3/14/09

Pioneer Spirit Must Prevail


Alberta should lead the way to HRC reform in Canada

Calgary Herald:

...Today, society is far more open than it was.That's wonderful. But, since 1996, when Alberta's commission began policing opinion, politics is more closed.

That's when it became illegal not only to offend people the commission protects, but to publish anything that might offend them. No matter that statements be true, offence warranted, or publication dealt with matters of immediate concern--as did Rev. Stephen Boissoin for example, fined for writing letters against gay marriage while legalization was before Parliament.Or Levant, sued after his magazine printed Danish cartoons that had caused uproar in the Islamic world and were central to an international news story. (In all the world, he claims, he is the only person prosecuted for printing them, and it was right here in Alberta.)

No society prospers that silences contrarians--wrong as such people often are. But, sometimes they have something useful to say, offensive to some as it might be, and even if they don't, silencing them is still wrong....

....It should not be illegal to give offence: What is offensive, is that it presently is.The caucus now has the chance to lead the rest of the country in reclaiming the most fundamental right in a democracy.


I'm Alberta born, of pioneer families. Nothing in the travails of the first Albertans supports the current 'wussified' AHRC need to find offense in others' words.

Its time the AHRC reflected the mettle and character of Albertans.

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Presidential

In contrast to Barack Obama's 'big deal' of a ceremony, signing up to federally fund embryonic stem cell research without limits, George W. Bush carefully explained his considerations in restricting embryonic research to lines that had already been destroyed and giving federal funding to the research of alternative, non-destructive stem cell research. (This funding for alternative research was rescinded by Obama )

President George W. Bush

Good evening. I appreciate you giving me a few minutes of your time tonight so I can discuss with you a complex and difficult issue, an issue that is one of the most profound of our time.

The issue of research involving stem cells derived from human embryos is increasingly the subject of a national debate and dinner table discussions. The issue is confronted every day in laboratories as scientists ponder the ethical ramifications of their work. It is agonized over by parents and many couples as they try to have children or to save children already born. The issue is debated within the church, with people of different faiths - even many of the same faith - coming to different conclusions.

Many people are finding that the more they know about stem cell research, the less certain they are about the right ethical and moral conclusions.

My administration must decide whether to allow federal funds, your tax dollars, to be used for scientific research on stem cells derived from human embryos.

A large number of these embryos already exist. They are the product of a process called in vitro fertilization which helps so many couples conceive children. When doctors match sperm and egg to create life outside the womb, they usually produce more embryos than are implanted in the mother.

Once a couple successfully has children, or if they are unsuccessful, the additional embryos remain frozen in laboratories. Some will not survive during long storage; others are destroyed. A number have been donated to science and used to create privately funded stem cell lines. And a few have been implanted in an adoptive mother, and born, and are today healthy children.

Based on preliminary work that has been privately funded, scientists believe further research using stem cells offers great promise that could help improve the lives of those who suffer from many terrible diseases, from juvenile diabetes to Alzheimer's, from Parkinson's to spinal cord injuries. And while scientists admit they are not yet certain, they believe stem cells derived from embryos have unique potential.

You should also know that stem cells can be derived from sources other than embryos: from adult cells, from umbilical cords that are discarded after babies are born, from human placentas. And many scientists feel research on these types of stem cells is also promising. Many patients suffering from a range of diseases are already being helped with treatments developed from adult stem cells.

However, most scientists, at least today, believe that research on embryonic stem cells offers the most promise because these cells have the potential to develop in all of the tissues in the body.

Scientists further believe that rapid progress in this research will come only with federal funds. Federal dollars help attract the best and brightest scientists. They ensure new discoveries are widely shared at the largest number of research facilities, and that the research is directed toward the greatest public good.

The United States has a long and proud record of leading the world toward advances in science and medicine that improve human life, and the United States has a long and proud record of upholding the highest standards of ethics as we expand the limits of science and knowledge.

Research on embryonic stem cells raises profound ethical questions, because extracting the stem cell destroys the embryo and thus destroys its potential for life.

Like a snowflake, each of these embryos is unique, with the unique genetic potential of an individual human being.

As I thought through this issue I kept returning to two fundamental questions. First, are these frozen embryos human life and therefore something precious to be protected? And second, if they're going to be destroyed anyway, shouldn't they be used for a greater good, for research that has the potential to save and improve other lives?

I've asked those questions and others of scientists, scholars, bioethicists, religious leaders, doctors, researchers, members of Congress, my Cabinet and my friends. I have read heartfelt letters from many Americans. I have given this issue a great deal of thought, prayer, and considerable reflection, and I have found widespread disagreement.

On the first issue, are these embryos human life? Well, one researcher told me he believes this five-day-old cluster of cells is not an embryo, not yet an individual, but a pre-embryo. He argued that it has the potential for life, but it is not a life because it cannot develop on its own.

An ethicist dismissed that as a callous attempt at rationalization. ``Make no mistake,'' he told me, ``that cluster of cells is the same way you and I, and all the rest of us, started our lives. One goes with a heavy heart if we use these,'' he said, ``because we are dealing with the seeds of the next generation.''

And to the other crucial question - If these are going to be destroyed anyway, why not use them for good purpose? - I also found different answers.

Many of these embryos are byproducts of a process that helps create life, and we should allow couples to donate them to science so they can be used for good purpose instead of wasting their potential.

Others will argue there is no such thing as excess life, and the fact that a living being is going to die does not justify experimenting on it or exploiting it as a natural resource.

At its core, this issue forces us to confront fundamental questions about the beginnings of life and the ends of science. It lives at a difficult moral intersection, juxtaposing the need to protect life in all its phases with the prospect of saving and improving life in all its stages.

As the discoveries of modern science create tremendous hope, they also lay vast ethical mine fields.

As the genius of science extends the horizons of what we can do, we increasingly confront complex questions about what we should do. We have arrived at that ``Brave New World'' that seemed so distant in 1932 when Aldous Huxley wrote about human beings created in test tubes in what he called a hatchery.

In recent weeks, we learned that scientists have created human embryos in test tubes solely to experiment on them. This is deeply troubling and a warning sign that should prompt all of us to think through these issues very carefully.

Embryonic stem cell research is at the leading edge of a series of moral hazards. The initial stem cell researcher was at first reluctant to begin his research, fearing it might be used for human cloning. Scientists have already cloned a sheep. Researchers are telling us the next step could be to clone human beings to create individual designer stem cells, essentially to grow another you, to be available in case you need another heart or lung or liver.

I strongly oppose human cloning, as do most Americans. We recoil at the idea of growing human beings for spare body parts or creating life for our convenience.

And while we must devote enormous energy to conquering disease, it is equally important that we pay attention to the moral concerns raised by the new frontier of human embryo stem cell research. Even the most noble ends do not justify any means.

My position on these issues is shaped by deeply held beliefs. I'm a strong supporter of science and technology, and believe they have the potential for incredible good - to improve lives, to save life, to conquer disease. Research offers hope that millions of our loved ones may be cured of a disease and rid of their suffering. I have friends whose children suffer from juvenile diabetes. Nancy Reagan has written me about President Reagan's struggle with Alzheimer's. My own family has confronted the tragedy of childhood leukemia. And like all Americans, I have great hope for cures.

I also believe human life is a sacred gift from our creator. I worry about a culture that devalues life, and believe as your president I have an important obligation to foster and encourage respect for life in America and throughout the world.

And while we're all hopeful about the potential of this research, no one can be certain that the science will live up to the hope it has generated.

Eight years ago, scientists believed fetal tissue research offered great hope for cures and treatments, yet the progress to date has not lived up to its initial expectations. Embryonic stem cell research offers both great promise and great peril, so I have decided we must proceed with great care.

As a result of private research, more than 60 genetically diverse stem cell lines already exist. They were created from embryos that have already been destroyed, and they have the ability to regenerate themselves indefinitely, creating ongoing opportunities for research.

I have concluded that we should allow federal funds to be used for research on these existing stem cell lines, where the life-and-death decision has already been made.

Leading scientists tell me research on these 60 lines has great promise that could lead to breakthrough therapies and cures. This allows us to explore the promise and potential of stem cell research without crossing a fundamental moral line by providing taxpayer funding that would sanction or encourage further destruction of human embryos that have at least the potential for life.

I also believe that great scientific progress can be made through aggressive federal funding of research on umbilical cord, placenta, adult and animal stem cells, which do not involve the same moral dilemma. This year your government will spend $250 million on this important research.

I will also name a president's council to monitor stem cell research, to recommend appropriate guidelines and regulations and to consider all of the medical and ethical ramifications of biomedical innovation.

This council will consist of leading scientists, doctors, ethicists, lawyers, theologians and others and will be chaired by Dr. Leon Kass, a leading biomedical ethicist from the University of Chicago.

This council will keep us apprised of new developments and give our nation a forum to continue to discuss and evaluate these important issues.

As we go forward, I hope we will always be guided by both intellect and heart, by both our capabilities and our conscience.

I have made this decision with great care, and I pray it is the right one.

Thank you for listening. Good night, and God bless America.


PRESIDENTIAL

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Day 18 - 40 Days For Life



Intention:

May we absorb the truth that God is paying attention to us, and to each human life, personally and individually.

Scripture:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.

-- Psalm 8:3-9

Reflection:

How often we ignore the phrase, "stop and smell the roses" and instead submit to the all too "urgent" task at hand. Is this tendency what keeps us, at least in part, from acknowledging that God's care for His sacred creation is paramount in His own mind?

The Psalmist speaks of God's handiwork: the heavens, the work of his "fingers," and then points to God's masterpiece - human life. He declares to us that God is mindful of us. God keeps His masterpiece in His thoughts.

God, the creator of the awe-inspiring heavens, is not distracted by the tasks before Him. He is not pulled away, as we might be, by thoughts of something "more important." God is paying attention to and attending to His crowning glory, His masterpiece of creation, which cannot be duplicated or replaced, which surpasses the beauty of all other created things - the human being.

There is no way to adequately describe how God feels about us as human beings. There are no words to fully portray His love, compassion or desire to be in communion with us. Perhaps, the closest we can come, is to contemplate the thoughts of a mother as she gazes for the first time at her newborn child. God cares for Life. We, as His followers, should take time to consider the life He has created and called upon us to love and protect.

Prayer:

Lord, you are the creator of all things. Guide my thoughts to consider your creation in all of its majesty, beauty and holiness. Guide my heart especially to your creation of precious human life. Help me to comprehend how essential life is in your own heart. Teach me to appreciate, love and protect all human life through your son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fr. Terry Gensemer
National Director, Charismatic Episcopal Church for Life

40 Days For Life

Obama's Cynicism Astounds


CNS:

On Wednesday, only two days after he lifted President Bush’s executive order banning federal funding of stem cell research that requires the destruction of human embryos, President Barack Obama signed a law that explicilty bans federal funding of any "research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death."

The provision was buried in the 465-page omnibus appropriations bill that Obama signed Wednesday. Known as the Dickey-Wicker amendment, it has been included in the annual appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services every fiscal year since 1996.....

.....Thanks to the Dickey-Wicker language in Section 509 of the omnibus bill, the "extent permitted by law" will continue to forbid federal funding of research that even puts embryos at risk.

Close observers on both sides of the embryonic stem cell issue were well aware of the Dickey-Wicker amendment, and understood that it would pose a legal obstacle to federal funding of embryo-killing research even if President Obama issued an executive order reversing President Bush's administrative policy denying federal funding to that research....

.....Douglas Johnson, spokesman for the National Right to Life Committee, said in a press release Monday that President Obama’s executive order lifting the ban on federal funding for embryo-destroying stem cell research “set the stage” for an effort to repeal Dickey-Wicker.

“This sets the stage for an attack on the Dickey-Wicker law, which since 1995 has been a provision of the annual appropriations bills for federal health programs,” said Johnson. “Any member of Congress who votes for legislation to repeal this law is voting to allow federal funding of human embryo farms, created through the use of human cloning.”



So, not only was the lifted ban NOT a ban in the first place, but it also wasn't 'lifted'! Not a bit of science trumped 'ideology'. All the propaganda and publicity were only a 'first step' .

THE AUDACITY OF SMOKE

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3/13/09

"Medical Science Under Dictatorship"

This article from the New England Journal of Medicine, 1949, uses Nazi Germany as an explicit example of ideological purpose,the use of propaganda to bring about a shift of attitude amongst the public and the medical profession, the eventual abandonment of all previous regard for human life, the ability of some ( the Dutch) to refuse to cooperate in the degradation of their medical ethics, and some very relevant conclusions.

Some pertinent excerpts (though I recommend spending fifteen minutes to read the entire essay!):

"Science under dictatorship becomes subordinated to the guiding philosophy of the dictatorship. Irrespective of other ideologic trappings, the guiding philosophic principle of >." The recent dictatorships, including that of the Nazis, has been Hegelian in that what has been considered "rational utility" and corresponding doctrine and planning has replaced moral, ethical and religious values

" Whatever proportions these crimes finally assumed, it became evident to all who investigated them that they had started from small beginnings. The beginnings at first were merely a subtle shift in emphasis in the basic attitude of the physicians. It started with the acceptance of the attitude, basic in the euthanasia movement, that there is such a thing as life not worthy to be lived.

"It is, therefore, this subtle shift in emphasis of the physicians' attitude that one must thoroughly investigate. It is a recent significant trend in medicine, including psychiatry, to regard prevention as more important than cureObservation and recognition of early signs and symptoms have become the basis for prevention of further advance of disease.[8]

In looking for these early signs one may well retrace the early steps of propaganda on the part of the Nazis in Germany as well as in the countries that they overran and in which they attempted to gain supporters by means of indoctrination, seduction and propaganda
."


"Physicians have become dangerously close to being mere technicians of rehabilitation. This essentially Hegelian rational attitude has led them to make certain distinctions in the handling of acute and chronic diseases. The patient with the latter carries an obvious stigma as the one less likely to be fully rehabilitable for social usefulness. In an increasingly utilitarian society these patients are being looked down upon with increasing definiteness as unwanted ballast."

"Under all forms of dictatorship the dictating bodies or individuals claim that all that is done is being done for the best of the people as a whole, and that for that reason they look at health merely in terms of utility, efficiency and productivity. It is natural in such a setting that eventually Hegel's principle that "what is useful is good" wins out completely. The killing center is the reductio ad absurdum of all health planning based only on rational principles and economy and not on humane compassion and divine law. To be sure, American physicians are still far from the point of thinking of killing centers, but they have arrived at a danger point in thinking, at which likelihood of full rehabilitation is considered a factor that should determine the amount of time, effort and cost to be devoted to a particular type of patient on the part of the social body upon which this decision rests. At this point Americans should remember that the enormity of a euthanasia movement is present in their own midst.

"Dictatorships can be indeed defined as systems in which there is a prevalence of thinking in destructive rather than in ameliorative terms in dealing with social problems. The ease with which destruction of life is advocated for those considered either socially useless or socially disturbing instead of educational or ameliorative measures may be the first danger sign of loss of creative liberty in thinking, which is the hallmark of democratic society. All destructiveness ultimately leads to self-destruction; the fate of the SS and of Nazi Germany is an eloquent example. The destructive principle, once unleased, is bound to engulf the whole personality and to occupy all its relationships. Destructive urges and destructive concepts arising therefrom cannot remain limited or focused upon one subject or several subjects alone, but must inevitable spread and be directed against one's entire surrounding world, including one's own group and ultimately the self. The ameliorative point of view maintained in relation to all others is the only real means of self-preservation."



This essay makes some points very relevant to today's medical/scientific environment. How far down the road of self-destruction have we already come?

Our current President, who relegates all dissenters to the rank of 'religious ideologues', 'partisan operatives' and 'inhibitors of progress', is very adept at the use of propaganda and the use of political means to accomplish his ends.

Ends which cannot be seen as anything other than destructive of human life.

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Day 17 - 40 Days For Life


Intention:

Pray that we choose to trust God to bring an end to abortion soon, no matter how impossible that may seem to others.

Scripture:

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know."

-- Ezekiel 37:1-3

Reflection:

You and I are standing in a world today over a field of dry bones: those who have been killed by abortion, those who have been killed by so many other things attacking the dignity of human life. And God has placed us here; we find ourselves here in the midst of this incredible tragedy. Like Ezekiel, you and I are in a dilemma because God says to us: "Speak and proclaim the Word of Life. Keep doing it. Let nothing deter you."

People can say, "This is humanly foolish, humanly impossible. How can we transform the world from the path of death that it's on?" Yet we choose to do the "foolish" thing rather than the dangerous thing.

If you ever doubt that we can bring an end to this culture of death, this destruction of the family, this destruction of life by abortion, if you ever think for a moment that it's impossible, then ask yourself this: Can a man who has been scourged, crowned with thorns, nailed hands and feet to a cross, pierced with a lance, has died and been buried; can such a man ever live again?

Prayer:

Lord, I thank you for giving me the holy dilemma of having to choose between the foolish thing or the dangerous thing. Yet for me the solution is clear. Lord, I will obey you, even if it means aiming for a goal which, in the eyes of others, seems foolish. I will obey you, and will hope for the end of abortion soon, no matter how impossible that may seem to others. I dare not mistrust you; I dare not doubt your power; I dare not fail to follow your call. In you, who raise the dead, all hope comes alive. Amen.

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life and President, National Pro-life Religious Council

40 Days For Life

3/12/09

Catholic Carnival #215





Posted at Deo Omnis Gloria. Lenten Reflections, lenten crafts,movie review, prayer and plants(!) round out this week's Carnival.

Day 16 - 40 Days For Life





Intention:

May the mystery of the Incarnation increase our zeal for defending life.

Scripture:

Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

-- Luke 1:30-33

Reflection:

"God has assumed Humanity, joining it with Divinity, and kindled in men's hearts new love of me." These words were written by a Roman poet in the Fourth Century. He spent his life finding ways to express the greatest mystery of the world: the incarnation, in which God became man.

Often the womb has been referred to as the "first home of the whole human race." It is the place where life begins, where our stories start. In the womb the great men and women of history began their magnificent march through life. In the womb Divinity met humanity, and God the Son was born into the world. As one of the Fathers of the early church, St. Leo the Great, declared, "Within her spotless womb Wisdom built itself a house and the Word became flesh."

Recently, I was at the hospital for the birth of my fourth grandchild. Looking through the nursery window at the rows of newly born babies, I began to think of the great stories that would be written about these tiny lives. During his visitation with the Virgin Mary, the angel prophesied to Mary about the life of her child. Here in this hospital, I pondered, what would he say about each of these? Would they meet the one who also came from His mother's womb to redeem the world and kindle our hearts afresh for God? I thanked God for each baby alive and prayed for each story yet to be written.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, you have made the womb of each woman a very special place. Help us to hold fast to the sanctity of this first home of humanity, remembering the wonderful mystery, that God inhabited the womb of a young woman and came forth as the savior and deliverer of the world. We ask this in the Name of the one who came forth, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Randolph Sly
National Pro-life Religious Council



40 Days For Life

"False Rhetoric"

False rhetoric such as “science must triumph over ideology” will not stand the test of time. Such counterfeit reasoning and slick cover-up of the truth will not have the last word.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted:

On Monday, March 9, President Obama signed an executive order that provides federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. This means that American taxpayers will now be paying for the killing of human beings at a very early stage in their lives (as embryos), so that scientific research can make use of them for experiments that may or may not yield positive results.

We U.S. taxpayers will now be forced to pay, whether we wish to or not, for the killing of our youngest brothers and sisters on the dubious hypothesis that their murders might, in the future, benefit others. Why did President Obama make this decision?...

....Let’s be clear about what this presidential decree is about. It is not about overcoming a prohibition against embryonic stem cell research. Tragically, such research is already legal in many places in our country. Already billions of dollars of California taxpayers are funding such heinous research. So our president is not overturning laws that prohibit such research. It is already legal.

What President Obama is doing is forcing all American taxpayers to pay for this homicidal research. He is forcing us who pay taxes to be complicit, in an involuntary yet real way, in this unethical enterprise. All of this is done so that “science can trump ideology.”

Cardinal Justin Rigali, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said this: “President Obama’s new executive order on embryonic stem cell research is a sad victory of politics over science and ethics. This action is morally wrong because it encourages the destruction of innocent human life, treating vulnerable human beings as mere products to be harvested. It also disregards the values of millions of American taxpayers who oppose research that requires taking human life. Finally, it ignores the fact that ethically sound means for advancing stem cell science and medical treatments are readily available and in need of increased support.”....

(h/t curt jester)

Obama is so anxious to set up his Culture of Death regime, he cannot even pace himself! Callous disregard for science whilst pledging to put science before ideology;federally funding the unsuccessful embryonic stem cell research and at the same time rescinding the funding for the successful, alternative stem cell research; following an ideology himself that is self-serving and elitist, in that he places himself above other human beings that he has the power to declare unworthy; total disregard for the moral sensibilities of millions of American taxpayers and the nation's medical personnel; the appointment of possibly the MOST radical supporter of all kinds of abortion as Health and Human Services head; - this is not a Christian man, or even a man who actually believes in a Creator God!

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3/11/09

"Inner Cities a Snapshot of America's Future"

Star Parker:

Blacks are not given enough credit for being trendsetters in America.


Blacks started playing the blues, jazz, and R&B, then the rest of America started playing them. Blacks discovered the politics of victimhood, then the rest of America started catching on.


Black women got into having babies without marriage. Then white women started getting into it and the incidence of white out-of-wedlock births today -- almost 30 percent -- is higher than the black rate in the 1960's.


Blacks bought into dependency and the welfare state. Now the rest of America has bought in.


Blacks for years elected politicians championing public policy that destroyed their own communities. Now the rest of America has installed a new political leadership with the perfect formula -- run roughshod over private ownership, disdain traditional values, substitute political power for personal responsibility -- for destroying our country.


We can expect the rest of America to reap the same benefits that blacks have enjoyed from this lunacy. In the late 1960's, when President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his war on poverty and seeded welfare-state culture in our inner cities, the majority of black families had married parents living at home. By 1995 only 1 in 3 black homes had married parents.


As the black family collapsed, predictable social pathologies escalated: Crime, drugs, promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases, fatherless children, abortion, and disdain for education.


Not surprisingly, the black poverty rate, almost a quarter of the black population, has remained frozen at twice the national average since the late 1960's.


While the press was having a field day criticizing Gov. Bobby Jindal's television remarks following President Obama's address to Congress, too little attention was paid to his personal story. After all, the father of the 37-year-old Louisiana governor was a poor immigrant from India.


Not every child of poor immigrants becomes a governor before their 40th birthday. But there is a reason more people from all over the world want to immigrate to the United States than we're willing to let in. They come here for opportunity. Children of poor immigrants getting educated and moving in one generation into the middle class is the story of America.


Why, then, when poor immigrant families readily move in one generation into the middle class, does one fourth of black America remain poor, generation after generation?


Racism? I don't think so. Black poverty is overwhelmingly a phenomenon of single mother homes. The incidence of poverty in black homes with married parents is around 10 percent, well below the national average.


It's what happens when lives get politicized and people are instructed to be helpless. In the case of blacks, it's being taught that America is inherently racist and that their only hope is political protection from white exploitation.


Our politicians tell us now that we need to turn the whole country over to them because capitalism has supposedly failed and we need protection from exploitation by the wealthy.


Has anyone noticed that the only markets that have failed in America are the ones distorted with major government controls, regulations, subsidies, or taxpayer guarantees?


University of Michigan economist Mark Perry recently listed on his blog 16 typical household items -- furniture, kitchen appliances, electronics -- showing how many hours of work, at the average wage, it would take to purchase these items today, compared to 1950. The whole basket of goods takes one fifth the amount of hours of work today to purchase compared to 59 years ago. This is markets and innovation at work.


Anyone who is curious where the current left-wing takeover of our economy will lead, with government soon taking 40 cents out of every dollar we produce, should tour through any of America's inner cities.


If we have any luck, some of the better instincts of blacks today will also set trends. Blacks attend church more than any other group in the country. And most blacks reject the debasement of the definition of marriage.


(Star Parker is president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education and author of the new book White Ghetto: How Middle Class America Reflects Inner City Decay.)

Day 15 - 40 Days For Life


Intention:

Pray that we will not become defeated by the enemy's attacks but rather call on the name of the Lord who is on our side and our help in time of trouble.

Scripture:

What if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us? They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger. Praise the Lord, who did not let their teeth tear us apart! Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

-- Psalm 124:2,3,6,8

Reflection:

The enemy attacks in many ways, but one of his favorites is to slander us with hopes of tarnishing our reputation and character, and ultimately to defeat our good work for the Lord. It is interesting to note however that it is usually not the slander that causes harm to our testimony, but our response to the slander. Proverbs 24:10 says, "If you faint in the day of adversity your strength is small."

So if we are applying God's truths to our lives moment by moment, we are not swayed by the lies of the enemy and we will be strong.

Standing on the front lines, armed with God's truth, places you in the battlefield for the mind. As you are prepared to present words of love, for the sake of the unborn and for the distraught and confused women and men who are entering the abortion facilities, know that the enemy has prepared his forces to attack your mind.

Unkind words from a protester, or vicious lies in the local paper about who you are and what your mission is, can indeed be hurtful. But rather than give in to defeat, that is the time to shine for the Lord, standing firm, as you call on Him to defeat the enemy.

Remember the words of Romans 8:31, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Let's stand strong for those who need us most.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, help us to ignore the verbal attacks of the enemy and instead turn to You, our refuge and strength. Help us to find shelter in the blessed promises and provisions of Your Word. Thank you that no enemy can defeat us, and we praise You knowing that nothing can separate us from Your love. In the name of Jesus, we come to You, amen.

Carmen Pate
Co-host, "Point of View" Talk Show

40 Days For Life

3/10/09

Obama's Cure-All

Scott Ott:

...Hailing a new era "when science is restored to the proper side of the political aisle," President Barack Obama on Monday promised miraculous cures for a wide range of ailments when he signed an executive order expanding the scope of Bush-era federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.

As he directed more tax dollars to such studies, the president said stem cells from embryos could be at the forefront of the battle against man-made global warming.

"Every human embryo in the hands of a scientist means one less potential source of carbon dioxide emissions," Obama said, "And because stem cell research could take decades to produce any useful result, it promises to remove millions of humanoid exhalers from the toxic CO2 stream. This could produce an even greater net benefit to our climate than abortion does."...



Not to mention the economic benefits a la Pelosi's proposal to eliminate the public cost of poverty, by not letting the poor reproduce. Maybe providing embryos for research could be part of a work for welfare program....

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Day 14 - 40 Days For Life




Intention:

Pray that we will have faith to realize that even now our Lord can bring an end to abortion.

Scripture:

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."

-- John 11:17-22

Reflection:

Martha was right. Jesus is Lord of life and death. She knew that, which is why she was able to make this statement, yet at the same time she had to wrestle with the fact that Lazarus died anyway. Jesus indeed is Lord over life and death, but here the power of death was still displayed right in front of her.

Yet in this clash between the conviction of faith and the evidence of human experience, Martha allowed hope to shine through. "Even now, God will give you whatever you ask." Even now. Those words show the power of hope, born of faith. Even now, when death has already done its work, life can be victorious.

Even now, when the last word seems to have been spoken, we can hope that a word will be spoken again to restore life. Even now, when Lazarus has already been laid in the tomb and it seems impossible to do anything about it, things can change. And things did change. The Lord raised Lazarus from the dead.

We live in a society where many believe the abortion issue has been settled, and its practice so deeply ingrained in our policies and attitudes that it is unrealistic to think we can stop it. Yet we are the people who say to Jesus, "Even now..."

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, even now, you are master of life and death. I come before you as Martha did after Lazarus has died. I come before you after countless brothers and sisters of mine have died from abortion. And I pray to you: even now, you can stop the forces of death. Even now, you can bring us into a culture of life. Come, Lord Jesus. Speak your word yet again, and free our nation from the shackles of death. Amen.

Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life and President, National Pro-life Religious Council

40 Days For Life

3/9/09

Obama Not Pro-Choice

He's absolutely NO CHOICE.

LifeNews :
President Barack Obama's apparent decision to drop the protections the Bush administration put in place to protect doctors means he can no longer say he is pro-choice on abortion. That's the assessment of respected pro-life attorney Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defense Fund.

As LifeNews.com has reported, Obama has taken the next step to remove the new protections the Bush administration put in place to protect pro-life medical centers and staff who do not want to do abortions.

The protections provided better enforcement for existing conscience laws for medical professionals.

"By his rule issued today, President Obama is utterly refusing to enforce these conscience protection laws, resulting in a situation where doctors may be forced to participate in abortions and patients may be forced to have their babies delivered by doctors who perform abortions," Bowman explains.

"Whatever happened to the so called 'right to choose?'" he asks. "The Obama administration is quite simply collaborating with Planned Parenthood and their allies to allow pro-life medical professionals to be punished for their beliefs, with the punishment to be funded by your federal dollars."

Bowman says early media reports quoted Obama administration saying the president would merely "narrowly tailor the regulations or better define them."

Instead, the comments the administration will publish in the Federal Register make it clear Obama will rescind the rule entirely.

"He will 'rescind in its entirety' the current regulation, leaving no federal regulation at all protecting doctors, even from being forced to participate in such things as late-term abortion,' Bowman told LifeNews.com, quoting from the Obama proposal.

Bowman calls Obama's decision a failure to uphold existing laws that are supposed to provide protection for medical centers and staff but are being routinely flouted.

"The current implementing regulation does nothing more than take laws that have been on the books for three decades, and actually enforce their words so that federal fund recipients cannot illegally discriminate against pro-life health care workers," Bowman says.

"The implementing regulations in no way expand those time-honored laws—they simply enforce them, so that the will of the American people would actually be applied to protect doctors from being forced to participate in abortions or face dire consequences," he says.

Canadian Heroes Remembered

Warrant Officer Dennis Raymond Brown, Cpl. Dany Olivier Fortin and Cpl. Kenneth Chad O'Quinn have added their lives to the Canadian toll in the struggle for freedom in Afghanistan

CDN HEROES:
...With a son now serving in Afghanistan, I'm finding the preperation of tributes on these pages even more personal.

There is so much that one wants to say ... yet nothing one says can ever be enough. Somewhere in Canada, families have just had the dreaded visit from DND, and now they are plunged into grief. The rest of us are left thinking about our chances of getting that same visit, yet feeling so proud of our serving family members. We support them, and respect their choice to serve. We offer our sympathy to those who are left to pick up the pieces....

Obama Signs Off On More Killing

Eric Cantor via press release :

“The President’s action today is not about whether or not to permit stem cell research, or even embryonic stem cell research in America. We already do each of those things. Today’s action is about forcing taxpayers to fund ethically troublesome – and unproven – research that destroys life.

“Nearly every American supports continued stem cell research, and Republicans laud the miraculous innovations made in ethical and sensible adult stem cell research. Unfortunately, today the Administration wasted an opportunity to unite our country around these ethically and scientifically sound innovations by allowing the use of taxpayer money for embryo-destructive stem cell research, which millions of Americans find morally reprehensible. This divisive action will divert scarce federal resources away from innovative and proven adult stem cell research.”

Mitch McConnell's office:

“The administration’s announcement on embryonic stem cell research represents a troubling shift in U.S. policy. With this announcement, the government is, for the first time, incentivizing the creation and destruction of human embryos at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer. I support biomedical research and I believe the administration would be far better served by directing taxpayer funds to research on non-embryonic stem cells, which is both effective and ethical.”
David Vitter's office:

“This is an issue that many Americans have deep concerns about. The restrictions put in place by the Bush administration reflected those concerns and recognized the value and sanctity of all human life. I’m saddened that President Obama has chosen to set aside the views of so many Americans and reversed these restrictions that were put in place to protect these valuable human embryos, especially when our most promising scientific potential has been seen in adult stem cell research,” said Vitter.


Larry Kudlow:

How can you destroy a life in order to save one? That’s a key question Pres. Obama is not answering as he aborts Pres. Bush’s ban on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. We already have existing stem-cell lines, plus blood cells and skin cells. So why must we seek new stem-cell lines from human embryos?

According to reports, the Obama executive order does not fund the creation of new lines, nor does it specify which existing lines can be used. But it does allow scientists to get taxpayer money for the research. Does anyone doubt this will lead to new embryonic lines?

And why is taxpayer money necessary for this? That means those of us who oppose embryonic stem-cell research — for ethical, moral, or religious reasons — must finance it. Why not leave all this to the private sector and private capital? That wouldn’t make me any happier from a moral standpoint. But at least I wouldn’t be paying for this research with my tax dollars...


(h/t The Corner)

Another FAKE 'accomplishment' to distract from the economy and satisfy the bloodlust of Obama's death squad.

"Attende Domine"


(St. Bartholomew,Chicago)


Hear, O Lord

This penitential hymn is based on a 10th century Mozarabic Litany for the Lenten Season.



R. Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon us, who have sinned against Thee.

King, high exalted, all the world's Redeemer, to Thee we lift out eyes with weeping: Christ, we implore Thee, hear Thy suppliant's prayers. R.

2. Right hand of Godhead, headstone of the corner, path of salvation, gate of heaven, wash away the stains of our sin. R.

3. We, Thy eternal majesty entreating, with Thy blessed ears hear our sighing: graciously grant pardon to our sins. R.

4. Humbly confess we, who have sinned against Thee, with contrite hearts we reveal things hidden; O Redeemer, may Thy pity grant forgiveness. R.

5. Led away captive, guiltless, unresisting, condemned by false witnesses unto death for sinners, Christ do Thou keep us whom Thy blood hath ransomed. R.

Attende Domine R. Attende Domine, et miserere, quia peccavimus tibi.

Ad te Rex summe, omnium redemptor, oculos nostros sublevamus flentes: exaudi, Christe, supplicantum preces. R.

Dextera Patris, lapis angularis, via salutis


CID Monks 'streaming'

Catholics Don't 'Lie Down' , They Fight Back!


In what smacks of legislative abuse with the purpose of intimidating a sector of the community, the Connecticut legislature Joint Committee on the Judiciary has 'put on the fast track' a bill to restructure the financial aspects of ONLY CATHOLIC dioceses, effectively making them 'congregationalist'!

KoC:

On Thursday, March 5, a bill was introduced in the Connecticut state legislature, and immediately referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. It targets one – and only one – church in the state, the Catholic Church, and would strip the bishops and priests of the state of any power to exercise administrative authority over their parishes.

Raised Bill No. 1098 is a committee bill and does not bear the names of any individual sponsors. Both co-chairmen of the committee, State Sen. Andrew McDonald and State Rep. Michael Lawlor, are outspoken proponents of same-sex marriage in Connecticut and have been critical of the Catholic Church’s opposition to both civil unions and same-sex marriage.

The stated purpose of the bill is to “provide for the investigation of the misappropriation of funds by religious corporations,” but it deals only with the corporate structure of the Catholic Church. No other church is mentioned, or would be subject to the bill’s requirements.

The measure has been put on a legislative fast track, with hearings scheduled for Wednesday, March 11, less than a week after its introduction. Knights of Columbus, and all concerned Connecticut Catholics, are encouraged to attend the hearing that day and express their opposition to the bill. They may also call or write the committee co-chairmen, State Sen. Andrew McDonald (800-842-1420 or McDonald@senatedems.ct.gov), and State Rep. Michael Lawlor (800-842-8267 or MLawlor99@juno.com.


Philip Lacovara(Senior Counsel, Mayer Brown, LLP):

...You now have before your Committee a bill that tests your fidelity to your constitutional duty. The bill is No. 1098, which candidly announces that its purpose is to "revise the corporate governance provisions [of the Connecticut Statutes] applicable to the Roman Catholic Church."

In more than forty years as a constitutional law teacher and practitioner, I cannot recall a single piece of proposed legislation at any level of government that more patently runs afoul of the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment than does this bill.

I write to you as a Connecticut taxpayer, as a Catholic, and as a constitutional lawyer. This last capacity is most relevant for present purposes.

I have taught constitutional law at Columbia Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, and Hunter College of the City University of New York. I also have served as Deputy Solicitor General of the United States and as Counsel to the Watergate Special Prosecutor. I have argued 18 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, most involving constitutional issues.

I find it utterly astonishing that Bill 1098 could be taken seriously enough to warrant a hearing before your Committee. I would find it difficult to use it as a "hypothetical" in one of my constitutional law classes, because even first year law students would have so little difficulty seeing why the bill goes well beyond the powers that the Constitution allows the States to exercise in dealing with organized churches....


Michael McLachlan:

...I'm going to focus on Senate Bill 1098 -- "An Act Modifying Corporate Laws Relating to Certain Religious Institutions." The stated purpose of this bill is "to revise the corporate governance provisions applicable to the Roman Catholic Church and provide for the investigation of the misappropriation of funds by religious corporations." The real purpose of this bill is payback to the bishops and pastors of the Roman Catholic Church in Connecticut for opposing gay marriage.

Unfortunately, I think some well-intentioned, unhappy Catholics from Darien are being used as pawns by Senator McDonald and Representative Lawlor in a thinly-veiled attack on the Church....




It goes to prove the atmosphere of totalitarian power amongst liberal lobby groups, that they feel no shame in putting forward such a bill, and even seem to have an expectation of success with it.

It occurs to me, that if not entirely serious as a bill, it still serves to use up Catholic resources that have been recently put to use fighting other legislation that endangers the good of the people.

Could this be a cynical strategy to 'busy' the Catholics? More to come, no doubt...but the liberals may learn a few things about the Catholic heart, and its willingness to sacrifice for love of God and neighbour.


Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen


Justice

.

Day 13 - 40 Days For Life


Intention:

We pray for the strength to love those who do not love us.

Scripture:

But the Lord said "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in the night and perished in the night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and much livestock? Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

-- Jonah 4:10-11

Reflection:

God doesn't value people and things like we do. Jonah loved a shade tree more than an entire city of sinful people. We love our dogs more than a terrorist. We love our cars more than a beggar on the side of the road. And sometimes, we love our money more than a child growing in a desperate teenager's womb.

But God isn't like us. Genesis 1 tells us that humans were the capstone of God's creation. We were created on the sixth day after God had completed the land, the stars, the plants and the animals. Therefore, His love for us is greater than His love for a plant, an animal, or any other created thing. And the book of Jonah tells us that He loves even the most sinful people and seeks to bring them into His merciful arms. And it's a love that seeks to touch all of his created children: that desperate teenager, the baby growing in her womb, even tyrants and terrorists. So it's up to us to imitate God's merciful love by helping and praying for those who persecute us, and those who don't love us back.

Prayer:

Gracious God, loving our enemies seems like one of most difficult things you could ask of us. Please remind us that this is how you love and that if you ask it of us then you will give us the grace to do it. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Dennis DiMauro
Lutherans for Life representative to the National Pro-life Religious Council



40 Days For Life

3/8/09

Day 12 - 40 Days For Life


Intention:

Pray to God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, to end abortion in America.

Scripture:

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

-- Ephesians 3:20-21

Reflection:

God's power working in and through His people is unlimited and far beyond our comprehension when we submit to God's Word and Spirit. He receives glory when we are obedient to His calling and faithfully serve Him in His strength.

Consider God's hand of providence on this nation because of the faithfulness of a few who were totally committed to God and His truths. It is interesting to note the words of Mother Teresa of Calcutta: "Yours is the one great nation in all history which was founded on the precept of equal rights and respect for all humankind, for the poorest and weakest of us as well as the richest and strongest."

Mother Teresa, in addressing the Supreme Court of the United States said, "Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. I have no new teaching for America. I seek only to recall you to faithfulness to what you once taught the world. Your nation was founded on the proposition very old as a moral precept, but startling and innovative as a political insight that human life is a gift of immeasurable worth, and that it deserves, always and everywhere, to be treated with the utmost dignity and respect."

It is time to restore that dignity and respect. Our God is able. Are we willing to remain faithful until His work through us is done?

Prayer:

God Almighty, Who is powerful and willing to supply, our hearts cry in unison for You to restore dignity and respect to human life, not only in America, but around the world. Lord, may our hearts remain faithful to your calling, and may You begin Your transforming work with me. Keep me ever mindful that with You Lord, nothing is impossible; without You, I can do nothing. To You be glory forever and ever, Amen.

Carmen Pate
Co-host, "Point of View" Talk Show



40 Days For Life