WND recalls comments Obama made last year:
"Whatever we once were, we're no longer a Christian nation. At least not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, and a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers," Obama said during a June 2007 speech available on YouTube.
The Boggess family, with ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, believe they are the only family with four generations of Eagle Scouts. Boggess IV said he spoke with an author who researched generations of Eagle Scouts who could find families with only three generations who reached that rank. Those meeting the president are: Boggess Jr.; his son, Thomas Shelton Thomas III, 66, of Phoenix, a longtime veterinarian at Kachina Animal Hospital; Boggess IV; and Shelton. The meeting with Bush serves as a final honor for Boggess Jr., a retired government chemist. He drove to Washington, D.C., from Georgia in 1931 and was standing in front of the White House in his Eagle Scout uniform when President Hoover came out and posed for a picture. "That was a long time ago," said Boggess Jr., a native of Mississippi who was named an Eagle Scout in 1926.
A hip rock band that features the Soviet national anthem and communist-inspired lyrics was on stage to open for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama at his record-breaking Portland, Ore., rally that attracted 75,000.
Now police in the region have come up with a novel solution to the problem of icon raids: they have advised priests to apply for firearms licences and carry guns.
Barack Obama had extensive ties with extreme anti-American elements, including agents of the Moscow-controlled Communist Party USA, in Hawaii and Chicago, according to two new reports released yesterday in Washington, D.C., by two experienced internal security investigators.
''It wasn't exciting. It wasn't scary. It just had to be done.''
No idea what he thought of guns, but sounds like a terrific individual and community leader. Read the full article and comments.
Link: News: John Cuchessi | san, cuchessi, clemente, bike, shop - OCRegister.com.
When John Cuchessi went for his final bike ride Sunday, he could not have known the impact he would leave behind in San Clemente.
....As word spread, the hospital filled with stunned friends and relatives. San Clemente Cyclery – the business Cuchessi founded in 1974 – became a shrine with flowers and messages.
....
Patrick Maloney, who delivered mail to the bike shop and had known Cuchessi since childhood, attended a Bible study that Cuchessi held on Thursday nights in the shop. "He remembered everybody's name … remembered something good about everybody," Maloney said. "People would go to his bike shop and stay. They just loved him. He loved them back."
Mike Morrill, a cycling pal for 31 years, said: "He had a food bank that he ran out of his shop. He was helping the homeless guys out with food."
Link: Top Stories: A commitment to purity | ball, purity, wilson : Gazette.com.
This is the 10th anniversary of the Father-Daughter Purity Ball, one of the most successful - and controversial - ideas to come out of Colorado Springs' conservative Christian community. Fathers at the purity ball, held at The Broadmoor on Friday night, pledge not only to live purely, but to be the authority and protector of their daughters' purity.
Link: Pastor Hagee apologizes for anti-Catholic remarks.
In a statement posted in the Catholic League's Web site, Donohue added: "What Hagee has done takes courage and quite frankly I never expected him to demonstrate such sensitivity to our concerns."
Link: Boy Scouts' largest service project since WWII.
A project on schedule this summer for an estimated 5,000 top Boy Scouts from across the nation to restore, repair, rebuild, reclaim and refurbish miles of trails, acres and glens in the nation's forests is being described as the largest Boy Scout national service project since World War II. It's called ArrowCorps5, and is a project of the Order of the Arrow, the national honor society for the Boy Scouts of America.
Link: Dave Kopel's article "The Torah and Self-Defense" (PDF file)
Visit Dr. Lott's site for the video links and see for yourself whether the "sound bite" was really out of context as some are saying.
Link: John Lott's Website: Comparing Rev. Wright's Sermon to what he claims that he said.
Fox News does everyone a great service by providing Rev. Wright's entire "God Damn America" sermon here. Rev. Wright claims that the "God Damn America" sermon was taken out of context. Sorry, but I don't believe that anyone can listen to this sermon and think that his "God Damn America" are taken out of context. The whole sermon is about how evil the American government is (e.g., the "government lied" phrase must have been used 15 to 20 times in Part 3). The "God Damn America" discussion is just summarizing what he was saying up to that point. The sermon starts off slowly enough, but by the time you get to Part 2 it is going pretty strong. The "God Damn America" phrase is in Part 3. This is a very long sermon, but if you only have time to listen to one part, please listen to Part 3, which is about 16 minutes long. No one can listen to this sermon and think that "God Damn America" sermon was taken out of context. Indeed, there are so many offensive things in this sermon that Obama was spared by the media just using the few out takes that were used.
Link: Trigger Happy - WSJ.com. Gun owners are happier, less outraged at people, more likely to give to charity and donate blood and "endure all" for loved ones.
Also, Mark Steyn in OC Register:
In Florida, an atheist became incensed over the preparation of Easter
and Passover holidays. He decided to contact his lawyer about the
discrimination inflicted on atheists by the constant celebrations
afforded to Christians and Jews with all their holidays while atheists
had no holiday to celebrate.
The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the long
passionate presentation by the lawyer, the Judge banged his gavel and
declared, 'Case dismissed!'
The lawyer immediately stood and objected to the ruling and said, 'Your
honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have
Christmas, Easter and many other observances. Jews have Passover, Yom
Kippur and Hanukkah...yet my client and all other atheists have no such
holiday!'
The judge leaned forward in his chair and simply said, 'Obviously your
client is too confused to even know about, much less celebrate his own
atheists' holiday!'
The lawyer pompously said, 'Your Honor, we are unaware of any such
holiday for atheists. Just when might that holiday be, your Honor?'
The judge said, 'Well it comes every year on exactly the same
date---April 1st! Since our calendar sets April 1st as 'April Fools
Day,' consider that Psalm 14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart,
there is no God.' Thus, in my opinion, if your client says there is no
God, then by scripture, he is a fool, and April 1st is his holiday! Now
have a good day and get out of my courtroom!!
--Author Unknown
Drudge link describes Kmiec as "conservative" but his endorsement of Harriet Miers (also here) leaves some question about that, and bloggers wonder (also here), and I doubt he is representative of truly conservative Catholics.
Link: Conservative lawyer endorse Obama - UPI.com.
LOS ANGELES, March 23 (UPI) -- Douglas Kmiec, a leading conservative Republican lawyer Sunday endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for U.S. president.
....
Kmiec noted that as a Republican and as a Catholic, he supports preserving traditional marriage and believes that "life begins at conception" -- and he acknowledged that Obama may differ with him on those issues. However, he said he is convinced that Obama "is not closed to understanding opposing points of view, and … will respect and accommodate them."
Fr. Michael J. McGivney would be first American-born priest to be declared a saint
New Haven, CT - March 16, 2008 - Pope Benedict XVI Saturday approved a decree recognizing the heroic virtue of Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus. The pope's declaration significantly advances the priest's process toward sainthood and gives the parish priest the distinction of "Venerable Servant of God." If canonized, Fr. McGivney would be the first American born priest to be so honored. |
Continue reading "Vatican declares Knights of Columbus founder "venerable"" »
Link: Obama pastor: Not God bless, but God d--- America!.
First he praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, giving him a humanitarian award and traveling with him to Libya to meet Moammar Gadhafi. Then he turned his Trinity United Church of Christ into an institution that had all the earmarkings of a black separatist congregation. And now he, it turns out, he has damned America in God's name and blamed the U.S. for provoking the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by dropping nuclear weapons on Japan in World War II and supporting Israel since 1947. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's pastor for the last 20 years, the man who married he and his wife, Michelle, and baptized their two daughters and is credited with providing the title of Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope," has a long history of "inflammatory rhetoric."
Link: That Martin Luther? He wasn’t so bad, says Pope -Times Online.
Pope Benedict XVI is to rehabilitate Martin Luther, arguing that he did not intend to split Christianity but only to purge the Church of corrupt practices.
....
Cardinal Kasper said: “We have much to learn from Luther, beginning with the importance he attached to the word of God.” It was time for a “more positive” view of Luther, whose reforms had aroused papal ire at the time but could now be seen as having “anticipated aspects of reform which the Church has adopted over time”.
Link: Georgia bill pushes guns in churches.
"Self-defense is not just a right but a Christian duty. Jesus told his followers, 'if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one,'" said Cass. "Christians are not to be a soft target for the hateful and deranged. Church leaders have a duty not to allow a crazed gunman to come and shoot up their congregation. Thank God for security officer Jeanne Assam and for New Life Church's security preparations."
Link: Group tied to al-Qaida backs McCain for prez.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain has enjoyed strong support from a lobbyist group that backs the Kosovo Liberation Army despite allegations the KLA is a Muslim terrorist group with ties to criminal drug networks and al-Qaida.
Link (WND): School shooter studied Hamas, says friend.
A former Northern Illinois University newspaper reporter says the killer who gunned down five innocent students in an apparently unprovoked attack liked to study Arabic and the terror group Hamas.
Link (WND): Study: 3 in 4 U.S. mosques preach anti-West extremism.
An undercover survey of more than 100 mosques and Islamic schools in America has exposed widespread radicalism, including the alarming finding that 3 in 4 Islamic centers are hotbeds of anti-Western extremism, WND has learned.
Link: WorldNetDaily: Now Brits ban 'mum' and 'dad'.
Written by the homosexual activist group Stonewall and announced by government Schools Secretary Ed Balls, the plan
Link: Boy Scout 'hero' in saving Maldives prez.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Residents of the Maldives showered praise Wednesday on a 15-year-old Boy Scout who foiled an attempt to assassinate the president of this island nation by grabbing the attacker's knife.
Would you like a hiking trail named after you, or perhaps a whole mountain? The largest Scout Camp in the nation is due to be completed this year right here in Orange County and naming oppotunities still exist for large donors. Link: Outdoor Education Center.
Remember writing in your journal or diary? Maybe Mom made you take it to summer camp to practice writing so you didn't forget. You would write in you bunk or under a tree jotting down the new songs you learned, the new knot you tied or the new friend you made. Fast forward 20, 30, 40 or 50 years. Camp memories don't fade. They stay with us forever. Now is the time to provide memories for memories for future generations of campers. Donations from you will make a tremendous impact on the lives of local boys and girls now to 100 years from now.
A GERMAN'S POINT OF VIEW ON ISLAM
A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.
Link: Most Americans “Very Satisfied” With Their Personal Lives.
PRINCETON, NJ -- As Americans look ahead to the new year and reflect on the year past, a recent Gallup Poll finds the public generally content with their own lives. Most Americans say they are generally happy, with a slim majority saying they are "very happy." More than 8 in 10 Americans say they are satisfied with their personal lives at this time, including a solid majority who say they are "very satisfied." This personal satisfaction level contrasts sharply with the low level of satisfaction Americans express with the way things are going "in the United States at this time." Republicans, married adults, those residing in higher income households, parents of young children, those attending church weekly, and whites are most likely to say they are satisfied and happy at this time.
Vatican denies this, but...
Link: Pope's exorcist squads will wage war on Satan | the Daily Mail.
The Pope has ordered his bishops to set up exorcism squads to tackle the rise of Satanism. Vatican chiefs are concerned at what they see as an increased interest in the occult. They have introduced courses for priests to combat what they call the most extreme form of "Godlessness." Each bishop is to be told to have in his diocese a number of priests trained to fight demonic possession.
...Bond, Father Bond:
Link: Muslim officials help secure dawn masses in Mindanao - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.
A Muslim official has brought in firearms from Maguindanao to secure Catholic churchgoers attending the traditional dawn masses.
Link: Vatican Newspaper Slams "Golden Compass" as "The Most Anti-Christmas Film Possible".
VATICAN CITY, December 19, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano added its voice yesterday to the condemnation of the newly released film 'The Golden Compass" and the book series on which the film was based. In a lengthy editorial on December 18, the paper said Golden Compass was "the most anti-Christmas film possible."
The sale, which would give the Chinese government a stake of about 9.9 percent in one of Wall Street's biggest investment banks, is the latest example of a foreign investor aiding a Western financial firm after the housing meltdown.
Link: Gun Saint Society Honors Colorado Church Heroine.
The St. Gabriel Possenti Society, Inc. this week awarded Jeanne Assam of New Life Church in Colorado Springs its Medal and Certificate of Honor, Society Founder/Chairman John M. Snyder announced here today. Snyder recalled that during last Sunday's church services Assam, an armed private citizen voluntarily guarding the congregation, fired her weapon effectively to stop a reportedly anti-Christian madman. The madman apparently was bent on mass murder after he had killed two of the innocent worshippers.
WorldNetDaily chief Joseph Farah urges Christians to start packing at church.
Link: WorldNetDaily: What will you do if they shoot up your church?.
While such attacks on churches and Christian ministries are rare in America, they are not uncommon in other troubled parts of the world.
Given the upward trend of gun-free zone shootings in general, and certain geopolitical and religious trends, such attacks may cease to be rare if we do not follow Mr. Farah's suggestion.
Contrary to early reports, she was not a staff security guard but a volunteer church member with a CCW. Denver Post reports she had just ended three days of fasting and prayer. The pastor estimates she saved 50 to 100 lives out of the 7000 attending, based on ammo and firepower of the killer, who is also linked to an earlier shooting at a Christian missionary training center.
This is obviously a major story for many reasons, for example we can now dispense with the adage, "Don't bring a pistol to a gunfight." It's so Old Testament. With a little prayer and fasting, a pistol can do nicely--even against a rifle.
Link: Security Guard: 'God Guided Me And Protected Me' - Denver News Story - KMGH Denver.
"God was with me," Assam said. "I didn't think for a minute to run away." Assam said she believes God gave her the strength to confront Murray, keeping her calm and focused even though he appeared to be twice her size and was more heavily armed. Murray was carrying two handguns, an assault rifle and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition, said Sgt. Jeff Johnson of the Colorado Springs Police Department. "It seemed like it was me, the gunman and God," she said. Assam worked as a police officer in downtown Minneapolis during the 1990s and is licensed to carry a weapon. She attends one of the morning services and then volunteers as a guard during another service. Boyd said Assam was the one who suggested the church beef up its security Sunday following the Arvada shooting, which it did. The pastor credited the security plan and the extra security for preventing further bloodshed. Boyd said there are 15 to 20 security people at the church. All are volunteers but the only ones armed are those who are licensed to carry weapons.
Link: Blessed Are The Peacemakers.
In Minnesota, the media's getting it all wrong in their coverage of a Right-to-Carry case. WCCO-TV reports that a couple of churches are trying to exempt themselves from Minnesota's Right-to-Carry law. But that's not really what's going on here. These churches can already nullify Right-to-Carry on church property if they want, just by posting the legally required signage. But that appears to be too much for these houses of worship. Church leaders want to post their own signs prohibiting Right-to-Carry, or to post no signs at all. One church has posted a sign that says, "Blessed are the peacemakers. Firearms are prohibited in this place of sanctuary." I'd suggest that church read David Kopel's excellent article for America's First Freedom, "Is the Best Defense a Good Book?" They could also read Kopel's "The Torah and Self-Defense" as well. These church leaders might realize that there's no religious reason to be defenseless.
Link:
Accusing the Knights of Columbus of “hypocrisy,” a group of hardline Catholics is pushing for the fraternal organization to toss out 16 “pro-Sodomite” Bay State lawmakers who backed gay marriage. The California-based Concerned Roman Catholics of America picketed the annual Knights of Columbus convention in Nashville this week and handed out fliers urging members to oust the pro-gay-marriage Massachusetts solons as well as pro-abortion pols.
Link (LifeSiteNews): Catholic League Slams US Catholic Bishops Conference Positive Review of Golden Compass.
First Brokeback Mountain, Now US Bishops Movie Reviewer Praises Golden Compass
Happy Thanksgiving to all five readers of this blog. Please remember the Real Story of Thanksgiving, that we should rely on Providence and freedom rather than Socialism and theft. The Pilgrims were saved from starvation by adopting capitalism; they were not saved by the Indians, as is still taught in schools.
Hero Carl Brown Jr. uses Heimlich Maneuver to save fellow third grader from choking:
Link: Local News - Third Grader Saves Pal From Choking.
Elizabeth Donze was astonished by what she witnessed as she ran to the table. Once it was clear that Davis Soots was OK, she was the first to congratulate Carl Brown. "I mean do you realize what you just did son? I said, 'You saved your friend's life! I mean, it was amazing! It was incredible!"
Link: Disease made Karl Marx boil with anger - Times Online.
“In addition to reducing his ability to work, which contributed to his depressing poverty, hidradenitis greatly reduced his self-esteem. This explains his self-loathing and alienation, a response reflected by the alienation Marx developed in his writing.”
An Israeli archaeologist has found the wall built by Nehemiah in the fifth century BC.
Link: WorldNetDaily: Archaeologist uncovers Scriptures' famed wall.
Nehemiah's account of this construction project carries a message for us today (NAB):
10
From that time on, however, only half my able men took a hand in the work, while the other half, armed with spears, bucklers, bows, and breastplates, stood guard behind the whole house of Judah
11
as they rebuilt the wall. The load carriers, too, were armed; each did his work with one hand and held a weapon with the other.
12
Every builder, while he worked, had his sword girt at his side. Also, a trumpeter stood beside me,
13
for I had said to the nobles, the magistrates, and the rest of the people: "Our work is scattered and extensive, and we are widely separated from one another along the wall;
14
wherever you hear the trumpet sound, join us there; our God will fight with us."
15
Thus we went on with the work, half of the men with spears at the ready, from daybreak till the stars came out.
16
At the same time I told the people to spend the nights inside Jerusalem, each man with his own attendant, so that they might serve as a guard by night and a working force by day.
17
Neither I, nor my kinsmen, nor any of my attendants, nor any of the bodyguard that accompanied me took off his clothes; everyone kept his weapon at his right hand.
The Catholic League warns parents about a new threat of atheist indoctrination from the movie, Golden Compass. (In the book trilogy, the kids end up killing God so they can do what they want.)
Link: Catholic League: For Religious and Civil Rights.
The Catholic League wants Christians to stay away from this movie precisely because it knows that the film is bait for the books: unsuspecting parents who take their children to see the movie may be impelled to buy the three books as a Christmas present. And no parent who wants to bring their children up in the faith will want any part of these books.
Link: Immigrants' son elected governor of La. - Politics - MSNBC.com.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal easily defeated 11 opponents and became the state’s first nonwhite governor since Reconstruction, decades after his parents moved to the state from India to pursue the American dream.
Jindal received a strong endorsement from NRA:
Wayne LaPierre said, “Bobby Jindal is a doer, not a talker. He's a true friend of freedom and the second amendment. That's why the NRA Political Victory Fund is endorsing his candidacy for governor of Louisiana. We will urge every NRA member, every hunter, and everyone who believes in freedom to vote Bobby Jindal for governor on Election Day.”
BONUS: Turns out he is Catholic and staunchly pro-life, too:
In an unsuccessful 2003 run for governor of Louisiana, Jindal was specifically targeted for his ardent pro-life positions. At that time, he unapologetically stated to a local newspaper that he was "100 percent pro-life with no exceptions. I believe all life is precious."
Survey reports Catholics are increasingly liberal, socially.
Link: New Oxford Review.
On news of the grotesque discovery of the headless knights - many of them his personal friends - Grand Master Valette quickly ordered that captured Turks imprisoned deep in the vaulted dungeons of the fort be taken from their cells, and beheaded one by one.
Then he returned a communiquè of his own: the heads of his Turkish captives were fired from his most powerful cannon direct into the Muslim lines. There would be no negotiation, no compromise, no surrender, no retreat.
Regarding Chertoff's name, "-ov" or "-off" in Russian is simply a suffix for names, without other meaning. More interesting is the Russian translation of "devil":
ДЬЯВОЛ; ЧЕРТ; БЕС; САТАНА; НАСТОЯЩИЙ ДЬЯВОЛ; СУМЧАТЫЙ ДЬЯВОЛ; СУМЧАТЫЙ ВОЛК; КОВАРНЫЙ ЧЕЛОВЕК; СТРАШНЫЙ ЧЕЛОВЕК; ЭНЕРГИЧНЫЙ ЧЕЛОВЕК; НАПОРИСТЫЙ ЧЕЛОВЕК; ДЬЯВОЛЬСКАЯ ШТУКА; ТРУДНОЕ ДЕЛО; ЧЕЛОВЕК; ПАРЕНЬ; ЖУРНАЛИСТ, ВЫПОЛНЯЮЩИЙ РАБОТУ ДЛЯ ДРУГОГО; ЛИТЕРАТОР, ВЫПОЛНЯЮЩИЙ РАБОТУ ДЛЯ ДРУГОГО; МАЛЬЧИК НА ПОБЕГУШКАХ; УЧЕНИК В ТИПОГРАФИИ; ЖАРЕНОЕ МЯСНОЕ ИЛИ РЫБНОЕ БЛЮДО С ПРЯНОСТЯМИ И СПЕЦИЯМИ; ВОЛК-МАШИНА
The second word on the list, "ЧЕРТ" (bolded, in red), is pronounced "chort" (there is supposed to be an umlaut over the "E") rather than "chert" but difference in pronunciation may be considered de minimis given the practical limits of transliteration.
