American People Show Good Sense in Rejecting Obamacare

Jeffrey Anderson at the Weekly Standard summarizes Rasmussen's Obamacare polling numbers of December 30:

"Rasmussen's health-care polling results since Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid orchestrated the Christmas Eve vote are full of undeniably bad news for Democrats. In roughly ascending order of bad news (if one is a Democrat)...

Likely voters oppose Obamacare by more than the (18-point) margin by which Ronald Reagan beat Walter Mondale: 58 percent to 39 percent.

There are far more likely voters who "strongly" oppose Obamacare (46 percent) than there are likely voters who support it even "somewhat" (39 percent).

Only 24 percent of likely voters think that the quality of health care would get better under Obamacare, while 54 percent think it would get worse -- a gap of 30 percent.

Only 13 percent of likely voters think that the cost of health would go down under Obamacare, while 63 percent think it would rise -- a gap of 50 percent.

Seniors oppose Obamacare by more than 2 to 1: 63 percent to 31 percent.

And the worst news of all for Democrats...

Independents oppose Obamacare by the head-turning tally of 66 percent to 28 percent."

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Where did the year go? Suddenly it is December ......again - and we realize that with giant strides we started in January and within a blink of an eye, 2009 is on its back!

A big "Thank You" to each and everyone of you, for any impact you had on my life this year. Especially for all the e-mails I received.......without you, I'm sure that 2009 would have been extremely boring.

May 2010 mark the beginning of a Tidal Wave of Love, Happiness and Bright Futures. And to those who need someone special, may you find that true love.

To those who need money, may your finances overflow

To those who need caring, may you find a good heart To those who need friends, I am still here for you .Thanks for being my friend!!

AND GOD'S BLESSING In 2010

(Thanks to a good friend in Canada!)

The Cold Heart of Obamacare

Much of the press coverage of the Democrats' health care legislation, now fiercely embattled in Congress, focuses on the public option, the actual long-term costs and tax increases, and the amendment barring funding for abortions. But the cold heart of Obamacare is its overpowering of the doctor-patient relationship – eventually resulting in the premature ending of many Americans' lives for being too costly.

To call the dangers of this legislation "death panels" obscures the real-life consequences to Americans, not only the elderly, of a federal government-run health care bureaucracy. In the Senate bill, for instance, Medicare doctors whose treatments each year of certain, mostly elderly, patients costs more than a set government figure will be punished by losing part of their own incomes....

Moreover, President Barack Obama has made clear that eventually he desires a U.S. equivalent of the British National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), a commission that decides which drugs and procedures for patients are within the national budget for health care. The current baseline expenditure for each Briton, according to Michael Tanner, is $44,305 per year.

In this country, bureaucrats keeping tabs on patients – without actually seeing them and their condition – will mean, as Tanner notes, that "every time a doctor decides on a treatment, he or she would have to ask: 'Does the government think I'm doing this too much? Will I be penalized if I order this test?'

President Obama and his supporters in Congress insist that clinical studies prove how many needless and expensive tests and procedures are so often performed. But these are collective statistics. Individual patients are left out….

"Clinical studies routinely exclude patients with more than one medical condition and often the elderly or people on multiple medications. Conclusions about what works and what doesn't work change much too quickly for policy-makers to dictate clinical practice." Everyone, regardless of political party, should keep in mind: "If doctors and hospitals are rewarded for complying with government-mandated treatment measures or penalized if they do not comply, clearly, federal bureaucrats are directing health decisions," Groopman and Hartzband wrote.

If congressional Democrats succeed in passing their health care "reform" measure to send to the White House for President Obama's signature, then they and he are determining your health decisions….

We do not elect the president and Congress to decide how short our lives will be. That decision is way above their pay grades…
by NAT HENTOFF
Syndicated columnist in The Orange County Register

More on Catholic Healthcare Association's Support for Abortion-Funding Bill

From yesterday's New York Times:

"WASHINGTON — In an apparent split with Roman Catholic bishops over the abortion-financing provisions of the proposed health care overhaul, the nation’s Catholic hospitals have signaled that they back the Senate’s compromise on the issue, raising hopes of breaking an impasse in Congress and stirring controversy within the church.

There is nothing "apparent" about it. The bishops have called the abortion-funding bill "morally unnacceptable."

According to the Times, the CHA was joined by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, currently being investigated by the Vatican.

What's the impact? The Times continues:

"...in practical political terms, some Democrats — including some opponents of abortion rights — say that the Catholic hospitals’ relative openness to a compromise could play a pivotal role by providing political cover for Democrats who oppose abortion to support the health bill. Democrats and liberal groups quickly disseminated the association’s endorsement along with others from the nuns’ group, other Catholics and evangelicals."

and

"Abortion rights supporters said the signs of openness from Catholic groups were helping some Democratic abortion foes accept the Senate compromise."

“We have known for quite some time (so have we) that the Catholic hospitals and also the nuns are really breaking from these hard-line bishops and saying, ‘This really is our goal: to get more people into health care coverage,’ ” said Representative Diana DeGette, Democrat of Colorado.

That is: they are willing to tolerate publically-funded abortion if that's what it takes to get the uninsured insurance.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Blessings at Christmas

“He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God's providence to lead him aright.” —Blaise Pascal (French mathematician, philosopher, physicist and writer, 1623-1662)

May the Lord show you the way and support you in fidelity to His law.

A Blessed Christmas!

Cardinal Laments Same-Sex "Marriage" Law

MEXICO CITY, DEC. 23, 2009 (Zenit.org).- After a law allowing same-sex "marriages" was passed by Mexico City's assembly, the archbishop of that region said that no matter the legislation, these unions will always be immoral.

Cardinal Norberto Rivera, archbishop of Mexico City, stated this after the city's legislative assembly voted Monday to legalize these unions, and to allow adoption by same-sex couples.
The mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, is expected to give the final approval of the measure.

It will never be a marriage, the prelate stated, but only a formal union between two persons of the same sex, and from the perspective of Christian values "it will always be immoral."
He stated that the opposition to homosexual "marriage" is not discrimination, but rather "recognizing and defending marriage as an essentially heterosexual institution."
"Our children and youth run the grave risk of seeing these types of unions as normal," the cardinal said, "and they can falsely understand that sexual differences are simply a personality type."

In this way, he said, they will fail to appreciate the duality of human sexuality, "which is a condition for procreation, and thus, for the conservation and development of humanity."
Cardinal Rivera continued: "Homosexual acts, in effect, close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not come from a true affective and sexual complementarity."

Obama on the Senate Bill

From the Washington Post's blog page:

"President Obama's Broken Health Care Promises"

"Every single criteri[on] I put forward is in this bill," said President Obama about health-care legislation.

Really? Obama promised not to raise taxes for anyone making less than $250,000. The Senate bill includes several tax increases that apply to people who make less than that.

Obama said he wanted a bill that would leave the status quo in place with respect to federal financing of abortion. The Senate bill provides federal funds to help pay for the cost of insurance plans that cover abortion.

Obama said there would be no benefit cuts. The bill cuts Medicare benefits, as the Congressional Budget Office has confirmed.

Obama said that health legislation shouldn't add a "dime" to the deficit. Unless you believe that Congress is going to allow steeper cuts in doctor payments than it has done before, it will add a lot more than a dime.

He said legislation would cut premiums. CBO reports that a lot of premiums will go up.

He said that legislation would reduce health-care costs. The administration's actuaries say it would cause national health-care spending to go up."

NOW IS THE ONLY TIME YOU OWN

STORY NUMBER ONE

Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.

Capone had a lawyer nicknamed 'Easy Eddie.' He was Capone's lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.
To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends, as well. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.

Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him.

Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object. And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.

Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn't give his son; he couldn't pass on a good name or a good example.

One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done.

He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al 'Scarface' Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great.

So, he testified. Within the year, Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street. But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine.

The poem read: ‘The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still.'

STORY NUMBER TWO

World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific. One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.

He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship. His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet. As he was returning to the mother ship, he saw something that turned his blood cold; a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet.

The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet.

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber's blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.

Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unfit to fly. Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction. Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier.

Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch's daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft.

This took place on February 20, 1942 , and for that action Butch became the Navy's first Ace of WW II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man.

So, the next time you find yourself at O'Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch's memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It's located between Terminals 1 and 2.

SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER? Butch O'Hare was Easy Eddie's son.

Senate Vote Update: Catholic Heath Association SUPPORTS Senate Bill

I had not known this. Tom Peters reports that the Catholic Healthcare Association supports the Senate bill, including taxpayer funded abortions.

Back on August 6, Jack Smith at "The Catholic Key" wrote:

"Since the election and during the buildup toward health care reform, Sister Carol Keehan and the Catholic Health Association she leads have come up for sharp criticism from prolife advocates. For her public support of the president's pro-abortion appointees to her campaign to enact health care reform now, she is accused of being at odds with the USCCB and the prolife cause, both of which have serious reservations about current health care proposals."

On September 11, Jack took some heat from John Allen at the National Catholic Reporter for his column. Defending Sr. Keehan, Mr. Allen wrote:

"Over the years she’s emerged as an important spokesperson for Catholic health care, including the church’s unambiguously pro-life position."

Looks like Mr. Allen owes Mr. Smith an apology.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Obamacare Moves Forward in Senate. The "Party of Death" Lives up to It's Name

Democrats: all for. Republicans: all against. The Party of Death lives up to its name.

The vote reminded me of the statement columnist Micheal Sean Winters made on July 14, 2009 in the Jesuit America magazine:

"To be clear: I have never voted for a Republican in my life. My mother told me my right hand would wither and fall to the ground if I did. But, if the President or my representatives in Congress support federal funding for abortion in any way, shape or form, I will never vote for them again and I might risk my right hand in the next election by voting for their opponent.

So, call your Senators and Representatives. Call the White House. Many of us pro-life Democrats have given the President the benefit of the doubt on the abortion issue because of his repeated commitment to trying to lower the abortion rate, a commitment he reiterated to Pope Benedict XVI last week. All the good will he has earned among Catholic swing voters, and all the arguments on his behalf progressive Catholics have mounted, all could be swept away if abortion is part of a federal option in health care. Politics is the art of compromise, but on this point, there can be none."

I'm waiting to hear what "progressive Catholics" say about this vote.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Obamacare, San Francisco Style

On December 16, the left-leaning SF Weekly ran a long story about the insanity of San Francisco government: "The Worst-Run Big City in the U.S."

It's well worth reading. Here's a short excerpt showing what happens when the government get's its hand on healthcare:

"Back in 1999, San Francisco voters were pitched a $299 million bond to "save" Laguna Honda Hospital as a 1,200-bed facility for the city's frail, elderly population. Who doesn't want to help the frail and elderly? A decade later, the Department of Public Works project is still incomplete, its price tag has swelled by nearly $200 million, and the hospital is slated to hold only 780 beds — so the city is going massively overbudget to construct a hospital only 65 percent as large as promised, which is four years behind schedule.

Amazingly, this gets worse. After securing the bond funding to save Laguna Honda as a hospital for the elderly, the Department of Public Health began transferring younger, often dangerous and mentally ill patients there and mixing them among the old people. This went about as well as you'd think: A 2006 state and federal licensing survey noted numerous instances of elder abuse, staff abuse, and patients toting drugs, alcohol, and even loaded weapons. One patient was assaulted four times in four months; to address this problem, staff erected signs reading 'No Hitting.'"

"Catholics Come Home" Initiative

Nice video from CatholisComeHome.org:



I had not heard of this before, that I remember, but it has been around for a while. The video reminds us that our civilization is the work of the Church, which I liked a lot. The Diocese of Sacramento (and others around the U.S.) will be using a variation of this video.

Our San Francisco CBS Affiliate, KPIX TV, came by today to interview Fr. John Itzaina, the pastor of Saints Peter and Paul. You can see the clip here, which also has nice shots of the church, and 94-year old Fr. Austin Conterno celebrating the Mass.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Virginia Infanticide Case

Diogenese does justice to the story out of Virginia about the Mother who killed her child and is "free as a bird."

"A woman in Virginia suffocated her newborn last week. Because the mother and child were still connected by the umbilicus and placenta at the time the former dispatched the latter, the act is considered no different from clipping a toenail. You go, girl!

Momma is free as the breeze:

“In the state of Virginia as long as the umbilical cord is attached and the placenta is still in the mother, if the baby comes out alive the mother can do whatever she wants to with that baby to kill it,” said Investigator Tracy Emerson. “She could shoot the baby, stab the baby. As long as it’s still attached to her in some form by umbilical cord or something it’s no crime in the state of Virginia.”

The news story attributes the authorities’ inability to prosecute the murder to a 'loophole in state law.' But it isn’t a loophole. It’s a carefully crafted legal fiction whose sole purpose is to declare the unborn child as something less than human in order to permit its mother to kill it...."

"Our society tolerates the gross incoherence of these legal fictions because the fictions themselves are necessary lies, necessary to the public justification of abortion. You'll notice that even the journalists find the business difficult to report without knotting themselves in contradictions. Of this case they write, 'Because the mother and baby were still connected by the umbilical cord and placenta, state law does not consider the baby to be a separate life.' They're saying, in short, state law does not consider the baby to be a baby.

Put that way, something looks wrong."

Nice to See One Man Making a Difference

Senator Ben Nelson is fighting his entire party.

The AP reports on the staunchly pro-life Nebraska Democrat:

"A moderate Democrat whose vote could be crucial said Thursday an attempted Senate compromise on abortion is unsatisfactory, raising doubts about whether the chamber can pass President Barack Obama's health care overhaul by Christmas.

"As it is, without modifications, the language concerning abortion is not sufficient," Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, a key holdout on the health care bill, said in a statement after first making his concerns known to Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev."

It is certainly nice to see one man fighting for his principles. Senator Nelson says he has other problems with the bill besides abortion, too.

Abortion ? Health Bill?

E. Christian Brugger, a senior fellow in ethics at the Culture of Life Foundation, published an essay that gives a careful analysis of the bills and laws in question.He noted that President Barack Obama himself made a false statement to Congress on Sept. 9 when he said, "[U]nder our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions.

"The falsity of the statement, Brugger explained, "is cleverly disguised."At the end of his analysis, the ethicist concludes: "[A]bortion will be available for federal funding under both the private option and the government subsidized exchange options."Presently, because of the Hyde Amendment, only abortions in extreme situations -- e.g., rape, incest, threat to the life of the mother -- can be federally funded.

VATICAN INVESTIGATION

The Vatican is conducting a doctrinal investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. For the past forty years, the LCWR has deliberately shaped religious life along a path of dissent and apostasy, emerging now finally as an advocacy group for “post-Christian” patterns of life.

It is difficult to imagine how the Vatican has allowed the manifest rebellion and catastrophic decline of female religious communities in the United States to continue for so long. It has been apparent from the first that women religious were hardest hit by the upheaval in values caused by “sexual liberation” and the rapid secularization of culture beginning in the 1960s. Indeed, the fundamentally anti-Christian commitments of many mainstream religious communities was already crystal clear by the 1970s, and after a long generation of ignoring and resisting every effort of the Vatican to bring order out of the chaos, the LCWR—which has always represented the vanguard of the deChristianization of religious life—is finally openly admitting that it is giving up not only on the Church but on Christ Himself.

The sordid history of the LCWR has been cogently recounted by Ann Carey in a fine article in the July 2009 issue of Catholic World Report: Post-Christian Sisters. If you read it, you’ll gasp again at the monumental failure of discipline on the part of Church leadership over the same long generation. This consistent failure to discipline is a scandal of huge proportions in itself, as I have often noted. What might have been handled far more simply, and with the support of many women religious, in the early 1970’s will now be almost impossible to manage without allowing many communities to die, or indeed actively suppressing them.

It has long since been obvious that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious should be disbanded (which, even if it persisted in its defiance, would eliminate its official connection with the Church). It is noteworthy that the doctrinal investigation of the LCWR is proceeding at the same time as the Apostolic Visitation of female religious communities. Readers may recall that two major visitations of American seminaries did help to get priestly formation back on track, but the biggest problems there continue to be with (male) religious institutes. The fact is that ecclesiastical governance and infrastructure facilitates responsiveness to Rome on the part of bishops far more than on the part of religious superiors. Moreover, typical dioceses never became as sick as female religious communities. One wonders, therefore, whether some limbs will have to be amputated to preserve the life of the body as a whole.

In 1992 Rome set up an alternative Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious to accommodate those who could no longer stomach the LCWR. The fact that only ten percent of female orders have since affiliated with the CMSWR is an outrageous testimony to the scope of the problem, though one would love to know what percentage of religious under age 40 are represented by that ten percent. Sadly, as has been typical in our time, what Rome has failed to do has made things worse. In the matter of women religious, Pope Benedict XVI may now have few options left.
Jeffrey Mirus - President of CatholicCulture.org

Weak-kneed Leader

Representative Patrtick Kennedy’s announcement that he’s “not going to indulge in this debate any longer,” referring to his rejection of Catholic Church beliefs, was reminiscent of a strategy George Aiken floated at the height of the Vietnam War.

“Declare victory and pull out!” the late Vermont senator suggested.

Speaking at a Brown University forum Monday evening, Kennedy said he was pulling out, having milked his confrontation with Bishop Thomas J. Tobin for all it was worth after igniting it by indiscreetly disclosing a private communication he had received from the latter.

Tobin had informed him it would be inappropriate to receive Communion as a champion of abortion.

Kennedy, like other pols before him, thus discovered it was much easier to profess his faith than it was to actually practice it, so he decided to cast himself as a martyr. Why not? There’s never been a better time to beat up on the Catholic Church. It plays well to malcontents and dissidents who’ve long resisted its teachings, and to activists and anarchists who resent its disapproval of their agendas.

What’s more, everyone knows the Catholic Church is still reeling from the scandal that erupted in its midst. Indeed, it remains such a slow-moving target that WBZ radio, never known for its spirituality, conducted a poll asking its listeners whether they felt Kennedy was worthy of receiving Communion.

It brings to mind a puckish thought from Ronald Reagan: “I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.”
No one likes to be told no, which explains why God’s been told by many to take a hike today.
“Militant secular forces have succeeded in making the very mention of a divine presence in human affairs illegal,” Rabbi David Neiman, a former BC theology professor, noted. “This has led inevitably to the notion that the idea of sin has no place in our society. Without moral law, everything is permitted.”

Maybe Kennedy was right, telling the bishop to pass the Communion and mind his own business.
But the rabbi, who’s a bit wiser, gets the nod here. “No” is a word this society needs to hear a little more often because everything is obviously not OK, no matter what our weak-kneed leaders prefer us to believe.
Joe Fitzgerald in the Boston Hearld

"Why Do They Have Whale Music at the Mass?"

This week's America magazine has an article by Father Michael G. Ryan, since 1988 pastor of St. James Cathedral in Seattle. Fr. Ryan is troubled by the new liturgical translations coming out of Rome:

"It has become painfully clear that the liturgy, the prayer of the people, is being used as a tool—some would even say as a weapon—to advance specific agendas."

Yeah, that's been painfully clear for about 46 years.

Father suggests: "...what if we were to trust our best instincts and defend our people from this ill-conceived disruption of their prayer life?" and directs people to a website where they can recommend the translations be put on hold.

I'm not sure who Father means by "we" but speaking of "ill-conceived disruptions," I will say St. James Cathedral has the distinction of being the church with absolutely the worst Mass I have ever attended. In 2008, I was in Seattle, donating a kidney to my cousin, who has diabetes. The hospital was only two blocks away from St. James. Two days before the operation was Pentecost. The Mass was a theatrical production that I won't even go into, except to say that the choirmaster had composed some special music "in the spirit of Pentecost." My cousin's daughter, in her twenties and anything but a traditionalist, leaned over and asked me "Why do they have whale music at the Mass?"

I went the next Sunday, too, during my recuperation. It didn't seem as bad, but of course by then I was on opiates.

h/t Good Jesuit, Bad Jesuit

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

The Manhattan Declaration

"Because the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of conscience and religion are foundational principles of justice and the common good, we are compelled by our Christian faith to speak and act in their defense. In this declaration we affirm: 1) the profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every human being as a creature fashioned in the very image of God, possessing inherent rights of equal dignity and life; 2) marriage as a conjugal union of man and woman, ordained by God from the creation, and historically understood by believers and non-believers alike, to be the most basic institution in society and; 3) religious liberty, which is grounded in the character of God, the example of Christ, and the inherent freedom and dignity of human beings created in the divine image."

Click on the image above to sign!

Canadian Crackpot Sounds Like John Holdren in Drag

Diane Francis, writing in Canada's Financial Post makes the same arguments Obama's science czar John Holdren made in "Ecoscience." Excerpts:

"The Real Inconvenient Truth"
The whole world needs to adopt China's one-child policy

"A planetary law, such as China's one-child policy, is the only way to reverse the disastrous global birthrate currently, which is one million births every four days....

The fix is simple. It's dramatic. And yet the world's leaders don't even have this on their agenda in Copenhagen. Instead there will be photo ops, posturing, optics, blah-blah-blah about climate science and climate fraud, announcements of giant wind farms, then cap-and-trade subsidies.

None will work unless a China one-child policy is imposed.Unfortunately, there are powerful opponents. Leaders of the world's big fundamentalist religions preach in favor of procreation and fiercely oppose birth control...

For those who balk at the notion that governments should control family sizes, just wait until the growing human population turns twice as much pastureland into desert as is now the case, or when the Amazon is gone, the elephants disappear for good and wars erupt over water, scarce resources and spatial needs."

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

New Video Features Walk for Life West Coast 2010 Speakers

That would be Lila Rose, of Live Action, and Abby Johnson, the former Director of Planned Parenthood in Bryant, Texas.

Lila continues to nail Planned Parenthood:



Both women will be speaking at the Sixth Annual Walk for Life West Coast here in San Francisco on January 23, 2010.

Senate Rejects Nelson Amendment

Healthcare bill now includes taxpayer funded abortion. Time to kill it.

"New Jesuit Review"

A new Jesuit publication has just released its first issue. It's called, aptly enough, "The New Jesuit Review"

"The New Jesuit Review has as its goals the recovery of Jesuit spirituality from its authentic sources and reflection by contemporary Jesuits on its significance for their lives. The writings of St. Ignatius and the First Companions, the lives of Jesuit saints and martyrs, and classics of Jesuit spirituality are examined in the spirit of Perfectae Caritatis, the Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life of the Second Vatican Council:

It redounds to the good of the Church that institutes have their own particular characteristics and work. Therefore let their founders' spirit and special aims they set before them as well as their sound traditions -- all of which make up the patrimony of each institute -- be faithfully held in honor. (Perfectae Caritatis, 2)"

In addition to the articles, each issue of the NJR will feature excerpts from the Founding Documents of the Society, the works of St. Ignatius and other Jesuit saints, and classic works on Ignatian spirituality.

God bless 'em!

h/t Father Z.

Why We Love John Heard

In the November 13 issue of America magazine, Father James Martin, SJ has an article called "What should a gay Catholic Do?" Father Martin lists all the things the Church says same-sex attracted Catholics can't do, and then asks:

"What kind of life remains for these brothers and sisters in Christ, those who wish to follow the teachings of the church?"

On Dreadnought, John Heard answers:

"...as millions of same sex attracted men and women will attest, the Church offers same sex attracted individuals the same life she offers all men and women: eternal life via the Cross. Those who go about their daily lives, those who go to Mass, and struggle to model obedience, and fail, and try again – these are Christians. That is all, and miraculously. We understand, indeed, that a Christian is not to look for life beyond obedience, rather obedience – even obedience unto death on the Cross – is true life."

Read both articles.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

More Good News: Ninth Circuit Says Prop 8 Case Judge "Probably Violated Constitution"

A late breaking story from the San Francisco Chronicle.

A three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has suspended Judge Vaughn Walker's order that backers of Prop 8 had to disclose their internal campaign communications. Even the ACLU thought Judge Walker was out of bounds.

"Prop. 8 backers likely to win disclosure fight

(12-03) 17:48 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge probably violated the Constitution when he ordered backers of Proposition 8, the initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California, to give their campaign strategy documents to opponents trying to overturn the measure, an appeals court said Thursday.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit of Appeals in San Francisco suspended the order that Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker issued in October against backers of Prop. 8, which state voters approved in November 2008.

Walker said lawyers for two same-sex couples and a gay-rights group were entitled to see internal memos and e-mails between Yes on 8 strategists to look for evidence that the campaign had sought to exploit anti-gay bias. Such evidence would strengthen the plaintiffs' claim that the ballot measure was discriminatory and thus unconstitutional.

Prop. 8 sponsors argued that their discussions were constitutionally protected and that orders such as Walker's would discourage candid communications in political campaigns.

The three-judge appeals court panel said the sponsors "have made a strong showing that they are likely to succeed" in their arguments. The court, which held a hearing on Walker's order on Tuesday, said it would issue a ruling soon."

Good News: New York legislators reject same-sex "marriage."

The vote to reject was bipartisan: 30 Republicans 8 Democrats. All 24 legislators voting to legalize same-sex "marriage" were Democrats.

From the AP:

"ALBANY, N.Y. — New York lawmakers rejected a bill Wednesday that would have made their state the sixth to allow gay marriage, stunning advocates who weathered a similar decision by Maine voters just last month.

The New York measure needed 32 votes to pass and failed by a wider-than-expected margin, falling eight votes short in a 24-38 decision by the state Senate. The Assembly had earlier approved the bill, and Gov. David Paterson, perhaps the bill's strongest advocate, had pledged to sign it."

Richard Barnes, Executive Director of the New York State Catholic Conference, said:

“While the Catholic Church rejects unjust discrimination against homosexual men and women, there is no question that marriage by its nature is the union of one man and one woman. Advocates for same-sex ‘marriage’ have attempted to portray their cause as inevitable. However, it has become clear that Americans continue to understand marriage the way it has always been understood, and New York is not different in that regard. This is a victory for the basic building block of our society.”

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

What's Wrong With ObamaCare?

Here's What Others Are Saying.

Conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer recently said ObamaCare "should not only be defeated. It should be immolated, its ashes scattered over the Senate swimming pool." Calling ObamaCare an "overregulated, overbureaucratized system of surpassing arbitrariness and inefficiency," Krauthammer points out that the Senate and House versions of ObamaCare together are over "4000-plus" pages and call for "118 new boards, commissions and programs."

The Wall Street Journal said the Pelosi version of ObamaCare "may well be the worst piece of post-New Deal legislation ever introduced." According to the Journal: "Taxes will need to rise precipitously, even as ObamaCare so dramatically expands government control of health care that eventually all medicine will be rationed via politics."

And the Journal adds: "Yet at this point, Democrats have dumped any pretense of genuine bipartisan 'reform' and moved into the realm of pure power politics as they race against the unpopularity of their own agenda. The goal is to ram through whatever income-redistribution scheme they can claim to be 'universal coverage.' The result will be destructive on every level -- for the health-care system, for the country's fiscal condition, and ultimately for American freedom and prosperity."

And according to a chilling analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the Pelosi version of ObamaCare requires you to purchase a government-approved plan or face a penalty of up to 2.5 percent of your income (collected by the IRS, of course) if you fail to maintain "acceptable health insurance coverage." And refusal to pay the penalty "is punishable by a fine of up to 250,000 dollars and/or imprisonment for up to five years."

This draconian provision led Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI), Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee, to say: "This is the ultimate example of the Democrats' command-and-control style of governing - buy what we tell you or go to jail."

Need we say more? ObamaCare must be defeated. Socialized medicine, rationing of care, and inferior care at a higher cost must be defeated.
GOPUSA

Surprise, surprise: SF Tax Appeals Board Rules Against Archdiocese

As we predicted.

From today's San Francisco Chronicle:

Board backs city over archdiocese in tax matter
Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer

"San Francisco's tax fight with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco is headed to court.

The city's Transfer Tax Appeals Board unanimously ruled Monday in favor of San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting's position that the archdiocese owes City Hall $14.4 million in unpaid property transfer taxes.

The panel determined that the church, in moving properties from one Catholic nonprofit corporation to another, was required to pay property transfer taxes. The taxes are collected when properties are sold or transferred to a separate and distinct legal entity.

The archdiocese maintains that the transfers were not subject to the tax because they were part of an internal reorganization to create "simple ownership models" for schools, parishes and the larger archdiocese.

Ting, however, disagreed and said the corporations involved in the transactions have different boards of directors and are legally separate.

A church spokesman called the ruling disappointing and suggested it may have been motivated by greed and politics.

"The board members, all of whom are City Hall administrators rather than members of the judiciary, apparently faced tremendous pressure in view of the city's desperate need for revenue," said Maurice Healy, spokesman for the archdiocese.

The city faces a $550 million projected deficit over the next 1 1/2 years.

The board, which held four hearings on the matter, is made up of the city controller, the city real estate director and the city tax collector, or their designees.

Healy went on to accuse Ting's office of "inexcusable delays, and, at times, arrogance," in the handling of the case, which began in the spring of 2008 when the archdiocese requested to change ownership titles of more than 200 parcels that city officials say are valued at close to $2 billion.

"We are glad that having exhausted the required administrative process we can finally proceed to a formal, neutral civil court forum," Healy said in a prepared statement.

"We trust that the civil court will carefully consider the applicable law, devoid of the sensationalism and politics that the archdiocese thus far has faced," he said...."

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

TRYING TO GET AWAY

Out of Canada comes this quote from Pajamas Media:

This year, a former Planned Parenthood executive director made national news after quitting her job. Abby Johnson watched an abortion on ultrasound and said on the Christian Broadcasting Network, “I saw that baby trying to get away from the probe that the doctor was using. … I just wanted to make it stop. … I could see it twisting and just saw it crumble. … I will never do this again.”

Although Johnson’s former employer tried to gag her, she revealed that Planned Parenthood ordered her to increase profits to the clinic by performing more abortions. “Abortion is the most lucrative part of Planned Parenthood’s operations,” she told WorldNet Daily. “Even though they’re two separate corporations, all of the money goes into one pot. With the family planning corporation really suffering, they depend on the abortion corporation to balance their budget, help get them out of the hole and help make income for the company.”

Climate-change Lies

Now we have learned that leading climate-change scientists deliberately suppressed some data, used tricks to manipulate statistics, and conspired to keep their opponents' work out of scientific journals and conferences. It's true that the evidence was obtained illicitly-- by hackers who broke into a university's computer network. But the evidence of scientific misconduct is mountainous. In email exchanges, scientists boast of using "tricks" to skew statistical results, referred to professional colleagues as "idiots," and discussed the inconvenient bits of evidence they planned to hide. In one message that neatly sums up these researchers' attitude toward scientific objectivity, one scientist vowed to keep a critical piece out of circulation "even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!" The emails seemed to show ample evidence of scholarly misconduct: a "smoking gun," as many commentators put it. But one climate-change skeptic saidThe climate-change theorists have sustained a serious blow to their credibility. Yet it appears-- for now, at least-- that they will retain their dominance in the public discussion. The mass media have fully embraced the climate-change hypothesis, and now show no inclination to question it. (Diogenes points out that the New York Times has cited public opinion as the reason not to scrutinize the data more carefully.) The world's political leaders-- who are already planning sweeping policy changes in response to the supposition that mankind has caused climate change-- are not ready to second-guess their own premature conclusions.
In short, the climate-change hypothesis is popular among the people who control political affairs and public opinion. that metaphor was inadequate: "This is not a smoking gun; this is a mushroom cloud.” ...

From an article byPhil Lawler - Director, CatholicCulture.org

Thanksgiving Day

For what do we have to be thankful?

During the tense days of the Second World War many of our Hollywood stars, both men and women, gave generously of their time and talent to assist and to entertain our servicemen here and abroad. We know, for one, that Elsa Lanchester, British-born actress, frequently gave informal parties for servicemen in her Los Angeles apartment. As each of her guests was about to leave, she asked him to write his name and address in her Servicemen's Book, as she called it.
Toward the end of each party this charming lady of the screen would address her guests in a tone that showed unquestioning trust in God. She assured them: "I promise each one of you who will write his name in my book that I will pray constantly for your safe return. God will watch over you."

As the months rolled into years, a number of these soldiers, sailors, and marines returned. Many made it a point to stop and say sincerely, "Thank you, Miss Lanchester," before they took train for home. After their departure the actress would take out her Servicemen's Book, find the name of the one who had returned safe, and check it by writing beneath the boy's name the words, "Thank you, God."

She wanted to thank God for each safe return. She did it thoroughly and efficiently. She wanted to be sure that thanks were rendered in every case. She even wrote it down.
It would be a fine idea for every one of us to have a book like that, a book in which we could write the countless blessings we have received, a book where we could write beside each blessing, "Thank You, God.”

Such a procedure may seem prosaic and mechanical, yet it is much better than the opposite-never thanking God at all. If the plan would help us to be more grateful-let's try it. Try writing down the gifts God has be stowed on you today, yesterday, all last year. And then say, "Thank You, God," or write it down beside each benefit for which you should be grateful.
Let’s make a start:
Thank You, God that I can see. There are thousands who cannot see. For them there is no sunrise or sunset; no autumn colors, no rainbow tinted flowers, no movies, no delights of the eye.
Thank You, God that I can hear. There are thousands who cannot hear the voice of their own mother, nor the singing of the birds, nor a symphony, nor the laughter of children.
Thank You, God that I can walk. I know thousands who can't take a single step, thousands who are confined to a bed or wheel chair, other thousands of men who lost their legs in a war-who spend their years in I helpless dependence on the wavering kindness of others.
Thank You, God that I can work. Look at the many who can do nothing with brain or brawn or hands.

Thank You, God that I have something to eat. Millions as good as I, maybe better, have little or nothing to eat. Thousands are dying of hunger while I sit down to a Thanksgiving feast. Thank You, God, for the bumper crops of 2003. Our vast country could feed the world. In the breadbasket of America-Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska, there are mountains of golden wheat and pyramids of golden corn, Your gifts. Help us, O God to get this food, Your food, to Your hungry children.

Thank You, God, for my Catholic Faith, which teaches me to be thankful. Thank You, God, for freedom to worship You as You wish to be worshipped. Thank You for our beautiful churches, our faithful priests, our comfortable Catholic homes.
Thank You, God, for the privilege of attending Holy Mass and receiving Holy Communion. Thank You for all the sacraments and for the life of grace in my soul.

Thanks for the trees and thanks for the birds; thanks for a drink of refreshing water; thanks for the open roads and thanks for our Churches where I can stop and visit You; thanks for that meal and thanks for that restful sleep; thanks for friends and thanks for the roof over my head; thanks for the chance to do Your work and thanks for Your generous rewards; thanks for the wine and thanks for the wheat and thanks for the Body and Blood of Your Son; thanks for the urge and chance to pray and thanks for the pains You permit; thanks for the opportunity to learn all about You, from our Catholic papers, from pamphlets, from magazines and books.
No book or library of books is large enough to record Your blessings and Your gifts. Where can I find the pen or the power or the eloquence or the words or the endurance to thank You, God, for all Your gifts? They are without limit.
Every leaf and every star is a gift. Every kernel of corn and every shaft of wheat and every drop of rain and every blade of grass is a gift. How can I ever thank You for it all?
Your gifts are without limit. My thanks must be without limit. How can I render infinite, limitless thanks?

Holy Mass is an infinite prayer and sacrifice of thanks, a limitless act of gratitude. I will offer Holy Mass; I will attend Holy Mass, especially on Thanksgiving Day. That is how I will say again and again:

"Thank You, God, thank You." Amen.

In Corde Jesu,
Victor R. Claveau, MJ

The Counter-Cathedral in the Castro.

San Jose Pastor Visits Most Holy Redeemer for Advice

In the August 24 article “Fr. Reese Comes to San Francisco: What Most Holy Redeemer Has come to Mean,” California Catholic Daily discussed the consequences of “tolerating” an openly homosexualist parish. The article noted that when in San Francisco, dissenters such as Bishop Kevin Dowling, Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese, or Bishop Thomas Gumbleton make a beeline for Most Holy Redeemer. It has become San Francisco’s counter-cathedral, famous worldwide. The article also pointed out that such visits are not harmless. They certify the presence of a separate center of teaching authority in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, a counter-cathedral--at least when the subject is homosexuality. This is obvious to everyone who is not willfully blind; right now there is a student at Notre Dame University writing a paper on the “theology” of Most Holy Redeemer Church--as if a genuine Catholic parish could have its own theology! Allowing such a separate teaching authority to exist is proving to be a monumental failure of responsibility by the Archdicese of San Francisco, and predictable consequences have followed.

The current (November 18) issue of “Metro Active San Jose” has a long article called “Gay Catholics Come Out” by Ms. Jessica Fromm. The subheadline is “Secretly, San Jose is the most gay-friendly diocese in the nation. And now, one parish wants the world to know.”

The article profiled St. Julie Billiart Parish in San Jose and its pastor, Fr. Jon Pedigo. Ms. Fromm spends the first 3000 words or so discussing the situation in San Jose. It’s a familiar litany: the difficulty homosexualist Catholics have in accepting Church teaching on the reality of marriage and the intrinsic immorality of homosexual acts, how conflicted they are between their personal experience and the teaching of the Church (who isn't?) etc. etc. She interviews a familiar cast of characters: the former Jesuit priest James B. Nickoloff, who is same-sex “married” in the state of Massachusetts and is now a fellow at the (Jesuit) Santa Clara University; the Oakland Diocese’s Fr. Jim Schnexayder, co-founder of the Catholic Association for Lesbian & Gay Ministry; Mr. Bill Welch, former President of Dignity San Jose.

More importantly, Ms. Fromm relates what Fr. Pedigo did when he realized that many same-sex attracted Catholics were attending his parish:

“Pedigo said that as he started to notice the growing LGBT Catholic community that was coming to St. Julie's, he decided to consult the established gay Catholic community at the Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in San Francisco's Castro District.” Instead of seeking advice from his bishop, Fr. Pedigo chose to consult MHR. That’s our point: MHR has become a de facto teaching authority--that’s why Fr. Pedigo consulted them, that’s why the Notre Dame student is writing a paper on their “theology." The Church hierarchy may deny that MHR has any actual authority, but Fr. Pedigo and others think they do, and are basing their actions on MHR‘s example.

Ms. Fromm continued, quoting Fr. Pedigo: "I said, 'Look, I'm a server in San Jose, and I have all these gay and lesbian people coming for baptism and wanting their babies to be baptized and raising their kids and their families Catholic. And we've got kids in the youth group who are sexual.' I asked, 'What do you guys do about this? What have you done?'"

What has Most Holy Redeemer done? It’s the church that from 2000-2008 hosted nearly-annual events by s/m groups in their parish hall; it's the church that allowed the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to receive the Blessed Sacrament; it’s the church that currently has at least six openly “same-sex married” parishioners serving at Mass as lectors, Eucharistic ministers, and acolytes; it’s the church whose Eucharistic minister/transgender activist “Lisa Rae” Dummer escorted the Young Adult Group to the 2007 Transgender Cotillion; it’s the church whose pastoral council member Matt Dorsey earlier this year condemned Archbishop Niederauer in the pages of the homosexualist Bay Area Reporter for his support of Proposition 8 and convinced the producers of San Francisco’s gay pride parade to award the Archbishop the “pink brick.”

According to Ms. Fromm, Fr. Pedigo has proved to be a good student: “From that time (when he consulted MHR) forward, Pedigo has freely acknowledged and supported the gay and lesbian Catholics who flock to St. Julie's. He publicly opposed Prop. 8, going so far as to post video interviews with gay Catholic families on his blog….”

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

American Overwhelmingly Oppose Obamacare.

From Rasmussen polling:

"Just 38% of voters now favor the health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That’s the lowest level of support measured for the plan in nearly two dozen tracking polls conducted since June.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% now oppose the plan.

Prior to this, support for the plan had never fallen below 41%. Last week, support for the plan was at 47%. Two weeks ago, the effort was supported by 45% of voters.

Catholic Higher Education in California. Is there any hope? YES.

On November 13, Pope Benedict spoke to the faculty and students of the Libera Universita Maria Santissima Assunta in Rome. His Holiness addressed the “true mission of the universities today” and expressed his ongoing concern that higher education is in crisis. He noted the specific role to be played by Catholic universities, and said they are called to act “…with fidelity to the Christian message exactly as it is presented by the Church.”

What is the state of Catholic Universities in California? Do they meet the standards the Holy Father has set forth? Do they act “with fidelity to the Christian message exactly as it is presented by the Church”? Almost uniformly, no.

On the very day the Holy Father spoke, two law professors from the Jesuit Loyola Marymount College published an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle urging both the Senate and President Obama to remove the Stupak amendment from any healthcare bill--thus undercutting the work of every Catholic bishop in the United States on the premier human rights issue of our time.

It’s not just a few professors. Look at the donations made last year for or against Proposition 8 by the faculty of California’s four largest Catholic Universities. The figures are overwhelming: at the Jesuit Loyola Marymount College: 25 donations against Prop. 8, 1 in favor. The Jesuit University of San Francisco: 22 donations against, 1 in favor. The San Diego University: 15 donations against, 2 in favor. The Jesuit Santa Clara University: 34 donations against, 2 in favor.

Can teachers transmit the Catholic understanding of something so basic as the family when they do not believe marriage is a natural relationship between one man and one woman, but is rather a creation of human convention? Such teachers are acting from a fundamentally different understanding of reality than that of the Church. The Church says: man is a creature, created by God, with a purpose defined by God. Man is limited. The secular (and now ostensibly Catholic) universities say: Man is not a creature but is a self-creating entity, a reality creating entity. Any “purpose” ascribed to man is limiting, thus oppressive, thus intolerable. So any discrimination against virtually any action is perceived as injustice. Indeed, for many young people today, the words discrimination and injustice are synonymous. After all, you too are a reality creating entity---create any reality you want, just don’t infringe on my right to create my own reality. A striking example is the presence in the four “Catholic” universities mentioned of groups devoted to “transgender rights” that is, for the right of individuals to decide for themselves which sex they belong to. But that is just the logical unfolding of the underlying principle to its end. It is a denial not only of the Christian but also of the Classical understanding of man dating back at least to Plato. It is what Pope Benedict has called “the dictatorship of relativism,” but instead of combating it, these schools embrace it.

There are some bright spots. Because the challenge is both theological and philosophical, the work of Berkeley’s Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology stands out. The DSPT offers a Masters program in both philosophy and theology. At a recent talk at Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage, Alaska, Fr. Michael Sweeney, President of the DSPT said:

“What is unique to our School is that we are the only seminary on the continent at which someone can, in three years, receive the Master of Arts degree in both philosophy and theology. This is of enormous benefit for someone who plans, for example, to pursue a doctorate in philosophy or theology, in that he or she will have real academic credential in the other field. It also affords the possibility of a concentration of study that requires the integration of both disciplines.”

The school has about 60 full time students. It also has about 30 part time students from other schools affiliated with Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union, who want a decent philosophical training.

The 2008 report of the Vatican’s Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education had this to say about the DSPT:

“The Visitation confirmed that the School’s academic program is excellent, with the students receiving a substantially complete grounding in dogmatic and moral theology. The faculty is both academically prepared and doctrinally sound….The students seem to know the issues involved in the contemporary crisis of subjectivism and moral relativism, and are adequately trained to provide a response based on reason and affirming the existence of moral and philosophical truth.”

"Moral and philosophical truth!" Unsurprisingly, and unlike the schools described above, the Dominican School is generally in need of money. It is an excellent institution for faithful Catholics to support.

To learn more about the Dominican School of Philosophy, go here.

To find out how you can contribute, go to “Support DSPT.”

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

AP: Kennedy Says Bishop Tobin Banned Him From Communion

Excerpt:

"Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has banned Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving Communion, the central sacrament of the church, in Rhode Island because of the congressman's support for abortion rights, Kennedy said in a newspaper interview published Sunday.

The decision by the outspoken prelate, reported on The Providence Journal's Web site, significantly escalates a bitter dispute between Tobin, an ultra orthodox bishop, and Kennedy, a son of the nation's most famous Roman Catholic family.

'The bishop instructed me not to take Communion and said that he has instructed the diocesan priests not to give me Communion,' Kennedy told the paper in an interview conducted Friday.

Kennedy said the bishop had explained the penalty by telling him 'that I am not a good practicing Catholic because of the positions that I've taken as a public official,' particularly on abortion.

He declined to say when or how Tobin told him not to take the sacrament. And he declined to say whether he has obeyed the bishop's injunction."

The article also quotes Michael Sean Winters of "America" Magazine:

"It's really bad theology," said Winters, who opposes abortion. "You're turning the altar rail into a battle field, a political battlefield no less, and it does a disservice to the Eucharist."

That's crazy. You're supposed to be free of serious sin before going to communion. How can an unrepentant pro-abortion politician be free of serious sin?

UPDATE:

Well, well. Turns out Bishop Tobin urged Kennedy to stop receiving the Blessed Sacrament over two years ago:

"Tobin urged Kennedy not to receive communion in a February 2007 letter, a portion of which was released publicly by Tobin's office Sunday.

'In light of the Church's clear teaching, and your consistent actions, therefore, I believe it is inappropriate for you to be receiving Holy Communion and I now ask respectfully that you refrain from doing so,' Tobin wrote. "

UPDATE II:

Canon lawyer Ed Peters weighs in.

Senate Bill Will Pass, Pro-Life Amendment Probably Impossible

The AP reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has the 60 votes neede to move the Senate's version of Obamacare forward.

This is the bill the Bishops have called "unacceptable" and Richard Doerflinger has called the worst pro-abortion bill yet.

For the bill to be amended to include something like Stupak, 60 votes will be required. Experts say that is almost certainly impossible.

HOW DID JEFFERSON KNOW?

Especially read the last quote from 1802.

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe .Thomas Jefferson

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. Thomas Jefferson

It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world. Thomas Jefferson

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. Thomas Jefferson

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. Thomas Jefferson

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. Thomas Jefferson

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. Thomas Jefferson

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Thomas Jefferson

To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.'

'If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.'-Mark Twain

WOW! 22,000 Young People in Eucharistic Procession in KC!

From Jack Smith at "The Catholic Key"


Go to "The Catholic Key" for more and bigger pictures, and Jack's report on the event.

USCCB: Senate's is "Worst Bill So Far" on Abortion

From the AP:

"At the White House on Thursday, health reform director Nancy Ann DeParle praised Reid's effort to find a compromise on abortion

It was carefully worked through by the leader, who cares a lot about making sure this maintains the status quo on abortion policy," DeParle told reporters. Obama has said he wants the bill to remain neutral on abortion, and DeParle said Reid struck just the right balance.

But Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the bishops' conference Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, said Reid's "is actually the worst bill we've seen so far on the life issues."

He called it "completely unacceptable," adding that "to say this reflects current law is ridiculous."

Call your Senator. Go to http://www.Senate.gov or call 202-224-3121. Tell them to oppose this bill by voting "NO" on Cloture this Saturday.

Why we MUST Tell Our Senators to Vote NO!

Frank Cannon, writing in "The Corner" about the choice facing ostensibly pro-life Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania:

"If he votes for cloture on the motion to proceed on the health-care bill, he will be making possible the greatest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade, and mandating that all citizens participate through federal funding. Senate majority leader Harry Reid needs all 60 Democratic senators to bring the legislation to the floor and make it the order of business. So Senator Casey has the fate of the bill completely in his power. If he adds his vote, that will mean that any effort to add the pro-life Stupak language from the House bill will require 60 pro-life votes, which, as Senator Casey knows, are not there. Casey’s original vote to proceed will have stacked the deck against defending life."

Get it? Go to http://www.Senate.gov or call 202-224-3121 to ask your senators to vote NO on the "Motion to Proceed."

The Fundamental Transformation of America

(Forwarded to me by a good friend)
When Obama wrote a book and said he was mentored as a youth by Frank, (Frank Marshall Davis) an avowed Communist, people said it didn't matter.
When it was discovered that his grandparents, were strong socialists, sent Obama's mother to a socialist school, introduced Frank Marshall Davis to young Obama, People said it didn't matter.
When people found out that he was enrolled as a Muslim child in school and his father and step father were both Muslims, people said it didn't matter.
When he wrote in another book he authored “I will stand with them (Muslims) should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.” people said it didn't matter.
When he admittedly, in his book,said he chose Marxist friends and professors in college, people said it didn't matter. When he traveled to Pakistan , after college on an unknown national passport, people said it didn't matter.
When he sought the endorsement of the Marxist party in 1996 as he ran for the Illinois Senate, people said it doesn't matter.
When he sat in a Chicago Church for twenty years and listened to a preacher spew hatred for America and preach black liberation theology, people said it didn't matter.
When an independent Washington organization, that tracks senate voting records, gave him the distinctive title as the "most liberal senator", people said it didn't matter.
When the Palestinians in Gaza , set up a fund raising telethon to raise money for his election campaign, people said it didn't matter.
When his voting record supported gun control, people said it didn't matter. When he refused to disclose who donated money to his election campaign, as other candidates had done, people said it didn't matter.
When he received endorsements from people like Louis Farrakhan and Mummar Kadaffi and Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.
When it was pointed out that he was a total, newcomer and had absolutely no experience at anything except community organizing, people said it didn't matter.
When he chose friends and acquaintances such as Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who were revolutionary radicals, people said it didn't matter.
When his voting record in the Illinois senate and in the U.S. Senate came into question, people said it didn't matter. When he refused to wear a flag, lapel pin and did so only after a public outcry,people said it didn't matter.
When people started treating him as a Messiah and children in schools were taught to sing his praises, people said it didn't matter.
When he stood with his hands over his groin area for the playing of the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, people said it didn't matter.
When he surrounded himself in the White house with advisors who were pro gun control, pro abortion, pro homosexual marriage and wanting to curtail freedom of speech to silence the opposition people said it didn't matter.
When he aired his views on abortion, homosexuality and a host of other issues,people said it didn't matter.
When he said he favors sex education in Kindergarten, including homosexual indoctrination, people said it didn't matter.
When his background was either scrubbed or hidden and nothing could be found about him,people said it didn't matter.
When the place of his birth was called into question, and he refused to produce a birth certificate, people said it didn't matter.
When it became known that George Soros, a multi-billionaire Marxist, spent a ton of money to get him elected, people said it didn't matter.
When he started appointing czars that were radicals, revolutionaries, and even avowed Marxist/Communist, people said it didn't matter.
When he stood before the nation and told us that his intentions were to "fundamentally transform this nation" into something else,people said it didn't matter.
When it became known that he had trained ACORN workers in Chicago and served as an attorney for ACORN, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed a cabinet members and several advisors who were tax cheats and socialist, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed a science czar, John Holdren, who believes in forced abortions, mass sterilizations and seizing babies from teen mothers, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed Cass Sunstein as regulatory czar and he believes in "Explicit Consent", harvesting human organs with out family consent, and to allow animals to be represented in court, while banning all hunting,people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed Kevin Jennings, a homosexual, and organizer of a group called gay, lesbian, straight, Education network, as safe school czar and it became known that he had a history of bad advice to teenagers, people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed Mark Lloyd as diversity czar and he believed in curtailing free speech, taking from one and giving to another to spread the wealth and admires Hugo Chavez, people said it didn't matter.
When Valerie Jarrett was selected as Obama's senior White House advisor and she is an avowed Socialist, people said it didn't matter.
When Anita Dunn, White House Communications director said Mao Tse Tung was her favorite philosopher and the person she turned to most for inspiration,people said it didn't matter.
When he appointed Carol Browner as global warming czar, and she is a well known socialist working on Cap and trade as the nations largest tax, people said it doesn't matter.
When he appointed Van Jones, an ex-con and avowed Communist as green energy czar, who since had to resign when this was made known, people said it didn't matter.
When Tom Daschle, Obama's pick for health and human services secretary could not be confirmed, because he was a tax cheat, people said it didn't matter.
When he traveled around the world criticizing America and never once talking of her greatness, people said it didn't matter.
When his actions concerning the middle-east seemed to support the Palestinians over Israel , our long time friend, People said it doesn't matter.
When he took American tax dollars to resettle thousands of Palestinians from Gaza to the United States, people said it doesn't matter.
When he upset the Europeans by removing plans for a missile defense system against the Russians,People said it doesn't matter.
When he played politics in Afghanistan by not sending troops the Field Commanders said we had to have to win, people said it didn't matter.
When he started spending us into a debt that was so big we could not pay it off,people said it didn't matter. When he took a huge spending bill under the guise of stimulus and used it to pay off organizations, unions and individuals that got him elected, people said it didn't matter. When he took over insurance companies, car companies, banks, etc.people said it didn't matter. When he took away student loans from the banks and put it through the government,people said it didn't matter. When he designed plans to take over the health care system and put it under government control,people said it didn't matter. When he set into motion a plan to take over the control of all energy in the United States through Cap and Trade,people said it didn't matter.
When he finally completed his transformation of America into a Socialist State , people finally woke up........ but it was too late.
Any one of these things, in and of themselves does not really matter. But.... when you add them up one by one you get a phenomenal score that points to the fact that our Obama is determined to make America over into a Marxist/Socialist society. All of the items in the preceding paragraphs have been put into place. All can be documented very easily. Before you disavow this, do an internet search. The last paragraph alone is not yet cast in stone. You and I will write that paragraph. Will it read as above or will it be a more happy ending for most of America ? Personally, I like happy endings.
If you are an Obama Supporter, please do not be angry with me because I think your president is a socialist. There are too many facts supporting this. If you seek the truth you will be richer for it. Don't just belittle the opposition. Search for the truth. I did. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Constitutionalist, Libertarians and what have you, we all need to pull together. We all must pull together or watch the demise of a society that we all love and cherish. If you are a religious person, pray for our nation. Never before in the history of America have we been confronted with problems so huge that the very existence of our country is in jeopardy. Don't rely on most television news and what you read in the newspapers for the truth. Search the internet.
Yes, there is a lot of bad information, lies and distortions there too but you are smart enough to spot the fallacies. Newspapers are a dying breed. They are currently seeking a bailout from the government. Do you really think they are about to print the truth?
Obama praises all the television news networks except Fox who he has waged war against. There must be a reason. He does not call them down on any specifics, just a general battle against them. If they lie, he should call them out on it but he doesn't. Please, find the truth, it will set you free. Our biggest enemy is not China, Russia, Iran; no, our biggest enemy is a contingent of politicians in Washington DC