The Notre Dame Debacle: A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

(Courtesy of Father Z.)

House Adopts Plan for Mandatory "Volunteer" Corps

By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a plan to set up a new "volunteer corps" and consider whether "a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people" should be developed.

The legislation also refers to "uniforms" that would be worn by the "volunteers" and the "need" for a "public service academy, a 4-year institution" to "focus on training" future "public sector leaders." The training, apparently, would occur at "campuses."

The vote yesterday came on H.R. 1388, which reauthorizes through 2014 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, acts that originally, among other programs, funded the AmeriCorps and the National Senior Service Corps.

It not only reauthorizes the programs, but also includes "new programs and studies" and is expected to be funded with an allocation of $6 billion over the next five years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Many, however, are raising concerns that the program, which is intended to include 250,000 "volunteers," is the beginning of what President Obama called his "National Civilian Security Force" in a a speech last year in which he urged creating an organization as big and well-funded as the U.S. military. He has declined since then to elaborate.

WND reported when a copy of the speech provided online apparently was edited to exclude Obama's specific references to the new force.
The video of his statements is posted [below]:

The new bill specifically references the possibilities "if all individuals in the United States were expected to perform national service or were required to perform a certain amount of national service."

Such new requirements perhaps, the legislation notes, "would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds."

No one, apparently with the exception of infants, would be excluded . . . (continue reading)

I've Got to Hand it to the Mormons

They really do have a nack for producing creative, technically excellent media spots, such as this TV commercial. Only recently have Catholics (e.g., www.virtuemedia.org, www.catholicscomehome.org) started producing commercials at this high level. We can learn a lot from them in this particular area.

The Flood Waters Are Rising, And This Guy May Be the Helicopter

You know the old story about the guy who's caught in a flood. As all his neighbors are evacuating, he is determined to stay put in his house, and no amount of their entreaties can persuade him to join them in escaping the rising waters. He tells them that God will save him and, as they scram, he prays earnestly for divine deliverance.

The flood waters rise and flood his house. And he keeps on praying. Soon, rescue workers in a pontoon boat float by and urge him to jump in. He declines, saying that he is certain that God will answer his prayers and save him. Soon, he's forced to climb up onto the roof, and another boat sails over to rescue him, but he declines. He is waiting for God to act and save him. A short time later, another boat passes by, its occupants pleading with him to climb on board and head with them to safety. He refuses, determined to wait for God's response.

He is now standing on his tiptoes on the highest gable of his roof, and the flood waters are swirling around his neck. It looks like the end is near, when a rescue helicopter, seeing him in his last extremity, swoops down with a rope ladder lowered to him. The pilot calls out to him over the loudspeaker to grab the ladder and be carried to safety. But he won't budge.

"I believe that God will help me out of this danger!" He shouts back, his words lost in the din of the rotors. The helicopter pilot shakes his head in saddened disbelief and flies off.

A few minutes later, the flood waters rise over the man's head and he drowns.

Now, he's standing at the pearly gates and asks St. Peter in hurt astonishment, "How come God didn't save me? I prayed and prayed and nothing happened!"

St. Peter leans down toward the fellow and says, "The Good Lord sent you three rescue boats and a helicopter. What more did you want?"

That venerable adage contains a lot of truth. And while it doesn't make for an exact parallel with this video you're about to watch, I think there is enough of a connection that we should keep it in mind as we think about what things we should do to prepare for turbulent times ahead, trusting in the Lord's gracious providence while at the same time using our common sense and being prudent. Think about that when you watch this video clip of Gerald Celente's latest warning about the coming economic collapse.

I've brought you commentary by Gerald Celente on this blog before. Some of you have sent me notes to say that, as grim and frightening as his economic forecasts have been (and he has shown an amazing track record of bang-on-the-bullseye accuracy with his predictions), listening to his message has helped clarify your own thinking about what moves you need to be making now to be less vulnerable when the guacamole hits the fan.

Scoff if you like, but I seriously doubt you'll be scoffing in a year or so.

Are You Pro-Life? The Government May Assume You're a Militia Member

And I'm not talking about St. Maximilian Kolbe's Militia Immaculatae either. The rapid spread of what are known as "fusion centers," government-operated data processing sites (58 of which are currently known to exist across the U.S.) that use highly sophisticated data-mining programs to correlate vast amounts of personal data about U.S. citizens, are raising questions about how that data will be used. This news story is reporting that there may be evidence to suggest that completely non-violent groups, such as pro-life organizations and, for that matter, individual pro-life citizens, are being classified as potentially dangerous. See what you think:

If you're an anti-abortion activist, or if you display political paraphernalia supporting a third-party candidate or a certain Republican member of Congress, if you possess subversive literature, you very well might be a member of a domestic paramilitary group.

That's according to "The Modern Militia Movement," a report by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC), a government collective that identifies the warning signs of potential domestic terrorists for law enforcement communities.

"Due to the current economical and political situation, a lush environment for militia activity has been created," the Feb. 20 report reads. "Unemployment rates are high, as well as costs of living expenses. Additionally, President Elect Barrack [sic] Obama is seen as tight on gun control and many extremists fear that he will enact firearms confiscations."

MIAC is one of 58 so-called "fusion centers" nationwide that were created by the Department of Homeland Security, in part, to collect local intelligence that authorities can use to combat terrorism and related criminal activities. More than $254 million from fiscal years 2004-2007 went to state and local governments to support the fusion centers, according to the DHS Web site.

During a press conference last week in Kansas City, Mo., DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano called fusion centers the "centerpiece of state, local, federal intelligence-sharing" in the future.

"Let us not forget the reason we are here, the reason we have the Department of Homeland Security and the reason we now have fusion centers, which is a relatively new concept, is because we did not have the capacity as a country to connect the dots on isolated bits of intelligence prior to 9/11," Napolitano said, according to a DHS transcript.

"That's why we started this . . . Now we know that it's not just the 9/11-type incidents but many, many other types of incidents that we can benefit from having fusion centers that share information and product and analysis upwards and horizontally." (continue reading)

Twitter: Through the Eyes of a Skeptic

Even though I do like Twitter (been on it for four whole months now), not everyone does. And this look at Twitter through the eyes of those who don't like it is actually rather accurate, at least with regard to those users who really do love to answer the question, "What are doing?" over, and over, and over again throughout the day.

Needless to say, that's not how I use Twitter, and the folks who are joining my network typically do not use it that way either. But some folks surely do. And to all of them, I dedicate this little video.

And now, if you'd like the positive side of Twitter, check out this serious, approving article from PC Magazine — "Nine Ways to Use Twitter" — (and then click to join my network!).

Pornography's Growing Technological Reach

One week from today, the star of [some pornographic movies] will walk onto the campus of Truman State University in Kirksville to debate a pastor on the subject most dear to his heart: porn. It will fall to the Rev. Craig Gross to rebut actor Ron Jeremy's arguments that pornography is a harmless activity that most people pursue in the privacy of their own homes. . .

The Truman State debate is just one upcoming anti-porn event organized by local Christians. Such events reflect mounting distress among Christians over pornography's growing technological reach.

From individual congregations to large organizations like the St. Louis Archdiocese, the Missouri Baptist Convention and the local stakes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, anxious religious leaders are confronting what some call an increasingly dangerous moral threat to children and marriages.

Rick Schatz is on the executive board of the Cincinnati-based Religious Alliance Against Pornography, representing about 50 faith groups and Christian denominations.

"We've been around for 23 years, and I have never seen the level of concern among faith leaders that I have in the last year," Schatz said. "Because of the explosion in new, mobile technologies, there's a new threat level."

The AVN Media Network, which tracks the pornography industry, reported total retail sales of $13 billion in 2006, the latest year for which numbers are available. . . (continue reading)

The Future of Food: Watch What You Eat

He Threw It All Away

In an excellent new First Things article, Robert George writes:

In the early 1970s, Lutheran pastor Richard John Neuhaus was poised to become the nation’s next great liberal public intellectual—the Reinhold Niebuhr of his generation. He had going for him everything he needed to be not merely accepted but lionized by the liberal establishment. First, of course, there were his natural gifts as a thinker, writer, and speaker.

Then there was a set of left-liberal credentials that were second to none. He had been an outspoken and prominent civil rights campaigner, indeed, someone who had marched literally arm-in-arm with his friend Martin Luther King. He had founded one of the most visible anti-Vietnam war organizations. He moved easily in elite circles and was regarded by everyone as a “right-thinking” (i.e., left-thinking) intellectual-activist operating within the world of mainline Protestant religion.

Then something happened: Abortion. It became something it had never been before, namely, a contentious issue in American culture and politics. Neuhaus opposed abortion for the same reasons he had fought for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. At the root of his thinking was the conviction that human beings, as creatures fashioned in the image and likeness of God, possess a profound, inherent, and equal dignity.

This dignity must be respected by all and protected by law. That, so far as Neuhaus was concerned, was not only a Biblical mandate but also the bedrock principle of the American constitutional order. Respect for the dignity of human beings meant, among other things, not subjecting them to a system of racial oppression; not wasting their lives in futile wars; not slaughtering them in the womb. . . . (read more)

In Praise of P.J. O'Rourke, Slayer of Stem-Cell Myths

(When P.J. O'Rourke says, "laugh," I say, "how high?")

For two decades now, I have read with gusto many of P.J. O'Rourke's articles and almost all his books (Parliament of Whores, Give War a Chance, Age and Guile, Driving Like Crazy, All the Trouble In the World, etc., etc., etc.) and I, like his myriad of other avid readers, not only chortle, laugh, and wine-shooting-out-of-my-nose guffaw my way through his unrelentingly funny social commentaries (read any of the aforementioned titles to get the gist of this), I almost always learn something in the bargain.

Often, what I learn from him is deadly serious, though the man has an inimitable way of making "serious as a heart attack" themes so gol-darn funny that how he imparts serious information can be pure, unadulterated bliss.

It is, of course, always repellent to read the fine details of odious things like income taxes, crime, drug abuse, poverty, destitution, disease, horrible maimings, death, and American politics — though not when these issues are discussed by O'Rourke, the guru of gainsaying.

So, do yourself a nice favor and check out his new article “Stem Cell Sham: The President as Sophist,” a response to El Lider Maximo's recent speech in which he hailed himself for having the far-sighted courage to reverse the previous administration's (sagacious) ban on fetal stem-cell research.

You'd never imagine in a million years that this subject could be funny, and it's not. No, not even ole P.J. could make it so. Though he does do the next best thing. He shows how laughably ludicrous the rationale is that El Lider Maximo foisted on the American public for his decision. If you don't know whether to laugh or cry in reaction to the preposterously wrong positions and decisions that our newly elected Lider is making and taking, read P.J.'s new article and you'll know which way to tilt, at least for a little while.

Free Stations of the Cross Booklet to Enrich Your Lenten Prayers

and receive your free copy ($4.95 for shipping and handling) of our inspiring new booklet, Meditations on the Stations of the Cross. It will enrich your Lent by helping you deepen your relationship with Love Himself, Jesus Christ. Here is just a sample of the lovingly-crafted words and images that await you in these pages:

Meditations on the Stations of the Cross was written by Dr. Ron Thomas, Assistant Professor of Theology at Belmont Abbey College. The Stations photographed in the booklet grace the nave of the Abbey Basilica of Mary Help of Christians at Belmont Abbey in Belmont, North Carolina. Dr. Thomas is a convert to the Catholic faith after having served for 13 years as an Episcopalian priest and 5 years as a Methodist minister. He received his doctorate in theology from the University of Cambridge in England.

Our booklet is published with the permission of the Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis, Bishop of Charlotte.

and receive your free copy ($4.95 for shipping and handling), or to order multiple copies in bulk for your parish, Bible study group, or family.

Caught on Tape: More Abortion-Clinic Chicanery

These abortion-clinic zealots are as deceitful as they are relentless. Those wretched lying liars. They are doing the work of the devil by killing all those unborn children, day after blood-money making day, and they have no compunction about being mendacious to accomplish their evil goal.

Jesus declared: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

Check out this new undercover video documentation of the staffs of two Arizona abortion clinics deliberately ignoring state law regarding reporting sexual abuse of minors. That these people would engage in or advise subterfuge in the service of performing an abortion on a minor should come as no surprise. (Video courtesy of CatholicEdition.com)

Bishop Martino of Scranton Bars Pro-Abortion Officials From St. Patrick’s Day Masses

Explaining that he is determined to “prevent scandal,” Bishop of Scranton, Joseph Martino, has said that he will cancel Masses for St. Patrick’s Day or for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade if any pro-abortion officials are honored at the holiday events.

The bishop said that scandal could arise if the Catholic Church is seen to be involved in honoring such officials.

John M. Dougherty, the Auxiliary Bishop of Scranton, explained Bishop Martino’s views in a Feb. 6 letter to John Keeler, President of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick of Lackawanna County.

Saying that St. Peter’s Cathedral plays “no small role” in the local observance of St. Patrick’s Day, Bishop Dougherty noted that local celebrations often honor elected public officials. This honoring takes place when they are given parade positions or dais opportunities.

“While some of the officials have merited the pride our local people take in them, others have positions and voting records that have contributed to the daily killing of the unborn by abortion,” Bishop Dougherty wrote. . . . (source)

Israeli Ambassador Confirms Pope Benedict May Wear Cross at Western Wall

Contrary to comments attributed to an Israeli rabbi, Pope Benedict XVI will not be barred from entering the holy area of Jerusalem’s Western Wall while wearing a cross.

On Tuesday the Jerusalem Post quoted Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, who oversees worship matters at the Western Wall, as saying that the Pope should not wear a cross during his visit to the area.

“It is not fitting to enter the Western Wall area with religious symbols, including a cross,” the rabbi reportedly said, according to SIR.

Mordechay Lewy, Israel’s Ambassador to the Holy See, issued a clarifying statement saying that the Jerusalem Post’s quotation was “misleading.”

Ambassador Lewy said that Israel will “respect, as a matter of course, the religious symbols of the Holy Father and of his entourage, as expected in accordance with rules of hospitality and dignity,” following the same procedure applied in Pope John Paul II’s papal visit to Israel in 2000.

(source)

"What About Me? Protect My Life!"

Catholic Church in Spain joins academics in protest against proposed abortion reforms.

More than 300 scientists, professors, and scholars signed a manifesto in Madrid yesterday, opposing proposed reforms to Spain's abortion laws. The Church has also launched a campaign against the proposed laws, using billboards depicting a toddler beside an Iberian Lynx - one of the most highly protected species in Spain. The caption reads: "What about me? Protect my life."

The current law allows abortion up to 12 weeks in cases of rape and 22 weeks in cases of foetal malformation. The proposed law would allow abortion up to 22 weeks if a doctor certified a serious threat to the health of the mother or foetal malformation.

Defending the right to life, beginning at conception, the manifesto says: "neither the embryo nor the foetus form a part of a organ of the mother," "an abortion is a simple and cruel act of terminating a human life," that mothers should be made aware of the psychological damages of post-abortion syndrome and that "the zygote is the initial corporeal reality of the human being."

Among the 12 points mentioned in the manifesto, they defend "human life in its initial stage, as an embryo and as a foetus" and they reject "the use of abortion for economic or ideological lucrative interests."

They call for a written and "correct interpretation of the scientific facts on human life in all its stages." They also mention the social consequences of abortion, which they call "tragic" and regret the fact that "a society that remains indifferent to the slaughter of nearly 120,000 babies each year, is a society that is unwell and a failure."

They reject the possibility that at 16 years of age, a girl can abort without parental consent and claim that "an abortion law without restrictions would make the woman the only one responsible for a violent act against the life of her own son."

Among the signatories are Professors Nicolás Jouve, Dean of Genetics; César Nombela, Dean of Microbiology; Francisco Abadía Fenoll, retired Dean of Cellular Biology; and Julio Navascués Martínez, Dean of Cellular Biology.

(source)