For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. ---Ephesians 6:12


"The age of casual Catholicism is over; the age of heroic Catholicism has begun. We can no longer be Catholics by accident, but instead must be Catholics by CONVICTION." ---Fr. Terrence Henry TOR, Franciscan University of Steubenville

Friday, January 30, 2009

NBC Rejects Positive And Uplifting Pro-Life Ad

The pro-life ad that everyone is viewing and talking about, that shows an ultrasound video image of a baby in the womb, will not be aired during the Super Bowl, in spite of its popularity and G-rating. NBC, who is carrying this year's Super Bowl, rejected the ad after intense negotiations because they refuse to air ads dealing with "political advocacy and issues," even though the ad presents the issue in a very positive way. Read all about it HERE.

PETA also tried to get an ad aired on the Super Bowl, and it was also rejected. However there was no mention of political advocacy as the reason why NBC rejected theirs. Instead it was barred primarily due to the sexually explicit nature of the ad.

NBC has come under fire both from conservative talk show hosts from radio and TV and from their own Saturday Night Live for being in the tank for Barack Obama. This pro-life ad rejection is simply the latest example of their nearly complete abandonment of objectivity, and why the Fairness Doctrine being proposed by members of Congress should extend well beyond talk radio, or better yet, be axed altogether.

Here is the ad again:




(h/t: Gateway Pundit)

Pat Quinn Replaces Ousted Blagojevich

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is now FORMER Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, as of late yesterday afternoon when the Illinois Senate voted unanimously, 59-0, to remove him from office. All this in spite of his appearance on The View, or his last minute impassioned speech in which he claimed the evidence against him was incomplete. Read about it HERE.


Lt. Governor Pat Quinn (seen left) immediately took the oath of office after the senate vote, and is now IL Governor. I hope his house is clean, because Illinois has a nasty habit of bumping off its leaders.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Is THIS What America Signed Onto?


It is expected that President Barack Hussein Obama will soon sign into law the so-called Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which will overturn any other existing laws restricting abortion. It will be the perfect infanticidal storm when implemented.

Ironically, the IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act which Obama voted against 3 times (but lied about in the Presidential Debates) is expected to be included in those laws overturned. He was the only one to vote against it as an IL state legislator back then, and now he will finally get his way. Is this what the country signed onto when they voted for this guy? Every so often (but more often in the last 18 years) this country has to learn the hard way that it's actually better to put the grown-ups in charge. I wonder if we will recover from this one?

It is now more important than ever to win the hearts and minds of the American people issue by issue by explaining things in simple, easy-to-understand language that even a liberal can understand:

At Desiring God, a Calvinist Christian site, you will find a page with 15 pro-life truths you can pass on to your pro-choice friends to sort of bring them back down to Earth where common sense can sometimes be found----


[1. Existing fetal homicide laws make a man guilty of manslaughter if he kills the baby in a mother's womb (except in the case of abortion).

2. Fetal surgery is performed on babies in the womb to save them while another child the same age is being legally destroyed.

3. Babies can sometimes survive on their own at 23 or 24 weeks, but abortion is legal beyond this limit.

4. Living on its own is not the criterion of human personhood, as we know from the use of respirators and dialysis.

5. Size is irrelevant to human personhood, as we know from the difference between a one-week-old and a six-year-old.

6. Developed reasoning powers are not the criterion of personhood, as we know from the capacities of three-month-old babies.

7. Infants in the womb are human beings scientifically by virtue of their genetic make up.

8. Ultrasound has given a stunning window on the womb that shows the unborn at eight weeks sucking his thumb, recoiling from pricking, responding to sound. All the organs are present, the brain is functioning, the heart is pumping, the liver is making blood cells, the kidneys are cleaning fluids, and there is a fingerprint. Virtually all abortions happen later than this date.

9. Justice dictates that when two legitimate rights conflict, the limitation of rights that does the least harm is the most just. Bearing a child for adoption does less harm than killing him.

10. Justice dictates that when either of two people must be inconvenienced or hurt to alleviate their united predicament, the one who bore the greater responsibility for the predicament should bear more of the inconvenience or hurt to alleviate it.

11. Justice dictates that a person may not coerce harm on another person by threatening voluntary harm on themselves.

12. The outcast and the disadvantaged and exploited are to be cared for in a special way, especially those with no voice of their own.

13. What is happening in the womb is the unique person-nurturing work of God, who alone has the right to give and take life.

14. There are countless clinics that offer life and hope to both mother and child (and father and parents), with care of every kind lovingly provided by people who will meet every need they can.

15.Jesus Christ can forgive all sins, and will give all who trusts him the help they need to do everything that life requires.

Here are the places where most abortions are done in the Minnesota. Ask God how the gospel of Christ might be most fruitfully shared with those who work here, with a view to saving life now and for eternity. The one nearest the church (Meadowbrook) advertises on their website that they do abortions up to 21.6 weeks.


Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, HIGHLAND PARK CLINIC: 1965 Ford Parkway, St. Paul, MN 55116; (651) 698-2406. medicalservices@ppmsd.org; http://www.ppmsd.org/medical/highlandpark.asp

Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, MINNEAPOLIS CLINIC: 1200 Lagoon Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55408, (612) 823-6300; medicalservices@ppmsd.org; http://www.ppmsd.org/medical/minneapolis.asp

Meadowbrook Women's Clinic, P.A.: 825 South 8th Street, Suite 1018, Minneapolis, MN 55404, (612) 376-7708; info@meadowbrookclinic.com; http://www.meadowbrookclinic.com/about.htm

The Robbinsdale Clinic: 3819 West Broadway, Minneapolis, MN 55422; (763) 533-2534;
http://www.robbinsdaleclinic.com/location_and_directions.htm

Midwest Health Center for Women: 33 South Fifth Street, Fourth Floor, Minneapolis, MN 55402; (612) 332-2311; http://www.gynpages.com/midwest/

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org]

I included the abortion clinics with contact information because they should be held accountable for their crimes against humanity. Feel free to contact them and express your opinions in a reasoned and civilized manner. In case they seem hard of hearing, you may wish to scream loudly. Huh? Do I have an attitude???

(hat tip: Brutally Honest)

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Vatican Launches Pope's YouTube Channel


Like Queen Elizabeth in 2007 and President Obama a couple of days ago, Pope Benedict XVI launched his very own YouTube channel from the Vatican yesterday in a promising effort to make himself readily available to a younger, tech-savvy audience. And although he has certain reservations towards "new media," (they often "tivialize sex and promote violence"), he called social networking sites a "gift to humanity," but one that is not without its risks.

See the YouTube channel by clicking HERE.

See the Vatican website by clicking HERE. And take the virtual tours!

President Obama Quietly Signs Death Warrant For Unborn Babies Overseas


Without fanfare...without the press in attendance...President Obama issued an executive order yesterday, reversing the Bush administration's ban on federal funding to international organizations which provide abortions, mostly in developing countries.

It was expected Obama would issue this order, as President Clinton did too, shortly after taking office. The original ban was issued by President Reagan in 1984, continued under President George H. W. Bush, and re-enacted under his son, President George W. Bush. Hopefully it will be enacted yet again under a Republican President in four years after Obama is (hopefully) booted out of office.

The fact that Obama tried to do this under the radar was not lost on St. Blogustine. We know that Obama, being the only (then) state legislator to vote against the IL Born Alive Infants Protection Act, knows abortion is a touchy issue for the 47% who voted against him. And this is why no press was present at the signing of this particular executive order. Obama needs a unified country in this time of international and economic strife. Makes me wounder how he'll go about signing the FOCA. In the middle of the night, perhaps??? Or possibly just after some natural disaster ravages an entire state, hoping FOCA will be lost in the back pages of the newspapers. We pray we will never find out.

(photo from DailyMail online)

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Pro-life Video From CatholicVote.org



This was sent to us via email from Paul. An excellent video in honor of both the Presidential Inauguration (which I somehow missed, though I didn't actually miss it) and today's March For Life.

Isn't it ironic that Obama, a man from meager beginnings and a broken home, seems to have no qualms about making abortion available to anyone at anytime for those very reasons. He wouldn't wish to "punish (his own) daughters with a baby," in spite of the fact that baby could grow up to be President like him.

Very sorry I could not get today off to attend the March For Life. Perhaps next year. I was, however, there in spirit. And so was our friend, Paul.

www.CatholicVote.org

Monday, January 19, 2009

GOOD NEWS-- President Bush Commutes Sentences of Ramos And Compean


On Monday President Bush commuted the sentences of former border agents Ramos and Compean, who were sentenced to prison for 11 and 12 year sentences, due to pressure mostly from conservatives, but even from a few liberals, all of whom felt the punishment was much too harsh. Read all about it by clicking HERE.

It is too bad he waited so long to do what should have been done ages ago, being that so much damage has been done to the lives of the prisoners and their families, but we consider this wonderful news and wish the best for both Ramos and Compean.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Send A Free Fax To President Bush Asking Him To Pardon Ramos And Compean


Former border patrol agents and current prisoners Ramos and Compean have not been pardoned yet by outgoing President Bush, for reasons we can only imagine. Here is a portion of Laura Ingraham's latest E-blast on the subject:

[As Laura Ingraham Show listeners already know, Ramos & Compean were arrested and jailed after shooting an illegal alien along the El Paso border in 2005. The victim, not that he deserves such a label, was a drug smuggler fleeing for Mexico. He wasn't badly hurt, yet after a problem-riddled trial, the agents received 11- and 12-year sentences. (By comparison, radical attorney Lynne Stewart received 28 months for providing material support to anti-American terrorists.) Since then, Ramos & Compean have been locked up in solitary confinement; Ramos has been beaten by fellow inmates, his home has been burglarized and vandalized; both agents' children are being raised without a father, and their wives have been deprived of their husbands.

Again, all of this comes as payment for their attempts at securing America. Commuting Ramos and Compean's sentences would hardly be partisan or even controversial.

Democrats like Reps. Bill Delahunt (D-Ma.), Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) support commutation, as do all but three of Texas's 34 congressmen. Even Johnny Sutton, the U.S. Attorney who tried the case, has said the decade-plus sentences are excessively harsh.]

You can click HERE to go to Numbers USA to send a FREE FAX directly to the White House to President Bush asking him to pardon those two men. If fact you can send several different FREE FAXES to the President and members of Congress on several issues. For more information click HERE for Roy Beck's blog. Now get busy!

How about a little bit of God's mercy, Mr. President?

"22 Weeks" To Premier In Washington DC



Here is the trailer for the 30 minute Pro-Life movie, 22 Weeks, which is to have its premier in Washington DC on January 21st, the evening before the March For Life. See Jill Stanek's blog and BornAliveTruth.org for more information on tickets for the showing.

From Jill Stanek's blog:

22Weeks tells the true story of a young woman locked in the bathroom of an abortion clinic after her aborted baby was born alive. It's a film about decisions and the echoes they leave behind. The film includes the reenactment of an actual 911 call. 22Weeks confronts the outer reaches of one of the most controversial subjects of our time. It places the viewer on both sides of the spectrum and asks the chilling question, "What would you do?"


Now if Hollywood ever came to its senses and produced full-feature-length movies of this kind, abortion would be a thing of the past... instead of a liberal rallying cry.

Friday, January 16, 2009

A Six Minute History Lesson On Why Hamas Will Never Make Peace With Israel



When organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Quaeda, or countries like Iran and Syria proclaim their hatred for Israel, and express a desire to see Israel destroyed, they mean it. That is their ultimate goal. Any peace treaty they agree to is only temporary, while they plot further toward the destruction of Israel. And the video above shows why...

(hat tip: Pam at Atlas)

Some French Have Other Ideas...

Some French people have had issues with the glowing support for Israel displayed by some of its citizens and have chosen to remind us how ugly Europeans can be.

Here are some links to recent stories of French antisemitism:

Man Wearing Jewish Star Stabbed Repeatedly In Paris

Two More Synagogues In France Defiled

Another Jewish Synagog Bombed In Paris

All of these can be found on Pamela Geller's blog, Atlas Shrugs, which seems to be on top of issues regarding the Gaza conflict and world reaction to it.

"Think Twice Before Marrying A Muslim" Says Catholic Cardinal


According to The Daily Telegraph, Jose Cardinal Policarpo, the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, Portugal, has warned Roman Catholic women thinking about marrying Muslim men, to think twice before doing so. He states that the only truth Muslim men are interested in hearing is their own, and that "dialogue (with them) is extremely difficult."

He also brought to attention the nasty treatment that the non-Muslim wives receive when they are taken by their Muslim husbands into Muslim countries. Many of these wives never return to their native country, because once they are in Muslim lands they are considered chattel and have no rights of their own. They cannot travel freely or do anything else without their husband's permission. Life becomes an unthinkable nightmare.

No reaction yet from the 40,000 Muslims living in Portugal.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Anti-Israel Protests Litter Europe,...But The French Show Support



Pam Geller at Atlas Shrugs has been following the conflict in Gaza as well as the protests all over Europe and elsewhere, very closely. There are several sets of photos she has collected revealing a plethora of Islamofascist and anti-Semitic sentiment in several locations, some of which might surprise you. Even Ireland has its Hamas supporters.

But even more surprising is the pro-Israel demonstration that happened in, of all places, PARIS. Yes! About 12,000 French did this earlier today.

But yesterday a Dutch MP by the name of Harry Van Bommel, a socialist (big surprise there), joined in with Hamas supporters in Holland in calling for an intifada against Israel, while behind him the Jew-hating Dutch chanted "Hamas, Hamas, joden aan het gas!" which translates to "Hamas, Hamas, gas the Jews." See the You Tube video below.







If you have read Oriana Fallaci's books, The Rage And The Pride or The Force Of Reason, or if you have read America Alone by Mark Steyn, or even Londonistan by Melanie Phillips, then the extent of Islamofascist penetration into western civilization should be of no surprise.

If you plan to be in or around New York City on Tuesday, January 6th at 12:30pm, by all means stop by the Israeli Consulate at 42nd Street and 2nd Avenue, where a huge pro-Israel rally is planned. Shouldn't we all stand up for a country as patient as Israel to defend itself against rocket attacks from its neighbors?

Si Se Puede!


New Mexico Governor and Commerce Secretary Nominee, Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name from contention for the cabinet position due to allegations of corruption in a recent probe (on top of the other ongoing allegations of "pay to play" practices involving Richardson the FBI is looking into) involving a company called CDR Financial Products. Michelle Malkin has the details HERE.

After Barack Hussein Obama won the election in November there were clamors among the impatient liberals and deranged Bush-haters for Bush to step down early. That way, Obama could get to work quickly on saving the planet from certain destruction. With that in mind, I find it rather amusing that before Obama has taken office, he and his future administration are already tied to 7 scandals. Are there more on the horizon? Michelle suggests it might possibly be Carol Browner, a likely choice for energy czar.

More Funnies...(before Kev and I hunker down and do some work)

From the blog of Jill Stanek...

The Madoff Plan



















From Paul