowhere. A lot of heart goes into each one. And if small businesspeople say they made it on their own, all they are saying is that nobody else worked seven days a week in their place. Nobody showed up in their place to open the door at five in the morning. Nobody did their thinking, and worrying, and sweating for them. After all that work, and in a bad economy, it sure doesn’t help to hear from their president that government gets the credit. What they deserve to hear is the truth: Yes, you did build that. We have a plan for a stronger middle class, with the goal of generating 12 million new jobs over the next four years. In a clean break from the Obama years, and frankly from the years before this president, we will keep federal spending at 20 percent of GDP, or less. That is enough. The choice is whether to put hard limits on economic growth, or hard limits on the size of government, and we choose to limit government. I learned a good deal about economics, and about America, from the author of the Reagan tax reforms – the great Jack Kemp. What gave Jack that incredible enthusiasm was his belief in the possibilities of free people, in the power of free enterprise and strong communities to overcome poverty and despair. We need that same optimism right now.

And in our dealings with other nations, a Romney-Ryan administration will speak with confidence and clarity. Wherever men and women rise up for their own freedom, they will know that the American president is on their side. Instead of managing American decline, leaving allies to doubt us and adversaries to test us, we will act in the conviction that the United States is still the greatest force for peace and liberty that this world has ever known. President Obama is the kind of politician who puts promises on the record, and then calls that the record. But we are four years into this presidency. The issue is not the economy as Barack Obama inherited it, not the economy as he envisions it, but this economy as we are living it. College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life. Everyone who feels stuck in the Obama economy is right to focus on the here and now. And I hope you understand this too, if you’re feeling left out or passed by: You have not failed, your leaders have failed you.

None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers – a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us. Listen to the way we’re spoken to already, as if everyone is stuck in some class or station in life, victims of circumstances beyond our control, with government there to help us cope with our fate. It’s the exact opposite of everything I learned growing up in Wisconsin, or at college in Ohio. When I was waiting tables, washing dishes, or mowing lawns for money, I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. I was on my own path, my own journey, an American journey where I could think for myself, decide for myself, define happiness for myself. That’s what we do in this country. That’s the American Dream. That’s freedom, and I’ll take it any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners. By themselves, the failures of one administration are not a mandate for a new administration. A challenger must stand on his own merits. He must be ready and worthy to serve in the office of president. We’re a full generation apart, Governor Romney and I. And, in some ways, we’re a little different. There are the songs on his iPod, which I’ve heard on the campaign bus and on many hotel elevators. He actually urged me to play some of these songs at campaign rallies. I said, I hope it’s not a deal-breaker Mitt, but my playlist starts with AC/DC, and ends with Zeppelin. A generation apart. That makes us different, but not in any of the things that matter. Mitt Romney and I both grew up in the heartland, and we know what places like Wisconsin and Michigan look like when times are good, when people are working, when families are doing more than just getting by. And we both know it can be that way again. We’ve had very different careers – mine mainly in public service, his mostly in the private sector. He helped start businesses and turn around failing ones. By the way, being successful in business – that’s a good thing. Mitt has not only succeeded, but succeeded where others could not. He turned around the Olympics at a time when a great institution was collapsing under the weight of bad management, overspending, and corruption – sounds familiar, doesn’t it? He was the Republican governor of a state where almost nine in ten legislators are Democrats, and yet he balanced the budget without raising taxes. Unemployment went down, household incomes went up, and Massachusetts, under Mitt Romney, saw its credit rating upgraded. Mitt and I also go to different churches. But in any church, the best kind of preaching is done by example. And I’ve been watching that example. The man who will accept your nomination tomorrow is prayerful and faithful and honorable. Not only a defender of marriage, he offers an example of marriage at its best. Not only a fine businessman, he’s a fine man, worthy of leading this optimistic and good-hearted country. Our different faiths come together in the same moral creed. We believe that in every life there is goodness; for every person, there is hope. Each one of us was made for a reason, bearing the image and likeness of the Lord of Life. We have responsibilities, one to another – we do not each face the world alone. And the greatest of all responsibilities, is that of the strong to protect the weak. The truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves. Each of these great moral ideas is essential to democratic government – to the rule of law, to life in a humane and decent society. They are the moral creed of our country, as powerful in our time, as on the day of America’s founding. They are self-evident and unchanging, and sometimes, even presidents need reminding, that our rights come from nature and God, not from government.

The founding generation secured those rights for us, and in every generation since, the best among us have defended our freedoms. They are protecting us right now. We honor them and all our veterans, and we thank them. The right that makes all the difference now, is the right to choose our own leaders. And you are entitled to the clearest possible choice, because the time for choosing is drawing near. So here is our pledge. We will not duck the tough issues, we will lead. We will not spend four years blaming others, we will take responsibility. We will not try to replace our founding principles, we will reapply our founding principles. The work ahead will be hard. These times demand the best of us – all of us, but we can do this. Together, we can do this. We can get this country working again. We can get this economy growing again. We can make the safety net safe again. We can do this. Whatever your political party, let’s come together for the sake of our country. Join Mitt Romney and me. Let’s give this effort everything we have. Let’s see this through all the way. Let’s get this done. Thank you, and God bles

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Ireland-Abortion: Pat Rabbitte v Cardinal Sean Brady (August 26, 2012)

The Catholic Primate of all Ireland, Cardinal Seán Brady, has stated in an interview on the RTE radio programme This Week that the Supreme Court’s ruling in the 1992 ‘X Case’ is “flawed” and that a referendum should be held to give the public the opportunity to overturn it.

He outlined the churches total opposition to abortion and stated emphatically that the church will lobby politicians on the issue. On the same programme Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte said he did not have any objection to the church stating its position, but was surprised by the cardinal’s reference to lobbying. Quite frankly I cannot understand why Mr Rabbitte would be surprised at the church stance on the issue. Are we not dealing with a matter of life and death for the unborn Mr Rabbitte? Thankfully FG backbenchers are in no mood to accept abortion. I strongly recommend lobbying of them by the church. Even within the Labour Party there are rural TDs who are opposed to abortion. Abortion is the deliberate killing of the innocent unborn child in the womb. Buzz words like "pro-choice","termination", "womens rights" cannot alter the reality that abortion involves the tearing to pieces of the unborn child in the womb. It is MURDER.

The government has established an expert group to advise on Ireland’s pro-life laws, following the recent European Court ruling on abortion. It is widely expected to recommend in favour of abortion. Such a report must be opposed tooth and nail. It cannot make moral what is immoral.

An unborn child IRRESPECTIVE of how it was conceived is entitled to live. It has committed no crime. It exists as a new human being. To abort it is MURDER even if conceived by rape. The rapist should serve a minimum of twenty years in jail. To abort a child creates two victims -mother and child. It is also time to consider the psychological and physical damage done by abortion to women.

Under Catholic teaching women are entitled to all treatment necessary to save their lives if suffering from a life threatening physical ailment. The child may be UNINTENTIONALLY killed in the course of such treatment. That is not abortion as there was NO DELIBERATE intent to kill the child.

The Life Institute outlines three important facts that the expert group cannot ignore:
  • It’s a fact that abortion is never necessary to save the life of a mother - and leading Irish medical experts have already publicly confirmed this fact. As Professor John Bonner, the Chairman of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, told a Dáil Committee; “It would never cross an obstetrician’s mind that intervening in a case of pre-eclampsia, cancer of the cervix or ectopic pregnancy is abortion. They are not abortion as far as the professional is concerned, these are medical treatments that are essential to save the life of the mother.” It is wrong to confuse necessary medical treatment (which doesn’t intend to harm the baby), with abortion, which deliberately takes the life of a child.
  • Ireland, without abortion, is the safest place in the world for a mother to have a baby, according to the United Nations1. We should protect our pro-life laws - because they protect both mother and baby.
  • The European Court ruling places Ireland under no obligation to legalise abortion. Under our Constitution it is the Irish people who have the final say on such matters. Opinion polls show that our ban on abortion is supported by the majority of the people. [1] Report on Maternal Mortality, World Health Organisation, the UN (2007, 2010)

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Italian Olympic Medalist Alex Giorgetti in Medjugorje "It changed my life and sport"

The famous Italian water polo champion, 24 won a silver medal at the London Olympics (gold at the World Championships in Shanghai in 2011). On August 24 he spoke to a meeting at Rimini. Before hundreds of young people, Giorgetti explained how, thanks to a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, his life has changed. And for the better.

The Italian champion said as early as six years, he was literally thrown in the pool by his mother, to learn to swim. He had success. But success is not everything. Alone it is not enough to give happiness. In fact, the desire that we have inside of us requires much more. So for Giorgetti the problems started : "I had it all - said the Italian champion - success, entertainment, women and cars and yet everything was going wrong.

Franca de Chiavari , a former classmate returned from Medjugorje and impressed him with the imprinted joy on his face. "All encounters with him and others made me understand why we are in the world and what I can do," says the Italian champion. They have shown that in this world you can be happy without being successful.

Back to the faith.

Thus the life of Alex Giorgetti changes. Immediately he makes a vow: "If we win in Shanghai, I go barefoot in Medjugorje." Here comes the gold. He rushes in without shoes to the Marian shrine. He discovers the prayer that still accompanies him: "In London, I and some friends were praying in my room," says Giorgetti , who is not ashamed to attend the Mass and the sacraments regularly. This has impacted on team mates. "Maybe at first some made fun of me and were skeptical - remember - but now look at me with different eyes.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Italian Actress Sara Tommasi is in Medjugorje seeking God

Cuori Puri (Pure Hearts) is a movement born in Medjugorje June 25, 2011, on the thirtieth anniversary of the Apparitions, and is aimed primarily at young people and couples who decide to obey God, choosing chastity until marriage. With Cuori Puri Sara Tommasi has decided to embark on a spiritual journey to find herself and get close to God. Cuori Puri asks for prayers for Sara that she succeeds.

Monday, August 20, 2012

New Medjugorje Documentary-"QUEEN OF PEACE" TRAILER

"A MUST SEE DOCUMENTARY" - Wayne Weible, Bestselling Author A FILM OF GREAT DEPTH, BEAUTY, SPIRITUAL AND INTELLECTUAL PROWESS" - Daniel Klimek, Journalist Visit www.medjfilms.com to purchase Queen of Peace- a new documentary on the extraordinary events taking place in the village of Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Friday, August 17, 2012

Medjugorje influences Spanish hockey player to join the priesthood

Spanish field hockey player Ballbé Carlos, who took part in the Olympic tournament in London,is due to join the Redemptoris Mater seminary in Brussels-now that the competition has concluded-to begin his journey leading to the priesthood. According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, "Litus has every reason to believe. He came to have three quarters of one lung disabled, not only for sports but for anything. But he managed to heal." Even though he was always believer, it was not until 2005 during the World Junior Championships that the the player, then aged 20, realized the importance of God in his life , reports El Pais. "We started very badly the competition. It was so bad that I went to Sunday Mass and made a covenant with God that I would go to Medjugorje with my father if we were successful. We made history. "After a bad start in the competition, we finally got the bronze medal, a first for a Spanish team " he said.

 

As promised in his "pact", Ballbé went to Medjugorje after the tournament. However for some time after he neglected his prayers. Then "something inside me said: 'you are free and you can do what you want. But for now you're not happy". The player decided to quit hockey and go in search of God. However, he asked the Lord to let him fulfill his dream of competing at the Olympics, after which he would join the Redemptoris Mater seminary to begin his journey leading to the priesthood.

According to El Pais said, "thanks to an agreement with the seminary in Barcelona and Athletic Club Terrassa he was able to combine the call of God with the sport." Now that the Olympics are over he will complete his studies in Brussels.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Video:Kibeho Rwanda- Apparitions of the Virgin Mary (1981-89)

Apparitions of Virgin Mary are to young people but why the young ?

In the last two centuries the Blessed Virgin has appeared to young and very young seers. We must acknowledge that Mary loves to entrust her messages for the church to young children and adolescents. But why?
After the "miraculous medal" of the young Parisian nun Catherine Laboure who was twenty four years old Mary appeared on September 19, 1846 to two shepherd children: Melanie Calvat , 14, and Maximin Giraud, of 11 years in the mountains of La Salette , in a pasture at 1,800 meters above sea level . At Lourdes , also in France, there were 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary, from 11 February to 16 July 1858, to the young Bernadette Soubirous, a fourteen year old poor and illiterate girl.
But even in Italy, in Montefalco Umbria, something absolutely amazing occurred to coincide with the unification period: the appearances of a Beautiful Lady-the Blessed Virgin- in Autumn 1861 to five years old Righetto Cionchi.
But the "highlight" of the meetings of the Blessed Virgin Mary with children occurred with six appearances, from May 13th to October 1917, in Fatima. The children were Jacinta Marto 7 years old, his brother Francisco Marto of 9 years and their cousin Lucia dos Santos 10 years old. To them were revealed important secrets for the Church and for society itself.
The Blessed Virgin appeared in 1931 to children and hundreds of other people in Ezquioga in Spain. This is a small village in the Basque country. She gave messages concerning the civil war which followed, the end of the world and the anti Christ.
In 1932 the Virgin Mary appeared at Beaurang (Belgium), to five other children on thirty three occasions. On January 15, 1933 She appeared at Banneux (Liege) to Mariette Beco, an adolescent girl.In 1947, approval for the apparitions came from the Holy See.
But apparitions have also taken place in the territories newly Christianized, as in 1981 in Kibeho , Rwanda. Our Lady began began appearing to seven children. They are Alphonse, Anathalie, Marie Claire, Agnes, Stephanie and Vestine . The Virgin foretold that there would be terrible loss of life in Rwanda if people did not pray. Rwanda was later to suffer a genocide. Kibeho has been recognised as authentic.
On June 24, 1981 began the apparitions of Medjugorje. Young Mirjana Dragicevic and Ivanka Ivanković reported seeing an apparition of the Virgin Mary in a village in what is now Bosnia-Herzegovina. The following day another vision was reported, this time also by four other young people: Marija Pavlović, Jakov Colo, Vicka Ivanković, and Ivan Dragicevic. The apparitions are ongoing. Medjugorje is the subject of a Commission of Enquiry to adjudicate on the authenticity of the apparitions. The huge influx of pilgrims to Medjugorje is impressive. However even more impressive are the wholesale conversions at Medjugorje.
But the question remains:Why does Our Lady appear to so many young people? This is a difficult question to answer. Perhaps it is because young people are not yet over influenced by cynicism. The words of Jesus come to mind: the mysteries of God are revealed to those whose hearts are small, while remaining hidden from the wise who do not have the humility (Mt 11.25, Lk 10.21)

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Medjugorje: Replica of the Krizevac built in Malawi

(IMAGE: THE TELEGRAPH)
Gay Russell glances up from the wheel of her 4 x 4 as we approach the lower slopes of Mount Michiru (1,400m). “There it is,” says this 65-year-old professional pilot, directing my gaze towards the summit. And at once I wonder how on earth I can have missed it. There, standing high and proud over Blantyre, is a giant concrete cross...

Read the full story here of how a replica of the Krizevac – the giant cross on the mountainside above Medjugorje came to be built in Malawi.

Medjugorje Miracle: Woman Stands Up from Her Wheelchair

For 14 years, the Belgian woman Pascale Gryson-Selmeci suffered from a rare and incurable disease that took away her speech and tied her to a wheelchair. Early this month she went to Mass in Medjugorje, felt a force come through her, spoke to her husband, and stood up from her chair. Countless people watched in awe on August 3 when a Belgian woman stood up from her wheelchair, seemingly cured from her incurable illness after receiving Communion during the evening Mass in Medjugorje. (Continue reading HERE)

Abortion: Daily Beasts Michelle Goldberg in outrageous attack on Paul Ryan

The Daily Beast (August 11) contains a vicious attack my Michelle Goldberg on Congressman Paul Ryan's pro-life stance. Paul Ryan has been chosen by Mitt Romney as his presidential running mate. Goldberg provides a shocking insight into the mentality of extreme feminists. As far as she is concerned the unborn have no rights. A woman can do whatever she likes with her own body. There is no mention of the rights of the father. She refers to "so called partial birth abortions". She can't even condemn them.

Lets look at Partial Birth Abortion :
Partial-Birth Abortion is a procedure in which the abortionist pulls a living baby feet-first out of the womb and into the birth canal (vagina), except for the head, which the abortionist purposely keeps lodged just inside the cervix (the opening to the womb). The abortionist punctures the base of the baby’s skull with a surgical instrument, such as a long surgical scissors or a pointed hollow metal tube called a trochar. He then inserts a catheter (tube) into the wound, and removes the baby's brain with a powerful suction machine. This causes the skull to collapse, after which the abortionist completes the delivery of the now-dead baby. (Definition from: National Right To Life)

Lets get back to first principles. Abortion is wrong because it is the DELIBERATE KILLING of the innocent unborn child. Rape and incest are heinous crimes. The perpetrators should be jailed for life. However an unborn child IRRESPECTIVE of how it was conceived is entitled to live. It has committed no crime. It exists as a new human being. To abort it is MURDER. To abort a child creates two victims -mother and child. It is also time to consider the psychological and physical damage done by abortion to women. None of this concerns Goldberg however.

Under Catholic teaching women are entitled to all treatment necessary to save their lives if suffering from a life threatening physical ailment. The child may be UNINTENTIONALLY killed in the course of such treatment. That is not abortion as there was NO DELIBERATE intent to kill the child. This is also Paul Ryan's view. She even misrepresented him on that.

In 1997, Barack Obama voted in the Illinois Senate against SB 230, a bill designed to prevent partial-birth abortions. And you see nothing wrong with that do you Michelle? As President his administration has pursued a strong pro-abortion policy at home and overseas. He has pumped scarce taxpayers money into promotion of abortion in Africa. He is the most liberal pro-abortion president of all time. It is a disgraceful and despicable record. Goldberg of course is hugely supportive of this.

When we die we answer to our MAKER for our sins of omission. Failure to oppose abortion is a sin of omission. Finally I applaud Paul Ryan for his unwavering support for the unborn. What has America come to? The most dangerous place for a child is now in the mother's womb. This cannot be justified no matter how you try to justify it. It is time to drop the sanitised language. Pro-choice is support for the "right" to kill the unborn. The fact that it may be legal does not make it moral. It is an attempt to pretend that killing an unborn child is on a par with keeping it alive. God has given no right to kill the unborn. He has not changed the Fifth Commandment. Michelle Goldberg needs to look in the mirror. It is she who has the extreme pro- abortion views.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Paul Ryan VP Speech In Norfolk, Virginia- August 11, 2012

Congressman Paul Ryan today delivered the following remarks in Norfolk, Virginia after Mitt Romney selected him to be his Vice Presidential running mate:

Thank you Governor Romney, Ann.  I am deeply honored and excited to join you as your running mate.

Mitt Romney is a leader with the skills, the background and the character that our country needs at a crucial time in its history. Following four years of failed leadership, the hopes of our country, which have inspired the world, are growing dim; and they need someone to revive them. Governor Romney is the man for this moment; and he and I share one commitment: we will restore the dreams and greatness of this country.

I want you to meet my family.  My wife Janna, our daughter Liza, and our sons, Charlie and Sam.

I am surrounded by the people I love, and I have been asked by Governor Romney to serve the country I love.

Janesville, Wisconsin is where I was born and raised, and I never really left it. It’s our home now.

For the last 14 years, I have proudly represented Wisconsin in Congress.  There, I have focused on solving the problems that confront our country, and turning ideas into action; and action into solutions.  

I am committed, in heart and mind, to putting that experience to work in a Romney Administration. This is a crucial moment in the life of our nation; and it is absolutely vital that we select the right man to lead America back to prosperity and greatness.

That man is standing next to me. His name is Mitt Romney. And he will be the next president of the United States

My dad died when I was young. He was a good and decent man. I still remember a couple of things he would say that have really stuck with me.  "Son you are either part of the problem or part of the solution."  

Regrettably, President Obama has become part of the problem,...and Mitt Romney is the solution.

The other thing my dad would say is that every generation of Americans leaves their children better off. That's the American legacy.

Sadly, for the first time in our history, we are on a path which will undo that legacy. That is why we need new leadership to become part of the solution – new leadership to restore prosperity, economic growth, and jobs.

It is our duty to save the American Dream for our children, and theirs.

And I believe there is no person in America who is better prepared – because of his experience; because of the principles he holds; and because of his achievements and excellence in so many different arenas – to lead America at this point in its history.

Let me say a word about the man Mitt Romney will replace. No one disputes President Obama inherited a difficult situation.  And, in his first 2 years, with his party in complete control of Washington, he passed nearly every item on his agenda.  But that didn’t make things better. 

In fact, we find ourselves in a nation facing debt, doubt and despair.

  • This is the worst economic recovery in 70 years. Unemployment has been above 8 percent for more than three years, the longest run since the Great Depression. Families are hurting.
  • We have the largest deficits and the biggest federal government since WWII. 
  • Nearly 1 out of 6 Americans are in poverty--the worst rate in a generation.  Moms and dads are struggling to make ends meet.
  • Household incomes have dropped by more than $4,000 over the past four years.

Whatever the explanations, whatever the excuses, this is a record of failure.

President Obama, and too many like him in Washington, have refused to make difficult decisions because they are more worried about their next election than they are about the next generation. We might have been able to get away with that before, but not now. We’re in a different, and dangerous, moment. We're running out of time -- and we can't afford 4 more years of this.

Politicians from both parties have made empty promises which will soon become broken promises--with painful consequences--if we fail to act now.

I represent a part of America that includes inner cities, rural areas, suburbs and factory towns.  Over the years I have seen and heard from a lot from families, from those running small businesses, and from people who are in need.  But what I have heard lately troubles me the most.  There is something different in their voice and in their words. What I hear from them are diminished dreams, lowered expectations, uncertain futures.

I hear some people say that this is just "the new normal." High unemployment, declining incomes and crushing debt is not a new normal.  It's the result of misguided policies.  And next January, our economy will begin a comeback with the Romney Plan for a Stronger Middle Class that will lead to more jobs and more take home pay for working Americans.

America is on the wrong track; but Mitt Romney and I will take the right steps, in the right time, to get us back on the right track!

I believe my record of getting things done in Congress will be a very helpful complement to Governor Romney’s executive and private sector success outside Washington. I have worked closely with Republicans as well as Democrats to advance an agenda of economic growth, fiscal discipline, and job creation.

I’m proud to stand with a man who understands what it takes to foster job creation in our economy, someone who knows from experience, that if you have a small business—you did build that. 

 

At Bain Capital, he launched new businesses and he turned around failing ones – companies like Staples, Bright Horizons and Sports Authority, just to name a few. Mitt Romney created jobs and showed he knows how a free economy works.

 

At the Olympics, he took a failing enterprise and made it the pride of our entire nation.

 

As governor of Massachusetts, he worked with Democrats and Republicans to balance budgets with no tax increases, lower unemployment, increase income and improve people’s lives.

 

In all of these things, Mitt Romney has shown himself to be a man of achievement, excellence and integrity.

 

Janna and I tell Liza, Charlie and Sam that America is a place where, if you work hard and play by the rules, you can get ahead.

 

We Americans look at one another's success with pride, not resentment, because we know, as more Americans work hard, take risks, and succeed, more people will prosper, our communities will benefit, and individual lives will be improved and uplifted.

 

But America is more than just a place...it's an idea.  It's the only country founded on an idea.  Our rights come from nature and God, not government.  We promise equal opportunity, not equal outcomes.

 

This idea is founded on the principles of liberty, freedom, free enterprise, self-determination and government by consent of the governed.  

 

This idea is under assault.  So, we have a critical decision to make as a nation.

 

We are on an unsustainable path that is robbing America of our freedom and security. It doesn't have to be this way.

 

The commitment Mitt Romney and I make to you is this:

 

We won't duck the tough issues...we will lead!

 

We won't blame others...we will take responsibility!

 

We won't replace our founding principles...we will reapply them!

 

We will honor you, our fellow citizens, by giving you the right and opportunity to make the choice:

 

  • What kind of country do we want to have?

 

  • What kind of people do we want to be?

We can turn this thing around.  Real solutions can be delivered.  But, it will take leadership.  And the courage to tell you the truth.

 

Mitt Romney is this kind of leader.  I'm excited for what lies ahead and I'm thrilled to be a part of America's Comeback Team. And together, we will unite America and get this done. 

Thank you.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Apparition to Mirjana 2 August 2012 at Medjugorje

Message to Mirjana

“Dear children, I am with you and I am not giving up. I desire to have you come to know my Son. I desire for my children to be with me in eternal life. I desire for you to feel the joy of peace and to have eternal salvation. I am praying that you may overcome human weaknesses. I am imploring my Son to give you pure hearts. My dear children, only pure hearts know how to carry a cross and know how to sacrifice for all those sinners who have offended the Heavenly Father and who, even today, offend Him, although they have not come to know Him. I am praying that you may come to know the light of true faith which comes only from prayer of pure hearts. It is then that all those who are near you will feel the love of my Son. Pray for those whom my Son has chosen to lead you on the way to salvation. May your mouth refrain from every judgment. Thank you. ”