"I'm Able To Model"

DUBLIN

(Katie Fitzpatrick Photo by James Horan/Collins)

A new modelling agency to feature models with Down Syndrome launched in Dublin, on World Down Syndrome Day:

...“When our members came out on the catwalk, the place just erupted. It added so much to the event. It just struck me at the time that our young people got so much out of it and it benefited everyone. It showed that young people come in all shapes and sizes, and those with Down syndrome can participate alongside their peers.

She said she approached Jules Fallon of the First Option modelling agency, who was “completely open to it”.

A day’s casting has resulted in an agency with 20 models, including children, teenagers and adults, on the books...

( info@geminimodels.com in Kitchener, ON, Canada)

PROJECT TRUTH

(h/t Jill Stanek)

Viva La Vida Conference

Berlusconi And The Pope...?

The Irish Times has an interesting tidbit on the international reaction to the Pope's 'Letter To Irish Catholics'. Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, made some unexpected remarks....

"Benedict XVI, like many of his predecessors, is often called on to confront very difficult situations . . . The way in which he responds is remarkably efficient, at least for all those who are not guided by totally hostile sentiments, and it is efficient both for its humility and sincerity and for the sound reasoning of the pope...”

I agree .

.

"Letter To The Catholics Of Ireland"

PASTORAL LETTER OF THE HOLY FATHER POPE BENEDICT XVI
TO THE CATHOLICS OF IRELAND

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Church in Ireland, it is with great concern that I write to you as Pastor of the universal Church. Like yourselves, I have been deeply disturbed by the information which has come to light regarding the abuse of children and vulnerable young people by members of the Church in Ireland, particularly by priests and religious. I can only share in the dismay and the sense of betrayal that so many of you have experienced on learning of these sinful and criminal acts and the way Church authorities in Ireland dealt with them.

As you know, I recently invited the Irish bishops to a meeting here in Rome to give an account of their handling of these matters in the past and to outline the steps they have taken to respond to this grave situation. Together with senior officials of the Roman Curia, I listened to what they had to say, both individually and as a group, as they offered an analysis of mistakes made and lessons learned, and a description of the programmes and protocols now in place. Our discussions were frank and constructive. I am confident that, as a result, the bishops will now be in a stronger position to carry forward the work of repairing past injustices and confronting the broader issues associated with the abuse of minors in a way consonant with the demands of justice and the teachings of the Gospel...

read more

Commentary:

George Weigel "The End Of Euphemism"

Contrast the above with the misleading article by a churlish 'Sister'Turlish at the National 'Catholic' Reporter (Someone explain to me why we still find these at the back of some churches? The by-lines read like a list of 'most bitterly unhappy dissidents' with few exceptions! I mean, really, McBrien!?)

In "Media Attacks Mounting", LifeSite News shows how some outlets had their reactions written BEFORE the Pope's letter was even released! (ESP?)

As expected, and as with everything Catholic, the reactions run the gamut from optimism to disgust. Read the Pope's letter for yourself (link above) and use the reason God gave you. Ask yourself if the purpose of the letter was to 'assuage anger', and if that would have been appropriate as a first public response.

I don't believe it would have been appropriate or possible. The Pope's letter is a public apology, an admission of guilt , and a call for reform. Its a preliminary step along a long and arduous path to renewal in the Catholic church in Ireland and hopefully, eventually, forgiveness. Eventually. Pope Benedict in his letter acknowledges how difficult forgiveness will be.

I find it curious that some of the criticism of his letter, sounds like defensiveness. 'He's blaming the Irish!'
Who is to blame for abuse in Ireland, if not those there? In America, the Americans, in Germany the Germans, in Newfoundland, the Newfoundlanders. Acceptance of responsibility must be one of the very first things for reconciliaton. The Church for her part, the clergy and religious in Ireland for theirs (a number of them Irish, yes?),the Irish seminaries and religious orders and those who knew, for their part.

I would have thought this to be rather obvious.

Let us see what the Pope's investigations produce. I am interested to see what reforms, resignations, and re-structuring may come of the process. That is now the Church's part. To pray and to wait and to support the process of reform and reconciliation, in the hope that the Church in Ireland may regain some of its former acclaim - for the glory of God.

The Four Evangelists in the Book of Kells

I Have Irish Blood Too...

An Irish joke for a Sunday...

George Bush is flying around the world making visits to other countries. He goes to the Vatican and notices a gold phone on the Pope's desk. He asks about the phone and the Pope tells him it's a direct line to God.

Bush asks if he can call. So he gets on the phone, talks to God for about 5 minutes and hangs up.

As Bush is leaving to get on the plane he gets a bill for $543 for his phone call to God. He pays the bill and then takes his plane on over to Ireland.

While in Ireland he finds himself stopping into a small rural parish. There on the priests desk is a gold phone. Bush asks if this phone goes straight to God. The priest says it does and allows Bush to make a call.

Bush is on the phone for about 5 minutes and hangs up. As he is getting ready to leave the priest hands him a bill for $1.79. Astonished, Bush asks why he had to pay $543 for a call to God from the Vatican and only $1.79 from this little parish in Ireland.

The reply..."It's a local call here of course."

(shamelessly lifted from Catholic Mom of 10)

Cork to Allow Embryonic Stem Cell Research

IrishTimes:

THE CASE made by University College Cork for authourising embryonic stem-cell research was akin to a defense by someone found in possession of child pornography, Jim Walsh (FF) said.

The college governors' decision was strongly attacked by some Government members and defended with equal vehemence.

Ronan Mullen described the decision as astonishing and warned that it could have "queered the pitch for the Lisbon Treaty".

Mr Walsh said that while he would acknowledge there had been a failure to legislate, he was not persuaded by the UCC spokesman who had argued that it was an acceptable procedure because the embryo was destroyed prior to the removal of the stem-cell strips.

"I see that as analogous to a situation where somebody who is caught with child pornography would claim that they were not instrumental in the abuse of the children, as they only subsequently came into possession of the actual pornography itself."

Czechs Stand Up

The 'Stand Up Country of the Day' award goes to the Czech Republic, for standing up to EU bullies:

"The Czech Republic posed a new danger on Friday to the European Union's troubled reform treaty, threatening to block a joint call at an EU summit for continued ratification despite Ireland's 'No' vote, diplomats said."

...and the walls came a tumblin' down!

EU Rhymes With "SCREW YOU"

No surprises here. Plans are already being made to 'do-over' the Irish referendum, amidst whining from political leaders about the 'ungrateful Irish' (sour milk?) and what appears to be a general lack of enthusiasm amongst the general public across Europe for any increase in EU powers.

LifesiteNews reports:

Many long time observers of the ways and wiles of the European Union, however, predicted that a rejection by the Irish would be far from the end of the Lisbon Treaty. As wit and commentator Gerald Warner wrote for his Daily Telegraph weblog, "We have been here before."

"In 2001 the Irish electorate rejected a similar proposal, the Treaty of Nice, by 54 percent to 46 percent. A second referendum was quickly held and provided the desired outcome, a yes to Nice by 63 percent to 37 percent.

'Silly people!' Warner writes, 'It was the wrong answer. So the following year, like a recalcitrant schoolboy being dragged by the ear back to his desk to do his unsatisfactory homework over again, the Irish electorate was made to repeat the exercise.'

'In fact the Eurofascists will press on regardless, despite rejection now by France, the Netherlands and Ireland. The Protocols of the Elders of Brussels will be enforced.'"

"The Meaning of NO"

Irene Lagan at Inside Catholic explains the recent rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by Ireland:

"Most Lisbon experts, including the document's creators, agree that the reformed treaty is a re-heated version of the failed European constitution, which was firmly rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

One of the chief architects of the failed constitution, former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, acknowledged that 'the difference between the original Constitution and the present Lisbon Treaty is one of approach, rather than content.' This new strategy, he explained, 'is to keep a part of the innovations of the constitutional treaty and to split them into several texts in order to make them less visible.'

According to d'Estaing, the result would be that 'the public opinion would therefore unknowingly adopt the dispositions that it would not accept if presented directly.'"


Hmmm, I wonder why the only people asked, said NO!?

The First Great Irish 'Save'

Pope Benedict reminds us of St. Columban, and the first time the Irish saved civilization (the second time being their NO vote this week!):

"With good reason," continued the Pontiff, "he can be called a 'European' saint, because as monk, missionary and writer, he worked in several countries of Western Europe."

The Holy Father added that the monk, "along with the Irishmen of his time [...] was aware of the cultural unity of Europe." He said that the monk was the first to use the "expression 'totius Europae' (of all Europe) with reference to the presence of the Church in the Continent."


How ironic, that the Irish have now to protect themselves from Europe's unity in 'Godlessness', and by doing so, once again give Europe a chance to come to their senses - before they perform cultural 'hari kari'.

How The Irish Saved Civilization - AGAIN!

LISBON TREATY REJECTED! HURRAH for democracy and freedom!

Naturally, since the EU requires all 27 signatures on the Lisbon Treaty - Irish rejection has scuttled it- the 'leadership' of the EU is forging ahead anyway.'We regret the Irish decision but...'

(BTW, Why did only the Irish get the vote?)

No soul-searching. No wondering why the only democratic result is a NO. Just keep on going. Maybe they can convince the Irish gov't to 'overule' the referendum. Maybe they can convince the Irish to hold referenda successively until they get the result they want. Maybe they can 'dump' Ireland, or impose sanctions.

I'm sure there's no end to totalitarian suggestions being bandied about.

But just remember...it was the Irish that understood what had to be done, and did it!

MORE:

John O'Sullivan (the Corner)
AlJazeera
Brian Cowen(Breaking News)
Paul Wells(MacLeans Blog)
Jay Anderson(proecclesia)
Telegraph
O'Donnell(Hidden Ireland)

LISBON TREATY - VOTE NO!

Lisbon Treaty - Truth or Dare

DON'T DO IT!!!

Apparantly there is some discrepency between what WILL happen, and what the 'yes' side are SAYING will happen:

"The President of Poland, one of three countries to maintain legal protections for the unborn, warned in March that ratification could mean that Poland will be forced to adopt same-sex "marriage" or similar concessions to the powerful homosexualist lobby at the EU.

Jens-Peter Bonde, President of the EU Democrats, and a Danish member of the two EU constitutional conventions, warned last week that the Referendum Committee was not telling the full story and that the Lisbon Treaty could well overpower the Irish constitution. "The Referendum Commission does not explain what differences there are between Lisbon and the rejected Constitution. It does not explain that that the Lisbon Treaty will give the constitution of the European Union primacy over the Irish constitution, as indicated in Declaration No 17 - which has been moved from the Constitution's Article I-6," Bonde wrote. "


DON'T DO IT! DON'T DO IT! DON'T DO IT!

That would Be A Shame...(Not)

The 'Telegraph' speculates on results from the Irish referendum:


"If Ireland rejects Lisbon on the basis of what might be termed parochial reasons – say, abortion or farming subsidies – and the vote is close, the country could be given opt-outs that would salvage the treaty.
But if it votes No by a substantial margin, and the reasons for doing so are varied, it will be impossible to resuscitate the fatally wounded treaty.
The EU will be faced with the prospect of starting all over again with a new document several years hence, or trying to bring in changes one by one."

Real Leadership

Northern Ireland's four party leaders united in their vocal rejection of an abortion amendment that would 'bring them in line' with the rest of Great Britain:

"The four leaders of the parties in the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly -- Dr. Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionists, Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein, Sir. Reg Empey of the Ulster Unionists, and Mark Durkan of the Social Democratic and Labour Party -- wrote to members of the British Parliament.

They stated their opposition to any potential amendment and said local legislators in Northern Ireland should continue to have the oversight when it comes to making abortion laws."

In spite of a bill being passed in 2007, rejecting the loosening of abortion restrictions, MPs must remain vigilant to prevent the imposition of Britain's mores on Northern Ireland. The latest attempt to use the 'Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill' to push through the changes won't be the last.

Any country with ties to the EU will be under constant attack until they fall in line with the UN/EU goal of absolutely free access to abortion for all women in the world. Its the 'New World Order'. Gov't sponsored abortion as 'women's health'.


And its working out so well in Russia, they are making advertising abortion illegal in an attempt to roll back the tide. Good luck with that. Too bad for their self-inflicted demographic crisis.

Is there ANY hope that others will learn from this? Perhaps stand up?

LISBON TREATY

I wish someone would take an interest in this.
Conrad Black does an excellent summary of why we should be paying attention:

"The treaty of Lisbon — which would substantially amend the legal underpinnings of the European Union — establishes the priority of European legislation over that of formerly sovereign national parliaments; gives new impetus to a common European foreign and security policy; and takes a giant step toward Eurointegration, which most Europeans don’t want."

'Most Europeans' are right!